When He Cheatin' and You Still Love Him 2 Read Free

smiles. “You know I got you boo.”
    When we settle on what we both wanted to eat, we put in our order with the waitress, and she walks away. Once she’s out of earshot Naomi began to tell me about her upcoming vacation for her tenth-year anniversary. She said that Derrick, her husband, had surprised her with a trip to Rome a few days ago and that she couldn’t wait to go. The bright smile and wide eyes she wears as she talked about it let me know that my best friend was truly happy in her marriage. Of course, I already knew that because her husband is a sweetheart who does anything he can to make sure that she’s happy. I’m glad that she has someone like Derrick in her life, and I look forward to the day where I can be just as happy as she is.
    “Keith asked about you today,” Naomi spoke between bites of her Teriyaki chicken that had been brought to the table a few minutes prior. “He wanted to know why you haven’t been to work.”
    “Is that right?” I peered at her from across the table. My lips are pursed because I already knew this conversation was coming.
    “Yep, I told him that you were out on maternity leave. He got all crazy thinking something was wrong with either you or the baby.” She chuckles. “Girl, I had to calm him down.”
    As Naomi continues to laugh, I exhale loudly while shaking my head because she always finds a way to slide him into our conversations. I don’t care what we’re talking about, Keith’s name is brought up. Let me bring you up to speed. Keith is a guy who works with the two of us at the hospital. He also happens to be Derrick’s best friend and frat brother. Just like Derrick, he’s a sweetheart, and if I can be honest, he’s one of the coolest guys that I’ve ever met because he’s down to earth and keeps me laughing. In fact, he’s one of the only other people besides Naomi that I deal with at the job.
    That hasn’t been the case as of lately though because our friendship has been a bit strained ever since the altercation that I had at the job about a year ago. A chick who was messing around with my boyfriend, Terry, got hired in our department, and after she had followed me to a restaurant that we all frequented, she and I ended up fighting during our lunch break. Keith was one of the guys who assisted in breaking up the tussle. His account of what happened that day also aided in helping me to keep my job. He let our supervisor know that I was only defending myself, and not the aggressor.
    Although I was extremely grateful for his help, immediately after that day, I pulled back from Keith and only spoke in passing. I was not only humiliated because I allowed myself to be provoked into having a fist fight in front of him and the rest of my colleagues, but also because the chick who I fought had aired out all of my business which spread throughout the hospital like a wildfire. Due to that, I kept my distance from Keith and all of the other muthafuckas who I thought were looking at me sideways. Since then Keith has tried numerous times to spark back up our friendship, but I won’t let him because I’m still too embarrassed about the entire situation. Of course, I know that it’s not Keith’s fault that it went down the way it did, but I can’t stand to face him knowing that he knows just how much of a fool I am. There’s no doubt in my mind that he thinks less of me. Especially, since I bragged about Terry on a daily basis back when we were cool.
    “He also wanted me to tell you hi.”
    I look up at Naomi and even though I notice the smirk on her face, my only reply is, “Tell him that I said hello.”
    “Umph,” She looks me up and down. “Are you sure that’s all you want me to tell him?”
    Before responding, I roll my eyes to the back of my head. “Yep…that’s all.”
    Forking a juicy salad dressing covered tomato into my mouth, I glance back over at Naomi and see that she’s still watching me with that same silly ass grin on her face. I know