He exhaled slowly, annoyance clearly tugging at him. The man had the nerve to be aggravated that he messed up. Craziness.
“Sibley, I told you the tournaments have been running later. We are in the finals. I couldn’t just walk out.”
“True.” I falsely agreed with him.
The simplicity of that answer seemed to confuse him. “I came by first thing this morning,” he added quickly. “Before I head back. I didn’t sleep much, and I wanted to see you.”
“That’s fine,” I said, taking another sip of water.
His eyes searched my face, maybe looking for anger, tears or hell, any sign that the situation had shaken me. I gave him none of it, because the shock of his carelessness with me had worn off.
“Where did you go last night?” He asked finally.
“It doesn’t matter. I wasn’t with you.”
Damien swallowed. “I know I messed up. I’m sorry. Let me make it up to you. We can do dinner later. Just us. I’ll handle everything.”
Dinner later, I laughed in my mind. That was just as cheesy as this teddy bear and balloon. I glanced toward the living room where my phone still rested on the coffee table.
“I have plans today,” I said gently.
“With who?”
“I’m still celebrating my birthday, Damien. Whoever that includes is who it includes.”
He stood there as embarrassment hovered over him now that my girls were fully awake and moving around. Treasure said nothing, and neither did Tara, but they did watch.
“Aight,” he muttered. “Call me.”
“Have a good day,” I replied, shutting the door behind him, securing the chain on it again.
“Girl.” Treasure sighed, sitting on the couch. “Damien got some nerve. He love basketball more than you, and he ain’t shy about it.”
I joined her and picked up my phone. Kier’s message was still there.
Mr. Producer:
I wanna see you.
I stared at the screen for a moment, then showed Treasure as Tara made her way into the bathroom.
“Look, girl!”
She gasped, taking my phone from me. She mouthed, “Is this Stone?”
I nodded, and she replied to his text before I could take my phone back from her.
Me:
Okay, tell me when?
Three dots appeared almost immediately.
Later that evening,I was dressed, staring at myself in the mirror. This was my third time changing, because nothing seemed cute enough or appropriate. I was on pins and needles, anticipating seeing Kier again. The only thing easing my anxiety was knowing Treasure was coming with me. He told me to bring her if she wanted content. I thought that was so thoughtful. Itold her I didn’t know where we were going, but of course she was on board; she was more excited than me.
“Are you really still in the mirror, Sibley?” She asked, walking into my room and plopping down on my bed.
“Yeah, nothing feels quite right.”
