Her face reddened. “Oh.”
“I mean all I can see are your eyes, but—you’re captivating. Has anyone ever told you how gorgeous your eyes are?”
“I’ve been told that once.”
“But not every day?”
“No.” She giggled.
“That’s outrageous.”
She giggled again.
“And how many times have you been serenaded?”
She shook her head. “No one has ever—”
“What?!”
Other people in line turned and watched me.
I spread my arms out. “No one has sung to you?”
“No.” Her giggling shifted to laughter. A few behind her laughed too.
“This is outrageous!” I spotted Jade coming behind her. She winked at me. I figured that might have been the signal to start the distraction. I lowered to one knee. “I’m going to fix this.”
“Oh no, sir.” The woman shook her head and held out her hand to stop me. “That’s okay.”
“You must be sung to.” I saw Jade right next to her cart. I began singing, “Love! Love! You look like love today! And all I can say! Is love!”
Jade grabbed a toilet tissue roll and sneaked off.
“Love! You are the beauty of love!”
“Oh no.” The woman waved her hands. “Please. Stop. Thank you.”
“Are you sure?” I rose and didn’t see Jade anymore.
Good job, my beautiful assassin!
“I hope you have a nice day.” I bowed.
Someone clapped behind her. “Girl, you better give him your number.”
The woman giggled.
“Don’t worry.” I held my finger up. “If our love is meant to be, we will see each other again.”
Her face reddened some more.
Slowly, I backed up. “Love! Love!”
She waved goodbye.
I turned and rushed away.
Okay. Toilet paper found. What’s next?
I pulled out my shopping list, hoping I wouldn’t have to serenade anymore people. A minute later, I discovered Jade in the meat section with a cart. The prize pack of toilet tissue lay in there.
I counted the rolls. “Eight. We’ve hit the motherload.”
“That’s what I was thinking.” She winked.
“You’re my special assassin.”
“I’m just glad I got the job done.”
I touched my chest. “Hey, I did my part.”
“You sure did.” She chuckled and impersonated me. “Love. Love. You look like love today.”
“My mother told me that I have a beautiful voice.”
“That’s because she’s your mother.” She turned back to the empty shelves. “So. . .will we be stealing meat from people’s carts or are we going to be vegetarians this week?”
“I think vegetarian is in order. We may have been lucky with that theft.”
She nodded. “Okay. Off to the vegetable aisle.”
It took us a good hour to finish shopping. Another hour was spent in the long lines. By the time we made it home, Ganesha was ready to meet his friends. I went off with them, just to cock block Mr. Oliver Gym Owner. As soon as he spotted me, a dark frown covered his face. That ended up being pure joy for a very crazy day.
When we returned, I checked my phone to see if there was further news about my mother.
Amber left several more messages.
When is she going to get the picture?
Had I not been enjoying my time with Jade, I would have just kicked her out of my condo today. It was clear she wasn’t working on a way to get out of there. Amber probably thought she could get me back. I had no idea why she would even consider such a foolish thought.
I walked onto the balcony and called Amber.
Desperation filled her voice. “Kamal.”
“What do you want?”
“I needed to hear your voice.”
“Have you figured out a way to leave my place?”
“The airports are—”
“I don’t care if you can leave New York or not. I just want you out of my condo.”
“Kamal, please don’t be so cruel.”
“No. Cruel would be telling you to leave by tonight.”
Silence hit the line.
I frowned. “Stop calling me.”
“Where are you?”
“None of your business.”
“But—”
“After tonight, you now have five days. Use them wisely.” I hung up, entered the apartment, and returned to the only person that had brought more smiles to my face than anyone all year.
Jade pulled stuff out of the cupboards to cook.
I placed my phone in my pocket. “I want to help.”
“Nope.”
I walked into the kitchen. “I’m helping.”
She turned around and bumped into me. “Get your big self out of here. Zora’s kitchen is already too small.”
Only a few inches lay between us.
I held my stance. “I’m helping you make dinner.”
“You’re not.” She stuck her tongue out.
I didn’t move. I was too intrigued by that lovely tongue. “Thank you for today. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Putting that tantalizing tongue back in her mouth, she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “You mean you had fun being an accomplice in a theft?”
“That too. I also liked the hug.”
She grinned and walked around me.
I caught her arm and brought her back to the front. “We’re not done talking.”
“Oh really?”
“You shouldn’t be cooking everything. I can—”
“You bought all the food. And with that grocery store’s price gouging today, I’m thankful. That would have ruined my budget.”