No matter how much I enjoy what I do for a living there are still a million other places I’d rather be than where I am right now; which is at my desk at 7:45 am on a Tuesday morning. I had a wild weekend and if just flew by. I couldn’t even make it into the office yesterday, so I called my assistant and told her I was sick. Marlene probably knew I was lying, but what could she say. She works for me afterall and I never give her a hard time when she calls out. So here I am over an hour early to catch up from missing a day yesterday, yet I’ve been staring at the same document for thirty minutes. I guess I have a lot on my mind. A lot of unexpected things took place over the weekend and I am not sure how they will affect me in the long run.

For one thing, I have about four missed calls from Adriana. She called on Friday after I asked her to leave my house. She called again on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. In addition to that she sent me an email that I just saw this morning. No, I’m lying, I saw it when it appeared on my phone Sunday afternoon however I decided to read it this morning. I’m not trying to be mean to Adriana, but when I am betrayed the way I feel she did me, I kind of shut down and just don’t want anything to do with the woman. Her email didn’t really help matters either. She still doesn’t think she did anything wrong and feels I am overreacting. She even had the nerve to bring up the incident with Sandra on the night we met. As if the two incidents have anything to do with each other. I can tell Adriana is used to having the upper hand. Guys probably let her do whatever she wants. I’m not that guy. I quickly deleted her email and prayed she doesn’t call my phone again today. If I answer, it won’t be polite.

The other thing that has my mind cloudy is Maria whom I met in the gym Friday night. If I hadn’t touched Maria with my own hands, I’d swear she was a ghost. She invited me to her apartment for a drink but once I agreed, she asked if she could just come to my place because she hadn’t cleaned. Once we were in my place, she asked if she could take a shower to wash off the sweat. At the end of the day I’m a man so I said yes. It didn’t dawn on me that her apartment was two floors up. I grab a towel and wash cloth for her and point her in the right direction. While she’s in the shower I pour two classes of a white wine I had picked up for Adriana. Maria comes out of the bathroom 20 minutes later, still damp and wearing one of my oversized towels. It looks like she washed her hair too. She comes and takes one of the glasses and sits on the arm of the couch. I attempt to make a little small talk and ask her how long she’s lived in the building. Maria stands up and walks over to me. “William do you really care about all of that?” she asks, now sitting so close I could smell my shampoo in her hair. She leans in and kisses me full on the mouth and I go with it. I take her towel off and reveal an amazing body. She pulls my t-shirt over my head and seems equally impressed. Within minutes we are in my bedroom and I am reaching into my nightstand for a condom. Maria slides on top of me and goes to work. It is not that slow sweet love making that you would have with someone you want to spend the rest of your life with. We are going at it like we had too much on our minds and need to erase it. I turn her over to take charge of the situation until we both collapse on the bed. I lay in bed awake for a while staring at this stranger, hoping the fact that she lives in my building doesn’t become a problem. Damn it if it wasn’t worth it though.

I vaguely remember Maria leaving sometime after the sun came up. I woke up fully around 9 and saw no traces of her. The towels she used were in my hamper, so I know I wasn’t crazy. She didn’t leave a number or anything. I’ll probably just see her in the building again or knock on her door.
Later that day, I got dressed and headed out of the building to grab a bite for lunch. I see my doorman Earl and ask “Hey Earl, what do you know about the woman in 5C, Maria?” Earl looks at me like I have two heads before saying “There is no woman in 5C. That’s the older Asian couple’s apartment. They’ve been there about 10 years. You sure its 5C?” Now I’m confused. I know for sure she said 5C. “Well maybe I have the apartment number wrong. What apartment is Maria in? She’s about 5”5 dark long hair and curvy” I ask. “Man if we had someone like that living here I would definitely know which apartment she lived in, if you know what I mean.” He gives a hearty laugh before asking if I am sure she wasn’t a guest. “Don’t worry about it Earl, I’ll talk to you later.”

I’ve been confused the whole weekend about this. Where the hell did she come from?

I just finished an intense workout at the gym and decided to skip the shower since I am heading straight home. As clean as the gym is, I still never feel 100% comfortable using showers that tons of other people utilize on a daily basis. Besides, my place is only three blocks away and I drove. I look at my cell and see I have a missed call from Malcolm, as well as a few text messages. Malcolm must’ve been calling to tell me why he didn’t bring his behind to the gym tonight. He and I workout together sometimes, however he’s been slipping lately. That’s a dangerous thing for men our age, especially when your wife cooks as well as his does. I have no choice but to keep my body tight. Long and lean is for high school boys and beer bellies are for grandfathers. Just as I am about to call my boy back, his name flashes on the screen indicating he is calling me.

“Yo what’s up Mal? I was just about to hit you back”, I say as soon as I answer. Malcolm sounds out of breath as he replies “Will man I been tryna reach you all evening. Did you get my text messages?” Just then I remembered seeing that I had three text messages that I didn’t bother to read. “Mal I didn’t get a chance to read them. I just left the gym. The same place you should’ve been. What’s up?” I sense some frustration in Malcolm’s voice when he says “Can you forget about the damn gym for a second. If you’d read you messages you would know why I didn’t come!” Now I am annoyed, waiting for this dude to spit out whatever it is he’s been blowing up my phone to tell me. “Man what is it?!”,I yell into the phone. Mal is like my brother but he has the tendency to beat around the bush at the worst times. I haven’t even started my car up, waiting on this guy to complete a sentence. “Regina and I are having another baby! I hope it’s a boy this time man! I can’t believe it. We weren’t even trying” Malcolm sounds like he won the lottery. Now I see why he didn’t meet me at the gym. If anyone loves being part of a family it’s Malcolm. He would have 6 kids if Regina allowed it. “aww man Mal that’s great news! Congrats bruh. Give Regina a kiss for me,” I say, truly happy for my brother. “Thanks man. I will. Maybe we can get together tomorrow after work for a drink to celebrate,” he says, grinning like the luckiest man in the world. “Yeah that’s cool. Let me get home to shower. I’ll call you tomorrow.” I hang up with my boy feeling just a little bit lonely. I scan through my contacts and decide to have some company tonight.

By the time Adriana was set to arrive, I had already showered, shaved and straightened up my place. I didn’t have much to do since I am sort of a neat freak anyway. Due to the short notice, there wasn’t time to cook anything for her, so when I called her, I suggested we order in. She was fine with that and offered to bring over a couple of movies. Our first two dates have been really cool. She talks a lot, but not too much. She is very close with her family and even at 30 years old, she still speaks to her mom daily. She admits to having put her career first in the past which prolonged her getting married and having kids. I’m really feeling Ms. Harper. This will be her first time at my place and I am more than curious to see how it plays out.

When the doorbell rings, I throw on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt and hurry to the door. I open the door to a casually dressed Adriana. She has her hair pulled back in a pony tail and is wearing a pair of jeans and a fitted tee. She looks great and I tell her so. “Thank you William,” she says as she kisses my cheek. I lean down to meet her lips. “So what movies did you get lady, I want to know if you have good taste,” I tease. “I’m here with you aren’t I?”Adriana laughs and hands me two dvds. I read them out loud “Kick Ass and The Time Traveler’s Wife. Interesting combination. You never cease to amaze me.” I smile and lead Adriana over to the couch to begin our evening. As we settle into the couch Adriana looks up at me with a weird look on her face. “What’s wrong with you girl?”, I ask a little concerned. “ She hesitates for a moment and rushes the words out of her mouth like kids rush out of the building on the last day of school. “I probably should’ve said something earlier, but I’m not exactly single.”

I am not sure if what I heard was correct because the ringing in my ears is drowning out all other sounds in the room. Here we go again.

Stepping out of the shower, I hear my cell phone having a panic attack. That’s the only problem with having your emails being sent to your phone. I definitely need to do something about that. Marlene suggested I have one phone for work and one for personal. However I would feel like some sort of drug dealer carrying around all of those phones. I am a simple man for the most part and one phone is more than enough. Still not quite dry, I walk over to the night stand to retrieve the buzzing phone, being careful not to track water across my hardwood floors. The email immediately brought a smile to my face. I was beginning to think my flower stunt didn’t work, but I should’ve known better than to doubt myself. Not to sound cocky, but I know women. Adriana did not reply when I expected her to. Instead she replied the next evening which I actually took to be a bit rude, but her message changed my tune.

William,
Thanks for the flowers. I was out of the office yesterday and was pleasantly surprised this afternoon upon my arrival. I’d love to catch up with you soon. Please leave your woman friend home this time.
Adriana Harper

I was more than happy to know that Sandra hadn’t ruined my chances completely. Although I know I will have some explaining to do when I meet up with Adriana. I’m already orchestrating the date in my head and it certainly has to be far from downtown. I do not want to risk the chance of running into Sandra or anyone else for that matter. Now that I think about it, I am so glad that she doesn’t know where I live. As soon as I get to the office I have to confirm a date and time with Adriana. The thing about quality women is that you want to give them plenty of notice for dates. So if I am thinking of taking her out on Saturday night, Tuesday is the latest I should hit her up. Those women you don’t care about can be called up until Saturday morning for a date and if they are really on the bottom of the list you can call them on Saturday night AFTER your date that was planned on Tuesday. Hey don’t shoot the messenger. That is just how it goes. And any woman with standards will decline last minute dates even if she is free as a bird.

I decide to go with a pair of tan colored slacks and a chocolate brown button up for today. I’ll keep it casual since I don’t have any meetings lined up. Then after work I can head over to my man’s house for dinner and drinks. Of course Malcolm’s wife arranged this get together. If anyone has more of a problem with my being single than my mother, its Malcolm’s wife Regina. She entices me by inviting me over their house for one of her world class meals, but she always has some random friend there who just happened to stop by. However I am not one to pass on a delicious home cooked dinner so she catches me every time.

It’s a little after 8pm when I arrive at the Carr residence. They live in a newly remodeled brown stone with their 4 year old daughter, Madison. If and when I ever get married I would like my partnership to look a lot like theirs. They support each other, they complement each other and they just genuinely seem to enjoy being with each other. When Regina wanted to quit her six figure corporate gig to start her own catering business, Malcolm was right there for whatever she needed. “Heeey William!! It’s so good to see you!” Regina squealed as she opened the door to let me in. “Hey babe how are you?” I reply while handing her a bottle of wine I picked up on the way over. “I’m great now that you have graced us with your presence.” Regina has a smile as wide as a cat who caught the canary. I know she has something up her sleeve. As I step into the den, nothing could have prepared me for who I saw sitting there having a beer with Malcolm. This should be interesting.

It’s Sunday morning around 8am and I just finished my weekly phone call with my mother. No I wouldn’t say I was a mama’s boy, but I do adore her. She has sacrificed a lot for me and I am not one of these lost boys walking around that can’t appreciate that. She taught me what to look for in a woman, and perhaps she set the bar really high because to date, I am still single. She calls every Sunday morning around 7:30 because she attends the 9am church service. I always show up for the 11am service. I found a church not far from home that has me in and out in an hour. My mom is sure to be in her church until the sun sets. I just can’t get with that.

“Are you eating well William?” mom asks. “Yes ma I eat just fine.” “I’m just so worried about you all the way over there by yourself,” she continues. “I’m not alone. I have plenty of friends, associates, and I see dad pretty regularly.” I settle into my oversized chair because I feel like this is going to be a long conversation. My mom is old school. She doesn’t understand that it is hard to find a quality woman out here. Sure I get approached all the time, but like my man Tupac says “I don’t want it if it’s that easy.” So here I am, 30ish, 6’3, nice build, successful, educated by the streets and the classroom, no kids, God-fearing, can do a little something in the kitchen, and I am single. “William, are you listening to me?” mom rattles me back into the conversation. “I’m sorry ma, what was that?” “I said there is a nice young woman at my church I would like you to meet.” Here she goes again with one of her hook ups. “Look, ma can we talk about it later? I have to start getting dressed.” “Yeah whatever William, I know the routine. I love you.” “I love you too ma. I’m putting something in the mail for you first thing tomorrow morning, so make sure you pay the electricity bill and the landscapers.” “Yes William. You would think you were the parent. Bye.”

She is right, I am kind of over protective of her. I’ve been sending money to her every month for the past 3 years. I paid off her house after she refused to move when the neighborhood went downhill. I’m still working on convincing her to move into one of those new 55 and over condos. Until then, at least the house is hers free and clear. I decide to bypass checking my email for once, because I’ll never get out of the house. All work and no play makes Mr. Goodnight a very boring man. And I have plenty ladies that can attest to the fact that I am anything but boring. I stand in front of the closet to figure out what I will wear to church. You would think everyone in there was holier than thou, but I have some crazy stories about women in church. For that reason I try to arrive a little bit late and I sit right in the back. This is a great way to ward off unwanted company. How come these women don’t understand that when a man wants them, he will let them know? Let us court you. I love to wine and dine, send flowers, all of that for the right woman. But I can promise you that rubbing your breast on me in church won’t get you that Mr. Goodnight star treatment. Ok let me get in the shower and start this day. Til next time…