I hadn't been able to put the book down.
I was on the chapter about the two female agents that had every opportunity to snake each other out but always ended up coming through. I was on the edge of my seat, wondering if this time would be the last time before their breaking point when--
My doorbell rang.
I groaned, thinking about how I'd promised Cole I'd hang out with him. I didn't want to. I wanted to read my book so I could prove that I read books and could be deep and poetic and all that other bullshit. I hated to admit it, but Love in Color was amazing.
After school had ended, I came straight home and cracked it open in my living room. Tanesia was sleeping peacefully in her living room crib, and I felt at peace. That was, until my "boyfriend" came to the door.
He hadn't officially asked me to be his girlfriend, but I assumed that anybody who was wasting my time like he was would deserve a title.
I couldn't even muster up fake enthusiasm when I shut my book and swung the door open to greet him. "Hey," is all I said before I walked away from the door and allowed him to let himself in.
"You good?"
"Yeah, I was in the middle of doing something, but I'm glad to see you," I lied.
"Cool," he shook his head despite agreeing with my statement.
I looked at him, still a tad irritated, and cocked my head to the side. "Are you my boyfriend?"
At this he scratched the back of his neck. "Do you want me to be?"
I didn't answer his question directly. "I thought we were doing everything that couples do."
"I mean," he scratched again. "Yeah. I guess I am."
"Cool," I said as I eyed my book again. "Tanesia's sleeping."
At this he lit up. "Ooh! The baby! I've been waiting to meet her. Can I see?"
I approached the crib to observe how well Tanesia was sleeping. "You should be good. Just don't make any sudden or loud noises. I don't want to deal with a screaming infant right now."
He stalked over to her crib and smiled over her before walking back towards me. "Y'all look just alike."
"She looks like uncooked pizza dough."
"You got any baby pictures?" he asked, as if trying to prove his point.
I heaved a sigh before approaching our dining room where the scrapbooks were stashed away on a shelf. After sifting through the top ones, which were just my parents' marriage scrapbooks, I found my baby book. There were a ton of pictures in there, and admittedly, my sister did look just like an infant me. I reached for the least uncanny picture and gave it to Cole.
He instantly took the picture and held it up to Tanesia as if to say, "told you so." I just rolled my eyes and went to sit down on the couch.
He seemed good with kids. That was something that was attractive in a partner, yes? That was one of the things I was sure girls swooned over. I hadn't really thought about kids like that, but I supposed it was a good thing in theory that he liked children.
Then I got the idea to see what other things made him suitable. I knew he was athletic. He'd come to my house straight from practice. He didn't smell, which was good. He was good with kids...
"What are your hobbies?" I crossed my arms over my legs and held one fist in another as I awaited his response.
"Hobbies?"
"Yeah, like do you read?" I eyed Love in Color.
"Nah."
"Nah?" I asked.
"Not my thing."
"Hm," I responded. "So just baseball? Nothing crafty or creative?"
"Just baseball pretty much."
"So what do you do in your spare time?"
"Watch TV, hang with friends."
"What are your career aspirations?" I continued. Then he huffed at me, clearly tired of the interrogation. "Yo, I thought we were supposed to be chilling.
"You know what?" I faked surprise. "Speaking of career. I left one of my books at my parents' studio. Do you mind driving me there?" I asked. I was really just starting to get bored and wanted to see what was going on at the studio. And maybe flash my new book in Lawrence's face, if he was there.
"What about the baby?" he nodded at Tanesia.
"She can come too."
The studio seemed quieter than usual. Most of it was obscured from where we stood in the lobby entrance, but I could tell there was lower traffic from the noise level and empty parking lot combined.
"You can stay here," I gestured to Cole where he stood at the studio's entrance. "I'll only be a minute. I think I'm gonna leave Tanesia here, too."
"Okay, cool," he nodded at me then pulled his phone out and started tapping on it.
I headed towards the back to find whichever parent appeared first, Tanesia on one arm and my bag in the other.
I ran into my mom first, in her back room office. "I brought your baby."
"Why?" she looked surprised to see me there at all.
"I left a book here when Lawrence was helping me with a project," I lied through my teeth. "Is he here?" I asked.
"Yeah, he's at his usual station. I think he's still on break though," she reached her arms out for Tanesia.
"Alright, thanks. I'll see you guys at home," I made a dash for it before she could ask any more questions.
I by Lawrence's studio station, not seeing him at first, but another woman. I remembered meeting her once when I was younger, but it had been so long ago that I didn't even remember her name. She was a lot older than me, but definitely still young, and she'd been working at the studio for a minute. It seemed like she was the only one occupied with a client at the moment. Suddenly I felt like I wanted to know her name, and everyone else in the studio.
As I stood outside the doorway, preparing my speech about how I read and am an intellectual as well, another girl came and walked right past me, into the room.
"Hey Law Law!" I heard her gush, and I instinctually hid behind the wall so no one in there would see me.
"Hey Em," he sounded just as enthusiastic.
What was this?
Then I heard the older woman speak in between snapping photos. "Is this the girl, Lawrence?"'
There was a terse silence. What?
"No, this isn't--"
I took that as my cue to casually stroll into the room as if nothing was amiss.
"What is she talking about?" the girl, whose name I'd just learned was Emily, asked.
"I got a client, I can't say no more," the older woman raised her hands in surrender and continued taking pictures.
Lawrence all of a sudden looked extremely nervous. Even more so than usual. "Oh, hey, Dalia, what are you doing here?"
"I came by to pick up a book I left," I lied again. "Speaking of books," I reached into my bag to pull Love in Color out. "I'm reading this one," I said nonchalantly. "It's my jam," I dropped the act as I literally rubbed the book in Lawrence's face, or right in front of it. "What are you doing?"
"You told me to do some other shit instead of the competition. So, here we are. Emily here is my muse," he gestured to the girl, who I had yet to formally introduce myself to. Something boiled in my gut as I observed how gorgeous she was. Then she opened her mouth to smile and speak and the boiling intensified. She was one of those stupid gorgeous-ass brace faces.
"Hey!"
"Hi," I deadpanned. "Dalia. Dalia Glees," I made sure to name drop my family name to assert my dominance. I had no idea why I was behaving the way I was, but I knew I wouldn't stop. "I don't want to keep my boyfriend waiting for too long. I'll see y'all," I took my last bow and exited the room, finally able to breathe again.
As I re-approached Cole, my breath left me again, but for completely different reasons.
What in the world was my problem?