Can't Just Be His Friend Page 9

  I had a thing for him too.

  IT WAS A little past midnight when Derrick had dropped me off. I was exhausted but feeling good at the same time.

  After a short nap, I woke up around three. I couldn’t sleep. Even after my flawless date I couldn’t sleep. Reggie was deep in my thoughts. I still hadn’t heard from him, but I needed to. I called him but he didn’t answer. And I just sat there in the middle of my bed and cried. Maybe this was it. Maybe Reggie really wanted our friendship to be over because of this.

  On Sunday, Patricia invited my Mom and I over for games. Playing games was a weekly occurrence for our families back in the day and Patricia was trying her hardest to keep the tradition alive. I doubt if she was aware that Reggie and I weren’t speaking. So I decided to call her and give her some lame excuse why I couldn’t come.

  She answered on the first ring. “Hey, Ms. Tiffany. You’re coming over tonight, right?”

  “Actually, I’m a little tired. I was gonna call it a night.”

  “Oh, come on. It won’t be the same without you. C’mon, Tiffany.”

  I couldn’t turn her down. Patricia was my Mom’s best friend. She was like a second Mother to me. It wasn’t her fault I was in a disagreement with her son.

  When I got to her house, my Mom was there with a few other people I didn’t recognize. I didn’t see Reggie but I knew he was lurking around there somewhere. I saw his black Lincoln Navigator parked out front. And speak of the devil, he came out of the kitchen wearing a white beater and some blue jeans. Man he was off the chain. I don’t know if I was so thrilled to see him because we weren’t talking, or because he was just that fine.

  He caught a quick glimpse of me, then turned up a bottle of Mountain Dew to his mouth. I brushed it off. I figured he would talk to me when he was ready. He couldn’t stay mad at me forever.

  My Mom picked up on the distance right away. I could see her cutting her eye at me, then looking back at Reggie.

  “Wait a minute. What’s going on, Tiffany?” she said out loud. She didn’t have a discreet bone in her body, and she hated it when me and Reggie fought because she didn’t want any complications between Patricia and herself. She continued, “Reggie, what’s going on?”

  “You need to ask your daughter that,” he said, pointing his bottle of Dew towards me before turning it up again.

  Some nerve he had, like all this was my fault. I was heated.

  “Ask me what, Reggie?”

  He was still standing near the entrance to the kitchen with the soda in his hand. I was standing near my Mom by the couch in the middle of the living room.

  “Why you gave up our friendship like it means nothing to you.”

  “I didn’t give up our friendship. What are you talking about?”

  “Then what do you call it when you agree with my girlfriend that you won’t talk to me anymore.”

  “It wasn’t like that!”

  “Then what was it like, because I recall not talking to you for days because you were ignoring me.”

  Whenever I argued with Reggie, I got very emotional, because I loved him so much. With tears blurring my vision, I tearfully told him in front of Mom, Patricia, and all of her guests (who were probably ready to get up out of there), “You think I wanted to do that, Reggie? I did it for you. I didn’t want you to lose her over me. I mean, all the others were my fault, right? You admitted that in the hotel…and I thought that just this once, I would be doing you a favor. So forgive me if I hurt you but I was looking out for your best interest, like always. How could you think that I would intentionally do something to hurt you when I love you so much?” I asked, tears falling from my eyes like marbles.

  I couldn’t take it anymore, so I did everyone a favor and left. I walked out with my purse hanging from my shoulders and keys in my hand. I went in my apartment, took a shower and then sat on the couch in my living room and started on a pint of chocolate chip cookie dough Ben & Jerry’s.

  “Tiffany!” I heard Reggie yelling my name through the front door about an hour after I got home. I walked up to the door but didn’t open it.

  “What?”

  “Can you open the door?”

  “No. I’m not dressed.”

  “Then put some clothes on so we can talk.”

  I just answered the door like I was, wearing only a pink towel, my hair damp.

  “What do you want, Reggie?” He looked me up and down before he spoke.

  “You really meant what you said? You had my best interest in mind when you did that?”

  “Of course I did. Why do you think I would just stop talking to you? You know what…don’t answer that. I don’t even feel like dealing with this tonight. We’ll talk later.”

  “No, because later is going to turn into weeks and we need to resolve this now. So can I come in?”

  I opened the door wider and Reggie walked in and sat on the couch. “I’m sorry, Tiffany. I thought you wanted our friendship to be over and done with. You never said anything like that to me before and I just…” Reggie put his hands on his head, closed his eyes and tried to think of what he wanted to say. “I panicked.”

  I sat on the couch next to him. I didn’t want our friendship to be over but I did want space, not for my sake but for his. At the moment, however, I couldn’t find the right words to say exactly how I felt and what I wanted. I was just focused on damage control. I had to keep our friendship in tact. “Reggie, I don’t want that. Why would I want our friendship to be over?”

  “I don’t know. I just felt like that’s what you wanted.”

  “I love you, boy. You know that.” I got up and stood in front of him. “Now give me hug.” I took him by the hands and tried to pull him up off of the couch. No luck. He snatched me toward him instead. “I missed you.”

  “Missed you too.”

  I laid my wet head on his shoulder and nearly went to sleep. I was comfortable with Reggie. I knew he loved me.

  When we were done making amends, Reggie went back to his place and I went to bed. Finally, everything was right again. At least I thought it was.

  Chapter 8

  August 2008

  So I guess I’m one of those insane women who count relationships in weeks, so that means Derrick and I had been dating five weeks now. We’d been on plenty of dates. We played miniature golf, caught a couple of movies – he even took me shopping. He proved he wasn’t going anywhere and we were getting serious with the passing of every day. And since things were going so well between us, I decided it was time – time for Reggie to meet Derrick.

  This would be an important step for me. After all, I didn’t have to worry about getting Mom’s approval. She’s the one who set us up. As far as she was concerned Derrick was as good as they come. But I was anxious, yet worried to introduce Reggie to Derrick, nervous about what Reggie would think about him. I held Reggie’s opinions in high regard. I knew Reggie and he knew me and if he had anything negative to say about Derrick, he would be straightforward and upfront with me. That’s how he always was.

  I was still in bed when I decided to buzz him. I dialed his number.

  “Good morning, beautiful,” Reggie greeted me.

  I smiled. If I looked in the mirror, I’m sure my cheeks would’ve been as red as a blushing bride.

  “Hey Reg.”

  “You’re calling bright and early. What’s the deal? You must have had me on your mind last night. You dreaming about me?”

  “You and your wishful thinking…”

  “Don’t front…you know you were thinking about me and I wanna know every detail. First start by telling me what you were wearing.”

  “Whatever silly. It was nothing like that,” I said through giggles. “Are you up yet?”

  “Nah. I’m just lying here. I’m too tired to move, actually.”

  “Hmm…must’ve been a rough night.”

  Reggie laughed at me. “It was a rough week at work. I’m physically and mentally drained.”

  “Well, I
can call you back later if—”

  “Nah. I always got time for you. What’s up?”

  “I was thinking that it’s time for you to meet Derrick. I mean, you are my best friend. Don’t you want to meet my boyfriend?”

  “Nope.”

  “Reggie?”

  “Okay, okay. I’ll meet him, I suppose.”

  “What do you mean, you suppose?”

  “I’m not too thrilled about meeting the man who’s taking my place.”

  “Reggie, trust me. No man will ever take your place.”

  “Uh huh. You say that now. Then when I call you up to go kick it, you can’t because you’re with Derrick. What kind of name is ‘Derrick,’ anyway?”

  “What kind of name is Reginald?” I retort, taking up for my man.

  “The kind you’d be whispering in my ear right now if you were my woman. I can hear you now…Reginald, oh Reginald.”

  “Reggie, I’m serious now…I want you to meet him. I’m putting something together for us tonight. Will you come?”

  “Yeah. I’ll come if you want me to, baby.”

  “Perfect!” I said, ignoring his sexy tone. “Just don’t talk to me like that tonight. I’m sure Derrick wouldn’t like another man calling me baby.”

  “Okay, baby.”

  “Reggie, I’m serious.”

  “I know you are, Tiff. So can I tell you that I love you tonight or do you think he wouldn’t like that either?”

  “What? Why would you even say that? That would be completely out of place.”

  “Oh, so we have certain places where we’re supposed to show love to each other now?”

  “Reggie, come on. You know what I mean.”

  “Ah…not really. I mean if you love somebody, you love them. Point blank.”

  “Okaaay. You know I love you and I know you love me.”

  “And does he know? You are my best friend. He should at least know how I feel about you.”

  “And trust me, he will.”

  “Does he know I can’t live without you? That he will never take you away from me?”

  I froze. I was so ready to change the subject, but Reggie was trying to pound it through my head how I should make Derrick see how special my relationship was with him. And he was serious about it too.

  “Reggie, I think he already knows we have a special relationship.”

  “I want to make sure he knows.”

  “Okay, Reggie.”

  “So you’re going to call me later with the details of this thing for tonight?”

  “Yeah. Oh and by the way, do you have any restaurant suggestions? I want tonight to be special.”

  “Why? You’re just going out on a date with the man. Why it gotta be all special?”

  “Because I like him, Reggie.”

  Reggie grew quiet. I wasn’t sure what was going through his head. I couldn’t imagine him being jealous over my relationship with Derrick. He never showed any signs of jealousy with me before. But then again, I never had a boyfriend before. Maybe he was jealous that some other dude was stealing his time away from me. Or maybe he was racking his brain trying to find a good restaurant for us.

  “What about The Olive Garden?”

  “Hmm…that’s an idea. I’ll run it by Derrick and see what he says.”

  “Ah’ight. You do that.”

  “Okay Reg…call you later.”

  I sat there on the bed listening to the dial tone. Reggie wasn’t too thrilled about this. I could feel it. What if he really didn’t want to meet Derrick?

  I hopped out of bed to take a shower. I called Derrick after I got dressed.

  “Hey you,” he answered on the first ring.

  “Hey, Derrick.”

  “So you ready to go out tonight, right?”

  “Yes I am.”

  “You ready to see me?” he asked. I could imagine him smiling as he waited for my response.

  “Uh huh.”

  “Good. I’m ready to see you too. I dreamed about you last night.”

  “You did? What about?”

  “Let’s see. We were on the beach in front of my house holding hands and kissing. Then it started raining, just a sprinkle, and we ran into the house and we kissed more. That’s when I woke up. I tried everything I could to get back to sleep. I just couldn’t.”

  I laughed at him. “I didn’t know you had a beach house.”

  “Yeah, I gotta get you over here one day to see it. You’ll love it here.”

  “Okay. You’ll have to set that up.”

  “So where are we going tonight?” Derrick asked.

  “That’s why I was calling, actually. Are you okay having dinner with my Mom?”

  “Yeah, that’s cool.”

  “Okay, but there’s a catch.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I want you to meet Reggie, so you mind if he and his Mom join us?”

  “I’m cool with that.”

  “Great. How does The Olive Garden sound?”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  “Okay. The Olive Garden it is then,” I said after taking a deep breath, feeling like I was at work rather than at home planning a dinner date.

  “So I’ll pick you up around six-thirty?” Derrick said.

  “Yeah. Sounds good.”

  “Ah’ight, beautiful. I’ll see you later then.”

  I smiled again, thinking how special I must have been to have been dubbed ‘beautiful’ by two men in the same day.

  “Okay. Bye.”

  I called Reggie again to let him know The Olive Garden was a go. Then I called Mom, who in turn called Patricia. We were all set to meet at The Olive Garden on Lynnhaven Parkway. Derrick would pick me up, Mom and Patricia would ride together and Reggie would come solo.

  Speaking of Reggie, he was very nonchalant when I talked to him. He was cool with dining at The Olive Garden for the evening, just not so happy with meeting Derrick. But the time had arrived and it was way overdue. Derrick would be the first man I ever introduced to Reggie as my boyfriend, and now, I was so nervous about how he would receive him.

  ***

  Derrick picked me up around six. He wore a dark navy blue sports jacket with a white dress shirt underneath and a pair of dark blue jeans, looking and smelling like a million bucks.

  I wore my hair down as usual. My outfit was simple – I had on a black blouse with matching trousers. The red belt around my waist matched perfectly with my red stilettos. I was hot.

  Derrick must have thought so, too. In the car, he kissed me like he hadn’t seen me in a while, our heads turning opposite of each other. My baby sure had a set of lips on him. We drove off after three minutes of reacquainting.

  At the restaurant, the waitress showed us to our table. My Mom and Patricia were there already, waiting for us.

  “Hi ladies,” I told them. “Patricia, this is Derrick. Derrick, this is my Mom’s best friend Patricia, who also happens to be Reggie’s Mom.”

  “Nice to meet you, Patricia,” Derrick told her, shaking her hand.

  “Nice to meet you as well,” Patricia said as she looked at me with raised eyebrows. She could clearly see Derrick had it going on.

  “Hi Derrick,” my Mom said. “Nice to see you again.”

  “The pleasure is all mine, Georgia,” Derrick responded to her. My Mom’s face glowed like a light bulb. I couldn’t tell if she was happy for me, or if she wanted Derrick for herself.

  “Where’s Reggie?” I asked them both. “I thought for sure he would be here by now.”

  “Oh. I’m sure he’s on the way,” Patricia told me.

  He better be on the way. Just as I was beginning to think he wasn’t going to show, there he was looking fly in a tan jacket, a white dress shirt underneath, some light blue jeans and some black air force ones. I expected nothing less. Reggie always dressed fly. As a matter of fact, he was dressed similar to Derrick.

  I took a sip of water while he walked this way, staring at his frame, tall and slender, his body
covered in the finest gear, his hair cut neat like he always kept it. I broke my stare, remembering my man was sitting next to me. He too had a nice body, a little more muscular than Reggie with a lighter skin complexion. They were both good looking men.

  “Hey Ma. Hey Georgia,” Reggie said. “Hi, Tiffany,” he said as he leaned over and kissed me on the cheek, then placed his hands on my shoulders, making a massaging motion.

  “Hey, Reggie,” I said, wondering why he made it a point to kiss me and give me a mini-massage in front of my boyfriend. “I see you made it.”

  “Yep. I told you I would.”

  “Reggie, this is Derrick. Derrick, this is my best friend, Reggie.”

  Derrick stood up to shake Reggie’s hand, then he sat back down.

  We were all sitting at a round table near the rear of the restaurant. I was sandwiched between my boys – Reggie on my left and Derrick on the right. Mom and Patricia sat opposite of us.

  Reggie leaned over to me and whispered in my ear, “I don’t like him.”

  I tried to play it off like he said something funny.

  “He’s not right for you,” he said softly.

  “So Derrick, where you from?” Reggie asked loud and clear after he’d moved away from my ear.

  I sat there freaking out. This night was not going to be perfect, especially with Reggie already telling me he didn’t like Derrick.

  “I’m from the area,” Derrick told him. “Been living here all my life.”

  “Really? You live in Virginia Beach?”

  “Yeah…I have an oceanfront home there.”

  “Where do you work?”

  “I own—”

  “Derrick owns his own marketing firm,” Mom chimed in before Derrick could finish. “He actually did some work for my company a lil’ while ago. He does good work.”

  I watched Reggie turn away, staring at the guests at the table across the way. What was he doing? Was he thinking of another question to ask? Was he upset? Did he really not like Derrick after just meeting him?

  “Have you ever been married?” Reggie asked Derrick, turning around to see his face when he answered the question.