Page 55 of Rich and Rotten

The waitress came over to check on us, and I ordered another drink. She was quick and had that drink back to me in less than five minutes. I kept requesting drinks while eating my food. Nazir continued to watch me, like only he could, while slowly eating his. The first drink was strong, and I felt a little tipsy. The second and third drinks sealed the deal. They told me I was going past my limit, but I ignored it.

I needed several drinks to sit across from this man.

When the check came, she placed it toward the center of the table and started using that infamous little scraper to clean every last crumb from the surface. Stupidly, I reached for it, and the daggers he sent were enough to make me put my hand back under the table.

“Tata, don’t ruin dinner. Alright?”

“How would I ruin dinner?”

Hearing the slight slur of my words, I thought it would be a good idea for me to shut the fuck up.

He put his credit card into the black leather folio and handed it back to her.

“Why the fuck would I make reservations here for you and expect you to pay? I know you got it, and that shit is sexy to me…always been sexy. You’ve always been kept a certain way, and with me, it’s no different. I know that wasn’t the case in the past.”

Just then, someone came from the back. He must have been very important because other diners were discreetly pointing as he made his way toward our table. He smiled, introduced himself to me, then held his hand out, and he and Nazir embraced.

“Give me a few minutes, Tata.”

I took a long sip of my drink. “Take your time. I know how to get back to my room.”

He looked at me, giving me those eyes that told me to stop playing with him. I watched as he swaggered away, leaving his phone and wallet on the table.

I couldn’t understand why my heart and mind were at war. My heart kept reminding me that this man couldn’t be trusted with my heart again. He had shattered us, and although we were able to pick up the pieces, some were still missing.

The pieces that were missing, I believed he held them.

My mind was telling me that this was Nazir. The man I could trust with anything and who had never let me down. If he disappointed me, there was a reason. He wouldn’t have intentionally hurt me. The part that scared me more than my heart and mind at war was the fact that I wanted to trust him again.

After he finished his conversation, he helped me up, and just like when we first arrived, he placed his hand on the small of my back as we made our way out of the restaurant. We didn’t even make it to the restaurant’s lobby before the liquor started telling me to get slick out the mouth.

Maybe it wasn’t the liquor, but years of pent-up anger. So much had gone unsaid for so damn long. With drinks involved, it was inevitable that something was going to slip. The calm exterior I had perfected over the years would slip, and I would come undone right before his eyes.

“How was dinner, Tata? You want something else?” he asked, his hand still on the small of my back, his cologne lingering.

“Yeah, I would have wanted you not to leave, but you did that already,” I mumbled as I picked up my pace.

Despite increasing my pace, my four steps were one step for Nazir.

“Never said that.”

His calm, nonchalant attitude infuriated me. I don’t know why, because that had always been him. In a room full of men puffing out their chests and acting arrogant, there was Nazir––in the corner with a drink, quietly observing his surroundings. Even though he wasn’t the loudest in the room, his presence was commanding.

Sexy.

Kept you drawn to him.

Like now, I was furious with him. Yet, I wanted to tear his clothes off and have him right here. I craved his touch, his lips on every part of my body.

“You never have to say anything, Nazir. Calm Naz…always breaking hearts but keeping it cool, right?” I flapped my arms, forgetting I was holding my clutch.

It flew across the small courtyard that separated the restaurant from our hotel. He went over to where my bag had landed and picked it up, holding it for me.

“You had too much to drink, baby.”

“Baby?” I said in disbelief. “You look at me like that, take me out to dinner like I’m supposed to forget everything. How you left me and didn’t care. How am I supposed to act like everything is normal when you ripped my whole world apart, Nazir?”

A couple walked by giggling in the distance. The woman looked at her man in a way that I once looked at Nazir–so in love and sure of who I was giving my heart to.