Tiana jumped from the love seat when Melanie opened the door to their apartment.
“Finally, you’re here!” Her friend followed her into the kitchen.
Melanie grabbed a diet cola from the fridge, needing caffeine from her draining day at work. Couldn’t blame the job. Her crappy mood was all due to Vanessa’s bombshell. She hadn’t heard much from Damien this past week, but he was coming over tonight to “talk.” She wasn’t hopeful. “What’s got you so peppy?”
“Nathaniel.”
Melanie chuckled. Tiana had taken her advice and run with it. For the past few months, Tiana and her nemesis had been at war with each other.
Dumping her laptop bag on the dining-room table, Melanie turned to smile at her excited friend. “What’s the latest in the Tiana and Nathan saga?”
“Well, he’s always stealing my food, although I can’t prove it. So I mixed a little milk of magnesia into my lunch. So then—”
“You didn’t!” Melanie interrupted, covering a snort behind her hand.
Tiana’s laughter confirmed the devious activity.
“What happened next?” Melanie parked her bottom on the barstool next to her roommate.
“We had this big client meeting. And all of a sudden he started squirming in his chair like a little kid who couldn’t hold his bladder or … or some other plumbing issue!” Tiana covered her mouth, sniggering.
Melanie leaned over the counter, fist tucked under her chin. “Love it!”
“He looked so distracted and uncomfortable and pissed that I nearly lost my composure. His stomach was grumbling, like he hadn’t eaten in weeks. Then our client from the UK stopped his presentation and told Nathaniel he looked a bit peckish.”
“Peckish?” Melanie hooted right along.
“Peckish,” she confirmed between giggles. Melanie didn’t know if she was more surprised Tiana giggled or that she had pulled off something so sneaky.
“So being the magnanimous coworker that I am—”
“Good word of the day,” Melanie interrupted.
“I thought so, too. Anyway, being the magnanimous coworker that I am, I mentioned his tummy ache—yes, that’s the word I used—and how although we appreciated him working through his pain, I’d be more than happy to loop him in once he took care of his business.”
Melanie high-fived Tiana. “Girl, you are dangerous. Remind me never to cross you! You are the princess of payback, the vixen of vengeance, and the duchess of double-crossing.”
Her friend took a regal bow. “Thank you, thank you.” Tiana slid off the barstool.
A buzz from the intercom interrupted the conversation.
“Damien?” Tiana nodded toward the door.
“Yes. He wants to have a conversation about our relationship.” Melanie hurried over to buzz him up.
“Girl, why didn’t you tell me he was coming over?” Tiana shook her head. “Here I am talking your ear off about my stupid prank, thinking it would lift your spirits.” Melanie had come home after the confrontation with Damien last week and spilled the beans over tears, ice cream, and an I-hate-men movie marathon.
“It’s fine. I needed the distraction.” Because he’s going to try to break up with me.
Three strong knocks sounded on the door. Melanie nibbled her bottom lip and walked to the front of their apartment.
Opening the door, she stepped back to let him inside. “Damien.”
Tiana stood in the dining room, arms crossed, with a mama-bear frown on her face. “Nice seeing you again. Hope you had enough time to think long and hard about what’s important in life.”
Damien walked to the couch to sit without giving her friend a glance. “Good seeing you, Tiana.”
“Good night, Tiana.” Melanie waved and gave her a pointed look.
“Night, girl. Damien.” Tiana dipped her chin and then turned to her room.
Melanie marched to the living room to grab the remote from the coffee table and put the television on silent.
She sat on the couch directly across from him. “You wanted to talk?”
He closed his eyes and rubbed a hand over his face.
“Let me save you the trouble. You came over to break up with me.”
He opened his eyes, surprised.
“Let’s fast-forward this, shall we?” she said in a bored tone. “I disagree with the donning of your cape and being Captain Save-a-Ho. Don’t jump on the grenade, D. Vanessa isn’t worth the sacrifice.”
“Captain Save-a-Ho?”
Melanie sighed and massaged her temples. “I admire that you’re an honorable man. That you’re willing to step up if the kids are yours. But honestly, doesn’t this seem a little convenient, her showing up to your home five months pregnant?” Melanie crossed her legs, drawing his hungry stare. “Tell me I’m wrong.”
“About what?” he asked dazedly, still ogling her legs.
“Tell me I’m wrong about my hypothesis.”
“You’re not wrong. But look, I—”
“Pressing the fast-forward button again, you don’t want your boys”—her fingers dipped in air quotes—“to grow up in a broken home. You want to be a full-time dad. I know this. And Vanessa damn well knows it, too, otherwise she wouldn’t have waddled her knocked-up behind to your condo and tossed out that doozy. She knew how you’d react.”
She shot off the sofa and began to pace. “I bet Vanessa is just gleefully rubbing her hands together and waiting for your call. I bet she even got her daddy to put on the pressure. Did he call?” Melanie stopped pacing in front of him.
“Leonard called, but I was in a meeting. He left a voice mail.”
“Oh, I can imagine. About responsibility, being a man, and I bet the old man even offered you a partnership at his agency.”
He shook his head in disbelief. “You’d be right again.”
“How magnanimous of him.” She paused and turned around to face the bedrooms. “Tiana, I used your word of the day. I get ten points.”
“Ten points, noted!” her friend yelled back.
“Right, as I was saying”—she began pacing again—“Daddy Warbucks offered you a job. He’ll probably mention buying a house soon.” She kneeled in front of him, looking straight into his tortured eyes. “Then you’ll live in some hoity-toity neighborhood in Connecticut, and people will say ‘what a handsome family,’ but inside you’ll be dying.”
Crossing his biceps across his chest, he sighed. “I don’t think this conversation is—”
“Then the boys will grow older. And you won’t be able to deny they look nothing like you. And the excuse that they look like their mama will no longer hold up. Then you’ll become fed up by something thoughtless Vanessa has done. Maybe she’ll max out a credit card or allow the boys to do something you’ve expressly forbidden. You’ll finally take a paternity test and find out the boys aren’t yours.”
Grabbing his knees, she leaned closer, so close their breaths mingled. “Then you’ll wonder what would’ve happened if you had told Vanessa no. And Damien, I guaran-damn-tee you’ll also wonder if you would’ve been happier with me. And the answer to that is an emphatic yes.”
His nostrils flared. “Don’t assume that I haven’t thought this through. I plan to take the paternity tests after the children are born. Is this an inconvenience to my life?” He pointed to his chest. “Hell yes, but I’d rather do right by those kids, whether they are mine or not, and do right by you.”
She massaged his knees. “I agree about waiting for the twins to be born. And if you want to do right by me, then stay with me and love me. That’s all I want. All I’ve ever wanted.”
She crawled into his lap and nuzzled his neck, sprinkling soft kisses along his collarbone. “Don’t tell me what you came here to do. Let me be here for you. Share your burdens, share your load.” Hopping from his lap, she offered her hand. “Come with me. Please?”
She pressed her lips together while he deliberated.
“You win, Mel.” He grabbed her proffered hand.
“If I have my way, we’ll both win.” She swayed her hips as they walked back to her room.