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Now that I was back in Chicago, I was miserable. He’d flown back to Dallas to meet with the team doctors on Monday so they could evaluate him again. He’d been evaluated while we were in Houston and in Baltimore, but they needed to be sure that he was ready for practice this week. If I didn’t have to go to the studio, I would have asked to go with him to Dallas. However, I realized I was beingtooclingy.
He said he liked that, and since we were still new, his feelings were probably genuine. I didn’t want to make that a common practice though. As we progressed, he could get tired of me always wanting to be where he was, crowding him. I told him how clingy I could get, but I didn’t know if he truly understood the level of clinginess I was talking about.
I was so happy to be in a relationship with someone that showed me as much attention, care, and love as Nate that I would follow him to the damn bathroom to sit on side the tub while he took a shit. That was disgusting, to say the least, so I forced myself to keep my thoughts to myself and carry my ass back to Chicago. I needed to be with my mama anyway, to make sure she was doing okay with her dialysis.
She had a bad habit of saying everything went well when it really didn’t. She’d told me that one day, and I found out from the nurse that they had to pull seven liters of fluid off her. That meant she’d been eating foods she wasn’t supposed to and drinking more fluids than she should. She said she didn’t want us to worry about her, but she was doing things that caused us to worry.
After I wrapped up my session in the studio, I headed to my place to check my mail. Taryn’s house was closer to the airport and the studio, so I’d stayed there. The northside was way away from everything, but I enjoyed the peace and quiet. However, the journey to my place took nearly an hour with all the traffic. By the time I got home and had gone to my box to get the mail, I was exhausted, but the flowers at the door halted me.
I had a restraining order in place. Hopefully, Arik didn’t have his ass at my place. I stooped to pick them up and saw the basketball sticker on the envelope. My cheeks heated up. Nate was going to spoil the hell out of me. Before long, I would be expecting to receive a bouquet every week. He must have given instructions for them to leave it at the door, knowing I would be here shortly after.
I unlocked the door and walked inside, holding the mixed bouquet of lilies, tulips, and roses. After setting them on the countertop, I pulled the card from the stem.
Hey, baby. I miss you already. I enjoyed the week we were together, and I can’t wait until we’re together that way all the time. I know that you’re my one, and I’m yours. We fit. Talk to you later. Nate
There was a heart drawn next to his name. I was smiling so big as I picked up my cell phone to text him my thanks. I wasn’t sure where he was, so to keep from disturbing him, I sent a text message.
Thank you so much for the flowers. They are beautiful. Our time is coming, and I can’t wait either. Call me when you can. I’m done with my session.
I smiled as I sniffed the flowers, then pulled the mail from the bag on my shoulder to go through it. When I saw the letter with Arik’s return address on it, I rolled my eyes. My curiosity wouldn’t allow me not to open it. I slid the letter opener along the seam and pulled out the letter. It was simpler than I thought it would be.
Kenya,
I’m so sorry. I messed up bad. Can we please talk? I realize the error of my ways, and I just want to have a calm conversation with you. Please call me.
Arik
He was out of his mind if he thought I was going to call him. There was no way in hell. He’d probably seen me with Nate on the internet. When I pulled up my browser and saw the picture of us on the front page, I nearly swallowed my damn tongue. People were talking a lot. I was just glad he didn’t really go anywhere with Jessica. I think they may have gone to dinner once, but there was no real media coverage.
I knew the only reason there was coverage about us was because he’d gotten hurt. They were there to get the scoop on his injury but ended up getting the scoop on his personal life. Nate seemed to be happy about it, like he was ready to put our relationship out there. It would have been out there anyway had we been able to go to dinner. That shit happened so fast.
I overheard what he said to RJ our first day in Baltimore. He was distancing himself from his friend because he was Jessica’s cousin. For a moment, my mind ran free, thinking that we were moving too fast if he had to take those precautions to ensure he didn’t want to reach out to her. However, I decided to look at it as a respect thing, not just for me but for Jessica’s man as well.
When my phone began ringing, I smiled big, especially when I saw Nate’s name. “Hello?”
“Hey, baby. How was your session?”
“It was good. All went well. I got a phone call from Ledisi’s manager. I have to sing background vocals for her show in Chicago next month. They’ll be sending me a list of songs to go over and contact information for the other singers as well.”
“Damn, baby! That’s exciting! I’m happy for you. Do you know the exact date of the concert?”
“Yeah, I do. It will be during the playoffs though. Do you have the game schedule yet?”
“I do. Damn. It’s like I hope we are still playing, and then I hope we get eliminated so I can be there for you.”
I giggled. “That’s okay. We’ll both be doing our thing. I’ll have support from my mom, and I know you’ll have support from your mom.”
“If she can make the game. If not, Noah may come. His tour ends in two weeks. He has Los Angeles, Saint Louis, and Baton Rouge left… I think.”
“I miss you already too. That week spoiled me just that quickly.”
“Yeah, me too. Off season, you gon’ get sick of me, girl. I’m gon’ be closer to you than your damn shadow.”
I laughed. “If I didn’t have this studio session scheduled, I would have wanted to go to Dallas with you. How did your appointment go?”
“Man, that would have been nice. My appointment went good. I can practice tomorrow with the team. We have a game in Sacramento day after tomorrow. I might be able to play. If I play, do you think you’ll be able to fly out?”
“I would have to do a quick turnaround. I have another session Friday morning, so I would have to leave Thursday. Get me a ticket for tomorrow, baby.”
