by Simply BWWM
He was staring at her with his arms crossed over his chest, his chin pointed at her, and he wasn’t the only one looking. Jane and Carol were both peering over the small barriers between them, curious to know what was going on. The massive and colorful bouquet in and of itself had already drawn quite a bit of attention from the other employees in the office.
Tamika felt her cheeks warm. “Oh… well, it’s uh… it’s just… well I didn’t get a raise. I’m not exactly sure what this is all about.” She frowned slightly at the bag in confusion. “I didn’t order this.”
“Oh! There’s a card on the flowers. Maybe it’s all from one person. Maurice?” she asked, sounding a little surprised.
With a laugh and a shake of her head, Tamika reached for the card. “No, it wouldn’t be Maurice, he never does things like this.” But as she said it, she wondered if maybe he had. They had just gotten a million dollars in cash. Most of it was going to go to the house, but maybe it was his way of making up to her for the way that he had talked to her on Saturday when she had taken the money to him. Maybe he was being thoughtful and romantic.
She opened the card just as curious as her friends were. There was a note, and it wasn’t from Maurice.
‘Thinking of you and missing you already. XO, Shane’
Her heart flipped over twice in her chest and began to beat faster as her hands trembled slightly, and her cheeks flushed with heat. Her lips parted as she read it again and again and wondered how in the world he had figured out where she worked.
“Well? Is it from Maurice?” Jane asked hopefully, but not with any certainty.
Tamika shook her head. “No… it’s from my friend Shane.”
Danny raised one eyebrow. “Shane?” he asked with tremendous curiosity. “Who is Shane? You know, I’ve known you for five years, and I’ve never heard that name cross your lips. Who is this Shane? New boyfriend?” he asked eagerly.
Tamika smiled bashfully and shook her head. “No, no it’s nothing like that at all. We’re… I guess we’re just friends.”
Danny crossed his arms over his chest and raised the single eyebrow even further up. “Just friends? He sent you flowers and lunch from Medici’s, and you expect me to believe that you’re just friends?”
She looked up at him seriously. “Yes.” She couldn’t let him know more. She couldn’t let anyone know more.
He shook his head slowly. “Girl, he wants to be so much more than just friends. Can I just tell you… this man wants you in his bed, and personally I think you should take him up on it.”
“You have a new boyfriend!” Jane giggled gleefully.
“Well, anything’s better than that last boyfriend! Maurice was the worst!” Carol shook her head in disgust.
Tamika sighed heavily. “Guys, he’s not my boyfriend. He really is just… just a friend. I guess. I’m not even sure why he sent all this.”
“I know why he sent all that.” Danny gave her a wink and a smile.
“Well, what about Maurice? Are you still with Maurice then?” Jane asked, looking confused as her gaze went from Danny back to Tamika.
“Yeah, I’m still with Maurice. In fact, we’re going to buy a house and settle down together. It’s finally happening.” She smiled, but somehow the smile didn’t quite reach her heart.
Danny rolled his eyes dramatically. “Pft. Yeah. I’ll believe that when I see it. He’s just never going to settle down with you, doll. If he was going to, he’d have done it by now. I just don’t see it happening. At least Shane is showing you some love and appreciation. Is he good looking? Is he nice?”
Tamika’s cheeks were burning. “Yes, he’s very good looking, and he’s really nice. Obviously.” She looked around her at the things he had sent.
Carol shook her head. “I am going to have to agree with Danny on this one, Tami. Maurice isn’t any good for you. I like that this Shane guy is at least trying to impress you. I mean, Maurice hasn’t ever been good to you.”
Tamika frowned. “Yes, he has.”
Jane shook her head. “No, he hasn’t. He sure wasn’t being good to you when he left you waiting here at work while your car was in the shop, and you waited for him for an hour, and he never came, and I saw you downstairs waiting and gave you a ride. It was raining so hard that day, and you were soaked to the bone! That wasn’t being good to you.”
Carol’s expression darkened. “Yeah, or the time he borrowed all that money from you to go to Vegas and lost all of it gambling and then called you and you had to bail him out and buy him a plane ticket home. That was pretty lousy of him.” Her voice clearly reflected her intense dislike for the man.
Danny shook his head. “Or the time he blew off your birthday and went out drinking with all of his buddies at the bar? Yeah, that was pretty low. Didn’t even tell you happy birthday or get you so much as a card. Just tossed you aside for his drinking pals. That’s not a nice man, honey.”
Tamika was going to defend him, and she had wanted to at first, but as her friends brought up so many times that he had used her and let her down, her desire to defend Maurice began to waver and fade. She looked at the delicious lunch and lovely flowers that Shane had been so thoughtful to send, and the dress that she was wearing, which was another beautiful gift from him.
She thought back to all that he had done for her at the hotel, including the helicopter ride, and it was a staggering difference compared to what Maurice had done, and more so what he had not done. There was a divide like the Grand Canyon between them.
She sighed and shook her head. “Actually Danny, you’re right. Shane does want more than friendship with me. He’s made that very clear, but I’m with Maurice. I’m committed to Maurice, and I feel like I owe it to him and to myself to try to build a future with him. I can’t be with Shane.”
“Oh, honey. I wish you’d let Maurice go. He’s so bad for you. I don’t know why you’re so loyal to him; he sure doesn’t deserve it, and you deserve so much better. You deserve someone who is going to be amazing to you and treat you really well. Someone who will treat you like this.” He pointed to the flowers and the lunch.
“I agree. Danny’s so right about that. Don’t stick with a bad guy out of obligation and duty. Your first priority should be to yourself. You should come to terms with that.” Carol looked at her pointedly.
Jane nodded. “I’m sorry, sweetie, but they’re right. We all know you, and we know a lot about how Maurice has been with you. I don’t think he’s ever going to make you a priority. I don’t think he’s ever going to go settle down with you. I just feel like if it was going to happen that it would have happened already, and it hasn’t. I can’t see him making a home with you.”
Tamika furrowed her brow some. “Well, we are buying a house together. We’re ready to take that step. We’re going to start shopping for one soon. Probably this week, or next, actually. So, I know it’s taken a while, but we’re there now. It’s time now. I can’t go dumping him at this point, not when things are finally coming together.”
They sighed and nodded, and having said their pieces already, they turned from her and went back to work. She chewed on her lower lip and told herself that things would have come together anyway even if she didn’t have the million dollars, and that he would have wanted to settle down with her whether or not the money had come, because he cared about her and he wanted a life with her, just as much as she wanted one with him.
She didn’t talk about Shane with her friends the rest of the day, and they didn’t bring any of it up again either.
When she left work, she checked her cell phone for messages and saw that she hadn’t heard from Maurice at all. It worried her, and when she got home, she grew tired of waiting, wondering if he was going to call and if he was just waiting for her to get off of work and go home so that they could speak uninterrupted, but he didn’t call, and her patience finally wore through. She called him.
He didn’t answer right away, but finally, after several rings and just before his unanswe
red phone went to voicemail, he picked up the line.
“Yeah?” He sounded somewhat pressed, not quite annoyed, but not pleased.
“Hi, it’s me, of course. I guess you know that.” She smiled, feeling her nerves jump a bit. “I haven’t heard from you, so I thought I’d check in.”
“Okay.” He was simple; short and to the point.
“So…” she trailed off, wondering why things were so cool and tense between them, worrying in the back of her mind if it had anything to do with the fight that they had had in his kitchen. “Do you still have the money? What happened to it?”
“It’s in the bank. I put it in an account, just like I said I would. It’s safe. I didn’t like it being out where anyone could get to it. All that cash just… out. Anyone could take it and say it was theirs. We would be screwed. So, it’s in a bank.” He sounded proud and relieved.
She was standing in her living room, and she didn’t realize it, but she began to pace a little, taking small steps, walking a short line in one direction and then returning, walking the same line back again.
“Well, that’s good to know. I’m glad it’s safe. You’re right, that’s a lot of money.” She cleared her throat. “Thank you for doing that.”
He said nothing in return.
“So, I was thinking maybe you could come over tonight if you want to, or I could go over there. I want to see you. We can talk about everything, you know, what we want to do, when we want to start shopping for houses, what our plan to move in together is going to be. What do you think? My place or yours?” She laughed a little, but it was thin.
“Look, I got stuff I have to do tonight, so I ain’t gonna see you. There’s things I need to take care of.” He sounded as if he was blowing her off, but she knew that that couldn’t possibly be the case. They were going to move in and get a home together.
“Oh, I didn’t know you were busy. Sorry. Well, let’s see each other soon. I miss you. I want to see you, and we have a lot to talk about. Lots to plan and work out.” She smiled a little, but the smile didn’t quite reach her heart.
“Yeah, whatever. We’ll work it out. Later,” he stated flatly, and then he ended the call, and she bit her lip and looked down at her phone worriedly.
He hadn’t ever been especially close to her, but he had seemed to be getting closer to her, and she was certain that he was falling in love with her, like she had with him. He had told her that he loved her many times, and he had told her that he wanted to move in with her and settle down with her, and the only setback for them was that they had to wait until they could afford it, because at present, neither of them could afford to live together.
She put her phone down and spent a quiet evening at home, watching some of her favorite shows and then curling up with a good book in bed, until it was time to fall asleep. She had hoped that the distractions of television and reading would keep her mind from all of the things that were weighing so heavily on it, but they didn’t prove to be enough of a distraction to keep her mind clear, and when she fell asleep, her thoughts evolved into dreams.
Maurice was there in the first part of the dream, just out of reach while she tried to call to him, to reach him and get closer to him. He kept saying that he couldn’t hear her or see her, and then he was obscured by some strange mist and darkness. She was alone, and she felt awful, but then in her dream she felt warmth and then there was light, and as she turned around, trying to figure out what was happening and where it was coming from, she saw Shane there, a big smile on his face, his hand reaching out to her, open to her, and she was flooded with relief and happiness.
She reached her hand to his outstretched one, they connected, and she found herself in his arms. He told her how he had been waiting for her, and how glad he was that she was there with him. Her happiness felt like it was so overwhelming that it spilled out of her in the form of light and pure joy.
He held her close and kissed her, and she felt as if the rest of the world had somehow just fallen away, and there was nothing more to worry about, nothing more to contend with, and relief filled her.
When she woke up, there was a smile on her face, and she felt good, she felt happy, and she was still thinking of Shane. She didn’t bother to try to push him from her mind, when she realized that he was at the forefront of it and that he was the reason for the happiness she felt. She hadn’t felt that happy since she had been with him, and she didn’t want the feeling to go away, so she kept on thinking about him, and kept holding on to the happiness that the mere thought of him brought to her.
She dressed and went in to work, smiling even wider as she breathed in the beautiful bouquet that he had sent to her the day before, and touching her fingertips to the soft petals of some of the flowers in it.
Jane was watching her. “Are you going to see Shane?” she asked with a hopeful smile.
Tamika shook her head. “No, you know I can’t see him that way. I’m with Maurice.”
“Honey, you need to dump Maurice and go for the new boy. He’s treating you much better than Maurice ever did, and I can see that right now. How long have you known this guy Shane?” Danny asked, looking at her with intense directness.
She shrugged one shoulder. “Oh, not too long. Actually, we just met over the weekend.”
Danny laughed and grinned, shaking his head. “Well, you must have made one epically good impression on him! He wants you bad, girl! Go get him!”
“I’m going to have to agree with Danny on this one. You should definitely invest a little time into this guy Shane and see where it goes.” Carol added as they all sat down at their desks with their coffee.
“Maurice.” Tamika sighed with a little smile at them all.
“Team Shane,” Danny stated brightly.
“Shane!” Carol added immediately.
“I’m on Team Shane, too. Sorry honey!” Jane added with a sweet grin.
“You’re all ganging up on me.” Tamika laughed at them and shook her head.
“We want what’s best for you,” Danny told her compassionately.
Her phone rang, and she gave him a smile before she reached for her phone and answered it, getting to work.
At lunch, she tried to call Maurice and got his voicemail. She sent him a few texts and waited, but there was no reply from him. She tried not to think about it during the day as she worked, and when she was finished at work, she checked her phone again and saw that there had been no reply from him on the texts, and no return phone call.
She reasoned that he could have been working. Another long hot day working his ass off in the sun as he usually told her. She sat in her car in the parking garage at her office and wondered what to do. She chewed at her lower lip as she tried to call him again, but her phone call went unanswered, though it rang off of the hook, and eventually it went to voicemail. She left a message for him to call her, and then she put her phone away and put her car into gear to drive home.
By the time she got to the exit of the parking garage at her office, she had changed her mind about going home, and instead she turned her car in the direction of Maurice’s apartment and drove to his place.
She parked in his parking lot and walked one flight upstairs to his apartment. The door was slightly ajar, and she frowned in surprise. It was highly unusual for him to have it that way. She couldn’t remember ever seeing it that way. With a sharp knock on it, she called out, and then pushed the door open.
Surprise washed over her as she saw that some of the things in his living room were gone. “Maurice?” she called out again, and then she heard him answer from the bedroom.
“Yeah, I’m in here.”
Relief flooded through her, and she walked back to his bedroom, only to stop short in the doorway as the sight in there took her by surprise. His bed was filled with all of his belongings, and he was packing them into boxes and suitcases.
“What are you doing?” she asked, taking slow steps into the bedroom and looking around at the disarray of chaos all about
the room.
“I’m packing, what does it look like?” He barely looked up at her. She didn’t miss the stunning designer tailored suit that he was wearing.
“You’re packing? Why? And what’s this suit you’re wearing? I’ve never seen you in a suit. I didn’t even know that you had one.” She was completely amazed. He looked good in the suit, and he was wearing a gold ring on each hand, and a golden chain around his neck.
“I ain’t never had a suit before,” he replied simply, packing more of his things into boxes as he spoke.
“Well, where did you get one, and why are you wearing it?” she pressed further, staring at him curiously in it. It was like she was looking a man she had never known before.