Chapter 3
“Jamia, that man is so damn fine. TV doesn’t do him justice. Whew!”
I had just gotten back to the shop, and the girl barely let me make it through the door before she practically tackled me for details. I’d laughed like a giddy, star-struck teenager as I thought about just how pleasant he was to be around. Sexy wasn’t even an accurate enough word to describe his six feet, three inches of honey complexioned perfection. His arm tattoos and thick beard added to his sex appeal, but it was something about his eyes that moved me.
They were dark brown… nothing unusual about that, but they seemed to touch every part of me when he openly scanned my body. He looked at me like I was the sexiest woman in the world. While I didn’t have self-esteem issues, his open admiration of the body I was packing around was something I wasn’t quite used to. The way he licked his thick, pink lips had my insides boiling with desire. I hadn’t felt that way with Will since the first few months of our relationship.
“Earth to Denishia! Shit! That man got you gone! What did he say to you? I’ve never seen you like this!”
Jamia was way too excited. I gave her the side-eye with a playful grin and went to my office. She was right on my heels. I turned to her and said, “He asked to get to know me.”
Her eyebrows lifted, and her mouth fell open. “Oh my God! What did you say?”
“I told him that I wasn’t single, but for some reason, I don’t think that will deter him. After I revealed that, he still openly admired my body and said that he should have known I wouldn’t have been. But giiiirrrrrl… that man’s eyes said he didn’t give a fuck.”
She fell out laughing, literally grabbing on to the doorframe to steady herself. When she calmed down, she said, “If only I could be a fly on the wall to witness your next interaction.”
“Jamia, I’m in a relationship. I can’t entertain that man.”
“Girl, you better drop that zero and get with the fucking hero! You haven’t been this happy with Will. Don’t tell me you have been, because again, I have never seen you this way. You look completely smitten.”
I glanced at the time to see it was nearly six, then looked back over at her. Her eyes softened, and her facial expression became more serious. “I’m sorry, Denishia. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful.”
“It’s not you, Jamia. Honestly, you’re right. It’s just easier said than done. Starting over is scary. Although I sustain myself financially, starting over emotionally is draining. If I finally get the courage to put Will out of my house, I know I will need time to adjust and rebuild myself emotionally before I can even think about entertaining anyone else. The last thing I would want to do is hop right in and bring baggage from my relationship with Will into the new relationship.”
“I understand that. But what’s the harm in getting to know him? You may not even like him.”
“If he’s anything like he showed me today, girl, I will lose my fucking mind in no time.”
She laughed loudly as the smirk appeared on my lips. I started gathering my things to head home when my cell phone chimed. I slightly rolled my eyes, because I knew it was probably Will, wondering where I was. I normally got home at six. However, when I looked at the screen, I saw it was a number that wasn’t saved in my phone.
Hey. I hope you had an amazing day and made it home safely. I can’t wait to see what you come up with for the party. Talk to you soon.
My face was so damn hot. I knew I had to be blushing. Ezekiel was already checking on me.
“Oh my God. It’s him, isn’t it?” Jamia asked.
“Yeah. He was making sure I made it back safely and said he couldn’t wait to see what I came up with for the party.”
“Denishia… you are going to have to get rid of that nigga at your house. That man has done nothing but stressed you the fuck out lately. If nothing else, y’all need to have a serious conversation about the future of your relationship. He needs to know that all the things he’s not willing to do, there’s somebody else who will. He don’t wanna love you right? He ain’t got to. You are far from desperate, so quit moving like you are.”
The tear fell down my cheek, and I quickly swiped it away. I was doing my best to restrain it. Her words stung, but they were true… real as shit. I lowered my head and took a deep breath, then nodded. “You’re right. We’ll have a conversation soon. I don’t want to base that conversation on Ezekiel’s admiration of me though. This conversation is actually long overdue. I suppose his bold flirting made me more aware of what I needed to do.”
She came to me and gently rubbed my back as I looked down at the text message. I smiled slightly and responded. I’m leaving the office now. Thanks, and I hope you had an amazing day as well. I’m going to work on the design tomorrow.
I grabbed my purse and tumbler as I gave Jamia a soft smile. “Thank you, boo.”
She hugged me. “You’re more than welcome. We’re friends. It’s my job to give you praise and a kick in the behind when you need it.”
I chuckled and slowly shook my head. When I walked out of the door of my office, I turned to lock it, then we headed out of the shop. “Thanks for waiting for me, Jamia. Be careful going home, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Okay, boo. If you need to talk, you know I’m available.”
I nodded then closed the door to set the alarm. After taking a deep breath, I put the code in and headed out. By the time I locked the door, my phone was ringing. When I saw Will’s name, I got an instant attitude. “Hello?”
“Hey, Nishia. Where you at?”
“Hey. I’m just leaving the shop.”
“Oh. I cooked dinner a little earlier, so I’ll just rewarm it.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
“See you in a few minutes.”
He ended the call before I could respond. I made my way to the car, and by the time I got in, my phone chimed. I knew that was Ezekiel.
My day was amazing after meeting you. I can’t wait to see you again.
I looked up at the sky and rested my head on the headrest. I knew he wasn’t giving up. Biting my bottom lip, I slowly shook my head. This was going to blow up in my face if I didn’t put him in his place.
Mister Wheeler… I am in a relationship. I can’t engage in this type of conversation with you. Please respect that.
After I sent the text, I deleted the thread. All I needed was for Will to see it and think our conversation was based on the advances I was receiving from Ezekiel. I’d been unsatisfied for a while, and I knew he had to sense it. I was never excited around him. I felt like I was just existing in a world of nothingness until he was ready to get his ego stroked through sex.
My phone chimed, alerting me of Ezekiel’s response. I opened it, and my entire body heated up from his words.
I go for what I want, Denishia. I can tell by your body language that you’re feeling me as much as I am you. If that nigga was doing what he was supposed to do, I wouldn’t be smelling your pheromones from here. I’ll respect it though… for now. My gut don’t steer me wrong, and it’s saying you gon’ be mine for the taking. Wrap your mind around that so it won’t come as a surprise later. Talk to you soon.
I quickly deleted it, then headed home. Looked like I would be having that conversation with Will sooner rather than later.
When I got to the office, I was beyond tired. I wasn’t late like I was the other day, but I was barely alert enough to make it here safely. Jamia was a few minutes behind though. Will had cooked an amazing shrimp pasta last night that I fully indulged in, then he left to go play basketball with some friends. Once he got back home, it was nearly eleven o’clock. After his shower, he thought it was cool to wake me up to fuck.
He had the audacity to go twice, and the second round was twice as long as the first one. I wasn’t sure what had gotten into him, but he actually felt amazing. Maybe he sensed that I had something to talk to him about. I didn’t go back to sleep until around two this morning. I was struggling big time, but for the first time in a while, I was sexually satisfied.
Ezekiel had still been on my mind this morning, and I chalked it up to the excitement of someone new showing interest in me, along with him being famous. Plus, the man was fine. I couldn’t down Will in the looks department, but that wasn’t the reason I fell in love with him. He was the average guy. His looks were okay. He was short like me, only a couple of inches taller than me, and I was five-five.
Will was kind and considerate in the beginning. The amount of affection and attention he showed me reeled me in. Now that the qualities I loved most were MIA majority of the time, I found myself being unsatisfied. That was what made room for Ezekiel to penetrate my thoughts the way he was. It had nothing to do with money, but it had a lot to do with effort. However, because of how Will and I started, it made it harder to let go.
He didn’t even seem to be trying to do any better than what he was doing. When I left for work, he was home, and when I came back from work, he was home. The only plus was that my house stayed clean, and more often than not, there was a cooked meal when I got home. The affection and attention were lacking though.
I huffed as I looked over the pictures from the venue, memorizing the areas and visualizing what I thought it would look like with certain flowers, before I started sketching. His event planner said it would be elegant, so I did my first sketch with Helleborus. I loved how elegant they looked. The second sketch would be with red Calla Lilies. I added some Salvia to that one. I wanted long stem flowers for the vases I had in mind.
I knew I would have to get with Jackie to see if the vases I chose would be acceptable or if she had already picked vases out. I was extremely flexible and had a lot of inventory when it came to accessories. I stayed on different warehouse sites, searching for perfect pieces to add to my collection. When I did parties like this, I oftentimes included vases and such in their invoices. I didn’t dare request them back.
As I sketched, a sense of happiness swept over me. Being able to draw was something I always valued. It helped me present my ideas better. If people could physically see my vision, it made it easier to sell. A smile spread across my lips as I remembered how my grandmother raved over my pictures of her gardens and flower beds. She was instrumental in nurturing my gift. My mama was shocked that I even took an interest in it.
She told me she thought it was just a thing that I would grow out of. I was in my grandmother’s gardens as early as I could remember, but it never got old. If anything, it got more interesting. Seeing the flowers bloom simply from a seed I planted and the care I put into it was beautiful to me. It was something I always knew I would love.
When I heard the bell ring, indicating someone had come inside the shop, I went up front. There was a man standing there with a huge bouquet of roses. It was beautiful, but all flowers were beautiful to me. I frowned slightly, though, because I was wondering who would order flowers from somewhere else to deliver here? That was like a slap in the face.
“Hello. I have a delivery for Denishia Boswell.”
The slight frown left and a small smile replaced it. I supposed that was why they didn’t order them here. It didn’t make sense for me to design my own bouquet. I nodded and said, “Hello. I’m Denishia.”
I signed his clipboard and scanned the bouquet. It was so gorgeous. After doing a couple things on his computer thingy, he said, “Have a great day, ma’am.”
“Thank you. You too.”
I pulled the card from the stem. I knew who these were from without reading it. There was no way they were from Will. The man had never sent me flowers. It should have been obvious how much I loved them, but I supposed he thought since I was around them all day, I wouldn’t want them. Flowers were just a symbol of romance that I’d always craved. I had yet to be with a man that noticed. I slowly shook my head at the thought as I pulled the card from the envelope.
Denishia,
I wanted to order the bouquet from you, but I wanted you to be surprised. I know you said to respect that you are in a relationship, but damn, girl. I’m an impatient nigga. I know my advances aren’t in vain. I’m ready to do all the things your man won’t do. Yeah, I stole that from Joe. LOL. I just don’t want there to be no mistaking how I feel. I want to get to know you.
I hope these flowers are to your standards, because from what I can tell from your site, you play no games. I look forward to getting to know you and flaunting you for the world to see. See you soon, baby girl.
I brought the card to my chest and closed my eyes. This man refused to give up. I low-key liked that, but at the same time, I hated it. He was going to get me caught up before I could analyze the relationship I was in with Will. Ugh!
I went back to my office with the bouquet in hand. It was heavy as hell. I set it on the desk, then grabbed my phone and took a picture of it. I sent the picture to him along with a message.
Thank you, Mister Wheeler…
I couldn’t respond to anything else he said. Actually, I refused to respond. He knew what the deal was. He didn’t need me to keep reiterating that. He immediately responded with an emoji giving the one-cheeked smile. I slowly shook my head again and got back to work, sketching.