“Well, I’m just glad that you made it, beloved,” Yazmine gushed so forgivingly. “I saw Mir folding up over there. I think he was scared that you wasn’t gonna come.”
As Rayna looked over to me I noticed Yazmine’s eyes stayed on her. Rayna gave me a dubious gaze. I remained impassive, just relieved that she came. She looked damned good. I’d started thinking of ways I would fuck her later on.
“Oh, I wouldn’t have missed this for all the tea in China,” Rayna stared me dead in the eyes when she shot back the same line I’d use on her at her job’s charity ball when I had first encountered that prick, Brian Thompson.
“Are you okay, beloved? You needed to stop at the drugstore…?” Yazmine didn’t skip a beat.
“Oh, yeah,” Rayna looked uneasy, almost as if she didn’t want to discuss it. “I’ve had a rough day. Work was, well…work. I’ve had back pains and the like since I woke up this morning. I ran out of pain meds earlier this afternoon and had to pick more up before I got here and suffered my way through dinner. I’ve been looking forward to finally seeing you. I’m sorry it’s taken this long,” she offered a warm smile.
Damn. Rayna’s period symptoms never crossed my mind today. She suffered from cramping, bloating, neck and back pains among other symptoms, each cycle. Some months were worse than others. No ass for me tonight.
Rayna continued, “I remember my first time out here. I was overwhelmed with the difference in energy from the East Coast. What have you done so far?” Rayna gave her a soft smile. I was taken by her eagerness to converse with my mother.
“Mir done sent me to the zoo yesterday. The big one in San Diego. Today, I went to see Hollywood,” Yazmine informed her.
Rayna’s eyes shot over to me as she said, “Oh, he took you on the tourist excursion as he referred to it when I’d told him I’d never been around town when we first met.”
Ha! She recited word for word from our first “date”. Just then, my Blackberry went off, when I checked it I saw it was Shayna Bacote hitting me up.
Hey, Azmir. I had my godson’s recital tonight so I wasn’t able to call but I wanted to reach out to you regarding the reputation and intention of Taylor & Bacote Planning and Public Relations Corp. I’ve taken notice to Dawn’s attraction to you and must admit I’ve grown disturbed. I hope you don’t take that piece of detail to mean that we are not a viable firm with your best interest at heart. If there’s something that you view as a conflict of interest, I hope that you’d make me aware of it before dismissing our bid to represent your brand indefinitely.
I knew what she was hinting at. Shayna had an idea of how strong Dawn was coming on. I could tell that she didn’t want the backlash of it, if it came to that.
Thanks for your concern and professionalism Shayna. I’ve spoken to Dawn about the parameters of our affairs. If a problem arises I’ll be sure to give your preemption consideration. Overall, you guys are doing well. I typed back.
The waiter came by and took our orders. Yazmine ordered iced tea and I ordered a Grand Marnier for me and an herbal tea for Rayna. I could see she wasn’t herself no matter how much she lent herself to pleasantries for my mother’s sake.