“Yeah, I think so too,” he said in a soft voice, smiling as he looked at her.
“Dante…hey….I thought you were my Kung Pao chicken,” she said as she looked into his eyes, confused.
“I needed to see you,” he said. “And seeing as you ran out of Giovanni’s so fast…” he shrugged and sighed loudly. “I needed to see you,” he said again.
She shook her head.
“About what? We have nothing to say to each other.”
“Actually, we have a whole lot to say to each other,” Dante said just as the delivery guy walked up to the door.
“Kung Pao chicken, side of rice,” the young delivery guy said and she forced a smile. She was just about to hand him the twenty in her hand when Dante gave the delivery guy a hundred dollar bill.
“Whoa, bro…I don’t think I can break this… I don’t have enough…” the delivery guy started before Dante shook his head.
“It’s all right. You can keep it,” he said and the delivery guy looked at him, both surprised and confused.
“Look dude, I only need eighteen bucks,” he started before Dante shrugged.
“It’s all right. Really,” he said.
“Whoa… thanks man,” the delivery guy said leaving Dante standing at the doorstep holding Corrine’s takeout bag. He turned his attention to her and handed her the bag.
“You know, I can pay for my own food,” she said grabbing the bag.
“I know you can.” He put his hands in his pocket and sighed. “So, are you going to invite me in or are you going to just let me stand out here all night? Because I am not leaving until we talk.”
Corrine sighed and stepped aside so that he could walk in. She unwrapped her hair and her curls fell perfectly into place.
“I’m sorry… I only got the one order,” she said in a soft voice as she walked towards her kitchen.
“It’s all right. I’m not hungry… I just want to see you. To talk to you.” He watched her as she got half a bottle of red wine from the counter.
“Drink?” she asked and he nodded.
She got two glasses and poured the wine before she pushed one glass towards him. He looked at the glass and then at the bottle and a smile played on his lips.
“This is the bottle I got you after the launch of the fourth restaurant, huh?” he asked as he looked at her and she nodded.
“Yeah… and actually, you gave me a case. Heck, crate,” she said smiling. She raised her glass and took one long sip before she got a pair of chopsticks.
“Well, you were worth every single bottle in there,” he said.
She opened her box of chicken and took a bite. Until then, she had not realized just how hungry she really was. She took a few more bites and then sipped on her wine before she looked up at him.
“Guess someone really was hungry,” he said and she nodded.
“As it turns out I haven’t had a chance to eat anything all day. So… I guess I’m allowed.”
“Well, now that you are full maybe we should talk.”
“Dante, you and I have nothing to talk about,” she said but he shook his head.
“You and I both know that is not true, Corrine.”
She rolled her eyes. He was beginning to get to her. She was feeling like she had a fire inside her. A fire that he had started weeks ago when he started asking her out. And this was it. This was the straw that was finally going to break her back. She dropped her chopsticks and sighed loudly.
“I am beginning to think that letting you in was a terrible idea,” she started.
“Wait… what?” he asked and she dabbed the sides of her mouth,
“Because you are trying to bed me and I am not interested in being your flavor of the month, Dante. I don’t think I ever will.” He looked at her and shook his head.
“I am not trying to make you into a flavor of the month, Corrine.”
“Really?” She hated the fact that she had a condescending tone but she could not help it. “Because I have seen you with every kind of skinny woman in the world. Models, actresses, celebrities and suddenly you want your average fat black girl around the corner?”
She was so furious that she didn’t even realize he had walked round the counter to where she was. He stood in front of her and almost immediately, her throat went dry. It was like she had not been the one who had been talking just seconds earlier. He held her waist and she felt a chill going through her body. She knew what was about to happen. She was about to relive what had happened earlier that day.
“I have all these women because I am always looking for something. Looking for what you have in them and I can never really find it,” Dante said in a soft voice.