The Sweetest Thing

Chapter 1

   I walked over to the radio to turn up the Bob Marley song currently playing. Redemption song had always been one of my favourites since I was a child. I looked around at my new condo. It was a breath of fresh air to finally be on my own. My best friend Jamila had come over for the day to help me unpack and celebrate the move.

  “Hey Promise, what should I do with this?” she asked, holding a frame containing a picture of myself and my ex-fiancé. 

  I rolled my eyes. “In the trash please.” I told her. Only a month ago I was still living with Marcus. My life had seemed so put together not too long ago. At the age of 24, I was working as an advertisement designer, I had a fiancé, and we had a nice place together in a good neighbourhood. He and I had meet in college, and had an instant connection. 3 years later, he proposed to me while we were in Hawaii on vacation. Marcus was a businessman, and had a high position at an office in downtown Toronto. He usually had a couple business trips per year, and it had never really been much of an issue to me. Over the last year he had been going away more frequently, almost twice a month. At first I believed his excuses of “big company deals” and him working harder to “move up the ladder,” but eventually it became suspicious. One morning Marcus had gone on a jog and left his cell phone at home. I had never been one to spy, but after the phone had been ringing for ten minutes straight, I decided to see who it was; a female by the name of Denise who claimed she had been seeing Marcus for the past year. That was enough to set me off. I had been cheated on by the man whom I had been with for the last four years, and engaged to. I packed my things and moved in with Jamila temporarily until I was able to stand on my own.

 “I got to hand it to you girl; this place is even nicer than your old one.” She said, referring to the condo Marcus and I once shared.

  We had a spacious condo close by the C.N. Tower. It was not my ideal area to live in, but it was nice and had easy access to both our jobs and other amenities. My new condo was everything I had ever wanted. It was a spacious, open concept suite that had a gorgeous view of the harbour front. It was still fairly close to the building I worked in, and Jamila wasn’t too far from me either.

  “Thank you for everything over the last month Jay. I don’t know what I would have done without you.” I said sincerely to my friend.

  “Don’t even worry about it girl, you know I’m here for you no matter what. That no good cheater doesn’t know what he’s missing.” She said.

  I laughed. Jamila and I had been best friends since we were five years old. I had pretty much considered her my sister.  She and I had been there for each other through everything since almost the beginning of time. Friends and boys come and go, but my sister would be there forever.

  “You want something to drink?” I asked her.

  “Some lemonade would do me just fine.” She responded with an imitation British accent.

  We both busted out laughing. Jamila was horrible at imitating accents and she knew just how much it made me laugh. I walked over to the stainless steel fridge in my kitchen and got out the box of lemonade. Pouring two glasses of the drink, I added in a couple ice cubes and went back to the living room. I had only moved in a week ago, so I still had a fair amount of boxes. I hadn’t taken any time of work; I usually came home and unpacked what I could before heading to bed. My place was coming together just as I hoped it would. Jamila and I sipped our lemonade, talked and laughed, all while organizing my bookshelves and cd racks. Before we knew it, the sunny afternoon had shifted into the dim night.

  “Only two boxes left, and I’ll be able to handle those on my own. Thank you again for helping out.” I told her.

  “Yvette you don’t need to keep saying thank you. Like I said, this is what I’m here for.”

  I nodded and smiled at her. “You know, we need to get out and do something fun. After the amount of stress I’ve been through in the last month, I just want a night off to go out and enjoy the city.” I said.

  “The art gallery has a new exhibit, and we haven’t been there in years. What about a trip to the gallery and some drinks afterward?” Jamila suggested. I was an art lover, and she knew that was my weakness.

  “That sounds perfect!” I said excitedly.

  “Maybe you’ll meet a nice artsy man.” She said nudging me. I shook my head. “I already made that mistake once; I’m not trying to do it again. Who needs a man anyway; right now I need to focus on myself, and my career. A man does not fit into that at all.” I explained.

  “Alright Ms. Independent, just don’t call me when you get lonely.” She joked. “Alright, and don’t call me when you need a ride home from one of your late night adventures.” I teased back.

  “I’m just playing with you, but really, I could use a ride home after all the hard work I put into making your place look good.” Jamila said winking at me.

  “I got you.” I said grabbing my keys. “Let’s go before you get too comfy on my new sofas.” We both laughed as well exited my suite.

 I drove a Mitsubishi Lancer, not the coolest car, but it got me wherever I needed to go without any problems. Jamila and I blasted Trey Songz in the car, singing at the top of our lungs. She lived only twenty minutes away from me, not too far from the Eaton Centre. I dropped her off at the high rise she lived in and then slowly made my way back home. It was shortly after midnight, and on a Thursday night the roads were generally quiet. I had booked the next day off, and was looking forward to relaxing at home and later going out.

  When I arrived home, I immediately began to feel tired. I was desperately in need of hot bath to allow myself to relax. I walked into my bathroom and turned on the water, allowing it to run. While the water ran, I removed my clothes and untied my hair from the tight bun it had been in for most of the day. I grabbed my cell phone from my bedroom and put my playlist entitled “For the Soul.” A perfect combination of Aaliyah, Jhene Aiko, Prince, and Chris Brown helped me feel more at ease and calm. I pulled out my favourite vanilla bubble bath and poured a generous amount into the warm water. Using my fingers, I swirled my fingers through the water to ensure that the bubbles were plentiful and properly distributed. Once everything was to my liking, I eased myself into my bath. I lay my head back against the wall of the tub and allowed my body to soak into the warmth. I closed my eyes and tuned into my music; taking in every word being sung in the song. My thoughts soon took over my body as I began to think of Marcus and what he had done to me. I had been with him for five years, two of those we had been engaged. I couldn’t understand where things had gone wrong, or what made him cheat on me. I hadn’t spoken to him since that morning; I refused to. He had been texting and calling me since I had left, but I had nothing more to say to him.

  After an hour in the bath, I got out, covering my body with a white fuzzy robe. I stood in front of my mirror studying myself closely. My brown eyes looked tired and dull. I had been under stress in both my work and personal lives that I hadn’t had sufficient sleep in the last month. My dark curls hadn’t been let down either. I kept my hair up and out of my face as it was faster in the mornings and I hadn’t had the motivation to style it. My mocha skin was dull as well. I truly hadn’t been keeping up with myself. Working excess hours so I could move into this condo had taken a toll on me. I decided that first thing tomorrow I would head to the spa across the street. I needed a facial, massage, a hot oil treatment for my hair, and a manicure. After everything I had been through I deserved to be pampered. Maybe I’d even go for a brief shopping trip too.

  I moisturized my body and changed into some cozy pyjamas. I was now looking forward to tomorrow.  I would spend the morning taking care of myself, and my evening and night would be spent out with my best friend having a good time. I slid into my bed, feeling the cool sheets against my skin. I snuggled myself into my fluffy pillows and pulled my blanket up to my shoulder. Within seconds I drifted into deep sleep.