Page 1 of Reserved for Him
Chapter
One
Junicia
My cell phonerang as I sat at my desk going over some paperwork. I needed to finish this report by the end of the day, so I ignored the call until I saw it was my cousin Lauren.
Swiping the green button, I put the phone on speaker and placed it back on my desk. “This is Ms. Murray.”
“Girl, you knew damn well who it was, so I don’t know why you are playing games.” Lauren fussed as soon as I answered. “Are you still at work?”
I sat back in my chair and sighed. “I am, but I won’t be for too much longer. I have plans, but I have to get this report done first.”
“Plans? What kind of plans? Please don’t tell me it’s withhim.”
I was almost certain she rolled her eyes because she did every time I mentioned my boyfriend, Leo.
“Fine, I won’t tell you.” I rolled my neck to release the tension in it. It had been a long day, and I was ready to go.
Lauren couldn’t stand Leo. She said he had shifty eyes, and he seemed like he was a player. I never got that from him, so I ignored her every time she said it.
“Is he finally taking you out?”
“No. I planned a date night for us, even though I’m not sure if he deserves it.”
Leo and I had been together for over four years, and things were good until a year ago when he lost his job. Since then, he’d been depressed and moody all the time. The only thing he wanted to do was play video games and hang out with his friends.
“He doesn’t deserve it. Shit, he doesn’t deserve you, but you act like you can’t leave him.”
I closed my eyes and rested my head on the back of my chair. “He doesn’t, but I was trying to see if I could get things back on track. It’s been a rough year for him.”
I figured if I did something nice for him, maybe it would help him get out of the slump he’d been in and hopefully put the spark back into our relationship. It had been a few months since we had sex, and I knew my vibrators were sick of me.
“Okay, but he hasn’t been doing it on his own. If anything, you are the one that needs to be treated to something. You’ve been holding it down all this time, and what has he done? Has he even given you any money to help out around the house? Does he even cook or clean for you since you work so much? You don’t have to respond because I already know the answer.”
Tears pooled in my eyes, so I grabbed a tissue from my desk to catch them before they fell. I didn’t need anyone in my office to see me cry.
I took a few cleansing breaths before I responded.
“Lauren, I know. I just don’t know what to do. I feel like I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place. It’s like the relationshiphas run its course, but at the same time, I don’t want to kick him out while he’s down.”
“He has a house, though, doesn’t he?”
“Yes, and no. He rents his house to make some money. Plus, he’s been helping take care of his parents, and paying off his student loans, so the money he does get goes to that.”
That lie flew out of my mouth without a second thought because that was the same lie Leo told me. As far as I knew, there was nothing wrong with his parents, so I didn’t understand why he gave them money. I wondered what he really did with his money, but I knew there was no point in asking.
“I just don’t want you wasting any more years on someone that doesn’t want shit for themselves. You need to put Leo out and see what that fine ass neighbor got going on.”
There was a new neighbor that moved in a year ago, and he was fine as hell. The only exchanges we had were normal pleasantries. I didn’t even know his name.
“Girl, that man ain’t thinking about me. The most he does is say hello.”
“Because he knows you have leeching Leo over there.”
I laughed out loud, because every time Lauren talked about Leo, she called him something different. He’d been lazy Leo, loser Leo, to lounging Leo. I swear the girl didn’t have a lick of sense.
“Whatever. Did you want something?”
