Single & Ready 2 Read online

  “Hey, you ready to head up.” Mark was very smart. His eyes scrutinized my ex. His words were my cue to leave Nick standing in the parking lot looking like a whole fished-eyed fool.

  “So ready.” I smirked.

  I motioned to leave with Mark.

  “I’ll call you later.” Nick’s voice trailed from behind me. I snapped my neck back to glare at him and leave him standing on the pavement. It felt so damn good to walk away, to have control, to be a whole bitch to a man that had been a whole ass bitch to me.

  Did he really say he would call me? With what number? You’re blocked, remember?

  Sorry, not sorry that wasn’t going to change. That chapter of my life was closed.

  Mark and I entered the office building in silence. He waited until we were in the elevator to speak.

  “Geez, what was that all about?”

  “My ex ambushed me.”

  “The Nick’s a dick guy?”

  “Yes, like what was he thinking? I didn’t know if he was coming to kill me or something.”

  Mark chuckled. “A guy with that haircut doesn’t even own a gun.”

  I looked up at Mark. What did that mean?

  I raised my eyebrow as some lady from the procurement office stepped into the elevator with us. I didn’t know her name, but I’d seen her before.

  Mark and I remained quiet until we got off on the fifth floor. I needed the silence to recalibrate my brain in order to do my job. I needed calmness and structure in my life. Nick knows this about me. He brought his ass up here to rattle me. I refuse to let that cheater win. I believe he’s a cheater because of what Tami said, but I don’t know this for sure. I was shocked but into reality with the deepness of Mark’s voice.

  “I’m going to drop my crap off and I’ll be in your office for the tea.” He ventured to the left without waiting for me to respond.

  I had some things to get off my chest, and Mark was prefect. He was a good listener, and he didn’t judge me. Every now and again he gave me pretty excellent advice. Having a male friend had its benefits. He gave some insight into his alien species, and he was right about his male counterparts most of the time.

  My office was nestled comfortably toward the back of the floor. You had to walk pass the bull pin of cubicles to get to me. I wanted to be all the way in the back. If someone came in here shooting, I would hear it in advance and escape down the back stairwell. Yes, I have a vivid imagination, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. I never thought that would happen, but if it did, I would not get shot up. The offices close to the elevator weren’t for me. Some disgruntled psycho might get off on the wrong floor. Or one of my employees might have a psycho ex-husband or ex-boyfriend stalking her. I’m not trying to die over some domestic dispute that I don’t even know about.

  I unlocked my door and walked into my office. I put all my crap down on my desk. I wished I would’ve grabbed my coffee from Mark, but I forget about it trying to get away from Nick.

  Nick was a dick. He had shown up Sunday morning and again at my job Monday morning. He was really trying to link up with me. I hated to admit it, but I wanted to know why. What was different? Why now? Did he want to get back together? Did it take him three months to miss me? Somehow I just knew he didn’t miss me the way I missed him. In my brain, this only confirmed that he never loved me.

  I pondered all the possibilities as I unpacked my work things and placed them on top of my desk. I went through a range of emotions with anger being the first. Tami told me he was seeing someone else, and I wanted to know who this chick was. I wanted to know what she looked like. Was she Black? Was she a Barbie? I needed to know her age. Where she worked, her credit score, and what kind of car she drove. I needed to know it all details.

  All I could do is speculate. Maybe it didn’t work out with this harlot and Nick was crawling back to me. As soon as I was ready to face the truth, I was determined to get to the bottom of this little mystery.

  There was a tap on my office door. I looked up to see Mark. He strolled into my office with my coffee in one hand and a goofy ass grin plastered on his tanned face. I couldn’t seem to figure out how he got my coffee when I thought he handed it over to me in the parking lot. I was in a daze and I hated that Nick had me so frazzled.

  Mark closed the door. He knew how I was about privacy. The only reason we were so close was because he never shared my secrets. He knew how to listen without running and telling, and I truly appreciated that about him. He was also funny, but I wasn’t going to let him know that.

  “So that was the text message ex.” He put my coffee on my desk and took a seat in the chair front of my desk.

  “Yes, that was Nick.”

  “I don’t know. I’m just, I don’t know.” He looked confused, and somehow that made me confused.

  “What don’t you know?”

  “I just thought he would be.” He paused and tilted his head. “I don’t know.”

  “What?”

  “Better looking.”

  “You’ve seen him before, in pictures.”

  “Yeah but frankly I’m not impressed. He’s a solid six. But with your ass and tits alone, you can bring in a solid eight point five. If you smiled you could easily get a nine. If you’re dressed in skintight clothes, you could get a professional athlete. Which is more than a ten, so you see where I’m going with this?”

  “No, where are you going with this?”

  “Nick is just not what I envisioned for you.”

  “Just because you chose your freaks because of their looks, some of us actually date people we have things in common with.”

  “Oh really, it this something new people are doing in the United States? Nobody told me.” He joked. “I thought we were dating people we were physically attracted to and if you didn’t kill each other when you had clothes on, you did a rinse and repeat until someone found someone better.”

  “Ugh! What kind of BS is that? I swear Mark, you’re just so rude and weird.”

  “Weird or real?”

  “Doesn’t matter. What should I do?”

  “With the work-stalker?”

  “That’s a tricky question. What do you want to do?”

  “I don’t know. I’m asking you because you’re a guy.”

  “I need more information before I can offer sound expert advice.”

  I couldn’t help it. I rolled my eyes. “He, Nick, came to my house yesterday morning. I told him to leave because I had the guy from Snatch and Match there.”

  “Wait, the park guy?”

  “Yes.”

  “He was there in the morning. Why?”

  “Because we boned.”

  “Oh, I see. And you call me a hoe.”

  “One slip up doesn’t put me in your category.”

  “True.”

  “We’re off topic. Nick, then he came to my job this morning doing his best Joe Goldberg impersonation.”

  “Be careful, you don’t want to end up like Beck.”

  “Never.” I was more like Love but impressed Mark remembered the names of the characters from the Netflix show, You. “Why does he keep showing up? What do you think he wants?”

  “He wants to get back with you.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I have a penis. That’s how I know.”

  “I don’t understand what that means.” I huffed. “I’m not sure I want to understand it.”

  “You’re out of his league. He realized it and he wants to get you back before another guy takes you off the market.”

  “Does he really want me back? He dumped me.”

  “Yes, he’s stupid, and he made a huge mistake.”

  “I meant someone new.”

  “This Brandon guy?”

  “Yes. Should I talk to Nick or just ignore him? Tell me what to do.”

  “If Nick wants you back, do you want to work it out with Nick?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t think so. He really hurt me. But I know him. He knows
me. Brandon is new, and it feels like I’m starting all over again.”

  “Starting over fresh isn’t always a bad thing.”

  “True. I really like Brandon. It feels good to be round him. He’s nothing like Nick.”

  “Well, I have a feeling no matter what I say, you will do whatever you feel like doing.”

  “Well yeah, but I still value your opinion.”

  “Why?”

  “You’re a guy.”

  “I’m a guy.” He frowned.

  I could see that wasn’t the right response. “And you’re my friend.”

  After a few more minutes of moaning and groaning, it was time for both of us to get back to work. How could I work with all this crap weighing down on me?

  I had moved on with my life, and now Nick was back. But this was typical. It was like people had a special radar that detected when you didn’t want to be bothered with them anymore. Inevitably, I was going to have to sit down and talk to him. Pushing it off too long didn’t seem like the best option.

  It’s My Turn

  After work, I knew I would have to face the music. My music was a FBI level interrogation from my bestie Tami. She would have a lot of questions and I would have zero answers. I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t see any of this coming.

  One thing I knew for sure, I did like me some Brandon. He was a breath of fresh air. Something changed in me as soon as he came into my life, and that was a good thing. I was really starting to lose it before he strolled into my life. I had checked out of reality after my breakup from Nick.

  I texted Tami to see what time she was coming home. She wouldn’t be home until seven. This gave me some time to come up with something to say to explain all the Sunday morning craziness.

  I made dinner. I had to occupy my time with something. I made spaghetti, meatballs and garlic bread. I paid a bit of attention to my weight when I was in a relationship. My hips were known to spread with the consumption of carbs, but somehow I was too happy to care.

  Tonight didn’t differ from other nights. Tami was loud when she entered. She was singing a Brandy song, the one that had been remixed with rappers Queen Latifah, Yo-Yo and M.C. Lyte. I was sitting at the table eating when Tami entered the kitchen removing her eye buds.

  “Hey Latanya, hot LaMama.”

  “Hey.” I looked up at her.

  “Oh, you made spaghetti? Smells good.”

  “Yeah, you hungry? You only have to warm it up a little.”

  “I’m hungry. I’m tired. I’m sleepy.” I watched Tami walk over to the warm pot on the stove. “So Miss Thang, you brought the drama. You brought the theatrics. You brought the Broadway production up in our little apartment yesterday.”

  “I didn’t bring the drama. The drama showed up at my door without an invitation.”

  “Semantics, so start from the beginning. What up with Brando?” Tami removed the lid from the spaghetti pot.

  “Brandon invited himself over Saturday night. I said yes.”

  “I’m glad you didn’t get murked, but you can skip that part. How he got inside out apartment is irrelevant. I saw that man in our apartment. I saw all of him, from the rooter to the tooter.” Tami had found a big spoon and was scooping spaghetti onto a plate.

  “Yeah, sorry about that. He thought we were the only one’s here.”

  “I wish you could’ve seem your face. Deer, headlights, that was you. I thought you were going to pass out.”

  “Yes, it was really awkward.”

  “What’s the deal? I mean, what’s going on?”

  “I don’t know. I’m just trying to figure it all out.”

  “Did you hear from Brando today? Your face isn’t telling me any-damn-thing. Please don’t tell me he’s a hit it and quit it?”

  “I mean, I don’t think so.” I shrugged. “He texted me a few times today while he was at work.”

  “That’s promising.” Tami took her plate of food and sat across the table from me. “What about that other big nose, pale-faced joker?”

  “Nick? Yeah, he ambushed me at my job this morning. He was in the parking lot waiting for me like a real stalker. I got out my car, and he was there.”

  “Lord.”

  “He walked up on me. Scared the shit out of me.”

  Tami twisted her lips. “What he got to say?” She placed a huge fork-full of spaghetti in her mouth.

  “Nothing really. He wanted to talk to me. I told him hell no. You know I don’t bring my personal business to work. My coworker Mark walked up and saved me. We went into the building and left Nick in the parking lot, looking stupid.”

  “What are you going to do when he comes back around?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Are you going to listen to him?”

  “I don’t know. What is there to say? You said he was seeing someone else? You said that, right?”

  “Yeah, yeah, I said that.”

  “Well, I can assume that didn’t work out. Why else does he have this burning need to talk to me after all this time? I don’t want anyone to want me because something else didn’t work out. I don’t want to be the fallback girl. I don’t want someone to be with me by default. I deserve better than that.”

  “You do. Sometimes it’s hard to let go. I wouldn’t normally advise this because I think he’s shady as shit. But maybe you should talk to him.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Closure. Make him tell you the truth. Put his ass on blast.”

  “I get it, but he was gone so long. His exit was so disrespectful. I don’t even feel like I owe him my time. It’s a little too late. What is he going to say— he’s sorry?”

  “Maybe he will. Maybe he’ll lie. It’s no secret I don’t like Nick. I really want you to explore other options, but I think sitting down with him will be a good way to move on for good. Get all your questions answered. You need to know it was him and not you.”

  “You’re right. If I get this over with he will be gone for good. He came to my job, so he really wants to talk to me. I don’t want to be looking over my shoulder waiting for him to pop out of a damn bush. I will talk to him.”

  “Make sure you force him to be honest with you.”

  “I can try.”

  We both finished dinner. First, I unblocked Nick so I could text him. But what would I say. Hopefully, he had the same cell number. I went back to my bedroom and came up with a few text options.

  Number 1. You can have your five minutes.

  Number 2. If you want to talk, let’s talk.

  Number 3. I’m ready to hear you out.

  Number 4. Let’s meet up and get this over with.

  I went with the last message and sent the text. I wanted to add, you heartless bastard, but I was trying to keep it classy, hold the bougee, ratchet, sassy, moody and nasty.

  Missing You

  My workweek went better than expected. There were no hiccups at work, and Mark was there to listen to me vent. He helped me decipher all the text messages that Brandon sent me throughout the week. I needed to calm my ass down, but there was a little bit of fire in me and I didn’t want it to burn out.

  I even made an appointment to meet up with my ex on Saturday. I wasn’t ecstatic about seeing Nick. But I was super excited about my date with Brandon.

  I couldn’t wait to see him Friday night. We talked on the phone every single day, but seeing him in person would give me a better perspective. It also would give me comfort. I wanted to know where this was headed.

  It felt so good to be desired. I didn’t want to give him too much credit, but everything changed when I met him. I stopped daydreaming, and I started living my actual life. It felt great being in the moment.

  Brandon made plans to go to a Mexican restaurant a few towns over. Brandon was picking me up. I had to admit, under normal circumstances I would never get into a vehicle with a man I’d only known for such a short time. But Brandon and I had skipped a few steps when it came to proper dating protocol. We had already
slept together. We had so much sex that it was enough to keep me sated for the entire week.

  The uncertainty of a new relationship was exciting. Brandon was coming to pick me up at seven. I wore my favorite yellow dress. Yellow made my dark skin pop. I always got compliments when I wore yellow. I wore my hair curly. I use my wand to make sure my curls were big and full. My make-up looked natural, but there was one thing missing. I searched my purse, then my other purse, and my make-up bag. I left my bedroom and went down the hall to Tamika’s bedroom.

  “Hey!” I called out as I entered. Tami was painting her nails in bed. She’s ruined a comforter or two with bright-colored nail polish. She looked up at me with her observant eyes.

  “Girl, its just a date. Why are you so geeked up?”

  I rolled my eyes. I would have to learn to stop with the eye rolling. Maybe next year.

  “I am not geeked up. I’m geeked on the regular level of geeked.”

  “I’m just happy Brando is taking you on a regular date.”

  “I’m happy you happy.” I smarted.

  “We went on a regular date, two actually.”

  “The park was free. Coffee at Tasty Dog may have only taken five dollars out that man’s pocket.”

  “Everything isn’t about money.”

  “You telling me or you telling yourself?”

  “Doesn’t matter, we are going on a proper date tonight to a Mexican restaurant.”

  “That’s lovely, just make sure you are taking your birth control pills because I’m not going through that mess with you again. You pee’d on your hand, remember?”

  “I didn’t forget. Brandon bought condoms.”

  “Uh-huh, right? You so damn gullible. He did that to shut you up.”

  Was she right or just saying anything? “Whatever, have you seen my Sugar Rimmed Gloss?”