10. Noree Marcell
Later that night…
Istepped out of the bathroom and nearly walked straight into Ozy.
“Oh, sorry. My bad.”
I tried to move around him, but before I could get past him, he grabbed my arm and gently pulled me back toward him. My body turned in his direction, and he slowly reached up, placing his fingers underneath my chin and making me look at him.
“Have you been crying?”
I laughed a little, even though there wasn’t anything funny about being caught.
“Wow. I wasn’t trying to make it obvious.”
I wiped underneath my eyes, making sure there weren’t any more tears sitting there, then stepped back from him. He lowered his hand to his side while I leaned against the wall.
The hallway wasn’t that big, so even with me moving away, there still wasn’t much space between us. He stood directly in front of me, studying my face like he was trying to figure out what I wasn’t telling him.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing. I’m just happy.”
“So why you crying then?”
“Because… Like I said, you don’t know how much this means to me that you’re actually here right now. You could be anywhere in the world, and you took time to come here.”
He continued looking at me without saying anything.
“I had to sneak away a few times to shed a few tears,” I admitted. “I thought you were asleep by now, though.”
I smirked and placed my hand on my hip.
“I was sleep, but then King ended up calling me.”
I laughed a little. “Why is he up? It’s past his bedtime.”
“I know, but he was concerned. He thinks he my daddy.”
The two of us laughed.
King had always been attached to Ozy, but with everything going on, I understood why he wanted to check on him. That little boy had already been through enough, and Ozy was the person he depended on the most.
“I told him I’ll be back in the morning,” Ozy said.
I nodded. “Welllll… since we’re on the topic of King, I do have a question.”
“What’s up?”
“You know, with the whole nanny situation, I do still need that job. But now things have changed with the dynamic of our relationship, so how do you feel about me continuing to work for you?”
Ozy paused for a moment. His fingers moved over the hair on his chin as he thought about it.
“You sure you wanna keep working for me? You ain’t got to.”
“I know I don’t have to, but I really do like being his nanny, and the money is good. I know it was only temporary for three months, but I would like to at least fulfill my duties.”
“Let me think on that, and I’ll get back to you on it.”
My eyebrows pulled together. “Why do you have to think about it?”
“Like you said, things have changed between us. You’re not just a worker. You’re the mother of my child.”
A smile slowly spread across my face.
“I am, aren’t I?”
“Yeah, you a fine-ass MILF.” His eyes moved over my body. “Whole time, I was trying to figure out how you had gotten even thicker than you were before. Now I know.”
Heat rushed into my cheeks, and I looked away from him. I reached forward and playfully pushed his chest, forgetting about my fingers. I winced a little and put my hand down.
“Boy, I am not that thick.”
Ozy made a face and looked down at my body again.
“Shiiit.”
We both laughed, but before either one of us could say anything else, my mother’s bedroom door opened.
She poked her head into the hallway and squinted at both of us.
“I know y’all are not making all that noise in my hallway. Go on and sit down somewhere.”
Ozy immediately straightened up.
“Yes, ma’am.”
She disappeared back into her room and closed the door.
Ozy and I looked at each other before we both started snickering. We headed toward the living room.
“You about to get us both in trouble. My mama don’t play about her beauty sleep.”
“Oh, trust me. I already know.”
When we made it into the living room, Ozy sat down on the couch. I sat beside him with one of my legs folded underneath me so I could face him. His arm was stretched across the back of the couch, and I leaned in a little.
“Can I say something else?”
“Yeah.” He looked at me. “You sure got a lot to tell me, huh?”
“I promise it’s not another secret. I told you I was all out of those.”
A brief silence passed between us.
We stared into each other’s eyes, and for a moment, I almost forgot what I was about to say. The way he was looking at me made it hard to think straight. His eyes slowly moved across my face before settling on my eyes again.
“I’m glad you broke up with Ginger,” I finally said.
Ozy chuckled. “Why?”
“Honestly, it has nothing to do with me, if that’s what you were thinking… She just wasn’t right for you. From what I can see, you’re always much happier when she isn’t around. I feel like she was just dead weight.”
He remained quiet, listening to me.
“I didn’t wanna say much about the situation because you said she was there for you during your hard time, but something about that girl ain’t right. She definitely is a little too evil-spirited and jealous for me.”
Ozy chuckled. “Aww, you care about me.”
He reached up, grabbed my cheek, and squeezed it.
I slapped his hand away and looked at him through the slits of my eyes, a smile tugging at my lips.
“No, but seriously, all jokes aside, I do care about you.”
“I care about you too.” His expression changed slightly as he looked at me. “You still ain’t trying to talk about that kiss?”
I was surprised he brought it up, especially right then.
“I mean, what is there to talk about? It was great, but maybe we don’t need to go back down that lane. You see where that got us.”
I playfully pointed toward the room where Oaklynn was now asleep for the night.
Ozy looked in the direction I was pointing before turning back toward me.
“Why do you always do that?”
“Do what?”
“You deflect whenever I try to have any type of conversation that has to do with us.”
“Oh… so there is an us.”
“There isn’t?”
A smile appeared on my face. “I see what you’re trying to do here.”
He chuckled. “I’m not tryna do anything, love.”
“Mhm.” I unfolded my leg and started shifting toward the edge of the couch.
“Well, I’m going to bed. It’s late, I’m tired, and my poor fingers are starting to hurt again.
I keep accidentally hitting them on practically everything, and Oaky Woaky kept squeezing them…
so I really do need to go on and lay it down. ”
“That nickname is hilarious.” He chuckled. “But yeah, I get it.”
Both of us looked down at my fingers.
The pain had started throbbing again. Even the smallest touch made pain shoot through my fingertips.
Ozy gently grabbed both of my hands.
He was careful not to touch the sore parts as he lifted them toward his mouth. His eyes stayed on mine while he kissed the back of one hand, then the other.
My breath caught in my throat.
It was such a small gesture, but the way he did it made my entire body warm. His lips lingered against my skin for a second before he slowly lowered my hands.
We stared into each other’s eyes again.
Neither one of us said anything. We didn’t have to. The look passing between us said enough, and if I stayed on that couch much longer, I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep pretending there wasn’t an us.
I got up before I allowed myself to do something I would have to explain later.
As I walked away, I could feel his eyes following me. Once I reached the hallway, I stopped and looked back over my shoulder.
Ozy was still staring at me.
“Good night,” I whispered.
“Good night,” he replied.
I turned around and continued down the hallway. When I entered Oaklynn’s room, I quietly closed the door behind me, trying not to wake her.
The room was dark except for the soft light coming from the night-light. Oaklynn was sleeping peacefully in her little bed while the air mattress my mama had blown up for me sat on the floor beside it.
I carefully lowered myself onto the mattress and pulled the blanket over my body. Once I was comfortable, I rolled onto my back and stared up at the ceiling.
I couldn’t stop smiling.
For the longest time, I had wondered what would happen when Ozy finally learned the truth. I had imagined every possible reaction. I imagined him yelling, walking away, refusing to believe me, or hating me for keeping Oaklynn from him.
Not once had I imagined the night going the way it did.
I loved every single moment of their meeting. I loved the way his entire face lit up when she waved at him. I loved watching her grab his chain and reach for his hat. I loved how naturally he held her and how careful he was with her, almost like they had known each other this whole time.
Seeing them together made me regret not telling him the second I saw him again.
I knew I couldn’t go back and change anything. I couldn’t erase the year he had already missed, no matter how badly I wished I could. All I could do was make sure he didn’t miss anything else.
Judging by the way Ozy looked at her, he wasn’t going anywhere.
My thoughts eventually drifted back to the hallway and the living room. Still smiling, I finally allowed my body to relax. It didn’t take long before my thoughts faded, my breathing slowed, and eventually, I was snoring.