“Did you stop by and see your man before you came here?” Kia asked, cocking her head to the side. “You do look extra smiley.”
I laughed. “I just got a good amount of sleep. That’s all.”
“Wait, wait, wait!” Lilith held up her hands. “We are not going to breeze over the fact that you have a man. Please explain!”
Grinning, I lifted my shoulders coyly. “What can I say?”
“Zola has a boyfriend!” Kia squealed.
Lilith did a double take. “What? A boyfriend?”
I nodded. “I have a boyfriend.”
Her eyes widened as she looked between us. “You’re lying.”
I shook my head. “Nope. I met someone who made me feel like dropping everyone else was worth it.”
“How?! When?! Why?!” The quick succession of questions caused me and Kia to laugh. “I’m sorry, but I don’t understand what’s going on. I saw you three weeks ago, and you were giving us the single girl dating tips and embarrassing yourself with your bonnet.”
“Oh! That’s him,” I cried out, grabbing her arm across the table. “My man is the one who didn’t ask for my number when we met and you guys said it was because of the bonnet.”
“What?” she screeched, clapping her hands excitedly. “Are you serious?”
“Turns out the bonnet didn’t scare him off,” Kia joked.
I playfully slapped her arm. “That was still traumatizing,” I laughed. “I was flirting and giving him all the vibes and after he left, I realized I had a bonnet on for half of our interaction.”
“That’s tragic,” Lilith agreed, touching her own hair. “That’s why I keep a satin pillowcase in my overnight bag so no one ever catches me slipping. But we have to get back on point because I need information! This is crazy. The queen of the single life is now part of a couple!”
“Zola Patterson has a boyfriend,” Kia announced proudly. “Meanwhile, I’m single.”
“This is the twilight zone,” Lilith remarked. After a moment to process, she gave me a look. “You dropped all your hoes for this man?”
My head fell back as I laughed. “I didn’t have hoes.”
“Oh, you had hoes,” Kia confirmed. “You had a team of men ready to do your bidding.”
“Most of them were trying to sleep with me, so they would do my bidding because they were trying to get some. It was less about me and more about what they can get out of the situation.”
“How do I navigate that?” Kia wondered. “By the time sex comes up, I’m in a relationship with him.”
Lilith snickered. “Well, that’s your problem right there. You have to test the goods out first. You can’t buy the cow without a sample of the milk.”
“That’s a good point. There was one bullet I could’ve dodged a few years ago had I had sex with him before we caught feelings for each other,” Kia reminisced, tapping the table. “But once I like him, the sex is automatically good.”
“It doesn’t work like that for me,” Lilith pointed out. “If I like him and then the sex is bad, I don’t like him anymore.”
We all laughed.
Kia took a sip of her drink and looked at us. “Since I’m trying to stay single for the rest of the year, how do I avoid the men who just want sex?”
I shrugged. “You’re beautiful and fun, so men are going to automatically want to have sex with you. You just have to be clear about what you want and date with intention. Get what you want out of it.”
They looked at each other. “What do you mean?”
“So, I go on dates for experience, fun, a good time, etc. If a man goes on a date to have a good time and that’s what he makes clear to me, we’re both on the same page and we’ll have a good time. If he goes on a date with me under the guise of wanting to experience something new and have a good time, but he really just wants ass, that’s his problem. I don’t owe him anything. But that’s the thing, people don’t want to be honest. So, if a man is just trying to sleep with you and you don’t want to sleep with him, trust your gut and don’t go out with him. If you don’t know and you make it clear that you will not be sleeping with him and he still chooses to pursue you, that’s on him.”
“How are you full of these gems and off the market?” Lilith pondered as she finished her drink.
“Honestly, Saint is different. And I don’t”—my bag started vibrating and I dug out my phone as I kept talking— “think any other man could’ve gotten me to commit.”
When I looked at my phone and saw I had a text message from Saint, I grinned.
Saint Anderson: I’m going to bed early tonight. It was a long day. Give me a call as soon as you get this though. I have a question for you.
“I’ll be right back,” I said, holding up my phone.
“Zola got herself a boyfriend and now she can’t stop smiling,” Kia called out behind me.
I laughed but kept walking. When I got outside, I made the call.
“Hello?” Saint answered on the second ring.
I hadn’t heard his voice in twenty-four hours and it put a smile on my face to hear him. I’m so smitten. It’s sickening.
With a huge smile on my face, I started swaying giddily. “Hi, how are you?”
“I’m tired. How are you?”
“I bet. Two twelve-hour days is a lot.”
“Yeah, but it’s all good. How are you?”
“I’m pretty great actually,” I told him.
“That’s good.” He paused. “Uh, I know you’re out so I’m going to make this quick.”
“Okay…?”
“I asked you what you were doing last night and you said you picked up dinner at the chicken spot near your place and worked on an article.”
“Yeah.”
“Okay…” He hesitated and I could hear him thinking. “So, you didn’t have dinner at Tempest Lounge?”
“No, I didn’t. I—”
“So, you weren’t at Tempest Lounge?”
His question interrupted what I was trying to say, and my answer got caught in my throat.
After a second, I replied, “I did go to Tempest Lounge, but I didn’t have dinner. I met with Jordan—the man from brunch—to end things with him.”
“You needed to go on a date to do that?”
“It wasn’t like that,” I explained. “But I did want to do it face-to-face.”
“You didn’t mention it.”
I swallowed hard. “No. I didn’t.” I paused, unsure if I should apologize or if that would make me look like I’d done something wrong.
Neither of us said anything for a second.
“Okay, I’m going to head to bed,” Saint sighed.
“Saint…?” I didn’t know what else to say, but I didn’t want him to get off the phone with that tone, with the hint of hurt in his voice. “Do you want me to come over? I swear it wasn’t what it looked like.”
“You’re out with your friends and I had a long day. We can talk later.”