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  I gave him a smile before I turned back to face the counter. I didn’t know what else to say to him. It was obvious that he was feeling me but there was no way in hell I was giving a corny ass cop any play.

  “So, how was your day?”

  He wasn’t giving up that easy. “Fine. And yours?” I looked for the Burger King cashier and gave her a look hoping she’d hurry up with my damn burger so I could get the hell out of here.

  He chuckled again making me wonder what in the world was so damn funny. “It’s going.”

  I didn’t like the way he was looking at me so I turned around breaking the eye contact. I didn’t want him to think I was in any way interested in him.

  “But it just got a whole lot better running into you.”

  I cringed. I wasn’t in the mood today. I turned around to face him, “Look, Officer…”

  “Harris. Call me Harris.”

  As if on cue, the cashier came back with my burger. I took it, gave Officer Moore, or Harris, rather, a smile and said, “Well, Harris. It was nice seeing you again.” I headed toward the exit of the fast food restaurant.

  “Miss Thomas! Wait a second!” He called after me.

  I didn’t want to be rude but I was about to give him a piece of my mind. Wasn’t it obvious that I was in no way interested in him? I had my hand on the exit door but I turned around. I looked him up and down. He was about 5’11 if not 6 foot. He was solid, it was obvious that he worked out, his face was handsome enough, clean shaven, low taper fade, but looks aside, he wasn’t my type.

  “I was hoping we could exchange telephone numbers,” his voice was nervous. His eyes were afraid to make contact with mine. “I would really like to get to know you better.”

  “I’m sorry, Harris, I’m really not in the headspace to start dating.” I looked at him. It was like he didn’t remember that he just recently had to report to the scene where my ex-boyfriend had just beat my ass.

  He nodded his head, “Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry. I just thought…”

  “I have your card. I’ll give you a call,” I lied.

  He looked at me like he knew I was lying and just nodded his head. “Ok, hope to hear from you soon.”

  I walked out of the restaurant without saying anything else to him. I jumped on the freeway and headed home. I texted Lake asking if she’d talked to Charlie yet. I didn’t want to be the one to tell her but I did want to make sure she would be able to make it to Charlie’s house tonight.

  I pulled into my condominium parking garage and hopped on the elevator. I was ready to sit on my couch and pig out on this greasy ass food but as soon as I made it to my floor, any appetite I had quickly faded away.

  Darnel was standing outside my door pacing back and forth. I really wasn’t up for this today and on top of everything else I had to deal with, I didn’t have my pistol to stop him this time.

  Before I had a chance to pull my cell phone out, he spotted me. My first instinct was to turn around and run. But the sound of the elevator going down proved I was trapped.

  “You ain’t so big and bad today, huh?” The look on his face made goosebumps pop up on my arms. What the hell did I ever see in this maniac? I had to wonder why I never noticed the crazed look in his eyes until now.

  “What do you want, Darnel?”

  “Bitch, you put a got-damn pistol in my face. You think I’m gon’ let you get away with some shit like that?”

  I took two steps backwards. This nigga had lost every piece of his mind.

  He charged toward me and I was prepared to fight for my life. Before he could land a finger on me, the neighbor across the hall, Brendon, walked outside. Darnel took me in his arms like he was going to give me a hug instead of a fist to the face. The look on my face must have said everything I didn’t, because Brendon looked from Darnel to me and then asked, “Everything alright?”

  “Yeah, potna’. Everything is straight.” Darnel looked him up and down. Brendon had blue eyes and blonde hair, but also the body of someone who lived in the gym, so Darnel knew better than to try anything in front of him.

  “Hi, Brendon. How are you doing?” My voice was shaky. “Darnel was just leaving.”

  Darnel tightened his grip on me but after seeing that Brenden wasn’t walking away until he left, he released my arm. He looked me dead in my eyes but didn’t say anything. Then he turned around and walked away.

  I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until he was gone.

  “What was that all about?” Brendon asked once Darnel had gotten on the elevator.

  I rolled my eyes, “That’s my crazy ass ex.”

  “Looks like I walked out just in time.”

  I sighed and nodded.

  Brendon grasped his white trash bag with one hand and ran his other hand through his blonde chin length hair. “Do you want me to stick around and make sure he doesn’t come back?”

  I shook my head, “No, but thank you, Brendon. I doubt he’ll come back.” But I wasn’t so sure. I locked the door behind me when I walked inside my condo. I knew it was only a matter of time before Darnel came back around. I knew what had to be done. I was going to have to get a restraining order and I knew exactly who I needed to call to get the ball rolling. I hadn’t planned on ever calling him but after seeing Darnel today, it looked like Officer Harris Moore would hear from me after all.

  Lake

  I pulled up in front of Charlie’s salon and hopped out of the car that was now four payments past due. I looked around the parking lot for any suspicious looking characters in case the repo man was somewhere lurking. I hit the alarm on my black Nissan Maxima and walked inside of the salon.

  When I walked inside of Trendsetters, I was greeted by the always cheerful and always gorgeous receptionist. She offered me a smile. Charlie’s salon was immaculate and filled to capacity as usual. She was definitely the definition of a boss. Even though I loved her like a blood sister, I couldn’t help but smother jealousy that crept up inside of me every time I walked into this beautiful ass salon.

  I gave the receptionist a smile in return and made my way to the back of the salon where Charlie’s private suite was. I was still on maternity leave so a few of the stylists gave me curious looks, probably wondering why I was back at work so soon. But I wasn’t here to work, I had to check on my best friend.

  I knocked two times before entering Charlie’s private suite. Charlie was spraying hairspray on a client and I was glad that she was finishing up so we could have a chance to talk. I know I was supposed to meet her and Kesha at her house tonight but after hearing the news, I had to rush to the salon to be sure my girl was alright

  “What are you doing here?” She glanced up from finishing her client’s hair.

  I sat in the spare chair across from her and admired the long weave she’d just given the client seated in her chair. I didn’t want to say why I was really here in front of her client so I just shrugged and said, “I came by to see you.”

  “What is wrong with your head?” Charlie asked with a curl of her lip.

  I ran my hands through my matted hair. “I don’t know. I ain’t did nothing to it.”

  “I can tell.” She shook her head.

  Her client started giggling and I shot her a look that said mind your business. I looked Charlie over. Although, she was dressed chic as usual, her face looked tired, like she’d been up all night. She didn’t have an ounce of makeup on, although she never needed it. Pretty ass bitch, I thought and shook my head to keep my own insecurities from rising. Her hair was in a messy wavy bob. She just looked effortlessly gorgeous.

  “There you go, Renee,” she said with a heavy sigh as she spun her client around to look in the mirror. Renee sang Charlie’s praises before paying her and leaving the salon.

  I quickly jumped up and gave her a tight hug. She went limp in my arms. “Oh, Lake.” Her body shook with tears. “You didn’t have to come all the way down here.”

  “Yes I did. I’m always here for you girl. I c
an’t believe you even came in here today.” I pulled away from the hug and once I got a look at Charlie’s puffy red eyes, I felt a new hatred for Rick. “I’m going to kill that dirty dick muthafucka’,” I hissed. “I can’t believe he would do you like this.”

  What was Rick thinking? He had everything a person could want, a beautiful, successful wife, his own budding career, the cars, the mansion, and the money. But I guess that just wasn’t enough. He had to go and get a side bitch too. I could feel the rage bubbling inside of me so I tried to calm myself down. I had to be strong for Charlie and see how she was taking things before I spoke my mind any further.

  She reached into her supply drawer for a facial tissue and wiped eyes. “It’s cool, Lake. I tried to put his ass out but he had the nerve to say he ain’t going nowhere.”

  I held in my surprise because a part of me wasn’t that surprised anyway. Rick was always an arrogant asshole. It was just like him to be out there cheating and then refuse to get out. “Like, what happened? What made you follow him?”

  She shrugged and it made me think things weren’t as perfect in paradise as we’d always thought. “Kesha’s ass! She told me some mess she’d heard that turned out to be true.” Charlie shook her head like she was disgusted.

  “And you jumped on the bitch?” I said with a laugh. My laugh caused her to laugh and I could tell that we were both grateful for the temporary relief the laughter provided. “Who broke it up?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. Some guy.”

  The way she said it made me take notice and raise my left eyebrow and the corners of my mouth to rise into a sneaky smile. “Some guy, huh?”

  She ignored me and patted her chair. “Girl, come sit down and lemme’ do something to this mess on your head.”

  I touched my head and sat in her chair. Charlie loved to experiment on my head and just before Destiny was born she’d given me a bleached blonde shoulder length weave. It was cute at first but I didn’t have the strength or energy to do anything to my hair now that Destiny was here.

  “I just can’t believe Rick’s ass. I mean, ya’ll had the perfect life. I wanted to be like ya’ll when I grow up and here this nigga is throwing away everything ya’ll done worked so hard for.” I hated to bring the conversation back there but I just couldn’t believe it.

  Charlie didn’t respond she just sighed like the weight of the world was on top of her shoulders and in a way, I guess it was. “How’s my little Destiny doing?” She tried to make her voice sound lighthearted but all it sounded was fake.

  “Bad already,” I said. “Keeping me up every other hour with her hungry butt.”

  Charlie laughed. “Why didn’t you bring her? I would have loved to see my little stinka’”

  “Girl, her granny got her.” I got a glimpse of my hair in the mirror and could already tell it was fabulous. I thought about calling Greg. With my hair looking this good maybe we could go on a date or something. Especially since Mama was keeping Destiny tonight. I pulled out my cell phone and sent him a text. He’d finally called me back two nights ago. He gave me some lame ass excuse. It was like he hadn’t even bothered to think it through before he told me some bullshit. I knew it was stupid as hell to just be welcoming him back with open arms but after hearing about Rick fucking over Charlie, I didn’t feel so bad. Maybe this was just something we as women had to deal with.

  “How many more clients you have today?”

  Charlie sighed again, “About four more.”

  I didn’t know why she even came to work today. Yesterday, her entire world had come crashing down on her but here she was at work pretending everything was ok.

  Her next client walked in with hair that looked worse than mine had. She finished my hair just in time. I stood in front of the mirror and admired my new do. She’d added more layers, and gave me some curls with her high tech flat iron. Now, my hair looked so bouncy. I shook my head a few times and admired the body. “I owe you for this one, Charlie.” She gave me a soft smile. I told her I’d talk to her later and left the salon.

  Just as I was getting in my car I got a text from Greg saying he wanted to take me to a late dinner. I smiled at the thought of going on a date with him. It’d been so long since we’d been on a date together. I was still going to go to Charlie’s tonight but I would rush out so that I would have time to get ready for this date.

  I headed straight to Neiman Marcus to find a dress for tonight although my better judgment told me to just wear something in my closet, or at least go to a discount store seeing as though I didn’t have that kind of money right now.

  After I’d parked in front of the luxury store, I reached inside the Gucci purse that Charlie had given me last year for Christmas. I pulled out a Valium and cursed when I realized my stash was running low. I swallowed the Valium without water and headed inside of the department store.

  Upon entrance, I was given the once over by a snooty saleswoman. I guess the Gucci purse, and the Kate Spade lace up sandals I was wearing convinced her I was worth her assisting me. I hated dealing with saleswomen like her but I put a smile on my face as fake as the one she was wearing.

  “Hi, is there anything in particular you’re looking for today?” She said.

  I gave her the once over just as she’d done me, then said, “No, I’m just browsing.”

  She smiled and walked off to harass someone else. I headed to the dress department where I tried on three different dresses, none of which I liked. They all fit me bad. I blamed it on the extra baby weight I’d yet to lose.

  Feeling frustrated because so far nothing was looking good enough, I scanned the dress department one last time. I caught eye contact with a stumpy, almond skinned, woman. I briefly smiled and looked away but when I looked back up she was still staring at me.

  Okay, what the fuck? I hated when people didn’t have the common decency to look away once they were caught staring, so I raised my eyebrows and bucked my eyes at the bitch. She finally looked away and seemed to be looking at dresses of her own. Judging from her outfit, there was no way she was able to afford the dress she was looking at. I quickly shook the thought off because judging from my appearance one would assume I could afford anything in the store when I was struggling to make ends meet my damn self.

  I got up to walk out of the store when I spotted the perfect dress on my way out. I squealed and jumped up and down getting the attention of the saleswoman. “Do you have this in a bigger size?”

  She almost skipped away to find the dress in a larger size. I sat down and pulled my cell phone out, preparing to snap a pic and send it to Charlie and Kesha for their opinion. When I looked up expecting the saleswoman to be standing there with my dress, it was the stumpy, staring woman instead.

  “I’m sorry but is your name Caroline?” She asked. Her voice was thick with an accent that that showed she wasn’t American.

  I shook my head, “Naw, that ain’t me.”

  A nervous laugh left her. “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you were someone else.” She offered me a smile just as nervous as her laugh, then walked off as the saleswoman returned. I bought the dress and left the store before I bought anything else and maxed out my credit card.

  By the time I’d made it home, Greg had already texted me and told me change of plans. I don’t know why I got a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I should have been used to him disappointing me by now. When I walked inside of my apartment, I threw the Neiman shopping bag across the room. I would be returning the dress as soon as possible now. What a waste.

  When Kesha came knocking on my door to pick me up, I’d already had a few drinks. I don’t know why I let Greg get to me this way but the only thing that made it not hurt was looking at Destiny. She was the one thing I did right in this world. And since she was with her grandparents today, I had to take to the next best thing; Jack Daniels.

  When I got inside of Kesha’s car I held the bottle up and said, “I brought the goods.”

  She smiled, “Hell yeah!
You know Charlie’s ass is probably gonna wanna sit around and drink wine. That’s why I stopped by and got this,” she reached in her backseat and picked up a brown paper bag with the biggest bottle of Ciroc I’d ever seen.

  Kesha had the most perfect set of dimples when she smiled, she also spent hundreds of dollars on teeth bleaching to make sure her smile was even more perfect. She let Charlie do her hair on the regular, so her hair was always fly. She was dressed down in a white wife beater and a pair of distressed blue jeans. Of course her makeup was flawless. I don’t know why Kesha went and spent all that money and time in college to be a damn pharmacist. She should have been a makeup artist. She had the talent that could take her on photo shoots, but for some reason she’d rather be filling prescriptions and shit.

  Twenty minutes later, we pulled up in front of Charlie’s big ass house. She opened the door with red, puffy eyes and my heart dropped. Although earlier today, she hadn’t seemed to be in the best spirits, she also didn’t look like she was going to come straight home and cry her eyes out.

  “We brought gifts!” Kesha held up the bottle of liquor and I did the same.

  Charlie gave us half of a smile and opened the door wider for us to come in. I locked it behind us and followed her to her massive living area. Charlie’s living room was the size of my entire apartment. It was decorated immaculately. She’d hired an interior decorator to do her entire house and it was worth every penny. The white loveseat, sofa, and recliner contrasted perfectly against the dark hardwood floors. The floor to ceiling windows were draped in white curtains. The room screamed elegance.

  Charlie sat at the end of the loveseat and said, “I thought ya’ll had forgot.”

  Kesha headed straight to the kitchen. “Now, you know we wasn’t going to forget about you.” She opened the refrigerator and pulled out two cans of Coke. “I’m bartender tonight.”

  Charlie was wearing this thick oversized plaid onesie but she was still wrapped up in a throw blanket. It wasn’t cold inside of the room so I guess she just wanted the comfort. She tossed me the remote and said, “I wasn’t watching this. You can turn it if you want to.”