Authors: Wynter Daniels
Sh
e stifled a smile.
Antoine playfully slapped her hand.
“You know what I'm talkin' bout, honey. I'm the fruit of th
e month club.”
Becky and Renee exchanged a glance and a subtle nod.
“A hundred fifty a week. You buy your own supplies and be sure to keep your station neat or we'll have a problem.
”
Becky
offer
ed her hand.
“Deal?”
He
shook with her then with Renee
.
“Ooh, girls.
This is gonna be so much fun.
”
Renee
introduced him to Zoey then brought him over
to
Chantelle
's station
since she was
between clients.
“
Chantelle
, this is Antoine,
”
sh
e said, eying
her
nervously.
Chantelle
looked him over, raising her eyebrows.
“If you say so.
”
Renee was about to tell her to be nice when Antoine intervened on his own behalf.
“Now look here, Cleopatra!
You give
me
a chance, you hear? I might give you a free cut and color. That look you're wearing is as old
and musty as King Tut's tomb.”
Chantelle
stared at him, wide-eyed. Then she started to laugh. Antoine laughed too
as
he bent to hug her. To Renee's delight,
Chantelle
hugged him back.
“Welcome to Hair Affa
ir, Antoine.” Maybe with the new addition, their money woes would soon be a thing of the past.
* * * * *
“I see you guys finally put up your decorations.
Better late than never,
I guess.
”
Pam sat at Renee’s table Friday afternoon.
“
I told them with Christmas only a week and a half away, why bother?
”
Renee sprayed her client's hand
s
with a sanitizer then started working.
“Guess what I found out?
”
“What?”
“
Pablo
told his father he wasn't going to marry the chick from Texas. Said he wanted no part of an arranged marriage. So, he's telling me this over dinner th
e other night and I asked him.”
“You asked him what?”
“I
f we could try to get pregnant,
”
she whispered as her eyes darted around the room.
Renee stopped filing and sighed.
“Oh, God. What d
id he say?”
“He said yes.
”
Pam squeezed
her
hand and smiled.
“We s
tarted trying that very night.”
“D
o you know what you're doing? You're gambling with three lives here. Why bring a child into the world with an automatic strike against him?
”
She wiped the back of her hand across her forehead.
“Are you saying a single
mother
can't
do a good job raising a child?”
“No, no. I'm not saying that at all. In a perfect world, every child would have two parents. But shit happens. People get divorced, people die. I know lots of people who are fantastic single parents. But I don't know one who intended to do it solo.
”
She
searched Pam's
eyes
for understanding
but
found none.
“I know what I'm doing.
”
Pam looked away, frowning.
Sh
e knew what that meant.
Shut up.
She finished the fill in silence.
After Pam
left
,
Renee
tried to put the conversation out of her mind as she
hurried home to do a ten second tidy on her apartment in case she and Joe decided to
hang out there
.
She had
barely enough time to shower and dress before
he knocked on her door
.
He came inside
bearing two DVDs
and
caught
her
around her waist
.
He reeled her in close for a scorching kiss
. His lips were soft, his mouth hungry.
She melted against his touch and heat
spread through her entire body.
“Wow. What's the occasion?
”
“I've missed you. It's been a long week.
”
He nuzzled her neck, sending gooseflesh over her
skin
.
“Do you want to go out
or should we order pizza?”
A relaxing evening of movies and snuggling sounded perfect.
“How about pizza?
”
H
e raised his brows.
“Okay with me. Extra cuddle time, right?
”
She was learning that they often thought alike.
“
What movies did you bring?”
“I don't know what you like. I brought one of my favorite comedies and one of my
favorite mysteries. They’re old, but good.”
H
e s
at
on the couch while
sh
e ordered a pizza with mushrooms and green peppers.
Then s
he joined him, settling into the crook of his arm.
“T
ell me about your week,
”
he said.
“We hired a new hairdresser
. He seems really sweet and he has a following. Even charmed old
Chantelle
. That'll help with our expenses. With Chris
tmas coming, we're tapped out.”
“Speaking of Christmas, I was wondering
…
”
“Yes?
”
Sh
e feared he was going to invite her to a family thing. She wasn't ready for that yet.
“My best friend, Wyatt is a fire fighter. He and his girlfriend are having a little Christmas party Friday night.
Are you free?”
Sh
e gave a sigh of relief. “I think I can. That would be
nice. Is it a dress-up event?”
“No, not at Wyatt's. He's abo
ut as casual as you can get. It’
s at eight.
”
He started the movie
.
A few minutes into it, her phone rang.
“Sorry.”
He shrugged as he paused the DVD.
“Hello?
”
she
answered
.
“Hi, pretty lady,
”
Cleave
said.
A
warm flush of fear washed over her. She felt Joe's eyes burning into her so she turned away from him.
“Hey.”
“Are you okay? You sound strange,
”
Cleave
said.
“Fine. I'm fine. What's up?
”
Her neck started aching. Why was she so tense? She wasn't doing anything wrong.
“Did your
mother
tell you about the Christmas party?
”
“No.”
She searched her mind for something she could say to get off the phone as quick as possible.
“The firm holiday party is next Friday night at the country club. I'd b
e honored if you'd be my date.”
Friday.
Wasn’t that the night Joe had just asked her out for?
“I can't.
”
She
glanc
ed at Joe,
then
pushed the receiver hard against her ear.
“You can't? Why not?
”
He sounded disappointed.
I
f she didn’t go to the
firm’s
party, her family would want
a good reason
.
“
Can I
call you tomorrow? I'll check my calendar to see if I can shuffle a few things ar
ound. What time does it start?”
“Six, I think. I'll find o
ut for sure.”
“Okay. I'll call you tomorrow.
”
She shut off the phone but her pounding head wasn’t as easily remedied.
“Who was that? Someone you don't like?
”
Joe asked.
“No, it was my friend
…
Toy
. She wants
me to go to a party with her.”
“
I hope it's not on Friday.
”
A knock on the door saved
her
from answering.
“Must be
the pizza. I'll get it.
”
Joe opened the door, took the pizza and paid the driver.
Renee had to escape the tension
so she made an excuse and headed to the
bathroom
. Looking in the mirror
she
recognized the
guilt written all over her face. How could Joe not see it? Or could he? She splashed water on her face, then
returned
to the living room
wearing a bright smile
. Joe stood next to the open pizza box, two plates at the ready.
“You are wonderful
.
”
She held
a plate
next to the box, waiting for him to give her a slice. She kissed him as he loaded
on a
gooey piece.
They ate their pizza while they watched the movie.
Sh
e had to move away from
him
on the couch during the steamier scenes, afraid she'd reach out to do something she wasn't ready for.
But
he
seemed very ready. After the movie, he was all hands and arms coming at her. She wanted him so badly. But it wasn't fair to him or to
Cleave
. She had to make a choice before she
slept
with one of them.
“Can I ask you a question?
”
he asked.
“Shoot.”
“Have y
ou ever been to St. Augustine?”
“When I was in the sixth grade, I think. My class went and saw the schoolhouse, the jail and the fort. Then when I was a teenager, our family took a short vacation there. We shopped on the main drag.
”
“St. Georges Street.”
“Yeah. And we went to the fort again and climbed to the top of the lighthouse.
Why?”
“I was wondering if you'd consider going with me after the first of the year for a long weekend. We could leave on a Saturday and come home early Monday. There's a great bed and breakfast right off St. Georges Street I know.
”
He
eyed her
.
She
took a deep breath. This was ramping the relationship up a notch.
“Can I think about it?
”
“Sure you can. No pressure. I thought it would be nice to have som
e uninterrupted time together.”
He
begrudgingly left at
two in the morning
.
A
s she lay in bed
later
, a
ll
sh
e could think about was how much she wanted him. The idea of going to a romantic place like St. Augustine excited her. But it meant she'd have to tell
Cleave
she couldn't see him any
more.
She jumped when the phone rang. “Hello?”
“Renee, honey, how are you? It's me, baby, Dan. I miss you sweetheart. I wanted to talk about our last
…
um
…
y
ou know. Renee? Are you there?”
She hung up. Dan was the last thing she needed right now.
A
fter their last encounter, she was finally over him. She now had a no-jerks policy.
Problem was, if she kept both men in her life much longer,
she
would be the jerk.
* * * * *
“How about these?”
Renee
held up a boxed set of wine glasses at
the mall
Saturday night.