I hadn't seen him in years but my stomach was still in knots.
Dak and I had always been something. At first we were just friends. His mom, Peggy, and my mom, Leanne, got pregnant around the same time and us two were born a couple days apart. We spent the majority of our time in the neighborhood park or at my house playing before he just had to go off and play football with the rest of the boys. Once he joined in with the neighborhood boys we only saw each other at school and some weekends. Still, we managed to stay close. He was the first person outside of my mom that I wanted to tell about anything. He was even my first kiss, my first everything.
But then everything changed. He went to Haughton High School and I transferred to this faraway private school, Louisiana Preparatory School for Girls through these school vouchers during my junior year. Slowly, Dak became a distant memory, someone I would hear about from family members and family friends and later on from the fancy sports commentators on ESPN.
Everything changed when I moved to Texas for my first big- girl job. My mom couldn't resist hitting up his family and telling them I'd be there, just a drive away with. For the last two weeks before my move she keot on bringing him up in not so subtle ways. "So...when do you plan on seeing Dak...I need some grand babies sooner than later." My usual response was to roll my eyes and go out to the yard to relax. But I couldn't run away during the car ride down. She caught me redfaced and blushing hard when some radioperson was talking about Dak's sports camps.
The real kicker was when she told me that she had set up a lunch date for me and Dak to "reacquaint" ourselves (the quotation marks are all hers). According to her I had 3 days in the midst of unpacking to prepare for a lunch with Da Prescott. These were the longest 3 days of my life. Of course the last day sped up full speed and I was rushing to find an outfit that said I was respectable but could also be sexy and put beach wave curls in my hair, silently cursing my self for not getting that deep condition last time). Finally I settled on wearing a royal blue romper, a gold necklace, and gold sandals.
(Note: Below is just a depiction of outfit not character description/looks)
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Then I got a phone call from a number I hadn't seen before. I let it ring since I don't answer strange numbers before getting a text saying "Ash, It's me Dak. Your mom, Leanne, gave me your number. I'll be running late from some work stuff. Can we push our thing back a couple hours or so?"
I spent the next 3 hours and 35 minutes (guess that was the or so he was talking about) huffing and puffing around the house, eating cheetos because he was playing around too much with my food timeline and I was starving.
Finally I saw a black car pull up and got a knock on the door. Lemme tell you he looked good wearing a red t-shirt, black jeans, and new adidas. Then he had the nerve to grin at me until he saw my face. "Come on, Ash...I promise I'll make it up to you. We haven't seen each other in forever and let's just have fun". I decided to lose the mild irritation and just go with the flow, which worked until I asked him where we were going for dinner and he refused to tell me. I sucked my teeth and he just snickered at me..."You haven't changed a bit, Ash. Still got that attitude, huh".
We drove for about 30 minutes to the restaurant called Solaris. Dak proceeded to drive past all these open parking spots. Dak saw my bewildered expression and reassured me that we'd be sitting in a more closed off area so that we wouldn't be bothered by any fans leaving me feeling a bit stupid.
Finally we were able to valet the car when I pulled the handle to get out. Dak scurried over real fast, telling me to sit, pushing the door back in, and re-opening it for me. "I didn't know I was incapable of opening my own door." I was surprised when Dak didn't reply to my smart behind comment until I saw what he was after. He ran to the restaurant back door entrance to hold it for me, telling me to enjoy the southern hospitality.
Then we sat down and we began to check out the menu. Dak ordered the steak ranchero and I ordered the chicken fajitas and two pineapple jarritos to drink. I won't lie. It was a little awkward at first. I felt a little two dressed up and like anything I had to talk about would be bored compared to the life of an NFL player. For the first three minutes I clammed up staring mostly at the chips and salsa on the table and stuffing my face. Then I dazed off thinking about our past.
Next thing I knew Dak was calling out to me.
"Ash, where'd you go. I was asking about your new job. How's it feel to be the youngest reporter of the Dallas Tribune newspaper? I hear you're doing big things."
"Not as big as you but I'm trying. I'll probably be covering puff pieces and bringing them coffee and bagels"
" Nah, your mom's been sending me some of your stuff. You're talented. I read the one you did on me at Mississippi State"
I blushed, cursing my mom for sending him my pieces. He let my embarrassment subside and the conversation moved smoothly until dinner started to come to a close. The waiter came over to ask if we needed separate checks and before I could pull out my worn visa Dak whispered to put it on his tab.
Soon we were headed back to my place. I got out and went to my front door. Under the porch light I started searching for the keys to my new house.I couldn't find them and I tried to wave Dak off. Of course, he had to step out and see what the problem was. "It's nothing, Dak. I have my car keys so I'll just check in to the Marriot down the road. " He refused and said I should just stay over his place. "No, I can't put you out like that." Dak answered in silence, just going over to the passenger door and waiting impatiently. Finally, I got into the car and we rode the 45 minute drive to his house - excuse me, mansion.
It was so amazing that my jaw dropped. It was out of some Fresh Prince of Bel Air dream. Dak chuckled at my reaction. This time I waited for Dak to come around to open my door. I didn't want any problems.
"Someone's learning."
"Someone's got a smart mouth."
We glared at each other before entering this monstrosity. I asked Dak if he wanted to maybe watch Netflix or a movie or something. He thought it over for a second. "Yeah, come on we can go to the tv room in the basement."
We settled on watching Power, which was fine until one of the racy scenes came on. I squirmed away awkwardly and Dak just looked at me. "Um, I guess I'll head to bed. I laid some shorts and a shirt out for you in the guest room down here. See you, tomorrow morning."
