Page 19 of Not About That Life
“I’m just feeling iffy about the whole thing. Like I’m glad he’s introducing the menu but a part of me is like, why that particular cuisine?”
“Try not to be insulted by it. It could also mean how much of an influence you are on Ian and he’s doing it in your honor,” she slowly blinks at me.
I gulped. My…honor? Whoa. I never even thought of that.
It still doesn’t take away I’m slightly uncomfortable with it. I want to talk to Ian about it but I don’t know to approach him without sounding an absolute, complete dick. I just have to wait and see.
“So Dominique,” one of my black instructors, Chanel, began. She’s a slender, odalisque woman who always has this Erykah Badu-vibe about her. It’s not a surprise she also works at a dispensary, but unlike Helen, she does partake in smoking. She says it’s great for her menstrual cycles. She’s the main yoga instructor. “Is there something you want to tell us?”
“Yeah, girl,” replies Keisha, another sista, who’s thick in all of the places that matter. She has long, thick Poetic Justice braids and a septum piercing. She teaches zumba and bellydancing. “Like that big-ass rock on your finger.”
“Oh this?” I gladly show off the diamond. I only take it off at night and it’s in a secured location where someone would have to pretty much be CIA to get to it. And even then, I’m still not entirely sure they would be able to. “Oh, this old thing?”
“Girl, bye!” Alicia replies. She teaches hip-hop and salsa. She’s an older lady in her fifties who look like she could be really in her thirties (because black don’t crack) and I have a feeling she’s probably more limber than I am. “Just come out and admit it.”
“Quiet as its kept,” I slowly begin, “yes, I am engaged.” The ladies erupt into shrieks and cheers but Emma and I quickly quiet them down. “But we’re not announcing it yet. We will soon, though, and have an engagement party.”
“Girl, let me see that!” Keisha looks at the diamond and whistles. “It really does pay to be with a rich dude.”
“How many carats is that again?” Alicia asks.
“Twenty-three,” I shyly reply, “for every year of my life.”
“So are you going to get a bigger ring when you’re 30?” Chanel asks.
“I certainly hope not,” I chuckle, “this is plenty.”
“Congratulations, Dominique,” the sole melanin-deficient instructor, Lowell, grins at me. She’s about of medium-height but everything is big about her. Her curly blonde hair, her bright blue eyes, and her perfect skin tone.
She looks like an American Girl doll but she’s real life. I’m always fascinated by her appearance whenever I see her. “Thank you, Lowell!”
“I hope you and Ian have a happy marriage,” she takes a sip of wine and nods. She doesn’t say anything else.
As I talk more with the other ladies about potential wedding plans, I notice Lowell is on her phone or maybe listening to a bit of the conversation at times. She’s not really participating.
Still, I’m getting a weird vibe from her. Something is a bit off but maybe I’m just overthinking it. Maybe it’s just my hyper-active imagination yet again.
“Ah, the best table in the house has the most beautiful women.” Ian comes out and greets everyone. He’s dressed in a V-neck sweater with dark slacks and matching loafers. An expensive watch adorns his wrist and his blue eyes sparkle with a bit of mischief. “How are you ladies doing?”
“Doing better now that you’re here,” Alicia smiles, “congratulations on the thing I can’t mention.”
“The thing you can’t mention?” He asks before I nod towards the giant diamond. “Oh yes,that thing. Well, you can mention it but just not in public. We plan to make an announcement in a few months.”
“Domi should probably stop wearing it if you don’t want attention,” Lowell takes a sip of water.
“Lowell, how’s your boyfriend?” Emma asks.
Lowell shakes her head. “I don’t have one.”
“Then shut up,” Emma turns her attention back to Ian, “we’re ready to order now.”
“Good, I’ll send Martine right out,” Ian leans over and kisses me, causing oohs and sighs from my girls. “I’ll see you later tonight?”
The way Ian whispers it tells me he wants see all of me and I’m more than ready. Hell, we can sneak off for a quickie upstairs.
“There’s something I want to show you later,” his beard tickles my earlobe and the heat rises from my belly, “I hope you’re ready for it.”
The sensual current easily flows between us and I’m ready to bail out on my girls. “Ready for what?” I softly reply.
Ian slightly pulls back and the mischief in his eyes is so apparent now. There’s a deviant, almost filthy, curiosity within his ocean blues.
His tone is completely blithe and his face shows no emotion as he replies: “Bondage.”
