Georgia On My Mind (16 page)

Six weeks later, Rashawn's plane from LA landed in Atlanta.  A very large crowd of fans, photographers and reporters had assembled at the airport to meet him and to officially welcome him to Atlanta.  Dressed to kill, sporting a hat and sun shades the handsome, charismatic Rashawn confidently signed autographs, greeted his new fans and answered questions for the press.

Despite all of the love and attention from his new fans Rashawn couldn't help but think about Peaches from the moment he landed.  He missed her and he wanted to see her. As fate would dictate, as he rode home in the limo his phone rang.  It was Peaches.  His first instinct was to ignore it as usual, but his heart wouldn't let him.

“Hello.” He sexy deep voice answered.

“Peanut? Is that you? Where the hell have you been?  I've been calling you for weeks.” Peaches exclaimed, excited that he was still alive.

“I had to go out of town for a little while to take care of some things.” He nonchalantly responded.

“Why didn't you answer any of my calls?” Rashawn is silent. “Peanut!  Are you still there? Hello! Hello!”

“Yeah, I'm still here.” He finally responded.

“Then say something.  If you're mad then say so!  But just don't ignore me.  You're my friend and I care about you.”

“What do you want me to say, Peaches?”

“Look I know that you're mad, that's clear.  But, can we at least talk about it? Please?”

“Okay.  Then talk.”

“I don't want to talk on the phone.  Can we meet somewhere tonight?”

“Peaches, I don't think...”

“Peanut please...  It's important.  I need to see you.”

Rashawn hesitated. “Are you still running?”

“Every morning at 6am.”

“You running at the same spot?”

“Yeah, where else?”

“Okay, I'll meet you there tomorrow morning.”

“Okay… Alright… Well, I’ll see you then. Thanks Peanut.”

Rashawn didn’t respond. With mixed emotions he simply held the phone until Peaches hung up.

Peaches arrived to their running spot early.  She was apprehensive and nervous.  It had been almost seven weeks since she saw Rashawn.  She didn't have a clue what she was going to say to him.  One thing was certain she had to smooth things over with him. He was a good friend and she needed him in her life. 

Rashawn was nowhere in sight. Worried he was going to be a now show, Peaches began her stretching routine as she awaited his arrival.  Her heart stopped as she saw him coming up the path towards her.  He looked good enough to eat and Lord knows she was hungry.  Unfortunately he was no longer on the menu.

“Fuck!” She breathed. “Peaches, you must have lost your damn mind letting a good looking man like that get away.” She scolded herself as Rashawn drew near.  She instantly hopped up to greet him. “Hey, I was beginning to think you weren't going to come.”

“Sorry, it took me a little longer to get here than I thought it would.”

“Yeah.  Did you move? I went by your townhouse, it was up for sale.”

Rashawn started to stretch, before he quickly deflected Peaches question.  He wasn't prepared to disclose his true identity to Peaches.  “Yeah, I moved, before I went out of town.”

Peaches assumed that he was vague because he was still upset about Charles, so she didn't press the issue.  She finished stretching.

“So, you ready to run?” He asked.

“Yeah I'm ready when you are.” She smiled.

“How long are we running?” Rashawn asked as he stretched his hamstrings.

“I'm up to five miles now.” Peaches proudly announced as she prepared her iPod that Rashawn had given her, for the run. 

Rashawn smiled but chose not to comment.  He was extremely proud of Peaches.  She looked amazing. “Okay let's go.”

Not really knowing what to say, they ran the five miles in silence as they both listened to their iPods. 

~*~*~

After the run they went to their favorite diner for breakfast.  Rashawn could tell that Peaches had lost a significant amount of weight. She was sexy and curvy in all the right places and it was difficult for him to keep his eyes off of her. Still he tried to play cool although she was melting his heart.

“Breakfast is on me.  What are you getting?” Peaches announced.

“The usual.” Rashawn said as he took a sip of his water.

“I think I'll have the egg white omelet with spinach and turkey and low fat cheese.  Maybe I'll have some fruit.” Peaches said as she cruised the menu.

Rashawn couldn't hold it any longer. “Peaches I must say I am proud of you.  You look incredible.  I remember the first time we ran... You were ready to make funeral arrangements.  And don't even get me started with that artery clogging breakfast you consumed. Look at you now.”

“What can I say?  I had a good no nonsense trainer.” Peaches teased. “Who I have to admit, I miss very much.” Rashawn pinched his lips together in an attempt to force himself to remain silent. “Rashawn I'm sorry about what happened that night when I invited you over and Charles was there.  I can explain if you'd let me.”

“I don't need an explanation.”

“Maybe not, but I need to give you one anyway.  Look, your friendship is important to me.  And the last thing I meant to do was to hurt you.  Charles and I have been through a lot of stuff together and it's hard to just break way without mixed emotions.  I know you're not going to believe this but I actually invited Charles over for some payback.”

“Is that what they call it now?” Rashawn sarcastically mumbled beneath his breath. 

Peaches heard him of course, but chose to ignore his little dig. “But then we started drinking wine and reminiscing about the good old days.  Things started to feel familiar between us and I forgot that you were coming.  I mean nothing happened, but...”

“But, what?”

“But...  It did force me to realize that maybe Charles and I still had something worth salvaging.  I mean he just got a promotion and my Interior design business is finally taking off.  This is what we've always dreamed of.” She reasoned.

Rashawn remained silent waiting for Peaches to say the words that would shatter his heart.  Peaches hesitated and then dropped the bomb in his lap. “Charles has really come around and he's finally stepped up to be the man I've always wanted him to be.  Listen to me rambling on like a silly ass school girl, for God's sake.”

Rashawn knew exactly where the conversation was going but he wasn't going to make it any easier for Peaches to get to the point. He wanted her to feel the pain of every syllable, just like he had to.

“So, to make a long story short… Charles asked me to marry him and I said yes.”

Rashawn was floored but he somehow managed to maintain his cool. Still, if you listened hard enough you could hear the sound of his heart breaking. There were so many things that he wanted to tell Peaches.  He knew she chose Charles for security.  Marrying Charles would be a major mistake and Rashawn knew it, but he couldn't tell Peaches that.  She had to figure that out for herself.  Nor could he expose his true feelings for her.  She would still think it was just the repercussions of his childhood crush. 

“What difference did it make anyway if she didn't feel the same about him?” He reasoned to himself.

If she knew who he really was perhaps she'd choose him.  But he knew he didn't want anybody, including Peaches, who only wanted him because of his wealth.  So he did the only thing he could which was nothing, at least for now.  And he said the only thing that he could say. “Congratulations!  When is the wedding?”

“Thank you.  The wedding's in less than six months.”

“Six months?  Wow, that's pretty quick. What’s the rush?”

“I know! Charles just wanted to get married right away.  He tried to get me to marry him in a Judge's chamber but I wasn't having it.  So we compromised and decided on a simple garden wedding with a few of our closest friends.  So I have less than four months to find a place and plan my dream wedding.” 

“That sounds pretty challenging.” Rashawn tried to sympathize.

“Yes, but thanks to you I will have no problem finding the perfect dress.” She smiled brightly as she held up her arms to show off her new figure. “Thank you so much for helping me finally get rid of the excess weight!” Peaches squealed as she ran around the table and threw her arms around Rashawn’s neck and kissed him on the cheek. “I can't believe it! I'm actually getting married.”

Rashawn smiled and tried to pretend that he was happy for Peaches, but inside he was emotionally bankrupt. It was officially the worse of his life yet he had to pretend to be happy for her.

Rashawn moved into the mansion when he returned from Los Angeles.  He had no clue that Peaches was the Interior Designer that Miracle had contracted to decorate the mansion. For the most part the mansion was finished and Peaches just had a few more pieces to place before she was completely done.  Unbeknownst to him Peaches had a key and was scheduled to finish up at the mansion that day.

Rashawn was relaxing in the den when he heard the cling, clang, bang, spitter, spatter, sputter that was uniquely Boss Hog.

“What the hell?  That sounds like Boss Hog.” He said as he quickly ran to the window just in time to see Peaches pull up and park in front of the mansion. “Oh shit!  What the hell is Peaches doing here?”

Rashawn watched as another car pulled behind Boss Hog and parked.  It belonged to Chase.

“Chase? What is Chase doing here?  Oh hell no!  Miracle hired Peaches of all damn people? F-U-C-K!” He screamed.

Rashawn, feeling caught like a rat in a trap, immediately began to gather his things and look for a place to hide.  Luckily he had driven his new Maserati and parked his vintage muscle car out of sight in the garage. 

As the two women headed for the door, Rashawn began to panic. “Okay. Calm down they can't get in unless you open the door.  Just chill and wait for them to leave.” He said to himself.

Well, at first that seemed like a good plan. Peaches rang the bell three times.  There was no answer so she used the spare keys that Miracle gave her to open the door. Rashawn quickly grabbed his things, ran into the first floor Master Bedroom suite and locked the door, just before they entered the foyer. Sighing a breath of relief he quietly listened at the door as the two women talked.

“Maybe we should have waited for him to come to the door.  I mean Big Daddy's car is right out front.  He's probably in here somewhere.” Peaches tried to whisper.

“He’s in here alright.  Probably, upstairs in his bedroom showing some lucky girl why they call him Big Daddy.” Chase giggled. “And why are you whispering? Girl he can’t hear you!”

“Hey! Just making sure.” Peaches laughed. “What's he really like?  Is he really that good looking?” Peaches asked as she goes to work.

“Good looking doesn't even begin to do that man justice.  That man is as fine as the hair on a new born baby frogs' balls.” Chase laughed.

“Damn...That's mighty fine! That’s a good analogy!”

“I got that one from a Brenda Stokes Lee novel. Have you ever read one of her books?” Chase asked as they made small talk.

“Girl, I love her books! I’ve read every one of them! That Mye Queen was a damn trip!” Peaches laughed. “Speaking of trips, what happened between him and Miracle?  Inquiring minds want to know.”

“I'm sure they do.  But it's my job to make sure inquiring minds never know. I told you I have a strict nondisclosure contract. And I’m not about to lose my damn job gossiping about Miracle.” Chase laughed.

“Whatever!  Nosey bitches like me are still interested, so spill the real dirt.  Come on Chase... You know you can trust me. Besides it’s not gossip if you were there and know the truth.”

“Yeah, I guess you have a point. Okay, you didn’t hear this from me… But from what Miracle told me I think he fell for the woman from his past.  Miracle demanded that he cut her off and he wouldn't do it. Apparently they hooked up and he slept with her.”

“So is this blast from the past drop dead gorgeous or what?  I mean what's her story?”

“I guess… Apparently... She’s bad enough that he cut Miracle loose to be with her.”

“So if he's not with Miracle anymore why is she letting him stay in her house?” Peaches asked confused.

“Girl, try to keep up!  This is Big Daddy's mansion.  I thought you knew that.”

“What?  Nobody told me.  Miracle wrote the check and gave the orders.  I assumed it was her house.”

“Apparently, so did Miracle.” Chase snickered.

“I wonder what she's like.”

“Who?”

“Big Daddy's new girl. Have you met her? What’s she like?” Peaches asked.

“I’ve never met her. I can tell you one thing though. She’s lucky as hell!  If a man gives up somebody like Miracle to be with you, he's definitely got it bad.”

“I guess you're right about that.  Hey, I ain't mad at her.  Cause she's about to move into the most fabulous mansion that Atlanta has ever seen.  Cause I hooked this place up!  If I must say so myself.”  Peaches laughed.  And Chase agreed by giving her a high five.