13. Vonnie
It had been a whole day since I talked to Marshawn.
I did my best to avoid him on the set, not that he made it easy.
After a week of not showing his face, it seemed like he was popping up in our tent every hour on the hour.
After working late, I came home to find his car parked outside.
It was the first time he had the nerve to drive over here since everybody had come back to town.
My attempt to ignore him was futile since he hopped out of the car and followed me as I passed.
“So that’s what we’re doing?” he quizzed.
“What are we doing? That’s the issue, Shawn. Either we’re just fucking, or we’re trying to be more. You can’t even answer that, though, so I’ll answer it for you. It’s neither.”
He sighed before speaking. “Vonnie?”
“It’s cool. I understand that I let my feelings get involved. It’s not fair to you when you’ve already told me time after time that you don’t date at work. Everyone knows you don’t mix business and pleasure.”
“Vonnie, stop walking and talk to me.”
“Nah, I think you should leave.”
“I’m not leaving, Evonne. Stop acting like a child, and talk to me!”
“Go!” I screamed, unable to stop the single tear from falling.
I felt silly for thinking too much into our casual sex thing. The least Marshawn could do was let me sulk and regret my decisions in peace. I kept my stride to the front door, never looking back as I let myself inside.
After two days of avoiding Marshawn, I was exhausted.
It was stupid to be angry with Marshawn for wanting to have boundaries.
I wasn’t even pissed about that. I was more irritated with him trying to control who I entertained.
If people didn’t know we were involved, then how the hell did he expect them to respect it?
He couldn’t blame me or anyone else for thinking too much into our situation when he didn’t even know what he wanted.
I couldn’t even get him to say that we were involved or even that it was just good sex.
If we were just messing around, then so be it, but he couldn’t have it both ways.
I was not about to let him play with me, and I damn sure wasn’t about to let him keep fucking me that good and driving me even further up the wall.
It was more than I could handle, but at least I could admit that I wanted more than just dick.
A frown knitted my brows when Gia and I pulled up to our duplex and saw several boxes in front of the door.
“Damn, Gia. You been on a shopping spree?”
“I was about to ask you the same thing,” she countered as we hopped out of the ride. Curiosity led both of us to where the boxes were stacked. I picked up a box, and lo and behold, it had my name on it.
“This one is yours,” she said.
“This one too…” I replied, holding a box with Evonne Ross on it.
“Hell, all these boxes got your name on ’em. What? You sleep shopping now?”
“I haven’t ordered anything. I’m saving up for my new place.”
“Well, obviously… you had a few dollars to spare.”
“Didn’t I just say I didn’t order anything?” I said, defensive yet confused.
“What about your ex? You think he sent them?”
“He doesn’t even know where I’m staying,” I told her as I unlocked the door and pushed the biggest box inside.
“Well, let’s see what the hell is going on,” Gia suggested, following me into the house with two of the six boxes.
She didn’t have to say much to convince me.
Once we were inside, I used the house key to tear into the smaller of the boxes in front of me.
It was makeup brushes and not just some bullshit brushes—they were high-end, vegan brushes.
I had a good set, but I kept saying I was going to spend some real money and invest in a set of good brushes.
“Girl, do you know how much those costs?”
“According to this receipt… over four hundred dollars.”
“You sure your ex isn’t trying to make up?”
Is he?
Even after belittling me and making light of my dream, this was something William would do in place of an apology.
It had his name all over it. At the same time, the fact still stood that he didn’t know where I was staying.
The biggest box was at my feet, so I tore into it with the same key.
It was shoes—five pairs to be exact, and they were all sneakers. They were even different brands.
“I didn’t even know Hermes made tennis shoes,” I mumbled.
“Let me find out you have a secret admirer. Oooh… this On brand is supposed to be super comfortable,” Gia sang.
Her comment all but confirmed the sender, but I searched the box for a receipt or note and came up empty.
I wondered if Marshawn did this, even though my gut already confirmed he did.
I had been complaining about my feet hurting.
It made sense for him to want to get me shoes after he kept insisting that I needed new ones.
I hadn’t spoken to him after our little spat earlier.
Something like this had to have been initiated before today.
Plopping down on the couch, I pulled out my phone and called Marshawn. My call went to voicemail, but that was expected since I knew he was still on the set.
“You calling your man to confirm it was him?”
“I tried.”
“Well, don’t worry about all that. I want to see what else you got.”
To ease both our curiosity, I tore into another box. The third box held a huge green and yellow blanket and two T-shirts with the same flag on it. When I picked the box up, tickets to a Jamaican concert fell out.
“What’s that?” Gia’s nosy self asked, picking them up before I could.
My phone rang. Thankfully, I didn’t have Marshawn’s number saved because Gia’s eyes darted to the phone just as quickly as mine.
“You have a future in detective work,” I told her, holding up a finger to excuse myself as I took the call.
“Hey, I’m just leaving the set,” Marshawn said, sounding muffled.
“Did you do this?”
“Do what, V?”
“Send these packages to me.”
“Didn’t you say you needed shoes? All I did was go online and see which ones had the highest ratings for comfort.”
“It’s not just shoes. It’s… Why would you do all this for me?”
“I told you. I fuck with you the long way even if we can’t go public right now.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Well, I would like for you to say your dogs aren’t killing you by the end of every day.”
I laughed. “Thank you, Shawn.”
“You’re welcome, pretty girl. Be ready for that concert tonight. I can’t wait to see you in that dress.”
“What dress?”
He ended the call before I had the chance to speak.
“You little tramp!” Gia shouted, rushing into the room, wearing a huge smile. “I should have known after that quiet-ass argument y’all had earlier that the two of you had something going on. He really tried to throw me off the scent too.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I rolled my eyes.
“Cut the shit, Vonnie. I heard you in here trying to talk all soft. ‘ Thank you, Shawn.’ Since when do you call him Shawn? What the hell happened while I was gone?”
“We just hung out. He’s nice.”
“He’s more than nice, sending you all these boxes. There is an expensive-ass dress and red bottom pumps in the other two boxes.”
“Damn, nosy!”
“You were taking too long.” She shrugged. “I can’t believe you wore Marshawn’s grumpy ass down.”
“I didn’t wear him down, sis. He wore me down.” I smirked.
“I know that’s right! So, what are y’all doing? Y’all just screwing or what?”
“I don’t even know. That’s what the argument was about.”
“Obviously, he’s putting his bid in.”
“I’m not entertaining whatever bid he’s placing, Gia. Either he can tell me what he wants, or I’m keeping my legs and my heart closed.”
“Oh my God! I knew I wasn’t dreaming. You’ve been fucking him right under my nose!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I heard y’all a few nights ago. I thought maybe you were with that ho-ish ass Tate Tucker. All this time, you’ve been fucking the director with your sneaky ass!”
“It hasn’t been all this time. It only started when everyone else went on vacation… then a few times since y’all been back.”
“So, how was it? I need the deets. He looks like he’s packing.”
“I’m not telling you about my man’s dick game.”
“So, now he’s your man? I love this!”
“I mean, I like him. I didn’t plan on doing anything but having a little fun, but I love being around him. I’m so confused by his mixed signals that I don’t know what to do. I haven’t even told my friends about him yet.”
“That’s why y’all need to talk.”
“I tried, but he was being so evasive that I told him never mind. It took me shutting him out and telling him not to come sniffing up under this pussy for him to come around.”
“Well, I’m glad you brought his ass around because I was tired of you two making goo-goo eyes and pretending not to like each other.”
“I’m glad that your dreams are coming true.” I shook my head.
“Girl, hush! Go get ready for your date.”
“Bye,” I said, laughing and making sure Gia was on the other side as I closed my bedroom door.
It was sickening how good I looked in the dress Marshawn had bought for me.
I tried not to get spoiled by the expensive fabric because I would never be able to afford it on my own.
Even using William’s credit card, I would have never spent over two thousand dollars on a dress.
When I told Marshawn he owed me a dress, he went overboard.
The dress he ripped off me was less than thirty dollars at H&M.
My phone vibrated, notifying me of a message. As irritated as I still was with him, my face warmed when I saw the message from Marshawn telling me to come outside. To my surprise, Marshawn had pulled right in front of our duplex to pick me up. I guess he meant business when he told me to be ready.
“Gah damn, Vonnie! If I knew you were going to look this damn good, I would have got that dress in every color.”
I rolled my eyes, fighting the blush coming through my cheeks. “Don’t try to butter me up.”
“You know you look good as hell… I don’t have to tell you.”
“I do. You look pretty good yourself for a man in the dog house.”
“Let me out, V. You knew I wasn’t going to like seeing you with another man all in your grill. I think you were trying to piss me off.”
“I really wasn’t, but I also didn’t expect you to freeze up when I asked if we were just having sex or something more. Filming is wrapping soon, and I need to know if I’ll ever see you again after this.”
“I like to let my actions speak for me. Come on… We’re going to be late for the concert.”