Chasing Love

by Natalie Ann

  “Troy, what are you doing here?”

  “Hi, Mom. I’m not bothering you, am I?”

  “Of course not. Come on in out of the cold. Let me turn the coffee on quickly.”

  His mother had been sitting on the couch watching some game show like she always did. She jumped up fast and ran to the kitchen. She’d forever been one to wait on him and his father and he wondered if she missed it in her life too.

  She was still young. Only fifty-five. As far as he knew she hadn’t bothered to date anyone, but if she told him she wanted to, he sure the hell wouldn’t act like Brian did over the discovery of his and Meena’s relationship. He’d like to think he’d be more mature about it.

  “Thanks,” he said when she put a cup in front of him. He hadn’t said a word yet and she let him have that time to gather his thoughts like she always had.

  “Tell me what’s going on, honey. Is work giving you grief? Do you need me to come in and give some of those boys a lecture?”

  He laughed. “No. I’ve got it covered.” The employees would just nod their head and humor her and then wonder if she brought any food with her.

  “Then why do you look so upset?”

  He figured there was no reason he couldn’t tell his mother right now what was going on. “I just got into a fight with Brian.”

  She nodded. “Over Meena?”

  “What?” he asked, choking on his coffee. “How did you guess that?”

  “Troy,” she said, reaching her hand over and laying it on his. “A mother knows when their child has a crush.”

  “That was a long time ago,” he argued.

  “And it lasted forever, didn’t it?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Did you tell Brian and he doesn’t want you to get involved with Meena?” she asked.

  “I’ve been involved with Meena for over a month. We haven’t told anyone. Brian walked into the house when we were having dinner and one thing led to another.”

  “Oh. Well, that’s what you get for trying to keep secrets from your best friend,” she said, tsking her tongue. He kind of expected a bit more support here.

  “I wanted to avoid this reaction.”

  “And how well did that work out for you?” she asked.

  “Obviously not well enough. I just don’t know what to do right now.”

  “This is one of those times I wish your father were here. He’d have some wisdom to impart.”

  “I’m sure he would. I don’t know if I’d understand it or agree with it, but it’d probably make me laugh if he said something like ‘women are like bacon. They look good, smell good, taste good, and slowly kill you.’ I don’t know where he got them.”

  His mother laughed. “I never asked, but he made me laugh so much. He’s not here and yet he just made you laugh too.”

  “He did. Do you miss him as much as I do?”

  “I do, Troy. He was the light of my life. Remember what I taught you though—stand on your own. Don’t rely on a woman to do everything for you.”

  He just realized, though his mother stayed home and cared for him and his father, she was teaching him to be like her. “You’ve been the strong one all along,” he said.

  “Your father called me a tea bag once. He’s lucky I didn’t stick one up his nose.”

  Troy grinned. “You never know how strong one is until you put it in hot water,” he said.

  “You’ll figure it out, Troy. Brian will come around.”

  “I don’t know about that,” he argued.

  “He’ll come around because he’ll see that you’re the best person that could end up with his sister. He just hasn’t realized it yet. Give him time.”

  “It’s not like I’ve got much of a choice right now. He stormed out and Meena went after him. She’s going to try to talk some sense into him.”

  “Do you think she can?” she asked.

  “Not right away.”

  “Then go home and enjoy some bacon and a cup of tea.”

  He burst out laughing. “You know how to make me laugh too.”

  20

  Ready to Talk

  A month had gone by and Brian was still avoiding him. It was slowly killing a part of Troy, but he didn’t know what else to do. At least Meena’s parents had no problem with the relationship and Brian was talking to Meena here and there.

  Nothing like before, but at least Meena wasn’t getting the cold shoulder.

  “Nothing from Brian yet?” Meena asked him at dinner one night.

  “Nope.”

  “Are you trying to reach out to him?”

  “Why bother? I tried in the beginning and he didn’t reply to me. He knows where I am when he’s ready to talk.”

  “I had no idea he was going to be this stubborn,” she said, her head down fiddling with her glass of wine. It might be one of the few times he’d seen her with any type of alcohol and it was starting to bother him that Brian’s attitude was affecting Meena too.

  “He has his opinion and I can’t do much about it. I’m not backing away from you because he can’t be a man and talk to me.”

  He didn’t care if Meena thought his words were harsh about her brother, but the truth was, even as worried as he’d been over Brian’s reaction, he never expected it to be this bad.

  “I’ll talk to him again,” she said. “Maybe he and I need to discuss a few things before he’s ready to face you.”

  “Why’s that?” he asked.

  “Just something my mother said to me that has got me thinking.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “That you were Brian’s friend first and maybe I’m taking you away from him.”

  He burst out laughing. “That’s crazy. I’m no one’s possession.”

  “I know,” she said quietly. “But I’ve had time to think of things more. Brian was always the smart one and I was just the baby. I hated being the baby. And then I wanted to just get attention and maybe, well maybe, I spent a lot of my years taking something from Brian during that time.”

  “It’s not the same thing,” he argued.

  “Not to you and me, but maybe to him. I really should talk to him first, don’t you think?”

  “Your choice, but I don’t want it to bring us down. I was thinking, we both work so hard, I can’t remember the last time I had a vacation. How about we try to go away for a few days next month?”

  She smiled, her face lighting right up. He’d missed seeing her so happy and was glad this idea had come to him. “I’d love to! Can you swing a week off?”

  He grimaced. “If we plan it out a bit further, sure. I’ll try to make it work. Where do you want to go?”

  “I can see by the look on your face that you’d rather not be gone that long from the business. It’s probably not wise for me to do that either. How about a long weekend somewhere?”

  He liked that she knew him well enough to compromise without him even needing to ask. That for years he imagined himself with her but never realized it would feel this good. That he’d be this happy.

  If only he could share it with his best friend.

  “I’ll let you pick the destination,” he said.

  She reached her hand across. “That’s very brave of you.”

  “I trust you,” he said. And he did.

  The next morning he decided he’d had enough of Brian’s childish attitude. He did something he’d never done before. He went to Brian’s house before work and used his key to let himself in.

  He was surprised Brian hadn’t heard him, or come out to see who was walking in his house, so Troy made his way up the stairs and realized the water was running. Figuring Brian was in the shower, he went back downstairs to wait in the living room.

  “What the hell?!” Brian shouted when he saw Troy sitting on the couch with his arms crossed. “Are you trying to take even more years off my life?”

  “You come into my house unannounced all the time,” Troy said, standing up. “I came here to talk to you since you won’t a
nswer any of my calls or texts.”

  “You haven’t tried to contact me in over two weeks.”

  Troy snorted. “Why bother when you weren’t returning any messages from the two weeks prior?”

  “What do you want me to say?” Brian said.

  “I want to know why you’re so pissed off about this. Do you even realize how unhappy you’re making your sister?”

  “I just saw her last week. She seemed fine to me.”

  “If you knew her as well as you thought you did then you’d know she isn’t fine.”

  “So you’re going to tell me you know my sister better than me now?” Brian said crossing his arms.

  “I’m not going to get into a pissing match with you. We’ve known each other way too long for that. I came over here to tell you what I’ve been wanting to tell you all along. I want you to hear my side of it.”

  Brian held his stare, then nodded and walked away. Troy followed, assuming he was going to the kitchen. “Talk,” Brian said.

  “I’ve felt something for Meena for longer than I can even remember, but I never thought she’d feel the same way about me. I never let myself go there because she was younger than me. She was your sister.”

  “That didn’t seem to stop you from going there now,” Brian snapped.

  Troy took a deep breath and tried to find the patience he always had. “You’re being unrealistic. You’re focusing on the physical and not the emotional.”

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  “It means all you see in your mind is that I slept with your sister but not that I love her. Doesn’t that mean anything at all to you?” Brian stopped in the process of pouring his coffee. “What’s the matter? Why is that such a shock to you to hear me say that?” Even if he hadn’t said it out loud to anyone yet, especially Meena.

  “Why did it have to be her?”

  “I don’t understand.”

  Brian set the cup of coffee he was pouring down in front of Troy. “You’ve never said words like that before about any of the women you’ve been with. Not even Sabrina, and I was there to help you pick up the pieces when Sabrina left.”

  “That’s right, you were. Then you should know what I’m saying right now, what I feel for Meena is real. More real than I ever thought before. Why does that bother you?”

  “Because she always took things from me,” he said fast.

  “Huh?” Troy asked. Holy shit, Meena was right.

  Brian sat down. “I’m being an ass and I know it. And I didn’t mean it the way it sounded. Once I realized how I’ve been acting, I couldn’t get out of this corner I backed myself into. This is the happiest I’ve seen Meena in a long time. Last week she came here and blistered my ears and made me open my eyes to something I hadn’t considered.”

  “What’s that?” Troy asked, picking up the coffee and drinking it, hoping the crisis was going to start to pass.

  “She was on a tear. I’m not sure if you ever want to see her on one, but damn, I had all I could do to not back into a corner and cower like a scared kitten,” Brian said.

  “I’ve seen her that way,” Troy mumbled.

  “She started yelling at me to get over it. To grow up. And then she got all calm and it was almost frightening. She’d asked me who was the kindest guy I knew. Who was the most trustworthy, the most loyal, the most dependable? When I wouldn’t answer her, she finally said, ‘Don’t you think I deserve to be with that person?’ and then she walked out the door.”

  “She never told me about this,” Troy said.

  “Probably because I didn’t answer her. I still haven’t. But I thought about it and it’s you. You’re all those things she’d asked me and she’s right—she deserves it.”

  “Then what is the comment about taking things from you about?” Troy asked.

  “You’re my best friend. Now she’s your girlfriend, you can’t come to me and talk about the chick your dating. It’s my sister now. I’d end up being put in the middle. I don’t want that. It’s like everything the two of us say now has to be watched because you might go back and tell my sister. Or if I say something to her, she might tell you.”

  Troy burst out laughing. “That is what you’re all pissed about?”

  “No. I’m pissed that you were dating her and didn’t tell me. I’m upset that you didn’t think I’d understand. And yeah, I guess I’m a little annoyed that I’ve got to share your time with her now.”

  “Really? You’re going to go there while we’re having this conversation? I didn’t tell you for the exact reasons why you’re acting this way.”

  “Point taken,” Brian said. “The thing is, I guess I’m jealous. I hear the things Meena is telling me about the two of you guys. All the things you do. And I think it’s great she’s getting you to loosen up and I wish I was the one that could have done that and never could. Then I see how happy she is with you and I think ‘when is my chance going to happen with someone?’”

  Troy didn’t know what to say. As well as he knew Brian he really didn’t expect this conversation at all.

  “Nothing is going to change with us. I’ve never talked to you about sex with any of my past girlfriends and I sure the hell won’t do it now.”

  “I’d have to hit you if you did,” Brian said. “Here’s the concern, Troy. What happens if things don’t work out with you two? Where does that leave us?”

  He’d thought of that too. “No woman is going to come between us. Not even your sister. You’ve been the brother I’ve never had. You’ve been there with me through every up and down in my life. Just because I’ve been secretly in love with your sister didn’t change any of that. And to quote Meena, don’t I deserve it too?”

  “Yeah. You do. I guess deep down I feel like a fool for never seeing it, but Meena pointed out all the times it was obvious she had a crush on you. You must have known. What made you wait so long to make a move?”

  Troy felt his face heat a little. “I didn’t know either. I didn’t realize it. Or I didn’t let myself think it could happen. And Meena made the first move. She pushed the first date. If she hadn’t, I’d still be sitting here wishing for something I couldn’t have.”

  “God, we sound like two women chattering here.” Brian reached his hand out and Troy took it, then shook it. “Good luck with her and keep her happy. You’ve got my blessing. Just don’t get mad if I say or do something stupid for the next few months while I get used to it all.”

  “I won’t.”

  Brian shook his head. “My best friend and my sister. Who would have known?”

  “Obviously not you.”

  21

  So Crazy

  Troy left Brian’s and ran to his office for a meeting, then made his way to Meena’s before he realized she’d be at Pulse so he detoured there. When he walked in the door, he saw the place was crazy busy. He hadn’t been in here once since the day he fixed the water heater.

  He knew there were plenty of chairs in this place and that she had a lot of employees, but having most of them filled with clients made the place seem even larger. Grand even.

  He looked out onto the floor where everyone was working while he waited for the receptionist to finish cashing someone out. He wished he could have spotted Meena but didn’t see her.

  He realized Meena’s bright red hair wasn’t as crazy looking as some of the girls working alongside her. One girl had half her head shaved and he could see a tattoo on her scalp. The rest of her hair was bright green and falling over one side of her head.

  A few others had funky colors, but their styles were normal like Meena’s. The age range of clients ran from children to someone that could be his grandmother getting her hair washed and styled. Even the other stylists ranged in age from twenties to he was guessing his mother’s age or older.

  He never thought much about it, but looking around here, he could see Meena had made this one hell of a place to be and sure looked extremely successful for just twenty-six years old.

  “C
an I help you?” the receptionist asked him.

  “Hi. I was wondering if Meena was available?”

  “Do you have an appointment?”

  “No. I don’t see her on the floor though? Can you tell her Troy is here?”

  “Oh,” the receptionist said, her eyes getting brighter. “You’re Troy. Everyone,” she shouted to the floor. “This is Troy.”

  Shit. What the hell had he walked into? Maybe he should have called first, but he didn’t want to. He was coming here to tell her about his talk with Brian. He was going to tell her he loved her for the first time. Now that he finally got Brian’s approval, he felt free to let the world know how he really felt.

  That had to start with Meena.

  Several pairs of eyes turned in his direction and he’d never felt so on display before in his life.

  “Meena.”

  “Yes?” she said, looking at Holly in her doorway.

  “Your boyfriend is here to see you.”

  Meena sat up straighter in the chair. “What? Troy is here?”

  “Chrissy put him on display for us once he said his name was Troy. If he isn’t your boyfriend, then the poor guy is probably running out the door right now.”

  Meena laughed. “I don’t know all that many Troy’s. Tall sexy guy that is probably blushing right now?”

  “Tall and sexy for sure. A little conservative in his attire. I couldn’t tell if he was blushing, but he was looking pretty uncomfortable.”

  “That’s him. I’ll be up in a second.”

  Meena took her time. She should rush up and save him from all the women’s coy looks, but it would do him good to get out of his nice cushy comfort zone more often.

  Though if she was honest with herself, he was doing a lot more than she ever thought he would. Or that he seemed to ever do before. Some of it was his idea too, not always hers.

  “Hey there, cutie,” she said when she walked up front. He was standing there looking out the window at the traffic with his back to most of the girls.