by Rae Shawn
"Hi there," She sat a menu down and I looked from him to her. "I'm Sherri, can I get you started with anything to drink?"
“He isn’t staying. I’m pretty sure he is on his way elsewhere.” I interrupted before he could respond.
Sherri gave me a knowing look – the look that asked “I know you want this fine ass man at your table, but he pissed you off didn’t he?”
I raised an eyebrow. She grinned before nodding and walking away. The silent conversation women could have with a look did wonders at times.
“Well that was pretty rude.” he said as he slid the menu away.
“No, you leaving me in my dorm after saying football is more important was rude.” I blurted out.
The flat face and tilt of his head said he knew it would come up at some point. I rolled my eyes before looking down at Jaiden who’d been staring at him.
“I never got your name, cutie.” He turned his attention to her as well. Jaiden cocked an eyebrow and moved in closer to my side. I grinned. My smart girl. Don’t talk to strangers.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said. “I’m an old friend of your mama,” he cut his eyes toward me. “I see you got her attitude on top of her looks.”
I cracked my neck, but maintained my composure. First, everything from his face to his sexy New Orleans drawl made me want to kiss and punch him.
“Like I said, I thought you had plans with my sister.”
When Sherri brought my appetizer, she shot me a look asking if I needed help. I shook my head. She nodded as she grabbed the menu, but looked him up and down before raising her eyebrows at me again.
I rolled my eyes and shook my head again. I saw a slight smile play on her lips as she turned to walk away. He looked but couldn’t figure out what was happening between me and her.
“You seem to be ignoring the comment regarding my sister. So since we playing it like that, what do you want Tra’Mel Mikal?” I asked.
“I cancelled my plans with your sister," he said flatly. "Would it be wrong if I said I wanted to talk, Jada Jean’e?”
“You had a little lunch date planned with my sister, Mel," I pointed out. "I’m pretty sure I said we could talk about you leaving and you said there was nothing to talk about. The ‘us talking ‘ship has long since sailed, especially if you’re involved with Nae.”
Picking up my fork, I stabbed at my salad before giving Jaiden a mouthful. She gleefully focused on it as I slid the plate to her. I popped a cherry tomato in my mouth and noticed he followed the action. There were no intentions to seduce him nor grab his attention.
After college, I hoped I never ran into him again, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t think about the time we spent together.
“I’m not involved with her, mô lamou,” A laugh got caught in my throat as my shoulders shook, but he continued forth. "I would like to have one conversation - one without your daughter present, so she doesn’t hear grown folk talk and you can actually speak your mind. I'll explain everything.”
“First, don’t call me your anything. That nickname is no longer one that you have the right to use in reference to me. I’m good on the convo, too,” I said after I finished swallowing. "You had plenty of chances to reach out, to explain.”
“Here’s my card in case you change your mind,” He sat it on the table after scrawling his cell number on the backside of it. “If you don’t call, I’ll understand, but two run-ins in one day tells me I’ll be seeing you again soon.”
He tapped the table before going out to the patio. I couldn’t help but watch him the entire time Jaiden and I were there eating. Pissed didn’t describe my state of mind because I couldn’t stop looking at him.
After Jaiden had gone to sleep for the night, I decided to sit in the downstairs living room with Demontré with a glass of wine to finally tell him why I acted so strange that morning.
“Wait, you mean to tell me you dated that Tra’Mel Denzel and never told me?” Was his first question.
“First, is there another Tra’Mel Denzel that you know? Second, that Tra’Mel Denzel broke my heart and left me to pursue an NFL career, remember that.” I fired back.
“All you ever told me was that you liked a football player named Tra’Mel. It’s not my fault, but trust and believe I’ll whoop his ass if you want me to,” Demontré offered. “I mean it. I might be a fan because the man has a rocket for an arm, and he’s an overall good dude, but anybody who hurts my baby girl is gonna pay the price.”
“He ain’t worth a jail sentence,” I said before taking a long gulp from my wineglass. “I can’t believe I ran into him here of all places.”
“Well, I mean it’s pretty well-known he opened up a rehab facility after he retired because of that injury.” Demontré said.
“I didn’t pay that much attention to his comings and goings. I was happy in my relationship and luckily he wasn’t on the team Raiden focused on,” I sighed. “I knew if I paid Mel any mind for too long, I’d start falling for him again and that would’ve been wrong to Raiden, although in hindsight …”
Demontré nodded that all knowing type of way.
“Well, he’s been out of the game for more than a year, opened up shop not too long ago to try to help fellow players from his former team and any other athletes in the area.”
“What ended up happening?”
“During the game that ended his career?”
I nodded. Demontré gave me a look.
“All I know is he got hurt and never played again. I didn’t look up details. Now I want to know what happened. Lay it out, play-by-play.”
“Uh, well it was Monday Night Football. They were playing the last game of the season at home against a division rival with the same 13-3 record. There was 35 seconds left on the clock, and they were down by five. On an attempted flea-flicker that probably would have put them on top, a linebacker saw through Mel’s play and … well let’s say his tibia and fibula weren’t too happy.”
I cringed before downing my remaining wine. I used to love football, but after him, I avoided it.
“Damn, I know he didn’t do well with that, he used to bitch over a paper cut,” We both chuckled. “I’m glad he’s okay, though.”
“Well JJ, it seems you might be in a pickle,” I brought my attention to his face. “I’ll give you my patented two options: fuck him and get it out of your system, or tell him to fuck himself and avoid him for the rest of your time in Frisco.”
I’d already ran into him twice in one day, and he knew my sister, avoiding him seemed like it would be hard to do, but I didn’t want to sleep with him either. With a sigh and a sideways glance, I looked at Demontré. He damn near spit his beer all over me.
“What?” he asked, wiping the dribble from his chin. If we hadn’t been friends for as long as we had, I would've considered him a prospect forever ago.
He’d always been handsome; a Jon B with a Spanish flare and kinky, black curls atop his head. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was on bang buddy number five and today was only January 7.
“Such a guy response and I ain’t got time for you or your nonsense,” I laughed. “I’d rather take advice from D’Nae, and she’s as bad as you, but at least she would've said something better than that. I guess I should tell her we used to date and see what advice she can provide. I’d like to know what that energy is between them, too.”
He shrugged and took another swig, this time not choking on it. Not to say I’ve dated a lot of people, or messed around a lot either, but Demontré knew my life like the back of his hand, all except for college.
I didn’t tell him much about it and I definitely didn’t tell him about dating the Tra’Mel “Rocket” Denzel. Back then he was my friend, classmate and lover, Tra’Mel Mikal. Just that and nothing more.
4
Tra'Mel
“When it comes to marketing, what is the first thing you think of?” Mr. Andrews said.
It was the first day of Marketing 1, and I was already tired of it. I nee
ded this class for my major, but Mr. Andrews was not the person I would have chosen. He liked to talk too much about his personal life and I didn't want to hear it if it didn't apply to what we were learning.
Marketing classes filled up like crazy, so this was where I landed. Mr. Andrews – a scrawny, paper-thin, elderly Hispanic man – pointed at someone on the other side of the room with a nod.
“Yes, you in the blue blouse. What’s your name?” Mr. Andrews said.
“Jada. Jada Lorenzo,” the girl said. He nodded and waved for her to answer the question. “It’s a method used by an individual or a team to help gain recognition for a service or product. That’s what comes to mind when I think of marketing.”
“Very good,” Mr. Andrews said. “Anyone else?”
I craned my neck to see her better. From this distance she was drop dead gorgeous. I saw a mop of curly light brown hair tucked under a hat. From the breast up, because it's all I could see, she looked like an athlete.
Jeremy, my teammate, sat directly behind her. He raised his hand. His uncle pointed at him.
“I think of a plan to execute a sales pitch.” Jeremy said.
Mr. Andrews nodded and moved on to another person sitting in front of me. I couldn't stop looking at her, though. I needed to see her up close. Something about her drew my eye.
Jeremy leaned forward across his desk to shake her hand. I saw smiles and eyebrows raising. I had to talk to her before he snatched her up.
“Mr. Andrews, focus.” Our professor chimed in.
Jeremy winked before leaning back in his seat. I had to try to shut his ass down now. I pulled my phone out and shot him a text.
Me: Yo J. Invite the girl in front of you to the party.
Jeremy: Bruh, she feeling me. Find your own baddie.
Me: My dude, invite her. If she wanna talk to you then I'll back back, but damn. Let me at least introduce myself.
Jeremy: Why you so sensitive? I got you, I'll talk to her after class.
After class, I stood off to the side to see if he would actually talk to her. He stopped her just before she walked out. I fell in step behind them, feeling like a true stalker.
“Hey, not to be forward or come on strong, but we’re hosting a welcome week party at my dorm next week. If you’re interested, you should stop by. It’s the whole building so don’t feel pressured.” Jeremy said getting in tight next to her.
“I’ll think about it,” she said. “What building you in?”
“Hughes Hall.” he said. She nodded, smiled and jogged off without saying another word.
Just before she exited the building, she glanced back and saw both of us looking at her, but I'm sure she only noticed him. I bumped Jeremy with my shoulder.
"Not to be forward or come on strong, but," I gave him a look. "Yeah, you a bitch for that."
"Hey, like I said, she feeling me." He shrugged.
"Just because she batted her eyes and smiled at you doesn't mean she likes you. She's being nice, women do that."
"Nah, she likes me dawg."
"Whatever. At least you invited her, that's all I wanted. Now to see if she actually shows. That'll tell me if she likes yo ugly ass or not."
He laughed and punched my shoulder. I walked over to weight lifting, where I was promptly abused by the workout. Afterward, I headed back to the dorm to grab a quick shower before my next class. When I got to the lobby, one of my classmates from Advanced Business Dynamics asked if I had started considering my group for the project that was due just after midterms.
"I saw that in the syllabus. Mrs. Lowell doesn't play when it comes to those things. I didn't spot anyone in class I knew, so I was going to wait a week or two, but if you want to team up I'm down."
Stacy was in Intermediate Business Practices last fall. She aced that thing like it was nothing. I'll take every big brain I could find, not that I don't know what I'm doing. She smiled at me. Cute girl, but I'm not after someone in a relationship.
"Great. I have a friend in the class, I'll see it he has already scoped out a group. If not, that'll make three, and we only need two more. The sooner the better, we have a proposal to create and everything." She said. I looked at my watch, I'd have to jog to my class if I started this discussion. Since it was on the other side of campus and I had 15 minutes, I had good time. If we talked, the 10 minutes to get there with a quick stride would turn into a run.
"If he's not a slacker and will pull his weight, I welcome him with open arms." I smiled and she nodded.
"I actually have an idea what we can do it on, ever heard how young companies have high growth rates in their first three years, but begin to taper off, even decline if implementation of policies, opportunities and regulations aren't in place to improve worker life?” She asked. I nodded. “I think we could explore that and provide the statistics to back up our argument."
She damn sure had a brain on her shoulders. That was a great idea, and I was actually thinking something similar, but wanted to also give examples of how to continue not only job growth, but the ability to increase wages, move workers up through the company and expand across the states.
If I started talking business, I'd be late. I glanced at my watch again. "I think it's perfect. We should discuss this further. I have a class, don't mean to cut you off, Stacy. Check with your friend and see if he's down to join. Run the idea by him as well. If everyone is on board at the start, we shouldn't have any issues."
She gave me a curt nod and started to back away. I turned and headed toward the door, but just before I exited, she called out to me. I turned to look at her.
"I actually might know of a fourth person. I'll see if she's available."
I put my hand on the door and opened it. "That sounds good. Let me know. I'll be back at 5:30 p.m. or so, if you're available head down here, and we can exchange numbers. I gotta run, but I'll see you in class on Thursday, if not later."
She gave me a wave and I backed out the door, mid-turn I bumped into someone. When I fully turned around, the chick was falling. I reached out and caught her arm before she fell in the rocks.
She gasped and her surprise showed clear as day on her face. She had a slight glare, but when she really looked at me as I helped her steady herself, her eyes became admiring.
“I’m sorry. You good, ma?” I said, all my creole coming out thanks to the beautiful woman standing in front of me.
Her mouth slowly popped open, and she stared for a beat before visibly shaking herself and squaring her shoulders. She shrugged free of the hand that still rested on her arm and took a step back. That wasn't the start I was hoping for, but damn if I'll give up that easily.
“I’m good,” she said. “And my name ain’t ma.”
“Excuse me,” I smirked and threw my hands up, moving so she had access to the building. “What is your name?”
I saw her fight to keep her face straight, but a twinkle in her big, round dark chocolate eyes let me know she had something on her mind other than annoyance.
Her light skin flushed at her shoulders, she thought I was attractive. I could tell you that much. Her throat bobbed as if considering whether to tell me her name.
“Noneya.” She smirked, then walked inside the building. I turned to watch her as she squeezed around me and through the door. It was one thing seeing her from a distance earlier, but up close, she was damn fine.
I saw the highlights in her hair, the cute beauty mark by her left eye and the round, fullness of her lips. She still had her hat on which covered part of her face, but because she had to look up to see me, I got a good look at her.
At 6'4, I towered over most people I know. She came to about my shoulder, so she wasn't short to say the least, but she was at the perfect height that I could pick her up to kiss her. Damn, I shouldn't be thinking like that. I didn't even know her.
“Well, Noneya, I’ll be seeing ya around,” I waved, but she never glanced back. “Just in case you were wondering, name’s the Tra’Mel.”
Damn she made the creole come out more, not just the strong drawl, but the mixed up vernacular when you blended it into English.
“I wasn’t wondering. Goodbye.” She called over her shoulder with a hand wave.
This might be harder than I thought. I knew she had an attraction toward me, but something put her off. Unlike her flirt with Jeremy earlier, she seemed a little disarmed in my presence.
I looked down at my watch, I had seven minutes to get to class. I cursed under my breath and broke into a sprint. Since my assistant coach was the weight training teacher as well as my statistics professor, being late would only land me with a harder workout next class or during practice.
Thinking back on how I met Jada started to take over my mind after running into her a few days back. We had a lot of fun in the beginning and it only got better.
I saw how smart she was on top of being sexy as hell. I knew what happened between us at the end was my fault. Should have told her what was going on, but I didn't want to face the truth myself. From the moment I walked out of her dorm room, I’d regretted not being up front with her. I couldn't erase the hurt on her face or the tears she held back when I said I was leaving.
My mother called me the biggest idiot to ever grace the planet when I told her I broke it off. It was too late to try to fix it, though. I just had to let her go.
Now I sat here in my office trying to figure out how to bring her back into my life, knowing very well she wanted nothing to do with me. I also had to remember her sister tried coming on to me at least once.
If anything were to come from this chance encounter with her, I needed to set the entire record straight with D'Nae. I wasn't interested. Never had been. She's a cool woman, but the scent of the trouble she'd cause reeked loud and clear from the moment I met her.
A reminder dinged on my computer. I had a client coming in 30 minutes. I needed to get ready to rehab a 17-year-old soccer player who broke his foot two months ago. He'd been ready and willing to do his therapy. I was excited to help him get back on his feet, quite literally.