Georgia On My Mind (15 page)

Speaking of Mercedes, she was totally worthless and Charles was sick of her. She always had a headache and barely screwed him anymore. She wiped out his entire savings on an engagement ring and a wedding planner.  She refused to let him spend the night at her condo. She argued and bossed him around like he was a child. And to top it off she couldn’t boil a damn egg if you shoved a gun in her face. “What a damn waste of a pussy!” Charles chuckled to himself at her shenanigans. 

Just as he finished the final proof of his brief his assistant interrupted him with a call. “Mr. Preston do have a moment to speak with Ms. Mercedes Murphy?”

“No, tell her I'm working and I'll call her back later tonight!” Charles informed him before immediately hanging up. “Hells no!” He chuckled out loud. No! I do not have time for Ms. Mercedes Murphy and her bullshit!” Michael immediately called him right back. “What is it Michael? I’m busy! I have to finish this brief before I leave!”

“Yes sir, I know. I'm sorry to disturb you again Mr. Preston, but I didn't make myself clear.  Ms. Murphy is actually here in reception with me and wants to come back to see you.  I apologize for the confusion.  Is it okay to send her back?”

Charles is pissed.  He had been avoiding Mercedes like the Swine Flu Virus.  She had worked his last damn nerve and spent his last damn dollar.  Over the past few weeks he had realized what a manipulative gold digger she actually was and frankly he was sick of her uppity ass.  Besides he had a date with Peaches tonight and the last thing that he needed was Mercedes screwing that up.

“Damn!  What the hell is she doing here this late?  I don't need this shit right now.  I have to finish this brief and get my ass out of here! Shit!” He vented as he covered the mouth of the phone with his hand. “Oh, I didn't realize that she was here.  Sure, send her right in.” Charles replied.

Pretending to be happy to see Mercedes, He stood and greeted her with a kiss on the lips. Mercedes quickly turned her face and offered him her cheek instead. “Hey baby.  What are you doing here?” 

“What do you mean, what am I doing here?  What are you doing here?  It's Friday night.  We have a date.”

“A date?  What date?  I have to finish this brief and go over all of these depositions before tomorrow.  I don't remember us making plans.” Charles responded confused.

“We're engaged now.  We have a standing date every Friday and Saturday night.  Get it together Charles!  I'm not Papaya.  I have no intentions of sitting at home every weekend.”

“Peaches, her name is Peaches.” Charles corrected her for the four hundredth time in less than two months.

“Whatever! That’s what I said!” Mercedes waved him off as she took a seat on his desk. “Get your things and let’s go. We have reservations. Hurry up!”

“I'm sorry Mercedes but I can't leave.  I have at least another six hours of work staring at me.” Charles stated as he sat back down at his desk and began to type on his computer.

“You've got to be kidding me!  I've made reservations.” Mercedes snapped.

“Baby I'm sorry. We just had dinner out last night and the night before. I have to get this done by Monday morning and we have that wedding thing planned for tomorrow. Look, stay here and help me.  With your help I know I can get out of here in at least three, maybe four hours tops.  I'll call and have the restaurant send over a nice dinner for two.  It'll be like old times.  We can have a picnic right here on the floor.” He offered although he really just wanted her to get the hell out of there.

“What?  Oh hell no!  I am not sitting here playing secretary and eating on the damn floor with you. Have you completely lost your damn mind?  I am out of here!” Mercedes snarled. She was officially pissed and quickly headed for the door to leave.

“Okay, well I'll be over just as soon as I'm done.” Charles lied.

“Don't even fucking think about it!”

Charles knew that Mercedes wasn't going to take him up on his offer.  In fact he knew it was exactly what he needed to say to piss her off enough to leave. “Why?  It'll still be early.  We can spend a romantic night together.  I've missed...”

“Charles, you have a better chance of winning the Mega Million Dollar Lottery than getting some pussy tonight.  I'm so out of here! And don’t even think about coming to my condo!” Mercedes declared as she stomped out in a huff.  Angry, she slammed the door so hard she knocked Charles’ law degree off of the wall.

“Now, there you are wrong Ms. Mercedes.  I didn't want any of your dry ass snatch anyway!  I have a taste for some Peaches and Cream if you know what I mean.” Charles laughed at his own joke as he finished the brief he was working on, closed his computer and prepared to leave.

Meanwhile, Peaches was putting the finishing touches on her table setting. She had decorated the house with flowers and sensual aroma candles. The lights were dim and the atmosphere was set for a romantic dinner for two. Everything was ready for her big payback.

Looking around the room she had mixed feelings about the whole thing.  In a sense she knew she should be doing all this for her own man.  Unfortunately, because of her insecurities she really didn't have a man since she parked Rashawn in the friend’s forever zone.  She quickly began to second guess her actions.

“Peaches, what the hell are you doing?  All this hard damn work for some dumb ass payback... Seriously!  You should just call Charles and cancel and enjoy a nice romantic night with Rashawn.” She vented aloud.

With that said she immediately picked up the phone and attempted to call Rashawn to invite him over for a late night movie fest.  He didn’t pick up and she got his voicemail. 

“Hi this is Rashawn.  I'm not available, but leave me a message and I'll get back to you.” His greeting chimed.

“Rashawn this is Peaches.  I was wondering if you'd like to come over later tonight to watch some movies?  Call me back when you get this... okay call me.”

Before Peaches could finish the message Charles rang the doorbell.  Distracted, Peaches inadvertently hung up without specifying a time for Rashawn to stop by. She did a final mirror check before answering the door.  Dressed in a very sexy, low cut, clingy black dress she was a total and complete stunning beauty.  She was ready.

Peaches opened the door to find Charles standing there with a giant bouquet of yellow roses, a bottle of wine, a semi boner and a big old stupid ass grin on his face.

Peaches smiled. “I gotcha your dumb ass now!” She thought to herself. “Hi, are these for me?  Thank you, come on in everything is ready.” She invited him in. Peaches admired the beautiful long stem roses.  She couldn't remember the last time Charles gave her flowers. “They're beautiful. Thank you, again.”

Peaches immediately found a large vase for the flowers and proudly put them on display, while Charles followed the aroma of the home cooked food into the kitchen.  After placing the bottle of imported wine in the refrigerator to chill he peeped in the oven to find a sweet potato pie baking.

“Oh my God.  Is this a sweet potato pie?  I've die and gone to Pie Heaven!” He sighed as he inhaled the aroma of Peaches’ homemade sweet potato pie.

“Of course it is.  We can't have dinner without dessert.  And sweet potato pie is your favorite isn't it?”

“I haven't had a home cooked meal since...” Charles was suddenly quiet.  He realized he hadn't had a home cooked meal since he left Peaches.  Mercedes had no clue how to make ice water, let alone bake a damn sweet potato pie.  He shut up mid-sentence because he didn't want to open any old wounds. “Well, you know when... I'm sorry Peaches.  I didn't mean to...”

“It's okay.  I understand.” She assured him

“I can't even say it.  Well, at least not without feeling stupid.  Peaches I was a damn fool to...”

“Look, forget about all that old stuff.  Are you hungry?  Let's eat.” Peaches quickly interrupted.

For some odd reason she actually felt sorry for Charles.  So, she decided to lighten the mood by serving dinner.  There would be plenty of time for the penalty phase later.  For now she was kind of enjoying the old Charles. 

Peaches served dinner and the two of them laughed, talked and reminisced about the good times.  In the process Peaches totally lost track of time and completely forgot that she had called Rashawn.

“Remember this song?” Charles grinned as a familiar oldie but goody came on and permeated the romantic atmosphere. 

Peaches instantly got excited, she hadn’t heard that song in years.  “Oh, you know I remember this.  How could I forget?  I lost my virginity to this damn song!”

“I know, I was there... I lost mine too. Come on... dance with me!” Charles invited.

“What?  Oh hell no!  That's how it kicked off the last time.  One minute we were dancing and...”

“And the next we were in paradise.  Come on let's dance. Don’t be afraid, I won’t bite… This time!” Charles joked.

Peaches quickly gave in and allowed Charles to pull her into the center of the floor to slow dance.  Surprisingly, some of her old suppressed feelings for Charles began to resurface as she relaxed and melt into his arms.

Now, Charles was feeling something too as he allowed his hands to slip from the small of Peaches back to rub her ass.  She didn't protest so he took it a step further by squeezing her ass and kissing her full in the mouth.  Caught up, Peaches gave in and kissed him back. Things quickly became heated and Peaches became confused.

“Stop!  What are we doing?”

“We're about to recreate some magic.” Charles’ sultry voice said before he kissed her again.  Peaches briefly gave in.

“Look, this is crazy, Charles.  You're engaged to Mercedes.”

“Peaches, I'm not going to marry that girl.  I still have feelings for you.” Charles confessed.

“Yeah! I can tell and they're all in your pants!” Peaches laughed.

“Peaches that's not true.  I made a big mistake leaving you.  I want to come home. Okay?”

“My life's different now.  I'm just getting past you leaving me.” Peaches said as she pulled away.

“Look if it's about that guy that was here... It’s okay! I forgive you. We can start all over again.”

To her horror, Peaches suddenly remembered that she invited Rashawn over. “Oh my God!  Peanut!” She unconsciously breathed.

“Peanut?  Is that his name?  Where the hell do I know him from?” Charles asked as he tried to place Rashawn.

“Look Charles...” Before she could finish her statement the doorbell rang.

“Who could that be?  Are you expecting someone this late?” Charles asked as he instinctively headed for the door. 

“No Charles, don’t...” Peaches tried desperately to stop him but it is too late. 

Charles opened the door to find Rashawn there with a hand full of DVDs, a box of microwave popcorn, Twizzlers, Goobers and Rasinettes. “What's up playa?  It's awfully late to be dropping by unannounced.  Come on in.” Charles chuckled.

Caught off guard and stunned Rashawn followed Charles into the dim, candlelit room. “What’s going on? Is Peaches here?” He asked as he quickly scanned the room, immediately noticing the candles and the romantic table for two.

“Peanut I can explain.” Peaches said as she stepped from the shadows a little embarrassed and ashamed.

“Don't bother.  I understand!” Rashawn glared at her.

“It's not what you think!” She tried to offer an explanation, but Rashawn was too hurt to listen.

“You're right.  It's not at all what I thought it was.” Rashawn snorted as he tossed the bag of goodies in the center of the romantic table. “Here, take these.  By the way, have fun with Mercedes’ fiancé!” Pissed he turned and walked out.

“Peanut please wait! Let me explain!” Peaches, who was barefoot ran out behind him, but Rashawn didn't stop or even bother to look back.  He was crushed and Peaches knew it.

~*~*~

The next morning Peaches she showed up at their usual 6:00am run expecting to see him there, Rashawn was a no show.  In fact he was a no show for all of their workout sessions for the next two weeks.  Peaches tried calling him but all her calls went straight to his voicemail.  She even stopped by his townhouse only to find that it was vacant and a for sale sign was posted in the yard. 

Over the next several weeks Peaches searched all over Atlanta for Rashawn in all the old familiar places, but he was nowhere to be found.  It was like he had dropped complete off the planet.  Peaches missed him.  His absence hurt her and made her realize how much she cared for him.

Now, unbeknownst to Peaches Rashawn had taken the opportunity to fly back to Los Angeles to tie up some loose ends.  The Atlanta Braves had made him a very lucrative offer and he decided to sign with them.

Hurt he needed some time to get out of Atlanta and sort out his feelings for Peaches.  Sure, he had received all of her messages, but he couldn't bring himself to call her or answer her calls.  He didn't want to hear that she had gone back to Charles.  He wanted to remain friends with Peaches, but his heart was broken, so he decided to just remain a ghost for a while.  Well, at least until he could get his emotions under control and get over her.

The official news that Rashawn “The Hit Man” Martin had agreed to sign with the Braves had been all over the Atlanta news- print, radio, cable and TV.  Peaches however was not a big sports fan so she was oblivious to the fact that all the hoopla was about her Rashawn.  Besides, most of the venues referred to him by his nickname "The Hit Man!" So, there was really no way for her to even suspect that her friend was in fact extremely rich and famous.