by H.H. Fowler
****
The next morning I woke up late for work. I rushed to the kitchen and turned on the coffee maker. While going back to my bedroom, I noticed a red light blinking on my answering machine. If it was blinking last evening when I got home, I must’ve been too out of it to notice. I pressed the playback function and listened as Reuben’s voice filled the room.
“Sierra, did you get my message? Why are you avoiding me? Please pick up the phone. I have some great news to share with you...Sierra?”
Beep.
I ran back to my bedroom to look for the note, which I eventually found in the pocket of the pants I wore yesterday. It was a rather simple note that read: I got the job at the gym, but you won’t believe what happened next. Call me as soon as you can. I balled up the note and tossed it onto the floor. Reuben had been running me down to tell me that he’d been hired by some stupid gym? This was just like Reuben to be so…
I paused and tried to calm down. No use working myself into a frenzy over a twenty-three-year-old boy, who was obviously having a hard time trying to find himself. I went back to the kitchen to check on my coffee. I fixed me a cup and then hastened to get dressed for work. As I was about to walk through my front door, Maya called me on my cell. She claimed that she’d just noticed my missed call.
“For a woman who doesn’t work,” I snapped at her, “you sure are one hard chick to catch up with.”
“Just because I don’t have a job doesn’t mean my life is on standstill. I have stuff to do.”
“Like what?”
“First of all, I’m still actively looking for a job, which takes up a lot of my time when I have to drive to other sides of town to drop off my résumés. Second, unlike you and Kimone, I’m going on dates, trying to find me a man. Jennifer’s not the only one who should be allowed to snag a hunk like Taj.”
I didn’t want to get into whether or not Kimone had been telling the truth when she said that Maya had a plan to steal Taj from Jennifer. I didn’t even want to bring up the reason why I’d been trying to reach her. Moving forward, I thought it was best to lessen my focus on Taj and focus more on building my dependence on God’s word.
“I’m rushing to my office,” I told Maya. “So I don’t have time to talk.”
“But you called me,” Maya spat and continued to rant in her Asian dialect. “Kimone told me that Jennifer is starting to feel insecure about her man. She has every right to be, especially when I’m in Taj’s presence. Jennifer knows she is no match for me when it comes down to giving men the royal treatment.”
I rolled my eyes. That Kimone couldn’t resist gossiping if her life depended on it. “Taj and Jennifer are none of your business, so stay out of it.”
Maya huffed. “I can’t believe Jennifer thinks you’re having sexual dreams about Taj, which is odd, because you are the only person I know who is more saintly than Mother Teresa.”
“Forget it, Maya. I really have to go now.”
“Sierra, wait—”
I disconnected the line and walked out through my front door with my emotions still suffering from the vestiges of last night’s episode. I didn’t need Maya’s negativity adding to it.