Buzzz
Buzzzzz
Buzzzzzzzzz
"Somebody's phone is ringing," Rylie says in her sleep.
"Alright, I'm bouta check it," I say opening an eye to find the phone that's vibrating.
"It's not mine. I out mine on silent," Nova says.
"Hello," I say groggily into my phone not caring to look and see who is calling.
"Good morning baby," Mekhi says in a velvet voice causing me to hop off the bed.
"Good morning," I say stifling a yawn.
"Are you still sleep," he asks with a hint of laughter in his voice.
"I was. I had a long night," I say stretching my limbs and heading down to the living room so I don't disturb the girls.
"I see. I hope I'm not to blame," he says.
"Nooo, my girls came over late last night and we stayed up way too long," I say sinking into the sofa and pulling the quilt over me.
"I was going to ask if you wanted to go for a late breakfast, but I see you have company," he says causing me to look at the time on my phone and it's almost 11 am.
"Omg, I had no idea it was this late in the morning. How about lunch at the diner near the café in about an hour," I say not wanting to miss an opportunity to be with Mekhi even in this early stage of our relationship.
"Are you sure baby? If you're still tired just get your rest we can meet later," he says.
"Yes, I'm sure. Sundays are for family dinners so I'll have to be home tonight," I say closing my eyes and biting my lip.
"Alright, I'll meet you at the diner in an hour just let me know if you want to change your mind," he says.
"Okay, see you in a little while," I say sitting up.
"See you later baby," he says and ends the call.
I fold the quilt back over the couch and head back to my room where Nova and Rylie are up brushing their teeth and washing their faces. I sit on the bed and wait my turn.
"That was Mekhi," Nova asks.
"Yeah, he wanted to go to breakfast," I say taking off my hair wrap.
"You're not going," Rylie says.
"Not to breakfast. I told him we can go to lunch," I say heading over to my closet to pull out something to wear.
"Cool, we're getting ready to head out anyway," Nova says.
"I had no idea it had gotten this late in the morning," Rylie says.
"Right! I can't believe we stayed up that late," I say to them pulling on my jeans.
"Me either, no wonder why we slept so late," Nova says getting dressed.
"Right! It's going to be a long day," Rylie says getting dressed.
"Good grief, I hope not. Thanks y'all for coming over," I say brushing my hair into a ponytail.
"No problem! You know we can always have sleepovers," Nova says.
"It's been a while since the last one," Rylie says.
"Yeah, I know. Next time we should be on vacation," I say before brushing my teeth.
"Definitely! We have to get the dates together," Nova says.
"We definitely have to plan something after exams and start saving our money," Rylie says putting the last of her things into her overnight bag.
"Yeah, I'm thinking about getting a part time job to fund this fun filled summer we're planning to have," I say grabbing my phone to text my parents that I'm going to the diner.
"Same," Nova and Rylie say at the same time and we all start giggling.
We gather the rest of our things and are happy that we cleaned the kitchen before passing out this morning because we can head out the door. When I get in the car I text Mekhi that I'm on my way and head out after Nova and Rylie. I definitely have to go over and visit their homes soon, it's been a long time since I've seen their families. I wonder when I should bring Mekhi home to meet my parents; maybe in a few weeks when we're going steady. Now that I'm getting close to the diner all I can do is think about Mekhi. When I finally reach the diner I park and check my appearance in the mirror once more before heading inside. As soon as I step inside the diner I see Mekhi is already here so I head over to the booth that he's in and because his back is turned to me I can sneak up on him.
"Guess who," I say sliding my hands over his eyes like a child.
"Must be my baby because I'm not here for anyone else," he says with a smile on his face and he places his hands over mine removing them.
"How'd you know," I say feigning disappointment as he releases my hands and stands to hug me and surprisingly kiss me.
"Just a wild guess," he says as he holds my hand while I slide into my seat.
"Did you wait here long for me," I ask as he slides back into his seat.
"No, I got here about five minutes ago," he says holding my hand looking at me tenderly.
"Oh ok," I say and bite my lip because my hormones are definitely raging wild because he's looking at me like that.
"Do you know what you want to eat today," he says with that velvet voice and I nearly combust in my seat. Good grief it's too early in the day for me to be feeling like this, I think to myself.
"Yeah, I'm going to have an omelet with fresh fruit. What about you," I ask trying to keep my composure. He keeps calling me baby and just now 'my baby' I don't think my overworked heart can take too much of this, I think to myself.
"Sounds good. I'm getting the pancake combo. Did you enjoy yourself last night," he asks.
"I did, I actually didn't want the night to end," I say blushing.
"Yeah, me either. It was a long night, that's why I asked if you wanted to go to breakfast," he says with a shy smile and again my little heart goes into overdrive.
"Well I wanted to see you too, so I guess it worked out for the both of us today," I say trying to calm myself.
"You're right. Did you think about everything we talked about yesterday," he asks.
"Yes, I'm confident with my decision to date you the only thing I ask again is to please be good to me," I say with a shy smile on my face. I knew I was going to agree to date him at this point it doesn't make sense not to.
"I stand by what I said last night, it might not be perfect but I'm going to try to get pretty damn close," he says grabbing my chin and leaning in for a kiss and I meet him there. This kiss is just as sweet as it was last night.
"Okay," I say feeling confident.
"Let's order breakfast," he says with a smile and signals for a waiter to come and take our order. I hadn't even paid attention to the fact that no one has come to take our drink order or anything maybe they read the atmosphere between us and decided to wait.
Just as he did yesterday he places both of our orders perfectly and defers to me to ask my drink preference. I wonder if it's a control thing or if it's done out of habit; he doesn't seem controlling and him placing both of our orders keeps it short and sweet. I don't mind it because he's not picking my food for me just placing my order.
"Hey, what are you thinking about over there," he asks grabbing my hand and placing it on his face.
"Nothing serious," I say smiling returning my full attention to the beautiful man in front of me.
"Uh huh. Did you and your friends have a good time last night," he asks seeming interested.
"Yeah, we did. Believe it or not I had a lot more food than I intended on eating hanging out with the girls. It's been a while since we've had a sleepover; I'm much more relaxed now, just a little bit
sleepy," I say to him.
"That's good to hear. I ended up going to a party on campus, but I didn't stay long," he says to me.
"Oh. How come," I ask him wondering if he had to fight the temptation of all the half-dressed girls?
"Well, honestly it felt a little boring. All the parties are the same on campus really," he says.
"Or you missed me," I say not believing the words that just came out of my mouth.
"Yeah, I would be lying if I said I didn't miss you. Tell me Lena, did you miss me," he says with that velvet voice and a lick of his lips and it's like he's talking to my nether region because I nearly combust.
"Yes," I barely whisper with a blush.
"I see," he says with that PBS and my heart takes off again.
"Don't make fun," I say with a small pout.
"Sorry, baby. You forgive me," he asks making a sad face of his own that slows my heart down. Damn, is there a face he can make that's not attractive? I say to myself.
"Fine," I say and run my thumb along his cheek.
"Thank you," he says with a half- smile.
"Mhmm," I murmur.
"So you have dinner with your family tonight," he asks changing the subject.
"Yeah, we have dinner together like twice a week just to touch base with each other," I say.
"That's cool. Do your parents know about me," he asks.
"Yes, I've told them about you; they've probably already assumed that I'm dating you so I'll bring you to meet them sometime this week," I say.
"Oh okay, that was fast," he says with a chuckle.
"No, they noticed the change in my mood and we don't really keep anything from each other. We try to be as open as possible in our house so that we can be at peace," I tell him.
"That's a cool concept. I'll meet them whenever you're ready," he says.
"Okay, I'll let you know," I say just as the food arrives.
We bless our food and begin eating. We make more small talk and exchange smiles like crazy fools. My spirit is full and overwhelmed with happiness. As I still a glance of this beautiful man across from me, I'm convinced that this is my new beginning and I will not mess it up. I should act like I'm going to the bathroom and sneak and pay the bill when he's not expecting it. I wonder how he'll react…there's only one way to find out.
"Excuse me, I need to use the bathroom," I say placing my fork and knife on my plate standing.
"Okay, take your time," Mekhi says standing to help me out of the booth.
As soon as I'm far enough away from him I flag down a waiter and hand them my card to quickly pay for our meal ans actually go to the bathroom to keep up with what I said I was going to do. By the time I get back to the table I'm so happy with my plan that I forget to wipe the smug look from my face before sitting back down.
"You look pretty pleased with yourself. What's going on," Mekhi asks.
"Oh nothing, you'll see," I say picking up my fork and knife to continue eating my food.
"Hmm okay," he says and continue eating his breakfast.
We finish our breakfast and take our time talking. He talks about the tournament and practices that he'll be busy with and trying to find time for me. I'm okay with his schedule having to practice, tournaments at this stage of his college career are important especially if he's thinking about playing basketball beyond college. I ask him about it and it's not a priority for him, but if the opportunity presented itself he would take it. I tell him about my summer vacation plans with the girls and this subject has his full attention. Of course I want him to vacation with me at someone's beach, but we're taking baby steps and we'll cross that bridge when we get there. He's excited and open to vacationing with us which only makes me that much more excited. All the while we're talking he's holding my hand and his eyes never leave mine; I have fainted a million times in my mind already. When we finally decide to leave he calls for a waitress to bring the check and she tells him that someone has already paid for our meal. He thanks and tips her and stands to help me out of the booth after she walks away.
"Lena I know you paid for our meal," he says as we leave the diner.
"How do you know," I ask shocked and blushing.
"You came back from the bathroom looking too pleased with yourself and you couldn't even look at me when I asked for the bill," he says with a half smile as he holds my hand and walk me to my car.
"Fine. You caught me," I admit.
"What am I going to do with you," he says pulling me closer into a kiss in the middle of the sidewalk right outside the diner.
"I don't know," I respond once we break a part gasping for air.
"Yeah I know. I'll figure something out though," he says caressing my face and I lean into his touch.
"I think we've put on enough of a show," I say placing my hand over his and we walk to my car once more as I notice people inside the diner watching us.
"I don't care. Let them watch now they know you're my woman," he says with that velvet voice and PBS.
"Yes," is all I manage to say because I feel so good inside at his proclamation that I can't help but to appreciate him even more.
"Alright baby, I have more workouts I'll talk you later," he says as we reach my car.
"Okay, later then," I say as he pulls me into another crushing hug and when I look at him his lips meet mine again. The same passion from last night lingers in this kiss and my body responds immediately. When we finally stop kissing we hug once more and he opens my car door for me.
"Let me know when you've made it back home," he says.
"Okay," I say starting my car and buckling up.