Checkmate 2: Let the Games Begin (23 page)

“Damn,” he paused. He was getting choked up himself. This was harder than he thought it would be. He definitely didn’t want to show his emotional side. So, he grabbed her by the hand.

“Candy, I love you more than any woman I’ve ever been with. My son definitely plays a major role in those feelings, but he’s merely the topping on the cake. I’ve never had these feelings for no one other than. You are very special to me and always will be. There truly is no other woman that can replace you or the love I have for you. I love you and I don’t know how else to show you, but if being apart is only going to bring us closer then I’m down for whatever. I understand where you’re coming from and I know how you feel. I was wrong for sleeping with Monica.” Candy frowned a little, but straightened her face up quickly. “I shouldn’t have gone there, and I’m sorry that I did.”

“No worries or concerns about that now. I’m moving past that and I suggest that you do the same. We can’t change the past and I’m not trying to. I don’t have any regrets, because every experience makes me who I am. If it’s meant for us to be together then I’m sure we will be. Nothing would make me happier, but I’m letting you go and praying that one day you’ll come back.” She kissed him softly on his lips before he could respond. She then whispered. “I love you,” just as the doorbell rang. Monty cleared his throat, whispering back.

“I love you, too.” At that moment he knew that things were over between them and he hated to let her go. He was praying on the inside that the bond they shared through love and with MJ would somehow draw them back together one day. “Can you get that for me?” He asked. He turned his back to her, heading straight to his bedroom with his head hung low. Candy stood up. She wanted to reach out for him, but figured it was best to leave things as it was. She opened up the front door and Mona walked in with Rico following her. Candy hugged Mona around the neck.

“Are you okay?” Candy asked Mona.

“Yeah, I’m good.” Mona stated grabbing Rico by the hand. “How are you?”

“I’m better,” Candy stated with a mere smile, and then speaking to Rico as he spoke back. “Your mom is in the kitchen setting the table and Monty is in his room, I believe.”

“Well, we are going to head in the kitchen.” Mona said. “We will catch up later. Is my baby in there?” She asked referring to MJ.

“Yeah, your mom has him. He’s probably sitting in his baby chair. He loves that lil rocking thing.” Candy laughed.

“Let me go get him.” Mona said. She and Rico walked into the kitchen and just as Candy was headed upstairs to check on Monty, the doorbell rang again.
Damn,
she thought while turning to go back to the door.

Maurice and Dee walked in together and just as she greeted them and was closing the door a handsome man stepped up and walked in.

“Is this your friend?” Candy asked Catherine since she came hurrying out of the kitchen. The smile on her face said enough.

“Yep,” she responded. She hugged the nice looking man and kissed him on the lips just as Monty returned from upstairs.

“Hey, everyone, I’d like to introduce you all to my companion, Joseph. He’d prefer to be called Joe.” She stated smiling. Monty’s mouth dropped open. He’d never saw his mom with no other man, but his daddy. Instead of acting an ass, he immediately went over, shook Joe’s hand, and introduced himself and everyone else. Catherine was speechless, but proud of Monty for showing his maturity.

Monty smiled trying to cover up the thoughts in his mind.
This night has already turned out to be one of the most interesting nights of my life.
He looked from Joe to Catherine and he knew that Joe was the reason why his mom had been glowing lately. He looked from Catherine to Dee and wondered what she had in store for him being that she didn’t tell Candy about MiKayla. He shook his head.
Damn, I hate that shit happened,
he thought. He then looked from Dee to Candy who was looking as gorgeous as ever, but he didn’t know where things would go from here after the talk that they had and even though he felt bad, he still smiled to cover the pain of losing her.
After tonight, I got a feeling that nothing is ever going to be the same,
He thought. 

Chapter Twenty

Two months had passed and the one thing that Monty was thinking had totally proven to be true. Nothing was the same. He had become a legitimate businessman and his Realty Company would be opening its doors in a week’s time. He also had to get used to the fact that Catherine was now in a relationship with another man. Even though he approved of Joe, getting used to seeing his mom kiss a man other than his dad was going to take more time than he imagined.

Seeing his little sister blossom was amazing to him. He could tell that she was going to be a good mother. He could also see a strain put on her and Rico’s relationship, because the time had come for Monica to have the baby. Monica hadn’t made this easy for Mona either. She was always calling Rico and asking for some kind of help. Although, it was clear to him that Mona was holding it together, he could foresee that it was just a matter of time before she’d snap if Monica kept pushing her.

Rico was doing well under the circumstances. He had two babies on the way by two women who hated each other. He continued with his classes and stayed head strong in making sure that he was going to take care of his family by making lucrative choices in his new found career. Even though, Rico had that part of his life figured out what he didn’t realize was that Monica was slowly, but surely coming between him and Mona. Monty was just hoping that Rico would wake up and see it before it was too late.

It was funny how things had been working out between him and Candy. He hadn’t slept with her since the break-up and the only time that they’d see each other was in passing as they were either bringing or dropping off MJ. He was glad to have his son stay with him every other night and was even more grateful that Candy was very good with holding up her end of the agreement. What was surprising was how she held her ground. She didn’t want him to even stay the night with her. The closest he got to that pussy was finger fucking her late one night when he had dropped MJ off. He almost had her, but MJ woke up crying and intervened on their love session. She suggested that his crying was meant to stop them and then politely asked him to leave. No pressure on him, because he left there to go fuck Toni. Toni was definitely staying in the picture, because her pussy was good, but for some reason she didn’t satisfy him. He only slept with her to make sure that he wasn’t totally falling for MiKayla, who was the only other person he’d been laying down with. He knew he had a thang for MiKayla and couldn’t shake whatever it was. He also knew that his eye was still on the prize and he was gonna get Candy back if that was the last thing that he did.

Monty was a little skeptical about Dee and Maurice’s relationship, because they had gotten so close. Dee would just show up to the office whenever she wanted to and it seemed like every time she was there, so was MiKayla. Dee never acted as if anything was different, even though she knew about him and MiKayla having sex. She just made it known by introducing herself to MiKayla as Dee, the first cousin to MJ’s mother. So, MiKayla knew what time it was, but she felt that if Monty wasn’t asking her to leave then she was staying. He didn’t want to stop MiKayla from coming there, because he knew that they dealt just as much business as they did anything else. He knew that MiKayla was falling for him and even more so since she’d found out that he and Candy had gone their separate ways. But, he always kept it real with her, letting her know that if Candy took him back that he would be with her, because she had his heart and would always be in his life no matter what. Even though MiKayla accepted that fact, he still wondered how she would really act towards him if Candy did take him back.

Monty was working in his office, saving some important documents on his hard drive. He was looking from the computer screen to MiKayla who was sitting on his desk. Her nicely shaped legs were turned to him and the skirt she had on was very short. Monty leaned down and kissed her gently on the knee. He wanted to do more, but his office door was open. He and MiKayla had been spending a lot of time together. He found that the less time he spent with Candy gave him more time to spend with her and the more time he spent with MiKayla gave him less time to spend with Toni. He was beginning to enjoy the space Candy had given him more than he should have. It felt good for him not to have to answer to nobody. As Monty and MiKayla laughed and talked to one another, Dee knocked on the door. Monty looked up.

“What’s up Dee?” He asked not feeling threatened at all at this point, because he knew that Dee wouldn’t say anything about his affair. She’d kept quiet thus far.

“Nothing much, Monty,” she paused, looking over at MiKayla who barely turned to acknowledge her. “Hi MiKayla, how are you?” She asked as if she cared.

“I’m doing great, Dee and yourself?” MiKayla asked, glimpsing back to take a quick look then turning back to Monty, raising her eyebrows.

“I’ve never been better. I just thought I’d speak since I was right next door and could hear y’all talking in here. We are about to go grab a bite to eat. Monty, Maurice wanted me to ask you if you needed anything before he left.” Dee stated.

“No, I don’t need anything,” Monty said, looking up at MiKayla. “You didn’t need anything else from Maurice about the ad before he leaves, do you?” She asked MiKayla.

“No, I got everything I needed. I’m good.” She responded, looking back at Dee with a smile on her face.

“Okay, whatever that means,” Dee stated as she walked off. She knew all too well that MiKayla was trying to be funny, but she had something up her sleeve for her. She smiled and pulled out her cell phone. Monty looked up at MiKayla.

“You are too bad.” He stated while she rubbed in his head.

“I know that Dee doesn’t like me, but I’m not gonna sweat it.” She said as Monty grinned.

He grinned. “That’s why I said that you were bad. Dee knew you were trying to be funny with that comment you made.”

“If you shut the door and lock it, then I can show you just how bad I really am.” MiKayla responded.

“Oh yeah,” Monty said, rubbing down her smooth leg. “Let me finish up this paper work quickly and if you’d hold up I’ma let you show me just how bad you can be.” He stated while trying to stay focused on finishing up his documents. MiKayla sat patiently as she waited for him.

Dee and Maurice headed downstairs. Dee looked over at Maurice and smiled. She was really falling for her Nelly look alike. Not only did he look good, but he was very fine. To top it off, he was a gentleman and he treated her like a lady. Maurice slapped her on the butt making her giggle. She loved his playful side as she bumped up against him, gently hitting his arm. When they made it to the door she stopped.

“Hold up baby. Let me use the restroom right quick and then I’m coming on out. You can go ahead and start the car.” She said with a smile.

“Okay, I’ll be waiting for you,” Maurice stated. He reached in for a peck on the lips. Dee kissed him then headed into the restroom.

“Okay, MiKayla.” She stated as she spoke to herself, looking in the mirror. “I’ve let you toy with my cousin’s man long enough.” She looked at her blackberry and dialed Candy’s number.

“Hello,” Candy said as she answered.

“Hi cuz, what are you doing?” She asked while checking her lip gloss in the mirror.

“I was just hanging up the phone with Mona. What are you doing?” She asked as she peeked in on MJ.

“I’m at the office about to leave.”

“Oh, okay. Is Monty there?” She asked, wanting more and more to see him as each day passed.

“Yeah, he is here and that’s why I’m calling you.” Dee hated to tell Candy about MiKayla, because Candy was doing so well holding her ground. She knew why Candy was doing what she was doing, but she also knew that if she kept it up, then she was going to lose her baby’s daddy to someone else.

“Well, what’s up, Cuz? Is he been asking about me? I hope so, because I’m ready to see him so bad.” Dee paused and cleared her throat.

“Uh, Cuz…” Dee paused. “I think it’s something you should know.” She knew she had to tell Candy about MiKayla now or Monty was surely to move on if MiKayla had anything to do with it.

“What is it Dee?” Candy asked as she pulled out a pair of skinny leg jeans from her bottom dresser drawer and a red fitted polo shirt.

“There is no easy way to say this, so I’m just gonna say it.” Dee stated. Candy continued to get her outfit together. She was anxiously listening to Dee as she searched through her closet to find her red, adjustable, ankle strapped, platform heel shoes to match her outfit.

“There has been a chick hanging around the office.” Dee stated. Candy stopped in her tracks to listen. “She has been hired to do newspaper ads for the company, but she has been spending way too much time with your baby daddy for it all to be business related.” Dee could sense that Candy was thinking, because she had gotten quiet. Candy sat on the side of her bed. She took in a deep breath as she responded.

“Is she there now?” She asked in a soft spoken tone.

“Yeah, she is and that’s why I called you. I can sense that things are getting more intense between the two of them.” Dee informed her. Candy hated to hear those words. Her heart began to race and in the back of her mind her thoughts were that she had pushed him in another woman’s arms with the way she had been treating him, lately. She cried inside at the thought of Monty not wanting her anymore, but knew she had to pull herself together.

“Damn,” she responded. “Dee, what have I done?” She asked. She could barely hold back the tears.

“Cuz, don’t do this to yourself.” Dee felt bad, but she knew it had to be said sooner or later. “You only did what you felt was the best thing to do at the time, but it’s never too late to get your man back. He still loves you. I know this and he still has the picture of you and MJ sitting right next to his computer. All I’m trying to say here is don’t let this woman come in and destroy what you’ve worked so hard to get. Get down to this office and reclaim your man.” Dee demanded as Candy wiped her tears. She was hurt to even think that she had caused this, but was determined to not let another woman come in and take over. Dee continued. “Dry your tears and come in here confident and fly. Play your hand right and you can easily get him back. This chick has nothing on you.” Dee tried her best to comfort Candy.