Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
Jruelle.
I had been counting down the minutes until the end of my shift. It seemed like I’d barely seen any days where I was in pain since being with Adonis, but with my cycle starting today, it was rough. I was ready to get home, take a bubble bath then climb into my bed with my heating pad.
After shutting down my computer, I collected my things and headed to the breakroom to get my leftover lunch.
I’d been cooking so I could bring my food because now that I was settled in my place, I wanted to get a new car.
I’d put the task off long enough, and got comfortable in Adonis’s Camaro, but now it was time for me to get my own.
I sighed heavily when I noticed Bonita and her little clique in the breakroom. All of their eyes locked on me when they spotted me, so I rolled mine then trekked to the refrigerator.
“So, y’all were in Don G’s section all night?” I heard Bonita ask, so I slowed up a bit to hear what these bitches were talking about.
“Yes girl. There were bottles and weed everywhere,” Franny, her little minion, answered. “The niggas were choosing, but you know who I had my eyes on.”
“Did you get to talk to him?”
“Briefly,” she answered. “He said he was chilling and didn’t want to be bothered, but that was the most he’s ever said, so I’m hopeful.”
“Yes, you know niggas be in their zones in the club. I’m sure you’ll score next time.”
I knew they were trying to get a rise out of me and they wanted a response, but they’d keep wishing. I didn’t have it in me to go back and forth with them because we all knew that they didn’t stand a chance with Adonis Gates.
When she realized that I wasn’t going to reply, she tried a different approach.
“Oh, Jruelle,” she called out.
I paused my strides to glance back at her. “What?”
“I wanted to give you this.” She walked over to hand me a small envelope. “It’s an invitation to my baby shower.”
I eyed it then her. “And you think I’d come?”
“Well… yes,” she smirked. “I don’t see why not.”
“I can think of a number of reasons, but I’ll settle with I just don’t want to.” I smiled, dropping it to the floor, then picking up my stride out of the room again.
“Oh, you must still be in your feelings about Derrick,” she said to my back, and I paused again.
I shouldn’t have given her ass the attention she so desperately wanted, but I had a little time to spare, so I entertained her.
“In my feelings about a man who won’t leave me alone if I paid him to?
” I smirked when her smug ass smile began to fade.
“I don’t know if you or him got the memo, but I’ve been done and over his ass.
He’s the one that’s still finding ways to contact me, despite me changing my number and work email twice.
Hell, you should be grateful I’m declining.
It wouldn’t be fair for the baby’s dad’s attention to be on anyone one other than you, right? ”
“You’re lying.” She narrowed her eyes, glancing back at her friends probably to see if they were convinced of her words because she damn sure wasn’t.
“Oh, I know you wish that I was.” I grinned.
“Don’t worry though, I don’t reply because my nigga is nuts and would blow up the world if he even got a whiff of it.
” I gripped the strap of my purse because even though I was past the situation with Derrick, I wanted to slap her ass for trying to send her friends at my man.
I was satisfied enough seeing the look on her face.
“You know, Bonita, you were so gung-ho on getting pregnant by a man that you knew didn’t want you, just to get at me, but it didn’t do anything but make you as ugly on the outside as you are on the inside.
Line that up next time.” I tapped my top lip to gesture at her thick mustache and giggled before walking out.
I checked my phone on the way out and saw that Adonis texted to ask me what time I was getting home. I was about to reply before I heard Derrick’s voice calling my name. I looked up to find him hurrying my way.
I rolled my eyes and picked up my own speed, but to no avail. He’d caught up to me, grabbing my arm in the process. I quickly snatched away, his sharp nails scratching me in the process. I covered the spot with my hand as I scowled at him.
“I just want to talk to you.” He lifted his hands in mock surrender.
“I don’t care,” I snapped. “I don’t want to talk to you and I don’t want you touching me.”
Greg appeared behind him, stalking in our direction but I subtly waved him off. I was at work and didn’t want a huge scene outside.
“Oh, now I can’t touch you?” he snapped.
“No, you can’t.” I rolled my eyes, trying to step around him to go to the car, but he moved with me causing me to narrow my eyes at him. “Move, Derrick.”
“Come on, Jru.” He sighed. “You’ve carried this on long enough. It’s been months. You’ve changed your number. You’ve moved. You won’t email me back,” he said and I laughed. “This is funny to you?”
“Actually, yes.” I chuckled. “There is no way you think that after all this time, this is a front.” I shook my head.
“I didn’t do anything differently than I normally would have, Jru. You were good with our arrangement before...”
“No, I was settling before.”
He frowned at my response.
“And now you’re not because you’re with that bitch ass nigga?” he snapped.
“No, now I’m not because I left a bitch ass nigga,” I fired back. “Adonis is definitely several steps up from you, I stopped settling the moment I left you. It had nothing to do with me getting into another relationship. Just simply no longer wasting my time with you.”
I could tell by the look on his face that he didn’t like my response, but he didn’t have the chance to reply before Bonita came out, calling his name the moment she saw him standing in front of me.
I smirked and shooed his ass away because truthfully, she was doing me a favor.
I didn’t want to be bothered with him anyway.
I walked the rest of the way to my car then text Adonis to let him know I was on the way to my house. He replied letting me know that he would meet me there so I reacted to the message before tossing my phone in the passenger’s seat then backing out and heading home.
He was there, standing outside of his car when I pulled up. He met me at the door to open if for me once I parked and turned the engine off.
“You lucky you texted me when you did.” He pulled me into his embrace once I was vertical.
“I am?” I smiled up at him.
“Yeah.” He kissed me. “Greg hit me and told me that nigga was outside your job.”
“Ugh, he’s a snitch.”
I rolled my eyes and started for the door, but he captured my arm to stop me, using his foot to kick the car door closed. I winced some when his fingers brushed across the place where Derrick had scratched my arm and his eyes traveled there, then back to mine.
“Who did this?”
“It’s just a scratch…”
“Jru,” his brows dipped. “Who the fuck scratched you?”
I sighed heavily before answering.
“Derrick grabbed my arm, but I yanked away…”
“And?” he snapped. “Don’t make excuses for that nigga!”
“I’m not, Adonis!” I countered. “I’m just telling you that it wasn’t intentional. That’s all.”
“Aight.” He took my hand and led me the rest of the way to the door.
“Aight?” I asked, a bit shocked. I knew I said it wasn’t intentional, but I didn’t expect him to switch to being passive so quickly. “That’s it.”
“Yeah.” He pushed my door open and waited for me to enter. “Did you eat?”
“A little.” I answered putting my things on the kitchen table. “Are you mad?”
“Naw. You want to order something? You gotta eat to take ya meds right?”
“Adonis…”
“It ain’t shit that we ‘bout to talk about regarding that, Jru. Dead ass.”
“He didn’t mean to scratch me,” I dropped my head. “I’m not trying to take up for him or protect him,” I hurried to follow up. “I just don’t want you thinking he meant to hurt me.”
“Nigga shouldn’t have touched you, period,” he stated. “But like I said, it ain’t shit to talk about. I’m gone see about him when I see about him. Right now, we gon’ make sure you good.”
We walked over to the couch, and once we were both seated, got on GoodEatz, the new food delivery app in the city.
“You know what you want?”
“You pick.” I settled in his arms and laid my head on his shoulder.
My cramps were getting the best of me, so I closed my eyes and internally coached myself through the pain. I really wasn’t hungry, but I did need food before I took my medicine, and I didn’t want to hear his mouth about me not eating.
“We can do Bussin’ BBQ.” I felt his head shift, so I opened my eyes to find him looking down at me. “You love their peach cobbler.”
I nodded and smiled. “I could go for that. Maybe some brisket, green beans, and macaroni.”
“Shit sound fye,” he agreed before clicking around on his screen to place the order. “Aight, you wanna take a bath?”
I shook my head. “Just a shower. I don’t feel like doing both tonight.”
Anytime he ran me a bath, I’d relax for a bit then take a shower after. I enjoyed the baths and really appreciated his thoughtfulness, but I wanted to take a hot shower and just lie down for the rest of the day today.
He told me to go ahead while he made some calls. I wanted to ask if he was going to have something done to Derrick, but I decided against it. I’d ask him over and over to leave me alone, but he didn’t want to listen, so at this point, whatever happened to him just happened.
I text my sister back since she’d text me, then I called Rhea. I talked to her while I showered because I knew when I got out, Adonis would be in my room and need all of my attention.
I filled her in on what happened at my job, and she was, of course, advocating for Adonis whooping Derrick’s ass. She hadn’t liked him from the beginning, and for good reason because she knew all that I’d gone through with him.
I talked to her until I got out of the shower, then hung up so I could wash my face and finish up my bedtime routine, despite it only being about six in the evening.
After brushing, flossing, and moisturizing my body, I slipped on a pajama short set then went to find Adonis since he wasn’t in my room.
I was just about to call his name but was rendered speechless when I entered the living room. He’d set up a tent in front of the sectional that had an air mattress blown up on the inside. He covered it with sheets and a comforter and had some large, soft pillows, there for us too.
“What’s all this?” I asked, walking further into the living room.
“I wanted to take you out tonight, but you wasn’t feeling good so I brought the date to us,” he waved me over. “I was on that bullshit app you be watching videos on, and I looked at the shit you liked. This was one of ‘em.”
“It’s Cliqued.” I smiled. “I didn’t even know you had a page.”
“I didn’t,” he chuckled. “I just got the shit because you do.”
“So, basically to stalk me.” I smiled as I took his hand so he could help me on the bed. He’d already set the food up and had my strawberry lemonade from Total Marketplace waiting for me too.
“Basically.” He smiled and pulled me in for a kiss. “You want to pick the movie?”
I nodded and accepted the remote. “Halloween H2O?”
His smile stretched wide as he opened his Styrofoam container. “You don’t even like scary movies.”
“I know, but you’re here, so I feel safe.”
“Good.”
“Where’s Apollo?”
“At your parents,” he answered, taking me by surprise. They hadn’t told me he was coming over.
“I didn’t know he was going over there.”
“Shit, me either, but since he still suspended, ya mother asked me could he come over to do some work around the house.”
“That has my dad’s name written all over it.”
“Yeah,” he chuckled. “He was the one that hit me up and asked.”
“I knew it.” I shook my head. “He doesn’t believe in letting folks be when they’re suspended from school.”
After blessing the food, I turned the lights off and started the movie. We only got a good fifteen minutes in before I remembered there was something I was supposed to be asking him, so I paused it and faced him.
“What?” he asked when he noticed me staring.
“Were there women in your section last night?”
“Zig and Deek had some hoes in there, why?”
“Bonita and her friends were talking about it when I was leaving out. Franny said she got to talk to you for a second.”
“If talking to me is me telling her to get the fuck on, then she ain’t lied.”
I chuckled before taking a bite of my food. “I knew you didn’t entertain her.”
“Facts,” he nodded. “Even if I didn’t fuck with you, I damn sure would never fuck with any of those busted ass bitches.”
“I know, baby.” I smiled. “I didn’t even bother telling them that because they already know.”
“Word. And you think I don’t know them hoes tryna play in yo’ face?” he smirked. “You know your nigga ain’t a stupid one, right?”
“I do know that,” I agreed before kissing him.
“Aight then. Start the movie back up.”
Doing as I was told; I restarted the movie and enjoyed the night with my man.
I was still in pain, but it didn’t even matter because I was with him.
He’d gotten me a new heating pad that worked a whole lot better than my old one, and he gave me a nice massage after dinner.
Though I knew it was impossible, it seemed like Adonis was just what I needed to make me feel better on my worst days.