Cold (10 page)

“I love you
,” he said in a serious tone.

I stared back at him and replied
, “I love you too.”

We ended the night with a long passionate kiss.
We lay on the kitchen floor almost all night until my back started hurting. Michael was sleeping peacefully like he was laying on a king sized bed. I tapped his chest and woke him up and we went upstairs and got in bed. Lying in Michael’s arms was very comforting. The sex was just what I needed. I was tired of rubbing my clit and touching my body. I wasn’t sure if this was a sign that I needed to work things out with my husband instead of trying to find attention in another man or what. I mean, although I was thinking that, there was still something about Darius that I couldn’t shake. I didn’t want to just cut him off because I knew that at some point, Michael, would start mistreating me soon.                                          

The next morning I woke up to go to the bathroom and as soon as I stood up, I almost lost my balance. My legs were sore as fuck. I guess all that bending over last night caught up with me today. Michael and I use to make love every single day
, so I didn’t have this issue, but now that I was barely getting it, I started realizing how out of shape I was. My pussy was still throbbing but as weird as it felt, I still liked the feeling. The sex was so good last night that it was enough to last me for the whole week. Michael wasn’t home, but I knew he wasn’t working on a Sunday. I called him but he didn’t answer so I figured he was at the gym. I went through my call log and noticed that I had a missed call and text from Darius. I read it and smiled. Michael fucked me good last night, but I still had Darius on my mind.

Moments later, I heard the keys jiggling in the door from downstairs. I rushed and greeted Michael at the door with a kiss. I smiled and as I turned to walk towards the living room, he smacked me on my ass. I just didn’t get it. One minute you would think he didn’t know me and the next minute, he was so in love.

“Where is all this coming from?” I asked.

He smiled and responded
, “All of what?”

Massaging the
booty cheek that he had slapped I said, “You’re acting differently. You’re doing things that you haven’t done in a while.”

He just kept smiling. It was like cupid came and shot him in the ass.

“I don’t Tiff. I just know that I haven’t been giving you the love you deserve. I’ve been so busy with work that I didn’t realize that I was neglecting you or your needs as a woman.”

I was pretty amazed that he even acknowledged the fact that he’s been treating me like a stranger especially since he was the type to mask his emotions. Maybe he knew that I was starting to slip away from him. Whatever was making him come to his senses was working.

“What would you like me to cook for dinner?” Michael asked as he walked to the kitchen.

“Baby you don’t have to do that right now.”

Without turning to face me he replied, “Yes I do and plus I want to.”

I really didn’t know what I wanted to eat right at the moment. It was still pretty early so if I was going to put something in my stomach, it would have to be light. Michael pulled out a large steak from the freezer and sat it on the counter. He went to the pantry and grabbed a can of corn and green beans. He was actually a great cook. He could’ve been a professional cook if he wanted to. I stood in the kitchen watching him gather ingredients. It reminded me of when I was a child and I would stand next to my mother or my grandmother while they cook. Sometimes, I would help out. My mom would even let me lick all of the cake mix out of the bowl. Without warning, Michael walked past me and went upstairs. Minutes later, he called me up. I followed the sound of his voice to the bathroom. He stood there with his shirt off and with a serious tone he said, “Get in.”

I looked over and noticed that the tub was filled with water. It was so full of bubbles that I thought the tub would overflow. By this point, I was so overwhelmed. Michael’s sudden change was a lot for me to take in. I thought it was strange that the minute that I found a guy friend to talk to, he swoops in and sweeps me off of my feet all over again. If I had doubt about loving my man, he was definitely reassuring me that there was still love there.
Michael starting undressing me; while I was standing there naked and vulnerable, he stepped back and examined my body. He ran his eyes over every inch of my body. I felt like the statue of liberty. The balls of his fingers were soft like feathers and it made my body quiver every time he ran his finger over my shoulder blade. He held my hand as he directed me towards the tub. I stuck one foot in and the rest of body oozed down into it. Michael left the bathroom and seconds later returned with a bottle of Chardonnay and a wine glass. This man was on point today and I loved every bit of it. He poured my wine and as he handed it to me, gave me a kiss on the forehead. I was on my second glass of wine when Michael returned with a bath sponge and a large towel.

“
Stand-up,” he said as he squeezed body wash soap into the sponge.

He began washing my back in a circular motion like he was washing down a brand new Mercedes Benz. He moved down to my ass and kissed it gently. His lips were wet from the water that was dripping down my body.
My nipples began to harden and I had chills. I spread my legs and Michael and hand washed my pussy. I knew what he was trying to do, but I damn sure wasn’t going to stop him from playing with me. I wanted him to pull me out of that tub while I was still wet and fuck the shit out of me but instead he teased me. When Michael was done bathing me, I stepped out of the tub and into his arms. He dried every inch of my body and carried me to the room and laid me on the bed. I was surprised to see rose pedals on the bed because they weren’t there when I first walked into the room.

“When did you have time to do this?” I ask
ed with a puzzled look on my face.

“I had them in the car and while you were in the tub, I went downstairs to get them
,” he replied with a smile on his face.

While on my stomach, Michael reached for a pot. He dipped his hands in it and rubbed my back. That’s when I realized that it was hot oil. The shit felt so amazing that I almost fell asleep while he was caressing my body. I closed my eyes and imagined that I was at the spa.
Michael pressed his hands down in my back giving me a deep tissue massage. Most of the time, he worked on my ass. I didn’t know what his obsession was with my booty but I loved it.

After an hour massage, Michael went downstairs and returned with a red silk robe in his hands. My eyes got wide.

“When did you have time to get this?” I asked in the same tone I did when I saw the rose pedals.

He smiled again and said
, “I got that out the car too.”

I laughed and shook my head at him. He was the man today. This was the first time that he’s ever treated me like this. I was just praying that he would continue to stay romantic
. After I slipped into my new robe, I felt rejuvenated. I felt like I was in new skin. The smell of food immediately hit me when I went downstairs. I went to the kitchen and saw three pots on the stove. In each pot there was something different. Michael cooked, corn, green beans and rice. I opened the oven and there was steak with gravy on it in a pan. The food made my mouth water. I was so proud of what Michael had done. One bite of the steak made me close my eyes and daydream. It was juicy and tender. The entire meal was delicious and I was full as hell. Michael had even put the leftover food away and washed the dishes. I sat at the bar and kept him company until the entire kitchen was clean. He then directed me to the living room. I lay in his arms and we watched movies until day turned into night and I dozed off to sleep.

              When I opened my eyes, the room was full of sun light. I looked around and realized that I was in bed. I must’ve been extremely tired because I didn’t remember how I got from the couch to the bed without noticing. Michael wasn’t in bed, I figured he was off to work by now. The first thing I did was reach for my phone. I looked at the screen and had fifty six missed calls and they were all from an unknown number. They did something different this time and left me a voicemail. My world instantly turned dark again. My phone was on silent but I didn’t remember turning the ringer off. Michael must’ve done it while I was in the tub, so that I would have no interruptions. My chest started getting tight the more I thought about what could possibly be on the voicemail. There was heavy breathing and a long pause as usual. I sighed and threw my phone on the bed. This person was playing mind games and it was working. It was sickening just to know that someone would be this fucking psycho. Who calls someone phone fifty six time I wondered to myself. This person obviously had no life.

Every time
, I was feeling good, there would be something to ruin it. As I sat there thinking something crossed my mind that I had never thought about before. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I noticed that every time Michael was home with me, I would get these calls. I mean there would be times that I would get them when I wasn’t around him but every time him and I were on good terms or make love, I would all of a sudden get a cluster of calls. I wasn’t sure if I was losing my mind, but something was telling me that not only did this person know my schedule but they knew my husband’s as well. The revelation was shocking to me. It was kind of making sense but then again, it could’ve been a coincidence. At this point, I didn’t know if the person was after me because of Michael or just harassing me for their own self pleasure. I started thinking about anybody that was connected to us in some way or any dispute him, or I might’ve had with someone but the only person that kept popping into my head was dead.

I picked up my phone and stared at the private call like as if I was waiting for a number or name to magically appear. I thought about every woman I knew but quickly blew it off. I knew that any girlfriend of mine would never do this shit to me. It takes entirely too much effort to do this. My thoughts soon became blank. I stopped sleeping with the gun under my pillow because
every time I did, I would have these horrifying nightmares, so I put the gun in my drawer next to my bed. I decided to call Michael and talk to him about it. I could’ve waited until he got off, but we were doing good and I didn’t want to stress him with after a long day. I called his phone but it went straight to voicemail. I called two more times but each time I tried to get through, it went to voicemail again. I didn’t think the way I usually would when he pulled these types of stunts, so I quickly blew it off and decided to give it some time.

An hour had passed by and I tried calling Michael again and his phone was still going to voicemail.

“Here we go again,” I sighed to myself.

He was doing so
good and now he was being silly again. It seemed like he was only good on weekends but the minute Monday hit, he was back to fucking up. Around one in the morning, Michael comes walking through the door. I started to curse his ass out until I noticed that he didn’t look so good. He appeared to be worn out and he look like he had been crying. His tie was hanging on his shoulder and his suit looked wrinkle. Any harsh words that I might’ve had for him flew out of my head immediately.

“What happened?” I asked in a panic.

He patted his head and rubbed the back of his neck and replied, “I was at the police station all day being interrogated. I didn’t even get to my office when they asked me to come down to the station to answer a few questions.”

I stood there with my mouth open.

“Interrogate you for what?!” I asked.

“Melanie. They still don’t believe me when I told them a hundred times that I don’t know anything or anybody that would’ve killed her.”

I could feel the blood in my veins starting to heat up. For a minute, the whole investigation thing into Melanie’s death slipped my mind.

“Are you alright?” I asked with sympathy.

He lifted his head up and gave me this cold stare.

“No, I’m not alright. Maybe if you would’ve let me talk to her the night she called me then she wouldn’t be dead
, and I wouldn’t have had to sit at a got damn police station for sixteen fucking hours.”

My eyes got big and my mouth dropped again. I could believe what he was saying
.

“Are you fucking serious?!” I yelled.

He shook his head at me and walked up to our room. I wanted to follow behind him and hit him upside his head. It never failed. There was always something to ruin the fucking week. After my shower, I laid in bed with just my towel wrapped around me. I didn’t feel like changing into anything. I looked in the corner of my eye and saw that Michael was still up. He laid there like a dead man and I did feel bad. Although I should have let him talk to her, she still had no right to call Michael out of all the people, she knew and the fact that she called him again before she died was puzzling to me. I couldn’t wait until they caught the bitch that did this because I couldn’t take another day of this madness.                                                                                                                            

Today was just another boring ass day for me. I watched
TV and cleaned and watched more TV and cleaned again. It’s been a few days since I had checked the camera and to be honest, I didn’t give a fuck if the damn boogey man was on it. Michael was mad at me once again like I’m the one that killed her. Last night was just fucked up, but that was nothing new. While lounging on the couch like a cat, my phone buzzed. I looked down at the screen and smiled.

“Hello
,” I answered shyly.

“Hey beautiful, h
ow are you?”

I smiled again and said
, “I’m okay, how are you Darius?”

He sighed and replied
, “Tired, I have to return to work tomorrow, but I thought I would call you before I got in relax mode.”

I really didn’t have much to talk about with him because I didn’t know him that well and I wasn’t ready to le
t him in on my personal issues so I politely tried ending the conversation.

“Okay, that’s cool. Well call or text me whenever you’re free.”

I guess he got the hint because he said okay and we got off the phone. I had too much on my mind to give Darius a lot of thought at the moment. Over the next few days, Michael and I didn’t really speak. We were back to being two strangers living under the same roof. He blamed me for Melanie’s death, but I truly think he just felt guilty deep down inside. She called him and for whatever reason, he didn’t answer and the next thing we knew, she was dead. While lying in bed, my eyes started twitching.
‘That’s a first,’
I thought to myself as I rubbed them hoping that it would stop the twitching. I noticed that Darius hadn’t called me, so I decided to give him a call. His phone rang for a long time. As I was about to hang up before his phone went to voicemail, he answered as if he knew he was one ring away from missing my call.

“Hello
,” I smiled and said “Hello Darius, how are you?” He sounded like he was typing on a computer.

“I’m good. Just did a heart transplant this morning.”

I knew doctors did those kinds of things, but it was still amazing just to know that I knew someone who really cut people up and save lives for a living.

“That’s cool
,” I said with excitement in my voice. I paused and then asked, “What’s the craziest thing that you’ve seen or experienced in your profession?”

The typing in the background had stopped and he became silent.

He sighed and took a deep breath.

“Well…a few weeks ago, there was a black young black woman in her late twenties was rushed into the E.R. She was bleeding badly from her neck. There was so much blood around her face that at the time, I didn’t know what race she was. If she wasn’t wearing a dress, I wouldn’t have known her gender either. The blood gushed from her neck like water from a busted pipe. When we rolled her in on the stretcher and I cut her dress off, that’s when I realized that she had a bullet wound in the middle of her head. To my amazement she was still alive. I rinsed as much blood off her body as I could. When I was able to see her injuries, that’s when I noticed that her throat had been slit. She was in critical condition. She was a strong woman because with the damage that was done to her, she should’
ve died immediately. We tried saving her but it was too late. An hour after arriving at the hospital, she died.”

I sat up in the bed slowly and my eyes got big. I was silent for a minute. I then opened my mouth and slowly asked.

“What was the woman’s name?” I closed my eyes and began praying that this was just a coincidence.

Darius tone then changed and he spoke almost in a whisper
, “Melanie Scott.”

It was like the sun turned black and everything around me got dark. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It was like a dream and the information that I was receiving didn’t kick in right away. This was some shit th
at you just couldn’t make up.

“Are you sure that was her name?” I asked praying to God that he would tell me that he got it all wrong.

“Yes, I’m positive. Every doctor has his day and the night she came into the hospital, is the night that I’ll never forget. Her name will always be in the back of my mind.”

He sounded broken up about at as if he knew her personally. I didn’t tell Darius that I knew her because the police were already questioning me and my husband and the last thing I wanted to do was to involve him in something that didn’t have anything to do with him. It was just crazy to me that she died in his arms. I was no longer in the mood to talk. I could feel myself getting physically ill. It was a feeling that I’ve never felt before. It felt like my lungs were tied in a tight knot because I was starting to get shortness of breath.

“Darius, I have to call you back,” I said quickly.

I hung up without giving him a chance to speak.
I found the strength to walk to the kitchen and get a drink of water. I gulped the water down as if it would be the last drink I would ever have. I wanted to tell Michael so bad but I knew he would question me about Darius.