Page 43 of The Friend Zone
Standing at her door, he kissed her good night, reluctantly releasing her before he returned to the car.
* * *
After a showerand a cup of juice, Prince finally settled down for the night.
Omar tucked him into bed and kissed his forehead. “Have a good night, big man.” Omar straightened.
“Daddy, do you love Miss Dana?”
The question took him aback. He hadn’t fully examined his feelings for Dana, but kids were so perceptive. Prince probably noticed how Omar behaved around her.
“Yes, I do.”
His son grinned. “I love her too. She’s nice.”
“She is. Go to sleep now, okay?”
Prince turned on his side and closed his eyes.
Omar gave him another kiss on the cheek and quietly left the room.
19
Dana busied herself making breakfast in the kitchen of Omar’s condo. She whisked eggs and chopped vegetables for a frittata with the intention of having breakfast waiting for Omar and his son when they woke up.
The kitchen opened into a spacious living room with huge windows taking up most of one wall. Every type of gadget imaginable was in the kitchen—food processors, mixers, an espresso machine. She laughed to herself. Omar didn’t know the first thing about cooking, but his chef used all these devices to prepare elaborate meals for him on a regular basis.
Over the past couple of weeks, she spent the night a few times. A “sleepover” was the explanation they gave Prince. During those periods, she, Omar, and Prince watched movies, made pizzas, and played games, and they became closer. She even tucked Prince in one night.
Last night Omar left his phone on the counter, and it beeped again, the second time in five minutes. Dana poured the egg mixture into a pan and ignored the notification, but then another one came through.
Don’t do it, she told herself.
When his phone beeped a fourth time, she could no longer ignore the sound, telling herself she would simply turn off the volume. Except, she didn’t.
She should mind her own business, but instead, she clicked on the last message and almost dropped the phone at the sight of an explicit photo of a woman’s genitals on the screen.
Do you miss it?was the text forwarded with the graphic photo.
Her eyes widened, and she scrolled upward to see the other messages with images from the same woman, showing off bare breasts and flaunting her voluptuous body in a red bikini with a beach in the background.
Dana set down the phone and went back to cooking. The photos dampened her morning high and reminded her of the risk she took by sleeping with Omar.
They didn’t exactly flaunt their relationship, preferring low-key activities like going to the park, quiet dinners in a restaurant’s private dining room, or simply staying in and watching movies on TV. Few people knew they were together, thereby limiting the publicity around his dating life. The height of his popularity had passed, but he was nonetheless a celebrity, which meant who he dated was news, and women would always make passes at him. This particular woman was clearly from his past and might not know about him and Dana.
She paused in the midst of putting the pan in the oven. What was there to know? She and Omar never defined their relationship. They slept together, but what were his expectations? She knew hers. She expected them to be in a monogamous relationship, so having another woman send him naked pictures was completely unacceptable.
Should she speak up or not?
Of course she needed to speak up. She wouldn’t be Dana Lindstrom if she didn’t.
She was almost finished with breakfast when Omar and Prince came into the kitchen.
“Smells good in here.” Omar sounded cheerful and in a good mood.
He wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed the sensitive spot behind her ear—which he did frequently nowadays. Nonetheless, she stiffened, but he didn’t notice, walking over to the coffee pot and pouring himself a cup.
“Breakfast almost ready?” He added sugar, took a sip, and grunted his satisfaction.
