Made to Love: Carmen and Cooper's Story (13 page)

“
If you say so. You guys look good
together. I am going to keep my fingers crossed.”

“
Girl, please. Anyway what
happened with you and Cooper’s mom? You had that look on your face,
but I did not want to pry at that moment.”

Remembering the conversation
pisses me off all over again. “That bitch had the audacity to tell
me I’m not good enough for her son. He is settling for me and she
is going to find him a “proper” woman.”

“
What the fuck? She is a major
bitch. I am sorry Carmen. What did Cooper say?”

“
I didn’t tell him. Things are
already bad between them. Plus she has ruined enough of his
birthdays and I refused to let her destroy that one.”

Marcia raises her eyebrows. “That makes sense,
but you will have to tell him. Sometimes you have to put yourself
first. This could mess up your relationship. Carmen, you have a
tendency to hold on to things. I love seeing you happy and open to
loving someone.”

She is referring to the death of my sister. I
vowed I would never give my heart to a man. Love makes you weak and
stupid. I am neither of those things. Because Celeste was in love
with Jermaine, she over looked the signs that were dangerous. I
know I shouldn’t compare Cooper to Jermaine, but Cooper has
displayed that he has a temper. Would I ever be on the receiving
end?

“
Earth to Carmen,” Marcia says,
waving her hand in my face.

I laugh and push her hand. “Sorry girl, you
are right. I will tell him in time.”

“
The sooner the
better.”

“
Is your grandma excited you are
coming to visit?”

“
Yes, she has planned for us to do
a little bit of everything. I think she has a boyfriend, because
the few times I called I heard a male’s voice.”

“
That is not surprising because
she had two boyfriends here before she moved to Florida. When are
you coming back?”

“
In two weeks.”

“
Two weeks? I am going to miss
you.”

“
Not too much you have Cooper to
keep you busy,” she says, “but I will miss you too.”

We spend the rest of the time
talking about her upcoming trip to Florida.
After paying for lunch, Marcia and I head towards
Salon L’ Me
. We treat
ourselves to a day of pampering beginning with our hair and
finishing with a mani and pedi. As we check in for our appointment,
I decide to get my ends trimmed a little. Marcia says she will be
cutting about three inches off to get rid of all her split ends.
She wants her hair cut into layers. She is lucky she doesn’t
require dye, as her hair is naturally beautiful. I start to ponder
on her going away for two weeks as I’m placed under the
dryer.

Within an hour and a half my hair
has been blown out and set in loose curls, with a part in the
middle. Marcia’s new layers look fantastic on her. We take our
seats adjacent to one another as the technician prepares the warm
water. While our feet soak, we receive a massage as well. My
favorite part is having the lotion rubbed from my foot up to my
knee.

“
What color are you getting?”
Marcia has her eyes shut as Kim works her magic. “I’m sure it’s
probably something with a purple tint.” Her eyes open at that
remark.

“
And what if it is?” She says with
such seriousness.

Marcia looks at my hands and says, “You’ll
probably go with your same ole boring Cotton Candy. By the way just
because you put on a silver glitter top coat does not make it any
different,” she sternly says.

I laugh as we continue to pick on one another.
This is how it always is. She forgets I have gone with bold color
on my finger nails before and hated it. Now those colors only go on
my toes. When our pedicures are done, we are given neon flip flops.
They feel like clouds. We go to the polish center, and retrieve our
colors. Marcia goes with a deep plum. I play it safe with Cotton
Candy for my nails and Candy Apple for my feet. My toes won’t be
out for anyone to see minus Cooper. It’s too cold for open toe
shoes at this time of year. But I pride myself on keeping my feet
clean and always polished red regardless of the season.

“
See I told you,” Marcia says,
being a smart ass.

“
I think you mean we told each
other, oh wise one.” We burst into laughter.

Once are toes are shiny with polish, we
proceed to take care of our hands. Careful attention is paid to our
cuticles. Then they buff and file our nails insuring they are all
of same length. My phone chimes from my red Coach handbag that is
on my lap. I’m curious wondering if it’s Cooper but decide not to
interrupt the current work being done. I check it after knowing my
nails are dry.

I reach in my handbag; my phone shows a text
from Cooper.

My Carmen, hope you are enjoying
your girls day. I have to cancel our plans tonight, last minute
meeting with a client. Forgive me.

Looking down at the bangle secured
with the heart, I smile. Even though his mother treated me with
animosity, I still have it bad for this man.

I reply,
No worries. I will miss you. Come over afterwards.

Marcia comes up from behind and is trying to
move me along to get polished up. She has a few other places to
stop in preparation for her trip.

“
Was that Coooooper?” she says
with her hands over her heart.

“
Yes, nosey, it was. He was
supposed to come over, but had to cancel.”

Making a pouty face, Marcia says, “Sorry
Carmen, but that means we can go out for a drink or
several.”

“
Marcia, you are such a
lush.”

Cooper did not come over last night and never
responded to my text. This makes me sad, but I start my morning
workout. Its noon and still nothing from him. Trying not to think
the worst and that he must be busy with work.

Finally at 1:30, Cooper texts me.

Cooper:
I
miss you.
Me:
I
miss you too.
Cooper:
Sorry about last night, meeting ran late.
Me:
No problem. Come over
tonight.
Cooper:
Wish I could but have more work to do for the client. Then
meeting Beverly for dinner.
Me:
Is she in town?
Cooper:
Not yet. In a few hours.
Taking your advice and giving her a chance.
Me:
That’s good.
(the lies I tell)
Cooper:
Join us for breakfast tomorrow?
Me:
No, get that one on
one time. Don’t want to intrude.
Cooper:
You could never intrude. If
you change your mind let me know.
Me:
Okay
Cooper:
I love you.
Me:


Cooper and his mom spending time together,
bothers me. She doesn’t like me and if they become close what is
going to happen to our relationship? Maybe I should start pulling
away from him.

Recently work has kept Cooper busy. It’s late
and we haven’t spoken. As I get ready to get in the bed the
intercom buzzes and it’s Cooper.

I open the door; he is holding red roses and a
package.

“
My
Carmen, these are for you.”

I take the items and place them on the
counter. Then Cooper is all over me. He starts kissing my forehead
as he grips the back of my neck. He strips off his clothes as he
trails to my lips and kisses me with force. I fall victim as he
undresses me waiting to feel his massive size. He lays me down on
the dining room table and starts exploring my whole body with soft
kisses and hard licks. His movement around my clitoris has me at
his mercy, until he draws back. Ahh Cooper I moan as I grab his
shoulders. He pushes deeper and I climax. I give into his
persistence of pleasure.

“
That’s right cum for me
gorgeous.”

I smile as he fulfills my highest desire as
always. He never lets me down when it comes to our sexual
encounters. Each and every time, I’m the first to be pleased. My
genuine man, or is he? I’m beginning to overthink. My thoughts
cease when Cooper enters his dick inside of me with pure
possession. I give him all I have, oh how I love him. He picks me
up as we move to a chair where he sits me straddling on top of him.
He’s leaning against the slanted heel as I begin to ride him with
my legs wrapped around the back of the chair. I feel his length
deep throughout my body. The pain also the cause of high points of
rapture as well. He kisses my lips grinding his tongue with mine.
He goes in and out. My pussy gets wetter each time. As he continues
to slide inside of me, it’s only a matter of time before my world
is spinning out of control and he’s releasing himself inside me. He
carries me into the bedroom and then we cuddle. Cooper starts to
stir before I’m able to fall into a deep sleep. He reaches for his
pants as he sits up.

“
Where are you going?” I groggily
ask. “Please stay, it’s been forever since we’ve had a
sleepover.”

“
I can’t
stay
my
Carmen; I
have to work early in the morning. But I will stay until you’re
able to fall asleep.”

Hurt I blurt out. “Don’t do me any favors!
Since Beverly is the one who gets all of your free time these
days.”

He asks “What does that mean?”

“
Cooper your mother doesn’t like
me.”

“
What are you talking about? She
has nothing but nice things to say about you. It’s silly to be
jealous of my mom.”

“
Oh she is your mom now? not that
whore? It’s nothing to do with jealousy! She’s trying to ruin our
relationship! Why can’t you see that?”

Cooper quickly gets dressed and replies “I
don’t know what’s gotten into you lately, but I don’t like it. I
know we haven’t been spending that much time together but I’ve been
busy with work.”

He tries to give me a kiss but I
turn my head. “Just have a little bit more patience; soon it will
be back to normal. Let’s not fight. I love you
my
Carmen.”

He turns out my light and walks out the front
door.

Chapter
Twenty-One

Marcia comes home today. I’m
running fifteen minutes late picking her up. Fighting with Cooper
last night has exhausted me. I’m glad my best friend is coming
back. Luckily, there wasn’t much traffic on 95 north. I arrive at
Ronald Reagan airport with five minutes to spare. Marcia sees me
standing by my car. We run towards each other and hug.

“
Damn, Carmen, I missed you. My
grandma and Charlie, her new man, drove me crazy.”

“
I missed you too, love your tan.
Now we can pass as twins.”

We decided to grab lunch at Panera Bread.
Marcia tells me about her trip especially all the clubs she went
too.

“
What have you been doing, besides
Cooper?” Marcia asks.

“
Honestly, we haven’t seen much of
each other; he has been spending a lot of time with Beverly. Last
night we had a fight regarding her.”

“
Why are ya’ll fighting about
her?”

“
I basically told him he was
neglecting me for her. And he told me to stop being jealous of her.
Me, jealous, really?”

“
It sounds like that to me, what
else is he going to think? You never told him what she said. So it
seems like you are being a brat.”

“
It’s not that, he’s just so busy
at work. I feel like she is purposefully keeping him
away.”

“
Carmen, he is an executive
adviser and this time of year happens to be the busiest. Especially
for him, since he does handle millions of dollars.”

“
I just miss him and it feels like
were losing one another.”

“
Have you told him this?” Marcia
cautiously asks.

I answer, “No.”

“
Does he know you love
him?”

Again the answer is “No.”

“
Fuck Carmen, you need to get it
together before you push him out of your life.”

“
I know, I know.”

Once we get back to the apartment,
Marcia washes clothes, and I flop down on the couch. There is so
much I need to do but my thoughts are on Cooper.

Then he calls. “Hey,” I answer.

“Hey, what are you
doing?”

“
Just got home from picking up
Marcia.” There is awkward silence.

Cooper says, “I am sorry about last
night.”

“
Me too.”

“
We just need to be patient with
each other,” he sincerely says.

“
Yeah you are right. Can I come
over?”

“
Please don’t become cross, but
it’s not a good time.”

“
Okay.”

“
I know you are disappointed. I
will make it up to you.”