“Let’s just play,” Felix said.
“Let’s do this,” I agreed.
We ended up working up a good sweat and decided to let bygones be bygones. Besides, I’d get to see Rayne later that night and she was all that mattered to me.
I got home around one that afternoon. I planned to grab a shower and a long nap before I headed to Rayne’s place to pick her and her mother up. It was a bold move, inviting both Rayne and her alcoholic mother over my parents’ house in Silver Spring for dinner. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her so the cat was going to have to be let out the bag sooner or later. We’d all have to learn to be one big happy family.
When I entered the lobby of my building, I was taken aback when I spotted Sheila profiling on one of the leather guest chairs. She hopped up and threw her arms around me. “I’ve been waiting for you, baby.”
“Um, Sheila, what are you doing here?” I gently shoved her away from me.
“What do you think I’m doing here? I wanted to see you. Today’s Saturday so I knew you’d be playing ball this morning. Some things never change.”
“And other things do,” I told her. “Listen, I—”
“Look at you, baby. Umph, umph, umph, still as fine as wine.” She came closer and sniffed me. “Sweaty and all; just like old times. Remember when you used to come back on Saturdays, have me for lunch, and make love to me in the shower?”
“I remember a lot of things, Sheila, like you running off with your girlfriend Raven and leaving me a lousy note.”
She pouted. “I made a mistake, Yardley. Can’t you forgive me?”
“Forgiving isn’t a problem for me.”
“Great!” she exclaimed. “Then we can take up right where we left off.”
“You’re absolutely unbelievable!” I stated loudly, heading for the elevator so I could make an escape.
“Good idea. Let’s go upstairs and make love right this second.”
“Sheila, I’m not making love to you. I’m not even going to touch you.” I pressed the up button and got out my access card for the penthouse. “Do you think I’ve been sitting around twiddling my thumbs since you jetted? Life goes on and I’ve moved on.”
“Is she as pretty as me?” Sheila asked with much sarcasm in her tone.
“She’s prettier than you,” I said with a smirk. “Prettier, sexier, smarter, and everything else combined.”
“That’s some cold ass shit to say to me, Yardley! After all we were to each other.”
“What we had was cool, while it lasted. You made the decision to end it and now I realize everything happens for a reason. We weren’t meant to be together.”
“Yes, we were,” she insisted.
“No, not at all. I’ve found the person I’m supposed to be with. I’ve finally found her and I’m not fucking it up. You need to go out there in this great big world and find the man—or woman—you’re supposed to be with, but I can’t help you.”
The elevator opened and I got on.
“Can’t we talk this out?” Sheila asked.
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
I watched Sheila disappear behind the doors and prayed it was the last time I laid eyes on her. All I wanted, all I could envision, was a life with Rayne.
Twenty-six
Rayne
“Okay, I’ll bite. I know what naps are but what the hell are baps?”
My mother had been hitting the bottle while I was at work and was being awfully loud as we sat in the waiting area of From Naps to Baps. She’d begged me to bring her with me to my weekly hair appointment. Against my better judgment, I’d decided to let her tag along. I felt sorry for her because she’d been hibernating in my apartment for a few days, feeling sorry for herself and only leaving out to make a “spirit run.” Yardley had invited us both to dinner at his parents’ home the previous Saturday, and it was a nightmare.