Who would have thought that after a year of sitting at home alone, I would be on a date? Not only a date, but a date with a great guy. I'd been standing in the grocery store, minding my business, when the gentleman in front of me turned around and said, "Can you watch my daughter for two seconds, I just need to run and get some Pampers, right there." He pointed to the aisle directly behind us and then his toddler. She was wearing the cutest little t-shirt with Kente embroidery on it and the brightest smile you'd ever want to see.
"Sure, go ahead." No sooner than her father walked away, the little girl stood up in the cart and made a lunge for the candy, trying to leap like she was the star acrobat in the UniverSoul Circus. I grabbed her just in time before she took a big spill on the floor. "Slow down there little lady." Rather than her being scared by a stranger, she fit in my arms perfectly and started playing with my earrings and talking to me quite fluently in little girl baby talk.
By the time her father came back, he was apologizing. "I'm so sorry. Let me guess, she made a dive for the candy. I don't let her have sugar and her mother does so we go through a period of withdrawal every time it's my time for custody." She was smiling at me with this little innocent, angelic, brown face and all I could do was come to her defense.
"Nooooo, she . . . it wasn't like that. She was just , , , " I wasn't very good at lying and I just stopped in mid sentence. "What's your name, Princess?"
She told me her name quite promptly. I didn't understand what the heck she said but at that point, she was focused on my necklace and jabbering away about something I'm sure only another two year old or a parent could understand. "Her name is Shakhari, and she is indeed my little princess. I'll take her back now, thanks." Shakhari was having none of that and she grabbed my neck and laid her sweet little head on my shoulder. "I share joint custody with her mother and when she lives with me, my brother, and his two sons; she's the only woman in the house. She has a need for female bonding that defies logical thinking. That estrogen is some powerful stuff, right?"
"It's okay, I'll hold her, go ahead, it looks like you could use an extra hand." While Daddy was unpacking the cart, getting his super savings card swiped, and paying, I was checking him out; he was actually very cute. He had a full beard and a delicious looking chocolate complexion and a shopping cart full of health food. I whispered in Shakhari's ear, "You know, your Daddy is pretty handsome."
That must have been the magic phrase because almost immediately Shakhari wanted to go back to Daddy and she reached out to him. He scooped her up and kept loading his cart with the bags like he was the featured juggler with UniverSoul. Right before they were ready to leave, he said, "Say goodbye to the pretty lady, Shakhari." She blew me a big kiss and I could hear her saying bye-bye over and over until they were well beyond the automatic doors.
I paid for my groceries and made my way to the parking lot. I was putting my groceries in the back seat and still thinking about Dad and that sexy smile when I heard someone say, "Excuse me." I looked up and it was Dad. "I didn't get your name. I'm Vernon; I wanted to thank you for taking care of my little lady. I was wondering if . . . Do you think it would be okay if I gave you my number and you could give me a call . . . that is if you aren't married or seeing someone or anything. Sorry, I'm not very good at this. I haven't dated in a long while so I'm a little out of practice. I'm sorry."
I extended my hand, "I'm Deborah, nice to meet you. There's no need to apologize." He handed me his business card with his home and cell phone numbers written on the back. A week later I was on a date with him, sitting at a table staring into the dreamiest eyes possible and pinching myself that he was so amazing.
The chemistry was just there, it wasn't forced or anything, we just seemed to connect. He told me that he'd moved to the area two years ago, a little before Shakhari was born, and his pregnant girlfriend at the time had no intention of moving away from her family, and they had no plans to get married. "I got a chance to really make a difference," he explained, "so when my brother told me they were opening an Office of Minority Affairs in the county, and were looking for someone to head it up, and he could get me an interview, I jumped at the chance. Janet is a massage therapist on a cruise ship for 3 or 4 months at a time so it works our perfectly that I can take Shakhari, my brother and his two teenage sons are the perfect babysitters whenever I need them. When she is with her Mom, I feel like my entire life is on hold." He explained to me that he'd largely gotten caught up in his ex's looks and while he could have made better choices in a partner, and used a lot more precaution, i.e. protection, he was making the best of the situation and being the best father he knew how to be.
The more we talked, the more attracted I was. Sure, we'd talked on the phone, gotten to know each other a little bit before the date, but there was something about being in his presence, smelling his cologne, seeing those shoulders, just being in the company of a man that was intoxicating. I told him my sad story, of how I'd let myself love a man who didn't love me and how it had fucked with my self esteem so I'd been alone for a while, just trying to work on myself. Isolated was a better term for it. I'd sort of shut myself off from the rest of the world to figure things out and make sense of it all. Usually, when you admit flaws to a man, they run 100 yards in the opposite direction but Vernon was hanging right in there with me, it didn't seem to disturb him in the least. I could tell from his actions and his words that he was really interested in finding a woman of substance, which is rare. Most men are looking for a woman of beauty, who won't question them or demand anything of them. He explained that after Shakhari was born, he was intent on finding a great role model for his daughter and a great partner with whom he could build a life together. Boy was I glad the recipe I was using called for shallots that night and I had to run to the store.
After dinner, we walked hand in hand by the bay, looking out over the water and up at the stars. We sat on a bench for a while and watched the other couples walk by, kissing and hugging, feeling each other up as if no one could see what they were doing. I got a little chilly and he gave me his jacket and put his arms around my shoulders. It was getting late but I was in no rush to end the date so I asked him if he wanted to come back to my place for a drink.