Page 14 of Loving a Libra
“You had beenon Maurice’s ass about spending time with you. He finally listened and planned a date. He made dinner reservations at a restaurant you’d been talking about and bought tickets to a concert. He was pissed when you canceled.”
“Oh shit. I remember that. I can’t remember why I canceled, though.”
“Because I was sick.”
I gasped. “Oh yeah. You were sick as hell, and I didn’t want to leave you alone. I pretended to have severe period cramps. He was mad about the reservations because he lost his deposit, but he gave the tickets to one of y’all employees.”
I chuckled. “That’s what he told you?”
“Umm, yeah, but I guess that was a lie.”
“I’ll let you keep believing that. Anyway, he wasn’t gracious enough to stay home and tend to you, which you probably knew would be the case. You went to the store and got a bunch of shit to make home remedies and soup, and spent the whole evening making sure I was good. You made the best chicken noodle soup I’ve ever had in my life from scratch, homemade cough syrup, lemon turmeric bombs, and some other natural shit. I’d never felt more cared for in my life, not even by my mama.”
“Damn. I’ve never done anything like that for Maurice. Honestly, it didn’t even cross my mind to care for him in that way. Maybe I’ve been falling for you all along.”
“The longer you were with Maurice, the more it made sense to have certain feelings about him. You thought you were in love with him because it made sense to be.”
“Right, because staying with him for five years and not being in love makes no sense.”
“You had me around to fill the void he left, making it seem like you weren’t missing anything.”
“I did, but I knew something was missing. I just ignored the signs.”
“That shit is over, baby. He might not know it yet, but y’all are done. You’re mine.”
“What about your friendship? You’re like brothers.”
The thought of being the person who caused the demise of their friendship didn’t sit well with me.
“I used to think of him as a brother and treated him as such, but I learned years ago that the feeling wasn’t mutual. He’s barely a friend at this point, and hasn’t been for years.”
“Really? What makes you say that?”
“That doesn’t matter. Don’t worry about what happens between us. We’ll figure it out, or we won’t.”
“You’re willing to risk over a decade of friendship?”
“For you? Absolutely.”
Me:
What time is your break?
Dee:
One.
Me:
How long is it?
Dee:
I already took my 15 min. I can do 30 or 45.
Me:
Meet me at the main entrance.
