Page 51 of Made to Love Ya

“Are you in a place you can talk?”

“I’m heading to a conference room now. Keep talking. I’m listening. Or do I need to get my shoes and Vaseline to be ready to beat a bitch’s ass?”

My best friend stayed on go all the time.

“Cee-Cee.”

“Wait. What? What did she do?”

“Kissed my man.”

“Hold up. How the hell did that happen? Y’all just got together.”

I called Eve the day after the cookout fiasco at my parents’ home and spilled the entire story to her about Izael and me.

“I had just finished grocery shopping, and I was on my way home when I saw the two of them in the parking lot of The Culinary Canvas.”

“Ohh, nice restaurant—romantic in the evening and a vibe in the afternoon.”

“Listen, I don’t need you to tell me what it’s like. I’ve been there.”

“Sorry. Not trying to make it worse, but go on.”

“Well, I just happened to look up and see this cute couple hugging in the parking lot. I was thinking about how much I missed my baby, and I couldn’t wait for him to come home from work. She kissed him just as I was looking away. But I looked back again, and I noticed it was them.”

“Are you sure?”

“A thousand percent sure. Eve, you know I know that man like the back of my hand.” I cried and wiped the tears from my face.

“Did they kiss on the lips?”

“Uhm…” I didn’t think so, but that was beside the point. Why was he having lunch with her, why were they hugging, and why did she kiss him at all? I was sure he had told her about me, or maybe he hadn’t.

“It makes a difference, Chè.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

“Yes, it does.”

“How?” I wanted to freaking scream at her because she was being unreasonable right now, but I knew that she thought I was.

“Because if on the lips, then you have a problem. But if it was on the cheek, then there’s no problem. That’s how Cee-Cee is. She kisses everyone. She’s a sweetheart, and we both know that. Despite her past with Zae, she would never willingly hurt you.”

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t know.”

“You need to think long and hard about that, Chè. Because that will determine how you need to handle this.”

“I didn’t call you for logic, Eve. I called you to be on my side.”

“You’re in your emotions right now. And I’m sure with what you’ve gone through with Ricky, you’re feeling a way, and you deserve to. But I’m also sure that when you calm down and look at this from a logical perspective, you’ll see that it wasn’t as bad as you thought. When you calm down, and not a minute before, you need to have a conversation with Zae to find out what happened.”

I sighed. “It hurts, Eve. He’s the one who I thought wouldn’t do that. He’s always been protective of me since I was a kid. So, I thought I could trust him.”

“And maybe you still can. Maybe he’s not doing anything wrong at all. Just give the man the benefit of the doubt.”

Eve pleaded with me because she knew that my temper just might fuck up my relationship. I had zero tolerance for cheating because I wasn’t a cheater, and I had never seen that in my parents’ relationship or my brother’s. I wanted what was reflected in the lives of those around me.

“Fine. But if I find out otherwise, get my bail money ready, Eve.”

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