8. Sha’nelle Harper
Greystone City
I had been at my job long enough to save my last two checks, and that made me feel like I was finally gettin’ a lil’ grip on my life again.
It had been a month and some change of me clockin’ in, sittin’ at that desk, answerin’ calls, checkin’ accounts and makin’ sure numbers matched what they was supposed to match.
Bein’ back to work after gettin’ shot felt strange at first, but I needed it more than I thought I did. I needed somewhere to be that ain’t involve me sittin’ around thinkin’ too much. I needed to wake up, get dressed, put my badge on and feel like my days had some kind of shape to ’em again.
The job itself wasn’t nothin’ too big, but it was grown enough for me. I was workin’ as a billing specialist, so most of my day was patient accounts, insurance stuff, balances, phone calls and clickin’ through the computer until my eyes got tired.
Some people on the phone had attitudes, some of the accounts ain’t make no sense and sometimes I had to ask the same question three different ways just to get the answer I needed, but I still liked it.
I liked havin’ my own lil’ routine, my own desk, my own check comin’ in and my own money sittin’ in my account without me havin’ to hurry up and spend it before I even got used to seein’ it.
Couture had been makin’ that part easier too. He kept gas in my car, sent me money for food when he knew I was at work and checked on me without makin’ it feel like I was some helpless woman who couldn’t do nothin’ for herself. He just did what he felt like doin’, and I let him.
By the time Thursday came, I was ready to get out of this damn office.
I had been lookin’ at accounts all day, and the last lady I talked to kept askin’ me the same question after I had already explained it twice.
I kept my voice nice, though, ’cause that was the job.
I clicked through her balance, gave her the same answer one more time, put my note in the system and ended that call with my customer service voice still hangin’ on by one lil’ thread.
When five o’clock hit, I logged out so fast I almost laughed at myself.
The office was already shiftin’ into that end-of-day mood with chairs rollin’ back, purses gettin’ picked up and people tellin’ each other to have a good day like everybody hadn’t been waitin’ to run out of there since lunch.
I grabbed my purse from under my desk, slid my phone in the side pocket and told the girl at the front I’d see her Tomorrow.
Outside, the heat was still sittin’ over the parkin’ lot, and my car felt like an oven when I opened the door. I got in, started it up and leaned back while the air came through the vents. Before I could even put my seat belt on, Couture’s name popped up on my screen.
I answered and put Couture on speaker. “Hey.”
Couture’s voice came through the car, smooth and calm. “Hey, baby. You off?”
I pulled my seat belt across me. “Yeah, I just got in the car.”
“Meet me somewhere real quick,” he said.
I looked down at the phone. “Where?”
“I’m finna send you the address.”
“For what?” I asked.
Couture laughed low, and I could hear that smile in his voice. “Just meet me there, baby. It ain’t nothin’ bad.”
I narrowed my eyes even though he couldn’t see me. “Hmm… okay then.”
“I’m sendin’ it now,” he told me.
My phone buzzed a second later, and when I opened the message, it was just an address. There wasn’t no name of a place. Just a street I ain’t know and a zip code that had me sittin’ here confused. I put it in my GPS anyway, and when the route popped up, it said twenty-six minutes.
“You not gon’ tell me what this is?” I asked.
Couture said, “Not over the phone.”
I looked at the screen like he could see my face through it. “Couture, what is you up to?”
He laughed low. “Just drive, baby. I’ll be there when you pull up.”
We got off the phone, and I sat here for a few seconds before pullin’ out the parkin’ lot.
My mind started tryna guess what he had up his sleeve, but I ain’t have enough to work with.
Couture wasn’t the type to play too many games, so the fact that he wouldn’t tell me had me curious and a lil’ nervous at the same time.
The drive took me through parts of the city I ain’t really have a reason to be in much.
The buildings started spreadin’ out more, and the streets got quieter the farther I went.
By the time the GPS told me to turn into a neighborhood, the houses was sittin’ back from the street with clean lawns, fresh flowers around the trees and driveways that looked like people kept their cars washed just ’cause.
I slowed down when the voice told me I had arrived.
The house in front of me was a pretty two-story with cream-colored brick, black shutters and a wide front porch that wrapped just enough around the side to make it look expensive without doin’ too much.
The grass was cut neat, the bushes sat trimmed under the windows and the walkway had little lights along both sides like somebody had thought about how the house would look at night too.
It had a double garage, tall windows and one of them front doors with glass on the sides, and the whole place looked like the kind of house a woman would pull up to and feel proud to walk inside.
Couture’s car was already parked out front, and he was standin’ near the walkway with a Black woman in a pants suit. She had a folder tucked under her arm, and she was smilin’ like she had been waitin’ on me too.
I parked beside Couture’s car and sat here for a second with my hands still on the wheel. I ain’t know what I had expected, but it wasn’t this. My stomach moved in a way I ain’t like, and I looked at the house again before I grabbed my purse and got out.
Couture turned toward me as soon as I stepped out, and that smile came on his face like he had been holdin’ it back the whole time.
He looked good in a black shirt and jeans, beard lined, waves brushed and that watch flashin’ when he reached for me.
I walked up to him, and he pulled me in with one arm around my waist.
“You good?” he asked.
“I’m good,” I said, then kissed him.
His mouth stayed on mine a second longer than I expected, and when he pulled back, he turned me toward the woman beside him.
“This is Ms. Ro’Chelle,” he said. “She the realtor.”
The woman smiled bigger and reached her hand out. “It’s nice to meet you, Sha’Nelle.”
I shook her hand and smiled back. “Nice to meet you too.”
I was surprised, but I kept it off my face as much as I could.
Couture’s hand stayed at the small of my back, and I looked from him to the house, then back at him.
He ain’t explain yet, and Ms. Ro’Chelle must’ve knew to give him room ’cause she just opened her folder and started tellin’ us a lil’ about the property.
The house had three bedrooms, two and a half baths, a two-car garage and a backyard that she said was one of the better parts of the listing. She talked while walkin’ us up the front path, and Couture kept his hand on me like he wanted to feel my reaction before I even said one word.
Inside, the house smelled clean and new.
The foyer opened into a livin’ room with high ceilings, light wood floors and windows tall enough to let the sun fall across the whole space.
The walls was painted a soft warm color, and the fireplace had a simple stone around it that made the room feel cozy without lookin’ old.
I could see where a couch would go, where the TV would sit and how the room would look with music playin’ and somebody cookin’ in the kitchen.
The kitchen sat off to the side with white cabinets, a nice island, silver handles and enough counter space for somebody who actually knew what they was doin’ with food.
Couture walked in there like he was already picturin’ himself in it.
He opened one of the cabinets, looked around, then glanced back at me.
“What you think?” he asked.
“It’s nice,” I said, and I meant it.
It was nice. The whole house was nice. The floors, the light, the way everything flowed from one room to the next.
Ms. Ro’Chelle walked us through the downstairs first, showin’ us the half bath, a small room that could be an office and the doors that led to the backyard.
The backyard had a covered patio, clean grass and a fence tall enough to make it feel private.
I stood at the glass doors lookin’ out, and for a second, I could see Couture out there with a grill, music playin’ and his family over.
Then my mind moved without my permission.
I thought about Toni tellin’ me Renza had been lookin’ at houses. I thought about his bougie rich ass walkin’ through somewhere with his face twisted up, complainin’ about space, finishes, closets and whatever else he would’ve found wrong just ’cause that was him.
Renza had taste that ain’t know how to sit down. He would’ve looked around this same house and said somethin’ slick about the rooms bein’ too small or the backyard needin’ more land, and the fact that I could hear his voice in my head while standin’ beside my fiancé made my stomach turn.
I blinked and looked back at the yard, tryna push him out of my mind.
Couture touched my hand. “You good?”
I turned to him and smiled. “Yeah.”
We went upstairs next. The main bedroom was a nice size with windows facin’ the backyard, and the bathroom had a double sink, a glass shower and a tub sittin’ under the window. The closet wasn’t huge, but it was bigger than what Couture had at his apartment, and I could tell he liked that.
The other two bedrooms was empty and clean with one facin’ the front of the house and the other facin’ the side yard.
Ms. Ro’Chelle talked about guest rooms, future kids and office space in that sweet realtor voice, and every word she said made the walls feel like they was closin’ in around me even though the house had plenty room.