his way to the front door in a hurry, Dee
shouted “ Get out of here nasty
ass !” before she rolled her eyes and
laughed softly.
Jason
watched her laugh, and he found himself smiling along with her. She
really did have a beautiful smile; he wished she did it
more.
“ Where’s he
going ?” Jason asked, once they had both
heard the click of the door.
“ Daya’s his baby
mama. Shontelle’s my niece .” Dee
explained.
“ You ever
think you got problems, you look at them and you think you
functional as shit.” She
laughed.
“ So what time you
leaving tomorrow ?” Dee asked, as she
watched Jason finish his beer but keep the empty bottle clutched in
his hand.
Jason told her their plans; what time they were checking out
of their hotel room and what time they had to be on the plane, then
realised he didn’t have a clue what time it was right now and
checked the Rolex on his wrist. Seeing it was the early hours of
the morning, he raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“ Shit, I didn’t
know it was so late. Guess I’d better head out. Sorry for keeping
you up ,” he apologised, as he stood up
from his seat still holding his beer bottle.
“ Where can I put
this ?” he asked.
“ Just leave it on
the table, I’ll sort it.” Dee
replied, standing up to take it out of his hand before he had
chance, and placed it on the table herself.
“ Thanks, ” he said, and smiled at her,
before going out to the hallway.
“ Enjoy
home,” Dee said, as she followed him
out.
“I will .” He replied. Hovering
near the door with his fingers around the handle ready to turn it,
he hesitated. He knew what he wanted to ask but he wasn’t sure
whether to risk it. Then again, he didn’t know whether he would be
lucky enough to run into her again when he came back to Detroit,
and he couldn’t exactly start stalking her at the club.
Taking
his hand off the door and turning back to face her, he took a
breath.
“ Do you think...I
could get your number, maybe ?”
She
stood for a second looking at him.
“ I just...lost my
phone ” she started, and assuming she was
making her excuses, Jason had already quickly turned back to the
door when she added, “ You could give me
yours ?”
Chapter 8 – Home
Jason
Home was bliss. Stress free, drama free bliss. Jason had
forgotten how good it felt to be back home. Every time he was
closer to another visit, he thought he remembered how amazing it
was, but it wasn’t until he spent a night there that he remembered
it was always better than he imagined. It may sound corny to other
people, but when you worked 24/7 like him, it really did feel like
the best thing in the world. With his successes, he was used to a
‘champagne lifestyle’ as such, but no amount of free designer
clothes or money in the bank could compare to the love and
affection he received from his family. On the first day he arrived,
his mother and all his family had put up a ‘welcome home’ sign in
the kitchen and had surprised him like it was his birthday. There
was a spread of food on the table made by his grandmother and
drinks were flowing. Sometimes he felt like he was returning home
from war but it gave him a sense of pride still to know he was so
loved and appreciated. His mother as usual shed some tears on his
chest as he hugged her on arrival. He expected she would do
exactly the same when he went back to work.
Seeing
his grandparents always reminded him how old they were now getting,
and he worried about their health and how they weren’t getting any
younger. He worried that he didn’t see them enough, and every time
he would vow to visit home more often. He was reminded by their
aches and pains and their hospital visits that their years were
precious, and he always wondered if this time may be the last time
he saw them. He tried to shake any negative feelings but it was
hard when he spent so much time away. Nevertheless, his grandmother
had made her famous cobbler and his granddad