My Bestfriend's Man (11 page)

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*
  
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A couple of weeks have gone by
and Vee still hasn’t reached out to me. The fact that she would throw away our
friendship over some dude killed my spirit. It was hard for me to focus. I
rarely ever cry, but I cried for Vee.

My alarm clock sounded off for
the fourth time and I knew whether I wanted to or not I had to get my sad ass
up. I wiped my tears away as I looked at the picture of Vee and I that sat on
my nightstand. I was only torturing myself by keeping it there, but I couldn’t
help it. Vee is the love of my life and for her to just walk out of my life
like I never meant anything to her, jabbed at my heart.

“Roxie,” Bri softly knocked on my
door. “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” I snapped.

“Okay, just making sure. I heard
you crying earlier.”

This is why I liked my privacy.
If I wanted to cry and mope in
peace,
I
could. I hated to show any form of emotions in front of people. It made me look
weak in my opinion.

“Is this about Savannah?” She
softly asked.

I remained quiet as I rolled over
on my back and looked up at the ceiling. Bri knew my history with Vee. She knew
how I felt about my best friend without me even telling her. I guess it was
that obvious.

“Can I come in?” She asked

“Sure,” I sighed. I could really
use the company. I looked at the clock. The way I was feeling I knew there was
no way I could make it
into
work today. Bri
sat down on the bed while I grabbed my cell phone and made the call
into
work. Sheldon my office manager wasn’t
happy, but I wasn’t worried about it.

“So, what’s going on?” Bri asked
me. “Savannah got a new boo?”

I forgot she moved away and has
been out of the loop. Like me, she didn’t have many friends, so I knew she
didn’t know much about what went on down here.

“Yeah,” I said nodding my head
yes.

“Awe, I’m sorry to hear that,”
she cooed as she scooted closer to me and wrapped her arm around my shoulders.

More tears had fallen from my
eyes and she quickly wiped them away. I knew her concern for me wasn’t genuine.
She had a motive just like everybody else. This is why I hate showing any type
of emotions. Predators lurk and as soon as they see you are down they pounce.

“Roxie, you ever think that maybe
Savannah isn’t the one for you. You can’t make someone love you.”

“She does love me,” I snapped.

“I’m sure she does. Just not the
way you want her too.”

She began to plant soft kisses on
my neck and damn if that shit didn’t feel good. I tried to stay focused, but
all that went out the window once I felt her hand in between my thighs. How the
hell she did that shit without me knowing I don’t know, but I wasn’t about to
stop her either.

I moaned and bit my bottom lip as
she rotated her fingers around my clit like
clockwork
.
This is what I needed to temporarily take my mind off Vee. She continued to
suck on my neck as she slipped her hands inside of my panties and found my
opening with her fingers. She placed her hand in the middle of my chest and
pushed me back on the bed. I knew what she wanted. I knew what she was trying
to do, but no one could ever replace Vee.

I let her have her time though.
She pulled off my panties and placed her head between my thighs. I needed this
ride.

*
  
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*

“So, Savannah and Big Brian are
dating?” Bri asked as she sat at the kitchen table stuffing her mouth full of
the eggs I just made.

Don’t get it twisted. I know what
you’re thinking, but I ain’t soft. She deserved a hot meal after the head game
she put down. I didn’t return the favor so I had to do something. I decided to
make her some breakfast, bacon, eggs, fried
potatoes,
and pancakes.

“No, she is dating his son. You
know Brian Davis?”

“Yeah, he used to go with Macy. I
can’t believe Savannah running with his ass though. I thought she was
the good
girl type. Does she
know
he
runs
drugs?”

“Macy?” I asked with a frown.
“Who the fuck is Macy?”

“You remember, she was Joe Roc’s
little sister.”

I leaned against the counter
searching my memory bank trying to put a face with a name, but it didn’t ring
any bells. “What she look like?”

“She was pretty. She had long
hair, light brown eyes. Body was banging too. You still don’t remember?”

“No,” I said shaking my head.

“Do you even remember Joe Roc?”

The name sounded familiar, but I
couldn’t place him either. “No,” I laughed.

“Really?” She asked shaking her
head from side to side. “Aight, let me think,” she said nodding her head. “You
do know Joe Roc. Him and his brother use to own that club across from Envious,
but when Little Brian took over his dad’s club he shut Joe Roc’s shit down.”

I thought about it for a minute.
“Oh okay, that light skin dude with the dreads. He
used
to drive around in that bad ass Audi.”

“Yep,” she confirmed by nodding
her head.

I remembered him now. Sad to say
I even fucked his ass a couple of times. He broke me off a few stacks got my
hair done for me and shit like that. But after his club closed, he kind of fell
off the face of the earth. His sister did too. I remembered her now. She was
pretty just a little stuck up.

“
Whatever
happened to him?”

Bri shrugged her shoulders. “It’s
a mystery.
He has
been missing for a
minute. Both him and his sister.”

“Wait, hold up. So you mean to
tell me Macy was dating her brother’s competition.”

“Yeah, girl. It was the talk of
the town for a long ass time. Not too long after Joe Roc went missing, Macy did
too.”

“Did
Brian.
. .”

“Word on the street was Brian put
both her and Joe Roc six feet under, but nobody has been able to prove it. It’s
a cold case now,” Bri answered. “But you ain’t hear that from me.”

My hands began to shake as I
thought about Vee. She could be in danger. I had to warn her. Everything
started to come back to me now that Bri had refreshed my memory. They were so
easy to forget. They weren’t the right color so their pictures weren’t posted
on the news daily. It’s sad to say, but this could be beneficial to me.

“I have to tell Vee.”

“Be careful. Just like his dad,
they say, Brian ain’t no joke.”

I wasn’t fazed. He bleeds red
just like the rest of us. In my eyes, he was nothing special. I ran upstairs,
took a hot shower and put on a pair of booty shorts, a wife beater and flip
flops. My usual
get up
.

I hopped in my car and sped over
to Vee’s house. During my ride, I tried calling her cell phone. All of my calls
went unanswered. She wasn’t home when I got there. I left a message on her
voicemail to call me back. I had a feeling she wouldn’t. That’s okay because I
would be waiting for her when she got back.

Savannah

On my way back to the nurse’s
station, I felt my phone vibrate in my scrub pocket. I looked around as I
walked in and sat down at my desk. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and
rolled my eyes. It was Roxie and I wasn’t in the mood for her right now. I let
it roll over to voicemail. She called back several more times before she
finally got the hint.

I stuffed my phone back in my
pocket and logged onto my computer. I felt bad that I’ve been ignoring Roxie
like I have been. She’s my best friend. She’s always been there when I needed
her, but over the years our relationship has changed. She has become a little
possessive. I know she has my best interest at heart, but it was putting a
strain on our relationship.

If I could talk some sense into
her and make her see where I was coming from I would. Roxie is stubborn and
will only see things her way. So I had to put some space between us.
Hopefully,
this will give Roxie some time to
think, calm down and then we could possibly work on repairing our friendship.

Roxie may not like it, but she
has to realize that Brian is a part of my life now. I would hate to be put in a
position where I had to choose. Even though I wasn’t one hundred percent sure I
would choose Brian, I had to stop her pattern of behavior. It started with
Brandon, now Brian. I had to put a stop to it somewhere.

“What you thinking about?” Zee
asked me as she sat down in the chair beside me.

“Nothing really. I’ll just be
glad when this shift is over.”

“You missing your baby, huh?”

“Yeah, a little bit,” I laughed
even though the truth was Brian was starting to suffocate me too. He wanted to
be with me
twenty-four
seven now. I
wished I never mentioned him meeting my parents because that’s all he talked
about. I told him I wanted to take things slow, but he dropped a bomb on me
this morning after another episode of horrible sex 101. He wants us to move in
together.

The thought alone was depressing.
I’m trying to give him a chance, but he is starting to wear on my nerves. I
just feel bad because he is a good guy with good intentions, but I’m just not
ready. I feel rushed and pressured to do this. Maybe Roxie isn’t the only
person I need to take a break from.

“Where did you go?”

“Huh?” I asked shaking my head.
“Did you say something?”

“I just asked if everything is
going good between you and Brian.”

“Yeah, things are good for the
most part I guess,” I sighed and placed my hands in my lap. “He wants to move
in Zee and I’m just not ready.”

“Well, just tell him. He can’t
make you do something you don’t want to do.”

“I know I just feel so bad.”

“Stop feeling bad all the time. I
guarantee if things were the other way around he wouldn’t care about your
feelings. At the end of the
day,
you got
to do what’s best for you. It’s okay to be selfish sometimes. How long have you
been dating him?”

“About six or seven months I
believe.”

She looked at me and curled up
her lips. “And he
wants
to move in
already? Girl no. Let him get his life first. You just got out of one
relationship. He should understand why you don’t want to rush things. Don’t let
that man talk you into something you might regret later.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“Be honest. How do you feel about
this man? Does he make you happy and most important are you completely over
your ex?”

That last question put me on
mute. I opened my mouth to say something then closed it. She gave me a knowing
look. I sighed again and placed my forehead in my hand. I wasn’t over Brandon
yet and I knew it. As hard as I tried I couldn’t get that man out of my system.
My gut told me I needed to talk to him, something wasn’t right, but I wasn’t
ready to do that yet.

“Yeah, you need to tell Brian
you’re
not ready to make that move yet.”

“Why
are
love and life so complicated?”

“I just look at it like this,
anything worth having never
come
easy. It
takes a lot of hard work and dedication. Just like with our careers. Becoming a
nurse is no joke. We had to work our asses off. Hell, at times I felt like I
wasn’t going to make it, but I fought hard for it and all I can say right now
is I love my life. It still gets hard at times, but I love my job and the pay
ain’t bad either,” she laughed.

“I know that’s right,” I said
raising my hand in the air so she could slap me five. “Girl you are crazy.”

“Hey, I’m just keeping it real. I
have one more question to ask ya boo, that’s if you don’t mind?”

“Go ahead.”

She looked around and scooted
closer to me. She leaned in and whispered in my ear. “How’s the D?” I couldn’t
even dignify that with a response. All I could do is shake my head and roll my
eyes. “That bad, huh?”

“That bad.”

“That’s a sign right there. God
creates someone for everybody and if you can’t cuddle with that man after sex
because he left you hanging, then it’s time to hang up on his ass.”

“Let’s get back to work,” I
laughed.

*
  
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*

Roxie was sitting on my front
step when I pulled into the driveway. After a long twelve hour
shift,
this was the last thing I wanted to come
home too. I was tired and so not in the mood for the drama. I couldn’t begin to
hide my attitude when I stepped out of my truck.

 
“What are you doing here, Roxie?” I asked
standing directly in front of her with my hands on my hips. I couldn’t help,
but give her the once over. Her wardrobe put me on
edge
. She always dressed like this, even in front of Brandon.

“Well, hello to
you too
,” she snapped.

“Roxie, if you came over here for
drama, I’m not in the mood for it. It’s almost eight at night and I had a long
day at work. I just want to take a shower, put on my pajamas and watch Lifetime.”

“With Brian, huh?”

“Bye, Roxie,” I snapped ready to
step around her.

“No, Vee wait,” she said grabbing
my arm. I snatched away from her. I could tell she was hurt. “Just hear me
out.”

“If you come here to bash Brian I
really don’t have time for it.”

The air around us grew silent. We
stared at each other longer that I intended to. I shook my head. I’m so over
this childish shit with Roxie. I sighed and fiddled with my
ponytail
.

“What happened to us Vee?” Roxie
finally asked me.

“I don’t know Roxie,” I looked
towards the sky searching for the right words. “I’m not going through the same
shit that I went through with Brandon.” She gave me this look like she didn’t
know what I was talking about.

“You always choose them over me
Vee.”

“This is what I’m talking about.
I’m not choosing anybody over you Roxie. I always made time for you when I was
with Brandon and I’ve done the same with Brian, but it’s like you want all of
me. I don’t know what’s going on with you Roxie but…,” my voice trailed off. I really
didn’t want to go there, but it needed to be said. I had
breathed
deep before I continued. “I don’t look
at you in that way. I love you just not the way you want me to.”

The look in her eyes said it all.
I knew I just broke her heart, but I couldn’t continue on like this. Not the
way she wanted me too. I wanted to apologize. The look in her eyes made me feel
horrible. My intentions were never to hurt her, but the air needed to be
cleared.

“Fine Vee. I can’t change the way
you feel about me. I can’t help who I am and how I love. It’s been you and me
all my life. I just want the best for you. Sorry for making you feel so
uncomfortable.”

“Roxie,” I said shaking my head.
I was so tired of her over dramatic ass. She always tried to turn the shit
around on me, but I wasn’t biting the bait this time.

“No, it’s okay Vee.
Eventually,
you will learn that Brian is no
different than the rest of these bum ass niggas out here. Despite the way
you’ve treated me these last couple of weeks I still have enough love in my
heart for you to come over here and warn you.”

This chick was talking in circles
and my head began to hurt. I swear she should be on some soap opera. She is the
epitome of drama and I couldn’t stand too much more of it. I didn’t even bother
to ask what the hell she was talking about. It was time to end this
conversation.

“Bye Roxie,” I said.

I stepped around her with my keys
in hand. I unlocked my door and walked in the house. I turned around, Roxie was
standing up now. She was looking up at me, waiting for me to say something, but
I couldn’t give her the satisfaction. This game between us was getting old. It
was time for me to end it.

“Bye Roxie,” I said closing the
door in her face.

“So it’s like that Vee,” she
yelled at me. “You’re throwing away eighteen years of friendship for that no
good ass nigga. I see how it is now. I tried to warn you. Brian isn’t who he
says he is. Ask him what happened to his ex-girlfriend and her brother. Ask him
about Macy Cain.”

After that she finally left. Her
words went in one ear and out the other. I am over her bullshit and I am over
her. I cut off my phone and grabbed a bottle of wine out of the cupboard. I
needed it after what just went down between me and Roxie. I hated things had to
end this way between us. I felt like shit on the inside, but I knew this was a
long time coming. Maybe in the future we can get back to where we use to be.