"Hello, Angel."
"Devin?"
He smiled and shook his head. "Mind if I join you?"
It had been a good little while since we met, so as he sat down I looked him over. I met Devin one night at the club. I was there to meet Qianna, but she never showed up. And you know she had to swear up and down that she was there, and we’d just missed each other. While I was looking for her and getting madder by the second, Devin stepped to me. "Hello," he said the night we met over the music.
"Hi," I said, and continued to look around for Qianna.
He leaned close to me and said in my ear, "You’re very pretty."
"Thank you," I said, and looked at Devin for the first time, and a smile creeped across my lips. I remember thinking that he was good looking, and that if I wasn’t so mad at Qianna, I might have hung out with him.
"What’s your name?"
"Angel," I answered in a voice that I thought screamed I don’t wanna be bothered with you.
He stepped closer. Close enough that I could smell his cologne. "My name is Devin," he said, completely unaffected by my attitude. I looked at him again, Devin was looking and smelling good, and I was being a bitch for no good reason. Fuck Qianna! I said to myself, and decided right then that I wasn’t going to let Qianna ruin my evening.
I held out my hand. "Nice to meet you too, Devin," I said, like my parents taught me some manners.
"Believe me, Angel, the pleasure is all mine," he said, and stared into my eyes. "I couldn’t help but notice that you seem to be looking for somebody."
"Yeah. I was supposed to be meeting a friend here, but I guess she’s not gonna show," I said, and looked around the club again that night. Since then, we been textin’ and talkin’ on the phone, but I don’t remember him being this fine.
"Have a seat. I got here a little early, so I started without you. Hope you don’t mind?" I said, and held up my glass.
"Not as long as you give me an opportunity to catch up." He sat down and motioned for the bartender. "Barcardi 151 on the rocks," he said, and turned to me, "Would you like another?"
"Thank you. I’ll have another apple martini."
Devin and I sat at the bar and talked. Even though we had only seen each other that one time, we were very comfortable with each other. I liked talking to Devin. His conversation was always so positive, and filled with ideas that opened my mind to new possibilities. He was a refreshing change from Qianna.
"Mind if I ask you a question?"
"Go ahead."
"Every time I asked you to go out with me before, you always said no. Why did you say yes today?"
I smiled at him for a second or two before I answered his question. "The politically correct answer would be that I just wanted to see you. But the truth is a bit more complicated."
"You feel like sharing?" Devin asked, and moved a little closer to me.
"I’m mad at my friend, so here I am."
"What did your friend do to make you mad?"
"Oh nothing; just seeing two other people."
"Damn. I’m sorry."
"Don’t be," I said, and raised my glass. "It’s my fault. I let this happen. So I have nobody to blame but myself. You try to be understanding. You know, give people their space and let them be who they are, do want they gotta do to make it. But damn, show me some respect."
"Nobody likes to be disrespected."
"I knew they were seeing other people, but so am I, so that’s not the problem. Then they started bringing them to my apartment when I wasn’t there."
"That’s just wrong."