Chapter 4
Jalen sat at the nurse’s station, inputting information into her patient’s files.
She only had a few more hours before the end of her shift.
She didn’t have many patients assigned to her for the day, so it had been pretty relaxed.
She had just finished keying in the last patient’s vitals when someone stepped up to the station.
“Hey, how can I help you?” she questioned. It only took her a few seconds to recognize the person. “You’re Alynn’s uncle. Is everything alright? She didn’t get an infection or anything, did she?” she inquired worried.
“Rohan,” he reminded, as if she could have forgotten. “And no, she’s perfectly fine. I’m actually here to see you.”
Jalen raised a brow. “Um, okay.”
“I feel bad about spilling coffee on you, and I noticed you hadn’t called me with your dry-cleaning bill. So, I was wondering if I could take you out to dinner.”
Jalen smiled at him. It was sweet that he wanted to take her out to apologize for wasting coffee on her, but she couldn’t go to dinner with him.
Not that she didn’t think he was attractive, because anyone with eyes could see that he was.
She didn’t have time to go to dinner with anyone between work, school, and looking out for her siblings.
She’d tried dating while doing those things, and it always became too complicated with her partner feeling neglected.
“I’m sorry. I can’t,” she told him.
“You can’t, or you won’t?” he questioned.
“I can’t, but thank you for the invite.”
“Ah, you’re breaking my heart,” he told her with a playful smile as he placed a hand over his chest.
It was cute, and the smile on his face had her smiling as well. She shook her head at him.
“How about coffee? You can replace the cup you spilled on me,” she told him.
It had been a while since she’d gone out with someone. She had learned that serious dates were not a good idea. They drifted off when they found out that she was taking care of five kids.
Coffee was safe and casual, and she could do it on her lunch break. That way, she wouldn’t have to depend on Kodi to watch the girls.
“Coffee will work,” he pulled his phone out and handed it to her.
Jalen took it and placed her number in it. She still had the card with his number on it and made a mental note to save it in her phone. She handed his phone back to him.
“I’ll see you later, Jalen,” he said, giving her another one of those smiles before turning and walking off.
“Girl, he was fine.”
Jalen turned to find Maria entering the nurse’s station. She nodded in agreement, finding no reason to deny it. The older woman was married, but liked to remind people she had eyes and could look, but only wanted her husband.
“So, are you going to go out with him?” Maria questioned.
“I’m going to get coffee with him.”
Maria raised a brow at her. “That...isn’t a proper date.”
“I know that, but I can’t afford to go out on actual dates when I know they won’t lead anywhere.”
“You can’t judge all future experiences on past ones. You’ll never find someone if you keep doing that.”
Jalen sighed. She and Maria had this conversation often.
She viewed the older woman as a big sister, and she knew Maria was right, but she didn’t want to put her sisters through the trials and possible failures.
She didn’t want to introduce them to someone only for that person to walk out of their lives if they got attached.
“Just think about it.”
Jalen nodded, but she wasn’t sure if she would actually do it. Taking her mind off of that, she glanced at the clock. Waiting as time ticked by.
Jalen walked into her apartment a little after six. She found all of her sisters sitting at the dining room table, doing homework. They looked up when she walked in.
“Jae? How did you get home?”
“Maria brought me,” she responded.
She had to be at work that morning at six am, so she’d allowed Kodi to take her to work and keep the car, so that Kodi could get all the girls to school since the bus ran earlier than they would be ready in the morning, and home.
“How’s the homework coming?” she questioned, walking over to the table.
They answered in various forms of okay. While they did their homework, she made dinner. Tonight, they were having breakfast for dinner, so she pulled out the bacon, eggs, and oatmeal.
As she cooked, she occasionally answered questions her sisters had about their homework. Once everything was done, she made plates as her sisters put their homework away.
Jalen had just finished putting all the plates on the table when they came back. Kodi poured drinks for everyone as Landon got silverware out.
They sat around the table and ate as Mikal talked about the science project she wanted to do. Jalen told her to make a list of everything she would need, and they would go get it from the store over the weekend.
Once they were finished eating, Landon and Kodi cleaned the kitchen while Jalen went to help the twins and Mikal pick out their outfits for school tomorrow. It went as it usually did with the twins. They would start out with one outfit, and then pick four more before settling back on the first one.
After the over thirty-minute process, she got up and went to her bedroom to run a bath for Omari. When the tub was full, she helped her get into the bathtub.
At five years old, both of the twins didn’t think they needed help bathing anymore, but she would still stay with them to make sure they bathed and not just played in the water.
Once she was done, Jalen wrapped her in a towel and pulled the plug in the bathtub.
“Go dry off and put on your pajamas,” she instructed.
“Okay,” Omari responded, skipping out of the bathroom.
When the tub was empty, Jalen cleaned it before running a bath for Nathan. While it filled up, she exited the bathroom to find her, only for her to come walking into Jalen’s bedroom.
“It’s my turn now,” the little girl stated.
“Sure is. Let’s get you in.”
She went through the same process, making sure she didn’t just play in the water. When she was finished, she wrapped a towel around her and sent her to dry off and get dressed.
After letting the water out and cleaning the bathtub, she went into the girl’s room and found Kodi braiding Nathan’s hair into French Braids. She had already done Omari’s.
Their youngest sibling was already in the bed, and when Kodi was done with Nathan’s, the little girl climbed into the top bunk. She tucked them in before picking up the book they were currently reading as a bedtime story.
She only read for about fifteen minutes before she looked up and found them both sleeping. Jalen put the book away and turned the light out, leaving the nightlight on.
Going down the hall, she found Mikal coming out of the hall bathroom. She looked down at her watch and saw that it was about ten minutes past nine.
“Mikal, did you take your bedclothes into my room before you got into the shower?”
“I did. Are the twins sleeping already?”
Jalen nodded. “They are.”
“Okay, I’ll be careful not to wake them when I get in bed.”
“Thanks, kiddo.” She pinched her cheek softly.
“Jalen,” Mikal whined.
She laughed lightly before ruffling her hair and going down the hall into the living room.
“Are they asleep?” Kodi questioned.
“Out like a light. Where’s Landon?”
“She’s in our room on the phone. I think she may have a little boyfriend,” Kodi told her with a smirk.
“Have you met him?”
“Nope, but I’m sure I’ll see him, eventually.”
“Hmm, speaking of males. I got asked out on a date today.”
“Cool. Are you going?”
“Well, no. Not a real date. I decided we would just get coffee.”
“Coffee dates are boring. Why not go out on an actual date?” Kodi asked, and Jalen sighed. “It couldn’t hurt to actually go out and have a bit of adult fun.” The seventeen-year-old wiggled her eyebrows.
“Kodi, no. Just stop.”
The last thing Jalen wanted to hear was her little sister essentially telling her to go out and have sex. However, she would think of maybe going on a real date...eventually.
????????????
Rohan sat at his desk finishing up a marketing campaign.
It was Thursday morning, and he glanced at his phone again.
It had been three days since he’d gotten Jalen’s number.
He hadn’t called her yet, wanting to give her time to text him first, but honestly, he wasn’t the most patient person when it came to something he wanted.
Deciding that he couldn’t wait any longer, he picked up his phone to call her, but figured she might be at work, and texted her instead.
Rohan: Hey, it’s Rohan.
He placed his phone back down and went back to making sure the campaign was up to par. He was in the middle of replying to an email when his phone notified him of a text message. Picking it up, he saw a response from Jalen.
Jalen: Hey, how are you?
Rohan: I’m good. How are you? Are you working today?
Jalen: I’m fine. Yes, I am.
Rohan: So, about that coffee date?
Jalen: Right. I’ve been meaning to call you. Um, would today work for you? Around one o’clock?
Rohan pulled up the schedule on his computer to look it over for a moment. He would be free at one, and he didn’t have a meeting until two-thirty. So, that would give him plenty of time.
Rohan: That works for me.
Jalen: Okay. There’s a coffee shop down the street from the hospital. Sterling’s.
Rohan: I know the place. I’ll meet you there.
Rohan put his phone back down and went back to responding to the email. Once he finished his response, he sent it, then looked at the other few projects that his mother had asked him and his team to work on.
There was a startup company that was looking for a catchy marketing campaign and slogan.
They weren’t launching for another four months, but Rohan had experience with new companies.
They often couldn’t decide what they wanted and required several options.
He and his team would start on it the following week.
Rohan found a parking spot and walked into the coffee shop, and sat at an empty table by the window when he didn’t see Jalen. He didn’t have to wait long before she walked in. He stood up, and she turned in his direction, heading over.
“Hey, sorry to keep you waiting.”
“It’s not a problem,” he responded, pulling her chair out for her before taking his own.
“So, how is work?”
“It’s good. I don’t have many kids assigned to me. What about you? What do you do for a living?”
“I’m a marketing manager, and business has been going well.” She nodded. “I’ll go place our order. What would you like?”
“I’ll come with you.”
Rohan stood, held his hand out for her, and she took it. He led the way to the counter. When it was their turn, he allowed her to order first, then placed his order, paid, and they headed back to their table.
He leaned back in his seat, looking her over. She was wearing purple scrubs, her hair pulled into a bun on top of her head, and even in her work attire, she looked gorgeous.
“So, tell me about yourself?” he requested.
“What do you want to know?”
“Whatever you feel comfortable telling me.”
“Well, I’m twenty-four,” she told him. Rohan wasn’t too surprised; he knew she was younger than he was.
“I’ve been working at the hospital for a little over two years. Before that, I worked at a nursing home as a CNA. I’m currently going to school to become an RN.”
“I have a question. When Alynn was there, you knocked on the door and did the whole Marco Polo thing. Why do you do that?”
“Well, I do something different for each child that’s there, but it’s to gauge how they feel before I enter. With kids, their voices tell you a lot about how they feel.”
“That’s really creative. So, do you have any kids of your own?”
He watched as she bit her bottom lip before nodding. “Sort of.”
Rohan waited for her to elaborate, but when she didn’t, he spoke again. “I can see you having kids. You were great with Alynn.”
She smiled at him. “Thank you.”
“So, boy? Girl?”
“Girls,” she told him. “Five of them, actually.”
Rohan raised an eyebrow at her. She was far too young to have five kids, but who was he to judge that fact?
“Seems like you have your hands full. Five girls, I feel for you. I only have Alynn to deal with every now and then, and that’s enough most of the time,” he told her with a smile.
“They’re good girls.”
At that moment, the barista called his name, and he got up to grab their order. Since it was lunchtime, they had both ordered deli sandwiches and bypassed coffee, opting for tea.
While they ate, they continued to talk and get to know one another. Rohan found out that she volunteered to work ten-hour shifts in order to have three days off so she could spend more time with her girls. Rohan thought that was admirable.
Once they were finished eating, he volunteered to drive her back to the hospital when she stated she needed to head back. However, she told him she would walk since it was just a couple of blocks away.
“I’ll walk with you,” he told her.
The two of them headed out of the coffee shop and towards the hospital.
“I enjoyed having lunch with you, Jalen.”
“Thanks. I had fun as well.”
“Then, when are you going to allow me to take you to dinner?”
He watched as she bit her bottom lip. “I don’t know. I’m not sure how soon I’ll be free for dinner,” she told him.
“It’s no rush. When you have time, just let me know,” he responded.
“I will.”
They made it to the entrance of the hospital, and she turned to him. “Thank you for tea slash lunch,” she said with a smile.
“It was my pleasure. I’ll call you.”
“I’ll answer.” He then watched as she forehead-palmed. “That was so corny.”
He chuckled. “It was cute. Almost as cute as you. I’ll talk to you later.”
Rohan watched her nod before she turned to go inside the hospital. He turned and headed back to his car. He knew he’d be taking her out again, and he didn’t mind waiting until she was ready.