Dark Or Cream

Chapter 3 – Slick The Pan

They pulled up to the gym, and Ebony strutted out of the building. “Everything went smoothly?” she called out to Kaja. Ebony marched over in a two-piece with a beach towel wrapped around her waist, and her sexy post-baby body was something other women probably envied. Kaja pulled her into a hug and surreptitiously pulled Ebony to the side.

“Woman, do you see him?!” Kaja whispered excitedly.

Ebony grinned and peeked around the van to see Rashan carrying trays of food with the help of the Cooking by Kaj driver. “Do I deliver, or do I deliver?”

“He’s like—like the first candy bar after a carb-free diet! Oh, gosh, Ebony! I can’t believe how fine he is, and he was flirting with me!”

“Oooh! I knew he’d love you. I’ve been digging up info on him, waiting for y’all to get here. He’s single. He’s twenty-eight years old and just got out of the Army. Did I mention he’s single?”

Kaja waved her hands frantically at Ebony. “What do you think? Do I give him a chance? What if he’s just looking for a fling?”

“Kaja, Kaja! Take it one step at a time. Yes, give him a chance! Shh, he’s coming back.”

Rashan strolled up to Ebony. “The pool is nice. I hope you brought your swimsuit.”

“No, I’ll be too busy with catering. I’ll set up buffet style, but I still have to watch the tables,” Kaja explained apologetically.

“That’s too bad,” said Rashan. “After I help you set up, I promised Ramses I’d get a pool volleyball game going with him. You sure you don’t want to play?” Ebony eased away so they could talk privately, and behind Rashan’s back she flashed Kaja a thumbs up. Kaja smiled, shaking her head at her sister.

To Rashan, she said, “I wish I could, but you probably won’t see much of me during the party.”

“Don’t ever be too busy to live life fully,” he advised, licking his lips as he eyed her. “With that in mind, since I can’t convince you to play now, you think you could free up some time to go out with me on Friday night?”

Kaja really tried to come up with a reason to say no, but she couldn’t. She would be free Friday night, as she was every weekend. All she had planned was to catch up on some laundry. “Hell, why not?” she gave in. He grinned at her like he’d won a prize, and she watched him retreat back to the building with more trays of food. Kaja took a deep breath and tried to collect herself. So much for internet dating, she thought. The real deal was too much to resist.

Kaja powered on her computer as soon as she got home after the birthday party. She had had a blast, despite the fact the majority of the event had been spent making sure plates and cups stayed filled and tummies stayed full. Her jambalaya was a raging success, and Kaja knew she had won over new customers to Cooking by Kaj with the delicious feast. Plus, everybody loved Ramses’ cake. It had her wondering if she should add cake orders to her already busy schedule. Then, again, Kaja wanted to keep her free time free for a little while longer. As she typed in her username and password to enter the dating website and see what she had missed from Eric, Rashan was on her mind.

Eventually the sexy black man had made his way back to her during the party, and he had flirted up a storm while she was serving food. Kaja felt it was appropriate to let Rashan know she had male friends and was currently talking to someone else, but Rashan hadn’t been deterred. Especially when she mentioned it was someone she had met over the internet. He made it clear he wasn’t worried about competition, and Kaja was inclined to believe the man had reason. He was obviously a catch—good looking, getting his education, driving a nice car. She wanted to get to know him better. The date Friday night would be the perfect opportunity, but she also felt she had to tell Eric about it.

She clicked on her inbox to see multiple messages from Eric.

“Good morning! All set for the birthday party? I hope you have a good time today. I know the food will be great.”

“I was kind of hoping I’d get to talk to you. I guess you got off to an early start. Don’t freak out, but I miss you a little bit. 🙂 Anyway, have a good time at the party.”

“I don’t want you to think I’m harassing you, but I just heard a song on the radio that made me think of you. I was riding with my friend from work, and this song called ‘Change Your Mind’ came on. It made me think about you cause I kinda feel like we were both skittish initially about getting involved with anybody on the internet—I know I was. And, I know you said you just want to be friends, but to be honest, talking to you has been the highlight of my day. I think about you while I’m at work and can’t wait to inbox you when I get home. No weird I’m-in-love-with-you stuff, lol. I mean I like getting to know you and would love to meet you in person. So think about it.”

Kaja sat back and covered her mouth with her hand, studying the screen. “Aww,” she said softly. He was too sweet, saying he missed her and she was the highlight of his day. It was going to be hard to turn him loose. Kaja put her hands to the keys to type out a response, but she paused before she could complete the thought. Like Eric, she had begun to look forward to messages from him every day. It had only been a week of chatting back and forth, but they had a good vibe going. He was different from any other guy she had ever dated, and she had to admit that was intriguing. She wondered what it was about her that made him interested in her.

At first, Kaja had wanted to make a clean break and let Eric know she had met someone new. On further thought, she wondered if that was the best thing to do. It could turn out Rashan was all glitter and no gold. As of now, she had to go by a brief flirtation at her little brother’s party. At least in Eric’s case they had been communicating with each other for a few days with no red flags. On the other hand, Eric said he wanted to meet her. She had read enough horror stories about women meeting men on the internet. He could be an axe murderer, like she had joked with him a day or two ago. Or, he could be a catfish, like Ebony mentioned. Conversely, they were from the same town and could easily meet in a public place, providing greater safety. She knew if he turned out to be someone other than who he purported to be, she could simply drop him.

Kaja didn’t want to get her hope ups about either man.

She put her fingers to the keys and typed out: “I had a really good time at the party, thank you. The food was delicious, and my brother loved his cake. I got your messages, and I want you to know that I look forward to talking to you, too. I think we could potentially have a lot of fun together, but I don’t want to lead you on. I met someone at the party, and he asked me out. It’s casual, but I need to know how you feel about continuing to talk to me, even knowing I am seeing someone else.”