King of Queens (a Nas Story)

TWO

Gia | 5:48pm

"You can leave your boots by the door." Nasir said while taking his puffer jacket off and hanging it on the back of the dining chair. His boots were wet at the bottom and put together neatly on the mat. Mine were completely soaked with ice water and melted snow from the block I had just walked. 

I studied the small interior of his living room and open kitchen area. The dining room table was small and could seat four people. The living room had one couch pushed to the wall and a color television set with a VCR player on the wooden console. 

The curtains were closed, making the living room area a bit dark. Nasir walked over to the standing lamp in the corner of the room and clicked the light switch that was plugged into the wall behind the couch. The room was lit a warm yellow hue. 

"You hungry?" Nasir turned his body directly to where I was standing. He stood still, taking in my anatomy. He watched my nervous body language as I stood in the center of the living space. I wasn't sure where to sit or what to do with my hands. 

"I can't say that I'm not." I said while fiddling with my acrylic manicure. Nas walked past me, a lingering breeze was felt and his cologne was potent. The smell reminded me of my father. "Sit! Get comfortable!" Nasir yelled out from the kitchen. 

I could hear him rummaging through the boxes of pizza and opening the door to the oven. He was reheating a few slices for us to eat. The apartment was awfully quiet. Only the clicking of the oven could be heard as the temperature increased. 

"You work for George, don't you?" Nasir yelled out after moments of awkward silence from the kitchen. I took a seat on the couch and began rubbing the soles of my feet with my right hand. 

"Yeah. How do you know?" I twisted my face with the look of confusion. He knows so much about me and I know nothing of him. Maybe he noticed from this morning where I had gotten off at. Or maybe the uniform gave it away?

"Your uniform screams 'I work for George'." He said playfully as I picked up on his rasp. As he walked into the open living space, his eyes met mine. 

"George, that's my guy. Real stand up dude." He added as he walked towards where I was sitting. I continued rubbing the sole of my foot as he plopped down next to me on the sofa. "Yeah, he's cool." I agreed with him. George was a fair man and was always nice to me. Strict when it came to the business, but always looked after my mom and I. 

"So, is your name short for anything or is it just Gia?" Nasir scratched behind his head while asking me. I didn't look him in the eye as I was too focused on rubbing out the kinks of my foot. Wearing flat sole winter boots wasn't the best decision to make this morning. 

"My father named me Giana. My mom calls me Gia for short. I just prefer Gia." I said.

"Giana? That suits you." He said with a smile. Eyeing my frame from his seat, I looked over at him and noticed his chipped tooth. It was something about his smile that was so charming to me. His voice added along with his good looks was bound to be a dangerous combination. 

"Thank you. So, what about you? Everybody around here call you Nasir, or only I can call you that?" I asked with a subtle hint of flirtation. He laughed a bit as he yanked on his gold chain and answered me. 

"You can call me whatever you want." He smirked my way. "But, I go by Nas. It's less trouble hearing people butcher the fuck out of my name." He said jokingly, still yanking at the metal around his neck. 

"Okay, Nas." I said with a smile as I tilted my neck a bit to one side. He chuckled at my expression. "Oh shit, the pizza!" He sprung to his feet and ran to the kitchen. He opened the stove and exhaled a loud, deep breath. Almost like a sigh of relief that the pizza didn't burn.