Mask

Chapter 10

Jeremih

I spent about an hour in the mirror before finally deciding on the perfect outfit to wear to meet Tailani. It wasn’t like it was a date, or maybe it was a date, reading her was hard. Sometimes it seemed like she liked me, other times it seemed like she wanted to tell me something, and I was determined to find out. Yes, it was my job to spy for my boss, but I couldn’t deny the attraction no matter how much I knew I had to.

I arrived at the restaurant first. It wasn’t fancy, so I was glad I settled on a button up and some slacks. It was exactly 7 when she sashayed her way towards me wearing some skinny jeans that hugged the ass I wished I could squeeze and a blouse that covered the beach balls I wished I could taste, and just like that, my c**k strung to life and I had to adjust myself in my sit. “You actually came,” I said, as I stood up to let her seat out while making sure to avoid contact with her.

“Of course, I am a woman of my word. Thank you,” she said, as I made my way back to my seat, smiling like an i***t.

“Hello, I am Raul and I will be your waiter for the evening. Is there anything you want to drink?” A tall dark skin man said, as he rudely stared down Tailani’s blouse.

“Hey eyes up,” I warned. Raul looked at me guiltily.

“I’ll have some lemonade,” she said, apparently oblivious to the attention.

“Water,” I barked, and the waiter disappeared.

“Thanks for helping with the perverted waiter,"  She said, shaking her head, and letting me know that she did notice.

“First I would like to apologize for stalking you,” I began.

“Attempting to stalk,” she said, reminding me that I got caught on my first attempt.

“Attempting to stalk you." I chuckled, "It's just that my boss..."

She raised her hand, again cutting me off, “Stop right there. You are not allowed to bring that bastard up in my presence,” she said, sternly.

I snickered, “Yes ma’am, but can I ask you a question?”

“Is it related to him?” She asked, with an eye roll.

“Why don’t you like him?” I asked, only out of curiosity, plus it was fun listening to her bash him, since I couldn't do it.

“Because he is an egotistical maniac. He speaks about himself in the third person and all he cares about is himself and success. And as you can see, he’s a fake. I don’t have time for that. I have a daughter…” She said, as if it were an afterthought then stopped talking.

“Daughter,” I asked, feeling like someone had smacked me upside my head with a 2x4. A daughter she has a daughter. Is she in a relationship too? She gotta be, she's beautiful. There's no ring on her finger, nor is their a tan line, but that doesn't mean anything, she could have one of those relationship that they choose not to wear rings. Or maybe it's a boyfriend. If its a boyfriend, that's not a problem. I thought.

“Yeah, I have a daughter.” She said, as she nervously moved a strand of hair behind her ear, and interrupting my thoughts.

“That’s why you didn’t want anything to do with DeAndre,” I said, slowly trying to digest the situation. 

She shook her head profusely, “I don’t want anything to do with DeAndre, because he’s insane and I can’t stand him. It has nothing to do with my daughter,” She declared.

“Oh, and the father? Are you two still together,” I asked. Say no. I thought.

She signed, “Her father and I only knew each other briefly; he had no idea Imani existed. She will be 9 in a few months,” She said, sounding a lot less professional than earlier.

“Oh,” I said. Then my mind started to think. When we met earlier that day, she felt familiar, and those eyes. There was something about those eyes that I couldn’t forget. Then she just told me her daughter’s age. She’s almost 9 so that means. I thought then my eyes shot up to meet hers, and as I suspected she was looking everywhere but at me. Then the waiter came back.

“Are you ready to order?” He asked.

“Chicken parm,” she said, as she handed him the menu, with her eyes still glued to the table.

“Same,” I said, as I handed him my menu, but kept my eyes focus on the woman in front. The woman that if I was right, was the girl from 10 years ago in Miami. The girl that by my own stupidity, I didn’t ask for her name nor turn on the light to see her. Are you her? I thought. “9?” I said, as the waiter took the menus and walked away.

“Yeah. She’ll be 9 in a few months,” she said, as she nervously slipped her water.

“When’s her birthday?” I asked, determined to know if this was indeed my daughter and if she was the girl from that room, while still nervous at the idea that she might be and what would happen if she was.

“May 7th 2012,” she said, more to the table than me.

“Oh,” I said, as I sipped my water. We sat there in silence, until the waiter dropped off our food. I didn’t know what to say or how to ask. I didn’t want to assume what my heart was telling me and be wrong, so I just allowed my mind to run at its own speed.

Finally she said, “Just ask me,”  breaking the silence, thereby answering that question for me.

“Are you that girl from Miami?” I asked.

“Yes,” She said, in a whisper but looking as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

I let out a nervous laugh then brought my hands to my face, “I can’t believe you are actually her,” were the first words that came out of my mouth. “When did you know?” I asked, curious and happy that I finally found her. I promised myself 10 years ago, that if I ever found her, I would never let her get away because that night meant everything to me.

“Earlier when I heard your voice and my daughter looks like you,” she said, reminding me that I had an almost 9-year-old daughter that I didn’t know about.

“Why didn’t you say anything earlier?” I asked, trying to sound cool and collected but feeling a bit angry for not knowing.

“I didn’t know how. We just ran into each other. You work for the person in charge of our account and I’m the CEO Thorton and we were supposed to be talking about something related to the company not something that happened 10 years ago,” She explained. Her voice was soft, but stern.

“That’s true. So now what do we do?” I asked. I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to pick up where we left off ten years ago then meet my daughter, but I knew that couldn’t happen, at least not yet and given the predicament that I was in, I didn’t think it’d ever happen again.