Page 7 of Breeze and Melodie

“I wasn’t watching you, per se, but when I looked in your direction, you seemed preoccupied and anxious instead of enjoying our celebration.”

“Sounds like you were watching me, but I’ll take your word for it.”

“Are you gon’ answer me?”

I sighed because I didn’t want to have this conversation with Breeze. “I was a little preoccupied, but it was nothing serious.”

“Did it have anything to do with your boy?”

I cocked my head to the side and pursed my lips. “That’s what this is about? You want to know why Sean wasn’t there and if his absence bothered me, right?”

“I already know you were bothered. What was his excuse for missing such a monumental moment for you?”

“Had an emergency at work.”

“Is that what he told you?”

“Yeah, and he has no reason to lie.”

Breeze nodded, but not in a way that said he agreed with me. The server returned with our drinks and appetizer, and after wedoused our hands with hand sanitizer, we ate in silence for a few minutes.

“Is he the one?”

“Is who the one?”

“You know who I’m talking about. You think y’all gon’ get married?”

I shrugged. “We’ve only been together for a year.”

“A year is plenty of time for a man to decide if he wants to marry you. Hell, men generally know within the first few weeks. Some know before they can officially claim the woman as theirs.”

He kept his eyes on me as he spoke, and it felt like his last statement was a message to me. My mouth suddenly became dry, so I tore my eyes away from his and took a few sips of water.

“I guess that means Tia ain’t the one.” Ignoring his words was probably the smartest thing I could’ve done.

He chuckled. “Tia is cool, but I don’t want to marry her.”

“Does she know that?”

It was his turn to shrug. “I don’t know. To be real, we don’t have a title.”

“After how long? Six, seven months?”

“About that long.”

“And she’s cool with that?”

“She hasn’t brought it up, so I guess so.”

Our food arrived, and I didn’t realize how hungry I was until my chicken sandwich was in front of me. As we ate, our conversation shifted to work. We discussed how things went today and what we hoped for in the future. Suddenly, someone was standing next to our table, causing us both to look up.

“Wassup, Melodie?” Dak, one of Sean’s friends, said.

“Hey! Good to see you. It’s been a minute.”

“Yeah, it has. How you been?”

“Good! Me and my business partners opened a spa for women and men. Sean didn’t tell you?”

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