Lady In The Trap (Part 2)

“You wanna get lunch today or you want me to go?” I ask Amelia on the phone. We took turns running out getting lunch on our lunch breaks. If either of us cooked the night before and had leftovers, we’d text each other to see if we wanted to have leftovers for lunch. That was one of the benefits of working with your best friend.

“I have somebody coming in at 11:45, can you go?”

“I sure can. What you wanna eat today?”

“Mmmmm…what you have a taste for?” Amelia knows not to do this to me because she knows I am indecisive.

“What you wanna eat, Susan?” I question, using the nickname I have for her.

“You pick, Sharon!” She fires back with her nickname for me.

I chuckle but finally decide on a place because our lunch break will be over by the time either of us decide.  “Mmmmmm… You wanna do Wendy’s? Fo-fa-Fo?”

“That’ll work!”

“Mkaaaayyyyy!” I sing in the phone. As soon as I hang up with Amelia, the line rings. I sing out the company greeting and waited. Today has been kind of busy and I hoped that whatever this was would be quick.

“Yes ma’am, when is it too late to change my direct deposit information?”

“May I ask who’s calling?” I ask. Years of retail taught me to be personal with my customers. Using a name made them feel important. Even though I didn’t have a lot of time, I was going to be nice to get this guy off the phone.

“This is Theo.”

At the realization it was him, I froze. After Amelia went snooping and found out he was not single, I tossed him out of my mind. But that voice on the other line, as smooth as butter, had me in a daze.

“Ummmm… hold one second for me,” I answer to put him on hold. My mind is racing. I know the answer to this question, but I needed a minute to think. I wasn’t understanding what I was feeling and why I was feeling the way that I was. This man had a girlfriend. This man was a charmer. This man was a walking hazard that I needed to stay away from. But this man also possessed something that was pulling me to him. I took a few deep breaths to center myself as I pick up the phone to resume our conversation.

“Theo? If you want to change that information, you will have to come in by the end of the day to do so.”

“What time do y’all close?” He asked.

“5:00 today.” My heart was racing. Why was I feeling this way? The last guy that made me feel like this ended up marrying someone else. I knew I needed to trust myself, but it felt like I was losing the battle against myself. I sat there for a moment thinking about whether or not this was worth bringing up in therapy since this man clearly had me out of sorts and I didn’t even know him. I completely forgot that I was still on the phone until I heard him say something.

“I’m sorry. Can you repeat that?”

“I’ll be by there when I get off today,” he tells me.

“Ok.” I reply and glance at the clock. It was a few hours until he could get here before we close. I knew I needed to get myself together by then.

………..

As always, I eat like a pig on lunch and hate myself afterwards. But it is what it is. I should’ve gotten a salad instead, but I decided to make this day my cheat day. Stuffed like a pig, I waddle to the file room to put away some folders. I hear the door chime, so I put the folders down to make my way back to the front desk.

As I’m rounding the corner to my desk, I see Theo standing at the counter. He was looking at me in a way that made my blood heat. If I were a couple of shades lighter, my cheeks would definitely be red because I was indeed blushing, even if he couldn’t see it. Be cool, Mina. Be cool, I think to myself. I had the gift of seeming extremely cool on the outside and having an entire fit on the inside. A coping mechanism is what my therapist calls it.

“Hello, sir. How can I help you today?” Even though I already know what he wants, I ask just in case anyone else in the office is listening.

“Ummmm, yeah. I called earlier about changing my direct deposit information,” he stated with a smirk that oozed in charm. I was sick of him already; sick that this guy was making me feel like a school girl. Although I was feeling that way, his vibe was extremely cool. He seemed like the kind of guy that was probably loved by everybody in high school.

“Oh yeah, that’s right. Let me get that form for you.” I get up from my desk to get the form. It was mid-March and in that weird in between seasons weather, so the weather was unpredictable. Today, I had on khaki pants, a maroon top, and tan suede booties. I had just gotten a tape the day before and I didn’t feel like curling the top of my hair this morning, so I slicked it down in the top. The office was usually cold, but I was sweating. I was praying that it didn’t show because I didn’t want my hair to become unruly.  I grab the form from the hanger on the way to hand to him. Just like last time, he was gazing at me. His eyes on me were unnerving.

“Here you go.” I hand him the form while sitting down in my chair. I tried my best to play it cool so he wouldn’t catch on to what he was doing to me.

“Thank you.” He begins to fill out the form and I pretended to be busy on my computer, but I was watching him. I watched the way he held the ink pen and how he sprawled his information on the lines. I watched his mannerisms and how he held focus on the task at hand.  He had a familiar spirit and I could not lie, I wanted to know more about him. I was getting ready to open an email when he told me that he was done.

“Ok. I’ll get this taken care of for you. Is there anything else that I can help you with today?” I question. For some reason I was eager, wondering if he’d linger a while like he did last time.

“Nah. That’s all,” he tells me.

“Ok. Well you have a blessed day,” I say to him slightly disappointed he didn’t need anything else. But instead of walking out the door, he leaned into the counter and started mindless conversation.

“You like working here?” He asked.

“I love it,” I answer. I was so glad that he hadn’t left.

“I can tell. Every time I call you’re always so chipper,” he smiles at me.

“That’s just my personality, really.”

“Mmmmm… ok. You got kids?”

“Just one. You?” I was the one fishing for information this time. Thanks to Amelia, I knew that he had someone in his life, but I was trying to see if he would be as generous with information as he was with asking questions.

“Yeah. I have 3, 2 girls and a boy. My oldest daughter is in college. My little girl is 4 and my baby boy is 2.”

I nodded. That girl I saw in the photo was definitely his girlfriend. One thing I’ve come to realize that if a man has a child with a girl that’s 2 and under, they are more than likely still seeing each other.

“Wait. How old are you?” I asked. He couldn’t be no more than 34, maybe 35 years old but he had a kid in college.

“How old do you think I am?” He shoots back. I could’ve looked in the system to see, but I didn’t. I told him what my thoughts were, and his reply stunned me.

“Nah. I’m 39,” he chuckled.

My mouth dropped open and all my professionalism went out the window. “39?! Wooooooooooow!”

“Yep. How old are you?” He was looking at me trying to make sure it was ok for him to ask.

“How old do you think I am?” I whip back. Every time I am asked that question, I always have that reply. I just find it interesting to see what people actually think about my age. He is looking at me trying to decide how he was going to answer that question.

“Ummmmmm… maybe mid 20’s? 25? 26?”

I smile proudly because people always guess I’m younger than what I really am. “Nope. I am 31 years old.”

“You? 31?! Oh dang! You-“ he was cut off mid-sentence by his ringing cell phone.

“Hold on one second,” he tells me as he answers it. I could hear a high pitch voice on the other end. It sounded like a woman. I wanted to eavesdrop on the conversation, but the office phone rang, and I had to answer it. I could tell he was slightly annoyed a little by his body language, but I like to mind my own business, so I made a mental note not to ask. We each wrapped up our calls at the same time.

“My bad. My girl and I are trying to close on this house, and she was trying to see where I was with some paperwork I forgot to turn in,” he said rolling his eyes and blowing a raspberry.

Woah! I was not expecting that.

“Oh ok,” was all I could reply. I wanted to say more, but my little feelings were hurt. I was over here pining over a man that was trying to build a life with his family. I was indeed tripping.

He was about to say something, but Amelia rounded the corner.

“What’s up Theo?” she greeted him.

“I see someone else took your place up front,” he quipped back at her.

“She’s definitely the most qualified for the position.” Amelia smiles down at me and I look up and make a face to show my annoyance.

“She sure is,” Theo said looking at me with that charming smirk on his face. For some reason, I felt like there was more to the reply than he was saying; there were unspoken words between the lines that I wanted to decipher. Sis. He just said he is buying a house with this girl. You need to chill! I think to myself. I snap out of my thoughts and listen in on their banter.

“I gotta go. I’ll see y’all later.” He turns to leave. This time I don’t yell have a good day after him. I couldn’t because Amelia was too busy staring at me and smiling.

“What?!” I questioned. I already knew where she was going with this.

“You already know what. That man is flirting with you,” she tells me, shaking her head.

“Girl! That man is buying a house with the girl in the picture that you sent me. That man is not flirting with me!” I say, annoyed and disappointed.

“That may be true, but that doesn’t stop him from flirting with you.” She was right. I was no flirt and just because I don’t know how to flirt doesn’t stop other people from doing it.

My phone caught me before I could say another word and Ameila headed back to her desk. I looked down and I saw it was a text message from a familiar number.

“Can you facetime?” the message read.

“Sure.” I replied back, trying to see who it was.

I ring Amelia to let her know that I was stepping outside to take a call. As soon as I was getting up out of my seat, my phone started ringing. I answered the Facetime and it was Eric.

“What’s up, shawty!” he smiled in the phone. Without a doubt, Eric was not my type. He was tall, bright skinned, but extremely handsome. His slightly chipped tooth gave him charm. I met him 2 years ago and at that time in my life, I needed a distraction and I just so happen to stumble across him. He was a trucker, so we didn’t get to spend a lot of time together, in the end that didn’t matter. Turns out he was a liar. I was beginning to catch feelings when I was smacked in the face with the truth about him: he had a live-in girlfriend and child.

“What’s good in the hood?” I replied. I had already made up in my mind that this conversation would be 3 minutes tops. 37 seconds had already passed by.

“I’m passing through your city.” He’s grinning at me, expecting me to fawn all over his roundabout way of asking to see me.

“Maybe some other time,” I answer coolly. I was annoyed by the conversation already. I could neither confirm nor deny I was thinking about Theo, even though I shouldn’t have been.

Undeterred, he continues. “What you doing later? I can come see you.”

“Nah. We’re good. Look, I gotta get back to work. I’ll talk to you later.” Before he could say anything, I disconnected the call and headed back into the building. I had lots of work to do before the day was over and I didn’t need any more distractions.

………

“Bella! Turn that music down!” I yell down the hall to my 11-year-old daughter. She was listening to some guy named Rod Wave for the millionth time since we’d been home, and I was over it.

“What do you want to eat for dinner?” I yell down the hall. I wasn’t sure she heard me over the music, but I was not in the mood to make dinner today. Talking to Eric and seeing his face threw me off my game. I hated how I fell for people, and it was always the ones who I know are unavailable in every single way.

“Taco Bell will do, sis,” she yelled back.

I rolled my eyes at her insistence at calling me sis. “I am not your sis, Bella!”

“Ok, sis!” she yelled again, and I couldn’t do anything but laugh.

“Come on so we can catch this drive thru before the dinner rush hour hits.” I grab my keys and we head out to the car. By the time we get to Taco Bell the line is extremely long. I tell Bella that we’re going to have to go inside because I didn’t have the patience to sit in the line. Bella decided to stay in the car to text, Facetime, or whatever she did on her phone, so I grab my debit card and head inside. As soon as I open the door, I am looking in the face of Theo and the girl I saw him in the picture with. I froze. I was getting ready to turn and walk out until he called my name.

“What’s up, Mina!” He said, grinning like a Cheshire cat. I speak to the girl first and then I speak to him.

Speaking to them was extremely awkward and my palms started to sweat. I eased in line behind an older guy and his wife as they were deciding what they were going to order. There were a couple of people in front of me, so I had plenty of time to pretend not to stare at Theo and look at the menu, which I did not do very well. When I looked over his way, he caught me looking at him and smiled.

I heard him say “Give me a minute” to the girl he was with and headed my way.

Shoot, shoot, shoot! What is he coming my way for? Maybe he has a work question, I think to myself.

“Yo. What you eating?” he asked.

“Mmmmmm… either the chicken chalupa or the cantina power bowl,” I answer looking up at the menu, pretending to focus on it instead of him.

“Lemme buy you dinner. You getting your daughter food, too, right?”

I look at him with wide eyes. “You do not have to do that. Thank you though.”

“Nah. Let me get this for you. It’s my pleasure.” Those words held so much promise as they escaped his lips. I divert my eyes to his girl, and she was looking at me. It’s like she was trying to look through me or something. She diverted her eyes to him and then turned to look at the menu.

“You probably want to go back and get in line with your girl.”

He turned and looked at her. “Nah, we good. I’m trying to pay it forward.”

This man ain’t slick. I take that back, he was slicker than Murray’s wave grease! He was smirking at me in a way that gave me a familiar feeling. I know I had no reason to trust it, but there was just something about him.

“You really don’t have to do this. Thank you so much for the offer.” My phone buzzed in my back pocket, alerting me I had a text message. It was Amelia. She always had perfect timing.

“Grab me some Cinnabon round things for me.” She was either in the parking lot or passing by and saw my car.

“Guuuuuhhhhhhhh!!!!!” I texted back, completely hyper-aware that Theo was still standing next to me. I look at him and smile. He’s standing there like he’s waiting for me to say or do something.

“I need to take this,” I told him. I’m usually pretty cool and reserved, but this guy was unnerving and yet, he felt like Sunday afternoons post church service.

“Do your thing. I’ll see you soon,” he replied. I look over at his girlfriend and she is staring at me. I honestly don’t need any drama. I lived a quiet life and I would like to keep it that way. My phone buzzed again with a text from my best friend.

“Wheeettttttt?!” Amelia replies back

“Girl! I just ran into Theo and his girl, and this dude offered to pay for my food in front of her!!!!”

“You lie!!!”

“I lie to you not!!!!”

Grandpa and grandma in front of me had moved up in line, so I slide up behind them. I was getting ready to reply back until I hear my name again but this time, it was from a voice that I knew, and it made the hair stand up on the back of my neck.

It was Paul calling my name.

Paul and I had a long-standing affair many years ago. The entire situation was crazy, and I still have a hard time forgiving myself for it. I hadn’t seen him in 2 years, but he still looked the same. Tall, skin as dark as chocolate, mesmerizing brown eyes, a sense of humor that was out of this world, and charming. How ironic is it that the same man I fought so hard to get away from was in the same room with the guy who reminded me so much of him? I definitely need a glass of wine when I get home. Maybe two.

“Paul! Hey!” I smiled at him. He walks up to me and lean in for a hug and I lean back to avoid him touching me.

“Woah.” He is shocked that I stick out my hand and refused to hug him. I could feel eyes on me, and I cut my eyes in Theo’s direction to find him watching me. I could use this situation to my advantage, but I can’t be out here giving Paul the wrong impression. He looks at me, trying to gauge my reaction. He took my hand and caressed it before he shook it.

I hated him. I hated him so much. I loved this man for years and he went and got married on me. Even after he was married, we still had a thing going. Out of 7 days of the week, I saw him 5. Some weeks it was 7. We were in a full fledged relationship until I got tired with shame.

“I’ve missed you,” he purrs. I hate him so much. He steps closer and I step back just a little bit. I was trying so hard not to make it awkward, but Theo was watching me. Paul was in my space and I was about to lose it. My phone buzz in my other hand causing me to break Paul’s gaze, and I snatched my hand from his.

“Please don’t do that. Please do not do that,” I pleaded in a voice that only he and I can hear.

“I saw Bella outside. She is as beautiful as I remember. Just like her mom.” Those eyes. He is gazing at me with those eyes. I’m trying to decide if Ashton Kutcher is outside playing a prank on me, or if this was my real life right now.

“How’s your wife?” I ask through my teeth, smiling.

“The family is good, thanks for asking. So, what have you been up to? I’ve been trying to get in touch with you.” He moves a little bit closer. My phone buzz in my hand again reminding me that I have a notification that I still needed to check. I look down at my phone and see that I have a message from Amelia and Bella. I check Bella’s first.

“Let’s just go to Wendy’s. I want a cheeseburger.” Thank. You. God!

“It was nice seeing you, Paul.” I said, scurrying around him trying to hurry out the door. When did I become so awkward? I usually handle stuff like this very well. I guess it was because I used to block out all emotions and pretend like they didn’t exist.

“I’ll be in touch,  Mina!” Paul called after me after I make it to the door. As I turn around to tell Paul no, I catch Theo looking at me.

“I’ll catch you later, Mina!” Theo called out to me.

This is not a pissing contest! I rush to my car to get away from the drama brewing in Taco Bell. As soon as I get in the car, I call Amelia.

“Amelia!!!!!” I yell in the phone.

“Girl, why are you so loud?!” she whined into the phone.

“GIRL!!!!” I scream again, and I begin to give her all the details about the Taco Bell Extravaganza…..