The Importance of Love (Lesbian Stories)

Chapter 9: Aaliyah's Driver

Saturday was amazing. I took Karen to the aquarium, mostly because we had our first date there back in high school. It was the first time I've ever swam with dolphins but Karen seemed like quite a pro, she taught me and swam around with the dolphin for a little until i got the hang of it, after that we pet stingray and manatees and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon. In the evening we went out to dinner to an Italian sushi bar, a really fancy and pretty one located near the beach where we walked through afterwards. It was nice, I knew walking at the beach during sunset hour was her favorite thing to do, plus, I didn't mind seeing two amazing views.

I was back in my office, it was 10 in the morning and I've been staring at my laptop screen all morning, taking small sips of my double shot mocha frappe every few minutes. By now i was just staring at my new watch, waiting for 10:30 to hit so I can go to my first hands-on workshop. I completed all of my online lecture notes, all that was left was a few one on one projects then I'll be qualified to teach forensics.

I dazed off and didn't notice I was staring into the wall ahead of me, I snapped out of it when I heard a light knock on my door. I focused my attention back in my laptop so that i at least look like im doing something productive. "Come in!"

It was Aaliyah.

"Oh, uh hey." I stuttered a little and forced my eyes onto the screen, trying not to stare.

"I was a little worried that I didn't get a message this weekend." She poured herself a cup of water from the waterfountain by my door then sat down in the seat in front of me. "Are you okay?"

"Sorry I was just busy.. How about today? We can have lunch at 4?" I quickly tried mentally planning what excuse I would tell Karen, then again I don't even know why I offered lunch. Is that even legal? I don't know. I was already second guessing myself, regretting the offer. It was the least I could do though, I already left her hanging once. Besides, what's wrong with having lunch with a friend? I was obviously overthinking things.

"Only if you call!" She let out a small laugh then took a sip from her cup, leaving a peach colored lipstick mark on the rim, her lips still moist when she ran her tongue over them. "We can meet up at sandwich shop at Lincoln and Prime ave. Deal?"

That wasn't too far from home. A 5 minute drive, then about 25 minutes having lunch? It almost seemed like it had all worked itself out. "Yes deal. I'll call you once im home. Take care!" I gave her a weak smile then continued acting like I was using my laptop. She smiled and stood up, said a quick thank you then walked out closing the door behind her, leaving the scent of her aroma lingering in my office. She had the ability to brighten up a room just by her appearance, which she did in fact, just now. Her eyes shined like stars, complementing her brown waves of hair that always seemed to be styled perfectly. I stopped day dreaming and noticed it was time to go, so I quickly gathered my things and went to my workshop.

It was honestly way easier than i though. I sit there, listen to an instructor talk to me and the other 6 in the small classroom about things I already knew, take notes, watch her preform a quick and easy experiment, and then we were done. It took overall about 5 hours, although it seemed like 10 sitting next to a man who reeked of rotten onions and sweat. By far the grosses thing I've ever been next to for that long. Besides that, it all went really well, the other 5 group members seemed nice and we got along pretty good. Now I was waiting in the patio at the same seat as every other day Karen picks me up. I was kind of pissed she was taking long because it was starting to rain lightly and my hair can't stand humidity. So I sat there, patiently waiting.

I had a tendency to watch people when I had nothing better to do. I witnessed an old man who worked in administration go to his car and realize he left his keys inside, a young female get yelled at by her boyfriend who has been parked waiting for her for the past 20 minutes, and a group of boys try knocking down the vending machine but quickly being dismissed by the campus resource officer. I continued watching people for several minutes when my eyes latched onto someone familiar, Aaliyah.

Aaliyah carried a cross body bag filled with notebooks, and a small bookbag which I assumed carried her textbooks. Her hair messied up a little through out the day, it was now in a loose ponytail with small locks of hair being held behind her ears. I watched her say bye to one of her friends as she left the building, then held a folder over her head as she slowly ran towards a black truck that wasn't there a few minutes ago. Who was picking her up? I thought she had her own car? Or a better question, why was I so worried?

She opened the door and jumped in, my stomach churned a little when she leaned in to give the driver a quick kiss. Who was this person!? Why hasn't she mentioned she had someone? Was that.. Her boyfriend!? So many questions ran through my mind that I didn't notice Karen honking the horn from a few feet away. I picked up my bag and got in the car.

"Hey baby!" She smiled and gave me kiss then held my hand. "How was the workshops? Were they easy?" My mind was still questioning Aaliyah's driver, and it wouldn't be at peace until I got an answer as to who he was. "Uh, they actually got rescheduled. I have an hourlong workshop today. It starts at 4."