My Bestfriend's Man Read online

  “You’re fired. Don’t think about stepping foot up in the club. I will mail you your check.”

  I slammed the door and headed downstairs. I shook my head. “All this drama for some damn pussy.”

  Chapter 5

  Savannah

  “What you got a taste for?” Zee asked me as we walked towards the elevator.

  “Chick Fila,” I laughed. She looked at me sideways. “You asked me.”

  “Can you think outside of the box for once in your life? You don’t ever get sick of that place?”

  “No. They are the bomb dot com.”

  “Corny.”

  “Whatever,” I said as we reached the elevator that led to the parking garage. My cell phone began to vibrate in my scrub pocket. I removed it and Roxie’s picture flashed across the screen. “Hello.”

  “Hey girlie. How is work?”

  “It’s been busy. How about you?”

  “So, so. Dr. Siddique is actually having a good day, but you know that can change just like the days of the week. Why can’t doctors be normal just like everybody else?”

  I laughed knowing all too well how doctors are. One minute they could be hot the next minute they could be cold. We had one doctor who was the same all the time, Dr. Rhoades. She’s in her late forties, but she is as sweet as pie. Despite her success and the stress of the job she remains down to earth and I appreciated that.

  “Well, I hope it stays that way. What you about to do?” I asked as I hopped into Zee’s brand new Tahoe. “This is nice,” I said nodding my head.

  “Thanks,” Zee said.

  “What? Who are you talking too?” Roxie asked.

  “Oh, me and Zee are on our way to Chick Fila for lunch.” I could hear Roxie breathing hard and smacking her lips in the background. I wasn’t about to entertain anything negative she would have to say this time. “We are about to get on the road. Holla at me later.”

  “So you’d rather have lunch with some random than with me?” She asked.

  “Roxie what the hell?” I asked taking my phone from my ear. I looked at it with a screw face before placing it back up to my ear. “I work with Zee and you know that.” As soon as I said it, I regretted it. Zee looked at me and curled her lips. “Look I have to go. Bye.” I ended the call and threw my phone in my purse. Not too long after it began to vibrate, but I chose to ignore it.

  “What was that all about?” Zee asked.

  “Girl, I don’t know. Sometimes Roxie be tripping, for real.”

  “That girl ain’t right Savannah.”

  Zee is cool, but I remained quiet. Roxie could get extra and work on my nerves, but to hear somebody talk bad about her didn’t sit too well with me. They don’t know her or her situation. So if Zee thought I was going to sit here and talk bad about Roxie she had another thing coming.

  “I’m over it. Let’s just go get a quick bite to eat and head back to complete the rest of this twelve hour shift.” She must have gotten the hint.

  “Cool.”

  * * *

  “I swear them nuggets was everything,” Zee answered as she stood up and gathered her trash off the table.

  “Oh, but you wanted me to think outside of the box,” I laughed. I stood up and grabbed my trash as well.

  “Whatever,” she said quickly putting her trash in the trash can without touching it.

  I watched as she pulled her hair up into a ponytail. She was a beautiful girl with ebony colored skin, deep brown eyes and naturally long hair of her own, but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out why she always opted to wear tracks.

  “Why do you even wear fake hair? I don’t get it.”

  She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. I just like to be different.”

  “Okay. Whatever floats your boat,” I said as we walked outside.

  As soon as we stepped outside I regretted it. Zee was saying something, but my attention was elsewhere. We were so close to each other I could smell the familiar scent of his cologne. It’s been almost a year, but the love I held for this man still hasn’t faded. One look into his beautiful green eyes and a wave of emotion came over me.

  “How you been Savannah?”

  I wanted to say something, anything, but I couldn’t. The words were lodged in my throat and they refused to come out. It’s amazing how someone can have this kind of power over you. I stood there stuck on mute for what seemed like forever. Zee finally nudged me.

  “Good,” I blurted out. Zee knew of our history so she kindly excused herself

  “I’ll be in the truck. We only have fifteen minutes,” she reminded me.

  “Okay,” I said in a voice barely above a whisper. My mind told me to leave, but my heart begged me to stay.

  “You look good Savannah,” Brandon said after I continued to stand there like a deer caught in headlights.

  “Thanks, you do too,” I said and I wasn’t lying.

  This man is fine. Tall, about six four, light skin, green eyes, a pretty boy with pretty hair. As a little girl, I always said I would never date a light skin guy, but this dude caught my heart and kept it. This was awkward. I could tell by his demeanor that he had so much more to say, but now was not the right time. He was taking a risk by standing here talking to me.

  “I don’t know what happened between us Savannah,” he said with so much sincerity he made me sick to my stomach, literally.

  I rolled my eyes and sucked my teeth. I couldn’t bring myself to go there with him right now. I knew if I did my emotions would boil over and it would take me a while to calm them down.

  “Brandon, don’t even,” I said waving my hand in the air ready to step around him.

  “Savannah please, just talk to me.”

  I looked into his eyes and I almost fell for it. He almost had me, but God has a way of doing things.

  “Hey bae. I’m sorry it took me so long.”

  My heart dropped to my stomach as I watched her walk up to Brandon and hook her arm in his. I shook my head and quickly walked away. He called my name, but I kept on going. I ran to Zee’s truck and hopped in.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “Nothing,” I said shaking my head and shrugging my shoulders, trying my best to appear like my run in with Brandon didn’t faze me.

  “Then why are you crying?”

  Chapter 6

  Brandon

  “Fuck,” I said out loud to myself. I looked down at Melinda and had to refrain from smacking the shit out of her ass.

  “What?” She said looking at me like I was the crazy one. Like I was the one that did something wrong.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?”

  “I came to get something to eat. Is that aight with you?” She asked putting her hand on her hip. Then just like that she switched personalities. “And since we are here together…,” she started, trying to hook her arm in mine again, but I wasn’t having that.

  “We aren’t together. We did not come here together!”

  As I looked at her crazy ass I knew sleeping with her was a mistake, but at the time I was vulnerable, desperate and needy. Melinda knew this and capitalized on it. Now, I can admit shorty had mad skills in the bedroom. She could deep throat a dick and hold that shit for days, but that was as far as it went. The attraction was simply sexual nothing more, but Melinda couldn’t seem to get that through her thick ass head.

  I mean, how many times you have to tell a person you don’t want them. I’ve said it several different ways and apparently she still doesn’t get it. I’ve said in a text message, sent it in an email, said it through a friend and I’ve told her ass directly that I don’t want her and here she is giving me that stupid ass smile she wears every damn day, like shit between us is kosher.

  “We can change that,” she laughed.

  I’ve never put my hands on a woman, but shit like this caused me to catch myself. I really had my heart set on some Chick Fila, I was starving at first, but now my appetite was gone. Seeing Savannah up close and pers
onal had me in my feelings. It’s been damn near a year and my heart still beats for that girl. I left crazy ass Melinda standing there as I headed back to my ride.

  As I weaved in and out of lunch hour traffic, all I could think about was Savannah. I’m going through memories trying to figure out where the hell we went wrong. We were in a good place. She was a steady nurse at the hospital and I worked as an accountant for a small firm called ASG Accounting. We were living the life and I was just a few days away from popping the big question then out of nowhere things took a turn for the worse.

  One day I come home to the house we had just purchased together and all her stuff was gone. She didn’t leave a note, give me a phone call, nothing. I went through extreme measures to find out what I did, but she wouldn’t talk to me. I tried talking to Roxie, but that was like talking to a pit bull. She didn’t like me anyway and the feeling was mutual. I talked to her parents and they were just as confused as me. To this day I still don’t know what happened. She won’t give me a straightforward answer whenever I questioned her about it.

  She just says, “You know what you did” or “Don’t play dumb” or, “You said you would never hurt me.”

  Just a whole bunch of bullshit that I didn’t quite understand. Before I headed back to work I grabbed a muffin and coffee just to get me through the day. It helped physically, but seeing Savannah had me emotional. I hated feeling this way. Women just don’t understand the worst thing they can do to a man is break his heart.

  After a long day at work and getting nothing accomplished, except avoiding Melinda’s crazy ass, I decided to stop by the local bar. I still resided in the home Savannah and I purchased together. I wasn’t in the right state of mind to deal with the memories right now. It was Monday, so it wasn’t too crowded. I spotted an empty stool at the bar and quickly took refuge.

  “What can I get for you?”

  “Vodka and Cranberry, please.”

  “Rough day?” She asked.

  “You have no idea.”

  “I’ll be right back,” she winked and walked away.

  I watched the sway of her hips as she worked to prepare my drink. She was cute. Even though I wasn’t a big fan of the latest trend of hairstyle she was wearing, one side shaved off and the other side long, it looked good on her.

  “Here you go handsome,” she said with a smile advertising her deep dimples.

  Her smile was like a breath of fresh air. Maybe I was feeling lonely, and in desperate need of someone to take away the bruise that had been left on my heart. I downed that drink with ease. I already informed my boss I wouldn’t be in tomorrow, so I was free to do whatever.

  “Another one, please.”

  “Sure.”

  She handed me my drink and I downed that one too. She looked at me sideways and placed her hand on her hip. “You wanna talk about it?”

  “Women.”

  She laughed. “Men.”

  “Why is it so hard for women to communicate? I mean if we did something wrong just tell us so we can fix it. Can I have another?” I asked waving my glass in the air. Dayum, I hated the way I was feeling right now. I swear I’m never falling in love again.

  She set the drink in front of me. “Are you sure it’s not the other way around?”

  “What’s your name?”

  “Brandi.”

  “You have a minute, Brandi?”

  She looked from her left to her right. I looked as well. I wasn’t the only one sitting at the bar, but she wasn’t needed at the moment. She nodded her head yes and I proceeded to tell her my story. She stood there in deep thought. I could tell she was just as confused as me.

  “It sounds like you guys were happy, but I have to ask did you cheat on her?”

  “Well, technically I did once,” I said shaking my head trying not to think about my betrayal. “Can I have another?” I knew I would need a drink if I was going to get into details about this shit.

  “You need to slow down,” she said with a frown on her face.

  “This is what happens when a man falls in love and has his heart broken.”

  “Here, but I think that should be your limit.”

  “Now you want to break my heart too.”

  “I would never do that.”

  Something about the way she said it made my stomach do somersaults. I downed the rest of my drink and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. She was staring at me, so I shifted my eyes and focused on something else.

  “Finish telling me the rest of the story,” she finally said breaking up the uncomfortable silence that had rested between us.

  “Can I have another one?”

  * * *

  I woke up and my head was pounding. I sat up and immediately regretted it. I grabbed my head and released a moan of anguish. I tried to piece together the events of last night. I remembered talking to the bartender Brandi, but after that it was a complete blur. I couldn’t even remember how I got home.

  “Dammit,” I said out loud. I was disappointed in myself for being so irresponsible. I’d come too far in life to mess it up now.

  I sat there for a few more minutes and gathered my composure. The clock on my wall read a little after ten in the morning. That’s unusual for me because I’m always up at six for my daily run. I wouldn’t say I’m a fitness fanatic, but I do try to get my thirty to forty-five minutes of exercise every day.

  I got up and relieved my bladder before walking out. My destination was the kitchen because my throat was dry. As I bypassed the living room, I couldn’t help but notice the comforter I usually kept stored in my closet was now on my couch with a bump underneath of it. I frowned.

  “Yo!” I yelled. I must have startled whoever was underneath because they jumped and went crashing down on the floor. I remained glued to my spot as they struggled under the comforter. “Brandi.”

  “Yeah, and whatever happened to good morning?”

  “How the hell did you get in here?”

  “Take a wild guess?” She said clearing her throat. I watched as her eyes roamed over my body. She looked away. “You were drunk last night,” she said getting up off the floor and sitting back on the couch. She yawned and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. “So you asked me to bring you home.”

  “And you agreed?” I asked looking at her sideways.

  “I’m here aren’t I?”

  “Do you know how dangerous that shit is? I could be some got damn serial killer!” She curled up her lips and folded her arms across her chest. I was offended. “Don’t let the school boy looks fool you.”

  She laughed and shook her head. “Anyway. I ain’t no fool,” she said with a wink as she pulled out her pocket knife.

  She wasn’t a fool, but I sure as hell felt like one. I couldn’t believe I fell off to the point I put myself in danger. I was slipping and I had to get myself together. I dodged a bullet because Brandi could have robbed me and killed me in my sleep I was so out of it.

  “What’s for breakfast,” she asked interrupting my thoughts.

  “Breakfast?” I questioned.

  “Yeah, I figure the least you could do is make me breakfast.”

  I smacked my lips. “Let me go put some clothes on.”

  “Or not,” I heard her mumble.

  * * *

  “So you mean to tell me, you have no idea why she broke up with you?” Brandi asked as we took the short drive to the bar to pick up her car.

  “No, I don’t. I already told you,” I said not in the mood to relive old memories. I had a moment when I saw Savannah the other day, but it was time for me to leave the past in the past and get over what could have been.

  “Touchy,” she said as she stuck her tongue out at me.

  “How old are you?”

  “Twenty-two. I told you that last night.”

  “You have kids?”

  “Hell no. I can barely take care of myself.”

  “It looks like you’re doing okay to me,” I said as I parked beside her Jeep Commander.<
br />
  “Looks can be deceiving,” she said. She lingered around in the car for a moment longer like she wanted to say something. “See you around I hope,” she said as she leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

  I didn’t say anything as I watched her get out. I stuck around and made sure she got to her vehicle safely. She waved at me as she pulled off. Since I had the rest of the day off I figured, I might as well enjoy what the summer weather had to offer. I stopped at a local park and went for a jog.

  It did little to ease the thoughts that clouded my mind. As hard as I tried I couldn’t get Savannah off the brain, I kept replaying memories trying to find out what the hell I did wrong. I needed some answers. I got angry as I thought back to how she left me without an explanation. You can’t up and leave someone without telling them why.

  After finishing my afternoon run the first thing that should have been on my mind was a hot shower, but it wasn’t. Savannah was stuck on my brain like glue. I hopped in the car and sat there for a minute. My first instinct was to stop by and pay her a visit. If she will just tell me where we went wrong maybe that will give me some closure so I can move on with my life.

  I sighed and dragged my hands down the sides of my face. My cell phone began to sing momentarily distracting me from my troubled thoughts. I grabbed it and plugged in the digits to unlock it. As soon as my eyes landed on the number I frowned. She wasn’t programmed in my phone, but I instantly recognized the number. I shook my head contemplating on whether or not I should even entertain the bullshit. I opened the message.

  Hey, babe wondering if you wanted to do a late lunch.

  ~Mel~

  I was so mad I wanted to reach through the phone and strangle her ass. I never thought in a million years one night could cause me this much of a headache. I didn’t even give her my best and she was still trippin’. I angrily tapped my phone screen as I text her back.

  Look cut all that babe shit out. I already told ya crazy ass to leave me the fuck alone. If it’s not work related then don’t call, don’t text, don’t email. Nothing. This is the last time I’m telling you. You’ve been warned.