the house, Darnell leaned close to kiss Tia on the mouth. “Hey.”
“Hi.” Tia drew back, avoiding his lips, then led the way back to her living room and offered him a seat with the wave of her hand. She sat as far from Darnell as possible, choosing the chair near the patio windows instead of the sofa.
“I got your message.” He reached for the remote on the coffee table and began to channel-surf. “What’s up?”
“There’s something we need to talk about.”
Grinning like an idiot, he said, “Everything all right? You look all serious and stuff. Unload. Tell your daddy.”
Tia cringed. “I had lunch with my sister today,” she responded in a dead-calm tone.
Unconcerned, he said, “Yeah. How’s my girl doing?”
“She’s fine.”
He must have noticed the lack of emotion in her voice. Frowning, Darnell asked, “Is the family okay?”
Tia nodded. “Nia was at Sips in Farmington Hills last night.”
Darnell’s grin slipped a tiny bit. He ran his hand across his face. “Mmm. Really? I was there last night. What time did she show up?”
“I think she was there most of the evening.”
“Oh.” They sat quietly together for several minutes. Deep in thought, Darnell tapped out a toneless tune on his knee.
Tia stared straight at him. “Nia told me that she saw you.”
His head snapped up. A suspicious spark glared back at her, but he kept his tone light. “Did she, now?”
“Yes. And you weren’t alone.”
Instantly, Darnell swung into persuasive salesman mode. He smiled innocently and said, “Oh, yeah. Sunday. There was a couple I met at the club. Old couple. It cracked me up when they suggested we meet there.”
“Do they have a daughter?”
“What? Daughter?” He shook his head. “No.”
“That’s what I thought. Nia didn’t mention an older couple. Just a young woman.”
“What are you trying to say?” he demanded.
“It’s pretty clear. You’ve been cheating on me.”
Darnell jumped to his feet and approached her. “Oh, babe, come on. Nia must have gotten everything wrong.”
Tia waved him away. “I don’t think so. My sister finally admitted that last night wasn’t the first time she’s seen you with other women.”
“I’m telling you this is all a mistake. Nia has got me mixed up with someone else.”
“So you haven’t been at the Motor City Casino on Grand River or the Dirty Dog Jazz Café in Grosse Pointe?”
“If she saw me at all of those places, why didn’t she say something before now?” He sat down, crossed his leg over his knee, and smirked back at her. “That doesn’t sound quite right.”
“Nia kept her mouth shut because she didn’t want to see me hurt.”
He sat up straight on the sofa and shot back, “And making accusations like this is hurting you?”
“Yes, it is. But she had a better reason for telling me.”
Grunting, he asked, “What?”
“My health.”
Frowning, he stared back at her. “Health?”
“By messing around with other women, did you ever stop to think about the diseases and germs those encounters bring to me?”
Darnell opened his mouth to speak and shut it without saying a word. Tia could tell that he hadn’t thought about that.
She snorted. “That’s what I thought. I’m sure you didn’t. Here’s the deal. We’re done. I want you to get your stuff out of my place.” Tia pointed a finger toward the first-floor bathroom. “I won’t call you. Don’t call me. It’s over.”
“Come on, Tia, baby. It’s all a huge mistake. I was wrong and I admit that. I shouldn’t have done it. Things got out of hand, and I did a few things that were wrong. But I still love you. You’re my girl. We’ve been together too long to let one little mistake tear us apart.” Darnell gave her one of his sheepish, persuasive smiles. He leaned forward, pressing soft kisses to her cheek and lips. He took her hand between both of his and said, “I can make it up to you. We can make things better than ever.”
“No, we can’t.” In a voice devoid of emotion, Tia continued, pulling her hands free from Darnell’s. “It’s over between you and me.”
“I can’t believe you’re willing to let us go this easy. Think about all that we’ve shared. How can you walk away from that?”
“How could you cheat on me? You destroyed our relationship, not me.”
“It’s your job. That’s what caused all the problems. You never had time for me. If you’d paid more attention to me, we wouldn’t be in this position. Every time we had things to do, your job and Adam Carlyle got in the way.”
Tia sighed. “Regardless, we’re done. My job won’t be coming between us anymore.” She rose, went into the kitchen, and returned with a white plastic garbage bag. She held it out to Darnell. “You can put your stuff in this. Make sure you take everything. I don’t want you back here again.”
Nodding, Darnell snatched the bag from her hands. His first stop was the bathroom, where he removed all of his shaving items. Next, he climbed the stairs two at a time to retrieve his toothbrush and a set of clothes, which he stuffed into the bag. All the while, Tia followed him, making sure he picked up every item that belonged to him. She meant it when she said that she wanted him to take all of his things. She didn’t want to see him again. They were completely finished.
7
I smell coffee, Tia thought, slowly waking from a fitful night with little sleep and horrific dreams. She turned onto her side and glanced at the radio clock sitting on the nightstand. Seven-thirty. Hovering between sleep and waking, Tia’s eyes drifted shut. Wait a minute! Her eyes popped open. That must be wrong. Blinking repeatedly to clear her vision, Tia rubbed the sleep from her face and reached for the clock. The red LED display was correct. Oh, man! I’ve overslept.
Why hadn’t her alarm gone off? Had she slept through the squeal of the alarm? Oh, yeah. Tia returned it to her nightstand. I turned it off before I was finally able to fall asleep.
Tia reached for the telephone and dialed the office. She was going to be late this morning. She left a message for one of the other executive assistants to keep an eye out for Adam and anything he might need until she made it to the office.
Tia felt incredibly sluggish as she swung her legs off the
