�We�re going to Ole Ole.� That was perfect. It was just outside the campus grounds and both the campus and the restaurant were in front of her neighborhood.
�Ok, I�ll meet you guys between 8 and 8:30.� She was sitting in the back room at the store on her lunch break.
�And make sure you wear something average. We don�t want you keeping away the beautiful women. You need to be frumpy and common.�
She laughed, �You know very well I don�t do frumpy and common.�
She already knew what she wanted to wear. She didn�t step into her closet and try to figure things out at the last minute. If you wanted things to run smoothly, it required preparation. Besides, running around like a chicken with its head cut off was stressful and tended to make one look haggard.
�Afterwards we might do something. You want to hang out?�
�Maybe, sure. I haven�t been out in a while. It should be fun.�
�If you weren�t hell bent on graduating summa cum laude you�d have more of a life.�
�I can�t hang with the younger generation. I�m getting old.�
�You�re damn four years older than me. And I�m not the typical party hard college student myself. You�re just boring that�s all.�
She would hardly classify herself as boring. She went out to dinner with friends, listened to live music, went to festivals, traveled throughout the state and went to sporting events. She just didn�t want to drink beer out of a keg while standing on her head.
**
After she applied lotion from head to toe and sprayed a little perfume, she put on her diamond tennis bracelet with matching dangling earrings. They were gifts for her sixteenth birthday. There was a matching necklace but it would have been too much with the little black dress she was wearing. This one was a halter and it wouldn�t have gone well with anything around her neck.
Leaning over her mirror, she carefully made up her face. As she did every time she put on makeup she told herself she was going to have a vanity area installed too; so she could sit in a chair in front of a mirror. She put on a pair of black high-heeled sandals with diamonds covering the strap over her toes and the strap around her ankle. She stood in front of the full length mirror in the corner of her bedroom and looked at herself from the heels to the top of hair that was pulled up and smiled,
�Ben knows full well I like to flaunt a little. Especially when there will be men who have never seen me before.�
She called him just before she made it to the restaurant and he was waiting at the door when she arrived.
�Damn,� he whispered. �I told you to tone it down.� He leaned over and kissed her, �You look amazing. My brother will be jealous.�
�See? You want me to impress your brother and his friends. Admit it, you want them to be a bit envious.�
�You got a point.� She laughed,
�I always have a point.�
He led her to the table and her jaw nearly dropped when she saw the two men at the table stand up. Her eyes looked up and connected with Ben�s and she knew he could tell what was going through her head.
Why didn�t he tell her? He should have given her at least a heads up. She was about to eat dinner with three handsome men, one of which was Derek Jeter.
Of course, she had the ability to be demure when the occasion dictated. Numerous well-known people had patronized the store in the short time she had been employed there. Not to mention all the celebrities she saw when she worked in Buckhead and by being her mother�s daughter.
�Jack and Derek, this is my friend Maleeyah.� Ben looked at her and held is hand out towards the two men, �Maleeyah, this is my brother Jack and his friend Derek.�
They exchanged pleasantries and waited for her to be seated before they took their seats again.
�Maleeyah, its nice to finally meet you and put a face with the name.�
She smiled at Ben�s brother. She had heard his name as well, �The same for you.�
�You know every time I would call my brother and ask him something he would always mention your name. I was with Maleeyah. I went out to eat with Maleeyah. I was studying with Maleeyah. I thought for sure he was making you up after that. My little brother isn�t known for his study habits.�
�He still isn�t.�
They all laughed at Ben�s expense and he took it in good nature.
�So Ben said something about an expo you were attending?� She addressed Jack as she spoke then turned and looked at Derek before returning her attention to Jack when he began to talk.
�A sports expo. New equipment, services, companies and the like.� She knew from conversations with Ben that Jack was the Vice President of Marketing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He probably grew up all his life wanting to work for the team.
�Do you like sports? I can get you and my little brother here some tickets and you and hang out for a little while.�
�I love sports and thank you for the offer but I have a previous engagement.�
�Maleeyah loves sports; her favorite sport is baseball.� She looked at Ben and she wanted to kill him.
She could see Jack was just like his brother, �What�s your favorite team?�
�The Braves, 1999 was a particularly bad year.� Derek�s Yankees beat her beloved Braves that year. He smiled at her but it was obvious he had little sympathy for her pain. If she were an evil person, she would bring up the Yankees big choke job last year against the Red Sox.
�Are you from Atlanta?� It was the first time she heard him talk.
�Yes.�
�Did you get to go to any of the World Series games?�
�Actually, I did go to one. Game 2,� She smirked at him, �It wasn�t very pleasant.�
006 | No Ordinary Girl