Love Conquers All (13 page)

14

Cortland

I had another date tonight, but I wasn’t too excited about it. Actually, I had no idea why I was doing it. I would just waste my time and hers. But Ryan hooked me up with this girl from the shop and he said she was hot and cool. Whatever. I guess I would give it a shot.

But there was one girl on my mind. She had brown eyes the color of hazelnuts, and skin that reminded me of a chai tea latte. I wished I could get her out of my head.

On Sunday morning, Monnique texted me.

I got tickets to the wax museum. You want to come?

What the hell was a wax museum?
I’ve never heard of it.

You haven’t? It’s where they make wax figures of famous people. It’s something to get a good laugh at.

That didn’t sound interesting but I couldn’t say no to her. I loved hanging out with her more than anyone else. I was obviously torturing myself by continuing to spend time with her, but I just couldn’t stop.
Sure. When?

In an hour?
I made brunch if you want to come over.

I loved her cooking. And I loved brunch.
I won’t say no to free food.

Well, I’m almost done. You can come over whenever you want.

As soon as I put my phone in my pocket, I left my apartment.

When I reached her door, I realized just how pathetic and sad I was. I shouldn’t be here. Why was I running to her practically clicking my heels? Why
couldn’t I be this excited for one of the girls I went on a date with? A gorgeous woman threw herself at me and my cock didn’t show any interest. But there was no turning back. I was already here. I knocked.

“It’s open.”

I stepped inside and saw the food on the table. She made waffles with Nutella and sliced almonds—my favorite. Bacon, eggs, and toast were on the surface along with a pitcher of orange juice. “Wow. You made this all for yourself?”

“No,” she said with a laugh. “I had company this morning.”

Jealousy sparked inside me. Who was it? A guy? I tried to play it cool. “Worked out with friends this morning?” I knew Monnique would never work out on a Sunday but that was the only way I could play it cool.

“No. I went out with some girls from work and they passed out at my place. I made them a good breakfast so they could make it through the day.”

Good answer.

I sat
down then stared at the food. “This looks fantastic.”

“Thanks.” She sat across from me and poured the orange juice. “Sometimes I wonder if I should be a chef instead.”

I took a bite of my waffle. “You could feed the hungry and the poor.”

She laughed. “I think most chefs make good money. I wouldn’t call that feeding the poor.”

“I should bring Hazel over here so I can prove you wrong.”

She laughed again. “That girl needs to eat. She’s too skinny.”

I noticed Monnique had gained a lot of the weight she lost. She was curvy and full again. And fucking hot.

She wasn’t wearing any make up but she still looked beautiful. Her natural complexion shined through and her eyes were bright without any enhancement. I liked seeing her first thing in the morning. When she was still asleep, her face was relaxed. Her eyes fluttered sometimes, and it made me wonder what she was dreaming about. When I realized how deep my thoughts were becoming, I stopped myself.

She picked at her fruit then ate a piece of bacon. “Everyone loved the waffles.”

“They should. They
are amazing.” I ate two of them because they were so good.

“Anything new with you?”

Our friendship was odd. But it was weird because it wasn’t weird. I felt like we went back in time to when we were dating. She and I took it slow and spent a lot of time together but we were never physical. I didn’t mind that. She was classy and didn’t go straight for the kill. And I loved talking to her. She was just cool. “Nothing, really. Ryan’s bachelor party is coming up.”

“Have you decided what you’re doing?”

“Fishing.”

“Cool.” She made a face. “I guess.”

I laughed. “It’s what he wants to do. But Mike doesn’t want to go.”

“Why?”

“He doesn’t want to leave Cassandra because she’s pregnant.”

She picked at her eggs. “I could watch her. I’m a nurse and I worked in labor and delivery for a while. If she’s having any difficulty, I’ll probably know what to do.
”

I never thought of that. “I’ll pass that along.”

“Besides, it would be fun to hang out, spend some alone time together.”

“It always sounds like you’re busy.”

She shrugged. “I guess when you’re single you realize you need to make new friends.” She didn’t sound bitter about it.

I hadn’t bothered to make new friends. Or did dating count?

“Any more dates?” she asked. She kept eating like the conversation was perfectly normal, like she was Scarlet and I was Ryan.

“I have a date tonight.”

“I hope it goes well.” She seemed sincere.

After our last conversation at the bar, I knew she still wanted to get back together. She proved it and said it countless times. But she never made me feel guilty for seeing other women. It didn’t even seem like she cared. “I’m not sure why I’m even going through with it.”

She didn’t look at me. She kept eating. It was like she hadn’t heard me.

“I’m just…not involved, I guess.”

She still didn’t say anything. She drank her glass of orange juice then looked at the time on her phone. Why wasn’t she responding?

“My date asked me back to her apartment, and then we got hot and heavy and naked, but I couldn’t go through with it so I left and never called her again. I couldn’t even get hard for her.” Now she had to say something.

If Monnique was hurt by the way I fooled around with some girl, she didn’t show it. She finished her toast then wiped her mouth with a napkin.

“You don’t have anything to say?” I found that hard to believe.

She met my gaze, unflinching. “Cortland, your personal life is none of my business. And if you’re asking for advice, I’m the worst person to get it from. I suggest you talk to someone else about it.”

What? “How are you so calm about this? You say you still love me but you’re totally fine with me making out with girls?”

The fire rose in her eyes. “That’s a stupid question, Cortland. I’m insulted you even asked me that.”

I shouldn’t have gotten emotional about this.

“You and I are broken up and we’re never getting back together. I accept that completely. You need to move on and start dating other women, and I completely understand that. However, I want to be friends with you. I like spending time with you. You’re the only person in the world that can make me relax and just feel calm. I know I can’t have you anymore, but I will settle for your friendship. So, can we just be friends?”

I wasn’t expecting that reaction. I assumed she would beg me to take her back. She hadn’t done it once since we broke up. She gave me my space and never acted like anything was wrong, that she was dying inside.
I guess a part of me wished she would beg me to take her back. Who was I kidding? I didn’t want to date anyone else. I wanted to have brunch with her every Sunday morning. Why else would I be here?

“We should go.” She stood up and put the extra food in containers. “If you want to swing by the apartment on your way back, you can take some home.”

“Sure.” I felt numb.

She grabbed her keys and wallet and put them in her brown bag. She wore skinny jeans with boots that went to her ankle. They reminded me of sh
oes they wore in the military, but she pulled off the look. And she wore a loose blouse, but nothing could hide the curve of her breasts. A golden necklace plunged down her neck, highlighting the outfit.

We left her apartment then walked to the museum. When I walked beside her, my natural tendency was to grab her hand, but I didn’t. I bottled down my habits and kept my hands to myself.

Monnique held onto the strap of her purse as it crossed over her chest, right in the valley between her breasts. I noticed every detail about her. “You know how Ryan and Janice talked about having a threesome?”

She better not say Ryan asked her to be the third girl. Ryan was my close friend and I always had his back, but if he asked Monnique, I’d beat him senseless.
“Yeah…”

“Well, Janie told me she found a girl from her gym, but Ryan wouldn’t go through with it because he said he couldn’t imagine being with anyone else but Janice. Now we’re teasing him for chickening out.”

Since Ryan had been in a threesome before, I was surprised he wouldn’t do it again. But, I knew how much he loved Janice, and if Monnique made the same offer—I mean, a girlfriend—I wouldn’t do it either. I liked being with one woman, especially one that I loved. “I understand why he didn’t want to do it. I wouldn’t want to either.”

“Well, you’re Mr. Perfect, Cortland.”

Not really.

She stopped when she reached the line outside the building. She pulled out the tickets then stared at them for a second. “We should take a bunch of pictures.”

“And show who?”

“The gang,” she said. “They’ll probably think it’s funny.”

“Or they’ll make fun of us.”

“I think they are one and the same.”

I laughed and fought the urge to put my arm around her.

We handed over our tickets then walked inside. The first exhibit we saw was the Queen of England. Old and frail, she held her hand up while she waved. Prince William and Kate Middleton were beside her.

We stared at it for a while.

“It looks so real…” Monnique tapped their face and felt the hard casing.

“Don’t touch it.” I looked around to make sure no one saw.

“Dude, that’s so creepy…”

I came closer and looked at the figurines. “It’s got their height right and everything.”

“Let me take a picture of you,” she said excitedly.

“With British royalty?” I asked incredulously. “I don’t even follow international news.”

“Take a picture of me then.”

“Okay.” I took out my phone and switched places with her.

She put her arms around the queen and made a gangster sign.

I laughed while I took the picture. “Classy.”

“Word.”

We both laughed and walked to the next figure. It was Obama and the first lady.

“I can’t believe how good they look,” I said.

“I wonder how long it takes to make these.”

We walked to an information board and read about the process.

“They should make them into candles,” I said. “That would be cool.”

“It would last a really long time.”

We went further into the museum and saw countless celebrities and famous people. I didn’t know who most of them were because I didn’t follow up with the tabloids.

Monnique walked ahead and stopped in her tracks. “Cortland…I think you’ll be excited about this one.”

I came beside her and saw a figurine of Bill Gates. “Now, this is my kind of celebrity.”

“Let me take a picture of you.”

“Okay. This is one worthy of a pic.”

A woman approached Monnique and tapped her on the shoulder. “I can take a picture of both of you.”

“Oh,” she said. “Thanks.”

I pulled out my phone and handed it to her. “Can you use mine too?”

“Sure.”

We stood on either side of Bill Gates. I fist bumped him and Monnique made a geeky face. We both laughed as soon
as the picture was taken.

“Thank you,” I said as I took my phone back. I looked at the picture and felt my heart squeeze. I put it away before I could dwell on my feelings.

She and I finished touring the museum then we walked back to her apartment.

“Dude, that place is actually
kinda creepy,” Monnique said.

“I wonder if you can buy any of them.”

She rolled her eyes. “You better not buy Bill Gates.”

“Why not? He’s a genius.”

“Steve Jobs is too.”

“But Bill Gates is cooler.”

“They are both geeks.”

“Hey, they speak my language.”

She smirked and kept walking.

When we returned to her apartment, I did
n’t want to leave. I was sad our day together was over. I wanted to sit on her couch and watch cartoons with her, what we used to do on Sunday mornings. I stopped thinking about it because it made me sad.

She packed a few containers and put them in a plastic bag. “That should hold you over for a while.”

“Thanks.” I took the bag and stood in front of the door awkwardly. I didn’t want to leave.

She opened the door. “I’ll see you later.” She had a smile on her face.

“Yeah…” I stepped out and stood in the hallway.