out in a place packed with Hollywood celebrities.
Thaiheed was so glad to see me. I told him that a sister was feeling a little parched, hadn’t eaten since lunchtime, and brother man pulled out his plastic, paid for everything: dinner, drinks, dessert, even bought me a rose.
Tammy peeped at the bill. “
Dayum.
We did some serious damage up in here.”
Thaiheed smiled. “I got it covered.”
Karen leaned in and asked, “Are you going to at least leave the tip?”
I shook my head. “Hell, no. Let the man be a man.”
Karen’s broke ass didn’t argue. Neither did Tammy.
After the financial and emotional loss I had from dealing with Craig and Michael, I had a new agenda, so that was the way it had to be. From here on out, my coin purse was glued to my hip.
As the old cliché goes, one thing led to another. He was convenient and a gentleman. By the end of March my body needed maintenance before I spontaneously combusted with stress, so I spent the night with him. It was a decent exercise in sexual healing, not the best. He was a little too tame for my liking. After that he was ringing my phone off the hook. The next weekend he drove me south and rented a five-star suite at an exclusive beach club down in Del Mar that faced the Pacific Ocean. We hung out in San Diego all day Saturday. Blouses, shorts, silver jewelry, shoes—I had him buying me everything my eyes touched.
That was cool. For a hot minute.
Something negative always happens, usually when I get comfortable. Some asshole always has to spit in my Kool-Aid.
The next weekend I was at his apartment in the city of Upland—a two-exit municipality in the Inland Empire—and his phone jingled in the darkness. His answering machine came on, the volume loud enough to hear the outgoing message. Before the beep, he crawled over me and snatched the cordless phone off the hook. He stretched, yawned on his way into the hallway, said a few things. I was tired, but his mumbles and my curiosity woke me up. He clicked the phone off, cursed. Scared me. That anger was a side of him I’d never seen before.
I pulled my face out of the pillow. “What’s wrong?”
“That was work. They need me to come in ASAP.”
My eyes went to the digital clock on his oak dresser. It was barely six in the a.m. I put my hand over my mouth, covered my morning breath. “At the crack of dawn?”
He tried to explain to me that one of the Encore systems had crashed and they needed him there to bring it back on-line.
“I hate it when they do this,” Thaiheed complained. “They couldn’t get in contact with those white boys.”
“What you expect? It’s early on a Saturday morning.”
“Something told me not to answer the phone.”
It didn’t bother me, not in the least. I had other things I wanted to do today anyway. Somebody I wanted to see had finally called. More like finally called back. So all Thaiheed did was save me from having to make up an excuse to raise up out of there.
I didn’t mean to be tacky, but I said over a yawn, “You get time and a half on weekends, right?”
“Yep.” He calmed down. Gentleness was back in his face. “Time and a half on weekends.”
“Mo’ money, mo’ money, mo’ money. Boeing just laid off eight thousand. Be thankful you’re not in that group.”
“I need to learn to be more positive like you.”
With extra dollars going into his pockets, I let him know what I thought he should do. “Save all of your overtime money and put it into a separate money market account. Maybe use it as some investment money. You know, expand your portfolio.”
He checked his watch a couple of times, glanced out the window. “What’s up with you today?”
“Might drop in on a couple of open houses. I want to see what people are selling their condos for in my complex.”
“Thinking about selling?”
“Thinking about trying to get a bigger place, then rent mine out. If it’s in the same complex, it’d be much more convenient for managing.
Thaiheed was so glad to see me. I told him that a sister was feeling a little parched, hadn’t eaten since lunchtime, and brother man pulled out his plastic, paid for everything: dinner, drinks, dessert, even bought me a rose.
Tammy peeped at the bill. “
Dayum.
We did some serious damage up in here.”
Thaiheed smiled. “I got it covered.”
Karen leaned in and asked, “Are you going to at least leave the tip?”
I shook my head. “Hell, no. Let the man be a man.”
Karen’s broke ass didn’t argue. Neither did Tammy.
After the financial and emotional loss I had from dealing with Craig and Michael, I had a new agenda, so that was the way it had to be. From here on out, my coin purse was glued to my hip.
As the old cliché goes, one thing led to another. He was convenient and a gentleman. By the end of March my body needed maintenance before I spontaneously combusted with stress, so I spent the night with him. It was a decent exercise in sexual healing, not the best. He was a little too tame for my liking. After that he was ringing my phone off the hook. The next weekend he drove me south and rented a five-star suite at an exclusive beach club down in Del Mar that faced the Pacific Ocean. We hung out in San Diego all day Saturday. Blouses, shorts, silver jewelry, shoes—I had him buying me everything my eyes touched.
That was cool. For a hot minute.
Something negative always happens, usually when I get comfortable. Some asshole always has to spit in my Kool-Aid.
The next weekend I was at his apartment in the city of Upland—a two-exit municipality in the Inland Empire—and his phone jingled in the darkness. His answering machine came on, the volume loud enough to hear the outgoing message. Before the beep, he crawled over me and snatched the cordless phone off the hook. He stretched, yawned on his way into the hallway, said a few things. I was tired, but his mumbles and my curiosity woke me up. He clicked the phone off, cursed. Scared me. That anger was a side of him I’d never seen before.
I pulled my face out of the pillow. “What’s wrong?”
“That was work. They need me to come in ASAP.”
My eyes went to the digital clock on his oak dresser. It was barely six in the a.m. I put my hand over my mouth, covered my morning breath. “At the crack of dawn?”
He tried to explain to me that one of the Encore systems had crashed and they needed him there to bring it back on-line.
“I hate it when they do this,” Thaiheed complained. “They couldn’t get in contact with those white boys.”
“What you expect? It’s early on a Saturday morning.”
“Something told me not to answer the phone.”
It didn’t bother me, not in the least. I had other things I wanted to do today anyway. Somebody I wanted to see had finally called. More like finally called back. So all Thaiheed did was save me from having to make up an excuse to raise up out of there.
I didn’t mean to be tacky, but I said over a yawn, “You get time and a half on weekends, right?”
“Yep.” He calmed down. Gentleness was back in his face. “Time and a half on weekends.”
“Mo’ money, mo’ money, mo’ money. Boeing just laid off eight thousand. Be thankful you’re not in that group.”
“I need to learn to be more positive like you.”
With extra dollars going into his pockets, I let him know what I thought he should do. “Save all of your overtime money and put it into a separate money market account. Maybe use it as some investment money. You know, expand your portfolio.”
He checked his watch a couple of times, glanced out the window. “What’s up with you today?”
“Might drop in on a couple of open houses. I want to see what people are selling their condos for in my complex.”
“Thinking about selling?”
“Thinking about trying to get a bigger place, then rent mine out. If it’s in the same complex, it’d be much more convenient for managing.
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