Chapter 5 : Date Night

The cool night air touched my face as I exited the building. I had just finished my shift and despite my best efforts, I couldn’t get Tahir and this story off my mind. Raine said that whatever he was here for had to do with the mines. But what exactly was that reason?

I sighed and started my walk home when I heard a prim, feminine voice call out to me.

“Miss Donnelly?”

I stopped and turned in confusion.

There was a slim, dark haired woman with dark, almond eyes walking towards me. She was dressed in an immaculately tailored gray suit.

“Can I help you, Miss…?”

“Leilani Mei,” she introduced herself as she stopped in front of me. “I am Mr. Gujic’s personal assistant.”

“Oh,” I said softly. It seemed like Tahir traveled with a staff. It shouldn’t surprise me. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise, I’m sure,” she replied in a tone that made it clear she did not find it nice. “Mr. Gujic would like you to join him for dinner tonight.”

I tried to keep my face neutral, but the idea of seeing Tahir again and possibly getting more information from him made me feel giddy. Maybe he’d open up about his stay further.

“I’d like that,” I said.

She gave me an annoyed expression and reached into the inner pocket of her jacket. She pulled out a business card and handed it to me.

“Wonderful,” she said tonelessly. “Ziv will pick you up at 7. Please be ready.” She looked me up and down, then turned on her heel and walked away.

I wanted to be offended by the attitude, but I brushed it off. I looked at the card. Tahir’s name was written across the top with a business number and email address beneath it. I turned the simple card over in my hand and found a phone number jotted across the back. I smiled and held the card to my chest.

It had bothered me not knowing how to get a hold of him. It must have bothered him too, if he was willing to give me his private number. I pushed aside the temptation to call him and hurried down the sidewalk towards my apartment. I only had a few hours to get cleaned up and ready before Ziv arrived to pick me up.

I should have asked more questions, I thought as I entered my apartment. I didn’t know where we were going or how I should dress.

I locked the door behind me and kicked off my shoes. Then, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I considered ignoring it, but decided against it. If I ignored it, it would certainly be something important.

I looked at the phone. Dexton was calling me. What did my brother want?

It was probably weird how little we spoke considering we’re twins, but it was rare for Dex to call me. It wasn’t that we didn’t get along, we were both just very busy. He was more of a workaholic than me, and that’s saying something. I spent more time with his girlfriend, since we worked together.

I hit the green button. “Hey. What’s up?”

“Hey,” he greeted. “I need a favor.”

“Oh, I’m doing well, thanks for asking. Yeah, it has been too long since we’ve spoken. We really should try harder to stay in touch,” I said sarcastically.

“No time for small talk,” he said. “I’m on my break.” Dex was a nurse, so if he was calling me from work it must be important.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Call Dad. He’s being weird and won’t talk to me about it.” Dex sounded concerned.

I bit my lip. “Weird how?”

My dad could get into some weird funks. He’d suffered from depression ever since Mom died and he went through bouts of heavy drinking. Weird was far too vague of a word. Dex was closer to our dad than I was, so if he felt the need to bring me into the problem, it must be serious.

“I can’t put my finger on it,” he continued. “He’s been jumpy and tense. When I ask him what’s going on, he just says he’s tired or stressed about work.”

“That is weird,” I said softly. “I’ll call him tomorrow, I promise.”

My dad worked as an engineer at the Ashworth mines. I tried not to think about how this could be related to Raine’s theory about something odd happening there. It was too much.

“Are you busy right now?” he asked. He sounded tired, but that was par for the course. He was probably calling me on his lunch break, which meant he hadn’t eaten yet. He had a bad habit of treating coffee like a meal.

“I have a date tonight,” I replied. I walked into my bedroom and opened my closet. I flipped through my dresses, but I wasn’t really looking at them.

“Oh,” he said, sounding surprised. He’d been on my case to move on after my breakup with Manny. They couldn’t stand each other. In retrospect, I should have listened to Dex sooner. He was a great judge of character. “Cool. Have fun.” He sounded happy for me.

“Thanks,” I said with a smile. “I’ll talk to you soon. Eat something.”

“I will,” he said. I didn’t believe him. “Be safe.”

He hung up and I tossed the phone onto the corner of my bed. Dex wasn’t trying to annoy me. He wouldn’t involve me in any drama with Dad if he wasn’t genuinely concerned.

It wasn’t normal for our dad to keep secrets from Dex though. He normally vented whatever was bothering him pretty freely. Almost too much, honestly. The fact that he was holding something back was concerning.

There was nothing that I could do about it right now. I tried to push the thoughts aside. I chose a nice dress and tossed it onto the bed.

I debated taking a shower, but there wouldn’t be time to tame my hair afterwards so I decided to skip it. I stripped off my work clothes and slipped the dress on. It was a beautiful dress, though not nearly as expensive as the Jovani I’d worn last weekend.

This was a classic little black dress. It should work for nearly any setting.

I was having a hard time focusing as I tried to touch up my makeup. I couldn’t stop thinking about the mystery mine discovery and how it may be related to Tahir’s arrival in town. I couldn’t stop thinking about Tahir in general. I still had so many questions for him.

I didn't know if I was so curious about him because I was attracted to him or because of the potential story he was entangled in. I wanted it to be the former, but I wasn’t sure.

I had attempted to research him again. This time, I’d focused my efforts on French resources. I didn’t speak French, so I’d been forced to rely on some sketchy online translators. I’d uncovered significantly more information than my initial search had yielded, although it still wasn’t much.

It seemed that Tahir was involved in a forgery scandal ten years ago. He had authenticated an amulet that turned out to be a meticulously crafted fake. The incident had sparked rumors that Tahir was a fraud or that he was involved in the creation and sale of forgeries. It had hurt his business, but eventually the scandal seemed to fade.

That probably had something to do with his PR specialist, Monday Okorie. She was called in to do damage control and salvage what she could of Tahir’s reputation. She’d done a good job and she was fastidious about protecting him from further scandal.

I was glad that I hadn’t known any of this when I first met Tahir. I would have been a lot more aggressive with my questions and probably would have driven him away.

Even now, I couldn’t help but wonder. It was hard to shut off the investigative part of my brain. My desire to see Tahir was strictly personal, but I couldn’t be sure that I wouldn’t slip into more probing questions if I wasn’t careful. I would have to try to be mindful. I didn’t want to offend him or make him angry.

I pulled my hair into a low ponytail and slipped my heels on. I’d lost track of the time and Ziv would be here any minute to pick me up. I grabbed my phone and sent a quick text to Kim, letting her know that I was going to meet up with Tahir but I wasn’t sure where.

The chances of getting murdered were low, but never zero. In the interest of safety, I always let Kim know when I went somewhere I didn’t normally go.

‘Scandalous,’ she texted back.

‘Just report me missing if you don’t hear from me tomorrow,’ I responded.

‘Not planning on making it home tonight?’ she sent back immediately.

‘Maybe not,’ I admitted.

She sent back a string of suggestive emojis and I shook my head and put my phone on silent. I’d return her teasing plus interest the next time she went on a date. For now, I had other things to focus on.

I grabbed a purse and shoved my phone inside. I normally used a computer bag, but I kept a couple of inexpensive, but nice purses around for special occasions. Each one was stocked with chapstick, tissues, and other essentials so that I never needed to worry about transferring everything from one bag to another. I grabbed my wallet from my work bag and added it to the purse. With that, I was ready.

As if on cue, there was a knock at my apartment door. I glanced at the wall clock and confirmed that it was 5 minutes to 7. Ziv was punctual, I’d give him that. I opened the door to find him waiting with his hands crossed patiently in front of him.

“Good evening, Miss Donnelly,” he said politely.

“Good evening, Mr. Alfredson,” I responded. “I appreciate you coming to get me.”

“That’s my job, Miss.” He smiled. “The car is waiting, if you’re ready to go.”

“I’m ready,” I said a little self consciously. Did I not look ready? I locked the door to the apartment and followed Ziv down to the street. I live on the second floor, so the walk wasn’t too bad in heels.

Ziv pushed a button on his key fob and I turned and looked down the street to see where the responding chime came from. Parked a few yards away was a shiny black luxury car. It looked brand new. I stared at it in surprise.

“When did he have time to buy that?” I asked softly.

“It’s a rental,” Ziv replied. He sounded amused.

I blushed a little and smiled at him. “Of course,” I said. “That makes more sense.”

“You don’t need to be so nervous,” Ziv said kindly. “If you wish to leave at any point, I’ll drive you home.”

“Thank you.”

He was an observant man, and he seemed like a genuinely kind person. I was glad that he didn’t seem as irritated by this dinner date as Tahir’s personal assistant had.

Ziv opened the back door of the car when we reached it.

“I know it’s not customary,” I started. “But can I sit up front?”

“You can,” he said.

He shut the door and opened the front one for me. I got inside and buckled myself in. The idea of sitting behind him while he drove me around made me uncomfortable. I was a guest, sure, but he didn’t work for me. It just felt odd.

I looked out the window as he started to drive. The silence was comfortable, so I didn’t feel the need to make small talk. I was grateful for that. I was awful at small talk.

When I closed my eyes, I could perfectly picture Tahir’s face. There was so much behind his dark gaze that I didn’t understand, but the heat in the way he looked at me was undeniable. Maybe it was a mistake to pursue this, but at this moment, I didn’t entirely care.