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  “When David’s girlfriend came to visit a couple of months ago, do you remember how he introduced her to us?” Maleeka began excitedly answering her own question before Katrina could respond. “He said, and I quote, ‘Katrina, Maleeka, this is my girlfriend from Detroit, Toya.’ End quote.”

  “Well, so much for your quote being accurate. Her name is Toriyana, not Toya,” Maleeka replied sarcastically.

  “Whatever! The important part of that quote was ‘his girlfriend from Detroit.’ He didn’t say his woman or his wife-to-be. Heck, he even signaled that she was a girlfriend relegated to a certain region of the country, which happens to be almost two thousand miles away.”

  Katrina quietly considered what her best friend said. She had not paid much attention to how David introduced his girlfriend when she visited several months back. The only thing she noticed was the fact that he said “girlfriend” and that Toriyana was a very pretty woman. Perhaps the only reason she was even thinking about it now was because she wanted to believe there was maybe some logic to what Maleeka said, or some sort of loophole in David and Toriyana’s relationship.

  “Katrina, are you still listening to me?”

  “Huh? Oh yeah. I’m here. I was just thinking about what you said.”

  “Well, knowing you, Kat, that’s all you will do: think about it.”

  “Maleeka, I don’t want to be one of those women who hang out with a guy, pretending to just want to be his friend because I know he has a girlfriend, when the truth of the matter is I’m actually plotting all along to steal him away and make him my man. That is just so deceitful to me. Then you can add the fact that if I do successfully make him mine, I may always be wondering if he will cheat on me like he did his former girlfriend.”

  After Katrina’s explanation, she began to feel remorseful, almost as if she had actually done what she described to Maleeka.

  “Katrina, stop it. The bottom line is David Mathis is a single man. He is not engaged to that Toya—”

  “Toriyana.”

  “Whatever!” Maleeka yelled a little too loudly. “He is not even engaged to what’s-her-name.”

  “Calm down, please. Look, the true bottom line is this: I will never, ever pursue David or even do anything to let him know I am open and available to him. Though I’m sure he is aware of my crush on him. If anything were to ever happen between us, it would have to be initiated by him.”

  Maleeka found a glimmer of hope in her friend’s statement. “What if he showed interest, but didn’t profess to you that he broke up with what’s-her-name?”

  “If David Mathis showed me that he was interested in me, I would not be able to resist him . . . even if he and what’s-her-name were married.” Both women laughed. Both women also knew that Katrina was only half joking.

  Chapter Three

  Darrin Osborne looked at his caller ID and saw his fiancée, Maleeka, was calling. He hit the reject button on his phone and sent the call to his voice mail.

  Darrin had spoken briefly with Maleeka yesterday when she called to tell him she needed to see him because they had something very important they needed to discuss. Darrin was sure Maleeka would get on him about setting a wedding date. He was not in the mood to have that conversation, so he made up an excuse to get out of meeting with her last night, promising to call her today. Certain that was the reason for her most recent phone call, he ignored it as well. Darrin knew he would have to see Maleeka soon. He just needed to buy himself a little time.

  Darrin truly loved Maleeka. That was why he proposed to her. He enjoyed being with her. She was beautiful, smart, funny, and a good cook. She was the kind of woman who would make a great mom someday. And surprisingly enough, he even liked her church-girl persona. Even though she had yet to ride the threat out, she was always talking about the two of them becoming abstinent until they were married. Though Maleeka had all the qualities Darrin wanted in the woman he married, he was afraid to take the final plunge.

  Growing up in the church and being raised by Deacon and Deaconess Thomas and Shirley Osborne, Darrin understood that marriage was supposed to be permanent. Forever! Till death do you part! His parents had been married for thirty-seven years. He knew what was expected of him as a husband. Quite frankly, it terrified him.

  Four years ago, before Darrin proposed to Maleeka, he allowed his head to be turned by a pretty new receptionist on his job. Darrin secretly began dating the young woman behind Maleeka’s back. The young woman knew full well about Maleeka, however. She initially did not care that he was involved with someone else; that is, until about three months into their tryst. On New Year’s Eve, Ms. Receptionist refused to play second fiddle to Darrin’s girlfriend. She demanded he spend the evening with her at her cousin’s party instead of at church with his square, Ms. Goody Two-Shoes girlfriend. Darrin refused. On New Year’s Day, Maleeka received a phone call from Ms. Receptionist, informing her of Darrin’s ongoing fling. Apparently Darrin had inadvertently left his cell phone at Ms. Receptionist’s disposal, during which time she found and copied Maleeka’s phone number.

  “Hello?” Maleeka answered.

  “Is this Maleeka?” Receptionist asked aggressively.

  “Yes, this is. How can I help you?” she asked warily.

  “I’m actually calling to help you. I have some information for you. Your little boyfriend, Darrin, well, we have being seeing each other and sleeping with each other for the past three months. I don’t want him or nothing like that—at least not anymore—but I just wanted you to know the type of guy you are involved with. I’m going to let you go now, but if you ask him about it and he tries to lie to you, I want you to know I’ve got recent pictures and other stuff to prove I am not lying. All right, bye.”

  Darrin had been sitting right beside Maleeka on her sofa when the call came in. He could hear Trisha’s nasal voice as if the phone were on speaker.

  After the call disconnected, Maleeka simply stared at Darrin for more than a minute. Not an sound came from her lips. Darrin was the first to attempt to break the contemptuous silence. The moment he started to speak, however, Maleeka calmly asked him to leave.

  “Darrin, please get up from my sofa and get out of my house.”

  If Maleeka had been yelling, cursing, and crying, Darrin would have tried to calm her down, asking her to allow him to stay and talk about it. The composure and quietness of her demeanor under the circumstances frightened him a little, making him believe that leaving was the better option.

  Darrin slowly but carefully extracted himself from the sofa. Once he had both feet planted firmly on the floor, he quickly walked to and out of the door.

  The next time he heard Maleeka’s voice was three days later. He had been calling her, leaving her voice mail messages and texting her for the entire time of her silence, but she had not bothered to respond, until early in the morning on the third day.

  “Maleeka, I’m so glad you finally returned my call,” Darrin said as he answered the phone after seeing her name on the caller ID. “I’m so sorry for the phone call you received the other day from Trisha. I’m even sorrier you had to find out about her that way. I don’t want to lie to you anymore, Maleeka. I was seeing Trish for a couple of months, but it was never anything serious.

  “I know you want to know if I slept with her. The answer is yes, but it was like a ‘friends with benefits’ type of situation. You are the only woman I’m in love with, Mal. Trish was just someone to play around with, baby. She touched me only in my ego. You are a part of my heart. Please, please forgive me, Maleeka. I promise I haven’t seen or spoken with Trish since before she called you. I also promise to never see her or any other woman like that again.”

  Darrin rambled out the entire speech before Maleeka had a chance to say hello. This had been the first opportunity he had to truly express himself since he left her apartment. He did not want to miss the opportunity to confess his mess and ask for forgiveness.

  “Are you done?” Maleeka asked in the same calm t
one she used when Darrin last saw her.

  “Uh, yes. I guess.”

  “Good. I called to say I’m not going to hold your . . . whatever you had with Trisha against you. You and I are not married or engaged; therefore, we are both single people, free to date whomever we choose. I love you, Darrin, but I guess that wasn’t enough to hold on to you exclusively. So I have to be realistic and understand you are not my husband; therefore, I don’t have any claims on your time, your body, or even your heart.”

  Darrin sat for several seconds, silent and confused. He truly did not know what to make of Maleeka’s speech. After finally finding his voice, he asked, “So are you saying we are breaking up and you don’t want to be with me anymore, or are you telling me you want us to still see each other, but as single and not monogamous people?”

  “Clearly, as evidenced by your little thing with me and Trisha at the same time, you were not in a monogamous relationship to begin with. I’m just saying I acknowledge it now and accept it. You are free, as a single, unmarried man, to date whomever you choose. We both are seeing that I am also unmarried.”

  “Wait, Maleeka. Are you saying you are now going to date other men?” Darrin could feel himself becoming irate, but he caught himself and tried to keep his voice as calm and relaxed as hers.

  “I haven’t started seeing anyone, nor is there anyone I am interested in right now, but I have to face facts. This is the state we are in, Darrin.”

  “Well, I don’t like this state, Maleeka.” Darrin had a bit more trouble controlling his voice with that statement. Maleeka remained steady and cool, however.

  “It doesn’t matter whether we like it or not. We are not married, Darrin; therefore, we have no right to demand exclusivity from one another. Our state is what it is.”

  There was silence for several more seconds as Darrin tried to digest what Maleeka said to him.

  “Darrin, look. I accept your apology. I forgive you for lying to me. But I also have to thank you for showing me how misconstrued I was about our relationship and relationships in general. After praying about us, I realized that God didn’t have much to say about us, because He had already given me a clear mandate and I chose to live outside of it. So, like I said, we are both single people who have been spending time together. We can continue to do that, but there will be no more sex between us. I don’t expect anything from you other than respect and honesty. I have to go now. I’ll talk to you later.”

  Darrin continued to reminisce and remember how confused and empty he’d felt after Maleeka hung up the phone. He knew he should be grateful she had forgiven him and still agreed to see him, but he could not get past the fact she would also be seeing other guys.

  Darrin thought for a moment that perhaps Maleeka was trying to strong-arm him into marrying her. He then remembered Maleeka was not the manipulative type. She was usually a straight shooter. He dismissed the thought. It was his last thought that made him truly realize what a gem he had in Maleeka.

  Maleeka had not written him off completely, so he decided to use that fact to get back in her good graces. Darrin painstakingly gave Maleeka a two-day reprieve by not calling her. On the third day he sweetly, innocently asked her to have dinner with him at her favorite restaurant. For the next several weeks he was the most perfect and generous gentleman, hoping to win her heart again and prove to her how much he loved her. As far as he knew, she had not actually seen another man as she initially insinuated, so he made sure she had no time to even think about anyone else. He had flowers delivered to her office once a week. They spent at least two nights a week together doing whatever she desired. He became her knight in shining armor. And on Valentine’s Day after he was sure she had totally forgiven him for his indiscretion with Trisha, he asked her to marry him. She happily said yes.

  That was four years ago. He had been exhaustively running from his commitment ever since.

  He knew he had to face her sooner or later. More importantly, he knew if he wanted to hold on to her he would have to rid himself of his fear of failing in his obligation as a married man and marry her—or let her go, and thusly, forever be a prisoner of its terror.

  “I miss you, Tori. I can’t believe you have to reschedule your next visit here. I was so excited about seeing you in just a couple of weeks.”

  “So was I, David, but my mother’s surgery came up suddenly. I have to be here to help her recover, which will take about six weeks according to her doctor.”

  David blew out a breath that held more frustration than he intended it to. Of course he understood Toriyana’s reason for having to postpone her trip to Arizona, but he truly missed his girlfriend. It had been a long two and a half months since he had last seen her beautiful face.

  Toriyana responded to his reaction. “David, I understand your disappointment. I miss you too. I also need you to understand the position I’m in with my mom. The hysterectomy is unavoidable. With her diabetes, her recovery will probably be more difficult than normal.”

  “I understand perfectly, Tori. I truly didn’t mean to sound so frustrated. I guess my missing you got caught up in my understanding and support. It all came out in a harsh way.”

  There was silence on the telephone line for several seconds, each party caught up in their own thoughts. Toriyana wondered how much longer their relationship would be able to survive the distance, while David contemplated whether or not it would be rude to question when she would be able to get to Arizona for a visit. David decided to just ask what his heart wanted to know.

  “So when should we reschedule the trip?”

  “Well, the week I was taking off from work was all the vacation time I have available. I’m going to use that week plus an additional week of FMLA time to spend with mom taking care of her. I could use the Family Medical Leave Act for two weeks and preserve my vacation time, but I wouldn’t get paid for the two weeks I’m off work. I really can’t afford to take that much time off and not get paid for it.”

  David closed his eyes and very carefully refrained from letting out another frustrated breath. From the way things sounded with Toriyana, it would be at least another three months before he was scheduled to physically see her again, when he returned to Detroit for Thanksgiving.

  When David initially decided to leave his hometown of Detroit, he thought the distance that separated him and Toriyana would pale in comparison to their love for one another. He was certain they could handle the separation of the miles when he decided to take his cousin William up on the offer to come and work alongside him as a non-profit director in the bank where William served as director of finance.

  In an effort to avoid saying something hurtful out of his frustration, David decided to end the call. “Tori, sweetie, I’m going to get off the phone. I’m a little upset, and I don’t want to speak negatively. I will think about some things and try to figure out a way for us to see each other before Thanksgiving. I’ll call you tomorrow.” He hung up before giving her a chance to reply.

  David and Toriyana had been together for only two years before he decided to move to Arizona. They met when Tori joined the choir soon after she joined his church. Toriyana had actually been the one to initiate their formal meeting after her very first choir rehearsal. David had performed a beautiful solo in practice. He appreciated her boldness and her beauty. The two of them hit it off immediately.

  The relationship was virtually drama-free up until he was offered the job in Arizona. They did their best to practice abstinence and were quite faithful to their commitment for an entire year. It was actually on the anniversary of their first date that they slipped and had sex for the first time with each other. The two had maintained their stance on abstinence since then, but had “slipped” more than once. They differed in their opinions on very few things; that is, until David decided to move to Arizona. Toriyana absolutely despised his decision on this.

  In the back of his mind, David knew Toriyana wanted to get married. She had not too subtly mentioned it more than once. H
e also knew Toriyana was purposely giving him a hard time about visiting him in Arizona because he had not yet, or ever, mentioned the subject of marriage.

  David loved Toriyana. She was truly a great woman inside and out, but before he popped the big question, he wanted to be sure she was the one for him. His marriage would have to last forever, whether he was happy or sad in it. He accepted the fact that God created marriage for holiness, not happiness, so he certainly did not want to stoke the odds in the favor of sadness by marrying the wrong woman. He hated the thought of being married to one woman and later finding himself emotionally attracted to another, which is kind of where he found himself now.

  His love for Toriyana was strong and solid, but there was a chemistry developing between Pastor Abraham’s executive assistant and him. Katrina was sweet, cute, and obviously attracted to him. He found himself reveling in her subtle attention. The distance between him and Toriyana, coupled with his own subtle, even if understated male ego, enjoyed Katrina’s attention, and David could see himself hanging out with her in a more than friendly manner.

  David prided himself on usually making sound decisions about his life. Before jumping into anything, he would often mull the idea over in his head, doing his best to be sure it was not too far off from the standards he had set for himself, which were usually based on God’s Word. So he tested the thought of asking Katrina out against his natural feeling and his spiritual knowledge. In the natural, he felt like he would be doing Toriyana wrong if he took out Katrina. However, he and Toriyana were not married. They were not even an engaged couple, so how wrong could it actually be? He could not immediately come up with any biblical premise that governed the institute of boyfriend/girlfriend relationships. Admittedly, at the moment he was not trying very hard to come up with any scriptures that stated it would be wrong to ask Katrina to have dinner with him, because he really wanted to go out with her. So he followed his immediate sense of spirit and made the decision to do just that.