Only One for Me (6 page)

Yasmine sat up and looked at him with
wistful eyes. She kissed his forehead, his nose, his lips, and then
the scar.

“
I’m glad you didn’t. That
would’ve been the most horrible thing in the world not to have
known you.”

“
You’re too sweet. What
would I do without you?”

“
Well, for one thing, you
wouldn’t be resting and relaxing right now. You’d probably be wide
awake trying to figure out how to save the world.”

He chuckled. “Oh, speaking of
which—”

“—
what brainstorm is going
on up there now?” she asked, tapping his head with her
finger.

“
I spoke to the officer
that arrested Ricky, and he referred me to his social worker. When
Ricky gets out of juvenile detention in a few weeks, I want to
start mentoring him as a part of my fraternity’s big brother
program. I spoke to his mother a few days ago about it.”

She smiled and kissed him on his scar.
“You are the epitome of a good man.”

“
Thank you.” He pulled her
on top of him. “Are you ready for round four?”

*****

“
All right, boys and
girls, you did an excellent job in dress rehearsal today, so I know
you’ll be awesome tonight.” Yasmine stood with her students in the
hallway, giving them a last minute pep talk before they were to go
inside of the cafeteria for the Holiday Extravaganza. Her students,
who were dressed as reindeers and snowflakes, were lined up and
anxious to perform. Yasmine kept looking around. Cannon had
promised to come, but he was running late. She wasn’t surprised at
his lateness, but she was surprised he hadn’t called. Lately, he
seemed on edge about something, but whenever she asked, he said
everything was fine.

Yasmine was definitely seeing some of
the same signs her father displayed when he was working overtime
and stressed. She’d promised herself she would never date a
workaholic; unfortunately, not only was she dating one, Cannon was
also a perfectionist. Her cell phone vibrating in her Mrs. Clause
apron interrupted her thoughts. It was Cannon.

“
Hey, baby,” she whispered
into the phone. “Where are you?”

“
I’m not going to be able
to make the play, Angel face.”

She sighed, looked to her left, and
motioned for Sherika to watch her class. Yasmine walked out of the
side door that led to the back parking lot.

“
Is something wrong?” she
asked.

“
No. I just have some
things to do.”

“
Oh something came up all
of a sudden? Because you said this morning you were
available.”

“
I just can’t come, so
drop it,” he fussed.

“
Excuse me. Who are you
snapping at?”

He sighed. “I’m sorry. I just have
some things on my mind right now.”

“
Is there anything I can
do?”

“
No, beautiful. I’m sorry
again for snapping. I just need to take care of
something.”

“
Will I see you later
on?”

“
Probably not. I gotta go,
Yaz.”

“
Me, too. The kiddies go
on stage in a few.”

She hung up before he could say
anything else. She wasn’t sure what could possibly be bothering
him. She could tell something was wrong the other day when he came
over, barely said a word, and stayed in the kitchen until four in
the morning, going over a study guide for an exam. And when she’d
asked what he got on his midterm paper, he’d grunted and said
everything was fine. Yasmine wasn’t up to dealing with his sudden
mood swings. However, she decided she would give him some space,
and if he wanted to talk about whatever the heck was bothering him,
she’d listen.

Chapter Six

Yasmine looked at the clock. Cannon
had promised to be at her home at five so they could go bowling. It
was now six, and he hadn’t called to say he was running late. For
the past several days, since the Holiday Extravaganza, he’d seemed
distant and preoccupied. But whenever she asked, he said he was
fine. He’d even broken two dates, which she didn’t mind because she
knew finals were coming up for him, but he broke them hours past
the designated time as she sat waiting. She had a feeling tonight
would be the same since he was an hour late.

At eight, she put on her pajamas,
climbed into bed, and tried to watch an Elizabeth Taylor movie
she’d seen a dozen times. When the phone rang, she thought surely
it was Cannon, but it was a teacher on her grade level calling for
some advice on a student.

Fed up, she dialed Cannon’s cell
number once she hung up with her colleague. He picked up on the
sixth ring.

“
Hello?” he said in a
rushed, whispered tone.

“
Hey.”

“
Um … hey
Yasmine.”

“
Busy?” She tried to take
the attitude out of her tone.

“
I’m in a seminar on
campus. I just stepped out to take your call.”

“
I see. Did you forget we
had plans tonight?”

“
Oh. I completely forgot.
Sorry, baby. It’s been a long day, and then I found out one of the
doctors over the pediatric residents at John Hopkins would be here
doing a seminar, and I just had to meet him. John Hopkins is my
first choice to do my residency, but I promise to come see you
tonight. I have to stop by the food bank on my way to help pack
boxes of food for Christmas. What’s it been, two days since I’ve
seen my Angel face?”

“
Five days. I feel like
you’re avoiding me, Cannon.”

“
I’m not avoiding you, but
I do have to go. I’ll call you before I come. Promise.”

*****

Cannon walked into his home after
midnight, slammed the door, and threw his book bag down. Then he
screamed, “Move,” at Raven’s dog, Smokey, who barked at Cannon’s
mean tone.

“
Shut the hell up!” Cannon
snapped as the dog continued to follow him through the foyer and
into the family room, where Raven sat studying and sipping
something warm out of her big mug.

“
I know you didn’t just
tell my dog to shut the hell up.” She closed her book and looked at
Cannon as he crashed next to her on the couch. “What’s eating
you?”

“
Nothing,” he said through
clenched teeth as Smokey jumped up and sat on his lap. “Sorry,
boy.” He rubbed the dog’s back before he jumped down and
ran.

“
Oh it’s something for you
to come home, slam the door, and then curse at my dog.”

He shrugged. “I always curse at your
dog, you’re just usually not home.” He laughed as Raven playfully
punched him on the shoulder.

“
Seriously, Cannon. What’s
the problem? You’ve been moody lately, and I’m surprised you’re not
over at Yasmine’s.”

“
I was supposed to go over
there, but when I called, she didn’t answer the phone. I believe
she’s mad at me because I broke our date tonight. I forgot. I’ve
been busy, and she has to understand that.”

“
And what else? You being
busy hasn’t been a problem before.”

Cannon hesitated. “My grades have
fallen since I’ve been dating Yasmine.”

“
How bad?”

“
I got my first C a few
weeks ago on the midterm paper that I rushed through for Dr.
Clayton’s class. He took off for grammar and errors. My content was
fine.”

“
Not good, Cannon. Not
good at all. That paper counted as thirty percent of our
grade.”

“
I know. I have to make an
A on the final paper in order to get a B in the class.”

“
You need to get your
priorities straight. Something has to go. Medical school should be
your only focus.”

“
I don’t want to break up
with Yasmine. She’s very special to me.”

“
I wasn’t saying break up
with her, silly. Tone down on some of your extracurricular
activities, but also explain to her you’re in med school. Where did
you go after the seminar? I was looking for you to see if you
wanted to go to the library to study. Finals are next
week.”

“
I went to the food bank
to help make the Christmas boxes.”

“
Exactly. When you
should’ve been doing research for your last paper or studying for
finals.”

“
I like to help people
when I can, Raven. Don’t you remember when we were growing up? Mom
and Dad always told us to give back. Dad is always doing something
for the community, such as his scholarship programs or mentoring to
boys without fathers.”

“
Cannon, you remind me so
much of Dad, it’s scary. However, he’s finished med school and is a
heart surgeon … you aren’t. You think he’d be happy to know about
your C?”

“
I hear you, baby sis by
five minutes.” He added in the five minute part because she hated
being called baby sis. She felt as if she was the oldest sibling as
well since they were twins.

He knew Raven was right. He kissed his
sister on the cheek and took out his cell phone to call Yasmine,
hoping she would pick up this time. He retreated to his room as he
listened to the rings.

“
Hello?” she answered, her
voice barely above a whisper. He could tell she’d been crying, and
he hated that.

“
We need to
talk.”

“
I’m
listening.”

“
In person. Can I come
over?”

*****

Yasmine sat on her couch as she waited
for Cannon to speak. She was so mad she didn’t want to say the
wrong thing. Instead, she decided to wait to see what he was going
to say first. However, he just sat there staring at her, and it was
driving her mad. One, she was mad he’d broken their past few dates
and was snappy and moody. But two, it had been a week since they’d
made love, and she was turned on by his presence.

“
Yasmine, first of all I
need to apologize to you for my behavior lately. It doesn’t have
anything to do with you.”

“
Okay, what’s wrong?” She
was terrified to ask a man a question like that after he’d just
told her it doesn’t have anything to do with you. The last man who
said that statement was breaking up with her and dating someone
else. She sighed and braced herself for his answer.

“
I’ve been in a foul mood
lately because I got a C on my midterm paper; I didn’t take my time
with it. I rushed through it because I was trying to stop and smell
the roses. A few of my other grades have slipped a tad, but I still
have A’s in those classes. I’m just worried about the final in the
class that I made the C.”

She stood and placed her hands on her
hips. “I know you aren’t blaming me for your grades slipping. Maybe
you should get your priorities straight and stop taking on extra
projects.”

He spoke calmly. “Baby, I’m not
blaming you for anything. When you asked me what my grade was a few
weeks ago, I didn’t want to talk about it because I knew in my head
I needed to get my act together. You and my sister are right. I’ve
taken on way too many responsibilities, and in the process, I met
you and it was like a breath of fresh air. You’ve taught me how to
settle down and relax, and I did just that. Now, I need to focus on
medical school.”

“
Why didn’t you just tell
me? You’ve been avoiding me, and when you did talk to me, you were
moody and snappy. I don’t appreciate you treating me like
that.”

“
Yasmine, I sincerely
apologize. I’m used to keeping things to myself, especially
negative things. I’m a—”

“—
perfectionist,” she
finished for him.

“
Something like that.” He
grinned. “But, you can’t get upset, be mad at me, or think I’m
avoiding you. There are times when I’ll be busy with studying,
assignments, and labs. Next year, I’ll be a third-year medical
student which means no more classes. I start my rotations at the
hospital, which entails long hours. I may not see you every day,
but none of that will change the fact that I love you and want to
be with you. It just means it’s a part of the journey I have to
take to be a doctor.”

“
Cannon, while I
understand, it still doesn’t give you any excuse to snap at me,
ignore me or forget we had plans. Trust me. There are plenty of men
wanting to take your place and get at all of this.” She motioned
her hand in the air from her head to her feet and back up. She
stopped as she replayed what he said in her head. “Wait. Did you
say you love me?”

He pulled her back down to the couch
and onto his lap. “Yes, Yasmine. Very, very much.”

Tears welled in her eyes and began to
roll down her cheeks. He wiped them away, but a few more came. “I
love you, too. Cannon, I promise I always will.”

“
I would love to show you
right now just how much.”

Afterwards, they lay intertwined
together as the candle light illuminated her bedroom. She drew
circles around his scar. She’d become increasingly obsessed with it
every time she saw it.

“
Why did you make a C on
your paper?”

He sighed. “Errors like typos and
grammar, things that I do know. I just rushed through and didn’t
take my time to thoroughly proofread it In fact, I’m working on a
final paper now, which is why I haven’t been around much lately.
It’s pretty much done. Just need to read through it line by
line.”