This November

Chapter 11

She could barely finish the day, she went home and cried all night. She called in sick the next day. She did not want to go to work and see him there and miss his touch and being in his arms and his kisses.

She could not believe things were over with Carter. She loved that man. How was she going to manage without him?

Yes, he spent crazy amounts of money on her and helped her to pay for the place she lived, but that did not matter. She could pay her own rent. She was going to miss the nights with him when he could get away. His wife traveled a lot, every other week she was away, and in those times, Carter spent the week with her.

And some weekends he could get away, they took trips together. Up to Chicago, New York, and several times in Lake of the Ozarks. They could not be seen in many places around town in St. Louis, so going away, they could go out to dinner, hold hands, and be somewhat normal.

Sure, they got stares, he was older and white and she looked so young, but neither cared. He was the man of her dreams.

All ruined because of one guy.

All day while off from work, she moped around the house. She did not want to do anything. Getting dumped was the worst. But worse than that was that no one knew she was dumped. Not her friends, not her sister. They would never understand why she was so depressed.

After ignoring several calls from JaMocha and Cambrea, she finally accepted their call.

"Where is your ass at?" JaMocha screamed at her through the phone.

"Home. I just did not feel well."

"Mmmmm hmmm, you took a fake sick day to shack up with that fine specimen Malik-Leek! I heard he was at the school yesterday and you did not tell us. So, what was up? Is he there now? You're getting your back blown out?"

"You know she need some," Cambrea chimed in.

"Girl, tell me those blue eyes look so blue in the middle of the madness."

What the heck was she talking about? She was not going to dignify their statements with anything to make them believe either way. She did not want Malik Hunter. Did she?

No! That was her past and she was over him. Seeing him now and kissing him meant nothing. He needed to take care of the kid he abandoned, and not worry about her. She hoped he was on his way back to Atlanta.

"Girls, really, I'm not in the mood."

"Fuck it then, we're coming over later tonight. Byeeeee!" JaMocha said before she hung up.

She groaned and lay back in bed. She had not showered, brushed her teeth, or done anything today. She had not eaten a thing and she did not want them over. Checking the time, she figured she had a bit before they would bum rush over, so first she began to clean her place as best she could. She made her bed, put clothes away in their proper place, and stuffed most things away in her closet.

Then she went into the living room and tidied everything up. She pulled out frozen chicken nuggets and fries and put them in the air fryer. While that cooked, she went ahead and took a shower. She cried a bit in the shower. Her life was so fucked up right now.

Then she toweled off, cocoa buttered her body down, put on over-sized red sweatpants and the first t-shirt she picked up. It was his, Carter's. She smelled it and it smelled like him, a husky manly man she could not describe the scent. Man? Was that even a scent? Well, it's what he smelled like. She had to take that off.

She stuffed it in the back of a drawer and grabbed one of her t-shirts.

She went to check on her food, which was done, and she dumped it on a plate, grabbed ketchup, and doused everything with it. She grabbed a Powerade out of the fridge and wolfed her food and drink down, happy at least she would not be starving when her friends showed up.