by Teneka Woods
“Uh-oh,” he winked at Tora. “This is our favorite part of the first date.”
Tora raised a brow and watched with curiosity as Whitney went into her purse and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. There was handwriting on the front and back, which looked like a list of questions.
“I have some things I want to ask you,” Whitney said.
“Oh? I didn’t know I would be interviewed.” She looked at Eric across the table and reached for her glass of water to take a sip.
Eric said, “This is just her way of getting to know you. She gets a kick out of doing this with all of my dates.”
“I see. But I thought you told her about me already.”
“Yeah, well, all the information I could find on the Internet.”
Tora couldn’t believe her ears. “I’m sorry. What?” She knew the only personal details she’d given him about herself were her first name.”
“Well, there aren’t too many Toras out there who love both photography and the Pittsburgh Steelers. I was able to narrow that down and find out who you really are. You just can’t trust people sometimes on these dating sites, and I just wanted to have a heads-up on who we were meeting tonight.”
“Okay,” Tora said. “I guess it is a smart thing to do considering you take your daughter along with you.”
“This is why I was so surprised when you suggested we meet without having a couple of conversations over the phone at least,” he said.
Tora shrugged. “I’m not much of a phone person. I prefer we cut all of that out and meet in person to get a feel for each other.”
Whitney cleared her throat. “Can I start with the questions now, Daddy?”
Eric rubbed his hands together. “Go ahead, baby. Let’s see what Ms. Tora is all about.”
She didn’t know what to expect, but something told her just the fact that she was on a first date for the first time in her life with a guy that included his child was going to be a peculiar one and she knew Candace would want to hear about it, too.
“Tora, what’s your occupation and where do you see yourself professionally in five years?”
Fair enough, she thought. “I work in retail, and I also have a few things I do on the side—such as photography. I sew, too. In five years I hope to have my own photography studio or my own little boutique selling women’s and children’s clothing.”
“Do you have any kids and, if not, do you want some?”
“That looks like a long list you got there,” she said to Whitney. “Are all of them two-part questions?”
“Only a few of them,” the girl said.
“No. And yes, I want kids.” Whitney wrote something down on the paper. Am I being scored?
“Okay… when was your last relationship and why did you guys break up?”
Tora looked at Eric. “Seriously? Who created this list?”
Eric smiled. “She came up with some of the questions, and I came up with some. She’s done enough of these to know what to ask though.”
Tora wasn’t sure how deep these questions were going to go, but she had no plans of sharing too much of her personal life with Eric just yet. And especially not with his child. “A couple years ago,” Tora answered. “We realized our life goals didn’t align.”
“Did you grow up with your father in the home?” Whitney asked.
“Until I was five.”
The girl made another notation on the page.
“What kind of relationship did your parents have?”
Tora said, “They divorced when I was five, but they are still friends to this day.”
“Sharon and Myles, right?” Eric said.
Her heart skipped a beat and she glared across the table at him.
“I saw the article about your dad and the place where he works.”
That was over a decade ago. She’d almost forgotten about it herself. It was the plant’s move and grand opening in a new, high-tech facility. She and Sharon were there to support her father and posed as a family together when the reporter interviewed Myles as the plant’s new shop manager.
Tora was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable, wondering just how much information Eric had on her. She made a mental note to do some research of her own name when she made it home.
“Don’t worry,” Eric said. “I wasn’t trying to find your social security number or anything.”
Tora let out a nervous chuckle and reached for her glass. “Could’ve fooled me.”
He laughed out loud. “Next question, Whitney. I’m enjoying this.”
“How important do you think it is to form a relationship with my daughter?”
Tora said, “My guess is this is one of the questions you came up with, Eric?”
“Yep.”
“Well, hypothetically-speaking of course, if I were in a relationship with someone who has a child, I would think it would be very important to have a relationship with the child, too. I understand the whole package-deal thing. And I can only hope it would be a situation where I would want to love him or her as much as I love my own.”
Whitney smiled. “I like her already, Daddy.”
“Me too,” Eric said.
Tora wasn’t won over just yet. She asked, “Is this going to be a one-sided interview?”
“Oh no. You’ll have a chance to get to know me as well. This is just stage one.”
“Stage one?”
“Stage two will be our second date.”
“Second date?” Tora questioned.
“Yeah, Whitney and I decide if a second date is necessary, and then she comes up with a day of activity for us.”
Tora’s forehead crinkled. “So, you take her on all of your dates?”
Whitney laughed.
Eric said, “No. Only the first one. I just let her plan out the subsequent dates. She loves being involved in the whole process, I’m telling you.”
Tora nodded, thinking how weird it all seemed.
“All of his dates have given me compliments for my ideas,” Whitney said.
“Oh really?” Tora nodded again. “It sounds to me like your dad goes on a lot of dates.”
Glancing over at Eric, Whitney said, “Well… we just haven’t found the right one yet.”
“I see. So, not too many make it past stage one?”
“Oh yeah,” Eric said. “Almost all make it past stage one. It’s at stage two where a lot of them freak out.”
Freak out? “Stage two is the point where they get to know you, correct?” She felt ridiculous using his terminology, as if this was a game show and she was a contestant competing for a chance to advance to the next level.
“They get scared,” Eric shrugged.
“Scared? Of what?” Tora asked, frowning. The waiter brought their food, interrupting Eric’s response. Tora thought once the waiter walked away Eric would continue, but for the next three minutes he and Whitney gushed over each other’s platters, taste-testing the other’s selection.
Tora’s phone rang and she reached into her purse to get it. “I’m sorry,” she said to Eric, “I need to take this phone call.” She stepped away from the table and walked towards the restrooms to answer. “Hey, Nate,” she said.
“Tora, hey. I’m just calling to touch base with you about tomorrow.”
“Alright. I’m supposed to meet you at The Ballroom at six o’clock, right?”
“Well, there’s been a little change of plans. I talked to my sister today and she said we’re gonna meet at my mom’s house first. Sort of like a little get-together before the big party, you know?”
Tora nodded. “Okay, so…?”
“So… can you be at my parents’ house at three-thirty?”
“Will I be taking photos there, too? Because this will increase the price. I have to be honest with you.”
“I understand,” he said. “We got you covered.”
“Text me the address and I will see you tomorrow at three-thirty.”
“Will do,” Nate said.
&n
bsp; “You okay?” Eric asked when she returned to the table.
“Oh yeah. That was just a client. I’m working an engagement party tomorrow.”
Whitney squealed and clapped her hands. “I love engagement parties,” she said.
“She wants to be a wedding and event planner,” Eric said at the surprised expression on Tora’s face. “That’s all she watches on television.”
“Well, it’s a profitable business to get into. There’s always an event or wedding to plan somewhere.”
“What do you think about my dad?” Whitney asked.
The question caught Tora off guard. “Well,” she said, “I don’t know much about him. I was the only one being interviewed, remember?”
“When you walked away he said you are incredibly sexy,” Whitney blushed. “He likes skinny women.”
“Oh,” Tora said, although she didn’t consider herself skinny. She was slim, but not skinny. Looking at Eric across the table, she said, “I like his eyes.” She decided to leave it at that because she didn’t feel it necessary to go on about the man’s assets in front of his daughter.
“Do you like live music?”
“Yeah, I do.”
Whitney clapped her hands again. “Good! Because I planned for you guys to have dinner and then go to Music On The Plaza next Friday night.”
I guess checking to see if I had any prior plans don’t matter. “So this means I’ve passed the test to make it to round two? Without answering all the other questions?”
They both laughed.
Whitney said, “We really like you. And I’m a pretty good judge of character.”
Tora thought the girl seemed wise beyond her years. She hadn’t asked the question, but she placed her around fifteen or sixteen years old.
“Will you go out with my dad again?”
How could Tora say no to the girl? Plus, Eric seemed decent enough, worthy of a second date.
After dinner they exchanged phone numbers and Eric promised to be in touch before Friday.
Once home, Tora read over Nate’s answers to her photography questionnaire again. She laid out her outfit and got all of her camera equipment together for the engagement party. Saturday was going to be a long day.
FIFTEEN
“Jordyn, it’s Nate again. You’ve missed several workouts in a row now, and I’m worried about you. I hope everything’s okay and that you haven’t given up. Remember it’s a process. And a couple bad days in a month won’t ruin the hard work you put in. The key is to get back on the wagon as soon as possible. Give me a call and let me know what’s going on, please.” Nate ended the voicemail. He hadn’t seen Jordyn since the last time they worked out together before the weekend of her family reunion. And she wasn’t returning his phone calls.
He took a seat on the bleachers. It was a few minutes before 8:00 a.m. and he was waiting for Leticia and Vaughn. In the meantime he thought about all he had to do before tonight’s party: pick up his shirts from the cleaners since he had been too lazy to do it the day before, stop by the barbershop for a beard trim and line-up, the mall for a new tie and to have his shoes shined because, after all, he was seeing Tora tonight and he wanted to look good. He would have his truck washed, too.
Leticia and Vaughn finally arrived. Nate suggested they warm up by completing some basic calisthenics exercises. Once done he instructed Leticia to do a walk/jog combination around the track—to jog the straight portion and walk around the curve—while he and Vaughn did something similar using the bleachers instead.
“Just follow me and do what I do,” Nate said to Vaughn. He knew the boy would be more inclined to go along with his commands since his mother was just a few feet away.
Nate started on the stairs and ascended them slowly. Once they reached the top he walked the length of the bleachers, increasing the pace slightly, until they reached the stairs on the opposite end and descended them. When they walked to the halfway point at the bottom of the bleachers, Nate stopped and they performed ten squats.
“What grade will you be in when school starts,” Nate asked as they ascended the stairs again. He remembered Leticia telling him Vaughn was headed to high school, so it was just Nate’s way of trying to get him to talk.
“Ninth,” Vaughn answered.
“High school will be some of the most fun you’ll have in your life. At least it was for me. The games, the pep rallies, the after school get-togethers with friends. You looking forward to it?”
Vaughn shrugged dismissively.
“There’s gotta be something you wanna get into. Getting involved in some extracurricular activities will help you meet people and make the time at school a lot more fun. What do you like to do? Act? Sing? Play music?”
“I draw sometimes.”
“Oh yeah? That’s cool.” Nate smiled, glad to get more than one word out of him. “You gotta bring some of your drawings with you next Tuesday and let me check ‘em out. I would love to see what you do.” He stopped mid-squat to walk over to Vaughn and remind him to keep his back straight and to not let his knees go past his feet as he lowered himself to the ground. “You should check the school’s website to see if they have an art club or something. I bet you’ll like that if they have one.”
For the next forty-five minutes Vaughn didn’t have much more to say but, for the most part, he continued through the workout at Nate’s set pace. His bright red hoodie was soaked through, but he still refused to part with it, and Nate realized it was a sort of security blanket for him.
They left the bleachers for the track.
“Looks like you jumped in somebody’s pool,” Leticia joked with her son when they caught up to her.
“He did much better today,” Nate said. “Not one complaint. I’m impressed.”
“Well, good. That’s what I want to hear.”
“I had my eye on you out here, too,” Nate told Leticia. “Remember when you couldn’t even jog to the first curve?”
“Oh yeah, that was embarrassing. And I feel pretty good now. I feel like I can do another two or three laps, but I probably shouldn’t push it.”
Nodding, Nate said, “Yeah, don’t wanna push yourself. Save some of that energy for our next session.”
They sat on the track to do some stretching.
“We’ll see you next Tuesday,” Leticia said when they reached the parking lot.
“Alright, have a good weekend. Vaughn, don’t forget to bring your drawings for the next session.”
“Bring his drawings? For what?” Leticia looked at Nate.
“He told me he likes to draw and I asked to see them the next time we meet.”
Leticia smiled and replied softly, “Thank you, Nate.”
SIXTEEN
A Mediterranean oasis. This was Tora’s thought when her navigation system announced she’d arrived at the address. She placed her jeep in Park to check the text message from Nate again just to be certain it was the correct house. In the few years she lived in Houston she’d heard about the River Oaks area, but never had a reason to explore this side of the city. It was definitely the place where some of the wealthiest citizens resided, she’d said to herself as she drove down Kirby Road, captivated by the exquisite homes tucked behind evergreen trees in yards spacious enough to hold an additional single family size home in front.
Looking at Nate’s parents’ grand house with its curved archways, private terraces, and Italian Cypress trees, she knew it would serve as a beautiful backdrop for some of the party photos.
Tora pulled into the driveway and immediately thought how her candy apple red Wrangler seemed out of place amongst the four shiny black luxury vehicles. She wondered which one belonged to Nate as she grabbed her purse and got out.
It was her second ring of the bell before she heard footsteps on the other side of the dark mahogany wood double doors. A woman answered resembling what Tora imagined Old World royalty looked like, and she hoped when she reached middle age she would look half as good as this woman with gorgeous, un
touched skin, a head full of silky gray hair, and majestic style. But, while Tora stood admiring the stunning beauty, the woman looked back at her with critical eyes.
Maybe the lipstick is too much, Tora thought. But the matte teal color was her top favorite and every time she wore it out she received compliments. “Hi,” she said, “are you Mrs. Walker? I’m here to meet with Nate.”
The woman studied her from head to toe as if to say Tora couldn’t possibly know anyone associated with this address.
“I am. Who are you and how do you know my son?”
“My name’s Tora Jamison of Take Two Photography. The photographer for the engagement party tonight?”
Mrs. Walker’s eyes settled on Tora’s nose. “You are?” she asked, her voice full of skepticism.
Tora shifted her weight from one leg to the other. Maybe I should’ve taken the ring out, too. “Yes. He told me to meet him here at three-thirty.”
It seemed like a full minute of intense study from Mrs. Walker before she finally stepped back and opened the door for Tora to enter. “Come in,” she said.
Tora’s mouth dropped when she stepped into the foyer behind Mrs. Walker. The grand, winding staircase to their left, the chandelier hanging above it, the pristine white columns, the furnishings, the art. Her eyes quickly took it all in.
“Have a seat in here,” Mrs. Walker said, motioning towards the room to the right of the entryway.
Tora did as she was told and Mrs. Walker disappeared to the other side of the wall without another word to her.
She sat alternating between looking out of the big, floor-to-ceiling windows behind her and at her smartphone as time passed. Twenty minutes had gone by and neither Mrs. Walker nor Nate had shown up and she needed to get her camera equipment out of the car. She heard kids playing somewhere on the second floor above her head. Maybe he’s upstairs getting ready, she thought.
The front door opened suddenly and Tora looked up. A woman came in carrying three boxes. She was a short woman, so the boxes stacked atop each other hid her face. Tora wondered if it was Nate’s sister and was about to ask if she needed help, but the woman zoomed through the foyer before she could get the words out of her mouth.
