by Cleo Jones
“You could say that…”
“Any particular reason?” Deidra hedged.
Nia bit down on her bottom lip as she contemplated whether or not she wanted to share her most recent accomplishment with her sister. “Actually, there is,” she finally spoke up. “I’m getting my Masters!”
“Nia! That’s amazing!” Deidra gushed. “And you never know…you might even meet some fine ass professor who ends up sweeping you off your feet.”
Nia knew her sister was only joking, so she decided to humor her. “As a matter of fact, I think I met him today at the Dean’s office. He gave me so many compliments on my transcript and my work at Kanadov. I felt like he was genuinely impressed by me.”
Blake frowned from his spot in the hallway. Though it hadn’t been his intention to eavesdrop, it proved impossible for him not to when he overheard Nia gushing about some guy. In all the years he’d known her, he couldn’t remember an instance in which she’d been this excited about something.
It just wasn’t in her nature.
Blake sighed and slumped back down the hall, setting his sights on the junk mail drawer in the kitchen. He dug through it for the club voucher with Karen’s number scrawled on the back and promptly grabbed for his phone. She wasn’t his type, not by a long shot, but it didn’t matter.
What he needed right now was a distraction.
Chapter twenty-six
Blake met up with Karen the following morning at a small coffee shop on the other side of town, not wanting to run into Nia on the off chance that she decided to run errands with Noah. “I’m so glad you called,” she spoke up, keeping her icy eyes steadied on his as she sipped her latte.
Blake forced a smile. “Thanks for dropping those vouchers off.”
“I almost talked myself out of it,” Karen explained. “I felt so awkward when your roommate opened the door. I hope I didn’t make too bad of an impression…”
“That’s actually my son’s mother,” Blake clarified, taking a sip of his coffee. “Her names Nia.”
“Oh…” Karen trailed off, visibly flustered. “Are you two…I mean...she just lives with you? You’re not dating?”
Blake shook his head as if what he had going with Nia was the most run-of-the-mill arrangement in the world. “Nah, we’re just co-parenting,” he explained. “I actually just found out that she’s seeing someone…”
“I see,” Karen said, looking immediately relieved. “So how long have you guys been split up?”
Blake hesitated. He didn’t feel like going into full detail with her on his rocky past, so he opted on the condensed version instead. “About nine years...”
“Wow, that’s a long time,” Karen remarked, taking another sip of her latte and tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “You don’t have to answer this if you’re not comfortable…but…why doesn’t she just live with whoever she’s dating?”
Blake immediately tensed up. A thousand different questions had been gnawing away at him ever since he’d overheard Nia’s conversation with Deidra, but he hadn’t even considered the possibility that she might eventually want to move in with this guy. A bitter taste rose from his throat, and it wasn’t just the coffee.
“I bet you’re counting on that,” Karen continued when he didn’t saying anything. “It must be so weird…living with an ex…”
Blake shrugged and emptied a packet of sugar into what was left of his coffee in an attempt at appearing distracted. “It can be, but it’s worth it if I get to wake up to my son everyday…”
“So why not get custody?” Karen hedged, visibly confused. “I mean…you obviously make great money…”
Blake clenched his jaw and avoided making eye contact with her. He was becoming more than a little uncomfortable with the third degree she was giving him, but he tried his best not to show. “It’s not that cut and dry,” he said, keeping it simple.
“Well what does…sorry, what’s her name?”
Blake sighed inwardly. “Nia.”
“Right, Nia,” Karen continued. “What does she do for a living?”
“She raises our son…”
“So you’re fully supporting her?” Karen’s eyes widened. “Wow…you just might be the most selfless man I’ve ever met…”
Blake gave her a sour look. Her tone couldn’t have been anymore condescending, and it took everything in him not to get up and leave. “Look, I know how this might seem, but Nia isn’t a strain on my lifestyle or something. She’s kind of the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I mean…she gave me my son…and she raised him all by herself until I finally got my shit together. She’s more selfless than I’ll ever be.”
Karen softened when it occurred to her just how fragile Blake was about this particular subject. “So tell me about him,” she said, giving him an apologetic smile. “Your son, I mean.”
Blake looked up from his coffee then, immediately seizing the opportunity to talk about Noah, and the conversation paved itself out from there. When he pulled into the driveway later that afternoon, he noticed Nia and Noah out by the water and remained in his car for a few minutes to watch them. It was a picture he very much wanted to be a part of, but he was beginning to wonder if he ever would be.
Blake sighed and stepped out onto the cement, but he paused when he caught a glimpse of himself in the reflection of his windshield. There was a smudge of leftover lipstick on his bottom lip, and a wave of guilt washed over him all at once. He didn’t know what made him feel worse: using Karen in some weak attempt at fucking away his feelings for Nia, or knowing that she’d soon be leaving him in pursuit of greener pastures.
Blake pressed play on a voicemail from Karen later that evening and braced himself as her sickly-sweet voice filled his ears. She was inviting him over to her place for dinner the following day, and the guilt he felt earlier returned in full force. He wasn’t going to let this happen.
Not again.
“Blake?” Nia spoke up from behind him, pulling him from his thoughts. “Would you mind watching Noah for a few hours tomorrow morning?”
Blake hesitated. While he certainly had no problem spending time with son, he was immediately put off by the evasiveness in Nia’s tone. All he could assume was that this had something to do with the new man in her life, and he definitely wasn’t in any rush to make seeing him any easier for her. “Sure,” he spoke up in a dry tone, keeping his eyes focused on the television. “Where are you going?”
“I have an appointment.”
“Yeah?” Blake questioned, meeting her gaze. “Where?”
Nia crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. This little attitude of his was getting old. She wasn’t sure how much more of his passive aggressiveness she could take. If he didn’t come out with what was bothering him soon, she was sure she’d go insane. “The salon,” she finally answered. “But if it’s really such a problem for you, I’ll just take him with me…I just thought you’d want to spend the extra time with him before he goes back to school.”
“It’s not a problem,” Blake shot back. “Of course I’ll watch him.”
“Well I don’t need you doing me any favors.”
“Who said anything about me doing you a favor?” Blake hedged. “He’s my son. Run whatever errand you need to run. We’ll be here waiting for you when you get back.”
Nia thanked him and made her way upstairs, but she couldn’t fight the feeling that something wasn’t right. Whatever had Blake so worked up was beginning to take its toll on their arrangement, and she knew she had to get to the bottom of it before things became even worse.
Chapter twenty-seven
Blake was in the kitchen getting Noah a snack when he looked up to see Nia making her way up the driveway, and his jaw dropped as soon as she walked through the front door. Her dark locs were styled shorter, drawing attention to the high slope of her cheekbones, and she was wearing a shade of lipstick that popped against her dark flesh and really brought out the fullness of her lips. She looked beau
tiful. No, that was an understatement. There wasn’t a single word in the English language worthy enough of describing how good she looked.
A few drops of drool gathered on Blake’s bottom lip as he stared at her. It wasn’t until she grabbed up a wad of paper towel and began assisting him in cleaning up the juice he’d just spilled that he was finally shaken from his trance. “Are you feeling alright?” she questioned, frowning at the awestruck expression on his face.
Blake nodded, but he was still at a loss for words. He couldn’t stand the fact that Nia had spent the morning looking like that for someone other than him. It left him feeling way more envious than he was comfortable with.
Nia stared at Blake for a moment longer, and she was just about to call him on his bluff when the doorbell rang. “I’ll get it,” she said, welcoming the distraction.
Karen did a double take when a very different Nia than the one she’d met the other day greeted her at the door, and it took her a few seconds to regain her composure. “Is Blake here?” she finally questioned, looking past her in search of him.
Nia nodded, stepping aside to let her in. Blake promptly appeared in the foyer, and the look on his face let her know that he hadn’t been expecting any visitors. “Karen,” he spoke up, rubbing his neck. “Uh…what’s up?”
“Oh nothing, I just thought I’d stop by and say goodbye to you in person,” Karen cooed, closing the distance between them and running a hand down his chest. “I’m heading to my parents place for Labor Day weekend, remember?”
Nia felt sick to her stomach as she watched the scene before her unfold, and her nausea worsened when Noah ran in from the backyard to see who was at the door. He froze when he saw a woman he didn’t recognize standing in close proximity to his father, taking a step back when Karen gave him an annoyed look. “Is this your son?” she asked Blake with faux-interest, bending down to look him in the eye. “You weren’t kidding! He’s adorable!”
Noah scrunched up his nose at being referred to as adorable, and it took everything in Nia not to laugh. She exchanged a look with Blake, and he gave her an apologetic one in return.
“Anyway…would you mind if I borrowed that book you were telling me about?” Karen asked Blake, cutting Noah off in midsentence. “I want to read it while I’m tanning.”
“Uh, sure,” Blake responded, disappearing down the hall to go get it.
Karen met eyes with Nia as soon as they were alone, and an extremely awkward silence settled over the room. “Do you like candy?” Karen asked Noah after a few seconds of looking around the room, turning to face him and completely ignoring his mother.
Noah nodded eagerly. “I love it!”
“Well you’re in luck,” Karen said, rummaging around in her purse for the candy bar she’d brought over to bribe him with. “I bought this just for you.”
Nia took one look at the chocolate and walked over to retrieve it. “You have to have lunch first,” she told her son, taking a moment to examine the label for anything he might be allergic to.
Noah stuck out his bottom lip in protest, proceeding to pout over not getting his way. “Maybe your dad won’t mind,” Karen suggested, pointing down the hall to Blake’s office.
“Excuse me?” Nia snapped. “Did you really just tell my son to ask his father for something I told him he couldn’t have?”
Karen shook her head.
“Yes you did,” Nia said, taking a step forward to confront the woman. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t undermine me any further by lying.”
Karen let out a dry laugh and rolled her eyes. “What? Blake’s not allowed to have any input?”
What the hell?
Nia scoffed, taking a moment to shoo Noah upstairs before tearing into the woman. Their bickering was so loud that it eventually caught the attention of Blake, who promptly rushed back into the room to diffuse the situation. “What’s going on?” he questioned, glancing back and fourth between the both of them.
“What’s going on?” Nia sucked her teeth and narrowed her eyes at him. “I don’t appreciate your little girlfriend encouraging our son not to respect my authority. That's ‘what’s going on’.”
“Oh give it a rest,” Karen chided in, putting fourth her version of events with her usual snark. “All I did was offer him candy. I didn’t think she’d completely flip her shit on—”
“Stop!” Blake interrupted, grabbing her arm and escorting her over to the door without bothering to give her the book she’d asked for. He loosened his hold on her as soon as they were outside, but the look on his face wasn’t a good one.
“Look, I’m sorry, alright?” Karen spoke up, trying her best to sooth him. “I guess I just didn’t realize how uptight she was…”
“Uptight?” Blake repeated. “That’s the mother of my child you’re talking about. I don’t appreciate you saying stuff like that.”
Karen gave him a wounded look. “So you think I deserved that? Is that what you’re saying?”
Blake sighed and rubbed his face. “Look, Karen, I’m sorry, but this just isn’t going to work out…”
“What?” Karen took a step back and shook her head in disbelief. “You can’t be serious. You’re blowing this way out of proportion…”
“No I’m not,” Blake protested. “I don’t take things that affect my son and his mother lightly.”
Karen let out a heavy sigh. “Noah is fine, Blake.”
“And what about Nia?”
“What about her?” Karen questioned, not bothering to hide her irritation. “Are you seriously going to end this because she’s a little unhappy?”
Blake nodded and turned away from her, making his way back up the driveway. “Yeah,” he called over his shoulder. “I am.”
Chapter twenty-eight
Nia stood in the middle of her room assessing her unpacked boxes and silently trying to figure out how long it would take her to move everything out. She had no idea where she would go, but the volcano that had just erupted made it very clear that she could no longer stay here.
Blake reentered the house and walked upstairs to find Noah standing in the doorway of Nia’s bedroom. He couldn’t see what she was doing, but it was obvious from the loud noises that were coming from inside the room that it was something that required force. He walked inside to find her throwing her clothing into an open box on the floor. “What the hell?” he spoke up. “Are you seriously packing right now?”
Nia nodded. “This isn’t working out,” she told him, looking over at Noah and then back at him. “We need to talk…privately.”
Nia pushed past Blake and led Noah downstairs to feed him lunch, returning a few minutes later and taking a seat on her bed. Karen had really worked her nerves, but she didn’t want to transfer her frustration over to Blake at the risk of seeming jealous. She needed to gather her thoughts and formulate a plan first. She couldn’t just say she was moving out without telling him where she and Noah intended to go. First she had to have some place to go.
This situation was exactly why Nia had stressed that she and Blake needed to establish a clearer set of boundaries when it came to the issue of dating. One of the first things she noticed when Karen walked through the front door was just how much it had confused Noah, and she immediately felt guilty for having put him in that position. Regardless of whether or not she had a backup plan, she couldn’t allow that to happen again.
“So that’s it then?” Blake spoke up, breaking through the silence and gesturing towards the boxes that surrounded them. “We have one little misunderstanding and you’re leaving?”