“Skye, I don’t care about that wedding, which may not even happen. I care about you, and I know you care about me, too.” He took a deep breath into the phone, like that sentence took a lot out of him.
He was right. I did care about him, a lot. He still had this hold on my heart, but going to see him was wrong. I was engaged to a wonderful man. Why would I throw that away for a man who could potentially break my heart a second time? The more I thought about it, though, the harder it was to resist him.
“Skye, I really need to see you. If you ever loved me at all, could you at least give me thirty minutes?”
I contemplated this a little while longer. Maybe if I went tonight, this would be the last I would see of him. This man confused my thoughts, and I needed him out of my system.
“Skye?” he said to see if I was still on the phone.
“Fine. Thirty minutes and that’s it.”
Lord, please let that be it, I prayed.
“Cool.” He had both excitement and relief in his voice. “Come by my house around eight o’clock. I love you, Skye.” He hung up before I could even object to coming to his house.
I couldn’t move. How did I get to this place? Stuck between a man who I was supposed to marry and a man who I still had a lot of love for. I was starting to miss the days when I couldn’t get a decent date, because those days were looking a hell of a lot simpler than what I was going through at the moment.
“Skye, girl, you all right?” Devin came out, breaking my daze. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, everything is good. That was just work.” I couldn’t believe I had just lied to one of my best friends, but I couldn’t tell him that was Noah and I had agreed to go see him tonight. I would never hear the end of it.
“Well, come on back, then. You still got four more options to try. You were taking so long, I was going to decide for you.” Devin sucked his teeth like he had food stuck in them.
“It wouldn’t be the first time,” I joked. “You’ve basically picked everything else.”
“That’s because our wedding has to be the event of the year. Nothing less for these divas.” We both laughed and walked back arm in arm to finish eating.
The rest of my day went by like a blur. I couldn’t remember anything after we left the catering place. All I knew was that I was standing in front of Noah’s apartment building, wondering why I had trekked my tail all the way here. I should turn around, get in a cab, and go back home. That would be what a responsible woman who was getting married would do. Instead, I pushed the button to his loft.
“You made it. Come on up.” I was surprised he answered like he knew it was me.
I took deep breaths the whole walk to his door, and before I could even knock, he swung it open. He had on a wife beater and some basketball shorts, with his hair in a loose ponytail. It was the first time I had ever seen it pulled back. This man was too fine.
“Sorry about my attire, but I just got out of the shower. Please come in.” He opened the door wider and stepped aside.
I walked in reluctantly. “Thirty minutes, Noah.”
“That’s fine.” I heard him close the door behind me. Then he came and wrapped his arms around my waist. “I’ve missed you so much, baby.”
At first his strong arms felt so good, but then I pulled away. “You’re already starting on the wrong foot.”
“Skye, I don’t want to play this game anymore.”
“What game?” I put my hands on my hips.
“This cat-and-mouse game. I messed up, I know that, but I’m here now and I want to make everything up to you.”
I didn’t say a word. I just stood there with my hands still on my hips.
“A year ago I thought I wasn’t ready to be fully committed, but I realized that you were everything I wanted and needed, and the thought of you being with someone else is killing me.”
His words were beginning to melt me. This was what I had wanted all along from this man. This confession of love and willingness to commit. Why did he have to wait so long to give them to me?
“Why does everything have to be on your time?” I said. He looked at me in confusion. “When you weren’t ready, I had to move on. Now that you want the things I wanted all along, I’m supposed to stop my whole life for you.”
“It’s not like that, Skye.”
“This was a bad idea.” I started moving toward the door. He grabbed my arm.
“Don’t go.” I tried not to stare into his eyes, but it was hard. I had to get out of here before this man clouded all my judgment. I wrestled my arm from his grasp and headed toward the door again.
“I can’t do this, Noah. I’m happy, and I just need for you to stay out of my life forever.”
I ran out of there without giving him an opportunity to say anything else. I should have never agreed to come. What was I thinking? I vowed to myself that this was the last time this was ever going to happen. I hailed a cab, and all I wanted to do was go home and talk to Trent.
Chapter 42
Devin
I finally had Leigh settled down. It had been a month since we’d gone out to lunch together and she’d talked about how bad her marriage was. But it seemed as if things had not gotten better at home with Michael and had now escalated to the point where Leigh was certain her marriage was headed toward the ultimate breakup.
“I just don’t know what to do,” Leigh wailed through the telephone, but at least it sounded like her tears had stopped. “He said that he needed a couple of days away, but I’m afraid that he won’t come back.”
Pulling the phone away from my ear just a bit, I rolled my eyes. I didn’t want to tell Leigh that she needed to let it go, but it was beginning to sound like she needed to do just that. I mean, I was all for “for better or worse,” but it just seemed like there was nothing but worse in her life. She deserved something better.
“Look, a couple of days may be good for you. It’ll help you get your head together, and he’ll get his together, too,” I said, hoping I would get her to find some kind of bright side in this situation.
“I just never thought I’d be in this position. When we got married, I thought it was truly going to be till death.”
Doesn’t everyone think that? I thought.
“Honey, you need to just get a good night’s sleep, and I’m sure you’ll see things so much better in the morning.”
It wasn’t like I was trying to rush her off the phone, but I was sure glad when she sniffed and finally said good-bye.
Whew! I’m telling you. That was truly beginning to wear on me. But Leigh was going to be able to count on me, especially now, since it did look like she and Michael were going to get a divorce. I’d never turn her away; I was going to make sure that I was there to help her through.
I turned the music back up to the low level I had had my iPod on right before Leigh called, and then I settled back onto the couch.
Antonio was away on a business trip, but he was returning in the morning. Tomorrow night was gonna be all about us. But tonight—this was all about me.
I took a sip of my wine, opened up the book I was reading, snuggled into the pillows on the couch, and then the doorbell rang.
Dang bang it!
Who had the audacity to interrupt my peace? I wish there was a way people could put a DO NOT DISTURB sign on their front doors.
As I trudged to the front of my brownstone, I laughed at that. Can you imagine? All up and down the street, there would be those signs. No one would ever get the chance to visit anyone. I was still cracking up, but I stopped laughing the moment I opened the door.
There, right before my eyes, stood Antonio! Mr. Dark and Lovely. In his all-black outfit.
Hmph. Hmph. Hmph.
Before I could ask him what he was doing back so early, he said, “I’m ready, Devin. I’m finally ready to do this.”
That was when I noticed it—the suitcase that was in his hand.
Oh my God!
“I’m ready,” he
said again as he stepped inside and rolled the suitcase in with him. “I’m ready for us to really be a couple.”
It still took me a couple of moments to get unstuck, but when I did, I wrapped my arms around my man! I was finally stepping into the world of real commitment.
I helped him with the suitcase, and we settled into the living room. And as Antonio held me in his arms, my solo night was turning into the best duo night of my life.
I didn’t even have the right word to describe last night: fantastic, fantabulous, wonderful, amazing. Nah, none of those words did justice to the first night that Antonio and I spent together as true partners.
And now this morning had gotten even better! The aroma of what he was whipping up in the kitchen for our breakfast wafted into the bedroom, and already I could tell that I was gonna wanna slap somebody’s mama!
How wonderful was this?
The ringing phone interrupted my thoughts of joy, and when I glanced at the caller ID, I sighed. But I had promised myself to be there for my friend, so I tucked the towel that I had just wrapped around me tighter on my waist and picked up the phone.
“Hey, Leigh,” I said, praying that she had something good to say about her and Michael. “What’s up? You feel better?”
“Actually, I don’t,” she said. “It was horrible for me last night. Honestly, Devin, I don’t think Michael is coming back. Listen, do you have a few minutes to talk before you go into the shop this morning?”
Dang! I did have some time, but with Antonio here, I hadn’t planned on spending any of this time talking.
“I’ll only be a few minutes. I’m thinking about getting out ahead of this, and you told me about Chyanne and her law office, and I want to—”
“Sure,” I said, without letting her finish. Good. At least she was going to be proactive about her life.
I started to tell her that Antonio was here, but it didn’t matter, really. My friends were going to have to get used to the fact that now I was in as committed a relationship as the ones they were in. I wasn’t going to be able to jump every time they said, “Jump.” “Come on over,” I said. “But give me about ten minutes to get dressed.”
“Okay. I’m only about two blocks away, but I’ll wait.”
I hung up the phone quickly, jumped into a tracksuit, and tried not to think about how my friend was really messing up my morning. But what was I to do? And, anyway, this might be a good thing. Antonio and Leigh could finally meet, and maybe Antonio would also have some words of wisdom for Leigh.
I wished that I had prepared Antonio a bit about what was going on, but I didn’t bring my girls and their drama into my relationship with Antonio. When we were together, it was all about the two of us, but, honey, that was gonna change. It was going to be good to have someone to talk to about Skye, Chyanne, and Leigh. Sometimes, their drama was too much to handle.
Like besides Leigh, I was counseling Skye. That dang-blasted Noah wouldn’t leave her alone, calling all the time, trying to get her to call off the wedding. I shook my head. I just prayed that Skye was going to do what she needed to do—and that was marry rich. Then love would follow.
I was thinking about Skye when the doorbell rang. Stepping quickly, I stopped to give Antonio a quick peck on the lips.
“Breakfast is almost ready,” he said as I turned away. “Who’s at the door?”
“Just one of my girls.” I rushed out of the kitchen and down the hallway. “She won’t be here long,” I said as I opened the front door.
The moment I saw Leigh, I felt bad for all the thoughts I had had about how her situation was getting on my nerves. My friend was really hurting. Her eyes were swollen and bloodshot, and her lips were turned so far down, I wondered if she would ever smile again. And what did she have on? My girl was wearing some kind of flowered shift dress like my grandmother used to wear.
Oh, yeah, my girl had it bad.
“Leigh,” I whispered as I pulled her into my arms.
She started crying as soon as I held her.
“Sssshhhh. Come on in here,” I said, taking her hand.
“I’ve been trying to be strong,” she whimpered. “But I guess it’s hard to let someone you love go.”
“Oh, sweetie, I know.” I had been through this with Chyanne and Skye, but Leigh’s was the most serious, because there was going to be a divorce involved. I guess this was the role I was destined to have with my friends. “Let’s go into the kitchen,” I said. “We were just getting ready to have breakfast and . . .”
“We?”
“Antonio! Honey chile, he moved in with me last night.”
“Oh, then I don’t want to intrude.”
“Don’t be crazy,” I said. Antonio’s back was to us, and I called out to him, “Baby, I want you to meet one of my friends.”
He turned around, and the plate that he was holding crashed to the floor.
“Leigh!”
“Michael!” she screamed.
“Michael?” But I didn’t have a chance to ask any other questions, because the petite, five foot three, 110-pound girl who had been my friend turned into Mike Tyson. She went after Antonio with everything she had—arms, legs, her teeth.
I grabbed her from behind, but not before she’d done major damage. She’d kicked Antonio in the groin, and he crumpled to the floor.
“Leigh!” he screamed, his tone filled with pain.
“What the hell are you doing here?” she cried. “I knew you were cheating on me, but I never thought this!”
It had all happened so fast that I didn’t have time to think. But then it hit me. Antonio was Michael! Michael was Antonio!
I looked at Leigh standing there, sobbing so hard, it sounded like she was hyperventilating. I glanced at Antonio-Michael on the floor, his hands still clutched between his legs.
Leigh was doubled over, and Michael finally, slowly pulled himself up. He was holding on to the kitchen counter, his eyes still filled with his pain.
Antonio, my man.
I took slow steps over to him. And then I did exactly what Leigh had done. I kicked him right in his balls.
He screamed again, and while he was falling to the floor, I grabbed Leigh’s hand. She sobbed, but I pulled her out of the kitchen, down the hallway, and out of my house.
I had no idea where I was going to take her, but she had to get away from there. I had to do the same, because if I didn’t, I would be kicking Antonio all day long.
We walked down the block to Leigh’s car, climbed inside, and for long minutes just listened to each other breathing heavily. Then Leigh turned to me, and I looked at her. I prayed that she didn’t hate me, because I just didn’t know. I had no idea that Antonio was really Michael. I had no idea that he’d been living on the down low.
But I didn’t know if Leigh would believe me. Then she leaned over, pulled me into her arms, and hugged me.
And right there in her car, the two of us cried together.
Chapter 43
Chyanne
I hung up the telephone, and I was in a state of shock.
Devin could come up with some stories, but this one he hadn’t made up. Oh, my God!
I didn’t know his friend Leigh all that well. She was one of the first people he’d met when we’d got to New York; he’d met her in Brooklyn when she’d first come into the shop. Skye and I had hung out with her a couple of times, we’d gone to a couple of her openings and other events, but none of us had ever met her husband. But even though I didn’t know her well, I felt every bit of her pain now. Who would have even imagined that Michael was using his middle name and a made-up last name to hide his identity?
Wow! Leigh, Skye, and I had all met up with our share of men who had done us wrong. But this, to me, was the worst, because Devin was also involved.
I picked up the phone to call Skye. I had to do it now, before Leigh got here. After that, I wouldn’t be able to say a word, because of attorney-client privilege. But since Leigh hadn’t said a word to me and thi
s was all from Devin, I could tell Skye.
“Hey, girl. What’s up?” she said when she answered the phone.
I didn’t even say hello. I just went into the story that Devin had just told me. Finishing up, I said, “So, all of this time, Devin was sleeping with one of his friends’ husband.”
“Dang! When did this all go down?”
“He said a week ago.”
“That’s why he hasn’t returned any of my calls. I thought it was because he was getting sick of hearing me talk about Noah.”
“You still getting calls from him?”
“Yeah, all the time. So much that I was thinking about changing my cell number.”
“Do you really think Noah believes you’ll call off the wedding?”
“I don’t know what that fool believes, but he needs to leave me alone.”
I heard my friend’s words, but I can’t say that I really believed her. I was pretty sure that she was going to marry Trent—after all, the wedding was only a month away, and the plans were still moving forward, full steam ahead. But I knew Skye’s heart. She didn’t give it away often, and she’d given it to Noah. It was hard to get it back.
Trust me. I knew the feeling.
“So, are you going to represent Leigh?” Skye asked, changing the subject back.
“We’re gonna talk about it. Devin was with Leigh when he called, and he said they were on their way over here from the hospital.”
“The hospital? What is that about?” Before I could answer Skye, she came up with her own story. “OMG! Do you think she’s pregnant?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, when you find out, you have to call me.”
“I won’t be able to, because then I’ll be a lawyer.”
“You’re a lawyer now!” She laughed.
“I’m your friend until Leigh hires me.” The bell over the front door of my office tinkled, and I told Skye that I had to go.
I rushed into the reception area since the young girl I’d hired had called in sick this morning.
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