Page 36 of Pleasuring Professor Pisces
“All right.” Chelsea pushed up to her feet and looked at Salem for several long moments before she walked to the entrance of the room. She grabbed his shoulder and commanded, “Take care of my girl.”
He nodded but never took his eyes off me. Salem continued lazily lounging against the doorframe with his hands shoved in the pockets of his shorts. He looked so damn good in the camouflage cargo shorts and army green tee that outlined his muscles and abs. He didn’t say anything until after we heard the front door close.
“I’ve been calling and texting. Why you ain’t answer your phone?”
“I can’t.”
“You can’t answer your phone?”
“No. I can’t do this thing between us anymore. I thought that I could, and it feels so good when we’re alone in our world, just the two of us, but I can’t stay in that world, Salem. I have to come back to reality, and when I come down off our cloud, the reality doesn’t look so pretty.”
“What’re you talking about, Koi?”
“I’m talking about all the things that are being said and the rumors that are circulating about us. I can’t go through this again.”
He pushed off the doorframe and walked to me. He kneeled and lifted me off the floor. He slid his foot underneath the rung of my chair and pulled it close before he sat down with me on his lap.
“What happened?”
“There are rumors that I’m pregnant.”
“So, what if you were? I wouldn’t mind you carrying my seed,” he replied and placed his hand over my belly.
“So?” I slapped his hand away and bolted off his lap. “This is all a game to you.”
“No, it’s not, but I’m tired of fighting this fight with you. My words, my heart, my love are true, baby girl. If that ain’t good enough, I don’t know what the fuck is.”
“What about my job, Salem?”
“I’ve told you that you can quit that shit. I’ll take care of you.”
“It’s all so easy, huh? I can’t do it.”
“What’re you saying, Koi?”
“We can’t do this anymore, Salem. I’m sorry. I love you, but I can’t be with you.”
He looked at me with disgust, and it ripped my heart out of my chest. After shaking his head, he turned and walked out of the room, out of my apartment, and out of my life. When the door slammed, I broke.
He deserved to have a stronger woman, one who would fight for him. And she wasn’t me.
“Listen,baby, anything worth having is worth fighting for. That has never been more true than in your situation. Everything you’ve said about this woman lets me know that you love her, and she’s a great woman. You can either sit on your ass and stay in your feelings, or you can get up and get your woman.
“Now, I know it ain’t right, but a lot of times when women say it’s too much and we can’t handle it, sometimes that’s our way of saying ‘I want you to fight for me.’ Then there are times when a woman is just done, and she lets you know she’s done. But that’s usually behind a trifling ass man. That ain’t you, Son. So, what you gon’ do, Salem?”
“I can’t force her to be with me if she doesn’t want to.”
“You got that woman over there crying in the middle of the floor. That doesn’t sound like she wants nothing to do with you, Son. If she were over you, you wouldn’t even earn a single tear. Figure out how to make her secure in your love, give that to her, and make her see that she can’t live without you.”
That was the advice my mother gave me when she asked how things were going with Koi and me. She was ready to meet her, but it was two days after Koi broke things off. I heard her words, but I wasn’t ready to bite the bullet just yet. I was still fired up.
I needed time to calm down. I didn’t go to class the next day or the day after that. By the time I returned to class, it was Friday. I was tired of doing the back-and-forth with Koi, and I needed her to know that.
I knew who started the rumors because both of those hos had approached me separately. Jada had been trying to shoot her shot since the beginning of the semester. Trista acted like she was approaching me on her friend’s behalf. When she realized that I wasn’t interested in Jada, she tried to set some shit up with me, inviting me back to her place.
I had done everything possible not to draw attention to myself and Koi. There was no way that I could stop haters from hating. People were gonna talk, and if they had nothing to talk about, they would make shit up. I needed Koi to grow the fuck up and fight for what we had.
I knew that her being involved with one of her students was taboo, but she would face issues in any relationship, whether it was a student or a nigga cross country. Life was full of problems, and so were relationships. You had to decide if the other person was worth fighting for or not.
