Chapter 9 #2
I closed my eyes for a second. Lord, pleasseeee not today. I said to myself. "I'll be out in a minute!"
"Nah." I heard his footsteps getting closer until his shadow stopped outside the bathroom door. "Don't 'minute' me. Throw something on, we ain't gone be gone long."
I waited until I heard him walk away before letting my forehead fall against the cool shower tile. "You got to be kidding me," I mumbled.
Every second counted today. The furniture company had already given me my delivery window, and the last thing I needed was Rome deciding today was the perfect day to drag me all over Miami.
I rinsed off as fast as I could, stepped out of the shower, and wrapped a towel around my body before rushing back into the bedroom.
If I played this right, maybe I could get whatever little errands he had planned over with, find an excuse to break away, and still make it to my apartment before the delivery truck pulled up.
I tossed the towel onto the bed and started pulling clothes out the dresser without putting much thought into what matched.
I wore a pair of light-wash jeans with a simple white fitted T-shirt, gold hoops, and gold and white Nike Vomero sneakers.
My mind was far from clothes anyway as I sprayed on a little YSL perfume.
Every minute that passed felt like another minute I was losing, and I still had to figure out how I was going to break away from Rome.
I ran a little mousse through my ponytail, swiped on some lip gloss, grabbed my purse, and slipped my phone inside. Before leaving the bedroom, I looked around one last time, making sure I hadn't forgotten anything.
"Navy!" Rome yelled again.
"Damn!" I hollered back, snatching my purse off the bed. "I'm coming!"
"You said that shit ten minutes ago."
"It wasn't ten minutes."
"It felt like it."
I walked downstairs already knowing he was about to have something slick to say. Sure enough, he was standing by the front door jingling his keys around his finger like he'd been waiting forever. He looked me up and down before smirking.
"Damn you look good even when you ain’t trying.”
I rolled my eyes and walked past him. "Whatever Rome. You act like we catching a flight the way you’re rushing me."
"Nah," he laughed, following behind me. "You just move slow as hell."
"I move slow?" I looked over my shoulder. "You the one that stopped me before I could even get dressed."
He grinned like he was proud of himself. "And I'd do it again."
I forced a little laugh, even though hearing him say it made my stomach turn. "You so aggravating."
"But you still love me."
I reached for the passenger door and climbed inside before answering. "Mhm."
He looked over at me after starting the truck. "Damn, that’s all I get?"
"What you want me to say?"
"I don't know." He backed out the driveway with one hand on the wheel. "Something with a little more enthusiasm."
I smiled without looking at him, hoping he'd mistake it for shyness instead of me trying not to say the wrong thing. "You ask for too much."
"Nah." He said, reaching over to squeeze my thigh before turning onto the main road. "I just like hearing it."
I looked out the window as houses disappeared when we reached the traffic, silently praying whatever errands he had in mind really wouldn't take long.
Rome turned the music up a little and started nodding along with the beat. "We just making one stop," he said. "Need to grab a couple things from the corner store."
I finally looked over at him. "That's it?"
"That's it."
"Good."
He laughed. "Damn, you trying to get rid of me already?"
I smiled to myself. "If all we're doing is going to the store, let's just get it over with."
He shot me a quick side-eye before pulling into the corner store. "Come on," he said, throwing the truck in park. "Come in with me."
The corner store turned into the gas station; the gas station turned into the cleaners and before I knew it, we'd been riding around almost an hour, and I found myself laughing more than I wanted to admit.
Rome kept making jokes, talking about people we grew up with, reminding me of stupid stuff we used to do back when dating him actually felt easy.
For a second and literally just a second it almost felt like old times and that was also another dangerous part about Rome because he knew exactly how to become the man I'd fallen in love with whenever he felt me slipping away.
He would be the sweet most attentive version.
He actually opened doors, held my hand, and made me laugh until my stomach hurt.
Years ago, I would've believed every bit of it but not anymore because I knew better now.
I'd already met the version that did everything he could to break me and then beat me when he couldn’t have his way. Just when I thought we were done, he hit me with, "I forgot one more stop," Rome said, cutting the wheel toward the entrance of the mall.
I looked over at him. "I thought you said we was done."
"We almost are." He smiled. "I wanna buy my wife something."
I couldn't help but laugh. "What?"
"You heard me."
"What’s the occasion?"
He shrugged like it wasn't no big deal. "Do I need a reason?"
I looked out the windshield as he pulled into a parking spot near the Louis Vuitton entrance. "You usually do."
He cut the engine and looked over at me. "Sometimes I just like seeing you smile."
I stared at him for a second before looking away.
Years ago... That would've worked. Today...
It just made me wonder what he wanted. We walked through the entrance side by side, and the cool air hit us almost immediately.
The mall wasn't packed, but it wasn't empty either.
Music floated through the speakers overhead while people wandered in and out of stores carrying shopping bags and cups from the food court.
Rome reached for my hand like it was the most natural thing in the world, lacing his fingers through mine before leading me farther inside.
Then I felt somebody watching us and my eyes shifted across the walkway until they landed on a woman standing just outside a children's clothing store.
She looked to be about twenty-six, the same age as me.
She had light brown skin and was pretty enough to make you look twice.
She had a long brown and highlighted lace wig that was styled with a part down the middle and silky straight.
Her fitted sundress hugged the small baby bump and standing beside her was a little girl, that looked to be maybe three years old, with two puff ponytails and tiny pink sandals.
The little girl held tightly onto the woman's hand while looking around the mall, completely unaware of the tension that suddenly started brewing because the woman wasn’t looking at a damn thing in the store nor was she looking at the by passers because she was stuck was looking at us.
The longer I looked at her, the more uncomfortable I got because it wasn't the kind of stare you accidentally gave somebody while people-watching either.
She was looking directly at us bur more specifically, at Rome.
I finally turned my attention toward Rome noticing he hadn't looked at her yet or at least that's what he wanted me to think.
Years of being with him taught me to pay attention to the little things like the way his grip around my hand wasn't as relaxed as it had been two seconds ago.
Hell, even the conversation between us had died without either one of us noticing.
"You alright?" I asked, pretending like I hadn't caught any of it.
He glanced over at me with that same easy going; goofy ass smile he'd been wearing all morning. "Yeah. Why?"
I shrugged. "I don't know, you got quiet."
"Nah." He laughed softly. "Just thinking."
"About?"
"What I'm finna buy you."
"Mhm. I’m not sure why you don’t know what to buy me when you drug me here like you knew."
He squeezed my hand before finally looking in the woman's direction and it happened so fast I almost missed it the way their eyes met and it wasn’t for long either, maybe two seconds to three at the most but it was enough to confirm that he knew her and I could bet my last dollar this was the same woman who called me talking about ‘Rome is the baby’s daddy’ and the same woman who got herself played out of me getting all of her shit disconnected.
Her face immediately reflected an attitude while Rome looked away first, like whatever had just happened wasn't worth acknowledging. My damn stomach twisted in knots because this was so disrespectful… the entire situation was.
"You know her?" I casually asked keeping my eyes forward like I wasn't paying attention.
He didn't even hesitate when he asked, "Who?"
I started to say the damn owl, but instead of getting slick I tilted my head toward the children's store. "The pregnant girl," I said.
He looked over again, this time making a whole show of it before shaking his head. "Nah."
"You sure?"
He laughed. "Nay... I don't know every pregnant female in Miami. Don’t start that shit."
"I never said you did."
"Then why you asking?"
I smiled, but something in my gut told me that I was right. "I just noticed she was staring."
"So maybe she know you then," He shrugged.
I chuckled. "I doubt that."
"Well..." He started as he was already guiding me toward Louis Vuitton. "People be weird."
I let him lead me away, but before we disappeared into the store, I looked back one last time seeing she was still standing there. Only this time, she wasn't watching me anymore. She was watching Rome walk away and the look on her face told me that she was sick of his ass.