Introduction
I was at the first of my two jobs when I texted Venus to see if she still wanted to meet late that night after my shift was done at my second job. She asked me a few days ago to come by after I was completely done with work. Although I'd reminded her that I would get off work around midnight and then have to travel to her, and be up early to pick up my daughter, the next day, she insisted. So days later, knowing that she asked me more than once to consider meeting her, I sent her a text while on lunch break. Since I was unsure of what shift she was working that day, (her schedule constantly changed) I didn't worry or stress myself when she didn't text back. When I was done at my day job, I decided to send her another text. Just a question mark to see if she'd respond or at least acknowledge that she received the text. She did this often so that's what I anticipated.
When she didn't respond, I figured she would while I was at my second job. This was based on the assumption that she was working during the day and would be free in the evening. Knowing that was a big possibility, I texted saying that if she responded and I didn't respond immediately it wasn't intentional. The manager on duty that night is extremely against phone usage while at work. I assured her that I would respond as soon as I could. To my benefit, that specific Manager was tied up for most of the shift. He was busy defusing situations for most of the shift. I was able to glance at my phone more often than I originally thought. Each time I received a notification I secretly hoped it was her. I was tired, and probably wouldn't be able to perform well that night, but I knew my efforts were what mattered most
Although our situation was far from perfect, and was operating in a state of limbo, I knew that she would appreciate what I was attempting to do. As the night went on I grew impatient. When there was about an hour left in my shift I called her from the job's phone. She, like a few others knew the number and would recognize it when she saw it. She usually answered if I called from there so I assumed she would. The phone rang all the way out and her voice mail came on. I sucked my teeth in disappointment and assumed I'd be ending the night alone at home.
The next and final hour at work was purely comical. My coworkers were joking on each other, sharing funny stories about the shift and mocking each other. We were red with laughter and my mood was reset. As I waited for a friend of mine to change his clothes, I decided to give Venus one last call. I knew it was a long shot, but I figured that I'd lose nothing by calling. The phone rang several times and just before the voicemail came on I heard her pick up. Her voice was raspy and exhausted. I knew she was sleeping and the call had woken her up. I was relieved and couldn't hold back my smile as I said “Hey there”.
“Hey…”, she said with her drowsiness oozing through the phone. “How are you?”, I asked sarcastically. Catching the hint she conceded and said, “I know… “. I cut her off and asked sarcastically, “Are you good? Cuz you've been MIA all day”. After offering me a half truth she said, “I know, I'm sorry. I did see your message at like noon when you sent it.”
She fell silent and after a second or two she said, “I purposely didn't respond. I didn't respond because I can't see you tonight”. After a chuckle I asked, “If you're busy or gotta be up early you can just say that silly. You know I don't stress that.” I figured I'd just see her Sunday night when my daughter went home and was ready to say goodbye.
“I'm not. I'm tired, but that's not why”, she said. “What's wrong V?”, I asked as I began to grow concerned. “Nothing”, she paused. “I can't see you tonight. I just can't see you tonight”, she repeated. “I got that memo already”, I said after a bit of laughter. “But what's up? You good?”, I asked again.
“Yeah Jay. Tonight isn't good, I can't see you tonight”, she repeated. My mind couldn't fathom why she kept repeating that. I hadn't asked why, and I hadn't pushed the issue. Yet she kept repeating it.
“.... Okay”, I said confused. “Yeah, and we should talk. We have to talk.”, she replied. I couldn't help but laugh. As I did so, a coworker who was sitting a few feet away from me shot me a look that told me she was intrigued. “No, for real. We have to talk.”, she repeated.
To be continued...