Diluted Desire (3 page)

Shit!
Clint’s face fell but he quickly pasted on a smile. “Stay, I got you some flowers and some strawberries, give me a minute and I’ll melt some chocolate.  And I got a warm bath waiting for you upstairs.”

Violet glanced at the gifts on the coffee table then rolled her eyes.  “Supermarket flowers,” she said with a sneer, “is that the best you can do?”  She stepped around him and made her way out of the living room.  She stopped. “And, I don’t have time to sit in a tub,” she said curtly, before stomping up the stairs.

Clint’s jaw dropped.  Shell shocked, he muttered, “What the hell just happened?”

Chapter 3

It was nine o’clock in the evening when Summer dragged herself through her front door.  She had wanted to stay at the bakery to wait with Clint for the delivery so that she could help him unload, this was the second time this week a truck was late, but he sent her home and she left…although reluctantly.  As soon as she walked into the foyer she heard cars roaring and loud cursing; she knew that Trey, her high school boyfriend, and his cousin Fresh Man were in the living room playing Xbox.  Summer frowned then marched to the kitchen where she saw the breakfast dishes still in the sink.  A pizza box was on the counter, she flicked it open. 
Empty
.  She clutched the brown paper bag she was holding.  Fortunately, she had stopped on the way home and picked up something to eat.

Summer reached to open her cupboard then froze; in the front of her cherry wood cabinet was a three-inch scratch.  “What the hell?  Again!” Last month he had broken the door off the bathroom vanity.  She opened the cupboard, pulled out a glass then angrily slammed it shut.

She had gotten the condo at a steal.  The previous owner had gotten a new job out of town and didn’t want to rent it.  Her timing was perfect, if the condo had gone on sale five years ago and if the seller hadn’t been desperate, it would have cost her over a quarter of a million dollars.  But because everything lined up perfectly, she had gotten it for half that price. 

Within a month of purchasing it, Trey asked if he could stay for a couple of months until he got his money right.  It’s been almost two years and his money was still bad.  Six months ago everything changed when she realized that she no longer loved him.  After paying his cell phone, car and Macy’s bills she realized that she was taking care of him, and no woman should take care of a healthy, employable twenty-five-year-old man.  Her respect for him had dwindled considerably.

Exhausted she trudged toward her bedroom, but she had to go through the living room to get there.  Even though the condo was sparse on furniture, the pieces that were there was quality.  Whenever she found time she scoured estate and garage sales for unique items that reflected her personality.  Her favorite piece was her extra-long sofa that sat six; she had found it at an estate sale.  After having it steam cleaned, she had it reupholstered with a cheetah print, and it was the main attraction in the living room.  And Trey and Fresh Man had their lazy asses plopped on it.

“Hey,” she mumbled as she walked by, wanting to get to her room as quickly as possible.

Trey barely lifted his gaze from the TV to acknowledge her.  Fresh Man didn’t say a word, but paused his playing long enough to take a long pull from his beer bottle.  It wasn’t his first one either; she noticed several empty beer bottles on the tables and floor, along with the smell of weed.  She shook her head, continued to her bedroom and slammed the door shut.

“His ass is leaving,” she fumed.  “He’s smoking that shit in my house and he doesn’t have a job.  It’s time for him to go.”  Normally she would mediate on big decisions, she never made snap decisions, she liked to put thought into what she was doing, and the practice had served her well.  Her heart thudded at the thought, then a cord of relief ribboned through her, and her heart slowly eased to a normal pace.  She realized she had been wanting him to leave for a while.

She debated whether to call her best friend, Yvette, with her new revelation, but her stomach growled and eating became a priority.  Summer pulled off her clothes and threw them in her hamper, leaving her wearing only a wife beater and a thong.  She flicked on the TV, found an old episode of
The Jeffersons
, and pulled out her dinner, jumbo hot wings, French fries with a side of fried rice.  Although she liked to eat vegetarian meals she wasn’t practicing that lifestyle, she tried to limit her meat intake to once a day. 

After adjusting the pillows, she sat back and sighed.  Other than lunch with Clint this was the first time all day she had the chance to put her feet up.  “This feels so good,” she muttered, and paused a moment to savor it.  She blessed it before she started eating. 

She was just beginning to feel like herself when Trey burst through the door.  “I knew I smelled some hot wings.”  He reached down for one and Summer slapped his hand away.

“Nu uh, you are not getting any of my food.”

“Stop playing girl.” Trey laughed, then reached again and Summer whacked him a second time. 

“I’m not joking Trey, you’re not getting any of my food.”

“What?  Why not?”

She glared at him before answering.  “Why should I?  You didn’t think about me enough to make me dinner.  You were here all day playing that fucking game!”

“What?  How am I supposed to know that you wanted dinner, you didn’t tell me,” he said angrily.

“I didn’t tell you?  I didn’t tell you to take a shit this morning but you did!  Hell, I’m supposed to be your lady, and you can’t even think to cook for me?  To make sure that I had something to eat after working for twelve hours, you can’t even do that for me?” she spat at him, her pent up anger spilling out.

He turned to go.  “Well fuck it then Summer, all I wanted was some wings, I don’t wanna hear all that shit.  I’m going back to play my game.”

“Don’t. You. Walk. Out. Of. Here,” she said through clenched teeth, her words hitting him like bullets in his back. 

Trey slowly faced her, his mouth forming a large O, Summer never talked to him like that before.

Suddenly her mouth went dry, her words glued together in her throat.

“So whatcha gonna do, just stare at me all night?” Trey asked, his mouth twisted in a sneer.  “Fuck this I’m leaving.”  He stomped toward the door.

“I think it’s time that you left.  I want you to move out,” she called after him, he rounded on his heels, his jaw had dropped, this was the last thing he was expecting. 

“You want what?” he stuttered.

“I want you to pack up your shit and leave, us living together isn’t working anymore.”  She didn’t need him financially; she paid all the bills and even gave him money after he used up his weekly unemployment check.

“Fine, I’ll leave.”

“You can stay until the end of the month if you want,” she offered.

“Fuck that.  You want me to leave, then I’ll leave tonight.  I’ll go back home to my Moms, at least she won’t be trippin’,” he said sullenly.  He stalked to the closet and stared at it, unsure of what to do. 

“There are some Hefty bags under the kitchen sink,” Summer said and Trey glared at her before stomping out of the room.  She heard him telling Fresh Man the news, which was immediately followed by a spurt of expletives that made her want to cover her ears with her hands.

Moments later Trey returned with the garbage bags draped over his arms.  Without saying a word to her he began dropping his clothes, still on their hangers, into the plastic bag.  “I know what this is about,” he muttered.

Summer, who was watching TV, shifted her gaze at him.  “What? What did you say?”

He whirled around.  “I know you’re doing this because of Clint.”

“What?” Summer asked with a laugh.  “What are you talking about?”

“You know what I’m talking about,” he sneered at her.

Summer blushed; she knew exactly what he was talking about.  A couple of years ago while they were making love, she had called out Clint’s name.  “He has nothing to do with this, besides he’s married, happily so,” she threw in, even though she wasn’t sure.

“Yeah right.”

“Just keep packing,” she snapped.  Summer settled back on the bed, her dinner ignored, she no longer had an appetite.  While he was stuffing his clothing into the garbage bag, she realized that she had bought almost all his clothes. 

This wasn’t how she had imagined they would turn out.  They had started dating in their senior year of high school.  He was the quarterback and she was the shy studious girl that no one knew existed.  Her goal was to get through high school without anyone noticing her and she had been successful, until she had walked into Trey’s sights.  Trey had pursued her relentlessly for two months before she agreed to go out with him.

With Trey as her boyfriend, her senior year of high school was idyllic.  People who didn’t talk to her before wanted to be her best friend, and Trey treated her like a queen.  Back then he was always buying her things and taking her out.  And when she finally had given herself to him, she had given him everything including her heart.

They both went away to the same college, both on scholarships, him on an athletic and her on an academic.  After getting caught with cocaine one too many times he was kicked out.  One night during summer break while they were hanging out they had stopped at a Kroger for some beer, where on the way out he had bought a fifty cent ring from the bubble gum machine. They both were in tears when he knelt down on the dirty asphalt and asked her to marry him.  He didn’t put the ring on her finger until he made her promise him that she wasn’t going to return to school, after a slight nod, he slipped it on. 

Her parents were furious, when she had broken the news to them.  The only thing that saved her from being kicked out of the house was her promise to enroll in a local college.  She enrolled in culinary school while he jumped from one dead-end job to another.  She had matured, while he was still the same person he was in high school.  The bubble gum machine ring was lost years ago.

“I was so stupid,” she mumbled.

Trey turned to her with a grin.  “Change your mind already?”

“Hell no!”

“Oh you will,” he vowed before turning back to his packing.  “I’m taking my Xbox,” Trey announced.

Summer giggled at the absurdity.  She had bought him the game last year for Christmas. “Take it Boo and please enjoy it.”

“You’re a crazy bitch,” he shot out before racing from the bedroom. Summer was on his heels.  She leaned against the doorjamb while he disconnected his game, snatched up the cartridges and nodded to Fresh Man.  It took them two trips to get everything out, the final time he came up; he flung the keys at her before running out the door. 

“You really are a punk ass,” she said before plucking the keys off the floor.  “I’ll have the locks changed tomorrow.”

“I just told him to move out,” Summer announced, her hands still shaking from the rush of emotions.  She clutched her phone.

“Hallelujah,” Yvette shouted.  “What happened?”

“Tonight was the straw that broke the camel’s back.  I was just tired of him.  I came home to find dirty dishes in the sink, and him and Fresh Man playing video games.  It finally hit me that he has no ambition, he has no fucking problem mooching off me and he’d keep doing for as long as I let him.”

“I’m glad that you finally saw him for the loser he was.”

“I didn’t want to give up on him,” Summer said quietly. 

“I understand, believe me I do, I’ve had my fair share of Treys.  But at the end of the day they have to man up, we can’t keep carrying them, at least I can’t, my back is tired,” she said and Summer laughed.

“You’re right, I guess I feel a little guilty, it was all of a sudden, but I did offer to let him stay until the end of the month.”

“Don’t worry yourself about it, it was time for him to leave and hopefully one day, he’ll realize it.  Now you can get at your fine ass boss.”

“I don’t know why everybody thinks I want him, but I don’t,” Summer protested.

“Yes you do.  If he even crooked his finger at you, you’d go running to him, while almost tripping over your thongs down around your ankles.”

“That is so not true,” Summer retorted.

“Listen, straight up, there’s nothing wrong with admitting that you’re attracted to him.  He’s fine, if you like those pretty boy types.  But I know you, you’re gonna admire him from afar, and I know you’re not gonna do anything to jeopardize his marriage.  So have your crush, because that’s all you’re gonna have for a while, because it’s tough out here, these men are crazy.” 

“I’m not even worried about that, I’m not interested in dating anyone and since the holidays are coming up, we’re gonna be super busy at the bakery.”

“Hey you’d better not be too busy to hang out with me.  I want to go to some parties and since you’re a free lady…”

“Okay that sounds like fun just let me know so that I can make sure I have the time off.  Talk to you later.”

She clicked off her phone and for the first time in years, she felt light.  At that moment Summer realized that Trey had been a burden on her, now with him gone she felt lighter.  And the constant simmering anger she had whenever she thought about him, was gone, all she felt was sadness. 

Chapter 4

Violet glanced at her husband.  Clint was snoring softly.  She had come to bed naked, a green light for sex.  But when Clint had slid in beside her, he had pecked her on the forehead and promptly went to sleep.  That was hours ago, she had long since pulled on a pair of flannel pajamas, Clint hated them, but they kept her toasty.