Page 34 of Rounds
A small smile appeared on his lips. “Noted. Well, this is my girlfriend, Kaniesha.”
The curvy woman stood and smiled at us. “Hi, Delaney. I’ve heard so much about you.”
Delaney smiled politely, and said, “Nice to meet you.”
I had to assume she hadn’t heard a word about her. I wanted to chuckle, because I could tell Delaney was being fake. She wasn’t excited to meet her dad’s girlfriend. I was sure I would get the play by play on that situation when we left.
“Delaney, this is my boyfriend, Denver.”
Delaney frowned, showing her confusion. “Hi. Your name is Denver, and you live in Denver?”
He chuckled. “Yes, ma’am. I’m not from there though. I transferred there for my job in marketing at IBM.”
“Oh okay. Where are you originally from? I hear a slight accent.”
“I’m from Memphis.”
“Okay. Well, this is my boyfriend, Glover.”
I nodded and shook his hand. Thankfully all the introductions were over. Delaney and I sat on a small couch opposite everyone.
“We’re just waiting for Denver’s daughter to arrive with her boyfriend, then we’ll eat.”
We all nodded. It was awkwardly quiet until Denver asked, “What type of doctor are you, Glover?”
“I’m a primary care physician. So, I see everybody, whether they have health issues or not.”
He nodded. “And you have your own practice. That’s impressive for such a young man.”
“Yes, sir. When I want something, I go for it with all I got.”
I could feel Delaney’s hand tremble. I glanced at her to see her face was red. “Judging by Delaney’s red face, I take it that you mean that in every aspect of life,” Ms. Maxine said.
I chuckled as Delaney got even redder. “That’s true. She didn’t want a thing to do with me at first. She thought I was running game.”
I chuckled and rubbed her hand between mine. It seemed my nervousness had transferred to her suddenly. Once again, it got quiet. Ms. Boutté stood and put on some soft music. That seemed to make things a little less awkward. When the doorbell rang, Ms. Boutté went to answer it. “That must be Denver’s daughter.”
He followed behind her as I leaned over to Delaney, and asked, “You okay? Did I do or say something to make you upset?”
“No. I’m okay. I just didn’t want my dad quizzing me about what happened to Jaunté or how I met you. I was pretty sure he wanted to. He reads between the lines very well.”
I nodded as Delaney’s mom and her boyfriend returned. A man followed them, but when who I assumed was hisdaughter rounded the corner, I could have swallowed my damn tongue. “Everyone, this is Denver’s daughter, Charleigh and her boyfriend, Malcolm.”
Everyone nodded as Ms. Boutté approached Delaney and me. Charleigh’s eyes widened, then she gave a one-sided smile. That shit looked cynical as hell. Hopefully, she wouldn’t be on no bullshit. Apparently, I was holding Delaney’s hand tightly, because she asked, “Are you okay?”
I nodded and loosened my grip. “Glover and Delaney, this is Denver’s daughter. Charleigh, this is my daughter, Delaney and her boyfriend, Glover.”
She shook Delaney’s hand and said, “Nice to meet you.”
She extended her hand to me, and I hesitantly shook it as she said, “Nice to see you, Doctor Israel.”
I nodded but didn’t offer any words. When I released her hand, I grabbed Delaney’s. I could feel her gaze on me like bees stinging me. As we followed everyone to the dining area, Delaney said, “It’s her, isn’t it? The one you thought you might have problems with.”
I didn’t know how she figured that shit out, but I supposed I wasn’t really hiding my disdain with the situation. “Yes.”
That was all I could verbalize at the moment, because I didn’t want anyone else to hear what I had to say about Charleigh. It was a small fucking world. Too fucking small. Her calling me Doctor Israel didn’t help matters either. I wasn’t introduced to her that way, so it was obvious to everyone that we knew one another or were at least acquainted.
I pulled out Delaney’s chair, only to see Charleigh was being seated right across from us.Great.Once Delaney sat, I helped her scoot up, then sat next to her.
