"Thank you for coming out to listen to me, Denise."
"Anytime. Will you be okay, today? I have a date with Rico tonight. The guy that I met at Tango's party. I'll listen out on my cell phone, in case you need me. Don't hesitate to call."
Annette smiled. "Yeah, I remember him. The one with all that gold on his teeth. I'm so happy for you. The first date?"
"Yeah. And he swore to me that he has no girlfriend, no kids … I'm hoping he's free and clear of any drama. He's younger than what I would normally date, but he's definitely mature."
"Well, I'm glad that someone's happy."
"Well, I hate to leave out like this, but I have a hair appointment in thirty minutes," Denise said, getting up.
Annette got up as well. "Well, I pampered myself at the hair and nail salon yesterday. I don't know why cause I don't have any hot dates, like you."
They started walking over to their cars. "What about Jordan? I thought you said that he asked you to that car show thingy. Isn't that today?"
"Yeah, but right now, I don't want to deal with any man. I don't want to think about relationship or love right now. I think I want to enjoy my free time while I'm single."
"Hey, I hear ya'."
They said their final goodbyes, jumped in their car, and headed off in different directions. Annette needed to go grocery shopping today, but first she needed to stop home and make a grocery list. She hated going into the grocery store without a list. Even though, she had no budget for anything, she still felt that it was useless to buy what she didn't need.
On the way up the stairs, her phone vibrated, letting her know that she had a text message. She flipped open the top and read it.
Bianca: SORRY, I COULDN'T MAKE IT TO STARBUCKS WITH YOU AND DENISE. I JUST GOT OFF. HEADED TO MY MOM'S HOUSE. ARE YOU DOING OKAY?
Annette: YES, I'LL BE FINE. I'M HEADED TO THE GROCERY STORE. MAYBE WE CAN MEET UP TOMORROW OR SOMETHING.
Annette stuffed the cell phone back in her bag and hurried up the steps to her apartment. Her heels caught in between the steps and to her dismay, she fell down really hard on her knees, twisting her ankle.
"Shit!" she cried out, and rubbed at her feet. She got up, looked around and hoped that no one saw when her clumsy ass fell and she limped the rest of the way up the steps to her apartment. She was in so much pain that she rested on the couch and took off her heels. There were tiny scrapes on her right ankle and on her left knee. Why was this always happening to her? How many times was she going to bust her ankle on those steps? She limped over to her kitchen, ran a little faucet water over a paper towel and dabbed at the scrapes on her knee and ankle. Her ankle would definitely be swollen for the rest of the day. She hopped back over to her couch and rested on her back with her legs propped up on the pillows. She closed her eyes, wondering what other misfortunes and mishaps would come her way next.
The loud ring of her cell phone on the coffee table woke her up. She squint her eyes and wondered how long she had been out sleeping. It couldn't have been long because she felt groggy as if she didn't take a long enough nap. She picked up the phone and saw the name Jaguar on the caller id. Wasn't he at the bike show event? She answered the phone anyway.
"Hey." Her voice was groggy.
"Hi. What's up?"
"Oh, nothing. Aren't you at the bike show?"
"I'll be headed out there in about an hour. I had to do some inventory at the shop this morning. You know why I'm calling, right?"
"No … not really. To hear my voice?"
He laughed. "Yeah … that, too. But, I wanted to see if you changed your mind. Maybe you're bored or something and want to get out the house?"
She managed to laugh as well. "You know, Jordan, I get the feeling that you're not going to stop asking me until I say yes."
"Well, say yes!"
She wished that she could say yes right now. Maybe Jordan was what she needed to forget about Anthony. "Jordan, even if I did want to say yes, I can't."
"Why? You can't or you won't?"
"Actually, I can't. I was coming up the steps today and I sprained my ankle pretty badly," she said, and then she looked down at her feet and saw that it was swollen. "And actually, I think it got worse while I was taking a nap because it's really swollen now."
"Oh, my gosh! Are you in pain? Did you try to go see the doctor or something?"
"It hurts a little, but nothing that I'm not used to. This isn't the first time that I sprained my ankle on those steps. I'm so clumsy. Maybe I should just move on the bottom level."
"Are you sure that you're okay?"
"I'll be fine. The swelling should go done by tomorrow and I'll be able to walk without limping again. Hopefully."
"Have you eaten lunch yet? I can bring you something if you want."
"No, I haven't eaten anything. I had a bagel and coffee this morning, but that's about it. But I'll be fine. I have some leftover soup in the fridge."
"You need to stay off your leg, Annette. Let me at least bring you some food or painkillers or something like that."
Annette was silent as she thought about it. She didn't want to eat soup for the second time tonight and there was nothing else in her fridge since she hadn't made it to the grocery store. It was either accept the food or starve until in the morning. "Okay."
"Does Italian sound okay? Or would you rather something a little lighter?"
"Italian is fine. Thanks, Jordan. I appreciate this. I know you're supposed to be headed out to that bike show by now."
"Look, I'm not worried about that bike show right now. Give me your address so I can put it in GPS."
Annette called out her address and name of her apartment complex.
"I'll be there as soon as I can," he said, and hung up.
Sure enough, almost an hour later, he called her cell phone, letting her know that he was at the gates of her apartment complex. She buzzed him and got up to wait for him at the doorway. There was no way she was going to go down those stairs and meet him down there so she could bust her ass again. She could see the parking lot from her door, so she would be able to wave him in the right direction. She was surprised when she saw his familiar face step out of a black Mercedes-Benz with several bags in his hands. She thought he rode a motorcycle. It would make sense for him to also have a car, but she didn't expect that he would be riding around in a car worth more than a half a grand. Well, he was a car salesman at a luxury car dealership, so that would make sense to drive a luxury car. Maybe it was a loaner car.
She smiled when he came closer. He was wearing a freshly laundered blue button-down dress shirt, black slacks, and black dress shoes. His face was freshly shaven and his hair was lined up as usually. He looked like a professional businessman. A handsome one at that.
"Hey, you look nice." she said, looking at all the bags in his hands. At least four of them.
"Hi. You look beautiful yourself." She was wearing the same jeans shorts and a white halter top that she had put on this morning to go meet Denise at Starbucks. Nothing flashy … just comfortable.
He came in and closed the door behind him. She locked both the door and the deadbolt.
"This is a nice place. Did they just build this place? Everything looks new."
"Yes, I was one of the firsts to sign a lease out here."
"Nice. You should keep off your ankle." Jordan had spotted her limping a little bit as he followed her into the kitchen. He placed his bags on her counter and began pulling stuff out. He pulled out two containers of food and utensils, two bottles of wine, and a see-thru plastic container with a chocolate cake in it.
"Oooo. Can we skip the Italian and eat the cake?"
He laughed. "If you want to spoil your appetite, okay."
They sat beside each other on bar stools. Jordan moved her container in front of her and opened it for her and then he did the same with his. "Looks good," she said.
"Do you have some wine glasses?"
"Yeah." Annette started to get off her stool, but Jordan stopped her.
"You sit down. Just tell me where it is and I'll get them."
She pointed to the cabinet where she kept the wine glasses. He poured up a glass of wine for each of them. He placed the bottle of wine on the counter in front of him, and then turned around and placed the unopened bottle in the freezer. "For later."
"I don't think I'll drink that much wine tonight, but thank you anyway," she said, as he sat back down.
"Who said that I was putting it there for you?" he teased, smiling. "I'll probably have a glass or two later on."
"Whatever! You're still going to your bike show, right?"
"Nope."
"Why?" She picked up her fork and knife and began eating the lasagna in front of her.