Page 88 of He Thugged Me First

She crossed her arms and looked at me confused like I’d said something to confuse her. “What is that supposed to mean? Her claimed you, so that means he?—”

“Okay so either way why are you here?” I asked, placing my hand on my hips.

“To…to.” She shrugged her shoulders, because In reality she didn’t even know why she was here herself. She didn’t even finish her sentence, instead she turned and stormed from my office like I said something wrong. I’m way too damn old to be arguing with any woman about a man who wasn’t born to me. Boyfriend, husband or fiancé, none of that prompted me to argue over a man. No matter how much I liked Mazzier, I just couldn’t in good faith put everything I’ve worked on in jeopardy for a man. Walking around my desk, I inspected the flowers on my desk. They were beautiful and seemed to be uniquely picked out. I reached for the card that was neatly placed in the vase. I opened it and read the card.

Dinner tonight?

-King

I looked at the card then back at the flowers before I shook my head. I had been avoiding King since I’d fixed whatever this was with Mazzier. Then when I was with Mazzier and I saw that this man’s name wasn’t even King, that shit scared me. I mean Mazzier didn’t tell me the extent to which he knew this man, but I could tell there was something up with the meeting he trusted me to sit through with him. Then it made me think about when I first saw him at Canez months ago, could this all be connected.Blinking my eyes a few times, Immediately my eyes went to my opening door. Damn nobody knocked anymore. The moment I looked up, I locked eyes with Mazzier. As always he was walking into my office looking good enough to eat with something to eat.

“Why do you look like you see a ghost?” He asked, sitting the food on my desk and looking me over. He stepped into my space, looking down at the flowers on my desk before he reached for the card in my hand and read it aloud. “This nigga still hitting you up?”

“Yes, but I don’t respond and no I’m not going to dinner with him.” I looked up at him and wrapped my arms around his neck.

“I know you ain’t. Tell me something I don’t know.” He studied the card for a few seconds longer before he focused on me.

I giggled at the expression on his face. “Your friend stopped by.”

He threw his head back, confused. “Who? I ain’t got no friends, G.”

“Your female friend that I hope isn’t still your friend. She stormed in here and didn’t even know why she was here. She was?—”

“Childish as fuck because she pulled up on me at Canez today and?—”

I put my finger to his lip shushing him. “Nope I don’t wanna know, what did you bring to eat?”

He laughed and stepped back. “So, you don’t wanna know what happened?” he said, using his index finger to tilt my head and make me look up at him instead of at the food.

“Nope, I don’t because something tells me that you don’t wanna have problems with me.”

His laughter filled the room. “Beef with you? You ‘dont want beef with me.” he shook his head and playfully mugged me.

Once again I found myself here. I found myself in this space where I was trusting him with so much of me. Even after he’d fumbled twice, why was I so easy to trust him with me? His tongue was sincere and his heart was pure. That was what I kept telling myself, but was it true? I couldn’t be lying to myself because everything with us felt so right. It felt like this between us fit and nothing could affect the magnetic pull that kept us here, in this space. Mazzier and I had chemistry before either of us knew what chemistry was.

The ringing of his phone pulled me from my thoughts. I glanced up at him while chewing my food and his serious expression drew concern from me.

“That’s nothing, just make sure all the locks are changed and I’ll be through to pay the man. That’s ya responsibility now, I trust you.” He responded to whomever was on the other line. I watched him as he finished his conversation while I reached into his food grabbing a fry because I’d eaten all my own. He talked for a few moments longer before he hung his phone up and glanced my way. “I called myself getting you extra fries, but I see that didn’t work. He knew me so well. He knew that no matter what he got to be my main meal, I’d eat all my French fries and save the rest for later.

“Well.” I shrugged as I sat back and rested my hand on my full belly.

“Ain’t even shit there, yet.” He winked his eye before glancing over at the clock. That caused me to look over at the clock myself. I had a little while left to whine down. I caught what he said, but I decided to hold off on questioning it.

“I performed a surgery today.” I smiled widely. I was simply excited about being back in the field.

“How long has it been?”

“Two years, but field work on you didn’t count.” I shrugged like it was no big deal, but it was a huge deal. At one point Iworked my ass off through med school just to be able to perform groundbreaking surgeries. “It just feels like I got that tingle down my spine and?—”

“You missed it. What are you gonna do about that?”

“I don’t know.”

We talked back and forth for a while before I promised for the second time that I’d be at his house today after I got off. He agreed to meet me and even have dinner laid out when I got there. I guess that was a win-win. I just had to get through the rest of my day.

The momentI got off work, I rushed toward my car and sped toward Mazzier’s. During my drive I checked on my grandmother and even called my sister who didn’t answer. Then I ended up calling Autumn who always answered my calls.

“Why haven’t I heard from you, heffa?” I asked.