Lewis,” Monica said, nudging him.
They were sitting on the living room sofa, watching a movie, Lewis’s arm thrown around Monica’s neck, his head resting on her shoulder.
“Wake up!”
“What?” Lewis said, quickly lifting his head, blinking weary eyes, and wiping the back of his hand across his lips.
“You keep falling asleep. Why don’t you just go up to bed?”
“What time is it?”
“Five minutes till ten,” Monica said, after glancing at the clock.
“But the movie, it’s almost over.”
“It’s only halfway through. Go to bed, Lewis. I’ll be up when it’s over.”
“You sure?”
But before Monica could answer, her cell phone started ringing.
“Who’s calling me this late?” she asked aloud, pulling herself from the sofa and walking over to grab the phone off the entertainment center shelf. Monica looked at the caller ID. She didn’t recognize the number but flipped the phone open and said, “Hello.”
There was no response.
“Hello,” Monica said again.
“Monica,” a voice said. It was Nate.
Monica’s heart suddenly started to race.
“I know that Lewis is probably with you, so just act like you’re talking to Tabatha.”
“Tabatha,” Monica said, her voice shaky. “What’s going on, girl?”
“I need to talk to you,” Nate said.
“Can’t it wait till tomorrow? Lewis and I are watching a movie.”
“I don’t care about that. I need to talk to you now. I need to see you.”
“That’s crazy,” Monica said, feeling uneasy, looking over and seeing that Lewis was staring right at her.
“I know I shouldn’t be calling you, but I need to talk. Can you get away?”
“No. I told you that—”
“Tell him Tabatha’s car broke down. She got it towed and you’re going to pick her up and give her a ride home.”
Monica couldn’t speak, just held the phone to her ear, thinking it was going to slip, considering how much sweat was now coating her palm.
“If you don’t,” Nate said, “I swear, I’m coming over there to say what I have to say, and we can just deal with it all at your place.”
“Where did it break down?” Monica suddenly said.
“Good. I’ll be at the park over on Clark Street. You remember the one we always used to go to?”
“Yeah. I know where that is,” Monica said, glancing nervously at Lewis. “Okay, bye.”
“So who was it?” Lewis said.
“Tabatha.”
“I thought you said you ain’t recognize the number.”
“She called from a pay phone,” Monica said, thinking quickly. “Because her cell was dead.”
“Is she okay?” Lewis stood, walking toward Monica, concerned.
“Yeah. She just needs me to pick her up.” Monica mechanically walked toward the closet to grab her coat and bag.
“Then I’ll go with you.”
“No!” Monica said, spinning, overreacting. “I mean…you have to stay here and watch Layla. She’s asleep. Wouldn’t make sense to wake her when I’m just going to go pick up Tabatha, drive her home, and come right back. You know what I mean?”
“Yeah,” Lewis said, not seeming to believe her. “I know what you mean.”
Fifteen minutes later, Nate’s cell phone rang.
“Hello,” Nate said.
“Where are you? It’s dark and I don’t see you. I’m not getting out of this car if you aren’t out there,” Monica said.
“Hold on.” Nate stepped out of the swing he was sitting on, then walked toward the middle of the park and waved an arm toward Monica’s car. “Do you see me now?” he said into the phone as he headed toward her car.
“Yeah.”
Nate examined Monica’s Jaguar as she climbed out of it.
“See you bought yourself a new car.”
“No. It was your money, so I guess you did,” Monica said. “Why the hell are you calling me?”
“I need to talk.”
“We did all the talking we needed to do at your place.”
“No. There’s more.” Nate started walking back toward the swings.
“Where are you going?” Monica said, looking around as if worried she’d be kidnapped if she remained there alone. She quickly followed behind Nate.
“Remember this park? We’d come here all the time, just sit, watch the kids play, and dream about the family that we’d have.”
“I remember. But that was then.”
“The family we could have had if you would have just let me get you pregnant right after we got married, like you promised.”
Monica halted behind him. “I didn’t come here for you to badger me about a mistake I made years ago.”
“I know,” Nate said, turning. “I’m sorry. I didn’t come here for that, either. I want you back, Monica. It’s that simple.”
Monica looked at him strangely. She did not speak for a moment, and then finally said, “Then Lewis was right. He said that’s why you wanted to meet.”
“Okay, so what? It doesn’t negate the fact that I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and like I said, I want you—”
“You can’t have me back. I’m fucking engaged!”
Nate looked away, chuckled a little. “Are you in love with him?”
“That’s none of your business.”
Nate walked right up on her, asked the question again. “Are you in love with him?”
Monica stared directly into Nate’s eyes but did not answer.
“I see,” Nate said. “So, do you still have feelings for me?”
“Not the kind of feelings that would make me want to come back to you.”
“What changed?”
“You. The shit you did.”
“You know why I did it.”
“Because you’re a selfish bastard.”
“No. Because I wanted children and you stole that from me.”
“If you see me being unable to have children as stealing something from you, then so be it. But fact is, nothing’s changed, so why in the hell would you want me back?”
“Something has changed.”
“What?”
Nate wanted to tell her about Nathaniel, that he had adopted the child, but this wasn’t the time. Seeing the boy with her own eyes would be much more powerful than just hearing about him.
“I have. I’m a different man. You come back to me, you’ll find that out. I promise,” Nate said, taking one step closer to her.
“I can’t.”
“Lewis,” Nate sighed. “He’s nothing, probably was a thief, a drug dealer, a purse snatcher before I found him. But the most important thing I want to ask you is, what does he add to your life? What does he bring that you don’t already have? Can you grow with him?”
“I don’t have to answer those questions for you. All I’ll say is that he’s a good man, and he has a beautiful daughter whom he’s entrusted me with.”
“I see,” Nate said, nodding his head. “It’s the little girl. You can’t have any children, so you’ve taken her as your own. You love the child, don’t you?”
“With everything in me,” Monica said, honestly.
“So it really isn’t because you love him,” Nate said, coming even closer to her.
“I do,” Monica said, not taking a single step back.
“Not the way you loved me. You can’t.”
Nate stared deeply into Monica’s eyes, felt he was making some sort of connection. “We were together four years, not like you and Lewis. We married each other because we loved each other, not because you were frustrated and I was needy.” Nate placed himself right in front of his ex-wife, their bodies practically touching. “Your marriage will be based on last resort, ours was on love.”
“If you loved me, why did you—”
Suddenly, Nate slipped a hand behind Monica’s neck, pulled her into him, and pressed his mouth to hers. For the slightest moment, he felt no resistance at all. Her lips parted, his tongue touched hers, and then she pulled away, stepped back, and slapped him hard across the face.
Nate stumbled backward, tripped and almost fell to the grass in the middle of the darkened park. He recovered, rubbing the side of his face. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”
Monica stood there, breathing heavily, anguished, near tears. She didn’t speak.
“What are you thinking?” Nate said, concerned.
Monica wiped at her eyes, and then said, “I never want you to come near me again. Do you hear me?”
“But Monica—”
“Do you hear me?” she yelled.
“Yes.”
She turned and stormed off toward her car.
After Monica peeked into Layla’s room to check on her, she slipped quietly into her own bedroom without turning on any of the lights. Lewis was there in bed, sleeping.
Monica walked cautiously across the carpet, over to the chair in the corner, and quickly disrobed. As she reached around to unclasp her bra, a quick image of Nate kissing her in the park flashed through her head. She shut her eyes, removed and dropped her bra to the chair, pushed down her panties, and slid into a nightgown. Monica climbed into bed with Lewis, hating the fact that the image had skirted through her mind at least a dozen times on the drive back home. Monica settled in, turning on her side, away from Lewis. She closed her eyes, then jumped as she felt a hand on her hip.
“You okay?” Lewis said, nuzzling up behind her.
“Yeah. Just tired is all.” Monica inched just the slightest bit away from her fiancé and pulled the blankets over her shoulder, preparing to deal with the thoughts she knew she’d be wrestling with all night.
“How is Tabatha?” Lewis asked.
“Huh?”
“Tabatha. Her car stopped. You went to pick her up, right?”
“Oh!” Monica said, completely forgetting about the lie. “She’s…she’s fine. She should get her car back in the morning.”
Lewis paused, and then finally said, “That’s good.”