The man simply smiled and said, “I’m single Blossom, and no, there isn’t a woman out there who thinks otherwise.” He shook his head and laughed. “Then again, my ex didn’t seem to understand that I was ending things for good when I announced that I was moving back home.”
“So, you’re fresh out of something.”
“Yeah, but the shit wasn’t real.” I pulled my hand from his. “You didn’t like what I just said, huh?”
“No,” I admitted. “You don’t seem to care that she could possibly be hurt.” His cool demeanor was something that I was definitely attracted to, but he seemed too cool about that .
“That’s because she isn’t hurt. Maybe about not having me there to look out for her anymore, but other than that, I can guarantee she’s not missing me.”
“And how can you be sure of that?” Why did I even care? That was the real question.
“Here.” I stared at his phone and then looked up at him. “Take it and read the messages.” I slipped the iPhone from his hand and stopped walking. It was a group chat with two guys, one named Matt and the other Clinton.
Matt : Saw ya girl out last night.
There was a picture attached of a girl standing extremely close to another guy. She was dressed to the nines, and so was the man she was with. Her head was slightly turned, but I could tell she was smiling at him.
Clinton : Is that the Lansdowne event?
Matt : Yup.
Roman : Ain't no biggie. She’s free to do as she pleases.
Matt : Kennedy been for the streets. Told you that shit…
I exited out of the thread before finishing the text and handed him his phone back. I began to walk again.
“Been for the streets, huh?”
“His words, not mine,” he muttered. “But yeah. I knew she wasn’t faithful, but I was comfortable with having access to her whenever I wanted.”
“I’m not sure how I feel about that.”
“Have you ever been cheated on, Blossom?” he asked. It was an odd question, but I answered.
“Yes.”
“And did you leave right away, or did you question yourself first?”
“I… I questioned myself.”
“How long did it take you to finally realize that it wasn’t you at all?”
“Longer than I’d like to admit.” I haven’t been in a serious relationship in about three years. My ex and I were together for three and a half, and it ended eight months after I’d found out about him cheating. By the time I’d finally decided to let him go, I had already checked out from the relationship.
“Why did you stay?”
“Truthfully? Because I was comfortable with him.” I frowned. “I guess I don’t have a right to judge your situation.”
“You don’t, but I also understand why you would.” He grabbed my hand again and pulled me closer to him. “My point in asking was for you to see that men do the same shit women do. We’re just a little more smooth with it.”
“But if you actually cared for her—”
“It would have been a different story, I know.” The conversation seemed to end there, and we continued silently on our walk. Soon we were at Rittenhouse Square, and Roman found us a bench to sit on.
“How’d you know?” I asked, sitting close enough that our legs were touching.
“How did I know what?”
“That I like going on walks?” His brows dipped slightly as he gazed at me.
“Because you said it.”
“I did?”
“At the baby shower, during one of the games, they asked which sister enjoys going on walks.” I smiled. How had I forgotten about that? No one who was allowed to partake in the games knew the answer because it was something I’d recently gotten into. By the end, I had to tell everyone it was me.
“You were paying attention.” He nodded.
“It was hard not to. Everything about you is hard to ignore.” His tone was smooth as he said it, like he wholeheartedly believed his words and no one could tell him differently. His confidence was sexy.
“Why did you come back?”
“Being in Baltimore was never meant to be a long term thing. I wanted to gain work experience after school, and the company I worked for gave me a chance with decent pay. And it wasn’t too far away from my mother, so I took it.”
“You and your mom are close, I take it.” His lips curled at the corner, and I had my answer.
“Yeah, that’s my ace.”
“You and Ezra were pretty close growing up, huh?”
“We were. He’s the only family I know from my pop side.” He chuckled. “We got into some real trouble together. His mom and mine didn’t know what to do with us. Ezra was supposed to be the good influence because he’s older, but every time we got into some shit, it was his fault.”
Laughing, I said, “I can see that. Ezra is something else.” He and Roman were so much alike but also so different. I still had so much to learn, but I liked what I knew so far.
“He loves your sister.” I tilted my head to get a better look at his face.
“And my sister loves him.” I lifted my hand but dropped it. I was feeling a little too comfortable and almost reached out to touch his face. “We all love him. He’s a good guy.” Roman leaned back and draped his arm over my shoulder. I shifted closer and laid my head on him. It was like he knew I needed the closeness, but instead of making me pursue, he simply did it for me.
“Tell me more about them. Your sisters.” Did Roman know that the key to my heart was exactly this? Talking about the people I love more than life itself and physical contact. He couldn’t know. But as I talked about my best friends, the five women who keep me going, and he listened intently without interruption. I began to believe that maybe he was figuring me out sooner than I had expected.
I was running late, and my attitude was on thirty.
“Yes, Jason,” I answered my phone with more fire than I meant. Jason was a co-worker that I’d grown close to over the years. He was like the gay best friend every girl needed.
“Someone woke up on the other side of the bed this morning,” he muttered. “I’m calling to see if you needed me to go over your press release?” I sighed and tapped my foot against the marble floor, while I waited for the elevator.
“No, I let Anna read it,” I said. “But thank you for offering and sorry for answering the phone that way. I am not having a good morning.” I woke up to a flat tire and had to wait for a place to open to get a new one. And to make matters worse, Jennifer called out sick so I had to open the store and wait for Lily to get there. She hadn’t planned on working but jumped at coming in when I called. I had a more flexible schedule when I was working out of the office, and since I lived closer, I didn’t bother my sisters with that small mishap. It was only eleven-thirty, and I was completely exhausted.
“Don’t worry about it. We are all allowed bad days, but don’t let it get to you. Today is important for you.” The press release had gone out already. Soon word would spread like wildfire about what’s next for Henley Global, and I wasn’t anywhere near ready to address everything. But I had to get ready because they paid me good money to spin things in their favor. While they had to deal with their employees, I had to deal with the media.