Page 28 of Quasim: King Inferno

Our food came out and we ate and continued talking. Zay’s phone kept going off and he ignored it while paying meattention. I could tell that whoever was trying to get through to him, needed him.

“Answer the phone… I am fine.”

He looked at his phone and then back at me. “Nah. They can wait until I’m on the way back to the studio.”

I smiled. “Zay, answer the phone. It can be important. You have given me your attention all night, so I won’t deduct any points from you.”

He looked at me once more before kissing me on the lips and answering the phone the second it started to ring again. I continued to eat my food as I listened to him talking. It sounded like whatever he had to do was urgent.

As he spoke on the phone, he kissed me on my temple while handling business. “I can come over that way when I’m finished with dinner and make sure my girl is taken care of.”

I damn near went blind trying not to choke when he called me his girl. As far as I knew, we were just dating and seeing where this could go. Neither of us had put a label on what we were doing. Labels always complicated things when people first started dating, so I wanted to steer clear away from them.

Zay wrapped his conversation and looked over at me. “Everything all good?”

“My producer’s flight was delayed, so he got me using his friend… not even feeling that shit because I like to use who I’m used to.”

“Life is all about trying new things. What if this new producer ends up being amazing.”

He paused as he stared into my eyes. “I don’t like change, though… what works for me has always worked for me.”

“What if this works for you, Zay. There is nothing you can do about your producer’s flight being delayed… you can either take these lemons and turn them into something delicious, or you can let them continue to be sour right along with your funky mood.”

We both broke out into laughter. “I was going to stand his ass up and chill with you, but you seem to have other plans.”

“You were not going to stand him up. That man’s time is just as important as yours. Give him a chance and I bet you’ll be surprised.”

He pulled me closer to him and kissed me on the neck. “This is why I need you around me more… you right about his time… shitty thing for me to even say.”

I smiled. “I’ll be with you in Chicago… let’s start there.”

“Alright.”

The bill came and Zay took care of it, giving the waiter a huge tip. When he came and collected the bill, his eyes watered when he saw how much Zay had tipped him. Just like when we came, people were still outside snapping pictures and wanting to get every angle of us.

Zay helped me into the car before he walked around and got into the driver’s seat. He revved his engine a few times and then peeled away from the restaurant. “Where you heading, baby?”

“Fern… it’s a bar in Jersey.”

He zipped in and out of traffic as we made our way out of Brooklyn toward Staten Island, and then eventually over the bridge into New Jersey. I held onto the door as he drove with ease, every so often looking at me, before returning back to the road.

As we turned onto the block that Fern was on, there were bikes and cars everywhere. There were a few Gods outside and their heads were on a swivel when we pulled onto the block. Zay whipped in front of the bar and put it in park before getting out.

I spotted Havoc outside smoking a spliff with his brother and Hassan. Zay helped me out and I smiled up at him as he held his arms out and I fell into him, while he held onto me tightly.

“You not going to back out on me, huh?” He spoke into my ear, and I nodded my head no while laughing.

“I’m going to come to Chicago with you… I promise.”

“Pinky promise that shit then,” he released me from our hug and extended his pinky that had a diamond band on it.

“See, now you believe me.”

“We gonna see,Blair.”

I rolled my eyes and tried to walk away, and he pulled me back. “Give me another hug.”

I extended my arms, putting them around his neck as he kissed me on the neck. “Make sure you call me when you get home, ight?”

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