Page 15 of The Cask

I sucked in a sharp breath. “You’re welcome.”

He started walking backward. “I have to get back to Luxe, but can I call you later? I want to ask you out.”

“Yes, you can call me,” I answered.

He reached the door and unlocked it. “Then I’ll call you tonight.”

“Saturdays are busy.”

A smirk played on the corners of his lips. “I’ll take my chances and call anyway,” he said before he walked out of the door.

He had no idea what was in store for him.

“Oh my God!” Alexis squealed, bursting from the kitchen and startling me.

I spun around with my hands to my chest. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“Sorry! Tell me everything!”

“Oh.” I rolled my eyes. “He apologized. I accepted his apology. The end.”

“I don’t know…” she sang gleefully.

Ignoring her, I pointed to the tablet. “Look over the changes. I’m going to make a few calls. The festival is next weekend and I want to make sure it’s even better than last year.”

“I have no doubt it will be,” she called after me.

It was a typical Saturday night, and I was so busy that I’d almost forgotten about Omari, let alone my plan for him.

“Did you hear what Luxe is doing for their grand opening next weekend?” a woman at the bar asked her friend while I did inventory.

My ears perked up, but I pretended not to listen.

“No, what are they doing?” her friend replied.

“They’re having a Brazilian carnival costume contest and the winner gets five hundred dollars at the end of the night,” the initial woman told her.

“Oh, that’s so cool! I’m definitely going to enter.”

“We have one week to prepare! Where can we find costumes?”

Their conversation faded as my mind started spinning.

The gorgeous costumes of the Carnival of Brazil were going to be a great draw to Luxe. Between the people looking to compete in the contest and the people looking to be a spectator of the contest, they were going to draw a lot of people. I couldn’t deny that it was a great way to celebrate Richmond’s fall festival.

“What’s wrong?” Diana asked, taking a bottle out of my hand. She gave me a suspicious look. “You looked like you were about to crack it on the edge of the bar and cut somebody!”

“No, no.” I let out a forced giggle. “I was just lost in thought.” I pointed to the bottle. “And besides, I would never be wasteful with the product.”

“That is so true,” she laughed. “I couldn’t imagine you cracking a bottle, let alone wasting money.”

I smiled and tried to keep a pleasant look on my face as we closed the restaurant. Everyone cleaned their sections and then dispersed. I waited until I was in my car before I checked my phone and messages.

Two messages from friends and a missed call from my mom, but the message that stood out was from Omari.

Omari Fortune:I decided to wait until it was close to closing time to reach out and send this message. Give me a call tonight when you get a chance. It doesn’t matter what time it is. If you want to wait until you get home and get settled, that’s cool, too. But call me. Please. I have an important question for you.

I checked the time, and the message was sent an hour prior. I weighed my options and decided I’d text him when I got home. I needed the seven minutes it would take to get home to cool off from the carnival news.

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