Seems Like You're Ready: BWWM Romance

by Heather Rae

  The plan was for me to pick Kiandre up from Dre’s mother’s house Monday morning. This worked out fine for me considering I had to drop by Mr. Michaels’ office. I spent Sunday evening neatly writing out the first draft of my business plan. I was satisfied that I hadn’t missed anything and managed to crawl into bed before one in the morning.

  As I pulled up in front of Dre’s mother’s house which was a nice ranch style home situated about 5 minutes from my own parents, I was surprised to see a new huge Tahoe parked in the driveway. I shrugged, got out, and out of habit locked the doors. I took the cement steps two at a time, anxious to see my baby. I pressed the doorbell as I heard Sylvia’s raised voice.

  “I know you betta get cho ass up out my house with this foolishness!”

  “Momma, I paid for this damn house!”

  “And I carried your dumb ass for nine damn months! I’m your momma and taught you betta than this bullshit! Have some respect for me AND that girl! If you can’t do that, at least have some respect for your own damn self!”

  “I don’t know what the hell your problem is, Momma! I ain’t did shit to you, just dropped by to see my daughter.”

  “With dem damn hoes in toe?!”

  Just listening to the muffled conversation had my blood ready to boil. What Dre did, who he did it with, was his business and as I had told him countless times, should be done when our daughter wasn’t around. Sylvia flung open the door, dishtowel in hand, fuming. But the moment she laid her hazel eyes on me, a large smile spread across her face.

  “Hey baby girl. C’mon in.”

  “Morning Miss Sylvie. Did Kiandre give you any trouble?” I asked as I entered the house.

  “Not one bit. Now her daddy is another story. How was your weekend?”

  “I had to go in and cover a floor Friday night, but I got the other work finished like I wanted to. I appreciate you keeping KD for the weekend. It really helped me out,” I said as she prepared two cups of coffee.

  “You know she can always come and stay here.”

  “I know, but she’s not your responsibility.”

  “Chile…stop it now before you piss me off too.” The round woman handed me a mug. “I love my lil g-baby.”

  “Yes ma’am. Thank you for the coffee.” I sat down at the kitchen table.

  “I like our coffee chats. You always were my favorite.” She sat down across from me as her son entered the kitchen.

  “Y’all in here gossipin’ about me?” Dre leaned against the doorjamb, smiling.

  “For me to gossip about something means I’d actually have to care.” I sipped my coffee and glared at him over the rim of the mug. “And I don’t.”

  “Really? That’s not what you said last time I talked to you,” he egged me.

  I set the mug down and stood. I bent down and a placed a kiss on his mother’s cheek before turning to face Dre.

  “I have too much respect for your mother, our daughter and myself than to allow you to goad me into some stupid, silly argument. I’ll have coffee with you another day, Miss Sylvie.”

  I went out to the large living room where KD sat in the middle of the floor looking at the cartoons playing on the television. I snatched her jacket from the edge of the couch.

  “C’mon baby, you’re gonna go with Momma.”

  KD scrambled to her feet and threw her chubby arms around me. I hugged her back and kissed the top of her head.

  “Missed ya Momma.”

  “I missed you too, baby. Were you a good girl for Grammy Sylvie?” I asked while putting her sweater on her.

  “Yeah, we had a tea party!”

  “Oh really?! How great is that?!”

  KD gave her Grammy a hug and a kiss then rushed out the front door, it slamming in her wake. I followed behind, ignoring the tug at my heart as Dre scooped her up and tossed her into the air, making her squeal in delight. I caught her hand as he set her to her feet and led her over to my car.

  I strapped her into the booster seat in the back then slammed the door shut. I strode over to where Dre stood with the driver’s door open on his new truck.

  “Again, slow down,” I said, ignoring the women in the back seat.

  “Ah…but you don’t care,” he laughed.

  “I don’t care about your skank hoes or who you fucking, Dre. I care about Kiandre’s father spending the rest of his life in a federal prison.”

  “Who you calling a skank, bitch!”

  I glanced at the dark skinned woman with the bleached blonde hair in the backseat of the SUV. Her large breasts were spilling out of the tube top, and the gold tights shimmered in the morning sun. I said nothing simply because it was best. I turned my attention back to Dre.

  “Do what you want, Dre. Have yourself a great day. I have an appointment to get to.”

  In my car, I fastened my seatbelt then cranked up the ignition. Whenever I was in this neighborhood, it took all my strength to not turn right at the stop sign and drive the short distance to my parents’ house. I wanted so badly to make amends with them. They had a beautiful granddaughter that they were not involved with and that alone had made me terribly sad.

  But I remembered how upset they had been several years ago; how hurt and disappointed they were in me. I had failed them. To them it didn’t matter how much I loved Dre. I sighed as I signaled left and made my turn when the streets were clear.

  The holiday season is fast approaching, I thought as I drove into the city. I hadn’t even thought much about cooking a meal, shopping or decorating. I wasn’t into the holiday spirit yet. I pulled into the parking lot of the CSW building and found a stall to park in.

  Maybe with the idea of starting my own business, I’d stop acting all “bah, humbug”. It wasn’t really fair to KD either. Despite being alone for the holidays, she deserved the thrill of it all. I slung my bag across my shoulder and helped her jump out of the car seat.

  We rode up to the 3rd floor, her chubby little hand tucked in mine. As the elevator doors slid open, I reminded KD to be a good girl while I talked with the nice man.

  “Ok, Mommy.” She smiled up at me as I knocked on the heavy wooden door.

  A moment passed before Mr. Michaels opened the door. His frown had immediately lifted upwards upon seeing me.

  “Nikkia!”

  “Is now a bad time?”

  “Not at all! Please, come in! And who is this little beauty you have with you?” He bent down to fuss over KD.

  “Hi!” she beamed up at him.

  “Hi!” he replied with just as much excitement. “Come on in. I was just finishing up with one of my clients. Mr. Jones, I believe you met Nikkia the other evening.”

  Really? I thought as I walked into the office and came face to face with the stranger from Friday night.

  “Nikkia, what a coincidence. How nice to see you again.” Tavius Jones stood and held out his hand.

  I smiled pleasantly and shook his hand.

  “Yes, likewise. Mr. Michaels, I can just leave these papers with you.” I released KD’s hand so that I could withdraw the documents I had written. “I don’t want to interrupt.”

  “Oh we were just finishing up.” Tavius smiled and glanced down at KD. “You’re very pretty, just like your mommy.”

  KD smiled up at the stranger then wandered around the room. I set the stack of papers on the corner of the attorney’s desk and stepped back.

  “I don’t think I missed anything but if I did, my telephone number is listed on the first page,” I said.

  “Nikkia, please sit and relax,” Mr. Michaels said as he reached for the documents held together by a paperclip. “You did all of this over the weekend?”

  He thumbed through the papers and whistled through his teeth. I sat down and kept an eye on KD.

  “Yes sir.”

  “Impressive... very impressive.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I have a free afternoon and it will be devoted to reading your proposal. I’ll try to call you this evening to give y
ou my thoughts. Will that be okay?”

  “Yes sir, that would be fine.”

  “Great!”

  When I exited the building I screamed and threw my hands in the air while KD just laughed. I exhaled in a huge sigh of relief and whispered a silent prayer.

  “Can I take the two most beautiful ladies I’ve laid eyes on to lunch?”

  I turned around at the voice that was becoming too familiar, too quickly. I cocked my head to the side not feeling embarrassed at my display of happiness.

  “I appreciate the offer, Mr. Jones, but I can’t,” I said.

  “And why is that?”

  “I don’t know you and won’t have my daughter around a stranger.”

  “So how about another time then?”

  “No.”

  “Why is that, Nikkia?”

  “I have responsibilities, as you can see.”

  “I see. That is supposed to make me not want to get to know you…because you have a child?”

  “If you had sense, yes,” I said and started for the parking lot.

  “Well apparently I am a stupid man then. I tell you what. Take this.” His long fingers held out a business card. “Those are my numbers. Call me should you change your mind and would like coffee, lunch, dinner or an evening out. I’m actually free this Thursday and Saturday.”

  I took his card and let it fall into my bag.

  “You have yourself a good day, Mr. Jones.”

  “You do the same, Miss Miles.”

  I hurried along with Kiandre and pushed thoughts of the tall dark and handsome man from my mind. I had too many other things to do and was feeling too good about myself, despite the earlier argument with Dre. I wasn’t going to clutter my positive thoughts with anything less than what affected me and my baby.

  With both of us strapped inside the car, I backed out and exited the parking garage. Instead of going home, I turned in the direction of the mall. I knew it would be decorated for the holidays and figured since I was in a good mood, we’d spend the rest of the day just hanging out.

  We walked through the mall, browsing through all the stores, wasting time, and having a blast in the meantime. After a few hours, we headed back home. I stopped through the drive-through and picked us up some food before settling in for the rest of the evening.

  While we watched a Disney movie, I checked over our finances. I had managed to save some funds and the bills were paid. I felt satisfied that I could give my daughter a decent Christmas this year. I made a shopping list and planned to stop by the nearby Wal-Mart the next day. Overall I thought the day had been a good one.

  Saturday morning I was about to leave the house when the telephone rang.

  “Nikkia, hello. This is James Michaels.”

  “Oh, good morning, how are you?”

  “I am wonderful. Listen, I have a friend over at BBC bank. I’m going to type up your proposal and submit it to him. I wanted to let you know that I was very impressed and think this will bring in the New Year for you with a big bang!”

  Dead silence.

  “Nikkia? Are you there?”

  “Um, yes…I’m just…”

  “I understand, but I wanted to let you know first-hand before I did anything.”

  “Ok. Great. Um, thank you so much.”

  “No problem at all. I’m going to work on this over the week so I probably won’t be able to submit this until next week.”

  “Oh I completely understand, and I am so grateful to you, Mr. Michaels. You just have no idea.”

  “You have a wonderful day, young lady.’

  “Yes sir, I will. Thank you again!”

  The sad part of getting happy news, I had no one to share my joy with. I hung up the phone and disappeared into my bedroom, stripping off the sweat suit I had on and contemplating my closet. I grabbed a pair of jeans off the hangar and tugged them on. Then I dragged the soft black turtleneck sweater over my head. I located the black leather knee boots tucked in the back corner, fluffed my curly hair and applied a bit of lip-gloss.

  “Pretty, Momma.”

  “So are you, lovie. C’mon. Let’s go do some shopping.”

  Together we hit the dollar stores for some festive decorations. Granted they were cheap, but then again it was only me and KD. We didn’t need the best. Besides, I was never into flash. Yeah it was nice, but sometimes less truly is more.

  We went to Wal-Mart, picked up some groceries and I even managed to sneak a few gifts for her into the buggy without her noticing. I knew she’d forget by the time Christmas rolled around anyway. I found a few little things for the building owners as well as something for Mr. Michaels; both had been so kind to me, and to KD.

  I dropped KD off at Sylvia’s house for the night then on a whim, drove by my parents. I opened the mailbox at the end of the driveway and put the card that I had bought for them inside. I drove back to the apartment to put everything away. With my arms full of shopping bags, I dropped them at the door as my large purse tipped over, the contents spilling across the floor.

  “Dammit.”

  I kicked the door shut, and then stepped over the mess. After hiding KD’s gifts in the closet, I stowed the groceries in their proper place. I set out all the decorations in our meager space and strung the lights in the windows.

  When I finished, I went back to pick up my purse. I frowned as I stared down at the black business card with gold script across the front. T. Jones…Owner and CEO of Jones Entertainment. I bit my bottom lip then tossed the card on the table.

  Not a minute had passed before I had the card in my hand and was dialing the number embossed on the back of the card.

  “Hello you have reached Jones Entertainment. How can I help you?” the female voice said.

  “I’m looking to speak with Tavius Jones, please.”

  “Mr. Jones is with someone right now. May I ask who is calling?”

  “My name is Nikkia Miles. I, um,”

  “One moment, Miss Miles.”

  There was a ten second pause. I contemplated hanging up when the smooth voice purred in my ear.

  “Nikkia, I’m so glad to hear from you.”

  “Um…hi.”

  “Hi, yourself.”

  “I don’t know why I called you,” I laughed nervously.

  “Wanna go grab something to eat? There’s this great little place over on Morgan Street.”

  Morgan Street was not far from my neighborhood.

  “I can meet you there in, say, twenty minutes?” he suggested.

  “I’d like that,” I heard myself saying.

  “Excellent. I’ll see you soon.”

  For ten minutes I did nothing but pace the confines of my apartment. I had no clue what possessed me to call this man that I had barely known. A glance at the clock told me that if I didn’t leave now, I’d be showing up late.

  “Fuck it,” I cursed, grabbed my keys and left out of the apartment.

  For a Saturday afternoon, Mo’s didn’t have much of a crowd. The waitress seated me in a corner booth, took my drink order then disappeared. When she returned with my tea, I asked for a second menu and said I was expecting someone to join me.

  “Already here,” Tavius said as he approached the table.

  He was dressed casually. His jeans were loose, his tee shirt fit his muscled frame and boots were on his feet. He sat down at the table and smiled at the waitress.

  “Hey, Mr. Jones.”

  “Hi, Tiff. I’ll save you some time. Give us two of the specials, fries, salads and the platter for an appetizer. I’ll also have a water and beer.”

  “Yes sir.”

  I waited until the waitress left before I spoke up.

  “Did you just order for me?” I frowned.

  “I did, yes. Trust me; after you eat it you will thank me.”

  “And how can you be so sure of that?” I pursed my lips at him.

  “Are you allergic to any foods?”

  “No, I am not allergic to anything.”

  �
��Okay. Is there any particular food you dislike?”

  “Chitterlings and liver.”

  “No worries then. Besides, the specials are always the best. I come here often and I know the owner. You’ll just have to trust me.”

  “So you say.”

  Tavius leaned back against the booth and smiled.

  “You look amazing.”

  “Thank you. I, I hope I didn’t interrupt your day.”

  “Not at all. In fact your call was the highlight of my week.” He crossed his arms over his wide chest. “But I’m curious to know just what made you call me.”

  “I’m not really sure,” I said honestly.

  That was a lie. I knew why I called him. But I didn’t want to look pitiful in his eyes.

  “I think you’re lying, Nikkia. Not really a great way to start of our relationship, now is it?” His eyes were warm but his jaw was set.

  “We don’t have a relationship,” I said and looked him in the eyes.

  “Not yet. I told you that you are going to be my lady, just accept it already.”

  “Do you always get what you want, Tavius Jones?” I asked and picked up my glass.

  “Yes I do. So tell me, why did you call me today?”

  “I had no one else to call,” I admitted.

  “That makes me feel both sad and flattered,” he said and reached across the table for my hand.

  His touch was soft and warm; I had to admit that the physical contact felt so nice.

  “You must think I am pitiful.”

  “Not at all, but I’d like to know why you needed to call someone. What happened in your life today?”

  I was not sure if I was a good judge of a person’s character but I thought I could tell if a person was being sincere. Tavius seemed like he was.

  “I wrote a business plan to open my own salon. Mr. Michaels seemed to think it was excellent and he’s planning on submitting it to the bank in a week or so,” I shrugged. “We’ll see what happens.”

  “That’s wonderful news!! Congratulations!”

  “I don’t want to feel too excited, too soon, but like I said I had no one to call.”

  “No one to share your news with?”

  “No. I haven’t spoken to my parents in a few years, even though they only live in the suburbs, and my best friend isn’t home yet for winter break from college.”