Wildest Dreams

Chapter Twenty-Eight

"I feel like I haven't seen you in forever." Teagan says with her hands on her hips as Imani enters the cafe.

"I know." Imani chuckles. "I'm kinda mad we have to open today, though."

"Me too. I wanted to sleep in, but unfortunately I'm here." Teagan nods her head.

"At least we get off at five." Imani says, walking into the break room.

She places her bags in her locker and grabs an apron to tie around her waist. She does not want to be at work today, but that is the only money she has to help pay tuition. She does not like the fact that her parents are paying all that money for her to go to an university out of state. The least she can do is help them pay for it. 

"So, how was your break?" Teagan asks, preparing the coffee machines.

"Um, it was interesting." Imani states, thinking about Jai's awkward phone call and then Casey's random pop up at his house. "What about yours?"

"Can't complain, it was pretty chill."

There is only one other worker, but that worker is preparing the tables and the booths. The only thing left to do is turn on the computer for online orders and organize the money in the cash register—which is Imani's job for now. It doesn't take them more than twenty minutes to get everything ready, before the first customer rolls in.

A few more customers come in and Imani maneuvers her way around the place. The cafe never gets too busy, but today it seems like more and more people are starting to come in. She almost forgot how hectic this all was.

Jai comes to pick up Imani at the end of her shift. He notices that she's not her usual self as soon as she enters the car.

"What's wrong, babe?" He asks. He turns the car off because he doesn't plan on going anywhere until he knows what's wrong with her.

"Nothing." She shrugs her shoulders and puts her seatbelt on. "Let's go."

"No." He states. He eyes her and her body language is just off.

"Imani." He tries again with authority in his voice this time around. "What's wrong?"

"You know when we were just laying down yesterday and you got that phone call? And then not too long after that the bell rang even though you weren't expecting anybody?" She says quietly after a minute.

"Yeah." He nods his head slowly, pinching the bridge of his nose. He is getting frustrated with her. 

"Was that really your uncle on the phone?" She eyes him.

"Yes, Imani. Why would I lie about something as simple as a phone call." He says.

Imani does not believe him. She didn't believe him then and she doesn't believe him now. She is going to be very careful in what she says next because she knows what the truth is. She is just waiting to see if he admits to it.

"Because you also lied about who was at the door." She continues.

"Imani, I got a package delivered that I forgot was coming." He narrows his eyes at her. "What are you on about?

Imani dryly chuckles, unbuckling her seatbelt. Jai just watches her with a look of confusion. Imani grabs her belongings and opens the car door.

"Babe, what are you doing? Where are you going?" He asks, furrowing his eyebrows.

"I cannot believe you are just gonna sit up here and lie to me like that. I saw Casey at the door, Jai! And I damn sure don't believe that was your uncle on the phone with you. The worst part about it is that you said it was the damn UPS man at the door." She angrily says, getting out of the car.

Imani is beyond mad. She has to get out of his car before she does something that she will regret later. She may not be experienced when it comes to relationships, but she is not a fool. She dismissed the fact that Casey said Jai's uncle's name in front of her and that Jai just told her nonsense about it. She knew she wasn't tripping anymore. 

"Oh no, no, no, no." Jai unbuckles his seatbelt and follows her out of the car.

"Jai, what the hell is going on?" Imani sighs, throwing her arms up in the air.

"Babe, I will tell you, but you have to trust me, I didn't mean any harm." He says. "Do you wanna go to my apartment so we can talk in private?"

"No." She shakes her head. "I'm definitely not going anywhere with you because obviously you're keeping secrets from me."

"Imani, I am begging you to just trust me on this. I will tell you everything you want to know." Jai pleads.

"Jai, there is nothing to really talk about anymore. I knew I wasn't crazy." She says.

"Look Imani, at least let me take you back to your dorm. It's cold outside." Jai sighs.

"Fine." Imani stomps back to the car. Jai tries to open the door for her, but she pushes his hand away and opens it herself.

Jai doesn't say anything after that. He refuses to say anything because he doesn't want to hurt her feelings anymore than he probably already has. He deeply cares about Imani, so he doesn't want to risk damaging their relationship any further. He has already made a big mistake by keeping the biggest secret away from her. 

They make it to Imani's dorm building, still fuming on the inside. Imani can ignite a fire inside of him in a good way, but she can also make him mad. He parks the car and turns it off.

She knew something was up with him. She saw all the signs but she chose to ignore them.

"Do you want me to walk you up?" Jai asks, looking at her.

"Baby, I don't need you to do a damn thing for me." She shakes her head. "Get out of my life, you can do that."

Jai feels like his heart is breaking into pieces.

Imani doesn't say anything else to him as she gets out of the car and walks to the front of her dorm building. 

•••

I am so sorry that I haven't updating in the past few peeks.