2. Laila
Laila
My feet are killing me. After hours in these heels I am dying to take them off.
Thankfully, the pain my feet are suffering through wasn’t for nothing.
The investor presentation for Lovely Day , the Black owned and woman owned beauty company I work for, went phenomenally well and the investors agreed to sign with the company.
I spent weeks collecting data and turning it into visuals to show the growth of the company’s social media presence, which in turn led to growth in profits, and today it all paid off.
After an exhausting day I would much rather be in my bed binge-watching one of my favorite tv shows, but instead I let Zara talk me into another blind date.
This time it’s the brother of one of her long-time clients.
Her argument is always that things can be a fun time even if they aren’t meant to be long term.
And worst case scenario, it’s a story to tell.
So far it’s been a whole lot of stories to tell and not much else.
At this point, I’m not even sure why I keep agreeing to go on these blind dates, but Zara somehow always manages to find a way to convince me.
Zara is the person who knows me best in the world, my best friend since elementary school and damn near my sister for all intents and purposes.
I slide into a seat at the bar where we agreed to meet for drinks.
When I catch the bartender I order a Cosmopolitan and take a moment to take in my surroundings while I wait for him to make my drink.
This hotel bar is significantly more bougie than what I would ever choose for first date drinks but my date had insisted, stating something about their excellent menu options.
It is less busy than I expected for this time of night, leaving a lot of the tables surrounding me unoccupied.
My phone buzzes inside my purse, when I pull it out I see that it’s a text from Zara.
Zara
Have fun on your date! I can’t wait to hear all about it!
The bartender sets down my drink in front of me and I wonder if it’s too late for me to cancel this date. I could always say that something came up at work and I wasn’t able to get away and —
“You must be Laila.”
On my left a man steps up to the bar. He’s shorter than I expected, probably only a couple of inches taller than me and I’m only 5’5 on a good day.
Stop being judgy I internally tell myself, plastering a smile on my face.
“Yes hi, Jason right?”
***
I am officially never letting Zara set me up on a date ever again.
“I really think that if people took the time to understand the market and — “
At that I tune him out, only offering forced polite smiles and nods.
For the past hour he’s been talking about himself and his job in finance and I couldn’t be more bored out of my mind.
I tip my martini glass to my lips and drink the last of my second Cosmopolitan.
I send a silent thanks to my past self who agreed to drinks rather than dinner because at least the liquor and shorter time commitment is making this experience slightly more bearable.
Jason pauses for a moment and I take the opportunity to try and get away.
“I’m gonna go to the restroom.”
“Oh okay, yeah cool,” Jason replies, saying the first words in a long time that aren’t about himself or his career.
I grab my purse and swiftly make my way away from the bar.
I have no idea if I’m even going in the right direction but I put some distance between Jason and I before I stop to ask a waitress for help.
She points me to the back of the restaurant, an area tucked away from all the tables.
Thankfully, there isn’t a line and I am able to walk right into the bathroom.
I don’t actually have to use the bathroom, but in the moment it was the first thing to come to mind so that I could have a second to myself to think and breathe and figure out how the hell to nicely leave this terrible date.
I have never been one to ditch a date, but leaving this bathroom and this date entirely without another word is an idea I’m seriously considering.
I give myself a moment to stand at the sinks with my eyes closed and take a few deep breaths.
After that I stall for a little while longer.
I touch up my lip gloss, fluff out my curly hair, scroll through social media, anything to kill time.
Finally, I try to reason with myself. The faster I go back out there the faster I can be home in my bed with snacks.
With a sigh I grab my purse off the counter.
It’s time to rip the proverbial Band-Aid off.
I yank the door open and step out into the hall, colliding with a hard body.
I stumble backwards, losing my balance for a moment until I’m held by my elbows by whoever I bumped into.
“My bad, are you good?” A deep voice asks.
“I’m so sorry I should’ve been —,” my words die on my tongue when I finally look up and see who I’ve run into, literally.
“Laila?”
Sonny.
“I - um, yes hi,” I stutter out. My words fail me as my brain literally tries to catch up to the fact that out of all the people I could have possibly run into, it's Sonny.
I would be lying if I said that I never thought about him, or that night ever again, but I figured it was a fluke and there was no way I would ever speak to him again.
“Damn, I never thought I would get the chance to see you again.” Sonny says, releasing my elbows but still standing close enough that I’m surrounded by the smell of him and his cologne.
My skin misses the warmth of his contact as soon as he lets me go and the cool air sends a slight shiver through my body
I let out a surprised chuckle. “I didn’t think you would remember me, it's been years.”
“Of course I remember you,” he says with the corner of his mouth turning up. “Not many people call me an asshole within the first two minutes of meeting me.”
“You deserved it.”
A smile takes over Sonny’s face. “You’re right, I did.”
I smile too, and I can’t help but feel a sense of deja vu from running into Sonny again like this. Physically he hasn’t changed much, but I’m sure like me, a lot has changed with him that can’t be seen.
I catch him giving me a once over, his eyes taking me in until his gaze lands on my eyes and he finally speaks.
“So how have you been? What are you doing with that degree of yours?”
Again, I’m shocked that he remembers such an insignificant detail of my life that I told him years ago.
“And what makes you assume I got my degree? Maybe I didn’t finish,” I say jokingly.
“No disrespect to anyone that decides to leave college,” he replies. “But something tells me that when you want something you don’t stop til you get it.”
I have no rebuttal for that because it’s true, I am that way.
“I graduated a few years ago, and now I’m a social media manager for a skin care company.”
Sonny gives me a smirk, satisfied with himself that he was right about me.
“And what about you?” I ask. “Are you back from your hiatus?”
“You been keeping tabs on me Laila?”
“What? No, it’s just out there,” I say quickly waving my hand to try to show that its not a big deal.
Truth is I hadn’t been keeping tabs on Sonny, but buzz about him is everywhere. Since his last tour he hasn’t made any new music, or done any performances, which is unlike him.
“I know, I’m just fucking with you. I’ve just been laying low, reevaluating what I want from life.”
I nod my head in understanding.
“Aye Sonny, you aight man?”
Like I’ve been caught doing something I shouldn’t, I take a few steps back from Sonny. We hadn’t been very close but knowing how innocent situations get turned upside down, I didn’t want to take any chances.
“Yeah I’m all good,” Sonny says. “I ran into someone on my way from the bathroom, or really she ran into me.” Sonny shoots me a mischievous glance before looking back at the other guy.
“Laila, this is Xavier,” Sonny says making introductions. “X this is Laila.”
Xavier tips his head in my direction in acknowledgement. “Nice to meet you Laila.”
“You too Xavier,” I reply with a smile.
“They’re ready for you upstairs whenever you’re good,” Xavier says to Sonny.
“Okay just give me a second.”
“I have to get back to my table, but it was good to see you,” I say.
I’m not necessarily in a hurry to get back to my “date”, but more so to give myself some space to process this crazy encounter.
“Are you still here in the city?”
I shake my head. “No, I'm out in Rosewood now.”
Rosewood is a city north of Chicago. Historically Black, but for years it was neglected, lacking the necessary resources that help a community thrive.
With the help of new businesses and community improvements, Rosewood has grown to be a thriving city.
When I graduated from college I had no desire to go back home and with an amazing job offer it was a no brainer for me to stay.
“Let me take you out sometime.”
My eyes go wide at Sonny’s forward statement.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I reply, shaking my head. “I have a lot going on and I’m not really looking for anything right now.”
If he’s shocked by me turning him down he doesn’t show it. Behind him Xavier tries but fails to hide a laugh behind a cough.
“My bad,” Xavier says with another forced cough. “There was something in my throat.”
Sonny shoots a look his way before he offers, “How about we exchange Instagrams then? And I can give you my number in case you want to reach out, things on IG can get lost sometimes.”
It takes a minute for my brain to understand what he’s saying, the shock of running into him again taking over, but when I realize he’s serious I dig into my purse to grab my phone.
I unlock it and hand it to him with Instagram open.
Sonny quickly types in his handle, presses the follow button, then navigates to my contacts and adds his number.
His hand brushes mine when he hands my phone back to me, sending a jolt of warmth through my body again.
I need to get away from this man.
“I really do have to go, but it was good to see you.” I offer him a smile over my shoulder as I leave.
What the actual fuck.
My steps lead me away from Sonny and back to the bar but my heart is pounding double time.
It was a simple conversation yet my entire body is tingling almost as if all of my limbs fell asleep and are taking their sweet time waking back up.
Jason accepts my excuse to cut the date short without much push back, not even questioning why I was gone for who knows how long.
I decide to call for a rideshare instead of taking the train home like I usually would.
When I am in the car I text Zara to let her know I’m on my way home, and rather than putting my phone away I find myself in my contacts list. I scroll through the list passing ‘S’ where I expect a new contact to be and instead at the very bottom of the list I see a new contact with a singular sun emoji.
I can’t stop the small smile from coming to my face, or the flutter that’s erupted in my stomach.