Saturday afternoon Keisha got serious about preparing for the evening. She’d spent the night before trying on clothes and plucking eyebrows and painting nails, but that afternoon she put all her efforts together.
She chose a red dress with gold pumps and a black and gold purse. Her hair rested on the tops of her bare shoulders and her makeup complimented her best features. She wanted to surprise him with her look, but also wanted to entice him and get a response beforehand.
She took a selfie with her dress pulled up so it showed her full thigh down to her gold shoes. The way she snapped the picture made it look like she wore nothing but the shoes. A perfect, sexy image. She took a snapshot and sent it to Dick with the caption, See you in an hour.
He answered almost instantly.
Oh baby, yes, yes you will.
She smiled, glad she had his attention and that he was indeed capable of answering a fucking text message.
At six-thirty she left and arrived at the Bourbon House a few minutes before seven. Outside it was just cool enough to force her inside to wait and her phone buzzed.
Hey you. I’m running a few minutes late. Why don’t you grab a seat at the bar? That way we won’t have to wait on a table. I’ll be there in a few. Can’t wait to see you.
“Fucking unreal,” she muttered under her breath and responded with a clipped, Ok. Fine.
The restaurant buzzed with activity, and every stool at the bar held a patron, but a few of the high tops were empty. She grabbed a seat facing the door and waited.
A few minutes later a waitress took her drink order, brought it, and she finished it. Still no sign of Dick, and no message either. What kind of games was this guy playing? She sent an angry message that Dick didn’t answer and she ordered another drink, and he still didn’t show up. She sipped from her glass and watched the door, ready to cry and puke at the same time.
In walked Brady MacGregor. She gaped in disbelief and froze to her seat. He saw her, waved, and took the barstool opposite her.
“Hey there. All alone are you?”
“What the fuck are you doing here? Are you following me again? This is ridiculous.”
“Where’s your big boyfriend? What was his name? Dick? Well, I gotta say, he did give me a nice tip.”
“This is not fucking funny, you are a psychopath.”
“But I never would’ve stood you up,” Brady said, his eyes like stone. “You look nice by the way, that idiot doesn’t know what he’s missing.”
“You know he’s going to be here in like two minutes, so why don’t you scram before he gets here and beats the shit out of you.”
“I think you got played, and we both know it, but go ahead, why don’t you call and tip him off. Tell him to hurry up.”
Anger flared on her face and she dialed him in her phone and it rang. She looked at Brady who pulled something out of his pocket and laid it on the table. Keisha stared, knowing what she was seeing, but too shocked to make sense of it. The phone vibrated across the table. With her phone to her ear, Keisha flipped over the one on the table. It said: In coming call from: Keisha followed by her phone number.
She tried to hide her fear and keep calm. “How… how do you have that?”
“You think you just met him by chance?” Brady asked. “Hell no, I hired him to see if you ghosted every guy the way you ghosted me.”
She shook her head.
“No. No way. You couldn’t have.”
“You’re right. I made that up, but that would’ve been clever. Looks like he’s the one that broke your cycle, so…” He held up the phone. “I ghosted him. For good.”
“But… but how? Why? You didn’t even know him.”
“It’s amazing what kind of information you can get off of a driver’s license,” he said. “People give me their addresses without knowing it all day long. I’ve developed a pretty good memory over the years, and every now and then one of them comes in handy.”
“Where is he? Did you hurt him?”
“Relax,” Brady said. “He’s right here.”
Brady pulled a prescription bottle from the inside pocket of his jacket and showed it to her.
Ashes.
“You didn’t. That doesn’t prove anything. You’re bluffing.”
“I did. Trust me. I’m not bluffing,” he said and laid a fifty-dollar bill down on the table. “Let’s go.”
“I’m just going to scream, as loud as I can,” she said.
“No you’re not. Because then you’ll never know what happened,” he said. “Now c’mon.”
She scanned the restaurant looking for a familiar face, for anything, but came up empty.
“Fine.”
Both masked their differing emotions as they walked out arm in arm.
Out in the parking lot, Brady opened the door for her. “Where are we going?” Keisha asked.
“Back to your place. I want to see what Dick’s ashes have to say for themselves.”
“You’re fucking crazy.”
“Yeah, so are you.”
They drove to her place in silence.