Accidental Heartbreak (The Accidental Series, Book 2) (2 page)

“’Cause I know you like her. I saw the way
you were looking at her that night I was over at your crib.”

“Do you realize how long that was ago?”

“I’m just sayin’—”

“And aren’t you the one who said she wasn’t
good enough for me? That it would be difficult for me to introduce
someone like her
to my colleagues? That she wasn’t on my
level because of her past?”

“Dang. Did I say that, ‘cause I don’t
remember saying—”

“Yeah, you said it. You called her a bum so
many times I lost count. Said she was using me. So if you think so
negatively of her, why do you keep talking about her,
Terrance?”

“Because I know you like the girl, man.”

“Okay! I like her. Now will you stop talking
about her?”

“Why you gettin’ all in your chest? I was
just joking.”

“Well it ain’t funny, Terrance,” Carter
snapped. Enough was enough. “That’s your problem. You think
everything is a joke.”

“Listen, man—”

“No,” Carter interjected. “You listen. How
are you going to tell me Shayla ain’t good enough for me, but every
time I see you she’s your main topic of conversation?”

“Ah’ight. My bad,” Terrance said, palms up.
“I’ma say this though, and I won’t say anything else about
her.”

Carter sighed. “Tee, just say whatever it is
you have to say so I can go.”

“If…if you like the girl, then nothing I say
or anybody else for that matter should sway your feelings for
her.”

Carter turned his face away from Terrance to
look out the driver door window, staring off into the darkness.

Terrance continued, “And I don’t know what
all happened with her leaving and everything, but I do know it’s
affecting you. Even though you try to hide it, I see it, man. I may
not be as smart as you and I don’t make six figures a year, but I
do know when something is wrong with my boy and something is
definitely wrong with you.”

Carter thought for a moment. He couldn’t
deny his mood had changed for the worse since Shayla left. He felt
the transformation within himself and heard the grumblings at work
from his colleagues. Terrance was right. Tipsy and all, he was
right. He glanced at Terrance and said, “Well, we can’t have
everything we want, can we?”

Terrance smirked. “So says the man who has
everything he wants.”

“I don’t have her?”

Terrance opened the door and stepped out of
the truck. “Then go get her. It’s not like you can’t.” He pushed
the door shut and walked up the sidewalk to his apartment.

Carter drove off, turned on the intermittent
windshield wipers when it started to drizzle. He remembered that
night he found Shayla walking down the road in the rain, the night
that started the downspin of their friendship – the night she
thought he was with another woman. But she had been mistaken
because he hadn’t been with another woman since he laid eyes on her
and had no plans to be.

“I’m so glad we were able to get together
for dinner,” Jacqueline told Shayla as she sat across from her at
Landmark, a restaurant on the East side of Charlotte near
Jacqueline’s home. They were eating garden salads, sharing a booth
that gave them a view of the cars passing on Central Avenue.

“Me too,” Shayla told her, though she didn’t
mention she had been worried that the two of them would never speak
again, especially after things had went sour with Carter. And
speaking of Carter, she wanted so badly to ask Jacqueline about
him. His name had been hanging on the tip of her tongue but she
couldn’t bring herself to speak it. Besides, Carter wasn’t thinking
about her. Who was she compared to the women he usually dated?
Compared to the woman who’d stopped by his house that night in the
tight red skirt?

“So how are things at the shop?” Jacqueline
asked. “You looked pretty busy the last time I was there.”

“I was. It’s been crazy…we’ve been having
lots of orders for weddings.” Shayla took a sip of water. She
looked up at Jacqueline, studying her for a moment. She was a
beautiful woman in her sixties but you wouldn’t know her age unless
she came right out with it. She took care of herself and her skin
was very taut and glowy.

“I’m glad that little shop is doing good.
I’ve been going there for years, honey.”

Shayla smiled and turn towards the window,
watching cars drive by. She thought about Carter. Was he happy she
moved out? Was it easy for him to go on and live his life like the
four months they lived together never happened? Didn’t mean a
thing? Was he and Genevieve still involved or had he moved on to
the next woman? Surely he had by now.

“I thought I saw a help wanted sign in the
front window,” Jacqueline said. “Another person in there would help
you guys out a great deal.”

Shayla froze. Why did she have to see that
sign? Now she had to tell her she was leaving. And Jacqueline
would, in turn, tell Carter. “There is a help wanted sign in the
window, but it’s not because Rebecca’s hiring an additional person.
She can’t afford one right now.” She watched Jacqueline’s confused
reaction. “She’s actually looking for someone to replace me, so if
you know of anyone—”

“Replace you?” she blurted out. She couldn’t
hide the slight frown in her forehead if she wanted to.

“Yes. I found another job…one in my field. I
start at the end of the month.”

“What’s your field?”

“Accounting.”

“What company will you be working for?”

Shayla was hesitant to tell Jacqueline about
her new job being in a new city, and a new state for that matter.
Would she go and tell Carter about everything they talked about?
She definitely didn’t want him to know she moving out of state. But
the again, it wasn’t about him anymore. It was about her starting
over, reinventing herself and seeking her own happiness and success
without relying on someone else for those things. So she sucked in
a heavy breath and said, “It’s at a tech firm in Norfolk,
Virginia.”

Jacqueline was crestfallen. “You’re moving
away?”

Shayla nodded, seeing the disappointment in
Jacqueline’s eyes. Was she sad to see her go, or was she
anticipating what Carter would feel when he found out?

“Why do you have to move so far away,
Shayla?”

Far away?
Shayla thought. It was
maybe a five-hour drive from Charlotte to Norfolk and that wasn’t
far enough. She would move farther, anything to get away from
Carter for good. “It’s not that bad, Jackie.”

Jacqueline didn’t respond. She sat quiet for
the time being, processing the thought of Shayla leaving while, all
along, wondering how Carter would receive the news. Finally, she
broke her silence by saying, “I spoke with Carter a few days
ago.

Shayla took a sip of water to loosen her
tightness in her throat. “Really?”

“Yeah.” Jacqueline pushed her half-eaten
salad away from her and wiped her mouth with a white napkin. “You
know, I’m not one for being all in folks business, but it’s obvious
to me you two ended on bad terms.”

“Why you say that?”

“Well, for one, you’re moving away and he
hasn’t been the same since you left. And he rarely ever calls me
now. He’s distant and despondent.”

“Don’t know why.”

“I do. It’s because you left him.”

“Is that what he told you?” Shayla asked
frowning, feeling her blood boil at the thought he’d tell his aunt
a blatant lie. “I left because he told me to. If you were living
with someone and they told you to leave, wouldn’t you?” Shayla took
a sip of water. There was another reason she left too. She was in
love with him and he didn’t reciprocate that love. How could she
live with a man and watch him date other women? Instead of telling
Jacqueline that, though, she said, “Plus I got tired of fighting
with him, tired of feeling like I was beneath him.”

“And by that, you mean what?”

The fight she had with Carter at the theater
two months ago was still fresh on her mind like it just happened
yesterday. He was furious, mad at her because she’d insinuated he
was ashamed of her and didn’t want to be seen with her in public.
She knew it was a lie, but she was so jealous and hurt at the time,
she didn’t care. He was the one making advances towards her –
hugging and kissing on her like she was the only woman for him,
like she stood a chance to be with a man of his caliber when the
reality was, he was seeing some stuck-up chick named Genevieve.

Shayla looked up at Jacqueline and said,
“Carter has everything and not afraid to show it…not afraid to
flaunt his success and meanwhile, I have nothing to show for
myself…not saying that’s his fault, but I have feelings and I don’t
want to be around someone who constantly looks down upon me.”

Jacqueline drew in a deep breath. “Carter
doesn’t look down on you, Shayla.”

Now you’re coming to his defense,
Shayla thought, but Jacqueline was right. If Carter looked down on
her, he wouldn’t have saved her life while she lay homeless on the
street back in February. “He’s from a different world than I
am.”

“Okay, that’s true. You two are from
different worlds but that doesn’t mean he looks down on you.”

“Well, I don’t fit into his lifestyle,”
Shayla rattled off. “We don’t run in the same circles, and a man
like him can’t very well be with a woman who’s not like him.”

“Sounds to me like those are your feelings,
not his.”

Shayla used a straw to play with the ice in
her glass of water. Those
were
her feelings, because the
truth of the matter was, she didn’t really know how Carter felt
about her. She was confused. The man had taken her in, gave her
anything she wanted, spent time with her, held her some nights when
she couldn’t sleep…he did everything to cater to her. And Shayla
could only conclude that he didn’t want to be with her because she
wasn’t good enough for him. What else could it have been? Why would
he take care of her, only to turn around and kick her out of his
house after a few months?

“If anything, I think he’s afraid of you,
Shayla.” Jacqueline commented.

Shayla frowned and grunted. Carter wasn’t
afraid of anything. He was very smart and equally strong –
strong-willed and strong-minded. Shaking her head, she said,
“Carter’s not afraid of me.”

“Let me be more specific. He’s afraid of
falling in love with you,” Jacqueline said with confidence because
she knew that was true, having spoken with Carter directly after
Shayla had moved out.

Shayla giggled uncomfortably and glanced out
the window, though she really felt sad enough to cry. “Nah…that’s
not it, Jackie. Carter can have any woman he wants. Why would he
even entertain the thought of falling in love with me? Trust me, it
ain’t that.”

Jacqueline sighed. Of course it was that.
But his love soon turned to anger, especially after she moved out
and didn’t bother to contact him. Now, she was leaving the state?
“Honey, all I know is when I first met you in the flower shop, I
thought you and Carter were a couple. You were so happy and
vibrant. He was happy, too and now you’re both miserable.”

I’m miserable. He’s not.
“Jackie, I’m
fine and Carter is a lot of things, but I can guarantee you,
miserable isn’t one of them. I’m sure he has enough women to keep
himself entertained.”

“Oh no, honey. Not my Carter.”

Shayla laughed. She could picture Genevieve
in her mind, wearing that red lipstick and tight skirt. “You’ve
been out of his life for the last, I-don’t-know-how-many years, so
you wouldn’t know. He actually told me he wasn’t the one-woman type
which is really odd considering he’s such a gentleman.”

“I’m sorry, but Carter doesn’t come across
as womanizer to me,” Jacqueline said in his defense, but she hadn’t
known Carter in his adult years. She only remembered him as a
teenager and had lost contact with him after that because of the
feud with his Mother. It was just a few months ago that she was
reunited with Carter, thanks to Shayla.

“You’re right. He doesn’t. Like I said, he’s
a gentleman.” Shayla took a sip of water, feeling like she was in
the hot seat, sweating bullets. “But I can say with confidence that
he doesn’t miss me. He’s not like that.”

Jacqueline sighed. “I think you’re wrong on
this one, Shayla.”

“Then why hasn’t he tried to call me or
visit the shop, Jackie.”

“Maybe he’s giving you space.”

Shayla shook her head, tears welling up in
her eyes. “Or maybe he doesn’t want me, just like everybody else in
my life. My parents didn’t want me. Even my own fiancé didn’t want
me.” She took a napkin and dabbed her eyes.

Jacqueline teared up a little too, because
she was fond of Shayla. She reached across the table and held her
hand. “Sweetheart, you and Carter need to sit down and talk.”

“Jackie, I appreciate what you’re trying to
do but Carter and I do not belong together. I’m glad we parted
ways. Now I can be independent and start a new life and that’s what
I’m going to do in Norfolk.”

The waitress walked over and left the check
on the table.

“Anyway, I’m gonna head on out,” Shayla
said. “Gotta work in the morning.” She left enough money on the
table to cover the check and tip.

“Okay, hun. I’ll talk to you later, and I
want to see you before you head off to Virginia, okay?”

“Okay.” Shayla gave Jacqueline a hug, then
walked away sad-faced, fighting back tears.

Jacqueline was equally as sad as she sat at
the table alone now, sipping on her water and digesting everything
Shayla had told her. And why did she have to leave the state? She
could start over right here in Charlotte. The city was so big, she
could be on one side of town and Carter on the other. But
obviously, she wanted to get further away from him. But it was a
shame that two people who loved each other were trying so hard to
sabotage what could be a great relationship.