Simply Cheris. . .

When Imade it to David’s place, I was overwrought. Looking over my shoulder everytime I heard a noise, felt a breeze or just felt as if something was lurking inthe shadows. I jumped, ready to pounce. Taking the elevator up to David’s, Iwondered what had I done to deserve this bullshit? Not to whine and pretendthat I’m Miss Innocent. But Karma – haven’t I suffered enough? Before Icould knock on the door, David opened it. Normally, I would’ve hugged andkissed my man. Something was different and I didn’t want my lips anywhere onhim. “What’sgoing on, Mimi?” I threwthe note under his nose. “How about you tell me? What’s going on with you andthis bitch, David?” “Nothing,not now anyway.” “Not.Now. Anyway?! The fuck does that mean?” “You needto calm down,” he said and looked at me as if I were a stranger. As if I wasthe one who had let another man fuck me and stalk him. He was the motherfuckingstranger. He was the one who made me an unwilling participant in a ménage atrois. And I needed to cal...

I started to rip the note up, then a few thoughts dashed through my mind. How did this tramp know where I worked or what I drove? This bitch is crazy and David is a lying fucker. I looked around my car to make sure my tires were OK and that my paint job didn’t have any scratches. Had that whore messed with my car, I would’ve been ready to trample her fat ass. No damage, but I wasn’t taking any chances as I called the lot security. While I waited for the officer, I called David. This bastard had some questions to answer. No more nice Mimi, he was going to meet the crazy chick I’d been trying to keep under wraps. People say it takes two to ruin a relationship. God knows I’ve ruined my share. But I can officially, without a doubt, say I didn’t fuck this up. So, if this is my reward for growing and trying to be a better woman – then I want a do over.   I want to ruin this relationship. I want to accuse him of being a cheater. I want to start arguments for no reason. I want thing...

But I didn’t run. I thought Michelle had been the one with the problem. A sane woman wouldn’t simply show up at a man’s house unannounced. Then again, I’d learn that the man who says “I don’t lie,” turns out to be the biggest liar of all. Not only was I experiencing a change in my personal life, but work turned into a war zone. Sonia and the city manager fought about every damned thing: from the amount of money spent on staples and pencils, to the audit that she refused to do. He’d ordered her to shed one third of the department’s budget. “And just how in the blue hell am I supposed to do this while keeping the quality of what we do up?” Sonia asked as I stopped in her officer after work. I was a little surprised to see that she had a small bottle of Jack Daniels on her desk. “What are you going to do?” “Retire. Go work in Gastonia, tell that prick to stick my foot so far up his ass that he can shit out my Dr. Shoals insoles.” “Whoa. How much of that stuff have you had?”...

Later that evening, David and I were cuddled up on his leather sofa watching at CNN special when I told him about work. “That’s government for you,” he said. “Screw the people and get all of their money.” “You sound like Sonia.” “Cities aren’t about building neighborhoods. Especially this city.” “But. . .” His cell phone rang interrupting us. When he answered it, I stretched against him and heard a female voice on the other end of the phone. “You’re downstairs?” he said, and then rose to his feet causing me to tumble from the sofa. What the? “I’ll come down.” He stuffed his feet into a pair of sneakers as I stood up. “What the hell?” I asked. “Sorry about that.” “Who’s downstairs?” “I’ll be right back,” he said then headed out the door. Color me curious and slightly salty. Three beats passed before I slipped on my shoes and headed downstairs. This felt fishy. Or maybe I was borrowing drama. Didn’t matter, I wanted to know who sent him scampering outside. My ...