REGGIE, SYLVIA, PAUL, AND I walked out of the Embassy laughing over how red Chef Jonas had gotten when he and the sous chef had argued about the menu for next week. Jonas was a redhead, and when he got mad, his face tended to match his flaming red hair. It happened quite often and had us holding back our laughter to prevent his ire from being targeted at us. We tossed around the idea of stopping for a drink since it was Friday night, but decided we were all too tired and Remi was waiting for me.
We started down the road toward the bus stop where Sylvia and Paul would part company from Reggie and me. I heard someone call my name and turned to see Michael striding purposefully toward me. He looked angry, and I couldn’t imagine what had happened to get him so upset. My friends stopped with me, Sylvia looking at me in question and concern. As Michael reached us, I told them to go on without me and assured them everything was probably fine and I would see them Monday.
Reggie gave Michael a look of irritation and then asked me if I wanted him to wait. I knew he still had a thing for me, but he had accepted when I didn’t encourage his hints about us going out for dinner. I was about to tell him everything was cool when Michael placed his arm around me in a proprietary manner.
“She’s fine. I’m going to give her a ride home. She’s not your concern.” I heard him mutter “asshole” under his breath, and I looked sharply at him and then imploringly to Reggie in apology for Michael’s snappy, rude behavior. Reggie didn’t look convinced, but when I smiled and nodded, he grudgingly turned to walk home.
“What the hell was that all about? What happened to put you in such a foul mood?” I couldn’t believe he’d acted like that in front of my friends. To be perfectly honest, I was shocked because he’d always been so sweet and caring toward me.
“Who the hell was that guy? Jesus, are you fucking him? Is that why you’re holding out on me? Is he the real reason you were late last night?” He seemed to get more irate as he spit his accusing questions at me. I was so shocked, I couldn’t even find words to reply.
“Get in the truck, Steph. I’m giving you a ride home. These streets aren’t safe enough for you. You need to be more careful. What would you do if I wasn’t here to take care of you?” I tried to jerk my arm from his punishing grasp, but he only tightened his hold and pulled me to his truck, opening the door and waiting impatiently for me to get in. I didn’t want to argue out here, so I got in and buckled up.
“Michael, I think you have the wrong idea and I don’t know where the heck you came up with that crap. They are my friends and I work with them. That is it. If you can’t handle me working with men, then maybe whatever this is isn’t fucking working.” I was getting more and more pissed off the longer I thought about what had just happened.
“Don’t say that word!” he shouted, “Steph, you are a lady. Ladies do not swear like sailors. I don’t ever want to hear you using language like that.” I was stunned at his outburst and sat quietly during the short ride home.
When he pulled into the parking garage and parked his truck, he took a deep breath and seemed to collect himself.
“I’m sorry, Steph, baby. I just get so worried about you, and I think I’m really falling hard for you. The thought of something happening to you drives me crazy.” He gently placed his hand on my cheek and leaned over, pressing a kiss on my lips.
“It’s okay.” I looked at my hands twisting in my lap. He took my bag as he got out of the truck, and I slowly followed him toward the building.
He walked with me to Pam’s to pick up Remi and carried a chattering Remi down to my apartment. After taking my keys from my bag, he opened my apartment and set Remi down. She toddled off into her room where she started to pull blocks out of her toy box.
“I should give Remi a bath and get her ready for bed.” I thought Michael would take that as a hint that I wanted to be alone tonight, but he walked into my kitchen, grabbed a beer from my fridge, and set my bag down by the couch as he sat down and turned on the TV. I figured I would let him chill and I would talk to him after I finished with Remi.
“Mommy!” Remi came running out of her room with a block in each hand and a smile on her face. I scooped her up, burying my face in her sweet-smelling hair. I kissed her dimples, which had become a routine with us since she was a baby. I called them “Mommy’s kissy spots,” and it always made her giggle. She dropped the blocks, slapping her hands to either side of my face, planting a big slobbery kiss on my lips. “Luss you, Mommy!”
I laughed, hugging her tight as we went into the bathroom, closed the door, and I started to run the water. A big sigh escaped as I let my hair down from the tight bun I wore it in for work and replaced it with my messy bun. Grabbing sweats and a tee from the hook on the back of the door, I quickly changed while the water ran but kept a close eye on my angel as she leaned over, splashing her hand in the water. My work uniform got tossed haphazardly in the hamper and I stripped Remi of her clothes, placing hers in the hamper with mine.
Remi splashed and giggled through her bath, and I was as wet as she was by the end of it. Dressed in her fuzzy, blue, footed PJs with Cinderella on them, she ran out of the door as soon as I opened it. She raced to the living room, struggling to climb in Michael’s lap. I saw him drop my phone on the couch as he reached for her to hug her and kiss her cheek. I couldn’t help feeling uneasy with him holding her after his recent outburst. I walked up to them and picked her up from his lap.
“Tell Michael night-night.” Remi waved her little hand and then placed it spread wide open over her mouth before rapidly pulling it away. I laughed at her attempt to blow kisses. Lord, I loved this baby girl. I couldn’t believe she was two years old already. I took her to her room and sat in the glider to read her a bedtime story. By the time I was done, she was already nodding off to sleep. I sat there for a minute, enjoying the feel of my baby girl snuggled up in my arms and tried to collect my thoughts. Was I overreacting to what happened? Maybe I was just tired and I was blowing things out of proportion. After all, he had never lost his cool like that with me before.
I placed Remi in her crib, careful not to wake her. Leaning over, I kissed her sweet-smelling hair, breathing in the scent of her baby shampoo, her lotion, and the sweet smell that was just Remi. When I raised the rail of the crib, I told myself I was going to have to start looking for a toddler bed for her.
When I walked out to the living room, I wished I had kept my bra on because my shirt was soaked from Remi’s splashing and sticking to my breasts. My nipples were erect from the wet shirt and the air conditioning, and I crossed my arms over my chest when I saw Michael staring at them and licking his lips. Eww. For some reason, that just felt creepy. After I saw my phone sitting on the coffee table, I remembered he had been looking at it earlier.
“Why did you get my phone out?” I asked him.
“Huh? Oh, I was just checking to see what version of iPhone you had. I have a bunch of cases I never used from mine, and I thought you could use them if it was the right one. But you have a 4s, mine was a 5. That’s all.”
It seemed a little odd that he didn’t just ask me, but he was a real sweetheart most of the time and that seemed like something he would do, so I bought his explanation. He stood up, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me close. I couldn’t meet his eyes. He kissed my forehead and stepped back, bending a little at the knee to look me in the eye.
“We good, baby?” I gave him a half-hearted smile and nodded.
“Yeah, but I think I’m going to go to bed.” He stood up straight and motioned toward the couch.
“Do you want me to stay with you since neither of us work tomorrow? I can help you pull out the couch. I’ll just hold you. No pressure, babe.”
“Actually, I need to do a few things. Then I’ll probably just crash, but thanks.” I was hoping he would go. I just wanted to call my mom and unwind. I hadn’t talked to her in forever. He didn’t look happy, but he nodded and started for the door.
“Good night, Steph. Sleep tight.” He let himself out, and I plopped on the couch, reaching for my phone to call my mom. I saw the app store was open on the screen. Weird, I didn’t remember opening it, but I must have hit it accidently before I closed it earlier.
I called my mom and she answered on the third ring. She was so happy to hear my voice, and I felt guilty for not calling more often. Despite the text messages and pics or videos I sent of Remi, I’d been bad about calling. There was no denying I knew I was still hiding, and I also accepted I needed to stop. She begged me to come home over the next weekend because my brother was having a cookout and they missed Remi—oh, and of course me too. I laughed, promising to see what I could do. I didn’t even tell her about Michael. Of course, I wasn’t really sure what to tell her as our relationship was still pretty undefined, despite all the time we spent together. He did seem to be acting like there was more to our relationship than I thought there was though.
I placed my phone on the charger and lay down, falling asleep almost instantly. Why my dreams were once again filled with blue eyes, dimples, inky hair, a deep voice, and a perfect smile, I had no idea….