I'd Rather Be Single 2 (9 page)

I had the time of my life hanging out with Courtney. We danced all night, held hands in the club, and even kissed. He made it a point to floss me around so that everyone knew that we were together. He kept my cup filled with Ace of Spades, and I was on one! Officially tipsy as shit!

I struggled the next morning at work. I bought a latte from Dunkin Donuts and tried to
force my eyes to stay open. For the better part of the morning, Dalia was bragging about being on the phone with Seary all night, and how he wanted to take her shopping over the weekend. Her face lit up every time she spoke his name. I was concerned with how deep she was falling, so quickly, but then again she told me that she’s always been that way. She wore her heart on her sleeve and I didn't want it to be her downfall.

We heard Dr. Raphael's heels clicking toward us
, so we pretended to be busy.

“Ladies can you turn on the television
? We can hear your conversation from the back.” She spoke snidely, poking her big head out from the back wall.

Dalia
and I exchanged glances and rolled our eyes. We were so sick of that woman. She was like a damn warden. Dalia snatched the remote and flicked through the channels, stopping at the news.

“Huuuu!! Look Tyra it’s Michael Slinks.”

Hearing his name made my heart flutter. I took my head away from my computer, only to see my ex being interviewed, smiling from ear to ear as if he was happier than he had ever been. "Congratulations Mr. Slinks, we heard that you are getting married soon." The news reporter announced before placing the microphone to Michael’s face for a reply.

My
heart felt trapped inside my chest, and my mouth dropped. All I could focus on was his smile. He seemed so happy, like he was totally in love.

"Yes, I'm getting married
, and I actually just found out that my fiancé is pregnant."

I snatched the remote out of Dalia’s hand, switched the channel
, and then tossed it back in her lap. I stormed off to the bathroom to cry. Hearing this news was heartbreaking. Every time I thought I was over him, seeing him reminded me that I wasn’t. I was devastated over his engagement and new baby news. Maybe he was still the love of my life, because I was unsure as to why I was feeling this way. I couldn't understand what my heart was telling me. The thought of him having another woman pregnant and being excited about it was tormenting me. That was supposed to be our life together. I resented him all over again, for not being able to accept my past and deciding when it was too late to re-enter my life. I wiped my tears, and threw water over my face. I caught a glimpse of my sensitive image in the mirror. My eyes blinked as if they knew its thoughts and my tears continued to flow.

“Get it together
, Tyra.” I whispered to myself.

When I returned
to the front desk, I felt Dalia’s eyes on me. “You okay, T?”

“I’m good
. I just didn’t know that seeing that would make me feel like this.”

"Tyra?" she asked.

"What's up?" I spoke in the saddest monotone.

“You still love him
, huh?”

Looking
in her eyes, I felt mine welling up again, and I whispered, “I don’t know.”

She left her chair to hug me. “Tyra, everything happens for a reason. If he is engaged with a baby on the way, then maybe that’s GOD’s way of telling you that
you should move on with Courtney, and that the chapter with you and Michael has ended, so that you would be happier elsewhere.”

“Maybe so.” I
hunched my shoulders.

Dr. Raphael’s hee
ls were heard clicking again and Dalia dashed back to her seat.

“I’m waiting for some x-rays to be faxed from another dental office. Tyra, please attach them to Clary Tyson’s file.” She
looked into my glossy eyes as if she noticed the sadness in them. I turned to my computer and told her that I was on top of it.

Dr. Raphael was very attentive;
she was more than likely taking mental notes of me bringing my personal emotions to work. I hoped that she understood that I was human and some emotions you just couldn’t fight.

When night broke
, I examined myself in my full-length mirror at home. I placed my small red Marc Jacobs clutch under my arm and pulled down my purple sweater dress. I squeezed some clear gloss on top of my red lipstick, grabbed my black blazer and headed out to meet Courtney. It seemed like most of our dates were now in clubs. He had so many hosting gigs in the city, that we stayed celebrating.

Once again
, the club was crowded, and Courtney had a bucket full of Ace of Spades chilling on ice. “Hey baby.” He greeted me with the warmest smile. “I’m so glad you came. You know these club appearances are like work for me. I have to work on and off the field.”

“I’m just here to support you.”
I told him.

He took a step back to examine
me, and he nodded, making me feel uncomfortable.

I brushed my hand over my loose curls.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked.

“Because I really like you.”
he said.

“I like you too.” I
playfully hit him on his chest.

“So what’s up, is this me?”
he asked, pointing at me from head to toe.

“What are you asking me?” I blushed.

“I’m asking you to be my girl.” he said boldly.

“No more girls c
oming up to me asking about you?” I teased.

His
face went from a smile to serious. “Babe, I can’t express how sorry I am for that. You will never have to worry about something like that happening again. I promise.”

“Alright
then, so yes.”

“Yes? Y
ou’re my girl?” he asked, licking his kissable lips.

“Y
es.” I said.

He pulled me close and gave me the deepest hug. We were now official.
And after that, it was on. We danced like we owned the night, and when it was time to go, he told me to meet him at his house.

Flawless, b
eautiful and grand couldn’t even describe his home. Everything about it was pristine, from the fifty foot ceilings, the bar in his living room, and the largest fireplace I've ever seen sitting between two bay windows. The wooden floors were golden, glossy brown, and a myriad of scents filled my nose as if his maid had just deep cleaned his house with Pine-Sol and bleach.

“The bachelor pad is hot!
” I was impressed by all the expensive brown and gray artwork that matched the vases and marble brown baskets on his coffee table. “Who decorated in here?” I asked.

“What you saying babe? You don’t like my taste?”

“No, I’m saying it’s fabulous in here.”

“Whoa, whoa! Y
ou don’t use the word fabulous to describe a man’s spot.”

“Well your place is beautiful, how
’bout that?”

“I’ll take beautiful.” He
laughed. “You want something to drink?” He was standing behind his wooden bar like a buff bartender. “Yeah, just give me a little wine. You kept filling my cup with all that Ace in the club, so I’m already still buzzed.”

“You're such a light weight.” He
teased.

He handed me a glass of wine and then we sat on the couch and chatted for a little bit. He
reached for my hand and held it in his lap. “I really appreciate you, Tyra. You are real woman. Not too many women are well put together like you are. You’re beautiful; you have your own place, a good job and you’re cool as shit. I’d be a fool not to lock you down. You're the total package.”

“You
’re not so bad, yourself.” I smiled.

I
turned in his direction. We were now looking at each other eye to eye. It felt like an intimate conversation sharing moment. “One thing about me, Courtney, is that I love hard. My foster parents weren't good at showing affection, so when people enter my life, I give them my all. It's like I overcompensate for what I didn't have by making people that I care about feel the compassion that I have for them.”

“I’m the same way. I'm a family type nigga. I love my mother and my grandmother like they are attached to my body. Family is important to me
, and since they raised me, it taught me how to love and value women. When I’m in a relationship, that’s it, I’m faithful. There is no need to step out on my woman.”

Our conversation was getting deep
, and I was falling for him more and more. I wipe the smile off my face. “I have to say, Courtney, I’m really impressed with you. A lot of athletes are selfish and all about themselves. You seem to be the type to want everyone around you to be happy as well. And the fact that you respect women and pride yourself on being faithful says a lot about you.”

“There you go judging again.”

“I’m not judging, babe. I just know that there are a lot of womanizers out there, but it looks like I got lucky.” I placed a kiss on his lips and then took a sip of my wine.

We decided to watch
TV and cuddle until we finished our drinks. He surfed through the channels and stopped at a re-run of the show
The Game
on BET. “You watch this show, babe? I always wondered if athletes watched that show.”

“Yeah, this is my shit.” He pushed himself back on the couch and grabbed me close.

I laid my head on his chest and kept stealing glances at his face as we watched the show. This was my new man and I adored him. The fact that he loved his family and appreciated my value had him scoring points left and right. Eventually, I ended up falling asleep on his chest. I had so much respect for him, because we still hadn’t had sex, and he was willing to lock me down so I knew it was real.

We woke up in each
other’s arms early the next morning, and talked some more until it was time for him to go to the gym. He handed me an extra toothbrush, and we brushed our teeth in the his and hers bathroom. I was already secretly making future plans to use his jet stream Jacuzzi tub for a special occasion.

“I had a good night
, new boyfriend.”

He smiled with a mouth full of
toothpaste. “So did I, beautiful.”

“What are your plans today?” I asked
him.

“
Just working out and chilling. Going hard in the gym to get my workouts in, because training camp is about to start up, and I like bringing my A-game. What about you?”

“I have today off
, so I’m just going to rest up, and then run some errands.”

“Okay
boo, well when you finish running errands, hit me up. Let’s do dinner or something later.”

We finished brushing our teeth
, and I rewarded him with a deep wet kiss, and agreed to call him later for dinner.

When I got home, I heard Dalia singing from the shower. “Tonight I’m gonna dance for you, ooooh.” She thought she was Beyonce for a minute
, until I burst the door open on her.

“Aaaah.”
she screamed. I had scared her in-love ass.

“Somebody is a little too happy in here.”

Smiling largely, she peeled back the white shower curtain. “I am happy honey. And um, you’re just getting in this morning so I’m sure we both had the same night.”

I couldn't fight my smile. “Something like that
,” I told her.

I kicked off my he
els, got comfortable, and waited for her get out of the shower.

She came out in her towel
, getting right into it. “Girl, when I say our sex was off the charts, GIRL!!! It was magical.”

“So you finally did it
, huh?”

“Hell yeah, what about you
, boo? Details?”

“Well
, he made it official. We are exclusive.”

“Aaaaaah!!!
” she screamed. “Me and Seary are exclusive too. We have boyfriends, Tyra, ahhhh!”

“Relax
, crazy woman.” I laughed, taking a seat on the couch.

“So how was the dick?”
she said, drying her hair in a smaller towel.

“We didn’t have sex yet
. I went to his house and fell asleep on his chest.”

“What kinda wack shit is that?”

She dodged the throw pillow I tossed at her. “Everyone ain’t thirsty like you, Miss Thang.”

Knock
! Knock! Knock!

T
he knocks at the door interrupted our conversation. I peeked out the peephole, noticing Emma standing nervously. She was rubbing her chin and biting down on her lips.

"It's Emma
," I said to Dalia.

She ran to her room because she was still in her towel.

I widened the door. “Emma, is everything okay?” I asked.

She didn't even look up at me. “Tyra, can you put on some shoes and come down to the parking lot with me?”