She cocked her head to the side. “Meaning?”
I looked down at the floor and recalled the things I’d tried to get AJ to think about last night – the aftermath.
“They’re engaged,” I finally admitted.
Angel’s lack of a response said more than any words ever could’ve. Because she and I are so close, we think a lot alike. If the shoe were on the other foot, and it was her telling me that she’d just caught feelings for a man who was about to marry someone else, my advice would be to cut things off now before it got any deeper. But…this is AJ we’re talking about; there’s no ‘cutting things off’. I’ve been in as deep as you can get with him since day one.
I looked up when Angel sighed, maybe thinking that there was nothing she could say to make me stop talking to or seeing him. The weak smile she forced implied that she sensed doom at the end of this story, but she never said it out loud.
“Well…whatever happens…you know I’ve got you,” she concluded.
And I did know that. But hopefully I wouldn’t be calling her, needing to be pieced back together when it was all said and done.
A dollar short and a day late as usual, I had a moment of clarity where I considered the fact that I may need to pump the brakes before I crashed and burned.
*****
AJ
“Did I catch you at a bad time?” I asked, noting all the background noise on Terrell’s end of the line.
“Nah, Maisha has me out at this crowded mall, but I can talk; she’s trying on clothes. Whassup?”
A smile stretched across my face thinking about my night with Sam. Granted we’d already discussed letting Terrell in on the secret, but I had to admit – I just needed to be able to talk about it with someone.
“So…there’s something I didn’t tell you the last time you called. Part of the reason was because I wasn’t sure where things were headed and I’m still not, to be quite honest with you, but…Sam and I have been talking again.”
The laugh that he let out had me shaking my head while I sat on my window sill, watching people pass below.
“Bout time!” he yelled, probably drawing all sorts of attention to himself. “Since when?”
“Wednesday night. We talked on the phone a while, went out to eat, talked some more, and we hung out Thursday and last night, too,” I admitted freely.
He continued to laugh. “Aw, man! I knew you wanted to call her!”
I laughed too. “Yeah…well. I just thought you’d like to know. I’m sure Sam will tell Maisha when she’s ready to.”
“Forget that! I already sent her a text in the dressing room! I worked too hard to hook y’all back up to let Sam steal my moment,” he reasoned. “But for real, though, are y’all kicking it or playing like y’all are just friends?”
He knew us well. “Eh…we tried the friends thing, but…that didn’t last all that long.”
He exploded with laughter again. “That’s what I’m talking ‘bout!”
I didn’t say anything, just shook my head while picturing him making a scene in the store.
“So, what’s the plan then?” he asked.
“What plan?”
He sighed like I should already know what he meant. “What’s your next move, man? With Sam? With Kira?” When I didn’t answer, he continued. “You haven’t even thought that far have you?”
Honestly? No, I hadn’t really. I’d tried the night before, but gave up and decided to just revel in the moment. But in my defense, I already said I was bad at this. I wasn’t calculated and devious enough to get the enjoyment out of these situations like a lot of guys are. To me, I’d created a mess, albeit one that I didn’t particularly regret, but I wasn’t proud of it.
“I’m just taking it one day at a time,” I replied.
“Naw, naw, naw…you need a plan.”