Chapter 13
Fatima
Just as I was headed back to my office, someone started banging on my door. As I made my way to the front of the house, I groaned.
Autumn was on the other side. I could already imagine why she was here. “Why was my brother over here?” she cheesed at me.
My eyes shifted to the place Ahmad’s car once was. Shaking my head I lifted one corner of my mouth.
“We were just talking, Autumn.”
She side eyed me causing me to laugh. “Just talking? About what? My brother isn’t the most sociable person.”
That stopped my laughing. It made me feel good that she said that. Ahmad had never been that way with me. I wasn’t sure why, but he was always nice to me.
“Autumn, is that all you came over here for?”
She shrugged. “I know he would have just told me to mind my business, so I tried my luck with you.”
Staring at her, I saw she would not let it go. “Me and your brother are cool. He just came over to ask how I was, that’s it.”
Autumn wasn’t buying that. “My brother doesn’t do that. In fact, since Kylie he hasn’t even gotten close to another female.”
I moved to the side and invited her in, shutting the door behind her.
“What’s the deal with this Kylie girl anyway? He mentioned her once, but he didn’t go into any details about her or their relationship.”
Autumn’s mouth turned upside down. “She’s just a sneaky hoe who did my brother dirty.
He loved her and she didn’t love him back like she should.
But forget her; you’re the first girl my brother has been interested in since then.
I knew something was up at the shop. I saw how you two were looking at each other. ”
“Autumn, you’re reading too much into this.”
She smacked her lips. “You two can keep acting like I’m crazy, but I know something is going on with you two.” I gave her a toothless grin, still not spilling anything.
“You over here asking me questions, but why are you all dressed up?”
“I have a date,” she said proudly.
“With who?”
“This guy Logan I’ve been talking to.”
“Are you excited?”
Autumn shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. I just hope it goes well. I don’t have the best luck with guys.”
“And yet you’re still a hopeless romantic.”
“It’s better than giving up on it. I know there’s someone out there for me. I just have to find him.”
I ignored the shade she threw at me. “Well, hopefully he’s the one.”
“Yeah, let’s hope. Ahmad told me not to fall too quick, but I can’t lie and say Logan isn’t already getting to me. We’ve Facetimed a few times and we text all day. I really like him.”
“Then go for it.”
“How can you be so anti-love and relationships but push me to go for it?”
“Just because it’s not for me doesn’t mean I don’t want other people to find it.” She slowly nodded.
“Well, I should head out to meet him. Wish me luck.”
I flashed her a smile. “Good luck.”
I turned and headed to my office. Autumn was different, in a good way. The way she didn’t give up on love or let one bad relationship stop her from finding love was something I admired. It made me think of my mom and her words played over in my head.
She had been through a huge heartbreak with my dad, but she was able to find love again and was happy. On the other hand, I saw what she went through and closed myself off to the whole concept. Not bothering even to try it out.
I sighed when Ahmad came to mind. His coming over here threw me off, but I was happy to see him. I also know that this wasn’t his thing either, so I was thrown off at the same time. Maybe that was saying something. Maybe we both needed to let go of the hurt we were holding onto.
____
I sat in my car in Ahmad’s driveway, staring at his house. I had been here for about five minutes debating if I should go in or turn around and leave.
As soon as I pulled up to the house, I noticed the lawn. It was getting late and the sun was setting but I could see how well-groomed it was. Ahmad’s house was a nice size on the outside as well. I wasn’t sure why one person needed this much space.
After going back and forth, I finally got out of the car. Grabbing my purse, I put the strap across my chest and followed the sidewalk from the driveway to the house.
I hit the doorbell. While waiting for the door to open, I nervously rocked on the balls of my feet. I had thrown on a jean romper after I showered. My hair was down in curls, of course. My curl pattern was the shit and I had no problem embracing it.
The door finally opened, and Ahmad stood in front of me, shirtless in some basketball shorts.
I stared at his bare chest. The night we spent together I didn’t really pay attention to his tattoos since my mind was on other things, but now that I was looking, I was impressed.
Unlike his arms which were full of color, his chest was just dark ink and shading.
On one side were two names, his sister’s and another, I assume his mom's.
He had roses surrounding a heart with the names placed in two scrolls on the inside of the heart.
On the other side of his chest was a lion with what I’m guessing is his birthdate over it in Roman numerals, leading me to assume he was a Leo. Both tattoos were connected by shading and designs, making them look like one piece.
My eyes traveled down to his perfectly cut abdominal muscles, then to the top of the v-cut on his waist. Just as I was about to move my eyes lower, he spoke.
“Nice, huh?” he finally asked, looking down at his chest.
I swallowed hard before nodding. “Yeah, did it hurt?” He moved to the side and let me in.
“Nah, not for real. The lion was the first tattoo I got, I guess I got addicted after that.” He closed the door and I looked around the house. I was impressed but not shocked. The outside was nice, so I didn’t expect anything less from the inside. It was gorgeous.
When you first walked in you were greeted with a high ceiling with a beautiful light fixture at the top. Above the door was a huge window that brought a lot of light into the house.
“I hope you’re hungry,” Ahmad said, grabbing my hand and pulling me deeper into the house.
Instead of responding, I kept looking through the house.
There was a circular staircase in the middle of the foyer.
Ahmad led me past it, and we stepped into the living room.
The first thing I noticed and fell in love with was the fireplace.
It wasn’t lit but had a stone finish with photos on each side.
Something was playing on the big flat screen and two to-go boxes sat on the coffee table.
“I don’t cook so I hope you eat this,” he said, sitting down. My eyes dropped to my food “You got pasta when we went out to eat so I stuck with that.”
“This is fine.” I took a seat next to him.
We were quiet for a minute as we both started eating and watching the movie he had playing before I got here.
“What made you invite me here?” I finally asked him.
Not that I didn’t like being here in his presence, but I was confused. It was obvious that this wasn’t his thing. Hell, it wasn’t either of ours, yet here we were. If it was just sex that he wanted, I was fine with that, but this seemed deeper. It was more intimate, so I was lost.
Ahmad didn’t say anything at first. He grabbed a paper towel and wiped his mouth, grabbed his glass and drank the water in it.
I was starting to grow impatient watching him take his time to answer me. My nerves were getting the best of me. I had a lot of different things running through my mind.
Ahmad shifted his body and stared at me. The way he looked at me caused me to grow uncomfortable, but I didn’t tear my eyes away from him. He licked his bottom lip and pulled on it. My body grew warm.
The silence between us was killing me. I needed him to speak before I went crazy.