by Bell, Kris
Tara turned to Rhys. “Did this chick just say ‘swag’?”
Rhys nodded his head slowly. “Yeah, I think so.”
I couldn’t hold it any longer. The giggles that came from me were nothing short of a borderline hysterical fit. Tara caught on fast enough and joined in the laughter, but Rhys still didn’t look too sure.
“What the hell is so funny? So, you didn’t do him? I don‘t get it,” he said.
I shook my head and told him and Tiffany that I was just kidding.
“Rhys, you know me better than that,” I said. “How would I look messing around with a man I don’t even know when I’m engaged to Kyle? I just felt like ruffling your feathers since you didn't want us to meet.” I crossed my arms and smirked at him.
Rhys had the good sense to stay quiet and look humble.
“Relax, Rhys. Nothing happened,” I reassured him. “We did meet in Barnes & Noble, and we did talk for a long time. I ended up going to this house and—”
“You went to his house? I thought you two didn’t know each other?” Tiffany said. That was the first time she had said anything to me all day. For a second, I didn’t even realize she was speaking to me.
“No, we didn’t know each other well. And to be completely honest with you, I never just go home with a random guy even if I knew nothing was gonna happen. But he’s cool with Rhys, and I trust Rhys’ judgment. Besides, we clicked so well when we were at the bookstore. I didn’t really want the day to end there.”
Tara piped up. “Yeah, now I know for sure that I’m proud and not worried. You actually did something that is not ‘Izzy-like.' Such a good girl.” She topped off her smart remark by patting me on the head like a good ole puppy.
Rhys nodded his head in agreement. “You’re right, Tara, ‘cause Izzy damn sure don’t know the meaning of ‘spontaneity’.”
I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t about to say anything, though, because they were right. I never take many risks, but last night, I took a big one.
Tiffany looked a little perplexed by her husband’s last comment.
“I don’t get it, baby. You’re always talking about how goofy and loud Izzy is. Why wouldn’t she do something bold?”
I cut my eyes to Rhys and folded my arms. I knew he saw me looking at him, but he opted to play dumb and answer Tiff’s question instead.
“She is goofy and loud with people she knows, people she’s comfortable with. Around anyone else, she’s kind of like a bookworm or corny schoolmarm, or some boring shit like that.”
“Well, more like a nerd,” Tara added.
“That's it. She's a nerd.” Rhys agreed. “Izzy has to warm up to you. Otherwise, you may never really see ole girl in action.”
I listened as all three of them started laughing at my expense. Normally, I would’ve tried to turn the heat onto someone else and get the attention off of me, but today it didn’t matter. I was still in the clouds from my time with Richie Reyes the day before, and nothing was going to get me down. Not even my mother, who had called me this morning, and for once, didn't manage to successfully upset me. That said a lot.
“You guys can make jokes and laugh all you want. I’m not gonna get all goofy and loud like some people think I am.” I got up and punched Rhys lightly on his shoulder as I walked by him on my way to the kitchen to get a drink. I noticed as Tiffany stopped laughing and cut her eyes at me as I walked by. If I didn’t know any better, I swear she thought I was one of Rhys’ former part-time girlfriends. How little she must know about her husband.
As I came back into the living room, drink in hand, I made it a point to walk the long way around the coffee table and not directly in front of Rhys. I didn’t need Tiffany suspecting anything, especially when there was nothing to suspect. Rhys and I had been friends for years and as much as she may have hated it, I wasn’t planning on going anywhere.
Tara was oblivious to Tiffany, as usual. She turned to me and asked excitedly, “So, when’s the big date? You can’t have had such a good time last night without a follow up date.”
“Did you completely forget about Kyle?” I asked. “We can't date. I won't allow that, but we are supposed to get together on Friday, hang out and what not.”
“Um, honey,” Tara said in a sweet voice, “that's a date.”
I smiled inwardly as I thought about how nervous Richie was when he asked if he could see me again this weekend. I had told him about Kyle almost as soon as he had come back to the table with a plate full of cookies. I didn't want him to get the wrong idea, despite the fact that I was openly flirting with him. But as much as I had tried to dial it back, I couldn't; Richie was gorgeous, charming and interesting. I couldn't help but open up to him. But to keep myself grounded, I talked about Kyle. Not about our communication problems, though. Just that he and I were in love and committed.
Richie seemed to be a little crestfallen at first, until he mentioned that Rhys had already spilled the beans about me and Kyle. It didn't matter, though. He still wanted to get to know me, and I was okay with that. Besides, no one is so rich as to throw away a friend, right?
“Tara, it's totally not a date. Like I said, we're just hanging out.”
"At his house again?" Rhys asked.
"No. Some restaurant in Virginia Beach."
Tara smirked. "Uh huh! It's a date."
"It's not a date!" I protested.
“What about your fiancé, Izzy? Don’t you think it’s kind of messed up for you to be going out with another man?” Tiffany asked, looking me up and down.
“Well, Richie knows about Kyle,” I said carefully. “I don’t plan on doing something stupid with him knowing I already have someone. But it has been so long since I’ve hung out with someone who wasn’t y’all, and I’m looking forward to it. You guys know I don't meet people easily, and Richie is just so easy to talk to.”
“Wow!” Rhys said softly. He sat back and nodded his head. I could tell that he was heavy in thought, but I knew better than to ask about it. He’d just say “nothing” like a typical man.
Tara, on the other hand, started bouncing up and down in her seat like a kid on Christmas morning.
“Ah, shit! That means that you and I gotta go shopping and find you a sexy-ass outfit to show off your curves and make that man pant through the whole date. I want to see if I can whip up an outfit to make you lose all your inhibitions, and if you do, I want blow by blow details. Literally! ‘Cause I know your chunky ass is freaky as hell, and you ain’t had any since before Kyle’s sorry ass left. Ain't no sense in putting up a facade!”
Incredulous, I exclaimed, "It's not a date!"
"Honey, whatever helps you sleep at night. But we're still going shopping.”
Well, damn.
“I still don't understand how you can go out with another man. If that’s the case, you're really not thinking about Kyle. Don’t you think he deserves a little more than that?” Tiffany continued.
“Look, Kyle is in Texas taking care of business. I love him to pieces, and no one can ever replace him. But like I said before, I just want to go out and have fun. Richie seems like a really cool person, and he interests me. Maybe out of this whole thing, I’ll come out with another friend. I'm not looking for anything more.”
But no sooner were the words out of my mouth did I begin to wonder if I even meant them.
RICHIE
I glanced over at Rhys as we drove to his place. We had just finished working out. It was a regular routine for us. Well, regular for me. I practically had to lie to my best friend to get him to work out with me today. I told him we were going to lunch. When we pulled up to Gold’s Gym, I could tell he was a little aggravated at first, but after a few sets of handball, all was good A cool wind crept into the car from the cracked front windows. I felt pretty refreshed.
However, Rhys was hurting. He swore under his breath as he rubbed his left shoulder. I kept the urge to laugh in his face buried in my gut. I tried to tell him that he couldn’t always rely on simply being s
lim. He was getting older and was not as fit as he looked. The fact that I whooped his ass twice in handball earlier today proved my point.
“So, today’s Friday.”
“Huh?” I asked. Rhys stared in my face with a look I couldn’t pinpoint, almost like he expected me to say something.
“Well? Today’s Friday,” he repeated.
“Yeah, you keep saying that,” I responded. He was starting to make me lose my post workout high. I hated when he got like this. Trying to figure out what was on his mind sometimes was like trying to successfully guess lotto numbers.
“What’s the deal? Why is today so damn special to you?”
Rhys rolled his eyes and shook his head. “You mean to tell me that you forgot you had a date tonight? A date with my friend? A date with my friend that you didn’t even tell me about?”
Shit. I had neglected tell Rhys that Isabel and I had bumped into each other a few days ago. Since he had been so determined to keep us from talking, I figured I could ease that little tidbit of information into his head later on down the road, but obviously that wasn’t going to happen. Isabel must’ve beat me to it.
So now the dilemma: Should I be upfront with my boy and let him know that I’m supposed to spend some time with his close friend, or do I bullshit my way out of telling him, at least for today? I pulled into an empty parking spot in front of his apartment and turned the engine off. Neither of us made a move to get out of the car. Instead, Rhys turned toward me, waiting for an explanation.
I decided to go with the former. “Yeah, it slipped my mind, Rhys. My fault. I ran into her a few days ago in Barnes & Noble, and I asked her if she wanted to do something tonight.”
“Uh huh,” Rhys grunted. The corners of his lips turned up like he could tell I was holding back. I played it off like I didn’t even notice.
“So,” Rhys said after a moment, “where are you taking my Izzy? It better not be Burger King or some shit like that.”
I looked over at him as if he had lost his damn mind.
“Hell naw, I'm not taking her to Burger King. And, no, I ain’t taking her to Mickey D’s either. Some new restaurant opened up in Virginia Beach a couple months ago. Toriello’s. It’s supposed to be a ‘grown and sexy’ theme tonight. I figured we could have dinner over there, maybe some dancing. And before you say anything, yes, I plan to keep my hands to myself. I know about her man. It's just fun. Does that sound decent enough for 'your' Izzy?” I threw in that last comment because I knew for myself that Toriello’s was a great place to take a woman. It was one of the most expensive restaurants at the Beach. Most women we’ve dated in the past never got a first date like the one I was going to give Isabel, and he knew it.
Rhys nodded in agreement. “Yeah, that sounds cool. Just, you know—”
“What?” I asked, curious.
Rhys took a deep breath. “You know that Izzy is important to me. I mean, she’s like a sister, man. I just don’t want her to get hurt or disappointed.”
“I have no intentions of doing that man,” I reassured Rhys. “You know me better than anybody. When have I ever disrespected a female, besides a couple of whacked out females you tried to set me up with?”
Rhys chuckled. He knew I was right.
“Listen, man, I ran into her and we talked. I like her, too. I mean, what’s the big deal? We go out tonight and converse a little, have a good time. We become friends just like she is to you and you are to me. That’s all I’m looking for, dude. She told me all about her man in Texas. I know she's off the table. I just want to get to know her like you did.”
Rhys looked at me and grinned a little. “Yeah. She said she hit it off with you too. And she told you about Kyle, huh?”
I nodded. Rhys had mentioned her fiancé before Isabel and I had met, and I couldn't lie and say I was less than pleased to discover she wasn't single. That's not to say I was surprised, though. A nice woman like Isabel wouldn’t stay single for long.
“Well, alright Rich. Y’all have fun tonight. Let me know how it goes.”
“Oh for sure!”
We gave each other a fist pound and he got out of my car. I sat in his driveway for a few extra seconds before I pulled off. Strange as it may seem, talking about my date with Isabel actually gave me butterflies. What the hell was I nervous for?
* * * *
The look on Isabel’s face when we walked into Toriello’s was priceless. The huge restaurant doubled as a club with two upstairs dance floors: one for the smooth types who just desire good music, strong drinks and a grown and sexy atmosphere, and the other for the diehard dancers who needed to sweat out a few issues to the latest Hip Hop and R&B songs. The entrance to the building was grand with a high ceiling, and the restaurant portion of the building had floor to ceiling windows, soft lighting and plenty of well-dressed bodies. The atmosphere reeked of “money.”
It was obvious that this place was different from anything Isabel was used to. I took her through the main dining room, my arm around her waist. By the time we made it to a large tropical aquarium near the center of the room, Isabel was in complete awe of her surroundings. I chuckled. I didn’t mean to laugh in her face, but she was so damn cute with her eyes big like saucers and a child-like look of glee on her face. I just couldn’t keep it in.
She didn’t say a word until after we had been seated. We were in a semi-opened booth in the far back of the dining room near one of the huge windows.
“This place is beautiful, Richie. I didn’t even know it existed!” Isabel said, still taking in the sights of the lavish room.
I smiled at Isabel and touched her hand. She gave me a bright smile and didn’t move away like I thought she might.
“So, do you take all of your friends to places like this or are you laying it on thick for a reason?”
I chuckled. In spite of my efforts to assure this woman that I did not want anything from her but her company, she still refused to believe me. It was cute for now, but I was really hoping she would loosen up.
“Isabel, the only reason I brought you out here is for us to enjoy ourselves. We got dinner, dancing, conversation and anything else your oversized head can think of.”
Isabel gave me a mock shocked gasp and slapped me on my arm. I snatched my hand away in pretense of being wounded. “Damn! We haven’t even ordered yet and you already beating on me. What gives?”
“Serves you right,” she said with a grin. I looked her over again. If I thought she was pretty before, I damn sure knew she was beautiful now. Her long hair (which I discovered was indeed real) fell down her back in loose waves, and her simple black dress clung to all the right curves. Her makeup was uncomplicated. From the looks of it, she only wore lip gloss and some eye stuff. Well, whatever she did, it was working. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.
“You’re staring again.”
I broke my gaze. “Sorry, Isabel, but I can’t help it. You look really nice tonight.
“Thanks, Richie. You look…very nice yourself.”
I had made sure I looked good before stepping out of my house. My crisp black Ralph Lauren suit was bad enough to have walked into the restaurant by and order my meal for me. It felt nice to be complimented.
“I have a question for you, Rich, if you don’t mind me asking,” said Isabel from behind the menu. Only her big brown eyes poked out from the top.
“Lay it on me, lady,” I responded, opening my own menu as I kept my eyes on her.
“Why is it that you call me ‘Isabel’ when everyone else calls me ‘Izzy’?”
I put my menu down, and furrowed my brow. “Is that a problem? I didn’t—”
“Hello. Welcome to Toriello’s. My name is Mikel. I’ll be your server this evening. Could I start the two of you off with our signature chardonnay?”
I turned to the server and gave the okay for the wine. With no hesitation or shame, he began to fire off a list of the house specials and make suggestions for our dinner. He seemed so damn excited about the food, Isabel
and I placed an order without looking through the menu. I waited for Mikel to gather up the menus and leave before giving her a little nod to continue her point.
“It’s not a problem that you call me by my whole name at all. It’s just different. People have been calling me Izzy for years. I guess I’m just used to it.”
Relief flooded through me as the tension that was building in my shoulders melted away. The last thing I wanted to do was call this woman by the wrong name. Not too many people would tolerate an offense like that.
I leaned back into my seat. “Well, with a name a beautiful as ‘Isabel’, it’s a shame you’re not called by it more often.”
Isabel’s grin grew broader, and I could easily picture having those juicy lips against mine. Maybe I’d eventually get the chance, but I certainly wasn’t going to hold my breath.
We conversed for a few minutes while we waited for our meal; everything was going great until I saw something from my peripheral vision that made my stomach drop. I contemplated hiding behind my napkin, but Isabel would most likely consider that rude. Try as I might, the horrible vision in my eye took notice of me and sashayed its way over to the booth.
“Richie, is everything alright?” Isabel asked, noticing my sudden unease.
I took a deep breath. Might as well get it over with. “Isabel, first off, I’m sorry for what’s about to happen. Secondly, I didn’t plan this.”
Before Isabel could open her mouth and start firing off questions, I heard a hateful voice in my ear.
“Well, if it isn’t Richie Reyes out on what appears to be a very expensive night on the town?” hissed Chloe Childs. Though she was smiling, it didn’t take a person with supersonic hearing to catch the venom in her voice. I decided to bite the bullet and be a man and get the whole thing over with. The last thing I needed was for this evil woman to mess up a perfectly good evening.
Reluctantly, I glanced at Chloe as Isabel began shifting back and forth in her seat. The poor girl was uncomfortable. I couldn’t say I blamed her.
