One Tough Love

Starting Over

January 1994

It's been a little over a month since the fiasco between Michael and I occured. I had finally made enough money to get a one bedroom apartment not too far from the Diner where I worked. Business at the Diner was busy as usually so I was able to keep up with rent, utilities and still had money left over to play with.

About a week after I left Michael's house, he stopped by and dropped off a large sum of money along with the deed to the diner. Now I wasn't there when that transaction occured but apparently he apologized for what he put her through and long story short, they're working on building a new friendship.

With the money that Michael had given back to her, she renovated the place and put the rest in a safe for me. "Rainy Days Only!"  She called it, when she locked the money up. She wanted me to be taken care of just in case times got tough and business slowed down again.

Things between Marissa and I were still on the rocks. Every now and then we would become distant from one another but this particular time, we just completely stopped talking. She no longer worked at the diner and she moved in with Tito on the other side of town. We never saw each other and when we did, we kept it to a "Hi" and "Bye." I missed having her around and being able to talk to her whenever but at the same time, I wasn't going to beg for anyone's friendship. That's including Michael.

Things were going pretty good between Michael and I. We're still just friends. I decided to take things extremely slow with this because I was still unsure as to if I was making the right decision letting him back into my life. We spend majority of the days together, either going out to eat and to see a movie or going to the zoo and taking walks downtown. I could feel him slipping back into a dark space and it kinda scared me because I didn't know what to expect this time around. I knew for a fact that no matter what, I wasn't taking no shit from him. Ever.

One afternoon I was over at his house because he had a barbeque that day. A bunch of people, who I assumed were his friends, came by and his siblings. Even Clarissa and Marissa was there. It was a nice little get together he had and once everyone started leaving, I decided to stick around for a few minutes to help clean up before making my way home. What I thought was gonna be a few minutes, turned into hours. As soon as I put away the last tray of food and tied up the last trash bag, I plopped down on the sofa and literally fell asleep right away. Turns out I was sleep for a long ass time and when I awoke, it was already past 11pm. Since I rode with Clarissa, I didn't have my car and I didn't want to wake her up just to have her drive all the way back over here. I walked upstairs to see if Michael could take me home but he wasn't in the upstairs study where I had expected him to be. I wandered the halls until I made it to his bedroom and peeked in. He was standing on the balcony overlooking the hills. When I walked up behind him, I noticed the night sky was beautifully lit by the moon and stars. The outside of his house was lit up as well with lights lighting up the pathway towards the trail and small Christmas lights winding up all the trees. It really was a beautiful sight to see. It reminded me of the little trip I had taken out to the lake.

"Hey," He said, leaning over the balcony.

"Hey."

"Join me?" He asked.

I walked up next to him and leaned over the balcony with him. I laid my head on his shoulder and I could feel how tense he was.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" I asked, hopeful. I didn't want him to have to hold in any anger or sadness, in fear that he might snap at any moment. I knew it would be hard to get him to talk about what's bothering him but it was worth a shot. "I know you don't wanna talk but everytime I need a listening ear, you're there. I just wanna be there for you the same way you're there for me. Let me help you please, Michael."

He turned to look at me and gently kissed my forehead. "You know what attracts me to you?" He asked.

"My lovely assets!" I answered, winking at him.

"Noooo," He laughed. " Well okay that's part of the reason but anyways.." he continued getting slightly distracted. "..I like how stubborn and persistent you are. You never let up and you don't take shit from anyone. I like that. You stand up for not only yourself but for those you love. You bring out the better part of me and I like that because I feel like no one's been able to do that besides my mother." He said looking off in the distance.

I stared at him waiting for him to continue.

"I'm having a few business issues, I guess you could say." He went to go sit in the chair off to the side. He patted his lap for me to come sit. I went over and flopped right down on him causing him to let out a small laugh.

"What kind of business issues?" I asked. He never liked to talk to me about business because he felt like his stress would become mine. Although that may be true I still wanted to know what goes on with him.

"I have someone who's taken out another loan and won't pay back. They're avoiding my calls and whenever my men go to there place of business or home, the never wanna chat. So, now I have to take matters into my own hands whenever they do catch him. You pretty much know how that goes." He explained, while rubbing my thigh.

We sat there in silence for a few minutes. I don't know much about this business of his but I do know if no one pays him back, he'll start losing big money. But if he took out everybody that did him wrong he still wouldn't get his money. So it was a lose, lose situation.

"What if I could talk to him?" I asked.

"What?" He asked, looking at me in disbelief. "No. Absolutely not. I'm not putting you in that position. Not at all."

"Aww come on!!!" I pleaded, caressing the side of his face. "Just think about it. No man is gonna turn down all of this," I stood up and gave a quick spin landing in a sexy pose. "I lure them in, handle the business and you get your man PLUS interest."

"And how is that gonna make a man pay up all of sudden?" He asked, standing up.

"Just let me work my magic, boss!" I said, grabbing his collar and pulling him in. "I promise you'll get your money's worth."

"You're not planning on sleeping with these men, are you? Because I sure as hell don't need you doing that. I swear on my life I'll kill anyone who so much as looks at you the wrong way." He said.

"Nope. No sex, no touching, none of that!" I reassured him. "And you can send one of your little henchmen with me to make sure the transaction goes smoothly."

He thought about it for a while and nodded his head. "Alright, fine. I'll let you give it a shot but you will carry protection with you. Understand?" He instructed. I nodded my head and kissed him.

"Thank you." He said in between kisses.

"Whatever, I'm ready for bed." I said, removing his jacket and belt.

"Nope, not tonight, darling!" He put a finger on my lips.

"What?! Why not??? I've held out for as long as I could, okay?! We're doing this. Now!" I complained, pulling him towards the bed.

He laughed and pulled me back to him, "Get the job done and then we'll talk." He whispered. "Until then, I'm going to sleep on the sofa and you can sleep in here."

"No, Mich-" before I could even finish my sentence, he picked me up and threw me on the bed. He proceeded to take my shoes off and kindly tucked me in.

He walked over to the little sofa against the wall, across from the bed and laid down. "Sleep!" He demanded, before turning his back to me.

"I can't believe you. It's gonna be two months, just so you know." I shook my head and rolled over.

"Get the job done and you can have whatever your heart desires." He mumbled.

He didn't need to say more. I closed my eyes and quickly fell asleep. I was gonna need all the rest I could get. I had a feeling tomorrow was gonna be a long day.