No Ordinary Love (16 page)

Shay stopped dead in her tracks and stared at Catrina. She folded her arms over her chest and sucked her teeth. “What the fuck are you doing coming here this late?” she questioned Catrina.

The headache grew so she had to squint. “I was looking for Dave, but since he’s not here, I guess you are too,” she responded coolly.

Time to go
, she concluded. Shay had every right to respond the way Catrina figured she was about to; Catrina just didn’t see herself standing there listening to her.

Shay let out an angry huff of air. She wasn’t stupid. She had known about David and Catrina for weeks now. In addition to seeing a picture of the two of them snuggled up to one another in a picture booth at Six Flags Great Adventure, she’d heard rumors in the neighborhood that they were getting back together. At one point she’d questioned David about his relationship with Catrina and he’d told her that they were friends.

No further explanations had been given.

It had been a task to get David to meet her at the restaurant earlier that day after he’d been declining her calls for a week straight. Shay had hoped that being in his apartment when he got home would help change his mind about breaking up with her.

It irked Shay’s nerve to discover that Catrina had a key when she had to slyly steal hers. “Bitch, don’t play no games wit’ me. Why are you here and how the hell did you get in?” She began cracking her knuckles.

Catrina smiled and let out a disgusted laugh. Not only did she have a headache the size of the Grand Canyon, she also had an angry girlfriend who seemed to be ready to fight.

“You think this funny?” Shay demanded.

“Yes, I do. You act like you wanna box me, and you can’t beat me, so don’t try.”

Shay shook her head. This was not the late night scene she’d envisioned after David left her at the restaurant earlier.

“I can’t stand bitches like you. You had him already and you didn’t want him and now you think you can just take what’s mine. I don’t think so. So if you want him you gon’ have to fight for him.”

Catrina frowned. Now she was sure that Shay was out of her mind. She said, “Shay, I’m not about to fight you over no dick that’s going to be mine, anyway.” and turned away from her.

“You don’t even respect yourself.”

That had Catrina turning back around.

When Shay was sure she had Catrina’s attention she said, “Doesn’t it matter that he’s with someone who loves him?”

I love him.
“You ‘bout to fight over a nigga that is cheating on you. Don’t be stupid, girl. I don’t have time for this bullshit.”

“You in my man’s house,” Shay pointed out.

Catrina frowned. She had no time to assess the hurt she felt in her heart. “I’m leaving.”

Just then Shay stood close to her face. “No you not. You think you the fuck tough, that you gon’ take my man, and I’ma be cool,” Shay said, grabbing Catrina by the arm.

Catrina looked down where her arm was captured. “Girl, you better get your hands off me,” she said with a tug. “I’ve been with
your
man for years, and regardless if he’s with you or any other bitch I can get him, if I want him.” Catrina began walking away from her.

Shay used all the power in her to push Catrina from behind.

This bitch put her hands on me again
. Catrina’s reflexes had her jumping all over Shay in less than two seconds. Shay winced in pain as Catrina’s fist connected with her cheek. She backed away, trying to hold fast to the principle of not fighting over men. It quickly went away when Shay pushed her again.

Catrina grabbed a handful of the girl’s hair and began to tug at it mercilessly. She didn’t use her fist, because she considered Shay easy to take down. In Catrina’s opinion, Shay didn’t look like the fist-fight type.

After a minute, Catrina freed her hold on the girl and said, “This is not worth it.”

“I bet he ain’t tell you that I’m moving to Atlanta with him next month,” Shay blurted out when she saw that Catrina was going to leave.

“What?” Catrina muttered.
Who’s moving to Atlanta?

Shay was positive that her news would crush Catrina. Now she had an advantage over her in this fight even if it wasn’t true. Catrina wouldn’t know until she asked David about it anyway.

“You heard me. When he move down nere, we gettin’ an apartment together.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Catrina questioned, not following the girl’s side trip. “Who the fuck moving to Atlanta?” Shay smiled at the simple blank expression on Catrina’s face.

Oh, this is even better. She doesn’t even know about Atlanta. And this bitch think she know everything, Shay thought.

Amused to find that Catrina had been clearly left in the dark about David’s plans to move, Shay figured she’d be the one to tell Catrina what David had not.

Shay told her about his job offer, and how he’d accepted it, and viciously added that he’d asked her to move down there with him. Then added, “Yeah, he your man all right. All this time he been fuckin’ you, he ain’t bother to tell you that he was moving.” When she saw the confusion crowding in Catrina’s eyes, she said, “I’on even wanna fight you no more now. Just to have you look like a dumb bitch is enough for me.”

Casey

Glancing at the clock to confirm it was almost 3 am one more time before she climbed into bed, Casey huffed and picked up the stack of mail that she’d neglected to look at before. There were credit card bills, a letter from Serena, a couple pieces of junk mail, and the last was addressed to Daemon.

The handwriting was very feminine from what she could tell, but the return address was a company that she’d never heard of in California.

Casey shrugged as she put the mail aside and turned out the light. Just as she sank down into the bed the phone beside her rang.

“Hello?”

“Can I speak to D?” the female voice questioned.

Casey looked over at the bedside clock. It was three o’clock in the damn morning.

“Who is this?” she returned.

“Excuse me?”

Casey laughed despite the fact that she was very heated. “I said who is this?” she repeated.

“Casey? Is that you?”

Frowning, Casey tried to catch the voice. It was obviously someone she knew, or at least was familiar with. “It’s me. But who are you, and do you have any idea what time it is?” she asked still unsure.

“Tamika. Daemon and I used to go together a couple of years ago. I’m sure you remember.”

Casey sat up in the bed. She would never forget Tamika. Daemon had been in love with her from the time they got together until months after she’d left him to go to another school all the way across the country. Casey could remember the two years of their relationship as the worst years of her teenage life. She had wanted Daemon and couldn’t stand Tamika because at the time she’d had him. She disliked her even more because Tamika had realized Casey’s crush on Daemon and decided that she would flaunt it in Casey’s face at every given opportunity.

“Yeah, sure I do. How are you?”

“Good I guess. Do you think it would be possible for me to get Daemon’s contact number? I need to talk to him.”

At three in the morning?
“I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

“I see someone still has a childhood crush, isn’t that cute? Or does he have a girlfriend now and you’re worried that I’ll get him into trouble?”

Casey laughed. “Girl, that California sun must have really been going to your head.” It took all that she had in her not to give Tamika a piece of her mind and let her know that she was the current woman in Daemon’s life. “Yes, he does have a girlfriend and the next time you wanna call here at three in the morning, remember that.”

“I’ll just call him in the morning,” Tamika replied.

“Goodnight,” Casey told her clicking off the phone before Tamika had a chance to respond.

The phone still in her hand began to ring. She hurried up and answered.

“Hello?”

“Casey?”

Casey frowned. “Who else would it be? And where you at?”

“At the front door.” Daemon was opening the door as they spoke. “Were you asleep?” If she was mad at him for coming home at this late hour, he would soon find out.

“I was but Tamika called here.”

“Who?”

“Tamika. As in your old girlfriend Tamika. What she want?”

Casey was getting up from her bed to open her bedroom door.

He questioned cautiously as he went up the stairs in four quick steps. “I don’t know. What she say?”

Daemon closed his phone when he saw that Casey was standing in her doorway with a frown on her face.

“Do you know what time it is?” she questioned him as he tried to drop a light kiss on her cheek. Casey quickly turned her face away.

“You mad ‘cause it’s late? Sorry, Ma, but we was just kicking it,” he explained backing her into the door frame. He was on the brink of wrapping his arms around her very exposed body when she pushed him away.

“I’m mad ‘cause some hoe is calling my house at three in the morning.”

Daemon stepped into her room, stood up straight, and squared his shoulders. “She is not a hoe, Case. I don’t know why she called here.”

Is he defending her?
Casey folded her arms over her chest. “Do I look like I’m the fuck stupid to you?”

Daemon shook his head. “Not stupid. You look delicious, good enough to eat,” he told her as he sat at the foot of her bed. She was wearing a pair of Victoria’s Secret boy shorts and a black tank top undershirt.

Casey held up her hands. “Please, I am not fucking you ‘til you tell me why she calling here.”

Daemon stood up and spread his arms wide. “Babe, I don’t know. I haven’t talked to that girl in like two months.”

“Two months?” she repeated as if she had a mouthful of salt. “So why you act like you had no idea who she was when I said that she called?”

Then he realized that he’d never once told Casey that he’d spoken to, and had seen Tamika, on several occasions since their breakup years before.

“Before you flip out and shit.”

Casey held up her hand. “Wait, You never told me that y’all talked. I was under the impression that you hadn’t spoken to her since y’all broke up.”

“It is not that serious, Case. And to be honest there really wasn’t any reason to. She don’t have nothing to do with you or us. We’ve kept in touch over the years and that’s it. Nothing more nothing less,” he told her.

Casey stuck her bottom lip out in a pout. “Why you always get so defensive when I’m talking to you?” she asked him.

Daemon glared over at her. “Casey, you talk at people. Grown men don’t like being talked at and since you’ve known me your whole life, I would think that you would know that by now.”

Casey knew him all right... the nasty attitude and all. “I don’t talk at you, D. I just get so wound up, because this isn’t just some regular chick. When y’all were together, I was damn near invisible. You used to be in love with her. She is the only girl you’ve ever loved. I couldn’t stand her ass,” she told him as she sat in the empty space beside him and laid her head on his shoulder.

“Not the only girl. I love you, and you don’t have to worry about her.”

The head that lay rested on his shoulder slowly lifted and her eyes met his. “You love me?”

Daemon licked his bottom lip and a smile appeared. “Yeah.”

Forgetting about Tamika and anything having to do with any other women, Casey eyed him. “Like in love with me love me, or love me like we’ve known each other all our lives love?” She had told herself that she would never press him into telling her that he loved her. That she would wait for him to do what came naturally. Faced with him doing exactly that, she couldn’t wait for it to fall from his lips. Casey actually felt like snatching the words from his throat. But like the lady Ms. Serena had raised her to be, she sat patiently with her innocent brown eyes trained on his.

Daemon chuckled and gently touched her face. “Like in love with you, love you,” he declared. “I’ve been in love with you for a very long time, Casey.” He felt a weight lifted from his heart.

Everything forgotten, she leaned her lips closer to his. “It took you long enough,” she told him with a smile. She closed her lips over his answer. “Say it again,” she breathed.

“I love you,” he murmured nipping her lips.
Casey inhaled the words like oxygen.
He loves me!

Right now Casey imaged Daemon figured that she would want to be loved tenderly. That she’d want him to lay her back and do the many things to her body that in days she’d learned to love.

Any other moment she probably would have allowed him to, but she’s claimed this as her moment to do as she pleased her opportunity to take the lead. Tonight she would show him what his love did for her. Even as he kissed her she let her left hand slip into his boxers. “I think he’s in love with me too,” she purred into his ear as his penis became erect with her massage.

Daemon breathed. “Of course he is,” he murmured.

Casey chuckled and nipped at his bottom lip. She used her free hand to lift the back of his undershirt up. Breaking away, Casey then stood in front of him. “Take it off,” she told him. Her voice was husky with the demand as she assisted him in pulling the shirt over his head.

Daemon smiled up at her. He recognized the look in her eyes and knew that she was about to unleash her freak on him.

Licking his bottom lip, he laughingly asked, “You gon’ be in charge?”

Casey cocked her head to the side and eyed him. Then with a sultry smile forming, she told him, “I am in charge.”

Excitement tingled up his spine as she leaned over him. His voice was thick with lust as he laughed and said, “Oh, shit, Mami.”

“Stop,” Casey murmured knowing that she’d lose her nerve to embarrassment if he continued to tease her. “Move back,” she ordered with a nudge of her shoulder.

“I’m gon’ like this,” he said, following her instructions.

“Yes, you are,” she agreed, crawling up his body. When they were face to face and Casey was braced atop his body, Daemon leaned up to kiss her. She settled firmly, pressing her hips into his.

“You have on too many clothes,” he reminded her with a playful slap on her barely clothed behind.