“I’ll wait for you to see if you feel like eating.” Why does he have to be a great guy? He’s thoughtful, compassionate, and worships the ground I walk on, except for the one night he didn’t.
“Please go ahead and eat without me.” I wipe my eyes, wash my face, and stall for time. I have to return eventually though, so I put on a brave face and handle business.
When I emerge, Bryant is standing on the other side of the door with a worried expression on his face.
“I’m okay,” I say.
“Feel like eating or do you want to lie on the couch?”
“I think I can handle food.”
We sit beside each other at the bar with orange juice and food and endure an awkward silence. I don’t know why he’s being quiet, but I don’t speak for fear I’ll let my emotions rule me.
“What finally won you over? You know, back in the day when we were in school? What made you take a chance on me?” he asks as he picks up my empty plate and stacks it on his before he takes them to the sink.
“Grandma Rose.”
He slowly shakes his head as though my answer is slowly sinking in. “You would’ve done the same.”
“I would hope so. It was one of the kindest acts I’ve ever witnessed.”
He turns around and leans against the sink. “Will you give me fourteen dates to change your mind?”
The reminder of the first time we were intimate brings the saddest smile to my face. The memory is bittersweet. My memories of falling in love are some of the most beautiful ones a person can have, but the problem has never been his ability to make me fall for him. It’s apparently being faithful. I’m not one to believe that people don’t cheat, because they do. And people cheat for many reasons.
“Just give me fourteen dates. Let me show you I’m still the man you loved.”
He’s still the man I loved, present tense, but telling him so will only fuel his tenacity to reunite with me. “We can’t keep doing this. I left you. I divorced you. I need to move on with my life. We can’t continue sleeping together.”
“I agree. Fourteen dates and absolutely no sex.” I hesitate, because I don’t want to hurt him, but he steps toward me with sheer determination on his face. “What do you have to lose? A few hours each date? After fourteen dates, you either want me back or you don’t. I’ll walk away and stay away if it’s what you want after the dates.”
“I don’t think you’ll stay away.”
He takes another step with his long legs. “I don’t think you want me to.”
“What do you think this will accomplish?”
“I think it’ll show you we’re meant to be together. We’ve always been fated to one another. I fucked up, Z, but I didn’t stop loving you.”
“Not even when you let her touch you?”
“Not even then. And I know that’s hard to understand because I betrayed you, but it’s the truth.”
A knock comes at the back door off my kitchen. “It’s most likely Leslie, and he has a key.”
I hear the knob turn, and then my friend. “Yoo hoo, lovers! Cover up! My beautiful ass is in the house!” And then he peeks into the kitchen. “Ohhhhh, looks like some serious shit is going on in here. What are y’all talking about?”
“You have no boundaries,” I reply.
He waves it off as he walks in wearing an emerald green and yellow, African-motif muumuu. “Girl,I know. Seriously, what’s the topic of conversation?”
“I asked her out on fourteen dates.”
“Why fourteen?” Leslie asks.
“Because eight years ago, I asked her out on fourteen dates and never really got them. If she doesn’t want me after fourteen dates, then I’ll stay away.”
“It’s a fair deal,” Leslie adds his opinion on the matter.
