Rituals for Love (9781476761893) (22 page)

Omar danced in front of me, behind me, and around me. One minute he was moving in close, the next he was backing up to give himself room to rock out to the music. He came up behind me and his body touched mine. I stepped away and turned to face him. He smiled, flashing those dimples. He took my hand and pulled me closer. I tugged back, but he held tight. There was an inch between us. He stayed close, but he didn't breach the slight space keeping us apart.

He leaned in close to my ear. “Don't worry, I'm behaving.”

We danced to a few more songs before I led him back to the lounge area. “I couldn't keep up with the house music.”

“You weren't doing too bad in those heels.”

“I felt like I was moving in slow motion.”

“If you were, then I must've been, too. I was right in time with you.”

We laughed at the possibility that we were offbeat, yet thinking that we were jamming. I was adamant that I may have been a millisecond slow, but certainly not offbeat. “You were the one doing spins and carrying on, not me,” I teased.

“I was smooth out there.” He waved the waitress over and ordered more drinks.

He was a good dancer. I'd give him that. You could tell he was enjoying himself while he partied. If he wasn't smiling, he was singing the lyrics to the song. He pulled you in to his feel-good vibe.

“I'll tell you what's smooth…these vanillatinis. They sneak up on you.”

“Do you want some water?”

“I didn't come to happy hour to drink water.”

“Technically, happy hour is over. So we should get you a bottle of water.”

“That'll be my next drink.” I giggled.

“I'll let the waitress know when she comes back.”

“Omar, you don't have to stay in the lounge with me. I see some cute ladies in here tonight. You should be trying to find someone to charm out of their panties.”

He raised his eyebrows. “That's what I should be doing?”

“I don't see why not.”

“Who said I'm not already doing that?”

“You're talking about my panties?”

Omar was about to respond when Ernest came over and interrupted. “Everything okay?”

“Ernest,” I said, dragging out his name. “Thanks for the drinks.”

“It was my pleasure.”

“You need to bottle those vanillatinis and sell them.”

Ernest cocked his head to the side. “We do sell them… Jade, are you driving?”

“My car is parked in the lot around the corner.”

“I can take her back to Long Island,” Omar said.

“Don't go anywhere. I'll be back in a few.”

Ernest left Omar and me to continue our conversation. “What were you about to say about my panties?”

“I want it to go on record that you're the one that brought up panties.”

“My point was you should be mingling with the pretty girls instead of talking to me.”

“If I wanted to talk to other women, I wouldn't have asked you to meet me.”

It seemed that Omar and I ended up in the same discussion no matter how many times we changed the subject. One of us poked the sleeping bear. It could've been the alcohol that made me bring up the panties comment. I opened that can of worms, but I felt like pushing the envelope. There were plenty of women in the club. I sort of wanted to see who he'd choose. As long as I was there, he wasn't talking to anyone. I thought about going to bring someone over to him. Honestly, I wasn't sure I could make it across the room without a stagger or two.

We listened to song after song, chatting and laughing. I picked up my glass, and a bottle of water entered my peripheral vision. I looked up and Bria was holding the water bottle in front of me. “Hey, girl. What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same question,” she replied dryly. “How you doin', Omar?”

“I'm good, Bria.”

“I came to take my girl back to Long Island.”

I was sure I looked as confused as I felt. I looked up at Bria and then at Omar next to me, then back to Bria again. Ernest approached and asked Omar if he could talk to him for a second. They left Bria and me alone on the couch. “You came here to take me home?”

“Yes, chick. I was at Ernest's and he called me to say he thought you were too tipsy to drive home.”

“I'm fine. I only had a couple of drinks.”

“I know you after a couple of drinks.” She motioned from my head to toe. “This, what I see, is way more than two drinks.”

“I probably had four or so.”

“You should be glad Ernest called me. I took a cab from his place so we could drive your car home.”

“Well, damn. You and Ernest are like the fun police.”

“You better be thankful. The real police would have pulled your drunk ass over.”

“I went from tipsy to drunk that quick?”

“You're doing too much talking. Drink this water so we can get out of here.”

Omar walked back over to our section of the lounge. “So Bria is going to take you home.”

“I've heard.” I reached out and squeezed his hand. “Thanks for everything, Omar.”

“I'll give you a call tomorrow. Goodnight, Bria.”

“Later, Omar.”

Bria shook her head. “What were you drinking anyway?”

“Vanillatinis.”

Bria picked up my glass and sipped. “These are good. Not my kind of drink, but I could see how they could get someone really twisted.”

She drank the rest and stood up. “Ernest said you parked around the corner?”

“I can't believe you came to escort me home.” I laughed.

“More like drag.”

“I guess this would be considered a dragging.” I laughed again.

“Can you grab your purse and let's go? Or do you want to sit here laughing all night?”

I grabbed my belongings and headed toward the door with Bria. Ernest was standing out front talking to Omar. I hugged Ernest and then Omar. Bria and Ernest kissed each other goodnight with promises to call one another once they got home for the night.

Bria looped her arm through mine, steadying me while we walked, as I tried to maintain my sense of balance.

I
slid into the passenger seat and grappled with my seatbelt. Bria stared at me while I fumbled with the belt, trying to get the metal end into the locking mechanism. She reached over, smacked my hand and inserted the buckle. I laid my head back and sighed. Apparently I was more tipsy than I thought.

“I appreciate you driving me home. Sorry if I messed up your plans with Ernest.”

“You didn't. I was going home tonight anyway.”

“Thank goodness. I didn't want a lecture about how I ruined your evening.”

She glanced over at me and then back at the road. “Oh, your ass is going to get a lecture.”

“Ugh.”

“When Ernest called me, he said that you were with Omar and may have had too much to drink, the first thing that crossed my mind was what the hell were you doing hanging out with Omar?”

“We are friends, Bria. I was in the office at Genesis working, and he asked if I wanted to meet at happy hour. What's wrong with that?”

“Maybe nothing or maybe something. Ernest also mentioned you were saying something about your panties when he walked up.”

I leaned forward and cackled. “Ernest was all up in the mix.” Somehow my words turned into a mini rap. “All up in the mix. All up in the mix. Up in, up in, all up in the mix.”

Bria couldn't help but laugh. “Shut up, fool. You sound crazy.”

“Wow, he heard that? It wasn't anything to be concerned about.”

“He was looking out for you. He thought Omar was trying to take your drunk ass home. That's why he called me.”

“That was sweet. I'll thank him tomorrow.”

Bria droned on for a minute about why Ernest had to call to say her friend was at his club looking tipsy. Of course he could have minded his business, but he didn't want to be responsible if I had driven and something happened to me. She would never forgive him and so on and so on. I understood what she was saying, but I didn't know how many times she planned to repeat it. I got it the first time. It was awkward for Ernest to violate my privacy, but it was in my best interest and blah, blah, blah. And Omar is a good dude, but he didn't want me to be taken advantage of and yada, yada, yada. My head was starting to spin. I couldn't tell if she was saying blah or yada or if I was inserting it. I chuckled.

“This is funny?”

I straightened my shoulders. “No, not funny.”

“I wonder if Cain would think this was funny.”

I turned my head toward her. “Why did you have to go there?”

“You're with the next man in the club, talking about panties, and drinking too much. I have to wonder what your man would think about it.”

“What we're not going to do is make this something that it isn't. We. Are. Friends. Since when is it illegal to have drinks with a friend?”

“It's not. I just wonder what Cain would have to say. Did you tell him you were meeting Omar?”

“For your information, I haven't heard from Cain all day today. My phone has not rung once.”

“I called your ass about an hour ago and you didn't answer. So it rang at least once and your tipsy behind didn't know.”

I opened my bag and dug my hand through the contents until I found my phone. Two missed calls. The first one was from Cain and the other Bria. I dialed my voicemail and retrieved the messages.

I guess you're still upset since I haven't spoken to you for the past two days. I'm not sure where you are or what you're doing, but call me.

I'm on my way to pick your drunk ass up to take you home. See you in a minute.

“He called,” I mumbled.

“What's that? Your man called while you were getting your happy hour on?”

“Cain and I haven't spoken in two days. The last time we spoke we had an argument.”

I told Bria about Cain's comments and how they seemed to imply that he wasn't living his life or had abandoned some of the things he enjoyed doing before we started dating. Something about his tone made it seem as if I were responsible and he was going to do what he wanted whether I liked it or not.

“Men go through things, Jade. You should be glad he told you what he was feeling.”

“He can go through whatever he wants. But every day I'm at Genesis working my tail off and he's in Atlanta getting Riley set up.”

“So that's what this is about. Cain in Atlanta spending time with another woman?”

“No, it's not. It's about me busting my hump on our new business and him complaining that he didn't throw a barbecue this year… He can't be serious. We have a lot of work to do, and I feel like I'm handling it on my own. Not to mention, that annual barbecue costs a fortune. I mean a fortune, Bria. I'm trying to launch my
dream business on a budget and he wants to throw money away. I'm trying to be as cost efficient as possible and he just has money to burn on overblown bashes? What's worse is he's against me contributing capital to the project like he's my sugar daddy or something.”

“Whoa, take a breath.”

“Maybe now you understand why I wanted to blow off some steam at happy hour.” I looked out of the window as we crossed the Triborough Bridge.

I guess I was upset about a few things. I wasn't necessarily happy that Cain dropped everything and ran to Atlanta. I understood he had a business to run; I wasn't ignorant to that fact. However, he had a capable staff that could assist Riley in getting acclimated to the job. So, yes, maybe it bothered me more than I was willing to admit. It felt like he was bending over backward for a good chef with a pretty face. And if I thought about it, maybe I was insecure about my role in the business. Out of the two of us, he certainly had more experience and a proven track record with successful ventures. However, I had my own contributions that could benefit what we were trying to do. I didn't have the financial capability at my fingertips, but I was smart enough to know how and where to get financing.

“When is Cain coming back?”

“Sunday morning.”

“You two need to sit down and talk about whatever is bothering you. Business, barbecue, bitches…whatever it is you have to address it. Whatever you have going on with Omar, you need to address that, as well.”

“I told you he's going to be investing in Genesis.”

“Didn't I tell you that Omar wants to be more than friends? You
can call it him being flirty or whatever you like. He has his eye on the prize. You.”

“I know how to handle flirting and that's all it is. Omar knows I'm with Cain.”

“What he knows and what he wants is two different things.”

“He's harmless.”

“You just like the attention.”

“Who doesn't? In a way it's cute. It's like he has a schoolboy crush.”

“That's attention you should be getting from your man. Not a friend with a
grown-man
crush. You need to stop encouraging him.”

I closed my eyes. I wasn't going to subject myself to another lecture. I wasn't in the headspace for it. I hadn't done anything wrong and wasn't soliciting a slap on the wrist. She could reprimand me for being too tipsy to drive home, but not for enjoying a night out with a friend.

M
y keys caught in the lock as I pushed the door open. I stepped inside my foyer and waved to Bria. She waited until I took my keys out and closed the door before pulling off. I kicked off my shoes and treaded barefoot into the living room. I slumped down on the sofa and leaned back against the cushions. I was truly blessed with amazing sister-friends. Bria could be a little preachy, but that's how she had always been. It got on my nerves sometimes, but I loved her for it. She had my back since we were kids. I believed she would do anything for me and it was mutual.