Page 4 of Merc

His body slouched as he gritted his teeth. “It ain’t really that big of a deal, Neo. Valentine’s Day is a day meant to put money in other people’s pockets anyway. Real couples…”

“Show their love every day,” I mocked, narrowing my eyes. “That’s what everyone says when they don’t want to put forth the effort to make today special. But you don’t show me your love every day. We haven’t even been going out as much as we used to. That’s why I was really looking forward to today.” Twisting my mouth to the side, I inhaled a deep breath. “Like I said, I don’t mind you spending some time with China and taking her something if you’d like, but I’m really not feeling you canceling our plans to spend time with them. I don’t think that’s fair.”

“Well, baby, I’m sorry, but I’m not going to let my daughter down. Asia has already told her that I was taking them out, and I want to make sure she has the right expectations when it comes down to men, so I’m going to show up for her today.”

“Let me get this straight.” Releasing a low bark of laughter, I sat back in my seat. “You want your daughter to know what this day means, so you’re going to take her and her mother out while your woman sits at home and does nothing… on Valentine’s Day… the day for lovers.” When he didn’t respond, my laugh grew louder. “Go ahead, Steven. I’m not going to beg you to honor the plans you made for me.”

“Come on, Neo. Don’t make this a thing.”

Ignoring him, I sat forward and continued to do my makeup. I didn’t want to show my hurt over his actions. I hated feeling like a bitter woman who didn’t want him spending time with his daughter, because that certainly wasn’t the case. I felt robbed, more than anything. What I’d said was true—we hadn’t been spending a lot of time together. He’d been promising me that today would be the start of us getting back on track. Now, he expected me to be okay with him canceling our plans to be with his daughter and her mom.

Hell, I would even feel better about it if he got China and brought her here with us. However, something about him including Asia wasn’t sitting right with me. I had no reason to believe he was still messing off with his baby mama, but she was single, and I felt like she was using their daughter as a way to get Steven to treat her this evening instead of me. If that was the case, it would have been a waste of my time trying to get him to see that.

“You’re going to ignore me now?” he continued, pressing his palms together between his spread legs.

“You’ve made it clear how it’s going to be, so we don’t have anything else to talk about.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want you to feel like you don’t have a say.”

“I don’t,” I replied with a chuckle. “You have decided to spend the evening with them, and I’m not included in that. What say do I have?”

He sucked his teeth. “I just didn’t think you’d want to spend the evening with us.”

“That’s fine, Steve.”

My tone was clipped, and I hoped he dropped it. It was bad enough he’d ruined our plans for the evening. I wasn’t trying to argue tonight too. Grabbing my phone, I decided to call my best friend, Innvy, and see if she wanted to do something tonight.

“Hey, boo,” she greeted after answering, and I could hear the smile on her face.

“Hey, babe. What you doing?”

“Nothing right now. I was thinking about going out to eat, but I know everybody gonna be packed tonight.”

“Right. Well… we can hit up a bar or something. That’ll probably get us quicker service than a restaurant.”

“Wait. What happened to your plans with Steve?”

“We’ll talk.”

“Oohwee. Okay. You come over here and we can Uber so we can drink drink.”

Laughing, I nodded my agreement. “Okay. I’ll text you when I’m on my way.”

After disconnecting the call, I canceled the driver I’d requested for tonight then returned my attention to my face. I would have kept it, but an Uber was cheaper. I was almost done; I just needed to add my blush and set my face.

“I guess I’ma head out since you’re ignoring me.”

“Okay, be safe.”

Chuckling, Steven left the room with a shake of his head. As soon as I heard the garage door slam, I had to keep myself from crying. As much as I loved him, I was losing more and more resolve and interest when it came down to our relationship. Things were so good between us, and now, it seemed like he was changing right before my very eyes.

It didn’t seem to matter if I brought things I didn’t like or weren’t comfortable with to his attention. If he didn’t agree, it wouldn’t change. Love was starting to not be enough to keep us on solid ground, and as much as my heart didn’t want to admit it, it was probably best for me to start getting ready for things between us to end.

As Innvy and I prepared to leave, the man I’d been talking to for most of the evening wasn’t letting up. His friend was shooting his shot with Innvy and we, Merc and I, ended up talking while they did their thing. Merc wasn’t flirting with me, but he made it clear he didn’t respect the fact that I had a boyfriend and was spending the evening with my girl. Now that I was trying to pay my bill, things were becoming clearer. Not just with Merc… but with Steven too.

“Merc, please,” I said, trying to remove the ticket from under his large, tattooed hand. “I can pay for this myself.”

“I know you can, but I’m not letting you. It’s bad enough you got somebody claiming you who got you here for Valentine’s Day instead of with him. The least he could do is pay for you and your girls’ drinks.”

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