Page 22 of Kove and Xiah
“He’s a basketball player.”
Our car reached the valet area of The Metropolitan and I took my phone from her hands and moved to the iDrive app to rate and tip as we got out. She thanked the driver and we walked inside.
“We’re supposed to take the private elevator to the rooftop.”
She looped her arm through mine and guided us where we needed to go. I could feel eyes on us because of course me and my girl were hard to ignore. She was in a black bondage dress also but hers crossed her chest and tied behind her neck, fully exposing her back. Her shoes were red, suede, open-toe slingbacks with the heel wrapped in leather.
While I had my braids twisted into a high bun, Koa had a bob with a center part, which was cut flawlessly and brushed her shoulders. Our makeup was light and natural but I always added gold and bronze flecked body lotion on my cheeks and skin to provide a shimmering illusion. Men gawked, women admired, and they both offered compliments we absorbed on the way to the elevators because we deserved every single one.
Once the doors closed to take us to the rooftop, Koa flashed me a mischievous smile. “I’m waiting.”
“For?”
“The truth. That man is not just a basketball player. I peeped his page and I didn’t miss the tension in your voice when you told me to stop looking at that man’s body. That wasn’t an ‘oh he’s my client; don’t be all in his business’. It was more like an ‘I’m crushing real bad, friend’.”
“It was not.”
She delivered a challenging stare right before the doors opened to the rooftop and I rolled my eyes. “He’s sexy but he’s also an athlete and…”
She lifted her hand and made a motion in front of my face as if she were about to twist my lips. “Don’t you dare say that shit. You don’t deal withthatbum ass athlete and for good reason. Do not punish other men for the sins of a little boy.”
“He’s a basketball player and I don’t even like sports. Imagine repeating my mistakes of the past. Things didn’t work for us because…”
She made the same lip twisting motion in front of my face again and I grinned when she glared at me.
“Friend, don’t. You supported that man. I wish the fuck you would put his dumb ass decisions on your shoulders. You didn’t make him piss away your marriage by not appreciating his beautiful and sexy wife. You didn’t make him waste your time because his weak ass ego was crushed when you decided to live your life instead of rushing into being a wife and mother. You didn’t pull his dick out and shove it into the bitches he cheated with. All him, not you, Xi, but now is not the time for this conversation. We’re here to find me a husband and look at all this sexy and wealthy melanin in attendance.”
I looked around and sure enough there were plenty of sexy, and hopefully available, men, dressed in expensive suits, holding glasses of brown liquor, some smoking cigars. It gave elite Black excellence and I loved this.
“Fine, let’s get a drink,” I said, changing the subject.
“Okay, let’s go, but please be advised, I peeped how you did not say ‘no, I’m absolutely not interested in that fine man’. Your response was, ‘he’s a basketball player and I don’t even like sports’. That right there is a clear sign that there’s something there. We’ll discuss what that something is after I find my husband. Your wing woman duties have officially begun.” She blew me a kiss and guided me to one of the two bars they had set up on the rooftop for the evening. One sponsored by Black Ops, the other sponsored by Divine Vines which was my favorite brand. So that was where I would be going after she got her Black Ops Specialty.
The night was pretty chill and luckily Koa didn’t bail on me. She talked to several men but always kept within close proximity and included me in the conversation while she vetted the ones she was interested in giving her time to outside of the event.I wasn’t sure how this was supposed to work but it flowed smoothly.
Most people talked, exchanged numbers, but kept a rotation, engaging in conversation with multiple people. Koa and I did the same, but whereas she accepted numbers and gave out hers, the most I did was provide social media to the few who pressed enough for a connection outside of this event.
I didn’t bother following them back because I wasn’t here to meet people. My role tonight was strictly support; so when Koa locked in on a Sharks player, I found a spot in the corner, grabbed another glass of wine, and snapped a few pictures of me holding my glass suspended over the city and one selfie, which I posted as a carousel on my page and a short video clip of myself on my story. Before I could lock my phone, the first like came through, followed by a text message.
Kove: You just gon’ pull up at my spot and not let me see them dimples.
I grinned and moved my glass to my lips, trying to suppress my smile while I enjoyed the wine before I responded.
Me: I’m at The Metropolitan not Chandler Heights. I have it on good authority that’s your spot.
Kove: Word, and what authority is that?
Me: Mine, I sold you the spot.
Me: How do you know where I am?
I looked around, wondering if I had by chance missed his presence, knowing it would have been impossible to do so. That man’s presence was too large to miss.
Kove: I’m in the business suite. I can hear the music outside my room that is playing in the background of the story you posted.
Kove: Your boyfriend must be boring as fuck.
I frowned.
