It was nearing the hour of six when Eric left his office for the day and began hurrying to get home. Along the way he stopped first at a gift shop to pick a bottle of red wine, along with a dozen white roses. Then he stopped at a movie shop and bought the movie Australia, as Shanice had opened up to him of her love for Huge Jackman's movies. He thought of calling her along the way but then decided not to; might as well surprise her with what I've got in hand. He was totally burning with excitement of seeing her, even though it was less than twenty hours since that happened, it felt almost as if an entire day had gone past since early in the morning when he last held her in his hands. How reluctant he'd almost being leaving her place to come to work today. What had he been thinking? It's not like there'd been anything special waiting for him when he came to work; he might as well should have called in sick today and spend the entire morning with her. Though he would have begged her too to skip work for the day, and no doubt she would have agreed to that. They would have stayed in bed all through the morning, make love and then take a shower together ... and probably make love again and again. Just thinking of the warm texture of her body was enough to entice him to step down on the gas so as to get home to her quick.
The sun was gradually going away from the sky to make way for a new moon when he approached his building and then parked his car in an empty space. As he opened his door and began taking out the items he'd bought, he failed to notice the young black man standing across the street watching him. There was an animal look in the young man's eye, one that spoke more of the way in which a predator would view a prey it was soon intending to come after.
Chris had paid a visit to Shanice's work place more than an hour ago, wanting to try and talk some more sense into her fish brain, but one of the ladies had told him she'd already left. He'd gone by her place and hadn't found her there either. A good thing she had taped a note to that bitchy friend of hers, Michelle, to her door, saying that she would be spending the rest of the day at Eric's place. Chris wasn't any certified genius, but it didn't take him much solving to know that Eric was the name of the white boy whom he'd seen her rolling around with the other night. He'd used the remainder of the hour trying to locate the white boy's place, and he'd arrived there a good ten minutes before Eric arrived in his car. Chris still remembered the look of his car from that other night and when he'd arrived here and hadn't seen his vehicle parked anywhere close to his building, he'd decided then to prudently hover around just to make sure he got the right address. And now wouldn't you know it—the white boy has finally arrived.
Chris was of two minds, whether to walk over right there and then to confront him, or to wait till after the fool had gone up. Though he figured from what he'd read on Shanice's note that she would probably be up in his apartment right now, waiting for his white boy ass to show. And it wouldn't be any good him confronting the guy out here in the street for all eyes to see him do it. Though it wasn't like he had any intention of fighting the guy, he merely wanted to tell him to lay his hands off his woman. Seeing that he had nothing better to do, he decided to hang back and sat at a park bench across the street and watched as Eric locked his car door, and then with his items in his hand, walked into his building.
Eric was smiling and feeling very happy as he took the stairs one landing at a time till he got to the floor where his apartment was at. He transferred the wine bottle, DVD cassette, and the bouquet of flowers to one arm while his other reached for the door handle. It came open in his hand, and his smile turned into a grin as he took a step into his living room.
"Babe, I'm back home!" he called out, as is feet kicked the door closed behind him.
"Ohh Eric, I'm so glad you're home! I've missed you terribly."
Eric got the shock of his life and the grin on his face instantly melted away as his eyes quickly recognized the owner of the voice he'd just heard. He stood there unable to move as the blond-haired woman wearing a purple blouse ran towards him smiling, and then hugged him. He didn't hug her back, although the look on his face was at that moment the opposite of what it was prior to when he walked into his apartment.
Tara pressed her face against Eric's chest, still hugging him. When she realized he wasn't returning her hug back, she pulled her face from his chest and looked up at him. "Oh come on, darling. Aren't you going to hug me back?"
Eric instead pushed her off him and dropped the things he was carrying on a couch before turning to face her with his arms akimbo, looking like someone who was ready for trouble, which he knew he was facing right now. "What're you doing here, Tara?" his voice was as cold as an ice cube.
"Why? Aren't you any glad to see me?" she continued smiling at him, though Eric didn't return the favor.
"The hell I am."
"It's been a while, Eric. Almost a year now, I think. You never called and you never wrote to me, not even send me a text message. Really, that's no way for you to treat your own wife, you know."
"Ex, Tara," he corrected her. "You're my ex-wife, and don't you forget it. Our partnership ended a long time ago, if ever we had one to begin with." "I was always good to you, Eric."
"Please. You were a slut and a tramp, and for you I'll wager that none of that has changed."
"Never the less, it doesn't make us enemies," she pouted indifferently. "I always wished we'd remain in touch. But I don't know why in heaven's name you just kept avoiding me for no reason at all."
"And since when did you become the caring type?"
"Inconsequentially, I've always been caring, Eric. I've always cared about you. Why else would I be here in the first place?"
"I wouldn't know. Maybe you drove around the city and suddenly lost you way, or you're in town searching for a new boy toy to hold your handbag for you. I know that's what you're into."
She gave him a sad look. "That hits below the belt, Eric. Really I've been wanting to see you, and that I haven't heard from you in a long while has got me upset."
He looked at her with feigned incredibility. "Have you lost your marbles, Tara? You forget that it was you who took out a restraining order on me, remember? Nothing less than a hundred feet was what the judge stated, if I remember correctly. All that bullshit you and your fancy big-shot lawyer did to keep me away from Gloria. And now you dare come all this to ask why I haven't kept in touch with you so that your lawyer can see fit to get my ass thrown in jail, ain't that right, you stuck-up bitch?"
"Do you need to call me foul name's now? Yes, I did take out the restraining order on you, but it was for you own good. For my peace of mind, at least, and for Gloria, too."
"Is that why you're here?" he spoke harshly. "You came all the way here to find me just to come throw Gloria at my face? You took her away from me, remember? You and your high-life type of living."
"Don't go blaming me for the way things went, Eric. You want to fight me over that then you take it up with the court system. That's not the reason why I'm here anyway."
Eric shook his head like someone faced with an un-winnable predicament. "Alright, Tara. I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt for now. Tell me then, why are you here?"
She approached him. She wanted to rest her hands on his shoulders but Eric drew himself backwards as if she carried with her a contagious disease he didn't wish to have a part of. Tara sighed. She looked at him with longing, as one would look to a former lover who'd once brought light to her light and then suddenly left.
"Isn't it obvious why I'm here?"
He shook his head.
"My reason for being here is simple, Eric. I want you back in my life."
Eric looked at her dumbly. "Pardon me?"
"You heard me. Eric, look, I know things weren't anywhere close to being good between us. I still think about those final months we were together, when we fought over just about everything ... about Gloria. And I know we caused each other a whole lot of pain during those court times. I'm willing to forgive you for all of that—"
