Fuzzy looked as though she agreed wholeheartedly. The ball
clamped between her jaws was not rubbed on my pants.
Hailey pursed her lips. “Good point. We’ll take the stairs.”
I put my jeans into the washer, then turned it off when the
tub filled to let them soak and went straight to the shower. As I
washed the rank smell from my body, I thought about Hailey and
the way she looked when I declined dinner. I hated to disappoint
her, but Kalen’s words floated around in my brain, filling me with
doubt.
I felt like there was something good between us. Something
we could build on, but then I’d hear Kalen’s voice warning of
disaster. I was in deep thought when I got out of the shower and
heard my cell phone chime in the bedroom. Wrapped in a towel,
I retrieved it and read Hailey’s message. Is something bothering
you? Why did I have to be surrounded by intuitive women? Couldn’t
they just be dumb like me? And speaking of dumb, I responded
without thinking. I think we should talk, but not tonight. How
about dinner tomorrow night?
Hailey’s reply was slow in coming. I think I understand. Some
things are better left unsaid. Let’s just leave it at that.
My heart sank. I called her and waited until her voicemail
picked up. “Please don’t do this, Hailey. I…I don’t want to talk via
voicemail and text messages. Please call me.” She didn’t return
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Pitifully Ugly
my call, nor did she answer my text messages. With a head full
of wet hair, I pulled on a pair of sweats and marched down to her
apartment. She didn’t answer my knock.
I pressed my face between the door and the facing. “This is
usually said of me, but don’t you think this is a bit childish?”
“She’s not home.”
I turned to see Kevin, the maintenance man. He’d been
standing a few feet away the whole time with a paintbrush in
his hand. He jutted his chin toward the elevator. “She left about
ten minutes ago with her dog and what looked like an overnight
bag.”“Umm, thanks,” I said before taking the stairs up to my
place.
111
Robin Alexander
Chapter 17
Assumptions make an ass…
I awoke the next morning and checked my phone. No messages
from Hailey and no voicemail. I sent her another text message
asking for a chance to talk. It went unanswered.
I switched on the TV for something to take my mind off of
her while I waited for an answer that I figured would never come.
A used car commercial caught my attention. I glared at it as it
summed up my life.
Are you looking for a girlfriend? Someone to fill those lonely
nights and warm your heart, as well as your bed? Hurry in now
and trade your peaceful albeit empty life for one of our slightly
used models. You’ll be cruising along life’s highway in no time.
Of course, they always forgot to mention in those commercials
that your new ride will be slightly damaged, confusing to operate,
and sometimes will leave you stranded on life’s highway—alone
and wondering why everything came to a screeching halt.
I just didn’t have it in me to browse the lot any longer. I’d
found the one I wanted, but it seemed that I’d gotten caught up
in the flashy exterior and neglected to see if I was investing in a
lemon.
You always hear of people having epiphanies. One morning
they wake up and have a moment of clarity. I thought I was having
one of my own. I’d been so focused on having someone to share
my life with that it made me kind of pathetic. “Love me, love me,
please pick me and complete my life.” I suddenly had a mental
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Pitifully Ugly
image of myself as a pooch in the pound barking and pawing at
my cage door as prospective owners came looking. Well, shit on
that!I threw the covers back and jumped out of bed. Ten minutes
tops, I was dressed, my hair was sticking out the back of a ball
cap, and I had an apple in my hand for breakfast. I was a woman
on the move with my tennis racket tucked under my arm. As
briskly as I could manage, I walked to the health club, rented a
basket of balls, and loaded up the machine.
When the first ball shot toward me, I smacked the hell out of it,
then apologized to the woman on the adjoining court. She rubbed
her hip as she glared, and I continued undaunted. I pounded all my
frustration away on those balls until I was drenched with sweat.
“Someone must’ve really pissed you off. I don’t think I’ve
ever heard anyone growl like that.”
I turned and faced a sporty-looking woman who was
probably in her mid-thirties. She was all smiles standing there in
her starched white tennis outfit looking like a million bucks. The
Shannon who went to sleep the previous night might have been
beguiled by the way she looked me over, but today’s Shannon was
a different breed of cat altogether.
“I’m Sue,” she said as she thrust out her hand. “Are you
looking for a partner?”
“Well now, that depends,” I said haughtily with my hand on
my hip. “Do you have road rage? A cat that bites? Did you just
leave your husband? Are you looking for a really kinky good time
and think I may be interested?”
Sue’s eyes bulged and her jaw went slack before she replied,
“I’m just looking for a tennis partner.”
“Sure you are.” I waved my racket. “Start stepping, sister,
you’re outta luck here.”
Sue held her racket in front of her like a weapon and took a
step back. I mimicked her stance as if we were about to sword
fight. “You’re insane,” she said as she backed away.
I turned and noticed that the two women playing on the court
beside me were standing completely still. The ball in play was
bouncing right past the woman that I’d hit earlier.
11
Robin Alexander
“That’s right, I’m nuts,” I said as I tucked my racket under
my arm. As I walked out, I guesstimated how long it would take
Sue to get to the front desk and report the raving lunatic she’d
just encountered. I exited the side door and never looked back at
the club I was certain that I would never be welcome in again.
The song They’re Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-haaa! played
through my mind as I walked back to my apartment.
“You’re gonna be an aunt,” Kalen sang when I answered
the phone. “I heard the heartbeat today. The baby is strong and
healthy.”
“I’m happy for you, sis, I really am.” I tried to sound upbeat
for her sake.
“There’s one little problem, though. My doctor wants me to
take it easy, no stress. Remember when I agreed to attend that
conference in Atlanta?”
I plopped down on the couch with a vague recollection of a
conversation we’d had. Kalen had agreed to give a presentation
on behalf of Natural Beauty, a hair product line we used at the
salons. In exchange, they used some of our models for their