breathe

iv.

The scent of vanilla bean and hazelnut took over my nose as Leah and I walked into the cafe. There was already a plethora of people inside and it was only 8:30 pm.

One of the waitresses pointed out an open table for us in the middle of the floor for us to sit at. Leah gladly rushed over. I took a minute to scout the area.

Off to the side of the room, I spotted some people from my class with their kids. At the bar, were some of the teens of this town. Usually they had a friend on SoundCloud that wanted to promote his work. He goes by Hot Ep. I'm not a fan of the name, but he has bars. You gotta respect that.

My eyes went past the common customers, Lute aka Leah's fan group, and then I stopped at this group of boys. I'd seen them at some of the functions that Leah has invited me to. Some of them here and there, but for the most part at those functions. I locked eyes with the guy that had dreads and they started to whisper to each other. I plopped down next to Leah and hid my face. I think I have a staring problem. I balanced the edges of the paintings canvas on my fingers as time passed.

As I lost my train of thought, the painting slipped and I leaned over to catch it before it hit the ground. When I caught it it almost hit a set of feet next to me. I looked up to see one of the waitresses carrying two cups.

"I have a Mango Lemon Black Tea for Ms. Emerson and Chai tea for Lute. Is there anything else you need?" The waitress put the tea cups in front of us accordingly.

We hadn't even ordered yet. I looked back to where the kitchen was and spotted Dr. Tallis. He waved at me before turning around to scold someone.

"Wow," Leah exclaimed "We really need to find a new drink to order if Tallis over there remembers my order."

I looked at Leah while I blew the steam from the top of my cup.

"Anyone could remember that. Mine, however requires an elite palette."

I took a quick sip before I burned my tongue. The taste was immaculate. I could feel my tastebuds sing.

"Forreal? They put two fruits in herb water and now you're a tea connoisseur?"

I nodded. "Get on my level, girl. It takes years to truly enjoy taste like this."

She rolled her eyes at me. I laughed a bit.

At this point, people started to take the stage to perform.

First, there was a spoken word artist. Second, a singer. Third, a band. Fourth, a rapper and singer. That performance was really good. There had to have been 15 performances by now. Right now a violin and cello duo was performing. I tapped my foot the beat as they played. It was a cover of Flowers duet. It reminded me of my little sister, Nara and I when we were younger.

A whisper came from right ear mid crescendo. "Hey, Nay."

My attention was still on the duo when I answered.

"Yeah."

"Where's your dude? I know he didn't just play us like this."

The truth was I was thinking about Nolan the entire time. I just was trying to ignore the fact that it's been over an hour since we parted ways. A part of me is relieved, but at the same time I'm sad that he lied to me. I was excited to see what the night would hold for us.

I shrugged. What's done is done.

"Naomi you better not give up on him. He seems so nice." She was starting to whisper yell again.

"It is what it is. I'm not pressed." My ear twitched a bit at my statement.

"That's straight cap and you know it. I saw your ear. You like him!"