"So what time do you get off work tonight?" Mia asked. She held the phone to her ear with her shoulder as she struggled to hold a bag of groceries in her arm and unlock the door.
"Umm..6 I think," Darren answered, clicking on the keyboard in the background. "What do you have planned?"
"I can't tell you that. It's a surprise. A special anniversary surprise." Mia sat the bag of groceries on the kitchen table and began unpacking the food she'd bought. "So, let's say 8'oclock..I'll see you then?"
"Aight. That'll work. See you then."
After hanging up the phone, Mia wasted no time in getting started with dinner. She and Darren had been together, this time, for three months today and she wanted to celebrate. She'd left campus right after her last class and headed straight to the grocery store to pick up food to make Darren's favorite dinner- baked salmon,grilled asparagus, and roasted potatoes. With the bottle of champagne on ice, she got to work on preparing the meal. While she was in the middle of peeling potatoes, her phone rang.
"Hey girl, what are you doing?" It was her best friend Katrina.
"Cooking dinner for Darren." Mia heard an exasperated sigh on the other end.
"Ugh..I'm not even going to say anything."
"What? Speak your mind." Mia sat the potato in her hand down and put her hands on her hip.
"Nothing..go ahead..get your Martha Stewart on. Just hope he appreciates what you're doing this time," Katrina rolled her eyes at the thought.
"People change Trina. Give him a break."
"Okay..fine..I didn't call to argue about this. We still going out tomorrow?"
"Uh.." Mia started.
"Uh what? You dissing me for Darren again, aren't you?"
"I'm not dissing you. He asked me earlier today if I wanted to go to the movies tomorrow and I said yeah. I mean, it's our anniversary weekend." Mia continued peeling potatoes. There was another sigh in the background.
"Sure. Cool. Well I'll talk to you later then Mia."
"Okay girl.. I need to finish this food. But we'll get together, I promise."
7:45. Darren had called twenty minutes ago to let Mia know he was on his way to her apartment. Everything was ready. Mia had candles lit around the apartment, rose petals leading to the bedroom for "dessert", and had spent the last ten minutes primping in the mirror. She'd bought a sexy dress the day before just for tonight. As she glanced at the clock on her phone, she was certain Darren would be pleasantly surprised when he saw her. She went back into the kitchen to check on the food. Thinking she'd heard a knock, she rushed over to the door and looked out the peephole. No one was there. She looked over at the clock on the stove. 7:55. It was only a ten minute drive from Darren's apartment to hers, fifteen at most if there was traffic. But it was a Thursday night, there shouldn't have been much traffic. No worries, maybe he'd stopped by the store on the way over.
8:50. Mia looked at her phone as she nervously tapped her nails on the table. She'd promised herself that she wouldn't overreact. She knew there had to be a good reason as to why Darren was late. She wanted to call but decided against it; he'd call--better yet, he'd come soon. Ten minutes later, still no Darren. She decided she would call just to check on him and dialed his number. It went straight to voicemail. Thinking maybe he was attempting to call her at the same time, she hung up, waited a few seconds and called again. Voicemail again. Mia looked at the candles that had nearly melted all the way down and tried to keep calm. She looked at her phone and dialed Darren's number again. Again it went to voicemail. "Damn him!" she yelled, slamming her phone on the table. She grabbed an oven mitt and yanked the pan of fish from the oven, tossing it angrily on the stove. She did the same with both the asparagus and potatoes she had left in the oven to keep warm. As she was walking around blowing out the last of candles which hadn't already burned out, her phone rang.
"Hello!" she yelled in the phone, not even bothering to look at the caller i.d
"Whoa..why are you yelling in the phone?" It was Katrina. Now it was Mia who sighed.
"I'm waiting on Darren. He hasn't called and his phone is going to voicemail so I don't know if something happened."
"Hmm.. when was the last you talked to him? What time was he supposed to be coming over?"
"He called around 7:15 saying he was on his way. He was supposed to be here at 8 and now," Mia glanced at her phone, "it's damn near 10 o'clock!"
"Calm down. I'm sure he has good reason for not calling yet. Don't flip out. I'll come over. If he's not there by the time I get there, we'll just go out and get drinks. Screw him." Mia sighed again.
"Okay, See you in a few."
About ten minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Momentarily Mia's frustration simmered as she silently hoped it was Darren. She smoothed down the front of her dress as she opened the door. It was Katrina.
"So I guess he's not here," she said, walking in and looking at the remnants of the romantic dinner that would go unappreciated. She took a potato from the pan and bit into it. "Mmm, this is good. Let me find out you really know how to cook." She ate the remainder of it and grabbed another.
"I can't believe he hasn't called. We talked all week about tonight. I called him earlier to remind him. He called to say he was ON HIS WAY, and he's still not here. I wonder if something happened. Maybe I should go to his apartment?"
"Hold on, I'mma just bring this pan of potatoes..they're good as hell. No need to waste food," Katrina mumbled as she picked up the pan and headed out the door.
Mia, Katrina, and the pan of potatoes piled into Mia's car and drove to Darren's apartment. Mia had tried calling him again before leaving, but again it went to voicemail. She tried to control her anger as she sped down Abercorn Street, changing lanes without signaling and cursing the cars in front of her that kept slowing down. Finally making it to Darren's apartment complex, she slowed down as she neared his building.
"His car's not here. What the hell?" Mia parked in an empty spot and turned off the car. "I'll be right back." She went upstairs and knocked on his door. A few seconds later, his roommate Calvin opened the door.
"What's up Mia?" he asked, pulling down his shirt and glancing over his shoulder down the hallway to his bedroom.
"Darren here?"
"Nah, he left out a while ago." Mia noticed Calvin was wearing only one sock and his basketball shorts seemed to be on backwards.
"Did he say where he went?"
"Nope. You tried calling him?" Calvin shifted his weight from his right to left leg and leaned against the door. Mia heard a Trey Songz song on the stereo get louder in the back. Calvin glanced over his shoulder again.
"Is he here?" Katrina asked, walking up behind Mia, still munching on the potatoes. "Oh hey, Calvin..what's going on?"
"Hey T..I was just telling Mia that Darren ain't here..Soo.." He looked at both girls waiting for them to say something. Katrina looked at Calvin and noticed his disheveled look.
"Oooh...Calvin's got company!" She laughed. "Play on playa. Come on Mia, let's go get some drinks. All them potatoes, I'm thirsty now."
As they walked back downstairs to her car, Mia tried calling Darren again. Frustrated, she tossed her phone in the backseat and started the car and sped off. Katrina didn't bother saying anything as they rode through town, seemingly going nowhere in particular. Finally, Mia pulled into a gas station and got out the car without speaking. With a lap full of napkins, Katrina gathered her mess and got out to put it in the trash. A quick breeze blew a few of the napkins out her hand and behind Mia's car. "Ah crap," she mumbled as she walked over to pick them up. When she stood up again, she glanced over at the McDonald's parking lot next to the gas station and froze.
"Uh..Mia?"
"Yeah?" Mia stopped pumping gas and turned towards Katrina.
"Isn't that Darren's car right there?" She pointed to a black Nissan Maxima with a black and gold A Phi A license frame parked in front of McDonald's.
"What the..?" Mia twisted the knob on her gas tank and closed the door. "He can't be serious? Get in the car."
"Oh man..I really wasn't counting on catching a charge tonight. Guess it beats sitting at home watching Grey's Anatomy," Katrina said to herself as she got back inside the car and Mia drove off.
Maybe because the drive over was less than a minute, or because she was infuriated beyond comprehension, but it hadn't crossed her mind what she would do once she got inside and saw Darren. She slammed her car door and stormed inside and quickly scanned the area. There was Darren and some girl she was sure she'd seen around campus before, sitting in a corner booth just laughing and giggling. Mia took a quick breath and walked over to the table, Katrina walking quickly behind her.
"Darren! What the hell's going on?" Mia stopped at the table and turned toward Darren, whose back was turned toward the door so he didnt see her walking up.
"Oh shit, Mia! Hey..what's up?" Darren looked surprised, but still remained calm.
"What's up?! Are you serious right now? Did we not have plans? You called and said you were on your way and then turn your phone off. I'm sitting at home cooking for you and you're sitting here eating a damn Big Mac!" Mia pushed the empty Big Mac into Darren's lap.
"Yo! Why you tripping? Let me explain what happened.."
"Oh, I'd love to hear this story..'See what had happened was..'. You're just real foul D..Mia does not deserve this mess," Katrina said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Stay out of this Trina. You don't know what you're talking about. It has nothing to do with you." Darren stood up abruptly.
"What?? I'm suppose to be scared of you?? Nigga, you feelin' froggy then jump! Forget what you think you know, I will lay your ass out right here between the Golden Arches." Katrina was barely 5'5 and Darren towered over her standing about 6 feet even. Nevertheless, she was definitely a force not to be reckoned with. He stared at her for a second and then looked to Mia.
"Baby, can we talk about this? I can explain. See, I was on my way over to your spot and then got a call from Danielle..We work together and--"
"Save it Darren. I don't wanna hear it." Mia pushed Darren from in her front of her and for the first time looked at the girl who was sitting in the booth with him. "Hope you enjoyed your dinner." She then turned and walked out. After exchanging a few disgusted looks with both Darren and Danielle, Katrina followed out behind her.
The two drove back to Mia's apartment in silence. Katrina helped clean up what was left of the dinner Mia had cooked. Then, they opened up the bottle of champagne and poured themselves a glass. After about two glasses, they finally started to talk.
"He's such an ass..I can't stand him," Mia sipped the last of the champagne and refilled her glass.
"I agree. Totally.He's so stupid. Damn, I should've gotten a McFlurry before we left out of there," Katrina giggled into her glass.
"I'm done with him. Done. I'm tired of his bull. Did you see that dinner I made for him? I made saked bammon..smaked blammon..saked..dammit, I made fish!" Mia held her glass in the air.
"And taters! Some damn good potaters!" They both laughed hysterically.
7:30. Sunday night. There was a knock at the door. Mia set her Biology book on the table and walked over to look through the peephole. It was Darren. She sighed and debated opening the door. Darren knocked again. Mia unlocked the deadbolt and slowly opened the door. In his arms was a dozen long-stemmed red roses and a small bag in his hand.
"What do you want?" she asked.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Danielle called me and was all upset because her ex had broken into her crib and had just spent over an hour dealing with the police and just wanted to talk. I hadn't planned on staying that long. It was stupid. I was wrong. I know it. You don't even have to say it. I just want you to know I'm so sorry and I love you so much baby." Darren handed her the roses. She took them, but still didn't move from in front of the door.
"I haven't heard from you all weekend. I guess you were still consoling your friend huh?"
"I was giving you your space. I knew you were mad and didn't want to talk. I got this for you the other day. Happy Anniversary." He pulled a long black box from the bag in his hand and revealed a diamond bracelet. Mia was impressed, but made sure not to show it.
"Oh. Nice." Mia stood her ground. Darren look at her with his puppy dog face and batted his hazel eyes at her. She tried her best not to smile. He leaned in and kissed her on the nose and then again on her lips. She sighed. He knew exactly how to get to her.
"Sooo.. you going to let me in?" Mia looked at him and turned to look over her shoulder.
"I'm studying. I have an exam in the morning." He leaned over and kissed her again. She sighed again. "Alright fine, but you'll have to be gone by 10."
Darren smiled and walked in.
