Chapter 19 Fatima
Fatima
“You look like you’re in a good mood.” My mom smiled, sitting next to Johnny. She crossed her legs at the knee, and he reached over and grabbed her hands.
It truly made me happy when I saw them. It showed me that one heartbreak shouldn’t hold you back.
Johnny was so infatuated with her and always looked at her like he was seeing her for the first time.
He was so in tune with her feelings. Whenever my mom wasn’t feeling well or when something was wrong with her, he always knew.
My mom looked at him the same way. She was always happy and smiling when Johnny was around.
Looking at the two of them, I realized that the smile on my mom’s face never was as bright when she was with my dad.
She was happy but she seemed to be happier with Johnny.
All this time, I never noticed it, but now I was seeing it.
“Things have just been going good.” I smiled at them.
“So, your photography is taking off? Your mom told me you were going to start freelancing,” Johnny asked.
“Ever since I did the photos for my friend Autumn’s boutique, I’ve been getting inquiries. My booking site is up and running and my portfolio is slowly growing.”
The smile on my mom’s face grew. “I’m happy to hear that. I was afraid you were trying to give up.”
“I wanted to, but I was pushed into keeping at it.”
“Well, that’s good! You have too much talent for you to just give up.”
I blushed. “Thank you, Johnny.”
My attention went to one of the pictures filled walls. “You two need to let me take some updated pictures of you.” The photos hanging on the walls were at least five years old.
“You know we have no problem with that,” my mom responded. One thing she loved about Johnny was that he was always so supportive of me. He bought me one of my first expensive cameras for my eighteenth birthday. Since he’s been in my life, he’s always encouraged me.
My phone vibrated in my lap. Without my permission, a smile appeared on my face.
First hitting the green button, I held the phone in front of my face. “What’s up, pretty girl?” My smile grew at the sound of Ahmad’s voice. He was leaning back in his chair at the shop showing me his award-winning smile.
“Hey! You must have some free time?”
“Yeah, I got about a half-hour gap until my next appointment, then I have to go to the second shop, so I thought I’d see what you were doing.”
“Nothing really. I drove out to see my mom.”
I licked my lips, staring into the phone. Like normal when he was working, Ahmad was wearing a wife beater. His dreads were braided back and freshly lined up. It even looked like he had his beard cut down.
“You cut your beard down?”
He smirked. “You noticed?”
Biting on my bottom lip, I slowly nodded. “I did.”
Ahmad pulled on his beard and showed me his teeth again. “Yeah, it was getting too long so I had him take some off.”
“It looks good.” My eyes lowered.
I loved the way his beard brushed against my body when he was kissing on me. Or the way it tickled my face when we were kissing. It always smelled good too.
Ahmad licked his lips. “You better stop staring at me like that in front of your mom.” I suddenly looked up, forgetting about being at my mom’s house. The thoughts I was having about Ahmad had me wanting to drive to his shop right now to see him.
“Don’t mind us,” my mom spoke.
I glanced over my phone and my cheeks grew red. My mom stood up and walked over to the couch.
“This must be the guy you mentioned the last time you were here.”
“How you doing, ma’am? I’m Ahmad.” I shifted the camera to my mom, and she smiled into it.
“Oh, you’re a handsome young man. I’m Katherine.”
Ahmad chuckled then grinned. “Thank you for the compliment. Fatima never told me she got her good looks from her mom.” Playfully I rolled my eyes and peeked at Johnny, who was silently laughing.
My mom and Ahmad held a conversation for a few seconds before I jumped in. “Okay, mom, Ahmad has to get back to work.”
“Oh, what do you do?” I groaned.
“I own a tattoo shop.”
My mom’s eyes widened. “An entrepreneur. I like that. Fatima, he seems like a keeper.”
Ahmad chuckled. “That’s what I been trying to tell her.”
My mouth dropped. “Well, don’t let her push you away. Fatima is closed off, but she’s a great girl. Just needs the right guy to break that wall.”
“Okay, mom.”
She smiled at me. “I guess that’s my cue. It was nice talking to you, Ahmad. Make sure my daughter brings you over one day soon.”
“It was nice meeting you too, Ms. Katherine, and I’ll do that.”
I shook my head while my mom stood up and walked back to where Johnny was sitting.
“Call me when you leave the shop.”
He bit down on his bottom lip. “I will.”
“Bye.”
Hanging the phone up, I mentally prepared myself for my mom.
“Fatima, you’ve really been holding out. Why haven’t you brought him by?”
“Because, I don’t know… I don’t want to rush things.”
“Judging from how your whole face lit up when he got on the phone, I can tell you you’re past that.”
Just the thought of Ahmad had me smiling again, showing there was truth to her words.
“I just wanted to make sure things weren’t just casual, I guess.”
“I want to meet him in person. If he has you blushing and smiling like you just were, then there is nothing casual about it.”
My mom was right; nothing about Ahmad and me was casual.
I was falling for him, and that scared the shit out of me.
I didn’t know if it was too soon or if it was real since I’d never been through this before.
My heart always leaped when I heard Ahmad’s voice or saw his face.
Butterflies would still fill my stomach and my body would get all warm whenever he touched me.
I looked back at my mom and Johnny. I was finally starting to understand the feelings the two of them held for one another.
____
“If you’re not feeling this at any point, let me know and we can leave,” Ahmad told me, holding my hand as we walked up to my dad’s door.
I looked at the house and nodded.
Since I hadn’t seen my dad since my graduation, I wasn’t sure how tonight would play out.
He was happy when I told him I would come to dinner.
He was even happier when I told him I was bringing someone with me.
I was trying to walk into this with a clear head, but the closer we got to the door, the more anxious I grew.
It was crazy because this was my dad, the man I used to love more than anyone growing up, and now the thought of him made me wish he had never been in my life from the beginning.
We stopped in front of the door and I pressed the doorbell.
“Stop looking like you’re about to walk into a war zone,” Ahmad laughed.
“That’s what I feel like,” I mumbled.
“Aye.” He pulled on my hand, prompting me to face him. “You’re doing this for you, not him, remember that. You don’t owe him shit. Say what you need to say, try to get to know your brothers, then we can leave with you having a clear conscience.”
I smiled up at him. Just that quickly he made me feel better. Reaching up, I grabbed his face and pulled it down so I could kiss him. I moved my hand down, brushing over his beard and gripping it lightly.
The front door finally opened, and I pulled away from Ahmad.
My dad was standing there smiling at the two of us. “I’m glad you decided to come, baby girl.” My face went blank.
“Let’s just get this over with, Dan,” I mumbled.
My dad had the nerve to look saddened by my response, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t here to make him feel better.
He stepped to the side and allowed us to enter the house.
“Everyone is already at the table,” my dad spoke then led us toward the back of the house.
As we walked through the house, I looked around. This was the first time I ever stepped foot in it, and I couldn’t lie and say whoever decorated it didn’t do their thing. My dad had money, so I wasn’t shocked that he lived in a large family home.
We walked down the hall and I peered in the living room.
It was huge, with the couch in the middle and a big flat screen mounted on the wall over the fireplace.
Just like Ahmad’s, it was a stone fireplace that complimented the room nicely.
There was a treadmill located behind the couch and what looked like a yoga mat as well.
We continued down the hall, and I observed the pictures on the walls, stopping when I noticed one.
“What’s wrong?” Ahmad asked, stopping next to me.
I didn’t respond, just kept my eyes on the pictures in front of me.
“Do you remember taking these?” My dad backpedaled and asked.
“It was a birthday, I remember that,” I told him.
I looked at the frame that was divided into five sections, and each one was filled with pictures of me. Some were of my dad and me.
“It was your tenth birthday. Your mom wanted to capture your double-digit year.”
I looked happy in the pictures. I was in a pink dress with a white bow around it, and my hair was in two pigtails. My mom was wearing a matching dress, while my dad had on a pink polo and white shorts.
“I remember these. This was the year you left us. I have the pictures somewhere in a box at home.” I rolled my eyes and grabbed Ahmad’s hand, brushing past my dad.
As soon as we got to the dining room, my eyes landed on Heather, my dad’s wife. I cut my eyes at her before looking over to where my brothers were. Both of them were on their phones and didn’t even notice me.
“Put the phones up. We’re about to eat,” my dad said, stepping into the dining room behind us.
He took a seat next to Heather, and Ahmad and I took the two seats across from them.
“I didn’t catch your name,” my dad said to Ahmad.
“Ahmad.”
“Well, since my daughter isn’t going to introduce us, I guess it’s up to me.” My dad looked at me like I was going to jump, but I sat there with my lips pressed together. He sighed and shook his head.
“I’m Dan, and this is my wife, Heather. These are Fatima’s brothers, DJ and Jalen.”