Choose Wisely (16 page)

             
Her last paragraph made me question my actions. She said Melissa had been to see her several times, asking if she had heard from me. She went on to say. She loved her, and thought she was the best thing for me. I sat wondering if I should have pushed her away. The only thing giving me comfort was the old saying. When you love someone let them go. If they’re truly yours they’ll come back to you.

             
I was tired; it had been a long day. I was mentally drained. I thought about the saying. God won’t give you more than you can handle. Melissa told that was just what man said. That statement actually wasn’t in the bible. She told me if I wanted to believe something. Then believe this. God won’t give you more than, He can handle. I wasn’t sure, what I thought about God at the moment. The only thing I was sure of. Was that I made the right choice. She could never know how I really felt, as long as I was in here.

             
When I looked out my window, Tyrone was sitting in his truck outside. I beamed noticing he was carrying a dozen roses, as he strutted up the walkway. He was so thoughtful. This is what I longed for. Not a person who had no idea what they wanted. I sashayed over to the door to let him in. At that moment I decided, to forget about what’s his name and focus on the man who wanted to be with me.

             
“Thank you for the roses,” I sang.

I suggested he take a seat on the couch, while I placed the roses in the vase on the dining room table. I went to the kitchen, to pour us two glasses of red wine. I handed him a glass and took a seat beside him.

              “How have you been?”

             
“I should be asking you the same thing!” He responded.

I smiled, sliding my body closer to him.

              “I’m not sure what you mean,” I stated innocently.

He sat silently for a few seconds, before sipping on his wine.

              “What I mean is, I haven’t heard from you in almost two weeks. You never returned my calls, now all of a sudden I’m hearing from you out of the blue. I’m a good dude. I don’t deserve to be treated like this,”

             
‘I’m sorry, honestly I am,” I told him what had been going on since we last spoke.

I wanted him to know everything. I felt it was the right thing to do. This way we could start fresh. And I was giving him the choice to deal with me or not. He placed his glass on the coffee table, pulling me even closer to him.

              “Baby, I think I’m falling in love with you. And any man who would turn you away is a fool,”

I totally agreed him. Any man who pushed me away wasn’t worth my time or energy. I was done passing up Mr. Right, waiting for Mr. Wrong. I headed back to the kitchen grabbing the contents of what was left in the bottle of wine. I turned on some music and dimmed the lights.

              “So what are you thinking about right now?” He asked.

             
“You,” I giggled.

             
“Hmmm…..are you sure about that? I think someone had too much drink,”

I stood, snatching my half empty glass of wine off the table. I turned to face him.

              “I’m fine, and I know exactly what I’m doing,”

He laughed, tugging on my shirt, which made me lose my balance and spill my wine. Luckily I had his lap and strong arms to catch me.

              “Oooh…..I’m sorry!” I stated trying to wipe the wine off his
Alexander McQueen
shirt.

He took my hand, kissing it softly.

              “Baby it’s all right, you can make it up to me later,” he grinned.

             
“Oh can I?”

             
“I’m sure you will think of something,” I closed my eyes and kissed him passionately.

             
“How was that?” I smiled.

             
“That was beautiful just like you. Let me ask you something. Are you sure you’re ready for a man like me?”

             
“Of course,” I answered sweetly.

             
“That’s good to know because I’m planning on moving here next month. I can handle most of my business from here. Plus I can keep an eye on you,”

Before I really processed his
words, I stood in front of him slowly dancing to the music.

             
“If you want to keep ya eyes on me, why not just move in here?” I reached for his hands, pulling him towards me.

He slid
his hands down to my lower back guiding my body with the music. If anyone would have witness us, they would have thought we’d been partners for years. He massaged my back as we danced whispering in my ear.

             
“Are you sure baby? You really want me to move in?”

He had me
at a loss for words. But I was still able to moan out the words;

             
“Yessss……”

             
I pulled into the
Next Level’s
parking lot. I glanced over at Sandy; her expression looked like she was disappointed. I know she was expecting a surprise and the club was not what she had in mind. I of course was a man of my word. I knew once I got her inside she would feel differently. I thought.

             
I took her hand and lead her inside. I had reserved a table for us right in front of the club. She picked up the bottle of
Dom Perignon Rose
Champagne, chilling on the table and smiled.

             
“Nice. So now can I ask what are we doing here?”

             
“You’ll find out in due time my dear,” I grinned.”

I poured the champagne, we lifted our glasses and I made a toast.

              “I want to make a toast to most beautiful woman in this room tonight. I am so proud of you. You are an extraordinary woman, and I’m so blessed to have you in my life. Tomorrow all your hard work and dedication will pay off. The
Harrisburg Police Department
, don’t know how lucky they are to have you. Congratulations baby, I love you!”

After clinking our glasses. I leaned across the table
, kissing her soft lips. Now it was time to surprise my baby.

             
I strolled up onto the stage, asking the DJ to turn down the music so I could make a quick announcement. I looked into the crowd, while grabbing the mic.

             
“I want to thank everyone for coming out tonight. About a year ago my fiancé suggested the club have a poetry night. So for the next two hours, we will have the best poets in the Burg do their thang,”

I handed the
mic back to the DJ, while sneaking a quick look at Sandy out the corner of my eye. She was pleased; writing poems and songs was her secret passion. Having a spoken word night was right up her alley. Sandy and I listened to the talented poets in silence. The beating of the drums with their words sounded intense. I was amazed how the words flowed easily as they spoke. I scooted my chair closer to hers and whispered;

             
“When are you going up?” She looked at the stage then back at me.

             
“Are you serious? I can’t go up there in front of all these people!”

I touched her chin, turning her face towards me.

              “Baby you can do whatever you want. Don’t look at the crowd look at me,”

She sat silent for a moment sipping her wine.

              “You know what? I’m going to do it! You just make sure you announce me,”

I
gave her a peck on the cheek and stood.

             
“Baby I got you,” I waited for the last poet to perform and headed back to the stage. He handed me the mic so I could make the final introduction.

             
“Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you’re all enjoying yourselves. We have one more performer this evening. This is her first time on stage. So show my lady some love. Sandy come up here and show us what you can do!”

I took her hand helping her up the stairs that lead to
the stage. I gave her a hug, placing the mic in her hand.

             
“You can do it baby,”

She smiled and waited for me to have a seat.

              “Hello everyone, this is my first time on stage so please bear with me. This is a poem I wrote right before I went back to school to become a police officer. It’s called;
My People
. I hope you like it.” She nervously squeezed the mic, closing her eyes for a split second.

             
“Black on black crime is at an all-time high, brothers and sisters killing each other with no real reason why? Robbing, stealing, raping, our own, It saddens me; this is the only life some of us know. Our ancestors fought for us, they gave up their lives, and this is how we repay them? By having no shame or pride? We are black Kings and Queens. It’s time to remember where we’ve been. And learn how to get where we should be. It’s time to start loving, and respecting one another. Before it’s too late and we never recover.”

             
She finished her poem and received a standing ovation. I was so proud of her. I knew she was afraid to stand up there in front of so many people. But she did it anyway. She conquered her fear. She raced off the stage, into my arms. I was thankful she was back in my life.

             
I had one last surprise for her. I helped her with her coat, and we headed for the door. Our night was going well, until I spotted Lexi strutting in our direction. I prayed silently that we would make it out the door with no drama. I could feel my body tightening up. Sandy must’ve as well because she asked was I all right.

             
Before I could answer we were both standing face-to face with Lexi.

             
“Hey guys! How are you?” She asked.

             
“We’re fine. And how are you?” Sandy responded.

I couldn’t think of anything to say. Even though I broke things off with her, I still wasn’t sure she was over me. I grabbed
Sandy’s hand and tried to head towards the door, when Lexi noticed her ring.

             
“Oh my God, your ring is beautiful!”

             
“Thanks.” Sandy said calmly.

I could feel the tension in the air.

              “Do you mind if I get a closer look at your ring?” Lexi asked.

Was she crazy? All I wanted to
do was get the hell out of there. This woman really had a lot of balls. Sandy was proving that she was a woman with no doubts about our relationship or me. She held out her hand so Lexi could get a better look.

             
“That is really nice. That ring looks like it set you back a
few
dollars,” she stated sarcastically looking in my direction.

             
“That’s really none of your business,” Sandy hissed.

             
“My bad I didn’t mean any harm. I just wanted to congratulate you both,”

             
“Yeah I’m sure you did,” Sandy smirked while pulling on my sleeve.

             
“Listen Lex it was nice seeing you. But we have to go,” I said following Sandy out the club I prayed this incident wasn’t about to spoil the rest of our night.

We drove in silence to our next destination. I knew she was upset, because she didn’t question where we were going. I turned on the radio, to bury the silence. I was grateful when we finally pulled up to
City House
bed and breakfast. Now maybe we could get our evening back on the right track. I thought.

             
“Where are we?” She asked?

             
“This is the second part of your surprise,” I smiled.

She didn’t seem too enthused. She opened the car door and walked over toward the lobby doors. She didn’t even let me open the car door for her, which meant she was pissed.

              “Lord help me,” I sighed.

I popped open my trunk and grabbed my bag. I locked my car doors, and slowly headed inside to check-in. Sandy was sitting at a table waiting. I went over to the front desk to get the keys to our room.  I reserved the
Bryce
room. It had a great view of our city’s beautiful Susquehanna River. The location was romantic and was conveniently close to where her graduation would be held tomorrow.

             
Our room was on the first floor. And even though the establishment was modified it still had that old era feeling. I opened the door and she gasped touching her chest.

             
“Oh my goodness this room is gorgeous!”