Under Further Review

by Xyla Turner

  When he dropped her off, she said bye to his mom and sister, then he walked her up to her door. After she had let herself in, he pulled her into another kiss, then whispered, “I can’t get enough of you.”

  She pulled back and smiled, “Yeah.”

  “What are you doing tomorrow? I want to see you.” He pressed against her, so she knew exactly how he wanted to see her.

  “Mmm,” she moaned. “Just work, but I should be home around eight or so. I’m going out with my friends.

  “Okay, so I’ll meet you here at eight?” He pressured.

  “Shane, I don’t know exactly. Plus, I have work the next day, so we can’t stay up or out too long.”

  “Love, don’t do this to me. I’ve been thinking about you all day.”

  “Fine, I’ll confirm with you. So right now, it’s tentative.”

  “Riiightt.” Shane kissed her lips again and pulled back. “Whatever you say, love.”

  “Goodnight Shane.”

  “Night sweetheart.”

  When he reentered the car, the first words his mom said were, “Now, I like her.”

  “Glad you approve Mom.” Shane smiled at her statement.

  “I like her too. She is nothing like that Vivian woman,” Mindy added.

  “Thanks Min,” Shane said sarcastically.

  “Whatever, you need to swoop that one up and marry her. Before someone else does all the things she needs and steals her right from under your nose,” his mom encouraged.

  “That’s not going to happen.” He looked at his mom. “She’s mine.”

  “That’s what I like to hear.” His mom turned and looked out the front window.

  14

  Not me

  The next day, Diamond was in the office most of the day. This was not good because LeAnne had several conversations with her about getting Shane to do an exclusive. She told her, she was not in a position to get him to do that, but LeAnne said, “Girl, I’ve seen those pictures. You are in the best position. He’s smitten with you.”

  Diamond shook her head and said, “That’s not me.”

  LeAnne looked at her and said, “But that’s this business.”

  Then she walked away.

  Larry overheard everything and like always gave her his two cents.

  “You might as well do it and do it now. There are no wedding bells in your future and this probably won’t end well, so you might as well save your job and sever the ties at the same time.”

  “Larry, why are you so cynical. Is there no decency in the world? There is nothing wrong with me because I don’t want to sell out a friend, since that is the basis of our relationship. If you could even call it that. Now, I’m being forced to turn and this is what you say.” She pointed to him with her hand, palm up. “It won’t end well. Save my job.”

  Diamond shook her head and left Larry staring at her in disbelief. She could not believe her weekend bliss and Monday high was blown with two conversations within five minutes. She did not feel like going out, so she called Eddie and Regina to come over with Haagen-Dazs ice cream and Thai. This called for tears and home, not going out in public where people could see her. They arrived shortly after she did which reminded her that she needed to tell Shane that her plans changed. She texted him and added that she’d see him tomorrow. He texted back a picture of a dark brown fist. She did not know how to take that, but she laughed and put her phone away.

  Twenty minutes later, a knock came at the door. They figured it was the pizza delivery, so Eddie answered the door.

  “Uh, uh, D-Diamond,” Eddie stuttered.

  “Yeah,” she called.

  “I think you need to come. Uh, you have a v-visitor.” He returned.

  Diamond came from the kitchen and stopped short when she saw who was at the door. “Shane? What are you doing here?”

  “Hey love. You said it was an impromptu girl’s night at your place. So, I came to support.” He raised his hands to show the wine in the left a shopping bag with popcorn, Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream and a few movies in a clear bag in his right.

  “That’s what I’m talking about,” Regina walked past both of them and took hold of the wine. “This is my type of man.”

  “Thanks.” Eddie took the other bag from him.

  They went into the kitchen as Diamond stood in the same spot staring at him.

  “Shane?” She called his name, but she was asking for an explanation.

  “Love, you need support. I got you. What are we gabbing about?” Shane walked towards her.

  “We could be talking about you for all you know.”

  “Well, that’s all the more reason why I should be here. The best person that can answer questions about me, is me.”

  “Come on Shane, this is not cool. What are you doing? You’re not staying are you? It’s just supposed to be us?”

  “Why, this is about to be a session. I want to be a part and just ask your friends. They want me to stay as well. Watch.”

  “But I want you to leave. We can meet up tomorrow.”

  “Why? You want me to stay your little secret. I didn’t do that. You met most of my crew.”

  “Shane, what are we doing? Come on now. This,” She pointed between the two of them and finished, “hasn’t even been defined. I mean, friends, family. Really?”

  He reached out and pulled her close to him. “Love, you want to define us?”

  “No, Shane. No. What I’m saying is that we were just us and now we are doing stuff like this. I just thought we were going to take this one day at a time. Now, I think you have something else in mind.”

  “We are taking it one day at a time, but the thing is,” he placed a kiss on her forehead, “I want to see you all time.” He placed a kiss on her left eye. “I think about you.” He kissed her right eye. “I dream about you.” He kissed her left cheek. “I smell your scent everywhere.” He kissed her right cheek. “I want to be with you.” He chastely kissed her lips. “And I’m not sure what to do about that.”

  She looked up at him in his eyes and sighed. “Can we talk about this tomorrow?”

  “Nope.” He walked past her into the kitchen. “What’s on the agenda? This is my first time crashing girl’s night.”

  She heard him say, “Hey, I’m Shane Sinclair and you are the girls?”

  Diamond put her hand on her head and banged it against the door once. Afterward, she followed him into the kitchen, where she saw him sitting on the chair and pouring a glass of wine for Regina. When she tried to walk past him, he reached out, pulled her to him and planted a kiss on her neck. Regina made a noise with her tongue and cheek, while Eddie laughed. She automatically wrapped her arms around his middle and stayed rooted there. Both of her friends smiled at the couple.

  When they finished with the food, ice cream and drinks, they relocated to the living room to set up the movie. Shane brought over several chick-flicks and one action movie. Eddie laughed at the choices, then said, “Thanks man for the action movie.”

  Shane returned his thanks with his fist planted in the air. Diamond thought, this must be his signature move. He sent her the fist icon on her phone and responded with the same balled up hand in the air in person. She shook her head, while he pulled her on his lap.

  “So whose crisis is it?” Shane asked as he took a hand full of popcorn from the bowl.

  “Well,” Eddie started.

  Diamond's eyes felt like they were bulging out of her head, as she felt the sweat drip down her back in the air conditioned room. Regina raised her eyebrows and took a timely sip of wine.

  “Well, it’s kind of my crisis. I met a new young woman at work and I’m getting mixed signals. I thought she was interested in Jon, but she asked me out. So, I’m not sure how to proceed, so I thought I’d ask the ladies what they think,” Eddie admitted.

  “Ahh,” Shane nodded, like he understood.

  Regina raised her eyebrow at Eddie and smiled.

  “So,” Diamond started. “I think that you should a
sk her out and let her know how you feel. You won’t know until you try.”

  “No, no, no.” Regina shook her head. “He just can’t come out and ask. What if she says no, then he’s going to have to work with her with the cloud of rejection smothering him. Then he’ll quit and who will I talk to? He should just wait for her to make the move. This is modern day, women are asking men to marry them.”

  Shane adjusted Diamond on his lap, so he could spread out his legs as she pulled hers on the sofa. Eddie was sitting on the love seat while Regina was on the other side closer to the wine. Eddie looked from Regina to Shane.

  “You have any thoughts?” he asked Shane.

  “Yeah,” he answered.

  Diamond laughed and asked, “You care to share? Since you did crash our night.”

  He squeezed her hip and said, “Yeah. Okay, but I’m not sure if it's appropriate for the ladies.”

  “Then you really have to share,” Regina perked up.

  “Okay,” he sang. “How old are you?”

  “Twenty-five,” Eddie answered with a nervous lisp.

  “Hmm, so I’ll tell you how my pops told me. You want something you go for it. If she is somebody you could see yourself spending time with, then you go for it. If she is somebody you see a future with, you go for it. If she seems confused about the whole relationship, you make it clear. If she’s wavering, you don’t stop until she is certain. She should know at the end of the day where you stand, what you want and what you’re willing to do for it. There should not be doubt in her mind. If she is giving mixed signals, she may have mixed feelings. If you think she’s for you, you un-mix those feelings,” Shane clarified, then took a drink of his bottled water.

  “Well,” Regina reeled her head back, crossed her legs and turned sideways in the seat.

  Diamond looked at him in amazement, but also with clarity as to what he was trying to do.

  Eddie’s eyebrows were pulled together, like he was in thought. After a few minutes, he said, “You know what. Thanks man. That’s the realest shit I’ve ever heard.”

  “Sure.” He squeezed Diamond’s side again and rested his face on the side of her arm.

  Involuntarily, she brought her hand up and rubbed the back of his head until her fingers trailed his neck. She continued to do that, until he moaned softly against her skin.

  “Alright, movie time,” Regina loudly announced. “Hit play.”

  After the movie, Diamond went to her bedroom to get her laptop. Eddie was supposed to be fixing it, so she didn’t want to forget to give it to him. When she turned it on and Eddie saw the blue screen, he threw his hands up and declared, “I can't fix that. That’s the blue screen of death.”

  “I got it.” Shane grabbed the laptop. “My guy is coming over to fix mine, so I'll have him take a look at yours as well.”

  “Are you sure?” Diamond asked.

  “Yeah, love. I'm sure.”

  “Okay, cool. I have two stories that I need so please, please don't have him erase it all. Okay?”

  “Yeah, of course. Won't you come over tomorrow and you can get it then.”

  “Okay, cool. Thanks.”

  “Sure.” His fingers flexed on her thigh.

  While Diamond went to the restroom, Shane asked Eddie and Regina what this pow wow was really about. Both of them looked at each other in amazement.

  “I might as well know so I can fix it,” he said.

  “Hmm, good point,” Regina said. “I’ve also had enough drinks to not give a damn.”

  She stood up and walked over to Eddie, then said. “She’s freaking out about the meeting of the mom and sister thing. More importantly, her boss is pressuring her to get a feature on you, since you guys are reportedly very close. She won’t do it and told her as much, but they are threatening her job. So she might lose her job.”

  “What the hell?” Shane muttered.

  “Yeah,” Eddie chimed in. “This is really bullshit.”

  “Can they do that?” Shane asked.

  “Oh yeah, they can do what they want. They’ll say it’s a breach of contract and she did not fulfill her duties,” Regina confirmed. “I’ve seen it happen before.”

  “Yup.” Eddie nodded his head.

  Damn.

  The woman surprised him at every turn and at that moment, he wished his father were there to help him figure it all out.

  15

  Define It

  The next day Diamond came over to Shane’s house to get her laptop. He had a practice that day, which lasted longer than usual. That always happened when they lost a game to a team they should have pulverized. Afterward, Shane needed to focus on a task, since he felt responsible in some way that they lost. Deciding to cook dinner for him and Diamond, he settled on snapper, peas and brown rice. He chilled a bottle, which was on the menu and Diamond was quite impressed with his culinary skills. He told her he was a product of Beatrice Sinclair, the mother who insisted that all her kids know how to cook.

  The two of them laughed at his parent’s antics and loving memories. He did not want to bring the conversation down by talking about his dad, but he had to get her to do her exclusive about him, since he had lost the bet about her doing the exclusive on LULA.

  “My mom is still asking about the feature on LULA. That’s the charity I was telling you about a few weeks ago. They have to name a new CEO since my father passed, so she wants to spread the word out about all the work that they have done. I still want you to do it and now that she has met you, she really wants you to as well,” Shane explained.

  “Oh yeah. Well, you lost the bet, so I can make some recommendations. I can meet with the both of them if she is more comfortable with me introducing them,” Diamond answered.

  He frowned, but for the sake of an argument decided not to push the issue.

  “I’ll give you her number so you guys can work the situation out. Just let me know what I need to do. Speaking of that, since I’m on the board, I think it will be good for me to come out of hiding as well and get my own exclusive. As a way to introduce the world to LULA and my father’s other works. Many people just know he’s my father, but the man was a legend in my eyes.” He finished his ice water.

  “Well, I know just the person for that exclusive. He’s a veteran on the job and he definitely brings a seasoned perspective. I can give him your contact information.” She looked at him, after stuffing her mouth with the last bit of salmon.

  “Love, I don’t like reporters.” He raised an eyebrow at her.

  “I understand that, but it’s also your job to deal with them.”

  “I trust you. Why won’t you do it?”

  “Shane, look. I just started this. You need someone that knows what they are doing, okay? Charities, I can do. Features on people are not my specialty.”

  “A few years ago in California you did a feature. That’s what your dossier said, anyway. However, if you are rusty, you can practice on me.”

  “Absolutely not,” she quickly answered.

  “Diamond,” he called, causing her to look up from her food.

  “Yes, Shane,” she said in a way that communicated that she would not budge.

  He shook his head and kept eating, since he didn’t want to push it because it would cause suspicion.

  “Tomorrow we have a game, but on Thursday some of the guys and their women are going to shoot pool. Can you go?”

  “Uh, Thursday night?” she clarified.

  “Yes.” He put down his fork and looked at her.

  “So. Am I your woman? We’re not defining this right?”

  “Do you want to define it?”

  “Not really, just wanted to make sure we weren’t.” Diamond hesitated.

  Shane felt his patience growing thin due to her evasiveness. It seemed like she either wanted him to define it or she absolutely did not want it to be defined.

  “Diamond,” Shane called as he put both hands on the table. “This is our second conversation about definitions and us. I nee
d you to look at my past interactions over the past few months and tell me what you think I’m trying to do. The only game I play for a living is football, besides that I don’t have time for them. I take my future seriously and since you are a reporter, you tell me what your findings are and then we’ll talk.”

  Diamond looked taken aback by his response. Shane figured she wouldn’t answer, so he broke the ice by asking again, “So is that a yes to pool?”

  She cleared her throat and nodded. “Sure.”

  Shane smiled and resumed eating his food.

  Shane spent the next day mentally preparing for the game. He spoke with Ralph and they buried the hatchet. He even admitted to Shane that he probably needed to see someone, because he was not mentally in the right space with the divorce. He told him that he had all the signs, but chose to ignore them, because he was in love. Shane explained how he could relate when it came to Vivian. Ralph told him that the woman took half of everything by stating that he hit her and the judge was sympathetic. He swore he never laid a hand on her, and actually it was the other way around. She had hit him, trying to provoke something, but he said when the conniving such and such stated that, something in him turned off.

  Shane felt for the man, but also shared that he should have known the signs about Vivian when his father, mother, and his sisters all said they did not like her. Then Ralph asked him the million-dollar question.

  “You love her, man?” he asked in all seriousness.

  He was talking about Diamond.

  “Yeah, man. I do.” He thought some more. “Not like it was with Vivian, which was more of a lifestyle thing and not a love thing. I was caught up and going through the motions. It would have been a loveless marriage. However, it was interesting, because she would have worked, but after I hooked up with Diamond, I realized what it meant for a woman to hold down her man. I’d never experienced that shit at all. I thought I knew what it looked like, her representing when I wasn’t around. Not cheating and doing her thing, but it ain’t just that. Diamond taught me that.”