Cold (11 page)

I felt like I just couldn’t escape from all of this shit. Everywhere I turned, crazy shit was happening to me.
I paced back and forth until Michael came home.

“What’s wrong with you now Tiff?” he asked.

Without turning to look at him I asked, “Who found Melanie?”

I turned to look at him and he stood still with his suitcase still in his hand.

“Why are you asking me that?”

It was so frustrating to me that he couldn’t give me a straight answer.

“Michael, it’s just a question!” I yelled.

“No, it’s not just a question. You’re asking me who killed her like I have an answer. I don’t fucking know. Please leave me alone about this whole Melanie thing.”

Before I could say something, he put his hand up like he was trying to silence me.

“Fuck you!”

As soon as the words escaped from my lips, I immediately wanted to take it back. I have never cursed at my husband before and I never thought that the day would come that I would have to do it. He was just as stunned as I was because when I said it, he squint his eyes at me. He put his suitcase on the floor and slowly walked over to me. He got close enough to where I could feel his breath on my forehead. His jaw was getting tighter and I knew he was upset. He stared at me coldly and said in a low tone, “You better watch how the fuck you talk to me.”

I didn’t know whether to say something or stay silent. This was a side of him that I didn’t know. It’s almost like he was threatening me. He turned and walked away. As he walked upstairs, he kept his eyes on me until I could no longer see his face. I was scared as hell. He had this look in his eyes that was crazy.
I knew he wasn’t capable of hurting me, but at the same time, I didn’t want to take no chances. I wasn’t about to sleep in the same bed with him so the couch was my only option. As I was getting comfortable on the couch, my phone rang. I looked on the screen and quickly looked around making sure that Michael was nowhere in sight.

“Hello
,” I answered in a whisper.

“I know I shouldn’t be calling you this late
, but I wanted to make sure you were alright. I was concerned with the way you got off the phone.”

I looked at the screen on my phone and realized that it was 12:00
a.m.

“I apologize for that. I was just feeling a little sick
,” I explained.

“Well I’m not going to press you for answers
, but whenever you’re ready to talk about it, I’m here for you sweetheart.”

I couldn’t hold my smile in. His voice was sexy but it was even sexier with all of the lights
off. Trying to keep my whisper I said, “Thanks Darius.”

There was this awkward silence and he quickly changed the subject.

“I’m a little surprised that you answered the phone for me because I figured you and your husband would be sleep already.”

I smiled and rolled my eyes. I knew he was being sarcastic.

“Well, my husband and I aren’t getting along right now so I’m sleeping on the couch.”

I don’t know why but after I said it, I felt a little ashamed.

“Wow,” he responded.

“If you were my wife, you wouldn’t be sleeping on the couch and if you were, you
would be in my arms the whole time.”

I then started picturing me and him lying on the couch together and started to get a little hot. I made sure to keep my composure though because the fact still remained that I was still married and I didn’
t want to cross too many lines.

“I chose to
lie on the couch. It’s not like he told me to come down here,” I replied trying to defend myself.

Darius laughed and said
, “I hear you.”

I felt silly as hell for even trying to defend myself and I’m sure Darius noticed.

“Why aren’t you married anyway?” I asked curiously.

“I just haven’t found a woman that can handle a man like me. I’m very strong minded and I know what I want. Sometimes that can be intimidating.”

I smiled and mimicked him and replied, “I hear you.”

T
he whole time Darius and I was on the phone, I had to cover my mouth at times just to keep from laughing too loud. Talking to Darius made me feel good. He took me to a special place and all my problems seemed to fade at that moment. I wanted to see him badly, but I knew where that would leave. He couldn’t be a friend like Carl. Carl was very attractive but I didn’t necessarily want to sleep with him. Being in Darius’ presence would only put me in the mood. The way he danced on me only sparked my interest and I could tell he had a big dick because it was poking my ass while we danced. In the middle of our conversation, I could hear a door opening from upstairs. I paused for a second.

“Tiffany?” Darius asked making sure I was still on the line.

“Yeah, I’m here. Darius, I have to go. I will call you tomorrow.”

I hung up and put my phone behind my back. Moments later, Michael comes walking downstairs. I was so nervous. I just knew that he was coming downstairs to confront me. My heart was beating fast as hell because I didn’t know what to expect. He walked right passed me into the kitchen and poured himself something to drink. I play sleep and didn’t budge. I was starting to feel like he was watching me because he stood in the kitchen for a while. It didn’t take that damn long to get something to drink. It was strange because I’ve never known Michael to wake up in the middle of the night.
Maybe he just couldn’t sleep. I had a lot on my mind so I knew he probably has just as much on his as well. When he finally walked back up to our room, I pulled my phone from under my back and texted Darius “goodnight.” A minute later he text back and it read “goodnight sweetheart, don’t get too comfortable on that couch.”

I smiled and shortly afterwards, clo
sed my eyes until I dozed off. I woke up feeling differently. I looked down at my phone and saw that I had twenty two missed calls and a voicemail. I didn’t even listen to it because I was sure I knew what was on it. There were a lot of things weighing heavy on my mind and what Darius told me yesterday was still shocking. I decided to call him hoping he would give me more answers. He answered the phone on the first ring.

“Hello beautiful.”

I didn’t even respond. I got straight to the point and asked, “Darius can you meet me somewhere today?”

I could tell he was a little surprised.

“Yeah sure where?”

I thought about it and finally asked
, “Is it okay if I meet somewhere on your side of town?”

I didn’t want to be anywhere
near my side of town.

“
Ok, I’ll text you this address to my favorite restaurant.”

I told him, I would meet him in an hour and hung up the phone. I didn’t have to check the garage to see if Michael was gone. It didn’t matter anyway because I wasn’t going to be questioned and he wasn’t going to stop me from leaving. I was his wife, not a slave. As soon as I got Darius’ text, I rushed upstairs and took a quick shower. I only washed my pussy, underarms and my ass. This would be the first time that we’ve seen
each other since the club and I didn’t want to go looking any kind of way so I carefully went through my closet. I tried on three different pair of pants until I found the pair that I was satisfied with. The jeans were so tight; I had to get in a squatting position just to pull them up. After I finally got my ass snuggled into them, I looked in the mirror and turned around and was pleased with the way my ass looked. I threw on a shirt with no sleeves and put on my favorite shade of red lipstick.

Finally, I grabbed my keys, purse and phone and left the house
. Before I put the address in my navigation, I sent Darius a text to let him know that I was on my way. The trip was damn near an hour away. It was cool though because the further the trip, the safer I felt. After fifty one minutes of driving, I finally pulled into a restaurant in the woodlands. I didn’t know what kind of car that Darius drove, so I decided to call him to see if he was inside already. Before I could dial his number, he called me.

“Hey, I’m inside already.”

I walked in the restaurant and looked around. I had only seen Darius one time so I wasn’t sure if I would be able to recognize his face. All of a sudden, I felt a warm pair of hands grab me by the waist. It instantly brought back memories from the night at the club. Darius walked from behind me and stared at me with the most beautiful smile on his face.

“Hello there.”

He was so damn sexy. His skin was so smooth and shiny that I could almost see my reflection. He had to have been at least six foot tall. That was a lot of height compared to my five foot frame. He was dressed nicely and his facial hair was cut just right. Darius directed me to the table and we sat down. The whole time, I couldn’t stop smile.
Every time I tried to put on a straight face, I would smile again.

“So we meet again
,” he said as he stared into my eyes.

I wanted to melt all over the table.
I was speechless so I just nodded my head in a yes motion. The restaurant was very classy, but it was also a place where you could dress casually and still have a good time. We ordered our drinks and chatted for a while and I finally went on and broke the ice.

“Remember that story you told me about the woman named Melanie Scott?” I asked before taking another sip of my wine.

His eyeballs shifted to the side as if he was looking over at something.

“Yes. What about her?”

I took a deep breath and another sip of my drink and said, “Well I knew her. We worked together at Jones law firm. We didn’t get along though, but I was devastated when I found out about the brutality of her death.”

Darius bit his lip as if he was trying to hold back his words. He was silent so I began explaining again.

“She called my husband and before he could see what she wanted, I grabbed the phone and hung up so I feel partially responsible and since then, I’ve been a little depressed. I had to take a break from my job because weird things were happening like my car getting broken into, and I’ve also been getting private calls like crazy. I woke up to twenty two private calls this morning.”

I could tell by the look on his face that he was a bit overwhelmed by what I was telling him.
He didn’t know me so he probably was scared as well. Before he could speak, I interrupted and told him about how my husband and I were being questioned by the police. He raised his eyebrows and said, “Wow Tiffany. You sure got a lot going in your life right now.”

Putting my head down
I replied, “Yeah I know so if you don’t want to ever talk to me again, I understand. I just needed to tell you that because the story you told me about Melanie was something I just couldn’t ignore.”

The restaurant felt so cold. It was like it was just me and Darius there. The conversation we were having wasn’t really something you talked about over lunch. He reached across the table and grabbed my hand. His hand
s were warm and for some reason I wanted to cry. He brought some comfort to me.

“Tiffany, it’s okay. You will get through this. I’m not sure if there’s a lot that I can do but I’m here.”

My eyes started to water so I took a napkin and dabbed the corners of my eyes.

“Thanks Darius.”

After I told Darius everything, I felt like a new person. It was like a heavy weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. I told him things that I never even told Michael, Carl
, or Draya. This man was amazing. He made me feel important. He made eye contact with me every time I spoke and he complimented me. His conversation was better than sex.                                                     

When we walked out of the restaurant, Darius walked me to my car. We stood there just
gazing at each other. I wanted to just jump on top of him and tongue him down. He smiled and opened my car door.

“When can I see you again?”

Hell, I wanted to spend the night with him.

“Maybe next
weekend, just give me a call.”

Before driving off, I watched him walk to a navy blue Porsche.
‘Wow,’
I thought to myself. I knew doctors made good money but damn. We both left the parking lot going on our separate ways.

When I got home, I immediately took off all of my clothes and went to bed.
It was 2:00 a.m. when Michael crawled into bed. He smelled like alcohol and the smell sent a sharp pain through my brain. I wanted to push his ass in the tub and scrub him down with a bottle of soap. I pretended to be sleep because I didn’t feel like being bothered. I was beginning to grow numb to my husband’s ways. The only thing he was giving me was good dick and a little four play. He wasn’t talking to me or trying to understand me. We didn’t laugh together anymore. When he notices that I’m mad at him, he tries to defuse the situation with sex. I was starting to see things for what they really were. I thought I loved my husband, but I was confused now. We never gave each other time to breathe. We hooked up when I was nineteen years old. Hell I was still a girl and hadn’t really gone out and experienced anything. I just saw a cute guy and wanted him. I didn’t take the time out to get to know him and that’s where I went wrong.

All of these regrets started sinking in and I felt sorry for myself
. While deep in thought, my phone buzzed and scared the crap out of me. I waited until the screen light went off and grabbed it. I put the cover over my head so the light wouldn’t alarm Michael. I opened my text from Darius and it read. “You better be in that bed.”

The text made me giggle. As sad as it was, it was hilarious at the same time. I text back and said
, “LOL thanks for meeting me today. I enjoyed your company.”

Seconds later he replied
, “Anytime gorgeous.”

I smiled and put the phone under my pillow. When I thought I was going to lose my mind, God had a way of making me
smile; even it was for a second. Draya called my phone and before I could say hello she said, “Tiffany cut on the TV and put it on channel 26.

“Why? What it is it?” I asked in a panic.

“Just cut the TV on.”

I ran downstairs and cut it on. My mouth dropped when I saw the picture of Melanie on the screen. When the reported started talking, I stood in front of the
TV and tried to listen to every piece of detail of her murder.

“It’s been weeks since Melanie Scott was gunned down and stabbed. The killer still hasn’t been found and there are no clues that can bring this killer to justice.”

They then showed a woman a press conference talking into a mic.

“We still have no leads but based on
the way Melanie Scott was attacked and the events that possibly led to her death we can give out a profile of the killer. This crime was personal and the killer was very angry with her. The killer is most likely a man because she was overpowered. The killer is also very educated and well spoken. The fact that he dropped her off at the hospital suggests that he wanted her to be found immediately. That is all we have so far until we can come up with more leads.”

The reporters were going crazy. They were all over
each other trying to get their questions answered. That was all I needed to see. I turned the TV off and with the phone still to my ear, my mouth was wide open.

“Tiff, are you there?”
Draya asked with a shaky voice.

“Yes, I’m here.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. After Melanie’s death, I stopped watching the news and I had my reasons. Things became real at that moment. This wasn’t a game and my fear was that I was next. I ended my call and headed out the door. I pulled up into a parking spot and walked into Michael’s job without warning. I walked up to the front and asked the lady at the front desk where my husband was. She pointed down the hall towards his office. I walked straight in his office without knocking, and saw the same white man that followed us the night we went to dinner with Carl and Tangy. I must’ve scared the living hell out of him because as soon as he saw my face he jumped back almost knocking a stack of papers off of his desk.

“Tiff, what are you doing here?”

I stood there with my arms crossed and stared at the white man.

“I need to talk to you Michael. They talked about Melanie today on the news and they have a profile of the criminal.
”

Michael looked at the white guy and his eyes got wide
, “Blake, can you excuse me while I talk to my wife. I will give you a call once I’m done.”

He reluctantly got up and walked out the door.
Before he closed the door, he gave me this cold stare as if I did something to him.

“Tiff you know you’re not
supposed to barge into my office like that, especially whiling I’m dealing with a client.”

I rolled my eyes and said
, “Did you not hear what I just said?!” I yelled.

He put his hand up and whispered
, “Keep your voice down.”

He walked over to a chair and leaned back.

“So what exactly do you want me to do about it?”

I was a little shocked because at first, he was so stressed out about it
, but now he was acting like he didn’t give a shit.

“What does that mean Michael?” I asked with a tremble in my voice.

“It means that I have to get back to work and I can’t talk about it right now. I will see you when I get home. Please leave.”

“
Was I hearing him correctly?” I asked myself.

This was not my husband. I shook my head and stormed out of his office. When I got to my car, this sickening feeling came across me. I no longer trusted my husband and not only was he a suspect to the police, he was also a suspect to me and I was going to do as much digging as I could to see what it was that my husband of seven years was hiding from me
. When I got home, I ran upstairs and went through our closet. I checked all of Michael’s pants pockets hoping to find something that was out of place, but there was nothing there. I searched the closet floor and checked all of his shoe boxes. I even looked inside of his shoes but there was still no clue. I searched his side of the bed and looked in his dresser. There was a stack of papers in it. I went through each piece of mail and read every word.

Finally, I ca
me across a credit card receipt. It showed that he bought a bottle of wine the day he missed our anniversary. I sighed and put the receipt in my purse. I didn’t understand why he would buy a bottle of wine, but didn’t show up that night. I needed more proof than just a receipt for a damn drink. If a pair of stained boxers didn’t make him crack, then I knew a receipt wouldn’t do shit. I heard the door downstairs open and I hurry up and closed the drawer. Michael rushed up the stairs and got in my face.

“Tiff
don’t ever come to my damn job unannounced again. Anything you got to say to me, you call me first,” he yelled.

“Have you lost your fucking mind?! Get the fuck out of my face!” I roared.

This man was losing his mind. I was not about to stand there like a battered woman. I was going to stand my ground. He was acting like he wanted to put his hands on me, but I wasn’t about to play that shit. I was going to give him a run for his money. Bad enough, I was already allowing him to come in and out this motherfucker whenever he felt like it. I was staring at him so hard trying to drill a hole in both of his eyes. Suddenly his face started to soften up and he backed up. He knew I wasn’t playing.

“Tiff why didn’t you just call me?” he asked in a softer tone.

“Why do you keep asking me that? Is that all that you are worried about? Get over it Michael!” I yelled.

“What did they say about Melanie?”

I wanted to slap the taste out of his mouth. He was starting to act bipolar. I’m not sure if he was just showing out in his office or if he was showing his true colors.

“Michael, I don’t want to talk about it anymore. You should’ve
taken the time out of your busy schedule to see what I wanted. I guess you’ll just have to wait until the cops take you in for more questioning,” I replied sarcastically.

I grabbed my phone and walked out of the room. It was almost time for dinner but I didn’t cook shit. I wasn’t about to cook for no rude as
s man.