Sheri, the administrative assistant, broke through her thoughts when she came over to her cubicle, “Ms. Stevens, these arrived for you a few minutes ago.”
Tasha turned around to see the most beautiful bouquet of flowers she’d ever seen. Her reaction must have shown on her face.
Sheri smiled and helped Tasha put the flowers on her desk. “I wish someone would send me flowers like these.”
It wasn’t until after Sheri walked away that Tasha looked for the card. She was filled with a rush of excitement and dread. She was hoping the flowers were from Eric but she knew they weren’t. Her hands shook as she opened the card. It simply read:
“I’m sorry.”
Not five minutes after receiving the flowers did her office phone ring.
“Hello.”
“Hi.”
Tasha closed her eyes. She hadn’t realized how much she’d craved the sound of his voice.
He was hesitant, “I hope you liked the…flowers.”
She whispered, “You shouldn’t have.”
Tim blew out a deep breath, “I know.” It was a moment before he spoke again, “I miss…you.”
Tasha bit her lip trying to keep it together, “Please don’t do this.”
Tim knew without a shadow of a doubt that at some point he’d fallen in love with her. “Tasha, I want to be with you. All you have to do is say you want it too.”
The tears started to stream down her face, “She’s my best friend. I couldn’t be responsible for that…I would never be able to forgive myself.”
“Tasha, I’m in love with you. I’ve known it for a while and I think deep down you’ve known it too. We can’t keep hiding from that.”
Her voice cracked with anguish and pain, “What type of woman do you think you’d get if I betrayed Sabrina?” Tasha adamantly shook her head, “No. I…we can’t do this. Please, promise me you’ll fight for your marriage. I can’t be responsible for it not working.”
There was dead silence for a few moments. Tasha felt as if she were teetering on the edge of a cliff waiting for him to respond. She whispered into the phone, “Tim?”
He had no idea what he was supposed to do? How was he going to fight for a marriage that was essentially over? He knew without a shadow of a doubt what he felt for Tasha was deeper than sex. He was in love with her.
“Tim…please.”
After a few more moments of silence, he spoke. “I don’t love her.”
Tasha went on as if he hadn’t spoken, “You just have to try harder. You guys haven’t even really tried. You never even went to counseling.”
“Counseling isn’t going to help us.”
“I can’t be the reason you guys don’t make it.”
“Sabrina and I have had problems for a while. You’re not the reason. I just happen to be in love with you.”
“That’s impossible. Remember, you said you knew Sabrina was the one after the first date. If that was a mistake, then how can you trust these feelings?” Tasha was panicked, “You have to try to remember how you felt then. Promise me you’ll at least try!”
“I’ll do anything for you but I don’t know if I can….”
“Then, promise me. Sabrina doesn’t deserve this type of betrayal from us.”
Tim put his head in his hands. The anguish in Tasha’s voice was tearing him apart. He would do anything for her. The moments seem to tick on forever.
Tasha pleaded, “Tim, promise me please.”
More moments passed before he finally gave in to her pleas. “I promise.”
Chapter 18
One year later
Tasha spent most of the day getting ready for the surprise birthday party Sabrina was throwing for Tim. If she were honest, she’d spent most of the week getting ready, shopping for the perfect dress and shoes.
Somehow, a year had passed since they last spoke…alone. Since the incident, she and Tim were only able to get back to being friendly but nowhere near the closeness they’d once shared. He seemed to have thrown himself into his relationship with Sabrina and Tasha tried to do the same with Eric. They were now living together.
Lately, he’d been complaining about things being boring between them. So, Tasha wanted to spice it up. Tonight, she didn’t want to look like an accountant. She’d put a lot of energy into trying to look nice for him.
They’d been dating for three years and instead of moving towards building a life together, it felt as if they were going backwards. If she were honest, their whole relationship had felt like a rough patch.
It would have been so easy to just break up with him, but Tasha needed to prove to herself that she could be in a loving, committed, long-term relationship. And, that Tim wasn’t the reason behind it not working.
Anyway…this was normal right? She’d heard other couples talk about how a relationship could become stale after dating someone a long time. Tasha felt as if she’d made many attempts to spice things up but tonight she’d made even more of an effort. Hoping to press the reset button on their relationship, Tasha wanted to look HOT.
Jackie from DivaTresses Salon really hooked her hair up. Tasha was never any good at styling it herself. Because it was so long and thick, she usually just wore it up in a ponytail. It was the easiest and most convenient way to wear it. Her dad had always loved her hair, so she never had the heart to cut it. But, today she’d told Jackie to transform it into something special. She sat back and let her work her magic.
When Jackie was all finished she wiped the sweat off of her brow and turned Tasha’s chair around so she could look in the mirror.
Jackie laughed, “I put in a full day’s work on that
