MALLORY
Derek was like the most delicious chocolate, so good you couldn’t get enough and didn’t want to share.
Except, as it turned out, I was sharing him with plenty of others.
My only play was to do what men usually did—get what I wanted in the most straightforward way.
A text—I need to blow off steam—worked like a charm every time, getting him to reply and invite me over.
Booty call, that’s what they said. I pretended that he was mine, though he probably thought it was the other way around.
Guys, for the most part, were primitive in their needs.
They stayed away from pettiness and neediness, so I had to pretend that I was only in this for sex.
Derek never let me stay the night, and it bothered me.
Every time I left his house, usually late at night, after my shift at Ma Shirley’s, I parked around the corner and watched his place.
What ticked me off was the other women who came there, including that bitch Al.
I gritted my teeth at the sight, confronted Derek one night.
A mistake on my part. I knew that with a guy like him, I had to be above jealousy.
He needed to see that I was the only one worthy, and for that, I couldn’t be a whiny sidekick.
One, I had to get rid of Al. This wasn’t about getting her sloppy seconds. This was her getting on my nerves.
Two, I had to make sure that Derek couldn’t come back to this town once he left. Not for anyone else but me.
Three, I wanted him to take me with him wherever he was going next. He’d said San Francisco.
I was at the bar the night that woman came in. In her mid-twenties or thirties, tired but with that pretentiousness that I recognized in Al and Vic. When she pulled out the picture from her purse to show it to Karen, I made sure I was close enough. The familiar face on the picture was Derek’s.
A woman, a baby, and him. The floor dropped from under my feet.
When the woman walked out, I asked Karen what her deal was.
“Everything is fine,” Karen said, brushing me off.
But things were far from fine. Karen was on the phone right away, calling Donna Snickett at the Old Rooster. When I tried to eavesdrop, she sent me away to the kitchen.
Argh!
I had my own agenda, and part of it was to make sure no one took Derek away from me.
I went out the back door of the bar and into the parking lot. The woman looking for Derek was getting into her car. A BMW. So, she had money.
I knocked on the car’s window.
“Are you looking for someone?” I asked when she rolled the window down. “Can I help?”
Her name was Sarah. She showed me the picture of “Jimmy.” I almost lost it, seeing Derek like this, with a family.
“Your husband?” I asked.
“Yes. Have you seen him around?”
“Yes, at this bar a couple of times. But… The owner doesn’t get along with him. She won’t tell you anything. He stopped coming here. I can ask my friends and find out where he stays. Is everything okay?”
“We had…um…an argument.”
Her hesitation was a clear sign that they weren’t together. Yet, she was here, looking for him.
“That baby is yours?” I asked.
“Yes, our son. He misses his father.”
“Are you sure he will come back?”
“Jimmy has to. I’ll make him.”
I’ll make him. See? Guys like Derek always had women who tried to cling and rope them in. Make him stay.
“Do you have a mobile?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Good. Can I get your number? I’ll text you when I find out. You stay low.”
She frowned at me.
I shrugged. “People in this town don’t like outsiders. No one will tell you anything.”
God, I loved how sneaky and smart I sounded.
“I appreciate it,” she said, nodding vigorously, and handed me a pen so I could write her number on my palm. No way I was giving her mine.
“Where are you staying?” I asked.
“At the Star Inn.”
“Can I find you if I can’t get a hold of you? What’s your room number? In case I have any information?”
She hesitated for a minute. “I’m in room 204. Why are you helping me?”
That required a smart answer. I mulled it over, waiting for her to get impatient.
“I think your guy is in town with another woman,” I said. “And if he’s married, he has no business doing that.”
“I knew it!” She angrily slammed the steering wheel.
“I know,” I murmured. “I hate when men do this. Think they can get away with stuff like that.”
Cheating. That cut deep into every woman’s heart. If Derek wasn’t with her anymore, he wasn’t cheating. And if he wasn’t in a relationship, he could do whatever he wanted. I promised myself that he would be mine. This woman had no business ruining my fun.
“Thank you,” she said. “What’s your name?”
“Alysha,” I said without thinking.
“Thank you, Alysha. I need to see Jimmy and talk to him.”
Jimmy. Not Derek. The woman might be a looney tune.
That very night, when I got off my shift and got in my car, I called Derek right away.
He didn’t answer.
I had to play smart. So I texted.
Me: call me back
Then sent another text.
Me: jimmy
I had only just pulled onto the road when he called. “What game are you playing?” he asked sternly.
“What happened to ‘Hi, how are you?’” I quipped, smiling to myself.
“Hi, Mal. How are you?” he gritted out, oh-so-obvious with his irritation.
“Your past followed you to Burnville,” I said.
“What are we talking about?”
“I’ll come over,” I said.
“I’m not home.”
That could be true, but I didn’t care. He’d have to play by my rules.
“Someone from out of town is looking for you,” I said. “Suit yourself, Jimmy.”
I hung up and held my breath. My phone lit up right away with a phone call from Derek. I waited long enough for it to ring, then picked up.
“Don’t you dare hang up,” he hissed.
“I don’t have time for bullshit, Jimmy,” I said.
“Mal,” he warned. I knew he was getting anxious, so unlike him. “Meet me at my place in ten.”
That was better. He was finally listening. I couldn’t wait to get to know Jimmy. Right after I had fun with Derek.