Page 38 of Her Exception

He sucked his teeth and relaxed further in his seat. “What reason would we have to wait?”

“Work?” came out more like a question than an answer.

“It’ll be there when we get back. You’re my priority. We can go tomorrow if you want.”

“Oh, so this is why you blocked me.” At the sound of a woman’s voice, I looked up to see who was standing over our table.

My head tilted in confusion as I looked from her to Mecca. After the hard time he gave me about Carter, I refused to believe he had a girlfriend out here that he forgot to mention.

“I blocked you because I told you we couldn’t talk anymore, and you blew my phone up.”

“Yeah, because I deserved an explanation, Mecca.” Her voice raised, and the more upset she got, the calmer he appeared.

“I’m not going to argue with you, Hosanna, especially in public.”

She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. “You owe me an explanation. We were together for a year!”

Mecca chuckled as he sat up in his seat. “We were not in a relationship; we had sex. Please don’t try and make it seem like there was more between us than that.”

Her eyes scanned my frame before she rolled her tongue over her cheek. “Is she the reason you broke up with me?”

“I’m not going to do this with you, Hosanna.” Mecca stood, taking her by the elbow and turning her in the opposite direction. I’m not sure what he whispered into her ear, but her eyes bulged before she grunted and stormed off. When he sat back down, Mecca took a sip of his drink and clenched his jaw. “I apologize for her behavior.”

I remained silent for a while, wanting to see if that was all he would say.

“Were you… in a relationship with her?”

“Not at all. It was strictly sex.”

“Then why did she try and make it seem like there was more to it than that?”

“Because she wanted it to be more.”

For some reason, his calm demeanor irritated me. I was sure he was telling the truth because he had never been a liar, but something about another woman staking her claim on him was pissing me off. Even with the wisdom of that frustration needing to be toward her and not him, I still rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest.

“I know you better not sit up there and get an attitude.” He pushed my arms down and kissed me until the pout left. “She’s nothing to worry about. I blocked her after I questioned you about Carter.”

“You promise?”

“I promise, baby. I’m not doinganythingto jeopardize us getting to our happily ever after.”

Our lips reconnected, and I felt a sense of peace. Hosanna was determined to sow discord between us, and I didn’t blame her for that. She was bitter and probably upset that nothing more happened between them. I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of thinking she came between us and made me paranoid about my man. All I could do was hope whatever he said to her was enough to make her fall back. As much as I loved Mecca and wanted to be with him, I didn’t want being with him to bring drama into my life.

This was one Monday that made me dread the weekend ending. We’d gone to Rose Valley Hills to help Sym get set up at Uncle George’s home. I was sad to see her go but she promised to come and visit me and Shalom as often as she could. She still wasn’t sure if she was going to keep the baby or not. I felt like she would. Once she held her baby in her arms, Sym was going to be dedicated to doing whatever she could to make it work. If she didn’t want to keep the baby, Shalom and I talked about it over the weekend and agreed that we would adopt.

The reason I wasn’t looking forward to today was because we had the negotiation with the landlord and his attorney. I felt in my spirit that he wouldn’t make this easy, and sure enough, we were unable to agree on any terms. We were officially going to trial. I hated that, but this cause was worth it. Amelia had already agreed to be my second chair, and there was no doubt in my mind that we would win. Finn’s ego was going to cost him more since we were going to trial, and that gave my clients the bright side of being able to expect more money even if it took more time.

To top off the shitty day I was having, my parents had started blowing me up again. I told them I would reach out when I was ready to talk but they weren’t trying to hear that. It was driving me crazy not going to church with them and doing our Sunday dinners, but I didn’t want them to think I was okay with what they did. I’d been going to church with Shalom, and though I enjoyed it, it just didn’t feel the same. Sundays were my day for family and family meant everything to me. That was the only reason I was considering going to speak with my parents, but I wanted to talk to Shalom about it first.

In the meantime, I was going to have a guys’ night with Promise and a few of my cousins. I could only hope and pray Tony had to work. If he didn’t, there would be no guarantee he’d be on his best behavior.

I waited until Shalom and I were at her car to say, “I think I’m gonna go and talk to my parents this evening.”

She stared into the distance for a few seconds before giving me one bob of her head. “Okay, love. If you’re ready…”

“You aren’t?”

She cupped her hands in the center of her and shook her head. “No. I think it’s harder for me because of the baby. I know that affected you too, but…”

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