“Strippers?” I asked as she went for her phone.
“Yeah. Petey got his hands full wit' that jumpoff shit wit' Kim so he asked me to book the strippers for Friday in a suite in the hotel we staying.” She pulled out a small piece of paper that I'd soon realize was the number of the Tip Down Drills for the strippers. “You know ‘dem dudes love ‘dem sum fuckin’ strippers. They like to bring ‘dem to their room instead of going to the clubs cuz’ sum of ‘dem mufucka's wanna fuck. I be in there buggin’ the fuck out at ‘dem drooling’ ass fuckas!"
All types of alarms went off in my head. Azmir hadn’t mentioned Kid’s birthday bash to me. I knew he was leaving again for business tomorrow, but was due back on Thursday.
“So the ladies are invited to these birthday bashes?” I tried so bad to downplay my hard pressed curiosity and rising anger.
“The cool ones, yeah. A couple of the broads from around da way come wit’ me, but not too many. They gotta be approved by Petey. Now ‘dat Divine’s big and shit they don’t be wantin’ shit leaked. ‘Dem bitches from around da way be waitin’ on a chance at all ‘dem ballers."
As desperately as I wanted to inquire about Azmir's activities there I didn't think I could handle the gut blow if I'd discovered his indiscretions, so I kept my mouth shut, and in good timing as I heard Chanell make the arrangements for ten strippers to appear at a suite at a specified casino that Thursday evening. My mind spun and heart tightened at the chunk of information from that day’s outing of shopping and lunch.
Insecurity, no matter how concentrated, is a bitch and I think it might have bit me in the rear that day.
~~~~~~~~~~
The following day, after church, Azmir called me on my way home and informed me that he made reservations for dinner at a restaurant next to Malibu with a great view of the water before catching his red eye out of town to Atlanta. I flew through the door headed straight to the closet to slip into something less formal and we headed right out. I hated seeing him leave for so many days at a time. Who was I fooling? I hated seeing him leave—period! But dinner was nice and held all the ambiance that a woman could ask for considering the circumstances.
The lights from soft lamps and candles bounced off the ocean surface as the sun started to set and soft music was mellow and inviting. I'd been sipping on red wine too soon after an empty stomach, feeling a little tipsy. I hadn't eaten since breakfast before church. I was elated once our food arrived, I didn't prefer filling up on breads and salads.
“So, are you excited about your trip?”
“I guess there’s nothing not to be excited about when you have big money on the table. Anxious is more like what I’m experiencing. We’ve been in talks with this particular company for nearly eight months now. Finally, they're ready to play ball. In addition to that, Rich informed me this morning that we may have to video conference a telecommunications company out in Canada who actually sought us out. They're tiptoeing on the sale though. We'll see.”
“And there’s Florida...next week?” I quizzed, hiding my disapproval, though loving his ease at sharing.
“Yup,” he said after sipping his drink. He caught onto my contempt. “It won't always be like this.”
“That's good to know,” I murmured, holding my breath. I didn’t want him to know how affected I was by his absence. How attached I’d grown to his presence. I’ve never been needy, yet felt a semblance of it when he was away. I didn’t like it.