4. Rock the Boat 🛥️

"My schedule just cleared. Can I pick you up?"

"Like right now?" I asked him.

Zeke chuckled, "Yeah, if you're ready."

I lied, "I'm ready."

He asked for my address and said he'd be here in an hour. I didn't even brush my teeth today. I ran to the bathroom and felt disgusted. My acne was raging. My hair was a mess. I needed to take a shower. I wanted to cry. This is not going to work. Maybe, I should call him back and cancel.

No! I can do this. Yes! Let's get ready. Brush teeth. Shower.  Lotion. Clothes. Hair. Makeup. Shoes. Purse. Phone. Done.

Halfway down the stairs, I realized I didn't have on any earrings. Now, I feel naked without earrings. I ran back up the stairs to my apartment.

"Jah-mie!" My neighbor Paulette stood at the top of the stairs.

"Hi, Paulette."

"You look pretty. Where you going?" She asked me.

"Excuse me, Paulette. Can't talk, right now. I'm in a rush."

Paulette laughed, "Oh, I know where you going. You got a date. Don'tcha, girlfriend?!"

I playfully rolled my eyes as I jogged to my apartment door.

"Have a good time, Jah-mie!"

I unlocked my door and ran to my bedroom. I opened my jewelry box and picked up a pair of purple tassel earrings. That made me feel so much better. Three minutes later, I was standing on the sidewalk outside my apartment complex when a luxury sports car parked in front of me. That's when I saw the black horse and the name Ferrari. This car cost more than my tuition of three years, my rent of the last seven years, and my salary all combined.

The passenger's window came down. Zeke wore sunglasses. He smiled at me. "Are you just going to stand there?"

"Oh," I opened the passenger's door and quickly got inside the car. The interior was even more lavish.

"You look beautiful." Zeke took off his sunglasses.

I blushed. "Thank you. You look handsome."

Zeke arched a brow. "Thanks. I thought you were going to bring your grandma sweater."

HA-HA-HA! Not funny.

Zeke laughed when he saw my face. "I'm joking." He took off his denim jacket. "You can wear mine, because it's going to be cool where we're going." He handed me his jacket.

"Where are we going?" I asked him as I put on his jacket. My nose picked up his scent, and I nearly fainted. He smells like a sexy, bad boy millionaire. No man should ever smell this good.

"Do you like surprises?" He asked me.

"Depends on what it is."

"I'll surprise you." Zeke reached over me and grabbed my seatbelt to buckle me in.

Before I could respond, he pressed on the gas and we went from zero to 1000 in half a second. I felt like I was having an outer body experience.

"Tell me something about yourself." Zeke drove as we glided across the road.

I shrugged. "What do you want to know?"

"Are you a risk taker or do you follow the rules?"

"I'm still trying to figure that out," I admitted.

Zeke nodded his head. "My whole life, people wanted me to be an artist like my dad and my brother, but I knew I didn't have a passion for it. I love music, but I'm no singer or rapper."

I asked, "Are you the hype man?"

Zeke glanced at me. "You can say that. I was often the wingman. Until, I got tired of being that guy that everyone sees, but no one knows why he's around. That's when I enrolled in film school."

"You went to college?" Oh, Jamie! So much for not judging. "I mean, that's good that you went to college."

Zeke added, " I wrote my first screenplay six years ago. Then, I got connected with Netflix. One movie turned into three."

"That's amazing."

"Do you really want to be a singer?" He slowed down at the red traffic light.

I replied, "Yes. It's the only thing I've ever wanted to do."

Zeke looked at me. "Answer this. There's two books in front of you. One looks good and it's new on the outside, but it doesn't have any words in it. The other one is old and plain-looking on the cover, but it's full or words and stories. Which one would you pick?"

He was getting all the checks on my Perfect Boyfriend List. Now, he has the good nerve to be a philosophical thinker. At this point, I don't care where we go as long as we're together.

"I promise it's not a trick question," Zeke told me.

The light turned green, and he put the pedal to the metal.

"I would choose the nice book cover that's empty inside."

"Why?" He questioned.

I thought before speaking. "Because... because I would want to fill the pages with my own story."

"Believe it or not, no one that I've asked has ever said the new book. They always say the old book. I know it's because they want to be perceived as intellectual, but they don't fool me. Look! There's your surprise over there."

I looked out the window to see the location. "I know this place."

"You've been here before?"

"When I was a kid, my dad took my mom and me."

"Your parents took you on this gondola?" Zeke pulled into the parking lot.

I smiled, "They couldn't get a babysitter. Besides, I barely remember it. I did say I would love to go on a date here."

"Today is your lucky day." Zeke got out of the car. He walked over to the passenger's door and helped me out.

"Thank you."

He took my hand in his and locked the doors. We made our way past the building.

"Umm, that's where we have to go to pay." I pointed at the building that he continued to walk away from.

"Everything's already taken care of," he informed me as he led me to the water where a man, I mean a gondolier stood next to the gondola.

Butterflies were in my stomach, and I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. We were greeted and helped into the boat. There were two covered plates in front of us as we took our seats.

"This is so amazing," I shared my excitement. "Do we really get to eat on this boat ride?"

Zeke chuckled, "Yeah." He put his arm around me. "Let's enjoy this scenery before we eat."

"Okay." I agreed as the gondola went afloat.

I tried my best to take it all end, but there was so much. The water, the ducks swimming, and the cool air which made me grateful for Zeke's jacket. Everything was so tranquil. Then, we approached a bridge with a dark tunnel underneath.

"Will there be lights in there?" I pointed ahead.

"You really don't remember coming here as a kid."

I nodded my head.

"I heard it's short. From here, it looks dark, but it's an illusion. We'll have light as soon as we enter it," Zeke whispered to me.

That better be the case. Once the boat was completely in the tunnel, I saw a peak of light from the other end. Zeke was right. As we were exiting the tunnel, the music began to play. This is really romantic. Music?!

I looked at Zeke who put his phone on the board that acted as a table for our food. "I remember this song," I commented.

"It's one of my favorites. The story is Drake wrote this song for Nicki."

My brows merged, "I thought that was an act. So he really liked her?"

"You never know how much someone likes you until they write a song about you," Zeke continued, "Do you write songs?"

"Yeah. I wrote a song about my audition."

Zeke licked his lips. "You can sing, you write... Can you dance?"

I giggled. "No way. I have two left feet."

"Can you play an instrument?"

I sighed, "I taught myself how to play piano when I was 14, but I'm rusty now."

I looked ahead to the sun was setting. It was perfect. It's not that I've never seen the sunset before, but seeing it with someone I like made it that much more spectacular.

"You know we were supposed to kiss back there," Zeke smiled at me.

I touched my ear. "I didn't hear you. What'cha say?"

Zeke laughed, "I'm joking. Are you ready to eat?"

I rubbed my hands together. "Ooh, yeah!"

Zeke removed the plate covers, revealing our steak, asparagus, and potatoes. There was a wine bucket behind us.

"This looks and smells great." I grabbed my fork, ready to stab my food and eat.

Zeke said a prayer and picked up his fork. "Do you drink?" He asked me.

"No," I took a deep breath. I was impatiently waiting to eat.

"Me either. I asked them for lemonade instead." He pulled what I thought was wine out of the bucket. He poured our drinks and we ate. We talked. We ate some more. We talked some more.

It was dark when the boat brought us back to our destination. I was full and sleepy. We held hands as we walked back to his car.

"Today was our last day to hold auditions, and I fly back to LA tomorrow."

Now, he's breaking my heart. "Will you ever come back to East Grove?"

Zeke stared at me. "For you, I would."

Why is he so perfect?

"This is gonna sound crazy, but after getting to know you a little better, I've decided that I want to work with you. I want to help you become a singer, but I won't be able to help you here. Would you come to LA with me?"

I bucked my eyes. "Wha-huh? Go, g-go to LA?" I released his hand. "This is..." I couldn't find my words. I looked at Zeke and shook my head. "I can't. I can't go."

I've never left my state. The farthest I've ever traveled was to my state's capital. I could feel the perspiration on my forehead and under my arms.

"I know I just threw a lot at you, but you don't have to pack up and leave tomorrow. I can fly you out in a week or two. Whatever works for you." Zeke took my hand in his. "It's okay. Just breathe."

I slowly inhaled and exhaled. "I'm sorry. It's..."

"Do you have a social media following?"

"I'm not on social media."

Zeke took a step back. "Really?"

"I don't like to share my thoughts or photos or anything about me online."

"You don't have to. I'm just trying to see what lane we can put you in."

This was becoming too much. Everything was going so smooth, but now... "I want to go home."