The Best Part of Me 2

by A'zayler

  “Okay, love birds, last question of the day.”

  “Shoot,” Jerrico told her.

  “Where do you two see this going? Let’s say in the next five years, where do you see yourselves relationship wise?”

  Goody purposely stayed quiet because she would hate to say the wrong thing. In her mind, she was never getting married again, had no plans to have kids and couldn’t firmly state that she’d be with Jerrico. Her heart just wasn’t set up like that anymore. However, she was almost positive that Jerrico thought otherwise, and she’d hate to embarrass him.

  To her dismay, Jerrico didn’t take the lead on that question. Goody was sure it was for pretty much her same reasoning, but just the other way around. He was probably a bit skeptical because he had an idea of how she felt and didn’t want to embarrass himself by saying something that she didn’t agree with. After growing tired of the way Grace’s eyes shifted between the two of them, Goody put her big girl panties on and answered.

  “I’m thinking married with kids. Two at the most. We’re really just living in the moment right now and would like to keep it that way. Too many demands and expectations add stress that we don’t feel is necessary. Jerrico wants a wedding, kids, and probably even a dog,” Goody smiled at him when he laughed. “While I’m okay with his loft, no children taking his love from me, and going to the courthouse, but because he gives me so much, I have no problem giving him the same.”

  “You don’t want kids?”

  “No ma’am, but he does, so he’ll get them. My limit is two, though. I’d prefer twins the first time around so that I don’t have to endure that type of discomfort repeatedly.”

  Jerrico and Grace were both laughing at her, but Goody was past serious. She’d wanted a baby with Kayson so bad and had never had one. Now, on more days than one, she thanked God for sparing her.

  “We both work so hard and have such busy schedules, a baby right now would really just crowd us. Maybe later,” Jerrico softened the blow and kissed Goody’s exposed shoulder. “Plus, it’s hard enough getting along with this mean ass woman every day as is. Getting her pregnant would probably just top her off, and I don’t know if I can handle that.”

  Goody playfully pushed his face and looked at Grace. “Don’t believe him. I’m not that bad.”

  “Yes, she is. I’m just patient, so I can handle it.”

  Grace’s laughter carried while she typed away. When she was done, she set her iPad down and looked at them.

  “It was my pleasure to interview the two of you.”

  Jerrico stuck his hand out to shake hers. “The pleasure was ours. Thank you.”

  Goody stood with Jerrico and Grace following her. When they were on their feet, Goody hugged her tightly.

  “Thank you.”

  “The magazine issue will be sent to you all for your approval before release.”

  “Awesome.” Goody stepped around her chair and reached for Jerrico’s hand.

  He took it and led them from the room. They waved to the receptionist when they passed her. They didn’t talk until they were leaving the building.

  “It wasn’t that bad, right?” Goody nudged his arm with her shoulder.

  “Not at all. I wasn’t really worried about the interview, though. I was more so worried about the aftermath of it. There’s no telling what’s about to happen now.”

  “Well, I don’t have anything to hide, so I’m okay.” Goody looked at him. “What about you?”

  “Nothing, I’m clean.”

  “Well, we’re good then. I don’t really see how too many bad things can stem from such a positive interview.”

  Jerrico exhaled. “The world is cruel, baby, but let’s not worry about that. It was fun, and if anything does arise, I can handle it for us both.”

  Goody stood in front of the door, not getting in, just looking up at Jerrico. When he noticed her unmoving, he zoned in on her as well.

  “What?”

  “I didn’t know how to answer her about the five years question.”

  “I know,” he said quietly.

  “But,” Goody grabbed his face. “It’s not because of you. It was because of me. I don’t really trust myself with you, but I know that I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  “Do you trust me?”

  Jerrico nodded.

  “How long do you think I’ll be like this?” Goody questioned, hoping he had an answer for her troubled mind.

  “Until you get used to the way I love you.” He pecked her nose. “That, or you begin to love yourself enough to know that you deserve everything we’re building. Either way, I’m going to be here, so it doesn’t matter to me.”

  “I do love myself.”

  “Not as much as you should, or need to, but you will.”

  Goody wanted to tell him again that she really did love herself, but she didn’t. Maybe he saw something that she didn’t see. The silence stretched between them. Sounds of passing cars and outside noise took over their tranquility.

  “Paradise, give us a real chance.”

  “I am.”

  Jerrico shook his head. “Shh.” He touched her closed lips. “A real one. Like a real relationship with a title.”

  Goody paused, still somewhat nervous, but nodded anyway. “Okay. Let’s do it.”

  “You sure?” he questioned.

  “Yes. I’ll be your girlfriend.”

  Jerrico hugged her tightly and kissed the side of her face a couple of times. “Aight, that’s all I needed. Let’s go.”

  After Goody got into the car, she watched him round the hood to accompany her. Her heart was calm, but her mind was on a level of its own. One negative thought after the next, she canceled them out and took a deep breath. With Jerrico was where she needed to be. She’d known it for a while but had allowed her mind to push her out of it. Time was out for that. She was going to be with him, and that was all to it.

  Chapter 6

  The Mystery Man

  With his phone to his ear, Marcellus sat in the driveway of the small house in the middle of town. Down the street from his office and two miles shy of all the main attractions. It was the middle of the afternoon, and he’d just gotten a call to come over, but nothing in him wanted to go inside. Not him, not her, and definitely not them together.

  Bridges, one of the only women in his life, had called him that morning requesting his presence, darn near seducing him over the phone, and even that didn’t move him. He’d been at work bright and early even after a long night and didn’t regret it one bit. At one point, all it would have taken Bridges was a text, and he would have come running, but that time was over. He no longer felt like that for her.

  Somewhere along the way, her place in his heart had begun to close, and nothing he tried had reopened it. He’d done all he could to rekindle it in efforts not to hurt her feelings, but he continued to fail. She was a beautiful model who ripped all of the high-end runways but did absolutely nothing that appealed to him.

  For many years she’d been his one, the only female outside of his mother who kept his attention, but it was crazy how life had a way of changing things. Without warning, he’d gone from loving her to avoiding anything that had to do with her.

  “Hey baby, I’m missing you like never before. Your face and your touch have been on my mind for hours. All I need is a little more. Please see me for lunch. I love you.”

  Marcellus listened to the voicemail again, trying his best to push himself out of his truck and into the house, but he just couldn’t. One thing he didn’t want to do was hurt her, and if he went in right then, that was exactly what would happen. There was no denying that.

  Exasperated, Marcellus hit his steering wheel before cranking up and preparing to back out of the driveway. Just as he put his car into gear, the front door opened, and the little brown toddler who looked exactly like Bridges stood there waving.

  He was in a pair of cartoon character underwear with a curly ponytail in the middle of his head
. Marcellus smiled at the baby, even though he hated that ponytail. He didn’t know why Bridges wouldn’t just cut the child’s hair. He looked like a little girl. Marcellus had brought it up to her a million times, and she shot him down for one reason or another every time.

  His little waving arm had Marcellus’ truck sliding back into park. Next came the unbuckling of the seatbelt, followed by the opening of his car door. She’d succeeded. Bridges knew if nothing else, Marcellus loved kids. He actually loved them more than he did grown people. They were so funny and were going to be themselves no matter what.

  “What’s going on, little man?” Marcellus asked once he’d picked the toddler up.

  He smiled big but didn’t say anything. He couldn’t speak. After two almost three years of life, the child hadn’t uttered one word. It stressed Bridges out to no end, but there was nothing she could do. The doctors had already run tests, and nothing ever came back wrong. He just didn’t talk.

  “I thought that was you out here.” Bridges joined them in the middle of the yard. “What took you so long to get out?” she questioned with shaky eyes.

  Bridges knew just like Marcellus did that he was about to leave. Even if neither of them ever said it, they were both aware.

  “I had a few calls to make.”

  “You could have made them inside.” Her soft hand enveloped his and pulled him behind her into the house.

  Once inside, she released him, and he made himself comfortable in the living room. Marcellus looked around at all the family pictures and decorations she had placed in odd spots. She was a very abstract person who didn’t do traditional well, which was another reason he’d grown tired of her. Traditional, in any sense of the word, wasn’t for her. Not even regarding a relationship. She hadn’t even been able to do that right.

  “I made some lunch. Figured you’d be hungry. You’ve been working crazy hours for the past few days.”

  Marcellus put baby Bridges down on the floor, so he could run off. For her own nontraditional reasons, his mother had thought it would be cute for him to be her junior instead of his father’s. Though unheard of, it actually wasn’t that bad.

  “I have a show in New York this week. You think you can make it?”

  Marcellus slouched back on the sofa and stretched his legs out in front of him. “I’m not sure. A few of my clients have shows coming up, and I don’t think I can swing all of that in the same week. More notice would have been better.”

  “I tried to tell you last week,” she mumbled from the kitchen.

  Marcellus had heard her but pretended not to. Instead, he looked around the living room, trying to do anything that would possibly take his mind off his current situation. Nobody, not his brothers or his mother knew about Bridges, and he liked it that way. The more people who knew, the more real it became, and he didn’t need that. Bridges was a big enough headache by herself.

  “What time do you have to be back?” Bridges set the plate of steaming food in front of him.

  Marcellus instantly sat up. He might not have wanted to be there, but he was definitely hungry and was about to tear the plate to pieces.

  “I have a couple of hours.” He took the fork from her and smiled. “We can chill for a minute. Go get your food.”

  Bridges rushed from the living room and returned to the kitchen. While she busied herself, Marcellus checked his phone for missed alerts. Exactly what he hadn’t wanted to happen, had happened. He had a text from Forever.

  Forever: Mystery Man, I leave this weekend

  Marcellus sucked his teeth because he wasn’t ready for that. He and Forever weren’t serious or anything even close to it, but he enjoyed her company. She was a cool girl with book and common sense. Their conversations were minimal because his minute man sex always ended up taking over, but the few talks they’d had were more than enough.

  Majority of the time, he purposely didn’t talk to her when she was around. He liked to watch her more. She was so intelligent and classy; the way she carried herself was a conversation in itself. His mind could literally come up with its own things to say by just watching her. She had it like that. Hell, she had him like that.

  It had been ages since he’d been that intrigued by a woman. Bridges and a few others had caught and held his attention, but not like Forever. Something about her spirit agreed with his, and he wasn’t ready for her to go. He still wasn’t sure what it was that tied him to her yet, and she was about to leave before he could.

  Marcellus: That’s not good for me. Stay.

  She texted right back.

  Forever: Can’t. My life is in Cali

  Forever: Come visit

  Marcellus: When? I will.

  Forever: Soon. That’ll make me happy

  Marcellus was in the middle of asking Forever could he see her before she left when Bridges walked back into the living room. She had a plate for herself and a smaller one for baby Bridges. He was right at her leg and following her every step while watching his plate. Marcellus laughed at the baby’s eagerness. It was pure comedy how he nearly fell over his toys because he refused to look away from the food in his mother’s hand.

  “Tell that girl you’ll talk to her later,” Bridges joked.

  Marcellus could tell by the tone of her voice that she’d only been joking, but it still annoyed him. Some of the stuff she did was always so unnecessary, but he just ignored it. Him harboring so many of his feelings was probably another reason why their vibes were always off.

  “Chill out.” He took baby Bridges’ plate and set it on the coffee table.

  He was dragging his little soccer ball chair to the table in no time. He wasted no time picking up the plastic fork and digging into his food. Marcellus touched his back to stop him.

  “Say your grace.”

  He dropped his fork with a frown on his face and bowed his little head. Marcellus had to fight to keep the smile off his face as he watched him pray with an attitude. Once he was done, Marcellus gave him a thumbs up and looked at Bridges.

  “You have to teach him that stuff.”

  She rolled her eyes. “He’s just a baby.”

  “A baby who knows better. You see how he did exactly what I told him to do? He’ll do what he’s made to do.”

  “I’m an adult, and I forget to say my grace sometimes. Surely a toddler is entitled to it.”

  Marcellus looked at Bridges with disgust. “You need to be ashamed of yourself. That’s not okay.” He didn’t bother to wait for her to respond.

  Marcellus bowed his head, said his grace, and began to eat as well. The living room was quiet while they ate. Both of the Bridges were demolishing their plates while he nibbled at his and eyed his cell phone. He hoped Forever wouldn’t call since he hadn’t texted her back. She didn’t strike him as the type, but you can never really tell with women. They would do one thing one day, and something totally different the next.

  “The girl, Slim Goody, your artist, she’s really hot!” Bridges complimented.

  Marcellus smiled because that was actually a perfect conversation starter. Nothing too personal or overbearing.

  “Yeah, she’s the shit. I keep telling her that.”

  “She doesn’t think so?”

  “Nah, she knows so. She just keeps downplaying her status. She thinks she’s still small time, so I have to remind her frequently that she’s not.”

  “So, her songs are doing well?” Bridges covered her mouth while chewing. “I heard one on the radio the other day.”

  Marcellus looked at her pretty, light skin and nodded. Her burgundy hair and bright eyes were good features for her and gave her a distinctive look. He liked it just as much then as he did when he’d first met her.

  “Why you looking at me like that?” Bridges smiled.

  “Because you’re beautiful.”

  The way she blushed made him feel bad that he couldn’t regularly make her feel that good. If he could, he really would, but he just couldn’t. That wasn’t him. Never had been. He’d
tried to make himself do something serious with her, but his mind was never in it.

  “I see that she’s with Jerrico, the chef from The Food Network. That was a surprise.”

  Marcellus cleared his throat and ignored the mention of Jerrico. Bridges didn’t know that was his younger brother and didn’t need to. Women loved to overstep their boundaries, and that was something he wouldn’t aid in.

  “Yeah, it was. For all of us. Goody hates men. I was surprised she’d even given Jerrico the time of day.”

  She giggled. “I wish you’d let me meet her… or any of your friends.” Her voice went down at the end of her sentence.

  Stuff like that was what made it hard for Marcellus to keep up his façade. Bridges desired more. More of the things he refused to give to her or any other woman. He’d been very clear from the time he’d met her that he kept his social and business life separate and private. She’d been fine with it until she began to form feelings for him.

  After that happened, she wanted nothing that belonged to him to be off limits. Too bad for her. Marcellus was the same as he’d always been. He was private with everyone. It didn’t matter what the relationship was, he was him, and that was that.

  “The show in New York, how long are you going to be there?”

  “I leave Monday, and I’ll be back Thursday evening. I have a private shoot for a new panty line Thursday morning.”

  Marcellus picked up baby Bridges’ fork and handed it back to him. “That’s sexy. You gon’ send me some of the pictures?”

  Bridges’ nodded hard with a beautiful grin on her face. “I got you.” She wiped her mouth. “You know, if you come with me, you could see it in person. You haven’t been to one of my shoots in so long. I miss it. We used to have so much fun.”

  “I know. I’m sorry I’ve been so busy.”

  “It’s fine. You have to make your money, I get it.”

  Marcellus’ phone rang and gave him a much-needed break in the conversation. It was Calvary. “What’s going on, baby boy?”

  “Aye, you busy?”

  “Not really, just having some lunch. What you need?”