Steve’s Big Move

I’m about to fall asleep when the professor announces that class is over. For some reason tonight’s round of presentations did not appeal to me.

I yawn and walk out of class quickly. It’s dark out and I don’t like how spooky the campus looks at night.

As I approach my car in the campus parking lot, I blink twice.

“Steve?”

He smiles and walks toward me a sly grin on his face,

“What are you doing here?” I ask.

“Well, first can you tell me why haven’t you been answering my calls and texts?”

I clear my throat. “Well..um…hey. You said you needed to step back. I just gave you your space.”

He shakes his head and chuckles. “I didn’t need that much space Tee. What? You wanna get rid of me?”

“Hey. I don’t sweat Dudes. That’s not me. If you need a break, I’ll give you one.”

I’m trying to keep my face from breaking out into a smile but it’s hard. It’s been a month since I’ve seen or spoken to him and to be honest, I’ve missed him everyday. I just..I felt that it would be best if we broke things off. It gave me a sense of relief. I’m used to breaking up. What would I do if we actually had a continuing relationship? I don’t know how to handle that.

Breaking up is easy.

“Tee,” he says and takes another step toward me. My instinct makes me take a step back.

“Tee. You don’t want to do that,” he says.

The ghetto girl inme rises up. “What the hell you mean? I do what I want!”

He laughs. “You are so cute when you do that,” he says and grabs pulls my arm, bringing me close to him.

“Steve. I’ve been busy. In fact, I have some work to do tonight so we’ll talk another time,” I say. His eyes are intensely focused on mine. I can feel his breath on my face.

“I have something to tell you,” he begins.

“What?”

“Tee, I said that to you, not to make you stop speaking to me.”

I shrug.

“I told you I needed to take a step back because I had some big decisions to make and I didn’t want you to feel pressured to help me.”

“So?”

“So? Tee, have you been to my place lately?”

“No. What? You want your key back. I don’t go over there anymore,” I say and take two steps away from him, breaking his grasp.

“No I don’t want my key back. But if you had gone there you would notice something different.”

“What? You remodeled?”

He chuckled again, folding his arms and leaning against my car.

“No.”

“What you playin games for? Tell me what happened.”

“Tee, I moved down here. I live in Miami now.”

Huh? I couldn’t speak.

Living in Miami? Huh? Whah? No.

I shook my head, unable to make a sound.

“Why?” I manage to squeak out after what seemed like an eternity.

He just stared at me.

“I want to see you more than twice a month, that’s why.”

~crickets~

“You should have asked me first,” I mumble.

“Why? So you could tell me that I shouldn’t come? And why would you say that? Oh..I know. You’re scared of what would happen if we spent more time together, right?”

I whimper.

His eyes are so beautiful. He’s so wonderful. I’m so scared right now.

“So, are you coming with me back to my place tonight?” he asks and touches my arm.

“I don’t think so.”

“You know you’re still mine, right. I’m not letting you go anywhere.”

“I…I think we should be friends, Steve.”

“Is that right? Well, it’s not going to happen. We can’t go back to friends.” His fingers grip my right arm and slowly pull me back toward him. He squeezes me tightly and kisses my forehead.
“Don’t do that again, Tee. Don’t ignore me like that. I missed you so much girl.”

I sigh. “I missed you too.”

“Damn you’re beautiful,” he whispers.

I stand close to him, smelling his cologne, feeling his strong arms.

“Come on,” he says. “Let’s get out of here. Follow me to my place.”

“Steve…I have something to tell you too.”

“What’s that pretty green eyes?”

“I met someone else.”

He pauses and studies my face. “Oh yeah? You can tell me all about him over a glass a wine,” he says and opens the door to a black Nissan Crossfire. “Let’s go.”