Pleasurable Expectations

e l e v e n

I walked into my apartment and Jeremiah was on the couch, phone pressed up to his ear. He had a blank expression on his face as he listened to whoever was on the other line, nodding periodically. I joined him on the couch, rested my arm against the arm, pulled out my phone, and waited for him to finish his call.

After a few moments of silence, Jeremiah boomed out, "We're going to have to sort this out later because I'm preoccupied at the moment. Do not make any moves." He placed a particular emphasis on 'not.' "No, we will fix this tomorrow. Goodnight." He ended the phone call and threw his phone on the couch next to him.

"Everything good?" I asked, my eyes moving from my phone to him. "Sounded kind of serious." I placed my phone on the arm of the couch.

"Everything's good." An assuring smile found its way onto his face. "But, about Six Seven on Friday..."

"No, I know." I stretched my legs out and draped them over Jeremiah's lap. His hands began working over my calves. "My brother randomly blurted out a restaurant, and, of course, that's the first one that came to his mind; he loves that place."

"It's not about the place."

"It's not?" My brows furrowed. "I figured you were asking about Six Seven because it's upscale and a little expensive."

"It's not about the price. I'll figure that part out." A sigh left him and my brows frowned even deeper. "You said that your parents were weird, so you had to lie to them. What for?"

"Oh, that?" I crossed my legs at the ankle, Jeremiah's massage ceasing for a moment. "I've told you about how they aren't very fond of anything that has to do with business, and you happen to be someone who got me into business events. They're a little skeptical, is all."

"Still doesn't really explain the dinner."

"My brother lied about knowing you, so I had to cover his ass and say that he was about to know you." His eyes squinted in disbelief. "I promise you, that's all it was. No type of shady business is going on in the Suns' residence."

"I believe you." Jeremiah raised his hands in surrender. "So, tell me what's going on at work. I haven't seen you all week."

"I'm so close to this promotion. I can almost taste it. Let me tell you," I began, falling into a rant about everything that happened this week.

For a change of pace, I went over to Adrienne and Ricardo's place after work on Tuesday. I used the key I was given when they first moved in about two years ago. I heard two sets of footsteps pounding down the stairs and smiled, knowing the couple was confused as to who just entered their locked home.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Adrienne asked, still standing on the last step. Ricardo was a few steps above her, leaning on the stair railing.

"What a welcoming greeting," I sarcastically remarked.

"Sorry. You just haven't been over since the two months after we moved in here." A pause. "Two years ago."

"Welcome, Kiara," Ricardo said for a change in pace. "We've got pisto y salmorejo going right now if you're hungry."

"Ricardo, you know how much I love your food. I am definitely staying."

"Way to ruin my night, Kiki," Adrienne huffed as she descended the last step.

"I'm going to pretend like I didn't hear that, considering you've eaten my food for as long as I can remember." I gave her a pointed look. She quickly shut up, leading me to the living room where she and Ricardo were watching some telenovela.

Once the food was finished, we took it into the living room and ate it on the couch. As we chowed down, I let both of them know about the plan for Friday. As soon as the restaurant name left my mouth, Adrienne's eyes widened, Ricardo's expression mirroring hers.