by Darrien Lee
Winston said, “Well, I guess we’d better get this little guy home. Thanks again, Meridan, and don’t work too hard. Goodnight.”
She blushed and folded her arms.
“Goodnight, guys, and don’t forget to follow the directions on Fredrick’s medicine. Oh, by the way, you two, you look great. What’s the occasion?”
Arnelle smiled and proudly announced, “Winston won Man-of-the-Year tonight.”
Meridan smiled. “Well, congratulations, Winston!”
Keaton shook his hand and hugged him. “Yeah, Man, congratulations. You deserve it.”
MaLeah jumped up and down and yelled, “Yeah, Daddy!”
Winston scooped her up in his arms. “Thanks, everyone. It was a great feeling. Now, we’d better get home and get these little people into bed. Keaton, are you coming?”
He turned away to look at Meridan before answering. “What time do you get off work? I’d like to treat you to breakfast, lunch, or something for taking care of Fredrick.”
Meridan blushed. “It’s my job and I’m so sorry, Keaton, but I’m covering for someone tonight. I just came on and I’m on duty until tomorrow afternoon.”
Winston and Arnelle smiled as they started walking out of the hospital, leaving them to their conversation.
MaLeah yelled, “Wait, Daddy! Uncie Key!”
He smiled at Meridan. “Excuse me for a second. Duty calls.”
Keaton walked over and knelt down, giving MaLeah a hug and kiss.
“I’ll see you in the morning, Shorty. It’s way past your bedtime and you need to get some sleep. I love you, and thank you for helping me with Fredrick tonight.”
She hugged his neck and yelled, “K!”
Keaton watched as his sister and her family exited the hospital doors together. When he turned back around, Meridan was gone. Confused, he walked over to the nurse’s station.
“Excuse me. Which way did Dr. St. John go?”
The nurse smiled and handed him a note.
“Thank you,” he said as opened the note and slowly walked toward the door.
Keaton,
Sorry I had to run. Dinner sounds very nice. Call me at 555-8458 and tell me where and the time. It was nice seeing you again.
Meridan
Pleased, he smiled, folded the note, and slid it inside his jacket before walking out into the cool night air.
CHAPTER 6
Saturday morning Keaton was awakened once again by MaLeah trying to pry open his eyelids. He was startled awake and when he saw who was staring down at him, he sighed.
“MaLeah, baby, you’re going to have to stop doing your uncle like this. What are you doing up so early?”
She pouted. “I wanna play, Uncie Key.”
Keaton picked her up and put her in bed beside him, covering them both with the comforter.
She cuddled against his chest. “Can I watch TV, Uncie Key?”
Closing his eyes and turning onto his stomach, he responded, “Knock yourself out.”
She crawled over his body and grabbed the remote off the nightstand. She sat on his back and proceeded to watch the Nickelodeon channel. Keaton tried to go back to sleep, but it was difficult with MaLeah laughing and bouncing on his back. Just when he thought all hope was gone, Winston walked into the room.
“Baby girl, I should’ve known you’d be in here bothering your uncle. Get off his back and come on so you can get your clothes on,” he said, laughing.
Pointing toward the TV, she yelled, “Daddy, look! Rugrats!”
Winston walked over to the bed and picked her up. As he turned and walked out, he looked back at Keaton. “Sorry, Bro. We’ll try to keep better tabs on her. You can go back to sleep now.”
Keaton turned over. “She’s all right, Man. Don’t worry about it. How’s Fredrick doing?”
“He’s much better. His temp is down, thank God. You really came through for him last night. Speaking of which…What happened between you and the beautiful doctor last night?”
MaLeah heard the word “doctor” and yelled, “Dr. MeMe!”
Winston looked at her in frustration and sat her down. He playfully patted her on the bottom. “Go find your momma and stop being so nosey.”
MaLeah giggled and ran from the room. Winston folded his arms and said, “Now back to you. What’s up?”
Keaton sat on the side of the bed, smiling. He stood and said, “Nothing’s up. I only asked her out.”
“Tonight?”
“That’s what I’m hoping for.” He grinned mischievously. “I have to call her and see if we’re on.”
Winston watched as Keaton blushed simply from talking about Meridan. It was obvious he’d been very interested in Meridan every since he’d laid eyes on her. As long as Winston had known Keaton, he’d vowed he would never, ever, marry. As Keaton would tell his family…he’d get married “when hell freezes over.” He’d never allowed himself to get serious with any one woman because of the demands of his restaurant and his loyalty to bachelorhood.
Winston laughed again. “I’m surprised she has time for you, or any man. Her medical career is very demanding and stressful. She has her private practice and covers at the hospital when needed. I assume that’s why she was there last night.”
Keaton curiously asked, “I wonder why she works so hard?”
Winston flicked some lint off his sleeve. “I’m not sure. Maybe she loves her job.”
Keaton stood and started making up his bed. He turned and said, “I’m sure as fine as she is, she takes the time to wind down and go out every now and then.”
Winston picked up a CD case off the nightstand and scanned the titles. “I don’t know when she has time for much of a social life. I’m surprised she even considered your invitation.”
Keaton flexed his muscles in the mirror. “She accepted because she likes what she sees and I’m a true gentleman.”
Keaton was a handsome man, all six feet six inches of him. His bronze complexion, dark eyes and heated passion gave away the Indian heritage he’d obtained from his father. His African-American mother passed on to him unbelievable dimples, a fiery temper and his unique culinary skills. He had other talents he was proud of but found cooking to be not only relaxing, but rewarding.
Winston laughed. “Don’t think for one second she’s going to be what you’re used to, Bro. Meridan might surprise you. Actually, you too are a lot alike. Number one, you’re both single. Second, you’re both passionate about your careers and third…never mind, I’ll let you find what number three is.”
This bit of information got Keaton’s attention. When Winston turned to walk out of the room, Keaton asked, “What’s number three?”
“Have a nice dinner, Keaton,” he said as he walked away laughing.
Keaton hurriedly put on his robe. “Yo, Winston, hold up! What were you about to tell me?”
He found Winston in his bedroom retrieving his jacket. “I’ll let you find out for yourself,” he said, still grinning.
“Okay! Hey, don’t make a big deal out of this dinner with Meridan. I don’t want Arnelle telling Momma and Daddy, for them to start acting crazy. I still stand by my vow of remaining single.”
Winston laughed out loud, making Keaton look in his direction. “Keaton, my brotha, Dr. Meridan St. John is going to turn your world upside-down. You’re already on your way, and it shows all over your face every time you get within a mile of her. I’ll put money down on this and I know you don’t like losing money.”
He folded his arms and yelled, “Winston, you’re crazy! Okay! Name your price. I’m up for this little game of yours. How much do you want to lose? I’m in Philly for a short time and I’m going to enjoy taking your hard-earned money. Besides, she seems like she’d be cool to hang out with while I’m here; that’s all.”
“Okay, Keaton. If I win, at your wedding reception you have to get up in front of everyone and tell them how you vowed you’d be single for life until you met Meridan. Then you have to serenade her with a so
ng of my choosing in front of everyone.”
Keaton stood there in silence, staring at Keaton as if he was weighing his options.
“Okay, but if I win, I want that Ninja motorcycle in the garage,” he negotiated as he paced the floor.
Winston glared at him as if Keaton had asked for his firstborn. Now it was his turn to stare his brother-in-law down. After a few seconds, he said, “Aight! You’ve got yourself a deal.”
“Deal!”
The two sealed the deal with a brotherly handshake. Winston walked out of the room, saying, “You need to start practicing on your song.”
“No, you need to get that motorcycle tuned up for me, my brotha! This is going to be so easy.”
“Whatever!”
Winston disappeared down the stairs, laughing.
It wasn’t until Keaton was alone that fear tried to sneak in on him. After a series of deep breaths, he laughed and said to himself, “Calm down, Playa. It’s only dinner. Winston must be crazy if he thinks I’d let any woman get me to the altar.”
Before he could enter the bathroom, he heard MaLeah coming back up the stairs. “Uncie Key!”
“I’ll be down in a minute, Shorty. Pour me some orange juice.”
“K!”
CHAPTER 7
Meridan was exhausted by the time she got home from the hospital. She didn’t know why she’d accepted Keaton’s dinner invitation for that night. Maybe it was the sexy tone of his voice over the phone when he’d called earlier or it could’ve been those unbelievable dimples. Whatever it was, it made her unsure about the evening. He’d called her earlier and told her the name of the restaurant so she could meet him there at seven o’clock. It was now three o’clock and she desperately needed a bath and a nap. She’d been on duty for over twenty-four hours; now she was off for the next four days. Her plan was to get plenty of rest and finally give her house that spring cleaning it needed.
When she entered her house, she sifted through the mail and tossed it on the kitchen table. Opening the refrigerator, she pulled out some bottled water and kicked off her shoes. There were two messages on her answering machine: one from her nosy, older sister, Gwendolyn; and the other from her father, who still lived on a farm in Mississippi. It had been months since she’d had a chance to go visit her family, but her father’s upcoming sixtieth birthday was approaching in about three weeks. The family had planned a huge party for him; one that she’d missed out on helping to plan. Her father had been everything to her since losing her mother when she was eight years old. Getting something very special for his birthday was something she planned to do on her week off.
Stepping into the hot sudsy water induced her fatigue. Meridan figured she’d take a catnap in hopes of gaining an energy boost for her dinner with Keaton. She quickly applied lotion to her skin, crawled under covers of her soft linens, and fell fast asleep.
Keaton hurried about his room getting dressed. He’d checked his watch several times to make sure he wasn’t running late. He’d chosen some brown dress slacks, a beige collarless shirt, and a matching jacket.
Arnelle walked by his room, then backed up to take a second look. She’d grown accustomed to him going out since he’d been in Philly but, for some reason, tonight he had a different vibe.
Walking into his room, she asked, “Hey, Little Brother! Where are you headed?”
“To dinner,” he said without looking directly at her.
Arnelle walked further into the room, approaching him. She played with the lapel on his jacket. “Who are you going to dinner with?”
Keaton didn’t want to get into a big discussion with his sister. “Meridan.”
“Meridan?” Arnelle started pacing the floor, ranting. “Keaton! Don’t you go playing around with Meridan like you do those other women you go out with! She’s not the one!”
Keaton picked up his keys and glared at her. “I love you, Arnelle, but stay out of my business! I’m only having dinner with her. Damn! You act like I’m going to hurt her or something.”
Folding her arms, she yelled back, “Well, aren’t you? You’ve made it an art form, mistreating all the others when you’re done with them.”
“I don’t mistreat them. I make it plain and clear in the beginning that I’m not looking for love. It’s just that some of them have a hard time accepting it.”
“Keaton, please don’t…”
Keaton kissed her on the forehead and softly said, “It’s only dinner, Sis. Goodnight.”
Arnelle gnawed on her nail as she turned to watch her brother walk out of the room. She hurriedly walked into her bedroom where she found Winston in bed reading. “Winston! Did you know Keaton was going out with Meridan tonight?”
Without looking up, he calmly replied, “Yes, I did.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? I don’t think this is a good idea. You know how Keaton is with women. He’s never been serious with any of them and most of them end up stalking him out of anger. One of these days…”
Winston looked up at his wife, who was talking a mile a minute. She was clearly upset and worried about Keaton hooking up with Meridan.
He took a deep breath, closed his book, and firmly said, “Sweetheart, calm down! Meridan and Keaton are grown. Stay out of it!”
She put her hands on her hips and saw she wasn’t getting any help from her husband. Maybe he was right. If anything went wrong, it would be on Keaton’s head, not hers. She let out a breath and crawled into bed next to him. She took the book out of his hands and straddled his lap.
He looked up at her and smiled. “Are you okay, now?”
She cupped his face, kissed him tenderly on the lips, and said, “I’m sorry, sweetheart. You’re right; it’s none of my business.”
He caressed her thigh. “Good.”
She winked at him. “Have you noticed we have the house to ourselves tonight and your children are sound asleep?”
“I was wondering when you were going to notice it,” he said in a challenging tone.
“So, what are you going to do, Counselor?”
Without any warning, Winston flipped her over on her back and covered her body with his. Arnelle moaned as he sprinkled her neck with soft kisses.
“Mrs. Carter, you’re in for a long, long night,” he whispered as he caressed her curves.
“Bring it on, Mr. Carter.”
CHAPTER 8
Keaton was on time at the restaurant, but an hour had passed and Meridan still hadn’t shown up. He was starting to get worried so he called her. After about four rings, he heard the telephone pick up.
A sleepy voice answered, “Hello?”
“Meridan? It’s Keaton. Where are you? Are you okay?”
Startled awake, she asked, “Oh, Keaton! What time is it?”
Keaton felt relieved that she was safe, but also a little upset that she’d stood him up.
“It’s almost eight o’clock. Look, maybe we should do this another time. I realize you just got off work today.”
Sitting up in bed, Meridan tried to clear her head. She squinted her eyes and looked at the clock. “Keaton, I’m sorry. I really am exhausted and I never should’ve accepted your invitation for tonight. Can we do this some other time?”
Keaton tossed some cash on the table as he stood to leave. With disappointment in his voice, he said, “Sure, Meridan. Get some rest and I’ll call you tomorrow.”
Biting her nail, she asked, “Are you sure you’re not mad?”
“I’m not mad. Go back to sleep,” he solemnly answered.
Meridan sat on the side of the bed and answered, “Thank you, Keaton. Goodnight.”
Keaton hung up the telephone and walked out to the car feeling defeated.
Meridan really did feel bad that she’d stood Keaton up. She was relieved a little that she didn’t have to look into those dark, sensual eyes. He was about as sexy as they came and knew he was a lot more than she could handle. She crawled back into bed and her telephone rang once again.
“Hello
?”
“Girl! Get your tired ass out of bed so we can go downtown and check out that new jazz club!”
Meridan didn’t have the energy for her best friend, Nichole, tonight. She was the total opposite of her, but they’d been friends throughout college. She was a manager at a Fortune 500 company and when she wanted to wind down, she’d wind down.
“Nikki, I don’t have the strength tonight. I just got off work this evening. Call me later in the week.”
Pouting, Nichole said, “Now you know I’m going out of town this week. I’ll be gone for two weeks. Come on, Dee! I want to have a good time before I head off to those boring meetings in Atlanta.”
Nichole had given Meridan the nickname, Dee, when they’d met as freshmen and Meridan started calling her Nikki.
“You know you’re going to miss me when I’m gone,” she teased playfully. Meridan fought Nichole as hard as she could, but the truth was, she was right. She’d miss her.
“Nikki, I turned down a dinner date tonight. I really don’t feel like going out.”
Nikki laughed. “Hold up! Who did you have a dinner date with? Is he fine?”
Putting her hand over her eyes, she said, “You don’t know him. He’s just a friend.”
Nichole listened, then said, “You left something out, Dee.”
“What?”
Teasing, she asked, “Is he fine?”
“Nikki, you’re impossible. Besides, every man’s fine to you.”
Snapping her finger, she said, “You got that right!!”
Nichole turned up her CD player and started dancing around the room. “Dee, are you going to hang out with your girl or not?”
Defeated, Meridan yelled, “Okay! Okay! But I’m only going for one drink and I’m out of there.”
Excited, she yelled, “Thank you, Dee!”
“I guess you’re welcome,” Meridan said as she threw the comforter off her body.
Pleased, Nikki turned the music down and sat down, out of breath from her dancing. “With that settled, how have you been feeling lately? Your nightmares haven’t started back up, have they?”
