Can't Just Be His Friend Read online

  “Um…not really,” I said looking at him staring at me, feeling like the temperature shot up twenty degrees in the room.

  “You okay?” Derrick asked. He must have seen me sweating.

  “Gosh. This is really awkward,” I said, ready to bail.

  “What is?”

  “This date. You must think I’m desperate. My Mother had to fix me up with you.”

  “That doesn’t mean you’re desperate…just means your Mama has good taste.”

  I cracked a cool half-smile and said, “Is that right?”

  “That’s right.”

  “A confident man, I see.”

  “That’s me all day.”

  The waitress brought us water and Derrick ordered two glasses of Merlot. She asked if we were ready to order, but Derrick told her to give us a minute instead. Then he picked up the menu, I followed suit, and while I was looking for something good to eat, he said, “So, Tiffany, tell me a little about yourself,” which now had me feeling like I was interviewing for this position – to be his woman. Suddenly, I was on a reality dating show.

  “Like what?” I asked.

  “What kind of work you do?” he asked, taking a sip of wine, taking his eyes off of the menu for a second to watch me.

  I stared at his strong hands gripping the glass, cleared my voice and said, “I’m a manager at an accounting firm. You?”

  “I own an advertising agency right here in Virginia Beach.”

  “Cool,” I said, trying to remember if Mom had told me this already. “So I’m good at calculations and you’re good at commercials.” I said, laughing a bit and twirling my hair a few times, trying to avoid making eye contact with Derrick. He was laughing too, probably at my lame attempt at a joke.

  Then he followed up with, “You can add, I can advertise,” and now I didn’t feel so trite. He was right there with me. “That’s cool,” he said.

  “Yeah it is,” I responded, feeling so nervous my stomach hurt a little. My only solace was that I was not sitting too close to him. He couldn’t really see my legs shivering and my fingers quivering from across the way.

  Meanwhile, Derrick sitting back in his chair, was totally feeling me out as I pretended to be interested in the couple sitting near us, how they seemed to be either married or to have been dating for a while. There are no signs of nervousness with that woman, I thought, secretly jealous of her relaxed demeanor. Everything was cool with her – no hair twirling, avoiding eye contact, taking sips of water she didn’t really want – none of that. But I was doing all of it, even aware how this could potentially be a turn off for a successful man like Derrick who undoubtedly wanted a woman as equally confident and successful as he was.

  “You seem nervous, Tiffany. Why don’t you slide your chair closer to me?”

  Like that is supposed to help calm my nerves, I thought. If anything, that would only make me more jumpy. Yet, I moved my chair close to his as he asked. Instead of being across the way, now he was to my immediate right.

  He continued to watch me, and I wondered what he was thinking about. What really goes through a man’s mind on a first date anyway? Had he already considered me undateable? Was he thinking of interesting ways to cut this date short? Or did he actually like me?

  Three minutes later, our waitress showed up and I was somewhat relieved that I was not alone with this fine man for the moment.

  “Are we ready to order?” she said with a smile.

  “Are you ready to order, Tiffany?” Derrick asked me.

  I was still eyeing the menu, and since Derrick asked me if I was ready to order, I assumed he knew what he wanted to eat so I said, “Why don’t you go first?” since I hadn’t made up my mind whether or not I wanted the fried seafood platter or the New York strip.

  He hesitated, probably because he wanted me to order first, then went on. “Okay. I’ll have the steamed lobster and a baked potato with butter, no sour cream,” Derrick said so precisely, I marveled at how successful men always seemed to be so decisive in what they wanted.

  Then I glanced at the menu and noticed he was ordering the most expensive dish, and I wondered if he really liked lobster or if he was just trying to show off.

  “And for you, ma’am?” she asked me next, holding Derrick’s menu.

  “I think I’m gonna have the fried seafood platter,” I said.

  “And what would you like for your side?” she asked and I had no idea what the sides were. Derrick was watching me as I scanned the menu looking for the side items. He leaned close to me and I got a whiff of his cologne that had me so spellbound, I forgot where I was for a moment. Then he pointed to the side items on the menu but all I could see was his strong hand again and the diamond cufflink sparkling brightly from underneath his suit jacket sleeve.

  “Ah…you can choose a baked potato, steak fries, black beans over rice or a house salad,” our waitress said, a little too late. Derrick had already shown me where the sides were on the menu and was so close to me now, I could feel his breath on my neck. Using my peripheral vision, I could see him studying the side of my face, staring at my hair so hard, I thought he was going to stroke it a few times.

  “I’ll take the baked potato,” I told her, not really wanting a baked potato, but just wanting her to get away from this table now before I embarrassed myself. “No, I take that back,” I told her before she walked off. “I’ll have the steak fries,” I said and now I knew Derrick thought I was a little indeterminate. If a woman couldn’t decide what she wanted for dinner, how could she make up her mind about a potential relationship?

  Our waitress walked away and I turned to Derrick, making excellent eye contact with him for the first time tonight, but still a little intimidated by his appeal. I said, “I am a little nervous Derrick, so forgive me. I usually don’t do the dating thing, especially blind dates.”

  “So this is your first blind date?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Mine too,” he said.

  “Really?” I asked, knowing a man as fine as Derrick didn’t need blind dates to meet women, which also made me wonder why he agreed to this blind date. Was it to appease my Mother? Did she beg him to go out with me? Did she pay him? How did the conversation about me start between the two of them?

  “Yep,” he said, confirming this was definitely his first blind date. “So you don’t date a lot huh?” Derrick asked me.

  “No. The last date I had was prom night, and even then I didn’t have a date, so my best friend felt so sorry for me that he took me with him.”

  “No one counts prom night as a date.”

  “Really?” I said, thinking that if I used the word really again, I would slap myself.

  “No, but this is a real date so I guess you can say I’m your first.”

  Derrick had the nerve to wink at me with his fine self, then took a sip of wine. I noticed his watch as he raised his glass. The thing was sparkling like a disco ball in a night club.

  “It’s an Audemars Piguet,” he told me. He must have seen me eyeballing it.

  “Oh, I’m sorry for staring at it…it’s just that I’ve never seen one like it before.”

  He moved his arm closer so I could get a better look. Then he said, “That’s a black alligator strap and those are sapphire crystals on the outer rim.”

  “Nice. I hear those Audemars Piguet watches are expensive.”

  “Yeah, they can be. I paid twenty-three for this one.”

  “Twenty-three hundred?”

  He grinned and said, “No. Twenty-three thousand.”

  “You paid twenty-three thousand dollars for a watch! Are you crazy? I didn’t pay that much for my car.”

  “What can I say? I like nice things.”

  We were less talkative when the food arrived. I was starving and I wanted to do more eating than talking. Derrick was throwing down too, licking and sucking butter from his fingers. Meanwhile, I’m thinking how much I love a man who ain’t scared to tear up a plate full of good food.


  “So there’s nothing you want to know about me?” Derrick asked right after I watched him wipe his mouth.

  “Um…” I was racking my brain trying to think of something to ask him. Something. Anything. He was giving me an open invitation to get to know him and it was time for me to RSVP. “Ah…um…what’s your last name?”

  He smiled again, feeding off of my nervousness. “Why you ask? You wanna do a background check on me, or you want to know what your last name will be when we get married?”

  I blushed harder than I’d ever blushed in my life, thinking he probably used that line before on some other unsuspecting woman. I could see he was going to be too much for me already.

  “It’s Brooks. Derrick Brooks.”

  “Okay.” I didn’t know what to say after that for fear of saying or asking something else stupid. So I tried to play it safe. “How old are you?”

  Derrick seemed like a very smart brother with a good head on his shoulders and just by listening to him talk, I knew he was the type who loved to have fun. I also knew he was older than me, and way more seasoned with life than I was.

  “Is my age going to be your deciding factor in determining if there is going to be a second date?”

  “No…I’m just curious, and I’m sure my Mother already told you how old I am.”

  “Actually she didn’t and you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

  “I’m twenty-three,” I said, only because I really wanted to know how old he was.

  “Oh. So I got you by seven years.”

  So he’s thirty, I thought. There wasn’t anything wrong with that. I heard once that men start maturing around that age. But then again, with Derrick being a business owner and all, I’m sure he matured a long time ago. He had his stuff together.

  “Do you usually date younger women?”

  “The last woman I dated was a couple of years younger than me.”

  “Oh. Okay.”

  “So you think I’m too old for you?” he asked and for the first time tonight, I sensed he was uneasy.

  “No. But I do think I could relate more to someone who is in your age bracket. I mean, you seem to have it all together and I’m just getting out of college.”

  I was thinking about Reggie when I said that. There was no other man on earth I was more compatible with than Reggie. We completed each other’s sentences, we shared our lives and we knew each other’s secrets. Derrick, on the other hand, was new to me. I was just beginning to know him. And he didn’t respond to me after I made the statement about us being on different levels. I think he may have been insulted but I wasn’t calling him old or anything. Besides, didn’t Jay-Z say thirty was the new twenty?

  Even when we left the joint and were on the way back home, he was quiet. He parked in the street in front of my apartment and shut off the engine.

  “So this is it,” he said as he opened the car door. The date definitely did not end as well as it started. I was under the impression that Derrick didn’t want to see me again after that – all because of my stupid comment about our age difference. He got out of the car, came around and opened my door for me like a true gentleman and began walking up to my place alongside me.

  “I had a good time tonight,” he said to me under a starry sky. I could hear the sound of cars driving by and crickets chirping, the people next door about to get rowdy.

  “Did you really have a good time, or are you just saying that?”

  “I had a good time.”

  “Oh and Derrick, I didn’t mean for you to take the age thing the wrong way.”

  “Well since you brought it up, I will say this. I’m looking for a woman with substance and I’m not restricting myself to one age group.”

  “I understand and I don’t think you’re too old for me. I’m sorry if I gave you that impression.”

  “Okay, so what if we were to get serious? Would my age be an issue for you? You think you could handle me?”

  First date and we’re already talking about getting serious. My inexperience in this field left me prematurely answering this question.

  “Well, judging from our date tonight, yes. We had a good time, didn’t we?”

  Derrick inched closer to my face then kissed me on the lips. Bold move for a first date. It was a simple kiss, but still enough to give me goose bumps.

  “Have a good night beautiful,” he said, rubbing my cheek with the fold of his index finger.

  “You too,” I said, glowing.

  Halfway to his car, he turned to me and asked, “Can I see you tomorrow?”

  I must have made an impression on him. Either that, or my lips have magical powers. He was already making plans to see me again.

  “Yeah. That’s possible,” I said, then realized I didn’t have his number. “Hey, I don’t have your number,” I said to him.

  He took out his phone, dialed my number as I called it out to him then called me so I would have his number.

  “Got it,” I told him, when I felt my cell vibrating in my purse.

  “Okay. Good night, Tiffany.”

  “Goodnight, Derrick.”

  I watched him walk away and I clenched myself trying to determine how I made it through the night. I was glad the date was over so the butterflies in my stomach could settle, but yet at the same time, I couldn’t wait to see him again.

  THE DATE COULDN’T have gone any better. I loved everything about it. I had to call Mom and thank her.

  “Mom. I love you!” I shouted as soon as she picked up.

  “I told you. I knew you would like him. Tell me all about it.”

  “It went so well, it seemed unreal. And Derrick is gorgeous. He took me to dinner and we had pleasant conversation. He is so funny. Then he dropped me off at home, walked me to the door and gave me an innocent kiss.”

  “So it sounds like a second date is an order.”

  “He wants to see me tomorrow. Can you believe that? I’m so excited! Did I say thank you?”

  “Yes you did. Oh, and you might want to call Reggie. He called me and said he hasn’t been able to get a hold of you all day Sunday and today. Did you tell him you were going on a date today?”

  “Yeah, he knew about it.”

  “Well make sure you call him. He sounded a little upset.”

  I sighed and closed my eyes. “Ah’ight. I’ll call him.”

  “That didn’t sound convincing. Y’all got into another fight?”

  “No Ma.”

  “Then what is it?”

  “It’s…” I wanted to tell her it was nothing, but my Mom always knew when something was up. “Shontay came to see me and pretty much asked me to leave him alone.”

  “What? Did you slap her?”

  “Maaa!”

  “What? Some girl comes to your house and tells you to leave your best friend alone and you listened to her?”

  “She’s not some girl…she’s Reggie’s girlfriend of two years, mind you. And she’s right Ma. I don’t want to keep ruining his relationships.”

  “So your solution is to avoid him?”

  “I don’t know what else to do right now.”

  “Well, you know how Reggie gets. If he find out you’re doing this, he’s gonna flip out.”

  “I can’t much help that. If he wants to flip out on somebody, he can go holla at Shontay. Right now, I just want to relax and enjoy the thoughts of my date. So I will talk to you later…okay?”

  “Okay. Goodnight then.”

  “Goodnight and thanks again for setting me up with the man of my dreams.”

  “You’re welcome, baby. Goodnight Tiffany.”

  “Goodnight.”

  I felt good resting tonight. The date was amazing and the new man in my life was magnificent. He was new, and maybe that’s what I needed – a new beginning. And since I had a man, maybe that would force Reggie to focus his attention back on Shontay. Maybe…

  Chapter 7

  I walked into my office the next morning bright-eyed and bushy-tailed
. Nothing could destroy my mood today. And just when I thought my world couldn’t get any better, one of the administrative assistants came trotting into my office with two-dozen red roses. I knew they were from Derrick. The card in one of the vases read, “...to see you tonight. Call me.” His phone number was written in below. The other card read, “Can’t wait…” Apparently, I read this message out of order but I got the point.

  I was floating on cloud nine, looking down at earth as if I could conquer anything. How could I be so fortunate to have had a perfect blind date? Then, to add to my happiness, he sent me two dozen roses the very next morning. I had hit the jackpot overnight.

  Reggie called me close to noon. I assumed he would ask me out to lunch so I didn’t answer the phone. I went to lunch alone and shared a one-hour phone conversation with my newfound prince, thanking him for the roses. We made plans to go to dinner again tonight and I couldn’t wait. I was all smiles on the phone with Derrick, and though he wasn’t physically in front of my face, I knew he could sense every time I blushed.

  I stepped back into the office around one-thirty. To my surprise, Reggie was sitting at my desk. It was about to go down.

  “Where have you been?” he said with authority.

  That’s how he came at me. Where have you been? I kept cool and shut the door behind me.

  “Hey Reggie. I was out to lunch,” I said breezy, though I knew he was upset. I could see it all in his face.

  He rose up from my chair like a mob boss and yelled, “That’s not what I’m talking about Tiffany!” I could see every single wrinkle in his forehead as he shouted with all of his might. I placed my purse on my desk.

  “Can you keep your voice down? I work here.”

  Reggie walked from around my desk and joined me on the opposite side. “Then answer my question. Where...have...you...been?” he asked slow and loud as if I was hearing impaired.

  “I’ve been busy. Why are you in my office, and why are you talking to me like this?”

  “You’ve been busy…too busy to answer your phone?” Reggie asked, invading my personal space (which normally would’ve been a good thing) but being that he was angry, this was definitely not a good thing. He walked me backwards towards my desk until my butt fell on a stack of manila folders. “What? You can’t talk now?”