She hit him with a supersweet grin.
That’s right, bitch. You’re caught.
Samiah looked to the woman sitting across from him. The red globe over the light fixture that hung above the table cast a rosy glow across her light brown skin. Her reddish-brown hair was done up in thick box braids and she had cheekbones Samiah would sell her soul for.
“Hi.” She extended her hand with a genuine smile. “I’m Samiah.”
“Taylor,” the woman answered with matching politeness. “I thought for a minute that you were London.”
Samiah nodded toward the phone sitting next to a half-eaten plate of sushi. “Is London the other woman on Twitter?”
Taylor nodded. Amusement glittered in her light brown eyes.
“Twitter?” Craig asked, his sweat-slicked forehead scrunching up in confusion. “What’s going on here?”
“Your lies are catching up to you,” Samiah answered. She nodded at Taylor, who’d propped her elbow on the table and now perched her chin on her closed fist. “Let me take a stab at this. He invited you to go out to a club after dinner, but just gave you a lame-ass excuse for why he needs to cut the night short.”
“His mom is sick,” Taylor said, biting her lip to contain the smile turning up the corners of her mouth.
“Ah, yes, I’ve heard about his sick mama. Actually,I’mhis sick mama. He’s supposed to meet me in another half hour.” She tilted her head to the side. “I wonder who played the sick mother when he fed me that line on our first date.”
“That would be me.”
The three of them turned as a statuesque woman with rich brown skin, a head full of enviable coily, natural hair, and shoes to die for approached the table.
“At least I think it was me. Hello all, I’m London.” She plunked her hands on her hips, her wry smile directed at Craig. “The Internet is amazing, isn’t it? One of my fellowWalking Deadtweeps retweeted this hilarious first date from hell into my timeline. Imagine my surprise when it turns out to be the exact first date I had, down to the volcano sushi roll.”
“You have to admit that sushi roll is amazing,” Samiah said.
“Incredible,” London agreed.
Taylor pushed her plate toward them. “It’s the best. Dig in, ladies.”
They’d started to garner attention from the other tables. A number of people were openly staring, and the hum of whispers filtered in from various corners of the restaurant.
“I haven’t had dinner yet,” London said. “Should we order another?”
“Okay, now, wait a minute.” Craig put both hands up. “Let me—”
“Shut up.” Samiah cut him off. “You don’t get to speak here.”
“Come on, Sammy.”
“Shut. Up.” If he knew how close she was to elbowing him in the throat, he would walk out of here without saying a word. The grip she had on her rage was tenuous at best. “And don’t call me that stupid nickname. My name is Samiah.”
“That’s a beautiful name,” London said around a mouthful of sushi.
“Yes, it is. So is that jacket,” Taylor added. “I love the way it cinches a bit at the waist instead of being all boxy.”
“That’s the reason I bought it,” Samiah answered, looking down at her jacket. “Hey, are you ladies up to listening to some blues music? My ‘date,’” she said with an eye roll, “was supposed to take me to that new club on Sixth. I’d hate for this makeup to go to waste.”
“Oh, I don’t blame you,” London said. “That smoky eye deserves to be seen. I end up looking like a raccoon whenever I try for that look.”
“I can give you some tips,” Samiah offered. “It’s all in the primer you use.”
“All right, enough of this.” Craig pushed his chair away from the table and stood. “I can explain—”
Samiah whirled on him. “Read the room, Craig. Read the fucking room,” she snarled, unable to pull off the blasé pretense a second longer. She was hurt and upset and ready to lay into this asshole. “You’re caught, you lying piece of dog shit. Your stupid little game is over.”
