Gia steps out of the shower/Jacuzzi tub, and lets Piper fall to her side.
Then she starts laughing. “You know, this heffa is going to cry for days when we tell her about this.”
“And we can't not tell her, right?”
“We've got to tell her. Oh my goodness!”
Kevin bursts back into the bathroom and then covers his eyes when he sees Piper exposed. “Will y'all cover her up? Why'd y'all stop using the shower curtain?”
“Oh, Kevin, please! This might be the one exception where God knows you can't be looking at her with any kind of lust in your eyes. He'll forgive you. Just look away, right now.”
He storms out of the bathroom angrily, which makes us laugh more. There is a knock on the bedroom door. “Go answer that, Kevin,” I say. “It's probably LaKeisha, coming to harass us again.”
But it's not LaKeisha at the door. It's Sam and Hope.
Hope rushes into the bathroom. “Is she okay?”
“Yeah, no thanks to you!” Gia says.
“Gia, you know I have a weak stomach. That's not even my thing trying to help somebody in that kind of situation. I think I might have to give my babies to a nanny when they poop in their diapers.”
Gia nods and laughs. “I know you have a weak stomach, Hope. You don't have to explain it to me.”
Out in the bedroom, Sam says, “Do y'all three think you can handle it from here? I want to get Sunday out of here. It's getting a bit rowdy upstairs.”
“Well, what about the rest of us?” Hope asks as she steps out of the bathroom.
“Kevin will protect you, right, Kevin?”
“Yeah, sure I will.” Kevin says, not sounding the least bit convinced that he should be helping a bunch of stupid girls that got him into this mess.
Hope says, “Ricky is still up there trying to help Big D and them get the crowd calmed down. Do you want him to drive, Sunday? Or do you want Kevin to drive?”
I toss Kevin my keys. “You drive, Kev. I'll see y'all back at the house.”
“Okay,” Gia says. “See you shortly.”
Sam leads me out of the back of the club and into his car, a new black, drop-top Benz. Sam doesn't have any problem buying nice things with his money, but I happen to know that he's not blowing it. Besides planning to purchase property, he got an investment broker just like me.
“Sam, was it really getting rowdy up there or did you just want to leave?”
“Well, it was getting a little hot up in there. LaKeisha had a cleaning crew up in there and one of them splashed bleach on a girl's dress as she was going past. Of course the girl went bananas. Zac tried to say something to her and she bucked up against him like she was about to hit him. Of course, she was removed from VIP, but pretty much everyone is leaving the VIP. The smell won't die fast enough, no matter how much bleach and air freshener they spray. It's in the air for now, until they can open up the club and get a fresh breeze.”
“Okay, 'cause Gia was looking at me crazy because I abandoned her with stinky.”
“Oh, no. It wasn't safe for you up there. Big D is all kinds of mad, too.”
“I'm sure. Piper is going to have a lot of apologizing to do next week.”
“How does someone even apologize for that?”
Sam says, “She can write a letter. Dear Bryce and LaKeisha. I am so sorry that I couldn't hold my bowels. Please forgive me. And let me get back in the VIP.”
“Oh, we were told that she's not being let back into the club, ever. LaKeisha says underage drinkers are not allowed.”
“I think I can convince her otherwise, but probably not the Gamma Girls. Most of them clearly knew what was up, but they ran out without alerting other people.”
“What about Sharday? Did you see her running out?”
Sam shrugs. “I don't know Sharday.”
“She had on all white with turquoise shoes.”
“Baby, I don't know what any other girls had on tonight except you.”
I laugh out loud. “This is totally not the time for flirting. I'm not in a very flirtatious mood. My girl just got pranked by a bunch of mean girls.”
“She's okay. She's got you guys. You've got to let her know that it's okay, and that she is a victim and not at fault.”
“Yes, of course we'll do that. We're her friends.”
“Good.”
“Why do you care so much about what happens to Piper?”
“I mean, she's your friend and I thought you might be affected by it. I'm sorry if I sounded like an idiot.”
“You don't sound like an idiot. In fact, you're saying all the right things. Do you have a script or something written on your hand?”
“Really! No, I have nothing printed on my hand, I promise.”
“Well, when did you get so sensitive?”
Sam smiles. “There are a lot of things about me you don't know, Sunday. You should take some time to get to know me.”
“Right, like I didn't know you were a YouTube singer,” I say with a smile on my face.
“I was wondering when you were gonna bring that up. I didn't even know if you saw it or not, because you didn't say anything.”
“I-I didn't know what to say. I still don't know what to say.”
“Well, how did it make you feel?” Sam asks, his tone low, husky and serious.
“It made me feel loved.”
“Well, then I was successful, because that's what I wanted you to feel.”
I can't stop smiling. “Okay.”
Sam reaches over and squeezes my hand. “When we get back together, we can take it slow, and really learn one another. I want to know everything about you,” he says.
“What if you find out something you don't like?”
“Everything I've learned so far . . . I've loved, so if there's something I don't like, there's probably something wrong with me.”
I don't say anything else, because I want to think on everything that's happened tonight. Slowly but surely Sam is breaking down my defenses. And the feelings I thought I had for DeShawn are fading into the background. Everything is perfect except for the thought that DeShawn might get hurt.
That's the thing about love. In order to open your heart to it, you have to take the guards down and leave it defenseless.
17
A
fter I change clothes, Sam and I get ready to leave again. I'm still dressy, but this time I'm wearing a tiny champagne-colored short-sleeved dress and pink shoes. From the look on Sam's face, he approves my second look too.
He opens the car door on my side and I climb in. I admire the wood grain and shiny leather seats in Sam's car. He definitely takes care of his ride. It's so immaculate in here that I don't even want to eat a stick of gum.
“Where are we going to eat?” I ask.
“Have you ever heard about this restaurant called Bacchanalia?”
“Bacca-who?”
Sam laughs. “It's really nice. Gourmet. The kind of place young millionaires should be having dinner.”
“Is it expensive? We can go to Pappadeaux. I'd be cool with that.”
“Yes, it is expensive, and no, we are not going to Pappadeaux. Let me do something special for you.”
“Okay, Sam. I didn't know it was a special occasion!”
He looks at me and smiles. “Anytime I get to spend the evening with you, it's a special occasion.”
“Oh, you are laying it on thick, aren't you? Carry on. I think I like it.”
“Well, what do you expect?” Sam asks. “You've got me competing with your little roommate.”
“It's not a competition. I definitely don't want y'all to compete. That's you two being cavemen.”
Sam laughs. “Well, I feel like I've got to go overboard, because this dude gets to see you all the time. He's probably sneaking kisses, hugs, and squeezes all day every day and I only get to see you once every couple of weeks.”
“It is not going down like that in my house!” I say. “We respect each other's boundaries.”
“That's okay. I'll be back very soon.
“Where's your condo?”
“Close to you. It's in Buckhead too. A bunch of ballers and ballerettes live there.”
“Will it be okay for you to do your music there, though? You're kind of loud, so I thought you'd go for a house.”
“There is a soundproofed theatre room that I was gonna retrofit as a studio. I've got some top-of-the-line stuff already picked out. It won't be as nice as yours though. If I need to lay down some vocals, I'll use your spot or Big D's.”
I don't know how I feel about Sam living around the corner from me. What if we don't get back together? How hard is that going to be?
“So, you'll move there even if we don't get back together?”
Sam chuckles, “I'm not worried about that dude DeShawn. We are connected. Our souls communicate with one another.”
“Our souls?”
“Our spirits, or something! The place at the core of our being where the music comes from. That's where we bond. DeShawn just capitalized off of my stupidity.”
I have to admit that I do feel a connection to Sam that I don't feel with anyone else, but I think it's because of the music. I don't know if that means we are supposed to be in a relationship. We should always be songwriting partners, but I'm not convinced it goes for everything else.
We pull up to the restaurant's valet station, and the valet rushes up to open my door. I'm feeling especially spoiled tonight with all of this door opening.
Sam already has reservations, so we're immediately taken into a private dining area. I can tell this place is upscale, because they're mostly older white people here.
When we're seated, the waiter places the napkin in my lap. How classy!
“Sir, would you like me to bring the courses as you've arranged?”
Sam nods. “Yes, please.”
The waiter nods and walks away. Sam grins at me, but I'm sure I look confused as what!
“The courses you've arranged? What in the world?” I ask. “Is it too late for Spondivits?”
Sam cracks up laughing. “Enjoy this, Sunday!”
“Okay.”
I sit back and watch the waiters bring us plate after plate of yummy and fresh tasting foods. There's some sort of pork, and crab fritters for the first two courses. Then, there's a New York strip steak for the third course. It is perfectly cooked, by the way. Along with the steak there's whipped potatoes, and squash. For dessert, which I barely have room for, they bring out a slice of chocolate cake and mint ice cream.
“Sam, this place is incredible. How did you find it?”
“Big D told me about it. He and Shelly try out a new five-star restaurant every week.”
“He sure doesn't need to experiment like this every week! That's why he's so big!”
“He knows how to live, Sunday. He enjoys his money. He saves too, but he makes sure to live in the moment. That's what we need to do.”
“So what should I be feeling about this moment?”
“Hopefully, you feel full, because I'm stuffed.”
“I am full! Are we going somewhere after this?”
Sam nods. “You up for a horse and buggy ride through downtown Atlanta?”
“I've always wanted to do one of those!”
“Well, let's do it, then!”
After Sam pays the bill (which I'm sure was hundreds of dollars) he drives me to a spot in downtown Atlanta, where the horse and buggy are already waiting for us. The horse is beautiful and white, so bright that it looks dipped in bleach. The buggy is gold and white with red velvet seats. It looks like a Disney World attraction.
Sam helps me up the stairs, and then he climbs in and snuggles up next to me. I didn't know that I liked this romantic stuff, but this date is making me feel off-the-charts special. The fact that he planned it all is even more incredible.
“This is really nice, Sam. I can't believe you went to all this trouble.”
“Sunday, don't you know how much I care about you? I'll spend every dime I have to win you back. No matter what it takes, I want to prove that I love you.”
I lift my eyebrows and take in a sharp breath. Did he just say that he loves me? I think my heart just stopped for a few seconds.
“But I don't want you to spend all your money. I just want to know that you won't hurt me again.”
Sam pulls me close and kisses me. “You have my heart, Sunday. I'm praying that you don't hurt
me.
”
I don't know how to reply to that so I lay my head on Sam's chest as his arm encircles me.
A feeling of warmth goes through my body. From the tips of my fingers to the tips of my toes. It's like my heart has become the sun and my arms and legs are the sun rays.
I snuggle in closer to Sam, trying to share the warmth with him. Since he says I have his heart, maybe I'll share some of mine with him. Self-preservation mode had me holding back, but my intellect has a flaw. My thinking doesn't line up with my feelings.
Forget about self-preservation mode. I remember what DeShawn whispered to my heart, but I don't want to save myself anymore. I want to be wooed. I want to be saved. And Sam is looking pretty heroic right now.
Does this mean I'm Team Sam? If it does, and if Sam is the one my heart chooses, what is going to happen to DeShawn? I know how it feels to have a broken heart. I can't be the one to do that to him, but how can I get out of this without becoming the villain?
Why does someone have to lose? Can't everybody win?