“Where the fuck were you?”I asked Sean with an attitude after opening my apartment door for him.
“That’s not the greeting I was expecting. Watch your mouth.”
He entered my apartment and walked past me as if I hadn’t asked him a question.
“How many times have I asked you to leave your shoes at the door?”
“Damn, I guess you gon’ nag me for the rest of the night. I could’ve stayed home instead of coming here dealing with this shit.”
“Go home, then. You’ve been missing in action all day anyway.”
It was my turn to walk past him, and I purposely bumped into him with my shoulder. When I made it to my bedroom, I slammed the door.
Today was an important day for me, and I expected my man to be by my side. Instead, he was off doing God knows what and didn’t have enough decency to let me know he wouldn’t be there.
Defeated, I sat at the foot of my bed and blew out a breath. Sean and I had been dating for close to a year. Until recently, our relationship had been going well. However, something shifted about three months ago. He became overly critical of everything I did or said, started arguments over the pettiest things, and seemed different. We still had good days and enjoyed each other’s company, so I tried not to make a big deal out of it.
About a year and a half ago, I moved from Chicago to Onyx City and became a part-owner of Black Beauty Salon. I purchased the salon with my best friend, Raine, from her Aunt Pat. Shortly after, we expanded the business and partnered with Sonshyne and Breeze, Raine’s new husband and her brother, as well as Adan and Zayn, Sonshyne’s cousins. Sonshyne owned the barbershop next to the salon, and his cousins worked for him. He hired Breeze when he moved to Onyx City a few months after Raine and I did.
Our new business venture was called Black Reign Luxury Spa, and we had a lot more responsibility. It was a one-stop shop for a day of pampering for men and women, featuring a cosmetology and barber school where those aspiring to work in the industry could become licensed, complete certifications, and receive mentorship.
Raine was adamant about adding a daycare once she learned she was pregnant. However, the daycare wasn’t open to the public but strictly for the children of our employees, students, and patrons while they received services. It was a great addition to our plans.
Today was our grand opening, and when I left Sean’s place this morning, he told me he’d see me there. About twenty minutes before the start time, I became worried and began calling and texting him. I could barely enjoy our celebration because I was concerned that something had happened to him.
The door to my bedroom opened, and Sean stepped in with puppy-dog eyes. He leaned against the doorframe and looked at his feet. This tactic used to work on me all the time, and honestly, it still did, depending on the words that came with it.
“I’m sorry, aight. I didn’t mean to make you worry, but I had to take care of something at work, and it took longer than I anticipated. Before I knew it, hours had passed, and I’d missed the grand opening. My phone was dead, and I didn’t have my charger.”
Sean was the general manager of a twenty-four-hour fitness club. He’d started the job about six months ago, and this wasn’t the first time he’d had an emergency come up, ruining our plans.
“Don’t you have an assistant manager?”
“Yeah, but this wasn’t something an assistant manager could handle. Besides, she’s out of town.”
“Ever since you started this job?—”
“Would you rather I not have a job? At least I’m working. Any other woman would be grateful I had a well-paying, honest job.”
“I am grateful, Sean. It just seems like you miss a lot of important moments because of work. My friends?—”
“Nah, we’re not about to talk about your friends again. They’reyour friends, Melodie. I’m not required to go to every event one of them hosts. I got my own friends to do shit with.”
“Ain’t nobody say you had to go to everything, but today was different.”
He pushed himself off the doorframe, stuffed his hands into the pockets of his sweats, and slowly walked toward me. Whenhe sat at the foot of the bed next to me, I tried to scoot over, but he put his arm around me and held me in place.
“I’m sorry, baby. I know today was important, but what was I supposed to do? I handled the problem and got recognized by corporate. Do you know what that could mean?”
Now, I felt guilty for being upset. “Wow, that’s great, Sean.”
He lifted my chin with his index finger and kissed me. “See, baby. It’s not always about you. Your man got some good things going for him too.”
I wanted to respond and tell him we weren’t competing, but he covered my mouth with his and gently pushed me back onto the bed. My legs opened, allowing him to slide between them.
Rather than dwelling on his absence from one of the most important days of my life, I pushed it to the back of my mind. I had issues with many things Sean did, but one thing I never had a problem with was how he made my body feel.
He snatched his mouth away from mine and slid to the floor, taking my leggings with him. Once I was naked from the waist down, he put my legs on his shoulder and buried his face in my pussy.
