“No, where are you going with this?”
“Nick is just not what I envisioned for you.”
“Just because you chose your freaks because of their looks, some of us actually date people we have things in common with.”
“Oh really, it this something new people are doing in the United States? Nobody told me.” He joked. “I thought we were dating people we were physically attracted to and if you didn’t kill each other when you had clothes on, you did a rinse and repeat until someone found someone better.”
“Ugh! What kind of BS is that? I swear Mark, you’re just so rude and weird.”
“Weird or real?”
“Doesn’t matter. What should I do?”
“With the work-stalker?”
“That’s a tricky question. What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know. I’m asking you because you’re a guy.”
“I need more information before I can offer sound expert advice.”
I couldn’t help it. I rolled my eyes. “He, Nick, came to my house yesterday morning. I told him to leave because I had the guy from Snatch and Match there.”
“Wait, the park guy?”
“Yes.”
“He was there in the morning. Why?”
“Because we boned.”
“Oh, I see. And you call me a hoe.”
“One slip up doesn’t put me in your category.”
“True.”
“We’re off topic. Nick, then he came to my job this morning doing his best Joe Goldberg impersonation.”
“Be careful, you don’t want to end up like Beck.”
“Never.” I was more like Love but impressed Mark remembered the names of the characters from the Netflix show, You. “Why does he keep showing up? What do you think he wants?”
“He wants to get back with you.”
“How do you know that?”
“I have a penis. That’s how I know.”
“I don’t understand what that means.” I huffed. “I’m not sure I want to understand it.”
“You’re out of his league. He realized it and he wants to get you back before another guy takes you off the market.”
“Does he really want me back? He dumped me.”
“Yes, he’s stupid, and he made a huge mistake.”
“I meant someone new.”
“This Brandon guy?”
“Yes. Should I talk to Nick or just ignore him? Tell me what to do.”
“If Nick wants you back, do you want to work it out with Nick?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think so. He really hurt me. But I know him. He knows me. Brandon is new, and it feels like I’m starting all over again.”
“Starting over fresh isn’t always a bad thing.”
“True. I really like Brandon. It feels good to be round him. He’s nothing like Nick.”
“Well, I have a feeling no matter what I say, you will do whatever you feel like doing.”
“Well yeah, but I still value your opinion.”
“Why?”
“You’re a guy.”
“I’m a guy.” He frowned.
I could see that wasn’t the right response. “And you’re my friend.”
After a few more minutes of moaning and groaning, it was time for both of us to get back to work. How could I work with all this crap weighing down on me?
I had moved on with my life, and now Nick was back. But this was typical. It was like people had a special radar that detected when you didn’t want to be bothered with them anymore. Inevitably, I was going to have to sit down and talk to him. Pushing it off too long didn’t seem like the best option.
It’s My Turn
After work, I knew I would have to face the music. My music was a FBI level interrogation from my bestie Tami. She would have a lot of questions and I would have zero answers. I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t see any of this coming.
One thing I knew for sure, I did like me some Brandon. He was a breath of fresh air. Something changed in me as soon as he came into my life, and that was a good thing. I was really starting to lose it before he strolled into my life. I had checked out of reality after my breakup from Nick.
I texted Tami to see what time she was coming home. She wouldn’t be home until seven. This gave me some time to come up with something to say to explain all the Sunday morning craziness.
I made dinner. I had to occupy my time with something. I made spaghetti, meatballs and garlic bread. I paid a bit of attention to my weight when I was in a relationship. My hips were known to spread with the consumption of carbs, but somehow I was too happy to care.
Tonight didn’t differ from other nights. Tami was loud when she entered. She was singing a Brandy song, the one that had been remixed with rappers Queen Latifah, Yo-Yo and M.C. Lyte. I was sitting at the table eating when Tami entered the kitchen removing her eye buds.
“Hey Latanya, hot LaMama.”
“Hey.” I looked up at her.
“Oh, you made spaghetti? Smells good.”
“Yeah, you hungry? You only have to warm it up a little.”
“I’m hungry. I’m tired. I’m sleepy.” I watched Tami walk over to the warm pot on the stove. “So Miss Thang, you brought the drama. You brought the theatrics. You brought the Broadway production up in our little apartment yesterday.”
“I didn’t bring the drama. The drama showed up at my door without an invitation.”
“Semantics, so start from the beginning. What up with Brando?” Tami removed the lid from the spaghetti pot.
“Brandon invited himself over Saturday night. I said yes.”
“I’m glad you didn’t get murked, but you can skip that part. How he got inside out apartment is irrelevant. I saw that man in our apartment. I saw all of him, from the rooter to the tooter.” Tami had found a big spoon and was scooping spaghetti onto a plate.
“Yeah, sorry about that. He thought we were the only one’s here.”
“I wish you could’ve seem your face. Deer, headlights, that was you. I thought you were going to pass out.”
“Yes, it was really
