This Could Be Us But You Playin' 2 (12 page)

“Oh, I get it. You gotta man, huh?”

“No, that’s not it. I’m actually quite single.”

“Well, what situation do you have going on, if you don’t mind me asking?” Instead of vocally answering his question, Shanice pulled the fabric of the front of her dress back and showed her baby bump. When Marcus saw it, he leaned backwards and just looked at her.

“That’s all?” he asked with a smirk. “That’s your situation?” When she nodded, he continued. “That, I can deal with.”

“I also have a three-year-old little girl at home?” Shanice blurted out. She wanted to make sure he understood exactly what she had going on.

“Okay.” He shrugged, “Do you have a crazy baby daddy or something?”

Shanice laughed. She liked his style already. He was cool and calm and not all over the place like Deondre could be sometimes. “Nah, he ain’t crazy… why?”

“Just asking. So, now that we’ve established that I ain’t tripping, can I get your phone number now, so I can let you go? I know it’s hot out here and I don’t want you to wither away in this heat.” Shanice burst out laughing. The sun was beating down on them, and she had been feeling rather warm these last few moments, but knew that it wasn’t from the heat.

Crossing her arms and leaning against the back of her car, Shanice peered at him. “Let me ask you something first. Do you have a woman or children at home?”

“No woman, but I do have four children,” Marcus replied. When he saw her face drop, he asked, “Will that be a problem?”

Shanice thought about it for a second. At first, she wanted to say, ‘Hell yeah’, but decided against it. How could she expect a man to accept her children, if she couldn’t respect the fact that he had some as well?

“No, it’s not a problem at all,” she told him truthfully.

“Good.” Marcus smirked. “Because I don’t have any kids.”

“Ha!” Shanice’s mouth opened wide and she laughed loudly. “You ain’t right,” she told him, bending and smacking her hand against her thigh. “Do you have kids for real?”

“Nah, I ain’t got none for real. I was just fooling with you.”

“Now you can’t have my number because you play too much.” She folded her arms across her chest and rolled her eyes playfully.

Marcus gave her the sad face. “Don’t be like that, beautiful.” Shanice beamed. She loved to hear him give her compliments.

“I’m joking, give me your phone and I’ll lock it in.”

When she was finished programming her contact info into his iPhone, Marcus slid it back into his pocket. “Is it okay for me to call you later tonight?”

“That’s fine. I’ll be home.”

“What time is too late for you?” Marcus asked, shocking Shanice. She had never been asked that question by a guy before. Most of the time men didn’t care what time was too late, especially when they only planned to come over and have sex.

“Any time before ten is good.”

“Cool.” He smiled. “I’ll make sure I call before then.”

“Sounds good.”

“Alright, well I’m going to let you go. You drive safe beautiful, and make sure you grab you something to eat for the little one.”

Shanice smiled. “I will definitely do that,” she said, before she climbed into her car and closed the door.

Sticking her key into the ignition, she continued to watch Marcus as he made his way across the parking lot and into the AT&T store. Before she pulled backwards this time, she made sure to check her surroundings. When she was sure that the coast was clear, she reversed and headed out of the parking lot headed to her parents’ house. While she drove, Shanice couldn’t help but think of her recent encounter with the handsome stranger that she almost ran over. She was happy that things turned out for the best and was looking forward to his call that evening.

Lawd, that man is going to get me in trouble.

*****

“I’m not sure,” Shanice said with the phone placed between her shoulder and her ear. “I can see if my mother can watch London for me, and I’ll call you back and let you know.”

“Cool. You do that. I’ve been dying to see you for the last three weeks,” Marcus admitted.

“Yeah right,” She smacked her lips, “You ain’t gotta lie to kick it.”

“No lie. You know it too because I’m always asking. I’m starting to wonder if you like me for real, or if you only gave me your number out of pity because every time I try to see you, you always ducking and dodging me,” he said in a joking manner, even though he was dead serious.

It was true. Shanice had been trying her best not to see Marcus. Since they met three weeks prior in the parking lot of the strip mall, the only thing they’d done was talk on the phone. No matter how many times he asked to hook up, Shanice always gave him some kind of excuse of why it could never happen. She used London, her mother, and even feeling sick as an out. While she was sure he thought that she was only playing games, Shanice had an entirely different reason why she was trying not to go there with him. One, she wasn’t sure if she was completely over Deondre yet. He had started back calling and popping up over her house, and she wasn’t sure if one day she would give into his persistence. Due to that reason, Shanice didn’t want to string Marcus along and cause more problems than it needed to be. The second was the fact that Shanice was actually scared.

Although they had only been talking on the phone for the last three weeks, they spoke to one another numerous times a day. Sometimes they would talk for hours at a time, while other times they spent texting. Shanice found out that Marcus was twenty-two and the youngest of three. His mother was a postal worker who raised each of sons by herself, after their father was murdered in a robbery many years prior. She instilled in them the value of working hard to get what they wanted, and they did just that. With his two older brothers being doctors who owned their own practice, Marcus decided to do something a little different. A recent graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering. He worked an entry level position for a large tech company, with the hopes of climbing the corporate ladder all the way to the top. Shanice loved Marcus’ drive and how he was focused on bettering himself. Marcus may have been young, but he had goals, which was something Shanice needed in her life.

Not only was Marcus smart, but he was also very nice. He always said the sweetest things and knew exactly what Shanice needed to hear and when she needed to hear it. Daily, he sent her good morning texts and never went too long without reaching out, even if she hadn’t called him at all that day. Marcus was never pushy and respected her at all times. Shanice wasn’t sure if he was just that good at running game, or if he was really sincere when it came to her. This was something new to experience because Shanice had never had a guy who paid that much attention to her. She was always the one who reached out and called, or the one who spent most of the time thinking about whomever it was that she was with at the time. In fact, the only time men ever really chased after her was when they wanted what was between her legs. She wondered if that was the case with Marcus. Wanting to give him a chance to lay it all on the table, she decided to bring up her feelings.

“First of all, I didn’t give you my number out of pity,” Shanice started. “I gave it to you because I wanted you to have it. I thought you were cute and respectful.”

“That’s what’s up.”

“Now that you brought it up though, I have been making excuses not to see you.”

While Marcus figured she had been doing just that, it kind of blew him away to hear her admit it. “Alright, I figured that. Can you tell me why? Did I do something wrong?”

“No, you haven’t done anything. Truthfully, it’s all me,” she revealed.

He snorted, “Are you about to give me the ‘it’s not you,
it’s me’ speech?”

Shanice laughed. “No silly. I’m not about to say nothing like that. I just wanted you to know that you haven’t done anything to me. The reason I’ve been keeping my distance is because that’s my way of protecting myself.”

“You ain’t gotta protect yourself with me, beautiful. I ain’t trying to hurt you-”

“Please, let me finish before I lose my nerve.”

“Alright, do your thang.”

“Okay, like I was saying, I’ve been keeping my distance because I want to protect myself. I’m afraid,” Shanice confessed. “It’s been less than two months since I split from my children’s father, and I don’t really know what’s going to happen between the two of us. I feel like I’m done with him, but sometimes in the back of my mind, I wonder if I really am. I don’t believe it would be fair to you if we entered into something, and I still have a confused heart, you know?” she asked, even though she wasn’t really expecting an answer. “Not only that, but you scare me, Mark. I’ve never had a man be as attentive to me as you are. Most times it’s the other way around, so this all is really new to me, Shanice admitted. “You text me all of the time just to see how my day is going. Before my break-up with him, I didn’t get any of that and I was pregnant with his child.”

As Shanice continued to talk, tears rolled down her cheeks. It was crazy just how much things hurt when people are honest with themselves. It was weird opening up to Marcus, but she knew she had to because if they ended up being a couple, Shanice knew that he needed to know these things. Not only that, but talking to him at that moment was therapeutic. Since Shanice didn’t deal with many people, she really didn’t have anyone to open up to. There was no way that she could share her issues with Dominique. Not only would it ruin their so-called friendship, but Shanice would have to admit all of the things that she and Deondre had been doing behind her back. She couldn’t go to her mother because she already swore that she was through with dealing with him in the first place. While Paris and Shanice were extremely close, even talking to her about certain things were hard because her main thing to say was, ‘get over it and move on’; she had no clue how hard it was because she never gave her heart to anyone.  

“I get it, trust me, I do,” Marcus spoke. “I don’t have any kids with my ex, but I do know how it feels to be afraid of jumping into something else. I used to feel the same way,” he paused. “Then I realized that I refused to allow what she did mess up my future life. I can be cautious with my heart, all while going for what I want. You don’t have to jump into
anything
head first. Just take your time and watch out for the signs that you may have missed or not wanted to see before. People show you who they are, you just have to be willing to accept it.”

“Wow,” was all Shanice could say. While she knew Marcus was more intelligent than every other guy she had ever dealt with, she had no clue that he was that deep. “Now that you put it that way, I guess you’re right.”

“I’m not trying to be right, Shanice. I just want you to understand what I’m saying,” he told her. “Now, I’m not perfect. I have my flaws like everybody else, but I am a damn good dude.”

Wiping her face with the back of her hand, she leaned back against the headboard of her bed. “What is it that you want from me, Mark?” Shanice asked. He talked a good game, but she wanted to know what his motives were. Did he just want to be her friend, or was he looking for more?

Marcus took a deep breath. “Honestly, I just want to get to know you. Spend time together and find out all the things that you like. I wanna know what your favorite color is. What things make you mad and what makes you smile. All of that.”

“And what do you want in return?” Shanice asked.

“Just for you to treat me the same way that I treat you,” he explained. “I want you to be honest and upfront. Call me sometimes, just to see if I’m still breathing.” While he laughed, Shanice felt bad. She hadn’t really called him at all, even when he weighed heavily on her mind. Now that Marcus had brought it up, she promised herself that she would call him more often to check up on him.

“I can do that.”

“If you want me to keep it all the way real with you, I want your friendship first because in order to be anything else, you have to be friends. If or when it turns into something deeper, I won’t fight it, and I hope you won’t either,” he explained. “Now, with that said, if you want me to back off until you know what it is that you want, I will do that for you. I just want you to know that I’m not to put my life on hold while you figure out.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to,” Shanice said in a low tone.

“So, what’s it going to be, beautiful?”

Before she answered, Shanice thought about everything that Marcus had said. He had some valid points and didn’t seem like he was playing her. Of course, she knew that men usually said things to get what they wanted, but for some reason, this felt different. It was something about him that made her want to get to know him better. Find out just how he became the man that he is. Shanice was intrigued, and if nothing more, she wanted to be his friend. If it turned into more like he had said, she wouldn’t put up a fight either. Instead, she planned to just go with the flow and let everything fall in place. For the first time in weeks, Shanice’s mind was not on Deondre. She didn’t care what he was doing or who he was doing it with. At that moment, all Shanice cared about was Marcus and starting a new chapter in her life. She knew that in order for her to do that, she had to be real with him, just as he had been with her.

“I’m not going to lie, I’m still nervous, but I’m willing to put that all aside just to see where this goes,” Shanice told him. “Before we do that, I need to make sure you completely understand my situation.”