Authors: Alice Dee
“Don’t mention it. Ladies, these are my colleagues and somewhat friends, Jess, Roberto, Shane and Justin.”
There was something about Justin that made Shamayla smile when she shook his hand.
“Beautiful name,” Justin said to Shamayla.
Hope actually smiled for the first time ever, at least for Dominic which left him that much more in awe.
Hope shook Justin’s hand in the same manner she shook Dominic’s.
“Is it Persian?” Shane asked jokingly.
“I’m Pakistani,” Shamayla corrected him.
“We work here,” Hope said.
“Really…” Roberto said, giving the girls the once over. “Cocktail waitresses?”
“Dancers, sometimes cocktail waitressing,” Shamayla said with a wan smile. “Our shift just ended.”
Dominic couldn’t let this opportunity slip away. Words came out of his mouth before he could even process them in his head.
“So let’s all hang out a bit?”
Shamayla glanced at Hope who gave Dominic a look like he had said something she couldn’t understand. She looked at Shamayla for the ‘ok’ and then agreed.
“What are you guys having?” Shamayla asked. “I’ll go grab you some drinks, whatever you want.”
Hope was a little uncomfortable and Dominic could see it. He scooted over to make room for her and asked her to sit down which she did with a little hesitation.
"What do you want to drink?” she asked him in a low, sort of somber voice.
“I’m all right, right now, thanks.”
“Oh come on,” Shamayla insisted. “It’s on the house.”
“A seven up.”
Of course Justin followed Shamayla to the bar which made the guys including Dominic laugh.
“So she’s the girlfriend of that asshole?”
Hope held her chin up and studied her surroundings with far off gazes. She looked light years away but was actually closer than ever, absorbing his vibe.
“Not girlfriend,” she said. “Wife.”
“That was her husband? Has he left her alone?”
“Yeah we haven’t heard anything from him. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not.”
One thing was for sure; she was glad Dominic lived next door. After what he’d done, she felt secure like chest straps of climbing gear.
“You came,” Hope said, catching his eyes for seconds. It was enough time to recognize the look that turned up volumes.
“I came.” He stared at her but she was still a zillion miles off. At least that’s what he thought.
She kind of smiled and pressed her lips together, staring at her shoes.
“I didn’t think you would, it being so late and everything.”
Her earring glistened with pink and blue gold light.
“I thought you wanted to thank me.”
Hope looked at him and then looked away quickly. “Me?”
“Well he had his hand around your throat…” Dominic bit his bottom lip and squinted. “I got him away from you and…put him out of commission indefinitely.”
A big word…impressive…mmm-hmm. She tried not to smile making it obvious to him that she wanted to.
“Wow,” he said with a laugh. “Really? All right, all right.”
He glanced at Shamayla. “Pretty girl. Very exotic looking.” Now Dominic was staring right at Hope from a profile angle and Hope could see it through her peripherals.
“A lot of guys like Shamayla. He was a huge waste of her time.”
Dominic could smell her perfume and felt himself wanting to get closer, looking at her hair that rested down her back. She felt her purse vibrate and took her phone out of it to read a text.
“Boyfriend?” he asked.
“I can’t stay. I have to go.”
Dominic didn’t want to feel the disappointment in his gut but it was churning up like bad acid reflux. When Shamayla returned, Hope took her aside and talked in her ear. The girls returned and Shamayla said she could stay but Hope unfortunately could not. Everyone was a little disappointed but not as much as Dominic. When Hope stuck out her hand to Dominic, he gripped it firmly and held onto it stopping her from walking away.
“Let me walk you to your car,” he offered.
She looked down at his hand that was like, thrice the size of hers.
“I’m not parked far.”
“The less I have to walk.”
Hope looked into his eyes but it was too dark to tell what color they were.
“Okay,” she said with a slight shrug of her shoulder. She waved over it and Dominic’s friends smiled suspiciously as he followed behind her.
Right away Hope noticed it was breezy out and the air had a little chill. Dominic noticed too and instinctively took off his heavy hooded zip up and draped it over Hope’s naked shoulders. Not only was she instantly warmed on the outside, but on the inside too. Dominic was certain she’d say “No thanks” but instead she snuggled herself in it.
“So why you have to leave so fast?”
They stopped at Hope’s Civic.
“I just wanted to get out of there.”
“Understandable,” he said. “I don’t really want to be out tonight myself.”
Hope looked up at him, trying not to stare or make things awkward for either of them. She still couldn’t make out the color of his eyes.
“Do you have your truck?”
“No, I came with the guys.”
“If you’re ready to leave I can drive you. You said you don’t want to be out tonight. You want a ride?”
He wasn’t planning on this so it caught him off guard, but yes, that was frikken perfect.
“It’s not like it’s out of the way.”
“Yeah, okay.”
Hope tried to suppress a smile. Dominic could tell she was trying not to smile and smiled himself.
“Get in,” she said, opening the driver’s side door.
There were bright red air freshener cherries hanging off her rearview mirror, making her car smell sweet. Dominic felt like a giant in her car and had to push his seat as far back as it could go to make room for his long legs.
“You want to stop and get something to eat, even coffee or something?”
Hope kept both hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.
“Sure, okay. I could go for some coffee.”
***
“Okay, so tell me. What’s the story with Shamayla and what’s his face?”
Hope was sitting across from Dominic which Dominic could barely believe himself. For the second time they were face to face, and not in a rushed or desperate environment. They were in a McDonalds and other than an older couple on the other side of the dining room; they were the only ones inside.
Hope popped her lid off of her coffee cup.
“Well, I know their marriage was arranged. I know her family had no money, were barely making it on government aid. She’s fifteen years younger than him, they married when she was seventeen.”
“What? Here?”
Hope made a face like he shouldn’t besurprised.
“Yeah here.”
“You’re telling me she was forced? She has rights, especially when she was a minor?”
“She said everything would have been fine if he wasn’t such an asshole. He beats her, he insults her, and...”
“And what?”
She decided not to say any more about the things Zefar made Shamayla do. It wouldn’t be right to be spilling Shamayla’s secrets.
Dominic still wasn’t fully getting it so he just listened.
“She wanted to help her family and did for a while but they weren’t real supportive when she asked for help leaving him. She’s been on her own away from him for six months now. That’s the longest she’s been away and he’s been real persistent.” It was true. The more time that passed, the more aggressive he became.
Hope sniffed the strong aroma of her coffee, leaving her with a relaxed mildly euphoric feel. She loved the rich smell.
“So you’re the protective friend?”
“Until you came along.”
“Oh,” he laughed, nervously un-wrapping a straw. He didn’t know what it was about her but he liked being near her. The closer, the better.
“So you have girlfriend, right?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Tristan.”
“Where is Tristan now?”
“Long story, I don’t really feel like getting into it right now.”
“Fine,” she said in her gentle voice.
"Have you been a dancer all your life?”
Hope smiled but it was almost one of repugnance. Dominic tried to read her expressions but he couldn’t decipher them.
“Since I was real small. Nothing professional or anything. What do you do?
“I’m in Construction.”
“Yeah, I’ve noticed your work clothes and all those tools in the back of your truck.”
“Oh yeah,” he smiled. “You noticed all that?”
Hope had the serious expression again, sipped from her coffee and looked Dominic dead in the eyes. She realized they were kind of grey, not sure if it was a mixture of green or blue in there as well.
“They change color,” he said as if he had read her mind. “Depends on the color I’m wearing.”
They were sitting directly under an air vent and the AC was on, blasting Hope with icy air.
“Feels like a morgue in here,” she mumbled, warming her insides with a drink of coffee. She was still in his oversized sweater, swimming it in really, but her bare legs and sandaled feet were cold. She crossed one leg over the other; her foot accidently brushed his leg under the table.
“What time do you usually go to sleep?”
“Before the sun comes up,” she replied. “It gives me a sense of normalcy, like going to bed at night and waking up to the sun. I usually wake around noon or so.”
“Is it hard, working those hours?”
“I’ve gotten used to it.”
Hope looked at his arms, again trying not to stare. It was freezing to her but he seemed perfectly fine with no chills or anything. She remembered that back when she was a kid she had this theory that boys didn’t have feelings, physically. As she got older, she came to the conclusion that they did, but developed another theory that it was on the inside where they were numbed.
“The sun’s going to come up like, really soon.”
“Yeah,” Hope sighed, snapping the lid back on her cup. “Ready to go?”
Dominic took both their empty cups and tossed them in the trash on their way out. The air was cool outside but warmer than the inside of McDonalds. As Hope was driving Dominic realized he found it cute, how she looked in his sweater. He liked seeing her in it. He briefly pondered how she would look in one of his shirts.
“I’ll never know,” He muttered to himself.
Hope pulled into her parking spot a few feet away from the dumpster and the two made their way up the stairs. She felt it awkward, like she knew he was watching her from behind as they were walking up the steps. She was sure if she were to turn around suddenly she’d catch him staring. When they reached the top he thanked her for the ride.
“Oh, here.” Hope eased out of his sweater and handed it back to him. “Thank you,” she said softly, catching his eyes. “For having my back like that?”
“Get some rest,” He said, again trying not to give himself away. It was just so difficult for him to look away from her, especially from her eyes. Looking in each other’s eyes was visually orgasmic for both of them but neither would admit it yet, even to themselves. Hope half smiled for a second and then turned away, unlocked her door and disappeared inside while Dominic was still unlocking his.
8… The anniversary diss
Dominic’s blood was bubbling. It appeared that this was becoming a habit with Tristan. She blew him off plenty of times over the past two months but this was just going too far. As it was, things were strange ever since he relocated to Nevada to be closer to her. Their relationship wasn’t quite the way it was in California. Now that Tristan was living with her dad, Dominic was seeing less and less of her. It was one thing that she wouldn’t move in with him, another that she was constantly putting off plans with him in favor of “family responsibility and obligation”; But on their anniversary? No, this was taking it too far.
Unfortunately for Dominic their two year anniversary fell days apart from her dad’s birthday. The previous year hadn’t been a problem. They celebrated with a weekend trip to San Diego and all was perfect. But this time she was already trying to pull her shit and Dominic was ready to blow up on her. He had told her earlier in the week he had plans to take her out Saturday evening rather than Wednesday night because it was smack dab in the middle of the work week. He wanted to be able to be out all night with her and not have to call it a night so early. He told her this.
Dominic got dressed up so he would fit in at the restaurant of her choice. Everyone got ridiculously dressy for dinner at that place which wasn’t Dominic, but he did it for her. He felt awkward and a little stupid but he would rather go out of his way for her than not. He showed up at her house with a bouquet of red roses, wearing Swiss cologne because she liked it on him. He even had his shoes shined. What does she go and do? Act a fool, that’s what.
Dominic rang the doorbell and Josephine answered, wearing fitted black slacks and a collared, sheer, royal blue blouse with pearl buttons down the front. She had her dark chocolate hair pinned up impeccably and was wearing hardly any makeup at all. Dominic flushed because he felt so damn stupid but Josephine smiled with a pleased look on her face. She complimented him on his clothes and invited him in. She offered him a seat in the den, poured him a glass of iced tea, paused and asked in her Spanish accent if he was joining them tonight.
He moved the glass away from his lips before taking a sip.
“What?”
“For Daniel’s birthday?”
Dominic looked back at Josephine with an expression of stupidity on his face. Tristan sauntered down the stairs and into the den where her boyfriend was sitting.