Read the Warning Label First

by B. M. Hardin

  “Tori?”

  “What Cheyanne? I don’t want to jinx anything so for now all you need to know is that his name is Tristan,” I laughed as she rolled her eyes.

  Speaking again of Mr. Tristan, I decided that I was going to give him a call.

  Since he’d always called first, I hadn’t been able to see how he would react or what he would be doing if I decided to give him an unexpected ring.

  In my opinion, and because previous experiences have always proven me right, if a man can calls you, but never answers when you call him, the truth is…he probably has a lady.

  Even if he calls you back soon after, but is either outside or always riding in a car, or even is bold enough to answer and give you a few quick words before he says that he will call you back…again...he’s probably already taken.

  I’m telling you what I know to be true.

  Granted this may not be true in every, single case or with every single man.

  He could simply just be busy.

  He could have been asleep or in the shower or even outside mowing the lawn.

  But if it’s something that repeatedly happens, then a year’s salary says that something isn’t what he says that it is.

  I was willing to bet on it.

  I’d been down that road enough times to know.

  And no, all men aren’t the same, but I’m just saying:

  Pay attention to the signs…or pay the consequences later.

  So, here goes nothing, I thought.

  The phone ranged three times and as the forth ring started to come in, my finger headed to the end button. But just as I pulled the phone away from my ear, I heard his voice.

  “Hello!” Tristan screamed.

  “I’m sorry, are you busy?” I asked him, already expecting him to say yes.

  “Nope. I was getting me a work out in but since you called, I’m done,” Tristan said and I could tell that he was smiling.

  Okay, so, not what I expected.

  Now, I had to figure out something else to say.

  We small talked for a while longer and decided to see each other that night for a movie, instead of waiting for our planned date night that next Wednesday.

  He said that he couldn’t wait to see me and that he was tired of staring at the pictures of me in his phone that I’d sent him.

  Hanging up the phone, I texted him my address and then I turned around to face my sister.

  “Oh my, you’re blushing. Okay, can we talking about who Tristan is now?” she asked as I started to giggle.

  After hanging out with my sister and the kids a little while longer, I headed home to find a bear and a single balloon on my front porch.

  There was a note pinned to the bear’s chest that said:

  I can Bear-ly not (barely) wait to see you tonight. Tristan.

  Aww, how sweet!

  I was definitely blushing as I sniffed the bear for his scent and then carried it and the balloon inside the house.

  He must have come by and left the surprise no sooner than I’d sent him my address.

  I text him to say thank you, and he immediately responded saying that I deserved it.

  This man was definitely trying to sweep me off of my feet and I was enjoying every minute of it.

  It had been a long time that I’d had someone that was even half as charming as he was.

  To think of it, there was one that might have given him a run for his money, but he turned out to be a little more aggressive than I was willing to deal with.

  Mason was his name.

  He was a professor and I just loved to listen to him speak.

  It seemed as though every time that I was in his presence I learned something new. He was always saying something sweet or reciting poetry.

  He always took the time to do something nice for me and I was more than appreciative of it.

  But I soon found out that if something didn’t exactly go his way, things could get very ugly…including my face.

  One day, after a slight disagreement, right in public, he’d reached across the table and smacked me.

  To this day, I’m banned from that restaurant, we both were.

  We tore that place down!

  Luckily, he was the one that ended up going to jail and the police let me go, considering that he had been the one to imitate the fight.

  He was crazy to think that I was going to let him put his hands on me without retaliating.

  He called me the next day begging for my forgiveness, saying that he was stressed and so on and so forth but God himself would have had to come down off of the throne in Heaven, to tell me to give him another chance.

  There was just no way in Hell that I would ever let him close to me again.

  I’d seen what I’d needed to see and a woman beater label was forever stamped to his chest.

  That life just wasn’t for me.

  I stopped reminiscing and headed to my bedroom to prepare to get dressed.

  We were only going to a movie, so there was no need to overdress, but I still wanted to look cute.

  I found the perfect outfit and headed to get myself together.

  I couldn’t believe that I actually had a date.

  It had been a long time and I only hoped that things turned out okay.

  Well, we shall see…

  “You look amazing woman,” Tristan chuckled as I stepped out of my front door.

  I usually didn’t allow men to come to my house on the first date, but for Tristan, I’d made an exception.

  I looked at his attire.

  Though we were only going to a movie, he was impeccably dressed from head to toe.

  “You look amazing yourself…man,” I chimed as he opened the passenger side door of his Mustang.

  His car choice actually surprised me.

  I hadn’t taken him for a Mustang type of guy but more so an Audi, or maybe a Volvo if not the high named brands such as Mercedes and a few others.

  It wasn’t even an up to date Mustang, but it was new enough and it was clean and it smelled good.

  Maybe he had another car too, I concluded.

  Even if he didn’t, I guess the fact that he had a decent car was all that mattered, for now anyway.

  I was surprised at the fact that I wasn’t being as judgmental as usual.

  Maybe I was trying to be a little more open minded or maybe it was that I just didn’t want to mess something up before it had even begun.

  Hell or maybe it was just that secretly and in the deepest part of my heart, I was just tired of being alone.

  Whatever the reason was, it was time for me to snag a man and hold on to him.

  And Tristan was definitely a man worth snagging.

  He entered the car and turned up the radio.

  I was surprised to hear that he was listening to old school.

  I loved my old school!

  I guess again I’d assumed incorrectly.

  I’d imagined him being one to listen to jazz or classical music but the way that he sung every word to the tune that was playing, told me that it was way past time for me to stop making assumptions about him.

  My grandmother used to say that assuming would make an ass out of you and me.

  Get it?

  Ass-u-me…assume.

  I guess I was imagining him to do, say, drive and be the man of my dreams but I had to start living in my reality.

  And the reality was that no man was going to have everything on my list, so I had better start bending or I was going to be alone and in trouble in the long run.

  Yes, a Mustang, I could deal with.

  Old school music was the best that there was.

  Now, if it had been rap music, I’m not so sure. Nothing against it, and I even listened to it here and there, but let’s just say that with the kind of rap music that was out today, I definitely didn’t want a man that constantly polluted his mind with that nonsense.

  Sorry, that’s just my preference.

  But then again, at this mo
ment, Tristan could have been listening to rap, country and whatever else, as long as I could be in his presence.

  He took one hand off of the steering wheel and placed it on my lap for me to grab it.

  I felt like a teenage girl on her first date.

  Only that I hadn’t had the pleasure of experiencing a first date in my early teen years.

  Of course that was due to the way that we were raised and because my parents’ were so religious.

  They were convinced that if a boy even sneezed in any of our direction, we would get pregnant.

  To be honest, I was so afraid of the things that they’d said, I’d become accustom to not even looking at or paying boys my age much attention at all.

  So, I didn’t have my first real date until I was a sophomore in college.

  My first date had been with a man named Pablo.

  He was Hispanic and black and he was about ten years older than I was at the time.

  I’d met him while waitressing part-time.

  The church scholarship covered my tuition and living arrangements, but anything else I wanted, I had to work for it.

  Anyway, he was a regular customer and tipped me fairly well every time that he came to the restaurant. One day, along with the tip, he gave me his phone number.

  I was young then, and even though I had an eye for spotting bull, I wasn’t an expert just yet.

  The obvious signs were all there but I missed them until it was too late.

  The first time I called him, I can remember getting his voicemail and when I tried two other times that same day, I hadn’t gotten a response then either.

  Finally, early the next day, he called and gave me some crazy excuse and basically gave me times that it was best to call him.

  At the time, I figured that it was all innocent since he was a car salesman and his hours were all over the place, but really it was because he had a full plate.

  After communicating for a few days over the phone, he asked to take me out on one of my days off.

  Granted I was younger, I was smart.

  And I had already had an idea of the type of man that I wanted. I thought for maybe a second that he could have been just my type, but I had been so wrong.

  The date itself was fine and memorable.

  He took me to a five star restaurant, bought me roses, and even looked into my eyes and told me everything that a girl wanted to hear.

  I felt special, and the attention actually felt good but walking out of that restaurant to see that man’s wife and her best friend, standing there at his car, waiting for us, told me that I had to be more careful and pay closer attention.

  Needless to say, he didn’t even try to help me fight them off.

  They jumped me and he just stood there, yelling at his wife as we went toe to toe.

  I didn’t go down without a fight though.

  I fought both of those grown ass women with everything that I had in me. Had I not fallen, maybe the outcome would have been different, but since I did, I ended up with a broken nose and a few fractured ribs.

  The sad part about it all was that I was innocent.

  I wasn’t the one at fault.

  I truly didn’t know about her or even that he was married since he didn’t wear a wedding ring, but I, as well as my health insurance, ended up paying the price.

  Assuming that she’d finally paid attention to him constantly yelling that I didn’t know that he was married, finally she stopped and called off her best friend.

  I laid there on the pavement for a while in pain as they argued about his lying and cheating ways.

  Finally, he helped me to his car, drove me to the hospital in silence, and dropped me off.

  That was it.

  No apology, not one single word.

  The police were called and when attempting to press charges, the number that I had for him actually belonged to one of his buddies, who allowed him to call me from it when he was around.

  That explained why he only answered if I called at the times that he’d given me. I guess that was when he was around him.

  Anyway, the friend pretty much covered for him and pretended not to know where he was.

  I didn’t know the exact car dealership that he worked at and I quickly found out that Pablo wasn’t even his real name.

  I simply decided to just let it all go and count it as a lesson learned.

  That was when I vowed to never let something like that happen to me again.

  No, men didn’t come with printed labels stamped to their foreheads, but if you paid close attention, you could spot the invisible warning label, sitting, waiting on you to read its content.

  And now, I always paid attention.

  The car came to a halt and I shook away the thoughts of my past and waited for him to open my door.

  I smiled at him but took a quick second to silently say a prayer.

  Lord, whatever it may be, make sure you send me a sign….

  The movie was good---at least I assumed it was.

  To be honest, I hadn’t watched hardly any of it. I was too busy entertaining my thoughts about Tristan.

  I liked the way he smelled and the way that he firmly held my hand. I liked the way that he sat with his knees far apart as though he had something large and powerful tucked away between his muscular thighs.

  I even liked the way that he breathed.

  Everything about him just made me want to do something to him…something that I could only hope that he would like.

  I know, I was still a virgin, but I’d watched a good amount of porn. I was sure that I was going to be ready whenever the time arrived.

  But for now, I was enjoying imagining what sex would be like with the man that was by my side.

  We arrived at my place shortly after and I was almost sad that the night was about to end.

  I’d already shared with him up front that I was saving myself for true love and he’d understood, but in a way I’d wished that I hadn’t said anything to him at all.

  I know I was waiting for the right guy, but what if he never came?

  Then what?

  And if my first time wasn’t with the right guy, it might as well have been with a guy like Tristan.

  Yet, I hid my frustrations with a smile and nearly ran into the house once he kissed me goodnight.

  I couldn’t make it to my room fast enough as I opened my top drawer and grabbed my Bo.

  Yeah, after tonight, I was definitely going to need some new batteries.

  ***

  I hadn’t spoken to Delilah since she’d left and just my luck she was calling just as I was getting dressed for date number two with Tristan.

  I sent her to my voicemail and continued getting dressed.

  Yes, in a way, I missed her.

  I would be lying if I said that I didn’t.

  But I knew that her moving away was the best thing for the both of us.

  I needed and wanted real and genuine people in my life and I rather not entertain anyone less than.

  I stared at myself in the full length mirror.

  Yet again, I wanted to be sexy, but not too sexy. I wanted to be teasingly attractive and not just to Tristan; but to any other man that would lay his eyes on me tonight.

  The truth is, no man wants what other man don’t want so, I was hoping to get a few stares from by standers, to allow Tristan to get the big picture.

  He would have a diamond on his arm tonight and diamonds weren’t just a woman’s best friend.

  Men better act like they know!

  Just as I finished the last few touches of my makeup, Tristan was calling to say that he’d arrived.

  I glanced at myself one last time, took a deep breath, and rushed out the front door.

  Tonight was going to be amazing!

  The conversation as we drove was different than usual.

  Though he had always been open and honest, tonight he was being funny and showing a lot of his intelligence.

  He was so freak
ing attractive!

  From his appearance to his mind, he just continued to impress me. And I hadn’t been impressed by a man in a very long time.

  We walked into a restaurant that I had never heard of but from the looks of it, it was loved and quite popular.

  It was overly crowed and people were holding buzzers, waiting for an open table but luckily Tristan had reservations for us.

  The waitress led us to our table and Tristan pulled out my chair.

  I love the fact that he was showing all of the signs of a gentleman. That was a good thing.

  My father had been the idea of the perfect gentleman…minus the whole mistress thing.

  But coming up, I had seen him open doors, pull out chairs, and stand up whenever my mother left the table, the whole nine yards.

  He’d taught my brother’s to do the same thing and it was just something that I’d become accustom to seeing.

  So, a gentleman was definitely something that was on my list and just one of those things that I wasn’t going to let slide.

  “Order whatever you’d like or do you trust me to order for you?” Tristan said somewhat sure but still with a touch of sarcasm.

  He was definitely a take charge type of man and I had to admit, it turned me on.

  I liked the thought that he could handle me and take charge of me even though a lot of men found me intimidating.

  But Tristan didn’t seem scared of me or challenged by me at all.

  Though I didn’t particularly trust his choice in food, at least not just yet, I allowed him to order for me anyway.

  We were at an Italian restaurant if I wasn’t mistaken and I was excited to try new foods.

  After I tried something new, I always tried to mimic the recipe and usually ended up creating something that tasted a lot better, so I was ready to give a few things a try.

  “Taste this,” Tristan ordered once our food was placed in front of us.

  It was a soup called Zuppa di Pesce and I was in love after just one bite.

  “It’s good huh?”

  I couldn’t say a thing, so I just nodded my head.

  From there, the entire dinner went by with a breeze and everything about the night was incredible.

  I had to force myself to come off of cloud nine for a while just to watch his every move and pay attention to everything that he said.