by nikki blaire
“Naw, I’m good off that. Who knows what I’d walk in on.” He straightened his suit jacket.
“And what is that supposed to mean?” She hopped up from the stool at the kitchen counter to waddle back to the couch.
“Whatever you want it to.” Dwele arched an eyebrow. “You fell today, huh? I’m assuming that young man was just a goodSamaritan who offered to get you home.” His tone was so sarcastic that Ayda had to laugh. “Right.” He adjusted his slacks then came to sit next to Ayda on the sofa. “I’m glad you’re okay though. Let me look at it?”
Ayda removed the dishcloth and bagged ice to show Dwele her swelling ankle. The ice had helped tremendously. She was starting to feel like Tremaine was superman. He was attractive, smart, handling a new job, raising a kid, and apparently knew his way around a bum ankle.
“Yea, it’s not a sprain though, so you’ll be okay.” He put the ice back on her ankle. “Glad ol’ boy was there. He just happened to be walking in or…” They looked at each other and laughed.
“You’re just like Marc, always trying to fish for something. Always asking questions.”
“I’m not like Marc and we both know he never asks questions. He just makes statements.” They shared another laugh at their older brother’s expense.
“Oh, so you think just because you listen to Nas and don’t wear a tie on casual Friday that you’re not like him? You two are just different sides of the same coin. Don’t get it twisted.”
“Please.” Dwele stood to his feet. “I don’t have to take this.” He joked then helped her stand as well. “Come lock your door. Tell Marc to get one of those automatic ones for you. He’ll have it installed by the morning.”
“Will do.” She slowly followed behind him.
“Oh and congrats on your campaign. I intentionally took the train so that I could see one of your ads since all I did was send you a text the other day. ”
This was exactly why Dwele was her favorite brother. What he lacked in finesse, he made up for in consideration.
“You took the train?” Ayda gasped. Although Dwele was more laid back than Marcus, he was still a privileged Forde. Ayda hadn’t seen him take the train since they were kids.
“Don’t make it sound like that.” He chuckled. “A little birdie also told me that you’re helping out with the Spring Affair. You must be coming out of that funk you’ve been in. I like it.” His eyes shined with endearment. “See you later, baby sis.”
“Bye, Dwele.” They hugged briefly before she ushered him out of the door.
“Oh, and send my thanks to the Good Samaritan the next time you see him.” He just had to get one last joke in before being pushed out. Ayda slammed the door behind him for emphasis, shaking her head, as she hobbled back to her sofa. She would likely work from home tomorrow, which meant Renee could as well. She had just pulled out her phone to text her, when knocking sounded at her door again.
“Seriously, Dwele,” She went back to the door and snatched it open, only to have the breath knocked out of her. Tremaine stood in her doorway wearing one of his panty wetting smiles.
“I couldn’t let myself leave without getting your number.”
“What? You don’t have it?” She was shocked initially, but then remembered that they had never exchanged such pleasantries. “I’m sorry. Here, what’s your number?” He called it out loud, while she typed it into her phone since she had it in her hand. “There, I just text you.”
“Got it.” They stood in awkward silence for another moment until Tremaine moved to walk away. “Oh, and one last thing,” He paused before heading down the hall. “Why’d your brother call me the Good Samaritan when I just passed him?”
Ayda’s eyes grew wide. “My mother dropped him on the head a couple of times.” She made a mental note to slap Dwele the next time that she saw him.
“Aight.” He chuckled then disappeared down the hallway. Ayda shut the door again, finally managing to regain her composure.
“What in the world?” She asked herself as she made her way to the sofa. Tremaine had sent her through a bevy of emotions with every face-to-face encounter. Giddy, horny, frustrated, hornier, more frustrated, and then giddy again.
She eased down on the sofa because she felt her head spinning.
It has to be those damn kisses.
She reasoned to herself. The man’s lips were powerful, yet gentle and he was always kissing her like he was starved. Then, he would pull back as if she had imagined the entire thing. It was maddening, but intriguing, which was a new experience for her. She touched her lips then swiped her tongue across them. She could still taste a flavor that was distinctly him and it turned her on even more.
****
Tremaine slid behind the steering wheel of his SUV then headed to Maryland to pick up Sasha from Julissa’s apartment. He was a little later than he had planned to be, but it had been worth it. He licked his lips, thinking of his kiss with Ayda, still tasting the faint flavor of wine and her lip gloss.
He hadn’t intended to kiss her, but he had to this time. She was spewing all kinds of craziness about not being attractive, which only made her more attractive. He laughed to himself, while he thumbed out a beat on the steering wheel. His spirits were high, so high, in fact that he felt like calling his brother to gloat on the ride to Julissa’s.
“You better have some good news, calling me during a Panthers game.” Quentin picked up.
“Oh, my bad. You still got that man crush on Cam Newton? I can call you back if you want your quality time.” He laughed into the speaker, imagining his brother’s balled up expression. Quentin was sensitive about football.
“Say what you need to say before I hang up on you and never answer your calls again.” He barked, which made Tremaine laugh even harder.
“I’m sorry, Que. My bad. It was too easy, but really, I did call to tell you something. I got Ayda’s phone number.”
“Who?” He was clearly distracted by whatever play was happening on his TV screen. “Oh yea, Coffee Shop Dream Girl. You want some applause for getting something you should’ve already had?”
“I don’t even know why I called you. You’re never helpful.”
“That’s a lie.” Quentin snapped. “If it weren’t for me, you still wouldn’t even have her number. I deserve a thank you.” He laughed. “So, since you just got her number, it’s safe to assume nothing else happened. I swear, you’ve really turned into a simp.”
“Because I’m no longer changing my bed sheets like drawers?”
“No, because you’re calling me wanting to go on about getting some girl’s number. You better be careful lil’ bro, this one may really be the one to get you. Trinity was an accident, but this seems intentional.”
“You were right. I do like her.”
“Of course. We went over that already. So, where are y’all going out? You’re gonna need to save up your bread for a chick like her.”
Tremaine frowned. He hadn’t thought that far ahead. He was just proud of himself for getting as a far as he had after failing miserably during both of his and Ayda’s previous interactions.
“Let me guess. You have no idea. Man, this is going to be like teaching you how to walk again, huh?” Tremaine could hear Quentin’s smile through the phone.
“I got some...kind of an idea.” He lied, tired of always being one step behind. “I’m gonna ask her out. Don’t worry.”
“At the rate you’re going, I have no choice but to worry.” Quentin chuckled. “But congrats baby bro. You’ve officially revived your dead ass love life.”
“Bye, Que.” Tremaine hung up without letting him respond. Quentin always had to be right. It was an annoying trait in older brothers. He parked his SUV in front of Julissa’s apartment then hopped out. In a few long strides, he was at her front door. He knocked a couple of times until the door swung open, revealing his sister in her sorority T-shirt with some of her sorority sisters behind her.
“Can y’all back up, dang.” She push
ed one’s hand off of her shoulder. “My brother is old and played out. Stop trippin. Hey, Tremaine.” She finally turned to face him. “Sasha’s grabbing her bag.”
“I ain’t old and played out, whatchutalmbout, girl.” He mushed his sister’s face then moved into her apartment. Even she had lost faith in his ability to pull women.
“Daddeeeeeeee!” Sasha’s shrieking bellowed through the small apartment from down the hall. She bounded onto his lap.
“Hey ladybug, it’s time to go home.” He kissed her cheek then stood her on the floor.
“Ah man, we was gonna have brownies with the nuts in ‘em.” She frowned then turned to Julissa with hopes that she would intervene.
“We can have brownies after you eat some real food.” Tremaine stood up and grabbed her hand.
“Hey. I resent that,” Julissa smacked her teeth. “We had a supreme pizza. That’s got veggies on it.”
“Yea. Remind me to start packing her snacks and dinner when she’s with you.” He affixed Sasha’s school bag to her shoulder then led her to the doorway. She kissed Julissa goodbye, then waved at everyone until they were out of the front door. He loaded her into the car, strapped her into the backseat, and then slid into the driver’s side.
Sasha chatted nonstop about her day until exhaustion hit and was asleep by the time he made it to the highway. Once they were home, Tremaine lifted her out of the car and carried her to their apartment. She finally woke up once he settled her onto her bed.
“Daddy, do I still have to do bath time? I’m too sleepy.”
“I know, ladybug, but we gotta do it.” He kissed her forehead, while he readied her for a bath. He watched her while she did more playing than bathing, then changed her and tucked her into bed for the night. Exhausted, he slumped onto his sofa to relax, but it was short lived once his phone started to ring.
His immediate instinct was to ignore it, but the newfound possibility of it being Ayda made him reach for the phone. He was disappointed when he saw Trinity’s name on the screen, even worse, she was video calling, but chose to answer it anyway.
“She’s asleep. I’ll have her call you in the morning.” He moved to end the call, but Trinity called out his name.
“What?” He laid back on the sofa, clearly annoyed at having to talk to her and see her. Trinity’s petite face was done up with exaggerated make up that Tremaine hated. Her originally dark brown hair was now honey blonde and in big waves around her face. It was day time where she was, so he figured she was on the West Coast. There were also cameras in the background, which let him know that she was on set.
“Can you wake her up? Please. I won’t be up in the morning.” Trinity’s hazel eyes begged him to comply, but Tremaine was not having it.
“Nope. It’s hard as hell to get her back to sleep when you wake her up in the middle of the night.”
“Fine.” She grew quiet, which Tremaine tried to take advantage of to hang up, but Trinity stopped him again. “Hey, can you just give me a second. I wanted to talk to you too.”
“For what?” He arched an eyebrow. “What do you want?”
“Trey, don’t even.” She rolled her eyes. She was the only person who ever called him Trey. He hated it. “I’m trying to talk to you, but you’re always making it difficult.”
“Being a single dad is difficult.” He couldn’t stop the snide remark from coming out of his mouth.
“Trey, please stop insinuating that I don’t care about my daughter and that I don’t do anything for her.”
“I wouldn’t be able to insinuate it if you were actually doing something.” He rubbed his temples. He hadn’t wanted to talk to her to avoid doing exactly what he was doing, arguing. They had this conversation every time they spoke and, frankly, he was sick of it.
“I’m trying, Trey, but this isn’t exactly the best environment to raise a four year old. And, in case you forgot, I don’t have the steadiest income. We agreed that it was best she stay with you, but now it’s always a problem.”
“It’s not a problem, Trinity. Don’t you dare take what I said out of context and try to flip it like that. You’re the problem. Not Sasha. Your money’s consistent enough for you to keep your hair dyed and your nails done, but not enough to pay for dance camp this summer?”
“I didn’t call you for this.” She mumbled, which made him even more upset, but he backed down just to end the argument. It was pointless. Trinity was pointless.
“Then what did you call for?” He waited, while she spoke to someone on the set then turned her focus back to him.
“Well, I auditioned for a part in this series that films in D.C. I found out that I got the part today.”
“Congratulations.” His tone was flat and dripping with sarcasm, which made Trinity frown. He had hurt her feelings, but could care less.
“Did you hear me, Trey? I’m coming home.” She stared at him, expecting some kind of response, but he just couldn’t bring himself to show emotion. He was completely indifferent.
“When?” Was all that he could muster.
“In two months. I’ve got to wrap this up, find a place, and everything, but after that, I’ll be back home. I was hoping that when I did that maybe we could really talk about everything.”
Tremaine huffed.
“Travel safely. I’ll tell Sasha once you actually call me from this time zone.” He hung up without waiting for her to say goodbye. He tossed the phone onto the other side of the couch in irritation. He clenched his fist. Trinity said she had the best of intentions, but he would believe it when he actually saw it.
His head fell back onto the sofa cushions while his mind swirled with every possible negative scenario that could happen if Trinity really did return to Washington, D.C. He shook it away, but couldn’t completely block her out.
“Damn.” He forced himself to his feet then made his way to his bedroom. He picked up his weights and began to lift to let off some steam. He had thought about Trinity coming back and being a mother to Sasha for so long, but now that it seemed like a real possibility, he realized that Trinity being in their lives was the last thing that he wanted. After an hour of lifting weights, he took a shower, climbed into bed and was met with the familiar images of Ayda again. She always showed up in his thoughts to ease his mind of whatever worried him. He was about to engage in his fantasy when realization struck. He had her phone number. He didn’t need to pretend tonight.
He reached for the phone then scrolled to her number. He exhaled deeply, and then dialed her number before he lost his nerve.
“Hello,” She picked up. Her voice was just as warm as it was in person.
“Hey. Uh, did I wake you?”
“Not at all. I’m doing the work that didn’t get done because of my little spill this afternoon.”
“Oh yea. Your ankle. How does it feel?” He lay back on his bed. His stomach fluttered and he suddenly felt like he was in high school on the phone with a crush.
“I’m not dying.” She laughed again and a tingly sensation raced through his body. “Thank you again. I swear, it’s funny how you go from not knowing a person at all to…” Her words trailed off, but Tremaine knew exactly what she was trying to say.
“Anyways, you made it home, I see.”
“Oh yea. I’ve been home for a while actually. I just had to get Sasha ready for bed and then,” He started to mention Trinity, but stopped himself. He wanted to forget her and that was probably too much to bring up so soon. He knew that Ayda would have questions about the status of his relationship with Sasha’s mother at some point, but decided to wait until she asked to discuss it.
“You put her to bed?” Her high-pitched shriek brought him back to the present. “That is so cute. So, when you’re not saving damsels in distress, you’re picking out pink PJ’s. You just may really be superman, Tremaine.”
“Far from that.” He felt like he was just simply doing what needed to be done, but he would take the compliment. “I, uh, called for a reason though. I can’t
keep kissing you without ever actually taking you out. My mama raised me better than that.”
There it was. The offer to go on a date was out there, and now, Tremaine just had to wait for her response.
“Uh, sure. What did you have in mind?”
He had nothing in mind because he hadn’t thought that far. He swallowed the lump in his throat then tried to come up with something.
“What about dinner tomorrow? You’ve already fed me so,”
“I have dinner plans for tomorrow already.”
She has a date with some other nigga who’s definitely more put together than you.
He sighed to himself, but he wouldn’t express his feelings of defeat.
“But, we can do lunch. If that works for you?” She had thrown him a lifeline and he was surely going to take it.
“Lunch it is.” He quickly confirmed before she changed her mind. “I’ll pick the place...and Ayda, this is a date. So, don’t try and pass it off. I don’t want to hear about anymore of that craziness you were talking about earlier. You’re damn near perfect to me.”
He wanted to be clear. She was silent for a moment then let out an uneasy laugh.
“Damn near perfect? What are you holding out to see for me to reach perfection?”
He should have expected her to have witty comeback. That was what he liked about her.
“Well,” He wanted to choose his words wisely. “We’ve yet to test our chemistry past kissing, which is partially my fault. So, if we can make this vibe between us last, then you’ll be just that...perfect for me, and that would make me a very fortunate man.”
A sharp intake of breath and then a lengthy sigh sounded on her end of the phone.
“There you go again with that corny shit. Goodnight.” She couldn’t hide the smile in her voice.
“Goodnight, Ayda.”
He hung up, realizing that he was also wearing a huge grin.
You’ve officially revived your dead ass love life.
His brother’s words repeated in his head, while he slipped under his comforter then drifted off to sleep.