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When Toya arrived home the next day, Jarrod was still training Princess. At first, she thought everything he was doing was cute. He was just a dog owner trying to show off his pup. But then he told her that one of his friends was on their way over and he needed her to allow him through the gate.
“So, now you’re having company at my place?”
“Nothing like that. I need to train Princess on something, and I need a stranger for this.”
When the man arrived. Toya buzzed him through the gate. She expected Jarrod to open the door and let the man in, but instead when the man stepped to the door, Jarrod turned to Princess.
“You hear that girl?”
The man peeked in the picture window next to the door, Princess’s head shot up. She immediately started barking, and the man ran off. In the next minute the man was back at the door, but this time he didn’t peek through the window, he twisted the doorknob.
Princess’s head shot up again, she barked and rushed toward the door.
“Enough, Princess,” Jarrod said, and the dog stopped barking. “Good doggie.” Out came the treats as Jarrod sat down next to the dog, handed her the treat, and then rubbed her like she had done something extra special. Then Jarrod said, “It’s you and Toya against everybody outside of this place. You protect her, okay girl.”
As Toya watched Jarrod and Princess, she became acutely aware of something. Her hands went to her hips. “Hey, this isn’t your dog at all, is she?”
“What?” Jarrod turned to face Toya. “So, now you think I’m a dog thief?”
“Don’t be silly. Of course, I don’t think you’re a dog thief. But I am accusing you of lying to me.”
Standing up, Jarrod brushed off his pants and approached Toya. “When have I ever lied to you, Ms. Toya?”
Folding her arms around her chest, she said, “When you came over here talking about Princess was your dog, but you needed someone to keep her for a little while. When the whole time you knew that you had bought her for me.”
Jarrod opened his mouth to deny her claim, but the church kid in him caught up to his mouth, reminding him as his father had said many times, ‘a liar can’t tarry in God’s eyesight.’ So instead of lying, he asked, “You mad?”
She unfolded her arms. “I’m not mad. I know why you did it. And to be honest, I’m blessed to have you in my life. Because having Princess was probably exactly what I needed.”
Jarrod smiled but didn’t say anything.
“I don’t even think I would have dared to leave my house to visit with Tia and Jayden last night if it hadn’t been for the fact that Princess takes me out of the house about four times a day.” Toya sat down next to Princess and rubbed her belly. “Each day, this dog has been building my confidence, and I hadn’t even realized it.”
“Does that mean you’re going to keep her?”
“I’m not going that far? I need to get back to work sometime soon, and I don’t see how I can manage Princess and a job with all her bathroom breaks.”
Laughing, Jarrod told her, “We can train her to go out less, and if you get a house and a fence, she can go in your back yard.”
“Sounds like you need to take your own advice. So, make sure your next place is a house with a fence, and you and I can share custody of our dog.”
~~~
Princess needed a bath really bad. But Toya wasn’t feeling the whole let-the-dog-bathe-in-the-tub thing, so she called a groomer and made an appointment. Then she called Jarrod to see if he wanted to take the dog for her.
“I wish I could, Toya. But I already made plans for this evening.”
She wanted to ask if his plans included a woman, but that was none of her business. “You know what, Jarrod. Princess and I don’t need you for this. I’ll take her myself.”
“Why don’t you just switch the appointment to a different day, I know you don’t like being out like that.”
“Didn’t I just spend the night with Tia. And I didn’t have not one panic attack going or coming back home. I've got this.”
“I’m proud of you, Toya. I knew you wouldn’t let him win.”
Toya smiled at that. “I’m kind of proud of me too.” She hung up the phone, jumped in the shower, then put on a flowery sundress, and brushed her hair into a ponytail.
“Come on, Princess. It’s time to get you a bath or a shower.” She really didn’t know how dog groomers washed dogs. They never had a dog when she was a kid, and she never wanted one in all the years that she had her own place. But there was something about Princess. From the moment Princess rubbed her head against Toya’s pants, she was in love.
Her dog had gotten her out of her cocoon. She was no longer content with being a hermit, she was ready to move on with her life. Maybe she’d even go to the mall or stop at the grocery store while Princess got herself all pretty and smelling good.
When they arrived at the groomers and discovered that Princess was fifth on the list and she had an hour and a half to kill, Toya got back in her car prepared to hang out while waiting on Princess. But when she drove up to the mall and watched all the people walking around, she started hyperventilating as she wondered if Marvel was in one of those stores and if he would see her as she walked by.
“Calm down, just calm down. Nobody is after you. You are safe,” she gave herself a pep talk as she drove away from the mall. The grocery store was out of the question, she just wasn’t ready yet.
As she headed back to the dog groomer, she realized that her favorite Mexican restaurant was on this street. She pulled up in the parking lot, practically licking her lips. She had chickened out of going to the mall and had a mini panic attack, but Toya was still proud of herself for even trying. The next time it won’t be so difficult. But for now, she was going to treat herself to some shrimp nachos with extra cheese sauce with beans and rice.
She called in her order and then waited in her car for ten minutes strolling through Facebook on her phone. Everybody else seemed to be living panic attack free, but she was willing to bet that none of her Facebook friends had been kidnapped at gunpoint and tied up while the man they hoped to build a future with plotted ways to kill them. So, it was none of their business why she didn’t post about fabulous vacations or post pictures of food anymore. She just wasn’t feeling it. Toya had thought about deactivating her account, but sometimes she enjoyed seeing pictures of old friends in the Bahamas or Hawaii and even in Italy. It gave her hope that someday soon, that she would be enjoying her life again too.
She walked into the restaurant and went to the pickup area. “Order for Toya,” she said to the clerk standing behind the cash register.
“Nineteen ninety-nine, please.”
Toya handed the clerk the money and received her bag of goodies. She was on her way out the door and back to the safety of her car when Jarrod walked into the restaurant with this gorgeous, high cheekbone, cream complexion woman with coal black hair that flowed down her back. And not one hair was out of place. The woman looked good standing next to Jarrod, in all his chocolate glory.
Toya felt inadequate with her flower dress and ponytail. She wished she could have just blended into the wallpaper, but no such luck as Jarrod’s eyes seemed to buck as he saw her.
“Hey, what are you doing here? I thought you had plans tonight?” That was stupid, Toya thought to herself. Of course, he had plans, and they were obviously with the woman who was now pulling on his elbow.
“Oh yeah.” He looked uncomfortable as he glanced from the woman standing next to him, and then back at Toya. “Um, this is Lisa.”
Lisa held out a hand to Toya. “I’m Toya,” she said to the woman since Jarrod had obviously forgotten her name.
He jerked forward as if being pushed and put a hand on Toya’s shoulder. “Lisa, this is Toya. She and I go way back.”
Toya didn’t understand why Jarrod felt the need to introduce her after she had already introduced herself. Or why he was standing there looking goofy. She lifted her bag, then said, “Well, I’ll see you later.”
“He-he-he,”
Jarrod did this stupid sounding laugh. Toya looked at him as if he had lost his mind. “Bye.”
A couple seconds went by... “Of course, I’ll see you later. We co-parent a dog, remember,” Jarrod responded as if he was on some type of delay.
Toya kept walking and refused to look back. She knew she was being mean, but she hoped the girl would cheat on him and make him look silly for chasing after some beauty pageant chick, rather than going out with normal women, like her. Someone who wasn’t afraid to come out of the house wearing a ponytail.
~~~
“Why do you seem a thousand miles away?” Lisa asked Jarrod as they ate their meal.
Jarrod looked down at his plate. He had been swirling the fork in the plate. His burrito was still untouched, and that wasn’t like him. He loved Mexican food almost as much as Toya did. And the chicken burrito from this place was always banging.
He looked over at Lisa's plate. She had already eaten one of her three shrimp tacos. “Is it good?”
“Delicious. You were right about this place. I just don’t understand why you haven't eaten any of your food yet. And why you keep looking back at the door like you think your friend,” she lifted her fingers and put the word friend, in quotation marks, “is going to walk back in.”
“Toya is my friend. But look, Lisa, I apologize if I’ve been distracted. You asked me to hang out with you this evening, and I owe you my undivided attention.”
Lisa had a fork full of Spanish rice headed toward her mouth. She dropped the fork, letting it fall back onto her plate. “Oh, heck-to-the-naw, I don’t need a pity date. So, let’s get this straight, if another woman is on your mind while you’re sitting here with me, we might as well end this date now.”
Jarrod didn’t consider this a date, just two people hanging out. Lisa was beautiful, most men would be thrilled to have her on their arm. But he just wasn’t into her like that. He wished he was because things would be a lot less complicated in his life.
“I’m sorry about this, Lisa. I truly thought you just wanted to hang out with an old friend tonight. I didn’t know you wanted this to lead to more than the friendship that we have.”
In a huff, Lisa told him, “We don’t have a friendship, Jarrod. Not if you can treat me like this. I think I’d better go.”
“You don’t have to do that, Lisa. Let’s just finish our food, and I’ll take you home.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want you to take me home. I feel like a fool as it is. I’ll call someone to pick me up.” The waitress stopped at the table to check on them, Lisa told her, “you can box our meals. Then she lifted out of her seat and headed toward the bathroom.
He really needed to stick with hanging out with the fellas, because his friendships with women always seemed to end badly. But no matter how upset Lisa was with him, he was not about to let her call an Uber. She would have to tolerate him for a few more minutes so he could see her home safely. But when she came out of the bathroom, Jarrod noticed that Lisa had freshened her make-up and lipstick.
She had a smug look on her face as she said, “You’re excused.”
Jarrod sat across from her dumbfounded. Did he hear her correctly? Did this woman just dismiss him after he sat at this table waiting on her to come out of that bathroom for twenty minutes?
“Are you a slow learner or what? I don’t need you here anymore.”
“I just want to take you home, Lisa. I am truly sorry if I upset you, but there is no need to ruin our friendship.”
She shewed him away with the back of her hand. “Just go already. I have a ride.”
“I don’t want you taking an Uber. You don’t have to do that.” Her lips pursed as she crossed her eyes. “Okay, yeah, I was a bit distracted...”
She cut him off. “I don’t do distracted men.” she then stood up with this grin on her face.
Jarrod turned to see who she was smiling at. The former linebacker for the Detroit Lions had just walked into the restaurant. Lisa stretched out her arms to him as he stepped into her embrace.
“Hey babe, I’m glad you called.” He said.
“I’m glad you were available for little ol’ me,” she purred.
“Always, baby. You know that.”
Lisa touched the linebacker’s big muscular arm, squeezed it and cooed.
“Who's your friend?” The guy asked as he looked at Jarrod.
Jarrod shook the man’s hand and was about to introduce himself when Lisa said, “Who, him.” She pointed at Jarrod and then smirk. “He’s nobody.” She pulled the man away from the table and then strutted out of the restaurant.
“I guess she showed me,” Jarrod said to himself and then laughed his head off once he got into his car and headed home. “Women are a trip.” He shook his head and kept right on laughing about the situation.