The Single Mother

Chapter 8- Phoenix King: She's Late...

I had been patiently sitting at The Rich Table for what felt like centuries now, and in reality, it had only been half-an-hour. The waitress, who had shown me to my reserved table for two was beginning to send me apologetic looks and I was beginning to get uncomfortable- I knew I wasn't on a date with Talla, but if she didn't show then this would have been the first time I'd have been stood up in my life.

Talla and I had agreed to be here by 7 o'clock sharp, and for a girl who was raised by Casey Knight, I thought she'd at least be able to know what 'on time' means... what if she was putting that child that is always seen with her to sleep? Or if she had to find a sitter?

I couldn't keep listening to rumors, but if she was looking for a sitter or putting her child to sleep then it makes more sense as to why she'd be running late. And not just to this dinner, but also to her parents dinner party.

"Excuse me sir? Are you ready to order now?" The waitress asked once again, and when I made eye contact with her she put on her best sympathetic smile.

"I'm still waiting for someone. She should be here any minute now." I responded and flashed the waitress my best grin. I tried to make my expression look upbeat, but I think she saw straight through it. At this point, I was just hopeful that Talla turns up at all.

"Sir, if your "date" doesn't turn p soon, I'm going to have to ask you to surrender the table. We have other guests waiting." The waitress used a heavy sense of sarcasm on the word date, and I had the feeling I needed to defend myself. Instead, I just nodded and began aggressively typing a text message to Alex.

Hey Alex, what should I do? Talla's late and the waitress said if she's not here soon, I'll have to surrender my table. It's kind of embarrassing...

Right as I heard the little 'zoop' of my phone indicating my text message had been sent I heard the clicking of stiletto heels against the marble floors, coming closer to where I sat.

"H-Hello? Phoenix, right?" Talla's soft voice rang out in the otherwise quiet restaurant.

My head shot up from my phone to meet her crystal blue eyes. If she had a little life in them, Talla's eyes would have been the prettiest eyes I've ever laid my eyes on. And her hair... it looked soft, like a cloud, as it framed her face. She hadn't had it cut or dyed for a few years and it was evident in her brown regrowth.

"Y-Yeah. Talla, it's good to properly meet you." I blurt out, as I quickly stood from my seat and extended my hand for a handshake.

Instead of taking my hand, Talla stared down at it like it had some sort of weird and contagious disease. Not knowing what to do I let my hand go slack at my side. We stood there in silence for a few extra seconds before Talla cleared her throat, and took a seat in the chair opposite of me.

I replicated the same movements as Talla and sat down, however, as she stared at the lit candle in front of her, I studied her appearance. She wore the same worn out black mini stilettos, except tonight, she wore a light baby blue a-line dress that did nothing for her slim frame. As I recalled for the other night, her black dress had also looked old in comparison to the high-end fashion that the daughters of other lawyers wore.

"Are you finally ready to order?" The waitress came around once more, the smile on her face as she glanced between Talla and I was almost encouraging.

"Yes please." I stated and glanced at Talla, who had picked up the menu and appeared to be studying it. "Can we please start off with two glasses of water and an entree of cheesy garlic bread."

The waitress hurriedly wrote down our order and scurried off, leaving Talla and I to face the deafening silence once again.

"So... how has the contract been sitting with you?" I asked scratching the back of my neck, as the awkwardness of the scene played out.

"It... it's been a stressful and busy day, so I haven't really had time to consider my end of the contract." Talla confessed as she made eye contact with me, for the first time since she arrived.

"Listen, I don't want to beat around the bush... I want to get to know you first before we're forced to get married. How about I help you move into my house this weekend or something?" I offered, a friendly smile plastered on my face. I wanted to give Talla my best impression.

"This weekend?" Talla's voice suddenly had a shrill edge to it. "I-I can't. Mum and I are... we're having a girls day together." She had corrected herself from whatever she was about to say and it had intrigued me even more. "I'm just going to quickly duck off to the bathroom."

I watched as Talla entered the bathroom, my curiosity was peaking. Every time she said something, it was like she had to think about her answer to keep something even bigger a secret.

Bing. My phone buzzed, indicating that a new text message had come through. It was from Alexander.

Hey, Nix. Sorry I took awhile I was in the middle of... actually you don't want to know. Anyway, did Talla show up? Did she bring her toddler?

I rolled my eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. At least he was an honest friend, but sometimes Alexander just says some stuff that shouldn't be allowed to be said out loud.

Yeah, she came- and no, she didn't bring the toddler. She's really quiet and I think that could be because she's shy. She's also hiding something. And I think it's big or important. Talk to you soon.

I hit send right as Talla took her place in her seat again and as our food and drinks were placed on our table.

"Oh ma'am." Talla called out after the waitress. "We didn't order alcohol."

"Oh, sorry. I forgot to tell ya'll. If it's your first date at The Rich Table, we supply the first alcoholic drink on the house. Since you just said water, we went with the house specialty- pink vodka lemonade cocktails." And with that the waitress turned her back and left, leaving Talla and I gawking at each other.

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Hey everyone. I feel really really bad that I haven't posted a new chapter in ages, but in saying that I believe in quality over quantity- and in saying that this chapter is a filler chapter which is why nothing interesting really happens. I promise more will happen in Talla's perspective and that it'll be a lot longer than this one.

If you enjoyed this chapter please vote, comment, share with your friends and add to your reading lists. Have a lovely morning/afternoon/evening/night and stay tuned!

-C.J. Todd