rented that exact Mercedes from a luxury car dealership in Round Rock to impress people during South by Southwest last year. She got a discount because it has a cigarette burn on the passenger seat. The exact cigarette burn his has.”
Samiah’s hand halted on the faux camel leather jacket she was about to pull from the hanger. “Did she mention a color?”
“No. I’ve been refreshing my feed like a crazy person, but she hasn’t updated her timeline in the last minute.” Denise looked up from the phone, a wide grin on her face. “This is why I love Twitter.”
“To read about bad dates between two people you don’t even know?”
“Yes.” Her sister’s unapologetic response would have elicited a laugh from Samiah if she wasn’t so busy trying to quell the manic butterflies whirling in her belly.
Stop being ridiculous. Plenty of people who work in clean energy probably drive a Mercedes SUV with a cigarette burn on the passenger seat.
“Did I mention the tweet about his apartment?” her sister asked. “He told her he lives in those fancy apartments up near the Domain, but this girl happens to know the property manager there. She had her friend run his name and, of course, the fool was lying about that too.” Denise laughed again. “He messed with the wrong one.”
The unease that had settled in the pit of Samiah’s belly began to blossom.
“Oh, she tweeted again!” Another laugh. “Now he’s trying to woo her with his favorite dish.”
“The volcano sushi roll,” Samiah said, barely able to get the words past her clenched jaw.
Her sister’s head popped up. “How’d you know? You’re not even on Twitter.”
Samiah jerked the jacket loose and flung the hanger on the floor.
“Oh, shit,” Denise said. “Don’t tell me…”
But Samiah didn’t have to tell her anything. She could tell by her sister’s horrified expression that she’d figured it out.
She pulled on her jacket and stuffed her feet into her favorite quarter-strapped heeled boots. She’d be damned if she walked in there looking like an enraged, spurned woman. Or worse, some wounded animal. She would burst through those doors showcasing her fabulousness. Let that bastard see what he would be missing out on for the rest of his sorry-ass life.
“Where are you going?” A thread of panic lined the edges of Denise’s voice.
“They’re at the new restaurant a couple of blocks away,” Samiah answered. “The same place we were supposed to go tonight.” She stopped short. “He used the reservation I made. Son of a bitch. I was on the phone for a half hour trying to get that reservation.”
“You mean he had the nerve to bring another woman to a restaurant in your neighborhood? He must have balls of steel.”
“I wouldn’t know.” And thank God for that.
She’d actually considered Craig a gentleman because he hadn’t tried to get her into bed on the first date. Of course, he’d tried on each subsequent date, but Samiah had made a promise to herself long ago not to give up her goodies until she was good and ready. The fact that it had never felt right should have been her clue that something was wrong. Apparently, her vajayjay had sensed he was a rat long before she had.
“And just what do you plan to do when you get there?” Denise asked as she followed her back into the bathroom. “Beat him up in the middle of the restaurant?”
“I won’t lay a hand on him. I just want to see his face when I walk in.”
Her sister looked down at the phone and gasped. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
“What?” Samiah ran to her side.
“Another girl just tagged herself on the Twitter thread. She’s been dating this Craig guy too.”
Samiah didn’t just see red; she saw a burst of fiery crimson.
“This is like that TV show. You know, the one where the people meet online but you don’t know if they’re telling the truth about who they really are? What do they call it?”
“Catfishing,” Samiah hissed.
She’d been catfished. Or, at the very least, scammed into believing Craig was something he definitely was not.
A combination of mortification and rage congealed in her blood. Every single time she heard one of those stories, she’d felt sympathy for the poor, unsuspecting fool who got caught up in it. But that sympathy always came with a heavy dose of judgment. She couldn’t understand how anyone could be so gullible. Never could she imagine that she would become the victim of some slick-tongued, rental car–driving asshole’s scam.