Reserved for Him

Chapter 1

Chapter

One

J unicia

My cell phone rang as I sat at my desk going over some paperwork. I needed to finish this report by the end of the day, so I ignored the call until I saw it was my cousin Lauren.

Swiping the green button, I put the phone on speaker and placed it back on my desk. “This is Ms. Murray.”

“Girl, you knew damn well who it was, so I don’t know why you are playing games.” Lauren fussed as soon as I answered. “Are you still at work?”

I sat back in my chair and sighed. “I am, but I won’t be for too much longer. I have plans, but I have to get this report done first.”

“Plans? What kind of plans? Please don’t tell me it’s with him .”

I was almost certain she rolled her eyes because she did every time I mentioned my boyfriend, Leo.

“Fine, I won’t tell you.” I rolled my neck to release the tension in it. It had been a long day, and I was ready to go.

Lauren couldn’t stand Leo. She said he had shifty eyes, and he seemed like he was a player. I never got that from him, so I ignored her every time she said it.

“Is he finally taking you out?”

“No. I planned a date night for us, even though I’m not sure if he deserves it.”

Leo and I had been together for over four years, and things were good until a year ago when he lost his job. Since then, he’d been depressed and moody all the time. The only thing he wanted to do was play video games and hang out with his friends.

“He doesn’t deserve it. Shit, he doesn’t deserve you, but you act like you can’t leave him.”

I closed my eyes and rested my head on the back of my chair. “He doesn’t, but I was trying to see if I could get things back on track. It’s been a rough year for him.”

I figured if I did something nice for him, maybe it would help him get out of the slump he’d been in and hopefully put the spark back into our relationship. It had been a few months since we had sex, and I knew my vibrators were sick of me.

“Okay, but he hasn’t been doing it on his own.

If anything, you are the one that needs to be treated to something.

You’ve been holding it down all this time, and what has he done?

Has he even given you any money to help out around the house?

Does he even cook or clean for you since you work so much?

You don’t have to respond because I already know the answer. ”

Tears pooled in my eyes, so I grabbed a tissue from my desk to catch them before they fell. I didn’t need anyone in my office to see me cry.

I took a few cleansing breaths before I responded.

“Lauren, I know. I just don’t know what to do. I feel like I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place. It’s like the relationship has run its course, but at the same time, I don’t want to kick him out while he’s down.”

“He has a house, though, doesn’t he?”

“Yes, and no. He rents his house to make some money. Plus, he’s been helping take care of his parents, and paying off his student loans, so the money he does get goes to that.”

That lie flew out of my mouth without a second thought because that was the same lie Leo told me. As far as I knew, there was nothing wrong with his parents, so I didn’t understand why he gave them money. I wondered what he really did with his money, but I knew there was no point in asking.

“I just don’t want you wasting any more years on someone that doesn’t want shit for themselves. You need to put Leo out and see what that fine ass neighbor got going on.”

There was a new neighbor that moved in a year ago, and he was fine as hell. The only exchanges we had were normal pleasantries. I didn’t even know his name.

“Girl, that man ain’t thinking about me. The most he does is say hello.”

“Because he knows you have leeching Leo over there.”

I laughed out loud, because every time Lauren talked about Leo, she called him something different. He’d been lazy Leo, loser Leo, to lounging Leo. I swear the girl didn’t have a lick of sense.

“Whatever. Did you want something?”

“Yes. I wanted to hang out, but since you want to save your relationship and shit, I guess I have to wait.”

I was sure she said that with a frown on her face. She never hid her disdain for Leo, even when she was right in front of him. He noticed it, too, but never said anything because he knew I didn’t play about my cousin.

Lauren and I were first cousins, but we were more like sisters.

Our fathers were brothers, and since we were little, we lived next door to each other.

We went to all of the same schools, including college and nursing school.

I didn’t care for bedside nursing, so I got a job with the Joint Commission and moved up until I became regional manager.

Lauren loved working with patients, so she ended up working at the Spring Oaks Medical Clinic, where the majority of the staff were black.

“I’ll call you as soon as I have time.”

“Fine, treat me like I’m trash.”

Lauren could be dramatic when she wanted to be. It had been a while since we hung out, so we were due for a lunch date. I would make sure I carved out some time for her.

“How about I treat you to a spa day?”

“Sounds good to me.” She laughed.

We talked for a few more minutes until I told her I had to go to finish up the paperwork.

The paperwork took me longer than expected, so I stayed at work an hour past the time I wanted to leave.

By the time I got home, I was tired and didn’t want to do anything but get in my bed.

The plans I had for Leo and I went out the window when I came home to find him sitting on the couch, playing video games.

“You haven’t done anything all day?” I asked as I walked further into the living room.

Anger shot through me when I noticed the empty cups and bottles on the table. I couldn’t even smell the lavender plug-ins that were placed around the room.

He quickly took his eyes off the game to look at me. “Nah, I went out with Ralphie earlier.”

My eyes rolled toward the ceiling. I didn’t dislike that many people, but Ralphie was at the top of the list. Leo and Ralphie were first cousins, and Ralphie wasn’t shit.

He cheated on his girlfriend who was such a sweet girl.

Sometimes, I wondered if he tried to get Leo to cheat on me.

I never thought Leo messed around, but the way he’d been acting lately, I wouldn’t put it past him.

I snatched up the trash from the table and wanted to scream when I saw the water marks on the table from him not using a coaster.

The sight made me drop the trash back onto the table.

I couldn’t stress enough the importance of using the coasters that sat right on the table, but Leo couldn’t comprehend that.

Or he just didn’t care. Over the last few months, he’d been showing signs that he lacked common sense.

“Is it really that hard to use a fucking coaster?” I asked through clenched teeth.

Leo cut his eyes at me. I guess he didn’t like the way I raised my voice.

“Who are you talking to like that, Junicia?” He paused the game and stood.

I noticed the little vein that pulsed on his forehead whenever he got angry.

“I’m talking to you, Leonardo.” I put my hands on my hips and glared at him. He hated it when I called him by his full name, but I only did it to get under his skin.

“What I tell you about that shit?” He got in my face, and I had to take a step back. The smell of alcohol almost singed my nose hairs.

“And what did I tell you about using a coaster? Or why couldn’t you cook dinner since I got home late?

Or hell, why did you leave this trash around?

” I moved my hand around in a sweeping motion as my eyes looked around the room.

There was other shit he tossed around, and it made my blood boil that he could be so careless.

He sat back down, grabbed the controller, and went back to playing the game like I wasn’t there.

“Don’t come in here with all that nagging and shit.” He waved his hand to shoo me away.

My eyes widened and my head reared back because of the audacity of him to say some mess like that to me.

Enough was enough. One thing I told myself was I wasn’t going to take anybody’s bullshit, and I meant that. Leo wasn’t worth the fight.

“I think it’s time for you to go.”

He dropped the controller on the couch, quickly stood to his feet, and got in my face again.

“Fuck you mean I have to go?”

His breath made me throw up a little in my mouth.

It seemed like it had gotten worse in a matter of seconds.

For a split second, I felt sorry for him.

This wasn’t the Leo I knew. He used to be handsome.

He never went out without a haircut and shapeup.

His waves were always on point, and his light brown eyes always looked so full of life.

As he stood in front of me, I took in his appearance.

His hair had grown out, and he looked ashy. His eyes were now dull and lifeless.

My sympathy for him disappeared quickly because he’d done all of this to himself. I understood how he had been feeling, but at some point, he needed to pull up his bootstraps and get his shit together.

“Exactly what I said. I can’t do this anymore. I’m tired, and you need to go.”

He sucked his teeth and laughed in my face. “Junicia, stop playing. I’m not going anywhere, and you aren’t leaving me. I took some chicken out earlier, so you can cook that while I finish this game.” He had the nerve to sit back down and pretend nothing happened.

I pinched the bridge of my nose to calm myself down, but it didn’t work. I counted to ten in my head, then snatched the controller out of his hand and threw it on the floor. I ran toward the stairs and took two at a time until I reached my bedroom.

“Aye!” Leo came storming up the steps.

“I told you to leave, and since you didn’t want to, I’ll make you leave.” I went into the closet, found an empty suitcase, and started tossing his stuff in there.

Leo walked into the closet and snatched the bag out of my hand. “You know what? I’ll leave, but you are going to regret this. Don’t call me when you get lonely.”

“Oh, baby, you don’t have to worry about me calling you ever again.”

“Yeah, okay.” He scoffed.

I sat on the edge of my bed as he gathered his stuff. I wanted to keep my eye on him to make sure he didn’t take some shit that didn’t belong to him. People tended to do weird shit when they were mad, and with him drinking, he may not have been in his right mind.

“Aye, man, come pick me up,” I heard Leo say when he came out of the closet. “Yeah, this bitch trying to put me out.” He cut his eyes at me, and I smirked.

I wasn’t fazed by his words. He finished getting whatever he had, then walked out of the bedroom. I followed behind him to ensure he got his ass up out of my house.

“This shit ain’t over.” He slammed my front door, and I went over to make sure it was locked.

I made a note to call a locksmith to change the locks since he had a key. After ensuring he was gone, I cleaned the house from top to bottom. When I was done, I opened the windows and lit some sage even though it was freezing outside. I needed that negative energy out of there.

Afterward, I took a hot bath and drank some wine before bed. Things with Leo and I weren’t great, but I did love him. I would probably miss what we could have been, but I didn’t regret my decision.