“No. He has what he needs. You can move along now,” Yasmin spat.
Nixon looked her way and burst out laughing. “I’m fine, thank you.” The waitress sauntered off, a look of bewilderment on her face. “You’re jealous, aren’t you? You noticed she was flirting…” He sported a shit-eating grin, his eyes filled with delight at such a notion. She rolled her eyes, smiling. “You are! I love it!” He giggled, like the sick person that he was. But she refused to confirm his suspicions. “You know that likely wasn’t real, Yasmine. She just wants a nice tip.”
Yasmine grimaced, unconvinced. But her reaction was a little too over-the-top. Although the woman had been a disrespectful twit, typically she wouldn’t let such a thing get under her skin. Today, however, she didn’t have much tolerance. My patience is thinner than a crackhead on a low-carb diet running twenty miles a day.
Nixon checked his phone for a moment then put it in his pocket. He then casually stood and turned to take in the skyline.
“Isn’t it beautiful tonight? A little cold outside, but still pleasant. The city is stunning this time of year.”
“It is. I was just admiring the sunset before you arrived.” She sipped on her wine while he scooted close, swallowing up all of her personal space. “Nix, what the hell are you doing?!” She laughed, pulling back. This man was crazy. “Get off me!” Ignoring her, he bent down and layered her neck with kisses. Stepping a few feet away, he took out a small, crumpled piece of paper.
“Today, Yasmine, you won’t believe what my daily word was.”
“The affirmation?” He nodded. “What did it say?” she asked, curious. She always enjoyed when he shared that with her.
He cleared his throat.
“It says, ‘What is your greatest desire today? What do you want to say or accomplish? You have 24 hours to make a difference. That’s a blink of an eye for some, an eternity for a few. Make it count.’” He then slid it back into his pocket and looked at her, proudly, as if he’d just given her the keys to the city.
“Uh, well, that’s very nice. Uplifting. What did you decide to do today to achieve that?”
“I went to work and got some business taken care of.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back and forth on his heels. She turned away for a spell for his gaze felt as if he were staring into her very soul. Something about the way he looked at her, the intensity, pierced her heart. it was as if he was unsettled, or perhaps it was the opposite. Maybe something amazing happened that he wished to share with her.
“And then I opened my desk drawer, Yasmine, and took out this piece of jewelry I’d bought for this lady I love.” He retrieved a black box from his pocket and twirled it about as if it were a Rubik’s Cube. “It was in a little container… a box that was so perfect, ya know? It had a light on the inside, and her name, too. So I opened it. Looked at it. Closed it. Opened it. Looked at it. Closed it. This went on for quite a while, like I was tryna create a pattern of some sort, but I was just thinkin’…” He ran his tongue along his lower lip, his eyes so focused and then, a cool kiss of air came out of nowhere and crept up her spine. “I was thinkin’ about how I’d planned this from the moment I began to pursue her. I prayed for her. I wrote her name down on paper, in invisible ink, then in blood. She was a swimming pool and I dived in and drowned, knowing I had to take that chance because she was worth it. I manifested this. I had met the woman of my dreams… she replaced the nightmares, and then, I came up to the surface of the water, and I could breathe again.”
He dropped down to one knee before her and the three men she’d seen earlier who looked like photographers suddenly drew closer.
“…Oh my God.” She gasped.
“I met this lady one day, and… she was amazing. Beautiful. As strange, obnoxious, and wonderful as me.” The other patrons started to notice what was going on. “I told ’er to give me two months to make her mine. That time came and went, and we didn’t make a big deal about it because we knew before the