Page 30 of You Make Me Feel

“Yes.”

“She was diagnosed as a manic depressive a year ago. She didn’t want to tell you for fear of losing her job,” she said as I heard keys jingling.

“That would have been discriminatory. She’s a good worker. I wouldn’t have fired her, but this wouldn’t have caught me off guard. Can you please come to help her? Whenever I try to calm her down, I only make it worse. She said she was in love with me. When she found out I had a lady, she flipped.”

“Lord have mercy—my poor baby. I’m on my way, Mr. Andrews. It’s gonna take me about thirty minutes to get there, providing there isn’t much traffic.”

I glanced at the time to see it was twelve thirty. I was more than sure there was plenty of traffic. It was the lunch rush. “Yes, ma’am. Thank you for coming.”

“Yes, sir. See you soon.”

I wouldn’t expect her until an hour from now. Jarvis knocked on my door as I sat at my desk, contemplating what I would do. I gave him a head nod, and he entered. “Yo . . .” he said with his thumb pointed behind him over his shoulder toward Mya’s office.

I lifted my hand. I couldn’t even talk about that shit right now. All I could focus on was that her mama would be here soon to get her out of here.

Chapter 11

Kinisha

I hadn’t seen Oliver since Sunday, and surprisingly, I missed him more than I thought I would. I’d been throwing up like crazy, so I took off work today. Mr. Taylor had surely peeped game on Monday. After I ate my pizza, I had to run to the restroom immediately and regurgitate my stomach’s contents. I couldn’t wait until this phase of my pregnancy was over. Not having Oliver to baby me only made it worse.

I’d talked to him over the phone every evening and night. This situationship with him was progressing easier than I thought it would. He wasn’t overbearing or clingy like I thought he would be. I actually found myself wanting to call him more than he called me. I wanted to believe he was restraining himself, so I didn’t change my mind.

What he didn’t know was that I liked attention . . . plenty of it. His massage from Sunday was still fresh on my mind, and I couldn’t wait to experience it again. As I snuggled under my covers, someone knocked at my door. I wanted to roll my eyes, but I somehow managed to get out of bed and trudge to the door.

After checking the peephole and seeing Oliver, I got so excited. However, that excitement produced bile in my throat. I opened the door and ran to the bathroom. This shit was getting old, and it had just started. Before I could get up from the floor, Oliver rubbed my back in a soothing motion. The tears were already streaming down my face from gagging so much, but the cries left my lips as he helped me from the floor to the sink.

I rinsed my mouth, then closed my eyes and just stood there, trying to breathe deeply. When he placed the cold towel on the back of my neck, I silently thanked God. I grabbed my toothbrush, squeezed a bit of toothpaste on it, and began brushing my teeth. As I did so, Oliver gently rubbed my stomach and kissed the side of my head.

He was so tender with me, and I loved that. I needed every bit of it. Tears continued falling down my cheeks as I rinsed my mouth and toothbrush again. When I finished, I turned to him and hugged him. “I’m sorry. Hi, Oliver.”

“What are you apologizing for? I hate that I haven’t been here for you this week. I’m here to make up for it.”

When I pulled away from his embrace, he picked me up, cradled me like a baby, and went to my bedroom. I lay against his chest until he lowered me to the bed. I watched him take off his shoes and shirt. Then he got in bed with me and held me in his arms. I remained quiet as I listened to him breathe. “I missed you, Kinisha.”

I tilted my head back to stare into his eyes. “I missed you too.”

He lowered his face to mine and softly kissed my lips. The stirring I felt down below had caught me by surprise. Here I was, just throwing up a few minutes ago, feeling queasy and undesirable, but now feeling horny. He stroked my cheek with the backs of his fingers as he stared into my face. This man had to be an angel because there wasn’t a man alive walking this earth that was as perfect. Jesus had already been crucified and had risen and gone to glory.

“So, how are you recouping after losing Mya?” I asked.

He took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “It’s been a little tough. I had to ensure all the jobs were covered on Tuesday and today. She was scheduled for an appointment yesterday, so I had to pick up the slack on that. I have to go back to that residence tomorrow to resolve their issue. Thankfully, it should be just a one-day thing and only take a couple of hours.”

“Have you heard from her?”

“No, and honestly, I hope I don’t. She was a great employee until Monday. What I saw from her Monday, I don’t ever want to see again. I ain’t never had anybody go crazy on me like that. Had them people at the Turkey Leg Hut looking at me like I had fucked her over or something.”

I stared at him, noticing he was getting worked up by how he slightly bounced his leg. Bringing my hand to his chest, I began rubbing it, similar to how he rubbed my back when he was trying to soothe me. He closed his eyes, then said, “You make everything better, though. Being in your presence gives me a peace I didn’t have before. I can only hope my presence will do that for you one day.”

“Wow. I believe it’s starting to Oliver.”

He kissed my forehead, and I closed my eyes, thankful he was here with me.

“Do you mind if I stay the night? Are you working tomorrow?”

“Not at all. I plan to work, but it depends on how I feel. I’m going to have to tell Mr. Taylor something, though. I believe he knows.”

“Devin is a smart man. I’m sure he does. What are you going to tell him?”

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