Monica sat on her best friend Tabatha’s sofa, wearing house shoes and a trench coat over her nightgown. Her eyes were bloodshot, her nose pink from crying.
Tabatha, who was tall and thin and never regarded as much more than cute by men, walked in from the kitchen, her brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, carrying two cups of tea. She set one down in front of her friend, beside the box of Kleenex she had gotten Monica a moment ago.
“There’s a little something in there to help you calm down,” Tabatha said, sitting right next to her. “Now what happened?”
“He proposed like I told you he was going to.”
“And you told him no, right?”
“I told him I’m not ready, which I’m not.”
“And…”
“And then he started grabbing shit out of the closet and just left.”
“Aww, baby,” Tabatha said, giving Monica a hug. “Where is the little girl?”
“He took her with him.”
“You’re better off.”
“I don’t feel that way.”
“You know it was never supposed to go this far anyway.”
Monica knew that. She remembered the night her divorce from her husband had been finalized.
She had shed tears, cried painfully at the thought of never being with Nate again.
Tabatha had come over to comfort her. She had held Monica in her arms. “It’s okay. Everything’s going to be all right,” Tabatha said that night.
“I should never have gone through with it,” Monica cried. “I should have stayed with him.”
“As messed up as it sounds, he didn’t want you anymore, Monica.”
“But I loved him,” Monica said, smearing tears across her cheeks with the back of her hand. “I still do. I always will. I need to call him.” She tried to pull away from Tabatha.
Tabatha held tight to Monica’s arm. “No. After what he did, you needed to go. You run back to him, he’ll know he can treat you any old way he wants. If you two are meant to be together again, he’ll come to you.”
“And what if he doesn’t? I don’t want to be alone. After almost four years I don’t know how to be alone,” Monica cried, lowering her head onto Tabatha’s chest.
Tabatha smoothed her hand over Monica’s hair. “You’ll find someone else.”
“There is nobody else.”
“Then stay with Lewis, the man your husband hired to seduce you.”
Monica lifted her head, leaning away from Tabatha, giving her a questioning stare.
“I know he isn’t the man he said he was, but you said you liked him. I know it’s not right. But it’ll be something to do, someone to be with until Nate finally comes to his senses.”
Monica sniffed, her crying finally stopping. “Do you think that I should?”
“At least you won’t be alone.”
“It wasn’t supposed to last, and it didn’t,” Tabatha said now, bringing Monica out of her thoughts. “At least now you won’t have to be the one who breaks it off.”
“I don’t know if I still want to break it off.”
“The man has nothing. He’s twenty-seven years old, he works part-time. He has no money, no common sense, and no education. The only reason he’s trying to get one now is because you’re paying for it.”
“Alright, Tabatha.”
“I’m just saying,” Tabatha said, springing from the sofa. “The nerve of his ass, trying to demand that you marry him when he ain’t got shit!”
Monica dried the last of her tears with a Kleenex. “This is the third time he asked. Maybe I should just…I’m raising his child…he bought me a ring.”
“Was it real?”
“It looked real.”
“Then he bought it with that bank card I told you not to give his ass. Monica, there are plenty of other men out there. Men who are worth a damn. Hell, if you don’t want any of them, there’s always your ex-husband.”
“I’ve gotten over that fantasy. It’s been a year, and I haven’t heard a thing from him.”
“Yeah, well a year ago you were saying how you would never stop loving him.”
“Like I said, I’ve gotten over that.”
“And if he were to contact you, would you—”
“Lewis is the man in my life now. I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that before you accept it,” Monica said with the slightest bit of attitude. “All he’s done is treat me with respect and love me unconditionally. I know the plan wasn’t to stay with him, but maybe I should change the plan.”
“That would be the biggest mistake you could ever make. He is not the man for you.”
“Thanks for your opinion, but I think that’s my decision to make.”