The Baby They Bonded Over

Jeremy’s thoughts drifted back to the moment at hand. He looked to Nadia and Sylvia, “What are the chances of Paul coming back here tonight?”

Nadia shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know. He does what he wants, when he wants. I don’t have any control over that man. I think my biggest mistake with him was thinking that I ever did. I should be alright guys. He was getting ready to leave when you guys showed up so he may have given up for the night.”

“You think he’s given up. He could be sitting in somebody’s bushes waiting for you to be home alone again. You did say he was behaving like a stalker recently,” Sylvia reasoned.

“Oh,” Nadia raised an eyebrow, “Now you want to see the threat behind his actions?”

“Don’t act like a bi*ch Nadia,” Sylvia hissed. “You want me to be a part of this? I’m here. I might as well acknowledge what’s right here in front of us. Paul is crazy, and it might not be over. I want to say it is, but I know he ain’t finished yet. Maybe you should stay the night Jeremy.”

Jeremy rubbed his head wondering if that was a good idea. Nadia blushed at the implication.

“Oh what’s the matter?” Sylvia questioned them both. “You two concocted this scheme and forgot the most important part about sleeping together and actually spending time with each other?”

“I knew it was coming, but I just didn’t think it would be this soon,” Jeremy revealed.

“Yeah, I didn’t think about all the steps in between the major ones,” Nadia tried to laugh it off. “Maybe you should just stay with me tonight, Vee.”

“I would love to sis, but I got to work in the morning and this sh*t storm tonight has taken up enough of my time. I’ll have Amy come get me so you don’t have to bring me home, Jeremy,” she stated.

“It’s okay,” Jeremy started to reject her idea. “You don’t have to have her come out of her way. I can drop you home and come by to check on Nadia. I’m sure he won’t be back tonight.”

“Don’t chump out now,” Sylvia laughed. “Besides, she’s not coming out of her way. She works a few minutes from here and just got off work. I already texted her. She’ll be here in a few minutes.”

Sylvia was right. Amy arrived a few minutes later wondering what happened. Nadia gave her the quick rundown, and after assuring her she was okay the two women left to go home. Jeremy and Nadia sat on her couch alone trying to figure out what they should do next.

Nadia couldn’t bear the awkwardness anymore so she spoke up to change the mood, “I just want to thank you for doing this for me. And even for tonight. I never anticipated Paul showing up here. But now that I think about it, I don’t know why I would think that. He’s shown up everywhere else.”

“I’ve always cared about you as Sylvia’s little sister,” Jeremy started. “But as you’ve grown into the beautiful woman that you are, I couldn’t stand that you ended up with Paul. But certain things my mother always told me to stay out of when it comes to women I call friends; their purses and their panties.”

Nadia giggled at the saying. She could only imagine the embarrassment on Jeremy’s face when his mother delivered that line of wisdom.

Jeremy smiled, “Nah, I’m serious. Don’t laugh. Certain things you can’t talk to people about even though you see what’s coming from a mile away. You had to learn on your own that Paul wasn’t the right dude for you. No one was going to learn that for you. I just tried to make sure he ain’t pulling you down into the gutter with him. I’m always gonna be around to make sure you’re good.”

“I appreciate that. Funny thing is Paul mentioned that about you too,” Nadia told him. “He brought up a few times that you came in and saved the day, thinking you made him look bad, when he was the reason you needed to save me in the first place.”

“Oh really? Like when?” Jeremy asked interested in what Paul had to say about him. He moved closer to Nadia on the couch and began to relax as they went deeper into their conversation about the many times he helped Nadia out of trouble. A few of those times, he didn’t remember but if Nadia said he was the one who fixed the problem then he wasn’t going to contest her memory.

“And remember that time I was sick,” she tried getting him to reminisce with her. “And you had your cleaning lady come over to help me out. I ain’t ever had no soup like that. And I ain’t been sick ever since. I wonder what she puts in it.”

“Yeah that I do remember. But remember that time you were stuck at the airport?” he recalled.

Nadia smiled because even though the moments leading up to him coming to get her were sh*tty, the ending was perfect. It was the weekend of Paul’s last birthday. She had gone out of her way to get him tickets to Jamaica. Nadia planned the whole vacation for them, but according to Paul, he thought she gave him the tickets to take whoever he wanted. He brought his cousin, which of course the woman wasn’t, to the airport saying they were going to visit family.

Nadia made a huge scene right before they went through security. She didn’t want to understand why Paul would think she wasn’t going on that trip with him. But what she did do is clock him over the head with her carry-on. Security, of course, came in to break everything up, and once his cousin said she was no longer interested in getting in the middle of their drama, she left, but it was already too late. They were told to leave the airport. It wasn’t until Nadia was standing outside of the airport that she saw Paul off in the distance with the woman. He couldn’t have seen her, or if he did, he just didn’t care. He planted a kiss so passionate on the woman’s lips before he put her into a cab. Nadia knew right then it wasn’t a family affair.