Chapter 4
“Beenie, come on, baby girl, we’re going to be late.” Elijah called down the hall. He pulled his sleeve back to check his watch. Seven fifteen, shit, they were already late.
“Dad, calm down. I’ll be just two minutes.”
“You said that ten minutes ago.” He grumbled before going back to the kitchen.
The breakfast he’d made had congealed into a cold, unappealing mess on the paper plate on the table.
Sure, it had only been instant grits and pre-cooked bacon, but it was breakfast. He’d never been the best of cooks, but he believed in having breakfast before leaving the house to be prepared for the day.
A month ago Sabrina decided that she no longer ate oatmeal, his go to breakfast staple for years, because she now wanted a “hearty breakfast like they have on tv”.
Hence, the switch to instant grits and pre-cooked bacon.
He picked up the plate and put it in the microwave then checked is watch again.
His stomach clenched. He was going to be late for work.
He hated being late. Not just because he tried to lead by example for his employees, but because he hadn’t taken the time last night to look over the budget submissions Adam sent over.
After hanging out and then talking to Layla he hadn’t been able to focus.
The look in her eye when he’d said they shouldn’t be together had stirred something in him he hadn’t expected.
She’d looked as if she’d been disappointed.
He’d considered this attraction he had to be one-sided because she’d been dating that guy.
That’s why he’d always assumed any action on his part would ruin their friendship.
The look on her face when he’d said that had him reconsidering his stance.
“What do you think?” Sabrina said right after the fifteen seconds he’d put on the microwave to heat the food ended. He turned and had to press his lips together to keep his jaw from dropping.
Beenie stood in the kitchen, not dressed in the cute dress he’d picked out the night before, but instead in a pair of pinstripe pants that were a part of a suit his mother had purchased her two weeks before.
A black t-shirt with the screenprint of Scar from the Lion King with the quote “I’m surrounded by idiots” was tucked into the pants.
A red baseball cap turned back covered the braids in her hair and red and black Jordans covered her small feet.
“That’s different from what we picked out,” he said slowly. Trying to keep his voice even. “You said you wanted to wear the dress.”
She shrugged. “I thought I did, but when I woke up this morning this felt better.” Her brows raised and her eyes were questioning. “You like it.”
“It’s…different.” When she looked down he walked over and lifted her chin. “But you look beautiful. As always.”
She grinned and bounced. “You think so?”
“I do, but you may have to lose the hat when you get to school.”
She ran her hand over the hat and nodded. “Maybe, but I think it looks good.”
“If your teacher tells you to take it off then you take it off.”
She sighed and went to the table. “I know the rules, Dad.” She took her bookbag out of the chair and slid it onto her back.
“Good.” he pulled the warmed food out of the microwave. “I reheated breakfast.”
Sabrina pointed at the microwave. “We don’t have enough time. We’re late.”
“You can eat the bacon in less than five minutes.” He crossed the room and handed her the plate. “Hopefully, Ms. Layla won’t leave you.”
“She won’t,” Sabrina said before popping a slice of bacon in her mouth. “She likes me.”
Eli grunted before grabbing a piece of bacon off his pate. “Well, she doesn’t like being late.”
“Good thing she likes you, too,” Sabrina said in a sing song voice.
He ignored the way his daughter’s words made his heart do a weird flip. Sabrina was a kid talking in general. Just because he was starting to wonder if maybe Layla felt something for him didn’t mean he needed to go looking for signs from his daughter.
“She likes me because I drop you off on time,” he said easily.
“Well, I like her, too,” Sabrina said crunching on her bacon.
“She is a nice lady.” Elijah took out his phone and texted Layla
OTW. Finishing breakfast. Sorry.
Layla’s answering message popped up. Meet us at the car in five.
Elijah sent back a thumbs up emoji.
“She’s so cool.”
He looked over at his daughter. “Who? Ms. Layla?”
Sabrina grinned and nodded. “Yes. Jasmine says her mom keeps the computers running for her entire company. She doesn’t get mad when we want to play dress up with her stuff and will play with us.
She has cool friends and goes on trips. I want to be like her when I grow up.
” She took the last bite of bacon and looked at Elijah. “You should go on trips, too, Daddy.”
Elijah froze in the middle of reaching for the last slice of bacon. “We go on trips.”
Sabrina laughed as if he were silly. “Not us, Daddy. You. Maybe then you’ll be happy like Ms. Layla.”
Layla’s word from the night before came rushing back. That Sabrina thought he was sad or depressed. “I am happy.”
Sabrina’s brows drew together as if she were thinking, but the doorbell rang before she could say something. Her face lit up. “It’s Jasmine!”
She grabbed her bookbag and ran toward the front door. Elijah was hot on her heels. “Hold up. Don’t answer the door unless I’m there with you.”
She bounced on her toes. “Hurry, hurry,” she waved him to the door. When Elijah caught up with her she checked the side window. “Told you it was Jasmine.” Then she opened the door.
Jasmine stood on the other side. She too was dressed in a pair of pants with a the same Scar t-shirt and a backwards baseball cap. Sabrina’s sudden wardrobe change was explained. The two girls must have decided the night before that they would dress alike.
“Mom said to come get you before we’re late,” Jasmine said.
“I’m ready.” Sabrina turned and hugged Elijah. “Bye, Daddy.”
“Have a good day, sweetheart.” He followed her out onto the porch.
Layla waved from the driver’s seat in her driveway.
Sabrina and Jasmine skipped to the car. He waved back but frowned.
He hadn’t gotten the chance to finish his conversation with Sabrina.
He wanted to convince her that he wasn’t sad, but saying it without making some changes in his life would mean nothing.
He always followed the rules. Always calculated the risk before making a decision.
Always did what was expected of him. He didn’t regret the way he’d lived, but he did regret that he’d allowed doing the right thing to restrict him from truly living.
He watched as Layla drove away with the two girls in the backseat.
She gave him one last smile and wave that made his morning brighter.
Maybe he’d miscalculated by not saying something to Layla about the way he felt.
Maybe the joy everyone said he needed had been right next to him all along.