Tattoo

It’s officially the new year and I still haven’t found my soulmate.

I’m Zaria Franklin and I’m in my 30s and not happily single.

We live in a world where once you come out of the womb you will have the name of your soulmate tattooed on your body. It’s actually more like a birthmark, but some people call it a tattoo.

I have Alex Kirkland’s name on my thigh and guess what it’s a million, Alex Kirkland, in the United States alone so, of course, I haven’t found him yet. Some people have the middle Initial on their body but not me, I only have his first and last name. He could be anywhere and anyone.

Therefore, I stopped looking, I don’t need my soulmate to make me happy. I will find a regular guy to love and marry. So that’s why I decided to go speed dating.

We women are sitting at individual tables and every 5 minutes a new guy will come to our tables.

The bell rings a bushy brow mean mug tall guy sits down.

“I’m Ace.’’

“Zaria.’’

“You sexy. What do you do?’’

“I’m a pediatric nurse.’’

“Cool. I bet you look sexy as hell in your scrubs. You can be my little nurse.’’

I frown

“So, is Ace your real name?’’

“Nah. My name is Alex... Kirkland’’

The bells rings.’’

He gets up and moves to the next table.

Omg, he could be my soulmate even though he seems like the fuck boy type, I have to know if he is the one.

“Aye, Ace take this.’’

I hand him my number and he smirks at me.

Speed dating goes by in a blur and now I’m walking into my apartment. I have Ace on my mind, is he the one?

A week later, he texts me and we decide to have dinner at a place called Mabel’s.

“This place is so nice, how did you hear about it?’’

“My friend is the owner and chef.’’

“So, you bring all the women here?’’

“Only the ones I like and that don’t seem crazy.’’

“Okay.’’

We eat our meal in silence then we start talking.

“Favorite 80s tv show?’’

“The Jeffersons. Helen was like my first crush. She was bad.’’

“She was one of the original bad and bougie. So was Wilona from Good times.’’

“Hell yea. You seem old school like them.’’

“Is that a bad thing?’’

“Nah. You see that’s my type.’’

I blush and he bits his lip

He is so sexy

We continue to chat and flirt we each other till

“Aye nigga, we about to close.’’

We both look up and see the restaurant is empty minus the employees.

“My bad, we were enjoying our date. Zaria, this is Alex.’’

“Hi. Y’all both are named Alex, that’s funny,’’ Zaria said.

“Yes, we actually have the same last name too,’’ Ace said.

I reach for the last bit of my wine and gulp it down.

“He is Ace and I’m Chef Alex. Nice to meet you, beautiful.’’

He smiles and shakes my hand

“You have a beautiful smile,’’ Zaria said.

“So do you.’’

“Aye nigga don’t be flirting with my date.’’

“I’m not. Nice to meet you,’’ Chef Alex says.

He walks away into the kitchen.

Ace puts money down on the table and then reaches for my hand.

“Let’s go, beautiful.’’

We leave the restaurant and get into his car.

“You want a nightcap at my place?’’ Ace asked.

“Sure.’’

He drives to his place and goes into his building.

We go to his apartment which is on the 5th floor. We walk to apartment 5 D and he unlocks the door. We step in.

“Talk off your shoes please and have a seat. Mind if I get comfortable?’’

“Sure, but just don’t get naked.’’

“You know you wanna see me naked, ma.’’

“Not yet.’’

I wink at him and he smiles.

He walks away and I take my phone out to entertain myself.

I start laughing at memes and other shit I see on Twitter when he comes back.

Now he is shirtless with sweats on and he is covered with tattoos but none with my name. He isn’t the one, so it’s time to go.

“So do you want some wine?’’

“Sure.’’

He goes to the kitchen as the front door opens and a lady walks in.

“I knew you were cheating on me again! And now with a fat bitch!’’

She charges at me like I’m the bad guy but Ace rushes to save me.

“Aye, relax!’’

“No, you need to stop cheating on me. We have kids together.’’

“I’m out of this crazy shit!’’

I get my purse and rush out of the door. I push the elevator button and it whisks me away from the madness.

On the Uber home, I think about Chef Alex. Maybe he is the one.

Next Friday, I will visit the restaurant and see what I can find out.