16. Noree Marcell
A few days later…
The sun was sitting high, and I had my hand up over my forehead like a visor, squinting, feet dangling down in the shallow end of the pool.
“There you go, King! Look at you!”
He was out there in the middle of the pool with Miss Deena, chin tipped all the way back the way she instructed. She had one hand flat under his back and the other one hovering right under his head, walking backwards slowly through the water with him.
“Look at the sky for me,” she said, and I looked at the time. They’d be wrapping up soon, and I was glad because, baby, it was hot!
A few short moments later, I swear the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I felt like somebody was watching me.
I turned my head and looked over my shoulder toward the house.
Mmm…there goes the damn culprit right there.
Ginger was standing there behind the glass door in a silk two-piece set, one hand on her hip, staring dead at me. So, my petty ass smiled and waved at her.
She threw up her middle finger, spun around, and stomped off.
I dropped my hand in my lap and let out a laugh, shaking my head.
She was weird as hell, and I still didn’t understand how I was getting under her skin simply by just existing.
“Miss Noree!” King yelled, splashing, waving both arms over his head. “Did you see me? Did you see me?”
I sat up straight and clapped my hands together.
“Yes! I saw you, Kingy! You were floating. You did so good!”
I gave him two thumbs up, and his whole face lit up like Christmas. He turned right back around to Miss Deena.
About ten more minutes later, she called it. I stood up and grabbed his towel off the chair, the blue one with the little dinosaur hood on it.
I met him at the edge and squatted down. I wrapped his towel all the way around him and pulled the hood up over his head.
“How about some snacks?”
“Yes!” He looked up at me excitedly. “Do you want to share apple slices?”
I laughed. “Aww…sure. We can definitely do that.”
I stood up and held my hand out for him.
And he put his in mine, and we headed back inside the main house.
When we got to the kitchen, I sat him up on a stool, got two apples out the fridge, and stood at the island cutting them into slices while he told me a whole story about a lizard he saw by the fence.
“Mhm. And then what did he do?”
“He went like this.” He did something with his shoulders.
“He did NOT.”
“He did!”
I grabbed the caramel and put a little in a bowl, fanned the slices out on a plate, and slid it between us. Then I picked one up and held it out.
“Alright. Together.”
He picked one up too. We both dipped, and then he clinked his apple slice against mine like it was a toast.
“Cheers,” I said.
We ate them and both of us smiled, him kicking his feet against the stool.
Then he got quiet, chewing. “You remind me of my mommy.” He blurted out.
My hand stopped halfway to the caramel.
“Aw, King. That’s so sweet.” I set the slice down. “What about me reminds you of her?”
He shrugged and looked at his plate.
“You’re nice to me and even though Mommy was sick a lot and didn’t do a lot of fun things with me, she was nice to me.”
My eyes stung so fast I had to blink hard three times and look up at the ceiling.
I got it together. Reached over and put my hand on his little shoulder.
“You know, King, I’m sure she was a really wonderful woman. And I’m honestly honored.”
He kept chewing.
“You know what honored means?”
He shook his head no and kept right on going with them apples.
“It just means that I am very lucky to have gotten that compliment from you. It makes me happy.” I tapped the tip of his nose and he laughed. “Listen, sweetie… your mom is always gonna be with you and in your heart. Don’t ever forget that, okay?”
He nodded. “Okay.”
“Alright. Go ahead and finish up your treat, and then I need you to get out of these wet clothes, okay?”
He nodded again, cheeks all poked out.
“Okay.”
I stepped off to the side by the counter and pulled my phone out to look over the rest of the day, scrolling with my thumb, mumbling to myself.
“Okay, so…bath then…a black-tie event?”
“Wassup, boy!”
I looked up.
Ozy came walking in the kitchen in a black tee and some gray sweats, hat backwards, chain out. He caught my eye first, and I gave him a small smile. He gave me one right back then he went over to King.
King waved with a sticky hand. “Hey, Uncle Ozy!”
“You having a good day with Miss Noree?”
And when he said that he looked back over at me. My stomach did that thing.
“Yes, we had a good time.” King swallowed. “Even though she only put her feet in the pool.”
My mouth fell open.
“KING!” I gave him a little push on his arm and he damn near fell off the stool laughing. “Don’t be telling my business, little boy!”
Ozy was cracking up.
“And I learned how to float today!”
“Ayyye!” Ozy put his hand up and King smacked it as hard as he could. “That’s what I’m talking ‘bout.”
He went to the fridge, grabbed a bottle of water, then came back and leaned against the island as he twisted the cap off. He took a long sip and caught me staring. I quickly looked down at my phone, pretending to mess with the screen for no reason at all as my ears got hot.
The amount of times I blushed around this man should’ve been a crime.
“So, what else you gon’ be learning this week with your instructor?”
King shrugged both shoulders way up by his ears and looked at me.
So, then Ozy looked at me too.
“He’ll be learning the backstroke,” I said.
He nodded slow. “Bet.”
That’s when I noticed King’s plate was clean. Every last slice gone, and a caramel handprint on the island.
I got a cup down and poured him some of the juice I made that morning because I didn’t want him eating and drinking at the same time, getting full off just the juice, and slid it in front of him.
He picked it up with both hands and downed the entire thing without stopping, then came up gasping, breathing all hard.
I laughed out loud, hand on my hip.
“Well, dang! Was it that good? I made it from scratch. I squeezed all the lemons this morning.”
“Yes! I love your juice, Miss Noree.”
“Aww, you’re such a sweetie pie.” I helped him down off the stool. “Now go ahead and get out of those wet clothes. I’ll be up in a second to start your bath.”
He took off.
“Hey! Remember to walk.”
He came to a stop right at the doorway. “Yes, Miss Noree.”
And then it was just me and Ozy in the kitchen.
I placed the plate, bowl, and cup in the sink, washed them, wiped down the counters, then washed my hands and dried them on the hand towel hanging on the oven.
The whole time, neither one of us said anything.
It was pretty awkward, so I went to walk out of the kitchen with my head down, avoiding eye contact.
Of course, Ozy just had to stop me.
“Hey.”
I turned around. “Yes?”
He was still leaning on the island with the water bottle in his hand.
“You know you ain’t gotta be tiptoeing around, right? The house is big enough for the both of us.”
I let out a little laugh that came out more nervous than I wanted it to.
“Yeah. I kind of noticed that.”
“But for real.” He set the bottle down. “I really appreciate you.”
“It’s no problem… I love King already. He’s such a great kid and he told me I remind him of…his mom.”
He smiled, just for a second. “I agree.”
I tilted my head to the side. “Really?”
“Yeah. A few things you do and say remind me of my sister, so I can agree with him.”
I didn’t wanna say the wrong thing, so I just nodded and smiled. Then it got quiet again.
“You getting adjusted well?”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “I honestly love that I get the privacy of having a guest house to myself. And I’m just grateful for the opportunity.”
Okay now, girl, you ain’t gotta kiss his ass!
“You don’t have to keep saying that.” He kidded.
“Well.” I smirked at him. “I am.”
He shook his head, laughing under his breath.
“Well. I guess I should get back to work.”
“Yeah.” He shrugged. “I guess you should.”
“See you later, boss man.”
He chuckled. “I like the sound of that.” He smiled one of those smiles that made me weak in the knees immediately, but I played it off real good.
“Boy, bye.”
I turned and walked off, and my heart was going way faster than it had any business going. I glanced back over my shoulder the same way Loretta Devine had done in Waiting to Exhale, then realized not only was he watching me, but I’d forgotten to ask him about the event.
“Wait…” I held up my phone. “I’m bringing King to a black-tie event tonight?”
Ozy nodded. “Yeah, I want him to see his uncle being honored, then you can bring him back and put him to bed. Just wear all black.”
“Okay, cool,” I said.
I turned around and walked straight into somebody.
“Ooh! I’m sorry, I––.”
Ginger.
She stepped back and looked me up and down. From my sneakers all the way up to my ponytail. Then her eyes cut past me into that kitchen at Ozy and came right back to my face.
“What were y’all in there talking about?”
I gritted my teeth for a moment. “My job.” I said it really pleasant. “We were talking about my job. And King, actually. But if you wanna know more about it, you should probably ask my boss. Now…excuse me.”
And I went around her and rolled my eyes.
Bitch.
“Okay. I got my keys, purse, lip gloss, my face powder.”
I was doing that last check before I walked out the door. Then I picked up my YSL Libre, sprayed my whole body down from head to toe, walked through the mist like I always did, and cut my lights off.
I was heading out the door when my phone started ringing.
I dug in my purse quick, thinking it was PB.
It was an unknown number, and this was the fourth call since yesterday. I didn’t really get a lot of those, so I was confused. Then it dawned on me… Carl was blocked.
Maybe it was him?
Oh, shit. Do you even care what he has to say?
My whole heart took off. I ain’t even think about it. I just slid my finger over that answer button.
“Hello?”
“Babe? Finally. What the hell is going on? Why am I blocked? I’ve been trying to call you since yesterday.”
I froze and he continued.
“I had to call you from another number just to get through. What happened?”
“What the hell do you mean, what happened?” I set my purse down on the entry table. “You butt-dialed me and I heard a woman say she loved you. So yeah, I blocked you because you didn’t answer my calls or texts. You really got me fucked up.”
“Wait. What?” His voice went up.
“Are you fucking another woman?” I asked, getting down to the nitty-gritty.
“What? No! Hell no. Why would you even think that?”
“Because I heard you!”
“I know, but baby, listen to me... I think you took what you heard the wrong way.”
And that’s when my blood really started boiling. Because now it felt like he was trying to gaslight me.
“Taken the wrong way? Stop playing with me, Carl! Who was the bitch I heard? And why the fuck did I hear you ask her to marry you?”
He got quiet and my stomach dropped.
“Hold on.” I could hear him moving around on his end. “I think I know what you heard.”
I laughed out loud.
“Oh, you think you know? Then tell me what the fuck is going on.”
“Nourah, this isn’t a conversation I want to have with you over the phone.”
“No. Fuck that. You better have it with me right now!”
“Baby, just let me explain.”
“Then explain!”
He exhaled hard. “This is not how I wanted you to find out.”
Everything in my body dropped.
“Oh.” My voice cracked. “So you were asking another bitch to marry you?”
“No, it’s not that simple. Nourah, please just listen to me.”
“You know what, Carl? Get the fuck off my phone and don’t ever call me again.”
Click.
I hung up and stood there with my chest going up and down.
My phone started ringing again almost immediately. It was the Unknown Number again. I declined it, and when it rang right back, I declined that shit too and blocked the number.
Nope.
I was done.
And honestly, I ain’t even care to go to this damn event with PB anymore, but I didn’t wanna let him down. I was damn near shaking. I’d wasted so much time with this man, and now he was basically telling me I wasn’t delusional. I had, in fact, heard what I heard.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Okay, girl. Get it together. Get it together. Get it together. You got this. Get it together.”
I said it to myself over and over, inhaling and exhaling as I took a couple steps toward the front door. I stood there for a few moments, long enough for him to knock again.
Then I opened it and put on a fake smile. PB was standing there holding a bouquet of red roses.
And he looked amazing in his suit. Like, I had never seen him so dressed up, and he looked so cute, like a groom on top of a wedding cake.
His braids were freshly done. His jewelry was iced out but not doing too much.
His Cartier links were sitting just right, his earrings, just everything about him screaming… sexy.
“Hey,” I said.
And immediately, I could tell he sensed it.
“What’s wrong?”
I looked down at my shoes. “Nothing.”
“It doesn’t look like nothing. What’s up?”
I sighed. “It’s just that I finally got that call from my boyfriend... well, my ex now, since I’m a hundred percent done with his ass.”
“Damn.” He shifted the flowers to his other hand. “I’m sorry, love. There was a slight pause. “Well, look. If you don’t wanna go anymore––.”
“No. It’s okay.”
I accepted the flowers. They were beautiful. I brought them up to my nose and smelled them, and something in me settled just a little bit.
“I would love to still accompany you to your event, PB.”
“You sure?”
I nodded, and he gave me a small smile before leaning in and kissing my cheek.
“You look… amazing.”
I smiled. “So do you.”
He reached for my hand. “You ready?”
I exhaled. “I am now.”
I grabbed my purse off the entry table, and we headed out. I locked the door behind me, and there was a whole limousine sitting at the curb waiting on us.
I really felt like royalty.
And I wasn’t about to sit in the house crying or beating myself up for not seeing the signs with Carl. All I wanted was for that man to pop the question, and now it sounded like he’d gone and did it for another woman.
That shit was crazy as hell to me.
I ended up texting my sister to let her know what happened, and she started calling me back to back, but I told her I couldn’t talk since I was in the limousine with PB.
She let me know she was going to the event too because both PB and Ozy wanted the little boy she was the nanny for to be there, so she had to come and make sure he stayed in line.
NOREE: I’ll see you when I get there. I’m so sorry Carl turned out to be a fucking fraud. Smh. You don’t deserve that, sis.
ME: It’s okay. I guess it’s better for me to find out now than to keep wasting more years with his fuck ass.
NOREE: Right!
And for the most part, I put on a fake smile.
But PB made me smile for real.
He made me laugh. I took a lot of pictures. The event was amazing, and I even snuck away for a second to have a sister-to-sister talk with my big sis.
I was glad I still went.
And honestly?
Fuck Carl.