No Ordinary Love (12 page)

Catrina frowned and shook her head. Stingy niggas always threw up what they did for you in your face. If the truth be told he’d only given her two hundred dollars, which she could throw back in his face right now, if she had it in her pocket instead of upstairs in a purse.

“You ain’t do shit for me. I can give you your couple dollars back if you want them.”

“I’on want dat shit. I was tryna look out. I know what it is, though. You think a nigga stupid. I know why you got otha shit to deal wit’; you still fuckin’ wit’ Dave. I know y’all ain’t just friends like you tried to kick to me the otha day. People been seeing you wit’ him.”

“Dave don’t got shit to do with me messing with you. And I am still messing with him.”

Mike shook his head and began to point. “You’s a stupid bitch. That nigga got a girl and you still gon’ let him dog the hell out you like he did the last time. Girls do like men who treat them like shit over somebody that wanna do right for them.”

Even though David didn’t treat her specifically like shit, Catrina found truth in that statement. Hadn’t she herself made plenty of decisions like that?

“I’m a bitch though? ‘Cause I no longer want to fuck with you?” she nodded. How did she expect him to react to rejection? “That’s cool, ‘cause you entitled to think however you want to think. Now get the fuck off my steps,” she told him nastily.

Later in the day, Catrina was still mulling over the words Mike had shouted at her.
The nerve of niggas these days.
Catrina thought. How many times had a guy called her bitch after she’d ended whatever they’d been building together?

Too many
...

So many that she’d just stopped counting. Contemplating quietly, she shrugged as she made her way up the front steps of Briannah and Tyree’s house. Catrina knocked and waited until the door opened and was surprised when she was greeted by her sorority sister, Alieas. She also happened to be Tyree’s cousin.

“Don’t speak to me,” Alieas joked. “You been home since graduation, and you did not even call me.”

The gloom that had begun to fill her heart was suddenly replaced by momentary happiness. Catrina smiled and opened her arms.

“You know I love you, girl.”

Alieas laughed as she embraced Catrina and said, “Fakin’ and shit. Now, come on in here and tell me what you been up to.”

“Nothing. Something must be up with your ass though,” Catrina said, stepping into the house. “Look at you, getting skinny on me.”

“Trying to,” Alieas responded. “Down sixty pounds with exactly sixty-three more pounds to go.” Alieas was a beautiful brown-skinned young lady with wide bright brown eyes. At five feet nine inches she was slightly over two hundred pounds and considered a big girl. She was curvy and thick in the hips and behind. Even though she was classified as a big girl, Alieas knew that the big was in every part of her body it needed to be.
Catrina smiled. “Well you look good but you lose any more, you going to look like a crackhead. Your neck getting real slim. Your collarbone makes you look a lil’ hungry. Don’t turn into a bobble head.”

Alieas sucked her teeth as her hand instantly went to her collarbone to check. “Please, I’ll be the biggest crackhead I know. And everybody who loses a lot of weight has that awkward transition and bobble head stage.”

Catrina laughed as expected. “You stupid and it doesn’t look bad. You look damn good. What you are doing here?”

“Bri is hooking me up with some outfits. And you know I had to see the baby’s room, you seen it yet?”

“Yeah, Tyree had it done for her since Bri came home from school,” Catrina said. “She was crying and shit. The theme is cute though. Pearls work for both of them and the colors are very subtle and cute in pastels. It’s nice as hell.”

Alieas smiled. As far as she was concerned Tyree was on point with every aspect of this baby’s birth. He had his hand in everything and was constantly offering opinions on Briannah’s upcoming surprise baby shower.

“You know your best friend and Lonah bought that baby this huge ass elephant, right?” Alieas questioned.

Catrina cracked a smile. “Yeah, I saw. Bri will laugh and thinks it’s cute. Oh, and I need to talk to you about the planning for the shower.”

“What ya’ll talking about,” Briannah inquired as she made her way down the steps. She was carrying the fabrics that Catrina had picked out the week before and Alieas’s three shirts.

“You,” Alieas stated as Briannah handed her the shirts. “Damn, these sharp as hell. I should be able to fit them by the end of the summer.”

Both Briannah and Catrina laughed. “You can’t fit them now?” Catrina questioned staring at the shirts.

Alieas tilted her head and considered. “No, these are incentive.”

Catrina nodded. “Do that, girl,” she encouraged.

They all laughed. “I saw Tony last week when I was having lunch with my mom,” Catrina said to Alieas

The light of laughter died in Alieas’s eyes as she frowned. “We not together no more,” she informed Catrina.

That nigga
. “What happened?”

Alieas flagged it off. The breakup with her longtime boyfriend was still very new to her and hurt like hell. She’d been sure after all they’d been through that he’d want to settle down and get married, and it turned out that he wanted the exact opposite. Alieas wanted to cry but had already determined that she wouldn’t shed another tear for him.

“Y’all I’m fucked up,” Alieas said. “I’m washing his clothes, and I find this number. I asked him ‘bout it, and he start going off on me like I did something wrong. Then all I know, he start talking ‘bout, ‘I can’t do this no more, and I’m not ready,’ and all this other shit. I’m crying and shit, actin’ like a bitch begging that nigga to think it over like he was some type of prize. I couldn’t think and the shit that makes me mad as hell is that I still love his ass.”

Catrina sighed. “That’s the worst part of it,” she comforted with words and then a hug. “Fuck that nigga.”

“I did,” she pouted with a sniff. “I’m sorry, y’all.”

Briannah smiled. “Don’t be sorry to us. You should make his ass sorry.”

“I already fucked up his car and bleached all his shit that he left at my house.”

Catrina chuckled. “I’m so proud, I did teach you something.”

“She love moving around,” Briannah murmured as her hand went to her stomach.

Both Alieas and Catrina reached to touch her belly.

Catrina smiled even though there was aching pain settling in her heart. “I’m so jealous I missed this,” she thought aloud.

“It is a beautiful thing. And if you ever get the urge to play Mommy, I’ma have a couple round here that you can borrow.”

Catrina shook her head. “I’m cool.”

Wanting to lock her feelings for Tony back in, Alieas decided to bother Catrina. “I heard that Dave was at your graduation, and that y’all been with each other since.”

Well, Catrina figured, had come over to talk about him to Briannah; there was no reason that she still shouldn’t. Briannah always gave sound advice. And so did Alieas, when it had nothing to do with her own life.

“We’re not together.” Catrina said with a sigh. “I’m so confused.”

“I’on know why, all the shit that man been doing for you, girl. You better grab his ass,” Alieas told her.
Briannah looked at Alieas.

“What’s wrong?” she asked Catrina.

Catrina shrugged as she began to pull out a wrapped blueberry muffin from her purse. “I want him but he got me scared as hell this time.”

“And you wanna run,” Briannah guessed.

That was exactly what she wanted to do, she realized as she unwrapped the muffin. “Yes. He could really fuck me up this time around, if he lying. And I just don’t know, we been cool for a minute just doing our own thing. That’s fine with me.”

“If that’s all you want then it should be cool.”

Catrina bit into the bottom of the muffin and closed her eyes to savor the warmth of it in her mouth. “It’s not, though,” she said when her foodgasm was over. “He is stating that he’d like to be in a relationship with me when he still has a girl. I can see myself getting stupid ‘bout his ass. Shit, I’ve been stupid bout his ass. Am stupid right now for messing with him. Actions speak a lot louder than words, and his are telling me the exact opposite of what he’s saying.”

“You tell him all this?” Alieas asked.

“No. Right now I’m actin’ like I don’t care. Like I’m not even interested.”

The front door opened and in walked the subject of their conversation, along with Tyree and his four-year-old son.

Smiling, Briannah went to meet Tyree with a kiss.

Catrina grinned in admiration. They had such a beautiful relationship. As a couple, they complimented and balanced one another out. Briannah was the same complexion as her own tone of honey. She was attractive with soft features, brown eyes, and thin lips. Her light brown hair was long and streaked with blond highlights. She was of average height but thin. In her third trimester of pregnancy Briannah skin shined like she was constantly glowing. Tyree could have been the walking definition of tall, dark, and handsome. He wore is hair in a fresh set of braids. The dark hair above his lips connected to form a trim goatee. His eye were the memorizing color of chocolate. He was long and lean and at least a half of foot taller than Briannah.
Their daughter is going to be beautiful
, Catrina thought.

“Hey, boo,” Tyree said, catching his fiancée around the waist. “You should be sitting down,” he told her, pulling her to the sofa.
While everyone spoke to one another, Briannah observed her friend eye David as she munched on the blueberry muffin.
She loves him,
Briannah discovered with a grin.

“Hey, cousin,” Tyree said, reaching to tug Alieas’s hair.

“Hey,” she responded with a smile.

“Sup Lieas?” David spoke and then turned his attention to Catrina. “Are you about to leave?” David asked her.

She shook her head. “I just got here. Bri is making some clothes for me,” she told him.

David looked at Briannah. “Don’t have her looking all naked either,” he said.

“If that’s what I want,” Catrina said to Briannah.

David was shaking his head when he said, “Bey, don’t do that to me. All these men are going to be looking at you.” Then he pulled her to him, nuzzled her neck a little, making her laugh.

“Get off,” she ordered. It embarrassed her to play like a couple in front of others.

“Let me get some of this muffin,” he stated reaching, deftly removing it from her hand.

Just as he was about to sink his teeth into the muffin she glared at him. “Now you know,” Catrina warned. She only had the top left and was not willing to share. It was the best part.

He squinted his eyes back at her in consideration. “I’ma eat the small piece on the bottom from right here,” he returned in compromise before he broke the piece off.

“Ummm, look at y‘all. Must be nice,” Alieas picked.

She’d known David her entire life, since he was Tyree’s best friend. She never seen him happier than he was when he was with Catrina.

She’d known Catrina since they were teens and had really gotten to know her during their college years. Seeing Catrina with David, she noticed a light in Catrina’s eyes that she hadn’t seen when Catrina was with another man. She’d also seen guys come and go in Catrina’s life and how easy it was for Catrina to dismiss them. Though at some point David had indeed needed to be dismissed Catrina had not discarded him. She may have herself fooled into thinking that what was going on between them would go nowhere, but Alieas was certain that Catrina didn’t have others fooled. She couldn’t be happier for her friend.

Chapter Eight

A New Day

Casey

Ending a relationship that you had no intention of ever starting turned out to be harder than she’d expected, Casey realized as she let herself into the dark house. Because of her, Jermaine’s feelings had been unnecessarily hurt. Casey hadn’t figured that it was that serious. They had only been casually seeing one another for two months. She assumed that he was also seeing other girls, but today she’d found out that he hadn’t. From what he had said, he’d wanted to ask her to become exclusive with him. But, she’d beat him to it, telling him that she couldn’t date anymore.

When he had asked what he did, she tried to assure him that it had nothing to do with him and everything to do with how she felt about someone else. The funny thing about it, now that she thought of it, was that she hadn’t needed to tell him who the other guy was. He immediately guessed that it was Daemon. He sensed it from how he’d seen her look at Daemon and how Daemon had looked at her whenever she wasn’t paying attention.

“Long day?” Daemon asked out of the darkness, startlingly Casey.

It had been one. Besides running into Jermaine, she’d taken Nadia out for lunch to thank her for getting her the interview with her new boss, Yevette Carter, the week before and Yevette had accompanied them. It had also been Casey’s first day as her assistant. The woman was eccentric, which reflected through all her designs and even in her everyday life. Lunch had been an experience since Yevette and Nadia had known one another for years. She was the godmother of Nadia’s twin granddaughters. Casey laughed; she had come to think of Yevette as a very colorful, animated character during that lunch.

“Yeah, I’m so tired,” she said it with a smile. “I had a good day, though.”

“So your first day was cool? How was Mrs. Carter?” he asked, taking her key and shoulder bag from her hands. She had been so nervous about meeting the designer again that he’d given her a speech on how good she was and tried to assure her that all would go well.

Casey nodded as he took her hand, after putting her bag on the coffee table.

“My boss is so funny. She had me cracking up all day. And I swear she is sharp as hell. She had on this sharp ass Dolce and Gabanna cream linen pant suit. I’m going to get Bri to copy it for me. Anyway, she’s been married for twenty-one years, has three children, and she my number,” she exclaimed. “How ‘bout that?” She had been very excited to find that out.

Daemon smiled. “Sounds like you like her.” He pulled her towards the kitchen.