Syrtis

I.

April 27th, 2018
Friday, 8:15am

“Hm,” Jessica sounded out, loud enough for her mother to hear as she directed most of her attention to her small, silver coffee maker—the one that decided to defy her commands that early morning. It was currently at her eye level as she twisted it this way and that, trying to figure out why it wasn’t coming on. A tendril of her Brazilian hair fell out of her black bonnet and tickled her ear, and she banged it on the counter out of pure annoyance, letting out a long sigh.

“Kay Bear. Are you listening to me?” Her mother’s voice got louder and she winced at the good quality that her earpiece decided to display at that very moment. “Jessica. Helloooo?”

“I’m here, mammie. I’m listening.”

“Really? What did I say?”

Jessica leaned on her black quartz countertop and held her palm against her forehead, resigning to her fate. “You want me to come to the restaurant to see you. Basically. And I’d love to, really. But work is preventing me. You know how it is.”

“I really don’t. It’s either work or that foreigner you’re dating—what’s that? Let me see. Give it to Vee, it doesn’t belong there,” she sounded far away, her phone conversation forgotten. Jessica could still hear her go on and on as she directed her new batch of employees at the restaurant.

Her eyes fell on the coffee maker and they lit up when she noticed that the light had turned on. Looks like the day has a silver lining after all.

“Mammie, I have to go. I’ll call you as soon as I can, okay?” Her words went into the atmosphere and not her mother’s ears, as she was still talking and directing. She ended the call after taking her phone out of the pocket of her purple pajama pants, relishing in the soft, fluffy feel of it against her legs. Her white under blouse that she’d slept in the night before had ridden up her stomach, leaving her side exposed. Her dark purple acrylic nails clicked at the screen of her black Samsung S8 plus as she checked for important messages, while simultaneously praying that there was none work related.

A swift thank you prayer left her lips as messages of Amin flooded her notifications; no work message in sight. She needed the day off on her actual day off, because her bosses thought it was funny to call her in every Friday to work half days. They were mostly messages from the night before, about ten in total. Without hesitation, she pushed the call icon and slid it back in her pocket.

“Are you okay?” His smooth, lightly accented voice washed over her and she smiled in appreciation, trying and failing at not thinking about the mouth it was coming out of. Oops.

“Normal people greet when they answer the phone, you know?”

“Sabahu Alkhayr, habibata.”

The laughter in his voice was plain as day and she bit her bottom lip to keep from cursing him out. “Really? We’re doing this? At eight in the morning? Better rethink it. If I start blasting Grebo now, you’ll feel my pain.”

“Okay, okay I’m sorry. I can’t resist sometimes,” he murmured then stopped speaking to her to answer somebody near him in rapid Arabic, before laughing at something they said in response.

“Okay. I’m fine,” she rolled her eyes and poured her now ready coffee into her speckled, red ceramic mug.

“Jess, I’m at work. It’s hard to have a conversation without interruptions.” The background noise receded as he stopped speaking for a few seconds. “I’m hiding in my office because of you. Can you smile now?”