"You seriously need to learn to relax, Meka. You are going to pass out one day from the pure exhaustion of worrying about everyone, but yourself," Mike said, slowly massaging Meka's shoulders. "You do realize that you are as tense as hell, right?"
"Yeah, I know I am. I seriously don't know how to relax Mike, you should know this about me by now. After all, we've been friends for over 15 years now."
"Well, one of these days you will need to learn. It's not healthy for you to be worrying about everything underneath the sun and not take care of yourself. All you are doing in the end is burning yourself out. You really need to take a vacation," Mike stated, as he stopped massaging Meka's shoulders and sat down next to her.
"Now, you honestly tell me when I'm going to have time to take a vacation? You know there is too much going on around here for me to do something like that just now. You are aware that IT program is coming up in 2 weeks and we can't seem to get the bugs out of it. Linda is going to be leaving in about 2 months for her maternity leave and we can't bombard her too much. Jesse is breathing down my neck to make sure this program is working by Friday; I haven't even laid eyes on it yet and today is Monday."
"Meka, you are starting to ramble," Mike said, turning Meka to face him. "You have to remember that you are not the only one that is dealing with the same stuff. We are both on the same team, remember?" Meka just nodded. "So, please don't think you have to carry this crazy load by yourself. Plus, if you don't calm down, I'll make sure the both of us go on vacation at the same time, so I can SHOW you how to relax," Mike said, with an evil grin on his face.
"You're full of it Mike. You know you aren't going to show me a damn thing. You can barely keep your mind off of Michelle," Meka stated, rolling her eyes and getting up to walk down the hallway.
Mike grabbed Meka's arm and turned her around, with them basically inches away from each other.
"I might be with Michelle, but I don't forget those who matter to me most, even if they are stubborn as hell and won't listen to me."
Mike put his free hand underneath Meka's chin and lifted it, so they could look into each other's eyes.
"One of these days, some man will sweep you off your feet and you won't have time to worry like you do. I'm just waiting for that day."
"Whatever the hell, Mike. There is no man out there that will or can deal with me and you know it. I work too much and play too little," Meka stated, trying to back away from Mike. "Mike, come on. Let go. We have a meeting in 10 minutes and I need to grab my notes."
"I remember there is a meeting. We are going to the same one, crazy. One of these days I'll get it through your thick skull that you deserve a good man and you will have one. You are just too damn stubborn to realize that right now," Mike stated, finally letting go of Meka's arm and walking into his office.
"You just don't realize how stubborn I really am. I seriously doubt any man would want to deal with me," Meka thought to herself, walking into her office and shutting the door. "Plus, it doesn't help that the one man I want, treats me like his little sister. Damn, Mike, you just have no idea."
*****
Standing 6'2", with dark brown almost black hair, sparkling blue eyes, evenly tanned skin and cute boyish face, Mike was quite attractive. He had the typical athletic build, with him playing basketball. Of course, almost any woman would drool when they saw his chiseled body, with his six pack, when his shirt was off. So, seeing him in dress shirt, with a tie and dress pants really didn't help matters either. He was attractive and had the personality, confidence and sense of humor to match.
The only difference was that Meka had watched him grow up when he was basically a nobody in school, to somebody and she always thought it was an amazing transformation. So, she had seen his more sensitive side when other guys and girls were picking on him in high school and how he would cry from time to time. She had also seen the hurt in his face when he would ask a girl out and they would turn him down flat. But, now, she had not seen him shed a tear in years; on top of the fact that he could get any female he wanted.
Meka always considered herself more of a "plain Jane" type of female. She didn't think she had anything spectacular on her that would catch a guy's eye. She was a black female who stood 5'6", around 145 pounds, brown eyes and long black hair that reached below her shoulder blades when it was down. She had a slightly curvy body and if anything, she got sick of her behind. It wasn't out of proportion to the rest of her body, but if she put on jeans just right or a dress, she would get the constant stares from guys all over and it unnerved her. So, typically, she'd walk around with her dress pants and a nice dress shirt that would partly cover the top of her behind. If she was in casual clothes, it was always some slightly baggy jeans and a long t-shirt. She always felt it necessary to cover up her body, rather than show it off. Probably the way she dressed might have explained why she hadn't gone on a date in years, but that really didn't matter to her. She knew the one person she wanted and knew she would never get him.
Mike had always treated her as the "little sister." He would always make sure she was taken care of and that no one would treat her badly. Of course, he would flirt with her all the time, but she knew deep down it was never serious. It was always to catch her off guard. There had only been a couple of episodes where Meka though Mike meant what he was saying, but she had realized that he had been drinking and whenever he was drunk, anything would come flying out of his mouth; so she had to learn not to pay attention to what he was saying. Of course, sometimes she wished that what he said was truthful, but it was nice to feel that attention from him, even if the next day he didn't realize he had said it.
Overall, Meka had learned to love him as a friend, first and foremost. Her other feelings, that she kept well hidden from him, was something she dealt with when she was at home by herself. Seeing him with other women did not help matters. Even walking in on him having sex with some women didn't help. She would always wish she was the one that was underneath him, feeling every inch of him inside of her and on top of her. But, she knew deep down that reality would never happen. She would keep her fantasies to herself and learn to move on. She figured that friendship was better than nothing at all, even though some days it was torture.
*****
"Meka, can you please come pick me up? I'm fucked up again and I don't want Michelle yelling at me," Mike pleaded, slurring his words badly.
"Argh, Mike its fucking 3 o'clock in the morning. You fucking know better. Where the hell are you?" Meka asked, slightly pissed off from having the phone wake her from her sleep.
"I'm at Tony's house. I'm sorry, Meka. You know I'll make it up to you."