Close Quarters: A Novel (Zane Presents) (27 page)

• • •

I was chuckling when Terrence walked back into the living room.

“What’s funny?” he asked.

“Sherri and Berri.”

“Aw, man. I let you get me into some situations back in the day.”

“I got
you
into situations? We both know that ain’t true. You corrupted my ass.”

“I prefer to call it mentored.” Terrence laughed. “But you took it to a new level.”

“Man, go head. I’m not even trying to listen to you rewrite history.”

“I know the truth hurts. I’m going to grab a beer. You want one?”

“Nah, I’m abstaining from the liquor today.” I told Terrence about losing my job and Kai’s disappearing act. “I put a hurting on the Patron yesterday. The bottle is as dry as a desert.”

“Dude, you drank an entire bottle of tequila?”

“I had a little help.”

“Kai stayed here drinking with your angry drunk ass?”

“Me and Mel.”

“Me and
Mel
?”

“We had sex last night,” I blurted out.

“Man, what the fuck? Tell me you didn’t.”

“I wish I could.”

Terrence muted the television. “Malik, what are you doing, man?”

“I wanted her, T.”

“Oh, you wanted her? Just like that. You couldn’t control yourself?”

“Come on, man. Don’t bust my chops. I’m wrestling with this shit. Last night things just happened. We were talking and I made a move.”

“Malik . . . ”

“I know, man. She was pissed at her man and came home. We both just got caught up in the moment. T, it was crazy. I started touching her and then we started kissing. We went at it raw, man. That’s how crazy it got in here.”

Terrence shook his head from side to side. “Now what?”

“I don’t know,” I mumbled.

“Where is she now?”

“She went back to Long Island.”

“Back to dude.”

“Her parents are in town. She had to go back.” I wondered to myself whether she would’ve gone back to Ellis’s if her parents weren’t there.

“I don’t know if you want my advice, but I’m going to give it to you anyway. Leave Melina alone. She’s about to get married, man. Respect her situation.”

I silently nodded. I didn’t have a rebuttal for Terrence. I took the remote and unmuted the television. The referee was calling a play on the field. Offsides. I waited for the penalty.

W
hen my mother and I returned from dress shopping, Daniella was at the house. She gave me a big hug when I came through the door. I introduced her to my mother and she bestowed her with the same effusive greeting. She was so sweet. I hoped Daniella would never become like her mother.

“Did you find a dress?” Daniella asked.

“Actually, we did,” I responded.

“And it’s beautiful,” my mother said, beaming.

“I can’t wait to see it. I know Melina is going to be a beautiful bride.”

“I also found the bridesmaids’ dresses. I’m going to coordinate a fitting for you, Charlee and Giselle, in a few weeks. So keep your calendar open.”

“Just let me know when and I’m there. Everyone’s in the sitting room,” she said, rushing us along. “We were waiting for you to get back. Ellis said he wanted to share something with the family.”

“Okay. I’ll be there in a second. Mom, you can go with Daniella. I need to take a couple of aspirin for my headache.” I wondered what was up. Ellis hadn’t made me privy to any announcement he wanted to make.

I went up to Ellis’s bathroom to get the pills from his medicine
cabinet. My head had been aching all day. The tequila, combined with a lack of sleep, was taking its toll. Earlier, Ellis and I had dozed for about an hour before he got up. He practically had to use a cattle prod to get me up and running. After he left the bathroom to get dressed, I went in and closed the door behind me. I inspected my body from head to toe to make sure there was no physical evidence from my night with Malik. I checked for love bites, scratches or anything that wasn’t supposed to be there. There was slight redness where Malik had repeatedly slapped my ass in the shower, but other than that, all was clear. I took a scalding hot shower, trying to let the lingering memory of the night before drain away. I just needed to get through the weekend with my family and then I could deal with what I had done. I wanted to ask my mother if we could cancel our plans to go dress shopping, but I knew she wouldn’t understand. Hell, I didn’t even understand. All I knew was that shopping for a dress after my night with Malik didn’t feel right. When I finally went downstairs to meet my mother, she asked if everything was okay. Obviously the concealer I applied on the dark circles beneath my eyes wasn’t covering up a thing. I assured her I was fine and we headed to the bridal shop. On the ride over, I caught her peeking at me. I could tell she wanted to ask me something, so I preemptively started a random discussion. Thankfully, by the time we began to look at dresses her concern had dissipated. I must have tried on at least twenty gowns before we settled on the very first one in which I had started. It was an organza A-line gown, with a fitted bodice, sweetheart neckline and a long, sweeping train. I knew it was the one. Posing in the mirror, I was picture-perfect. In reality—nothing was further from the truth.

I interrupted my father’s entertaining recollection of how he used to chase my boyfriends off when I was younger. They were all laughing at his exaggerated tale of inciting fear in any guy that dared to ring his doorbell.

“Daddy, please. Are you telling those stories again?” I asked, as I came into the room and took a seat next to my mother.

“I’m glad I didn’t meet you back then,” Ellis joked.

“Something tells me that you wouldn’t have had a problem with Mr. Bradford,” my mother offered.

“Daddy had a problem with everyone. No exceptions.”

Daniella looked from me to my father. “That’s sweet.”

“I’m keeping track of who Daniella brings around, too. They’ll have to pass my inspection before she can go out with them.”

Daniella laughed. “Oh goodness.”

Ellis was doing his best to step up in Daniella’s life since his father died. She may have been in college, but a girl always needs her father. If that’s not possible, a loving big brother can make a world of difference.

“Face it, Daniella, I’m keeping tabs on you.”

“Ellis, stop it,” I said.

“Thank you,” Daniella mouthed.

“All right. I do want to say a few things to everyone. The wedding is rapidly approaching and I’m embracing the prospect of being a married man. I have everything I could ever want, and more than I had ever imagined, both professionally and in my personal life. Lina is a remarkable woman. When I met Lina, I immediately wanted to know her better. She brought something to my life that I hadn’t realized was missing. I spend so much time running my company and immersing myself in work. It’s easy to allow work to control you, but Lina grounds me. She helps me to see that there’s much more to life. I look at her and I envision our future
together. I see a home filled with love, some children and plenty of family. Lawrence and Cynthia, I’m proud to have you as in-laws. Mother and Daniella—I’m thankful for both of you. This weekend has made me realize that we’re all family. The holidays are here and it’s wonderful that we can all be together as a family. We have to treat each other with love and respect one another. When I think about my future with Lina, I’m striving for a close-knit family. We have four months until the wedding, but I don’t want to be apart from this woman. I know I’m getting a little long-winded, but I wanted to share my sentiments with you and to let you know that Lina is moving in next week.”

“I’m sure I speak for myself and Melina’s mother when I say it’s about time,” my father responded. “We prefer that she’s here with you.”

“That’s wonderful,” Bebe said, her lips pulled tight.

My mother knitted her brow at me. She had to be wondering why I didn’t mentioned anything when we were together earlier.

“We’re going to start
packing
this week. I’ve accumulated a lot of stuff over the years, so it will take me longer than a week to get it all done,” I said, trying to save face with my mother.

“But even if we haven’t completely packed everything, she’ll still be moving in by week’s end,” Ellis quickly rebutted. “I want her moved in before Christmas.”

A smirk settled on Bebe’s lips. “Melina’s right. These things can take time.”

“We’ll get it done,” Ellis replied.

“Let me know if I can help,”

“Thanks, Daniella,” I said.

Ellis clasped his hands together. “And with that being said, let’s go have dinner.”

I
took the train from my office into the city. Much of the snow from the weekend had been cleared away, but there was plenty of slush and icy patches to navigate at the corners. I gingerly crossed Lexington Avenue to 42nd Street.

Giselle and Charlee were already seated when I arrived at The Capital Grille for lunch. My mouth was running before I was even situated in the chair. “Thank you for meeting me on such short notice.”

“Your parents’ visit didn’t go well?” Charlee asked.

“It started off rocky, but it got better by the end of the weekend.”

“Did they leave yet?” Giselle said.

“Last night. They’re back home in Maryland. I’ll tell you about that later.” I sighed heavily. “I’ve got bigger problems than the Harlows.”

“Is everything all right?”

“What’s the matter?”

“I can’t believe I’m about to say this.”

Giselle’s hand went up to her chest. “You’re scaring me, Melina.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, reaching over to rub her baby bump. “It’s hard for me to say this, but I cheated on Ellis.”

“What!” Charlee said, her voice carrying to the surrounding tables. “With who?”

“I cheated with Malik.”

There was chatter at all the other tables, except mine. My eyes shifted from Charlee to Giselle and back. “Say something. Please.”

“How did this happen?” Giselle whispered.

“I know it’s not an excuse, but I had a fight with Ellis. I was pissed off and Malik and I started talking about our problems. We had some shots of tequila. Malik massaged my feet and it was downhill from there.”

“All I want to know is how was it?” Charlee asked.

“Charlee, how is that relevant?” Giselle said.

“Giselle, don’t front. You want to know, too. Melina, answer the damn question.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “It was the best I ever had. Malik put it down.”

“I knew it!” Charlee threw her hand up for a high-five. Giselle swatted it down.

“I feel so guilty. I can’t believe I did it. What’s worse is that I enjoyed it so much.”

“Did you think so many people cheat because it feels bad? Girl, you have been living like Pollyanna for so long that you don’t have a clue. People cheat every day.”

“I’m not
people
, Charlee.”

“You are now. And guess what? It’s not the end of the world. You’re human like the rest of us.”

“So you’re saying I’m not supposed to feel bad about what I did?”

“Of course not. I’m saying don’t beat yourself up over it.”

“Melina, I agree with Charlee to a certain degree. God knows you can’t change what happened.” Giselle’s voice cracked and her eyes got watery. “But you can make sure it never happens again.”

“It won’t. I’m moving in with Ellis this weekend.”

“Wow, okay. So you’re running from your situation with Malik?”

“Charlee, we don’t have a situation and, no, I’m not running.” I explained to my girls what happened between me and Bebe and then what followed with Ellis. Naturally, I had to give a play-by-play of my interlude with Malik. “When I went back to Ellis’s, he offered the most sincere apology and promised he’d do better when it comes to managing his mother.”

“Can’t nobody manage that vicious pit bull,” Charlee said.

“But he’s trying. On Saturday he sat us all down and discussed how important it was that we treat each other like family.”

“And you think that’s going to work?”

“We’re getting married, Charlee. I have to have faith that Bebe and I can have a civil relationship. Either way I can’t stay in that small apartment with Malik. Not after what happened.”

“You’re doing the right thing. Wednesday is my day off, so if you need me, I’ll be over to help you pack.” Giselle signaled the waitress. “I’ve got to order something. The little one is hungry.”

“I need all the help I can get.”

“I can come on Thursday to do the real work. I don’t think you and Giselle will accomplish much with her hormones making her cry every five minutes.”

Giselle laughed. “I’ve been getting better with that.”

“You could’ve fooled me. You were just tearing up a few minutes ago.”

“I can’t wait to see what you’re like when you get pregnant.”

“That is the furthest thing from my mind. I’m too busy trying to get it in like Melina.”

“Shut up, Charlee,” I said.

“I will. As soon as you tell me again what it was like being with fine-ass Malik.”

I went back to the office after lunch with the girls. I could always depend on them not to be judgmental and to offer sound advice when I needed it. I knew in my heart it was time to move in with Ellis. My fear that I wouldn’t be happy had kept me from moving forward. But no relationship is perfect. In time, I could get Ellis to slow down with work and to devote more time to family. I’d even try to spice it up in the bedroom. We were already working on the problem with Bebe, so things could only improve.

The staff had left for the evening and I was basically shuffling papers around my desk. I was nervous about going home and seeing Malik. There was so much to say; I didn’t know where to begin. Charlee had asked if I was running and that hadn’t left my mind all day. Malik and I had certainly crossed a line and there was no turning back. It was best for everyone involved if I moved out. I had to forget what happened. I needed to dismiss the remnant sensations of Malik’s hands on my body, his lips touching my most intimate places and the feeling of him stroking me deep inside. I had to believe that out of sight meant out of mind, so I could purge those lingering thoughts. I expected it to be awkward between me and Malik when I got home. The last thing I wanted was to be having flashbacks of us together.