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“Hey,” Ryla protested.
“—to develop a meaningful relationship with a man,” Danetta finished.
“Well, excuse us for inhaling the same air as you,” Surry said from the backseat.
“I know you’re not objecting to my wanting to find a man, Surry. You seem to have a new man every week.”
“That’s because I haven’t met one that I wanted to keep yet.” Surry corrected Danetta, “And it’s not every week...maybe every other week.”
“I’ve met some of the men you’ve dated. They seemed perfectly fine to me,” Danetta challenged.
“That’s until you dig a little deeper,” Surry said. “None of them are serious about righting the wrongs of blacks and most don’t even know who Marcus Garvey was. And what has really ticked me off lately with some of these so-called brothers is that most of them wanted to take me out, but didn’t want to help me canvas the streets for President Obama’s reelection campaign.”
“Don’t expect any tears from me. These men drool all over you, like you’re their Nubian queen and all you do is toss them aside.” And who could blame them, Danetta thought, even with all her eccentric behavior, Surry can’t hide the fact that she looks like the supermodel, Iman.
“Yeah, Surry, don’t expect us to feel sorry for you,” Ryla chimed in. “I can’t date because of all the mess I’m already in with my child who has never seen her father. So, I’m not trying to go down that road again.”
“And whose fault is that? You’re the one who left that man without so much as a word about your pregnancy,” Surry answered back.
“Okay,” Danetta held up a hand. “Let’s not get started on a subject that will take us someplace we don’t want to be.”
The three women agreed and then continued discussing Danetta’s Get Love Now plan. By the time she had dropped her friends off, she had pretty much convinced herself that a change of plans was exactly what she needed.
She stopped off at the bakery around the corner from her house and purchased two brownies. Yeah, yeah, Danetta mused, Marshall starting up with this Veronica chick does bother me, but I’m not going to spend an entire week eating a whole pan of brownies and a tub of ice cream. I’ll drown my sorrows tonight, but tomorrow I’ll learn to swim in a new pond.
Chapter 2
Yawning and stretching, Marshall eased himself into a sitting position. With his back against the headboard of his king-size bed, he rubbed his eyes as he looked at the clock on his nightstand. It was six in the morning and the doorbell was ringing. Reluctantly, he got out of bed and made his way to the front door. He unlocked the door and then opened it. He was surprised to see Veronica standing on his porch holding a small suitcase.
“I’m here,” she said with a bright and cheery smile on her face. “I’m ready to go.”
With her hair pulled back into a ponytail, Veronica looked more like Danetta than he’d noticed when they’d first met. Danetta, however, would never have just shown up on his doorstep after he’d already informed her that she would not be taking this trip with him. At that moment, Marshall felt the need to remind Veronica that they were no longer dating. “You do remember that you broke up with me, right?”
“I was just mad that you tried to cancel our trip, but I’m over all that now.”
She looked so cute with her honey-blond hair pulled back that he wanted to ignore Danetta’s request, get his overnight bag and ride out of town with Veronica. Danetta just didn’t believe in having fun anymore. But whether Danetta knew how to have fun or not wasn’t the issue. Marshall had promised her that he wouldn’t mess things up for their company, and he planned to keep his word. “Sorry, hon, I can’t take you on this trip.”
Veronica’s smile disappeared as she snarled, “You jerk. So, it’s like Diane said, huh? You really are going to take her on this trip instead of me.”
“Diane is just messing with your head. Now I’m sorry, but I’ve got to go, Veronica.” He closed the front door and headed back toward his bedroom. Two weeks after he and Diane had called their relationship quits, Marshall had accepted a dinner invitation from Veronica. Diane had gotten so upset that she’d been lying to her about him ever since. He’d unknowingly dated a pair of friends back when he was in high school, and it had ended badly: with the air being let out of his tires.
He would have taken the time to explain things a little more to Veronica and would have even let her in on the situation with the retreat, but Marshall was offended that Veronica would accuse him of two-timing her with Diane. He might date a lot of women, but Marshall had this rule to only date one woman at a time. And he never went back for seconds. Once he was done with a woman, that was it. As a matter of fact, he didn’t even like the idea of dating friends; that high school incident had taught him well. The only reason he’d even considered dating Veronica was because she looked so much like Danetta, but he probably needed therapy to uncover why that even made a difference to him. He went into the bathroom off his master bedroom, turned on the shower and got in. As the hot water steamed up the room, Marshall’s thoughts drifted to Danetta Harris, the only woman, besides his mama, that he’d managed to have a decent relationship with for over a decade. She was his buddy, his comrade. Their friendship had even survived a seven-year business partnership.
Marshall had been a junior and she had been in the second semester of her freshman year when they’d met. He’d thought she was one of the prettiest girls on campus. Not beautiful, but pretty and wholesome...the kind of girl his mother would have begged him to marry. That was the reason he’d kept Danetta in the friend zone. He had been too young to fall in love, and had no clue how to keep a woman like Danetta happy. So when Danetta had come to him one night after finals and confessed that she wanted to hook up with him, Marshall had told her that he liked her much better as a friend and didn’t want anything to spoil their friendship...like a marriage, three kids and a nasty divorce.
Even after that awkward evening, Danetta had stuck by him. Whatever he needed, she had always been there for him. And in return he’d made her a full partner in the company he founded. When he’d offered her the job, Marshall had told Danetta that he needed her to help him conquer the world. He didn’t know why he felt that way, but it was true. With Danetta as COO of Windham Enterprises, the company had tripled its profits within three years. As far as Marshall was concerned, he’d made a good call when he chose Danetta as a friend.
Slam...bang...boom!
“What the devil?” Marshall heard a loud crashing sound coming from his bedroom. He turned off the shower, put a towel around his waist and then opened his bathroom door. The first thing he noticed as he stepped into his bedroom was that his mirror had been shattered and the ceramic lamp Danetta had bought him for his thirtieth birthday was broken into hundreds of pieces and now lay in the middle of his floor. “Are you crazy?” he asked Veronica. “How did you get into my house?”
“Shouldn’t leave your door unlocked when you’re trying to be a player.” Her eyes darted wildly around the room as she looked for something else to throw.
“How am I playing you?” He was perplexed. He thought he was perfectly clear with her. “What are you talking about?”
“I just called Diane and she said that she was packed and waiting for you.”
He held up his hands in frustration. “She’s lying. If I had wanted Diane, I would have never started seeing you.” Marshall had dated Diane for about two months and then Veronica for three...about a month longer than he should have. But he enjoyed companionship on his business trips, and Veronica had been fun to hang out with. So, he’d kept the relationship going a little longer than he should have.
“Yeah, right. Then why aren’t you taking me to this retreat?”
As far as Marshall was concerned, Danetta look-alike or not, he would never take this woman anywhere again. But she had that mad-black-woman look in her eyes, so he wasn’t about to let her in on his little secret. He just wanted to keep the peace, and get her out of his house. “It’s business, Veronica. That’s why I’m not taking you. There’s no other reason.”
She picked up one of his Italian leather shoes and threw it at his head. “You’ve taken me on business trips before,” she said, as she ran out of the bedroom.
He ducked like former President Bush and then, Marshall thought about running after Veronica, but he needed to figure out how to maneuver his way around the room without getting broken glass in his feet. He jumped on his bed and then climbed down on the opposite side of the room. He really didn’t want to go after Veronica. The only reason he was even attempting to find her was in case she was in his kitchen grabbing a butcher knife. He’d seen Fatal Attraction and all those other some-man-did-me-wrong-and-I-done-lost-my-mind movies. “Veronica, where are you?”
She didn’t answer, but he heard footsteps that were headed toward his living room. He just hoped that she didn’t decide to break up any of the valuable antiques in that room. Most of the antiques and portraits in his living room had been purchased during trips outside the country. So, it wasn’t as if he could just run over to Italy or England and replace the stuff. “You’ve got it all wrong, Veronica. I’m not taking you to the retreat because my business partner doesn’t think it’s a good idea. I’m not taking anyone else either.” He tried to smooth things over before his mad black woman went Madea on him...found his electric saw and then cut his leather couch in half. Even though the guy in that movie was completely wrong for the way he’d treated his wife, Marshall had still cringed when Tyler Perry’s Madea had started tearing up the house. No man wants the stuff he’s worked hard for to get torn up. And every guy he knew could think of at least one woman with reason enough to tear his stuff up.
“Liar,” she screamed as she opened the front door and slammed it behind her.
Marshall pumped his fist in the air. “Yes!” he said, as he heard the door slam. But he wasn’t taking any chances. He rushed over to the front door and locked it before going back to his bedroom. He grabbed his cell phone off the nightstand and called his cleaning lady. She agreed to come back to the house and take care of the bedroom. He then threw on some clothes, pulled his overnight bag out of the closet and grabbed his keys. When he stepped outside and saw the key marks on his midnight black Cadillac SUV, he simply shook his head. This wasn’t his first time dealing with a woman who couldn’t handle the end of a relationship, but he hadn’t gone through this kind of drama since his late twenties. At thirty-two, dealing with a scorned woman was getting a bit old.
* * *
Danetta had done five miles on her treadmill. Two was the most she normally did in the morning, but after eating both of those brownies and half of her bucket of ice cream last night, she figured she needed those extra miles. She towel dried her face and neck as she stepped off the treadmill, and then walked upstairs to her home office.
On Saturday mornings she normally kicked back and tried to relax after her workout but she had work to do today. Today’s work had nothing to do with the advertising agency. Although, maybe some of the skills she’d acquired as an advertising executive could help her out with her manhunt. After all, she was skilled in product placement and creative design. Some of her knowledge would come in handy for the task at hand.
Opening her file cabinet, Danetta searched for the file labeled Husband Material. As she pulled it out, a picture of her and Marshall tumbled out and fell to the floor. As she bent down to pick it up, a smile crept across her honey-toned face. They had been hugging as they sat on the steps that led to the Howard University student library and a friend had snapped a picture of them. Danetta’s head lay on Marshall’s chest, while he put his arms around her and drew her closer to him. Danetta had hoped that Marshall would open his eyes and see her as more than a friend. But the night she threw herself at him, he’d made it abundantly clear that he was just not that into her.
Humiliated after that crushing blow to her self-esteem, Danetta had gone from one man’s bed to the next, trying to take back her heart. But none of the men she’d dated had measured up to Marshall Windham, and her heart remained broken. So, she finally stopped trying to date and just concentrated on her career.
And now she needed to move on with her life. She opened the file and began reading the list she had created about five years ago that detailed her perfect man. At the top of her list was the fact that she wanted to spend her life with a man that she could trust with her heart.
“So why’d you keep this picture of Marshall inside your Husband Material file?” she wondered out loud. Marshall was his own number-one fan and couldn’t possibly do right by her. But as she read the rest of the list and was reminded that she wanted a man who would be about his business, charming, handsome, adventurous, financially secure and someone who was able to make her smile...who enjoyed the same things she did, she realized that Marshall fit every characteristic but the first one.
Then Danetta got to thinking about where she had gone wrong. She reasoned that no one was perfect, and if she continued to wait for a man who satisfied her every hope and dream, she might be alone for a long time to come. But what if she threw away her list and just began to date men whom she found interesting. She jotted “lose the list” on the notepad on her desk.
She stood up and began pacing the floor. “Okay, I can forget about everything but my number-one item. I have to be able to trust the man I marry...bottom line.”
She walked into her bedroom and stood in front of the full-length mirror. Danetta knew she wasn’t beautiful or what men would consider sensual or alluring by any means. She had long hair that she mostly put into a ponytail or in a tight bun atop her head. It was just too much trouble and too time consuming to worry about styling her hair every morning. Since she had just finished her morning workout, Danetta was wearing a jogging suit, but her normal attire was business casual with an emphasis on below the knee or calf-length skirts or loose-fitting navy blue, black or brown pants.
Her face was devoid of makeup. In fact, Danetta rarely wore anything more than her favorite Crème d’ Nude lipstick from M.A.C. and a little mascara. She’d never understood how or why women took the time to put all that war paint on their faces, when they would just have to wash it all off later that evening.
The longer she checked out her image in the mirror, the more confused she became. Danetta had no clue what men were looking for in a woman. It had simply been too long since her last date. She needed help from an expert.
Her phone rang. She saw that it was Marshall so she picked it up. “Hey, whatcha doing?” he asked.
Danetta grabbed the remote and hurriedly turned on her television. “Nothing much, just watching TV.”
“Whatcha watching?”
She hit the guide to see what channel her TV was on. “The Hallmark Channel.”
“One of those love movies, huh?”
“What if it is?” Rolling her eyes, even though Marshall had watched these movies with her on more than one occasion, he thought the whole thing was a joke and that the kind of love they showed on television didn’t really exist. Although she could swear that she heard him sniffling during An Affair to Remember.
“Don’t get testy. I was just asking. Which one is on today?”
“It’s called Love Begins. I read the book. It was written by Janette Oke.”
“So, why watch the movie if you know how it ends?” Marshall asked.
Irritated by the question, especially since she was only pretending to watch the movie, she said, “Was there a reason for your call?”
“I always call you when I’m out of town...well, unless I’m having a real good time.”
“Yeah, I know all about your real good times. Look, I’ve got to go.”
“All right... I was just checking on you.”
Danetta wanted desperately to ask him how a woman would go about finding a man, but she was too embarrassed to let Marshall know that she had lost her groove on the dating tip, so she just hung up and called Ryla.
Her best friend was not only beautiful and savvy when it came to business matters, but she knew how to handle men. Lately, all Ryla did was turn men down, but she even did that with panache. Danetta picked up the phone and dialed her friend’s number. When Ryla answered, she said, “I need your help.”
“What’s up, girl? I was just about to take Jaylen to her ballet class.”
Danetta took a deep breath and rushed out her request. “I need to know how to get men interested in me.”
“What... What did you say?”
“You heard me. I told you last night that I was going to adjust my plans. And my new strategy is to go on as many dates as possible. But I have to get someone to ask me out first, and I need help with that.”
“It sounds like you need Surry; she’s the serial dater.”
“Yeah, but I’d never get away with wearing some of the outfits she puts on. And besides, I need help finding a man to settle down with. Surry isn’t interested in that.”
“Wow,” was all Ryla could say.
“Stop acting as if this is some big deal. I just need to figure out how to get men interested in me.”
“I’ve known you for five years, and you’ve never gone after men. I mean, you’ve seen Marshall naked, and you can’t even look him in the eye and tell him how you feel.”
“I’ve only seen Marshall’s bare chest, and that’s it. And anyway, this has nothing to do with Marshall.” Danetta nearly screamed those words at the top of her lungs.
“Don’t kid yourself, Danetta. Everything you do has something to do with that mongrel boy.”
“Okay, well let’s just say that what I’m doing now is about moving on with my life and finding someone who wants to be a part of it.”
“I’ve never seen you bat one eyelash in another man’s direction. So, are you really telling me that you are now ready to go find you a man?”
Ryla had a point. Danetta was definitely stepping outside of her comfort zone. She’d always been shy when it came to the opposite sex. Especially after being shot down by Marshall, Danetta made sure to never approach a man...every date she’d been on, the man had asked her out. And that was the problem, because no man had asked in quite some time. “That’s why I need you, girl. You know how to flirt. You know how to attract a man’s attention. I haven’t tried to do anything like that in so long that if I started winking and blinking, the guy would probably think I had a nervous tick or something.”
Ryla laughed. “Girl, shut up. Okay, if this is what you really want to do, I’ll help you. Matter of fact, meet me at Adorable Hair and Nails at one o’clock this afternoon.”
“What’s going on there?”
“I have a hair appointment, but I’m going to reschedule with Marlene and ask her to do you up instead.” Ryla sounded excited.
Danetta frowned. “I don’t know if I need to spend all that time in a hair salon. I was thinking that you could help me put a few outfits together. I have tons of clothes, but I don’t think I’m wearing them in a manner that will attract men.”
“You can say that again, Ms. Baggy Pants. And just the fact that you don’t understand the value of pampering yourself at a hair salon lets me know that I need to be charging for my services ’cause this is going to take a while.”
Chapter 3
Marshall ran into another scorned woman during the retreat. He’d been having lunch with a couple of Fortune 500 CEOs, regaling them with tales of his college misdeeds, when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned in his seat and immediately plastered a smile on his face as he stared at the mocha-chocolate beauty in front of him. “Well hello,” Marshall said, thinking that his weekend retreat just got a bit more interesting.
“Hello, Marshall, it’s been quite a while,” the woman said.
Her voice was so sexy that all conversation stopped at his table as the other men turned and stared. Marshall was flattered that out of all the powerful men in the room, this chocolate goddess chose him. But she spoke his name with familiarity, and he honestly didn’t remember her.
At his silence, she continued to speak. “You don’t know who I am, do you?”
“I’d like to know.” He turned back to the men at the table and said, “Would you all excuse me for a minute?” He stood up, placed his hand on the woman’s back and walked toward the lobby with her. “So, would you like to tell me where we met?”
She sat down on the couch in the lobby, ran her hands through her long coal-black hair and waited for Marshall to sit down next to her. “You really don’t remember, do you?”
He wished that he could tell this woman that he not only remembered their meeting, but he’d kept the memory of her close to his heart. But he got nothing when he looked into her face. He met beautiful women all the time. He shook his head in defeat.
“Five years ago I met you at a conference just like this one. You took me out to dinner, whispered in my ear and then we went to your hotel room and you made love to me. I wouldn’t normally consider a one-night affair to be lovemaking, but I honestly thought we had connected in a special way.”
Marshall wanted to rub his hands together in sweet anticipation. He was about to get his freak on. He was about to ask if she wanted to go to his hotel room now and share a little afternoon delight with him, but she interrupted his thoughts.
“At least I thought we had a special connection. But after waiting by the phone for the call you promised to make, a call that never came, I realized that you don’t have a heart. And you had only been playing with mine.”
“Now wait a minute. You’re trying to make me out to be the bad guy, but if you just met me that weekend and went to bed with me, then you knew what time it was,” he argued.
Her voice rose. “You promised to call me.”
Marshall shrugged. He couldn’t understand what the big deal was. Five years ago his motto had been “love ’em and leave ’em, no strings attached”. And he made sure every woman he got involved with understood that. If this woman hadn’t received the memo, he didn’t know what to tell her.
Fire flared in her eyes as she stood up. “You’re so smug and confident. It probably doesn’t bother you at all that I dreamed about you that night.”
He leaned back and stuck his chest out. “Thank you,” he said with a smile that said, oh yeah, I’m the man.
She smacked him.
