Caught Me Dreaming Page 3

  Before long, it’s time to get ready for work. My fuckin’ car got stolen, so I gotta get an early start to get on the bus and shit. I make sure I’m nice and right—in case Neeci comes through. I put on some extra cologne to draw her closer so that I can make my move. I hope I don’t smell like the bus when I get to her though.

  I get on the bus and slide on to work. The seat next to me always filling up with some chick tryna get with the kid, but I just mostly charm their asses until it’s time for one of us to get off. I only really get their numbers if they’re super fine.

  I get off and go into the Coffee Cat. Lo and behold, Neeci’s got her fine ass back up in here. With a super-close fitting v-neck shirt and some tight ass jeans, I don’t even know how she got in.

  Damn, I gotta get some of that again! I think.

  I greet a few of my co-workers and then walk up to her on some extra-cool shit.

  “Hey, pretty girl. What’s good?”

  “Hello,” she says, stiff as hell.

  Damn! I guess I’m gonna have to put in a lil’ extra work. I lean into her to make sure she smells my cologne and beam my hazel eyes at her.

  “So what exactly will you be doin’ here?” I ask, making my voice go a bit deeper to send that shiver down her spine.

  I notice she isn’t really looking at me. She scrolls through her phone and says, “I’ll be singing twice a week.”

  She ain’t with my shit. I consider trying one more time, but then I remember my secret weapon: food. “Hey, were you gonna get something to eat?”

  She finally looks up at me. The change of subject clearly threw her off. She looks suspicious.

  “I hadn’t really planned on it,” she says.

  I give her a lil’ smile. “Well, you should. Our food is good here.”

  “Okay. What should I get?”

  “Well, we have a few specials. Our most popular food is the cornbread and Philly cheesesteak. You can actually get the platter with them both and some fries.”

  “Okay, I’ll have that.”

  “Cool. I gotta go back.”

  I walk off to the kitchen. She thawed a lil’ bit at the end, but she’s still not really havin’ it. I know the food will change all that. She’s still a lil’ salty, but I can wear her down.

  So she’s gonna be singing here, huh? I think. She’d told me that she sang when we first met, but besides some harmonizing in the hotel room, I ain’t heard her yet. It should be interesting to see. I know I’ll have to come out of the kitchen for that one.

  As soon as I get in, I start working on her order right away. I make sure it’s perfect. The cornbread alone should have her changing her tune. Imma give her time to eat, then casually stroll out in time to see if she has. I get the order out and work on a few more so that I can hurry up and see what she’s doing.

  I put on a few Philly steaks and tell my man, Jake, to cover me for a bit, then I slide out the doors to see how Neeci’s feeling. She sitting there grubbin’, and she seems to be enjoying herself. I see her take a piece of cornbread and put in her mouth, closing her eyes and slowly chewing it.

  I got her! I think.

  “So, you enjoying the food?” I ask.

  She jumps a lil’ bit, and her eyes pop open. She finishes swallowing, wipes her mouth to make sure there aren’t any crumbs, and says, “Yes. Thanks for the suggestion.”

  “I made that extra special for you.”

  “Oh, is that right?”

  “Yeah, I put a lil’ extra care in it. I can see you’re still a lil’ mad at me.”

  “It’s not even that. I’m just here to work. This could be a big deal for me, and I’m not looking for any distractions.”

  “Distractions can be good.”

  “Not in this case. I need this.”

  “I feel that. I got dreams too. I’m lookin’ forward to hearing you sing.”

  “Yeah, hopefully I’ll do a good job.”

  “I’m sure you will. I’ll be front row center.”

  “What about your job?”

  “They can do without me for a while.”

  “Speakin’ of which, I guess you’d better get back.”

  “Yeah, I guess I better.”

  I give her one final, intense look. She shot me down, but she’s definitely warming up to me. At least this time, it was about the job and not about me. Her resistance is already breaking down, and with a lil’ more time, I’ll get to her.

  Is this just about sex, or will it be more? I wonder.

  I don’t really know. All I know is, there’s something about Neeci, and I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I’d like to. I’m sure she’d like me to, as well.

  Chapter Three

  After making my thing at the Coffee Cat Club official, I’m on a bit of a high. Plus, I had a bomb-ass meal, which turned out to be courtesy of Sha’quan. I saw him flashing that smile and those eyes tryna get to me. It was working, but I can’t let it work. Besides what he did to me, I have to keep it professional. After our lil’ explosion that first day, I have to be careful, and I don’t want people at the club looking at me like some ridiculous drama queen. He is still fine as hell though.

  I gotta get on up and get to work. Yesterday, on the way back from the Coffee Cat Club, Whitney broke down on me. I can’t even blame her. I haven’t had the money to take care of her. But now I gotta deal with that ol’ crowded-ass bus.

  Lord, I just hope everything is cool, I think. Imma try to have a positive attitude.

  That all goes to hell as soon as I set foot into work and see Tony’s ass standing in there.

  Shit! I can’t stand this motherfucka! He is, unfortunately, the owner of the shop and a grade-A asshole. I have had so many problems with this job because of his ass. He doesn’t know how to talk to people and is always treating me like I’m nothing but a grunt. If I didn’t have to work in this bitch, I wouldn’t. I’m gonna try to keep my calm and not let him take me there this morning.

  As soon as he sees me coming, he puts on that ridiculous grin he has. That grin that says, “I know somethin’ you don’t know.” It looks completely ridiculous on an adult. I already know there’s about to be some bullshit.

  I try to be the bigger person, so I put on a smile and say, “Good morning, Tony! How are you?”

  “I’m wonderful, Neeci. I would ask you the same question, but it seems cruel. I’m sure it couldn’t be that great.”

  I clinch my jaw and go in the back to clock in. I’m trying really hard to talk myself up so that I don’t lose my shit on this dude. But he always talkin’ shit. He couldn’t even let me be pleasant. Hopefully, he won’t be in for long.

  I take my time clocking in and slowly make my way back up to the front. He’s still out there, so I try to start doing my work.

  It’s slow this morning, so it’s basically just the two of us. The other girl that works here doesn’t come in until later, and Shay always stays out of the way when Tony’s here. He’s watching me organize things and do inventory, but I try to ignore him.

  Finally, he clears his throat and says, “I heard you got a job at the Coffee Cat Club.”

  I turn around surprised. “Where’d you hear that?”

  “I hear things. I know a few people over there. So you’re gonna be singing?”

  “Yes.”

  “Ha! I guess you think that’s your big break, huh?”

  I can tell he’s tryna bait me, so I turn around and try to ignore him. Tony loves to push folks’ buttons…just to watch them react. I wasn’t going to react today though. It became easy when a few customers came in. I did one of their faces and sold the other some lip glosses and a mascara. As soon as they left, Tony launched back in.

  “I see you’re still going after that dream of yours. It’s not gonna happen. You don’t have a bad voice, and you’re a good-looking girl, but you just don’t have that “X” factor that will make you a star. You may as well just use that degree to do something that could actually work instead of wa
sting your time. You’re not getting any younger, and it’s gonna be hard for you to get a husband if you’re running around tryna be Mariah Carey. Just stick close to home and save yourself the heartache. You’ll sing at the Coffee Cat, but it won’t last and you’ll be back to square one. Just like this job.”

  With each statement, I was getting more and more pissed, not that I thought anything he said was true, but because he was being an ass. I don’t want to let him get to me, but I’m tired of him treating me like a loser just because I work for him. Before I know it, I’ve got my finger in his chest.

  “You know what,” I say. “I am so beyond sick of your shit. The only reason I even work in this mothafucka is because I see it as motivation not to get stuck in here. You’re always coming in here and talkin’ shit; meanwhile, you and I both know that the only reason that this store is even open is because of me. My sales and my makeup tutorials are what generate business in this bitch, which is why every time I quit, yo ass comes callin’ me back. If it weren’t for me, this would be a fuckin’ Starbucks right now. So cut the shit and stop actin’ like you’re better than somebody. The only reason why you even have this place is because your daddy gave it to you so that you could get the hell away from him. Everything you have is given to you, so don’t talk to me about makin’ it. Just like I can make this motherfucka, I can make myself. And I will, and yo ass is gonna wish I would mention the name of this raggedy bitch.”

  “How dare you talk to me like that? I will fire yo ass and what’re you gonna do then? You think the Coffee Cat Club’s gonna pay yo bills?”

  “Fire me and you’re firing yourself. This shit won’t last two months without me—and you know it. You brought yo ass in here, thinking you could gloat, but you can’t. Keep fucking with me and Imma file a suit against yo ass for creating a hostile work environment.”

  That slows his ass down really quick. He knows damn well I’m the best saleswoman in the place, and if it weren’t for me, he would have to tuck his tail between his legs and go crying back to daddy. I can tell he’s thinking about this in that small-ass head of his. He stands at full height, as if he’s gonna keep arguing, but instead he just says, “You know what, I tried to help you and you decided to be ungrateful, so fine. But watch yourself, Shanisha. You are replaceable. Now if you will excuse me, I have other business to attend to elsewhere. You have a good day.”

  With that Tony walks out of the shop. I’m still hot, and he didn’t fire me, but he put a fire up under me to get the hell outta here. I will not deal with his bullshit much longer. I’m gonna sing the roof off of the Coffee Cat Club, and I’m gonna be a star. I can’t wait to see the look on Tony’s face when I walk in and quit once and for all.

  Jackass!

  The rest of the work day goes by fairly pleasant. Tony does not make another appearance, and I clock out and mentally prepare myself for the madness on the bus. As soon as I step up to the corner, the bus pulls up. I can already tell that the bus is packed. I take a deep breath and go up the steps, pay, and walk back through the aisle to find a seat. As I look, it seems that I’ll have to stand, but then I spot a seat next to a bald brotha towards the back. As I get closer, I realize that the man is Sha’quan. Ugh! Not really someone I want to see. He looks up and sees me, so now I feel like I have no choice but to sit down. He scoots over a bit to make room.

  I walk over and sit down, trying to put some space between us. The seats are so close together I damn near have to push to the edge of it. I smile at him and take out my phone. I hope I can just scroll through Instagram and Twitter, and not have to talk to him. It only works for a few minutes.

  “So Neeci,” he says, “I thought you had a car.”

  “It broke down,” I reply, keeping my eyes on my phone and hoping he’ll get the hint.

  “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. You put it in the shop already?”

  “My cousin, James is looking at it for me.”

  “Oh, because I was about to say I could take a look at it for you.”

  “Well, thanks anyway. I thought you had a car, too. That’s how you made your getaway.”

  “Oh yeah, well, it got stolen, so I gotta do this until I can get another one. My homie, Tommy, said he might be able to hook me up.”

  “Oh.”

  There is a short pause, and I hope that means he’s done talkin’.

  He’s not.

  “I mean, the bus ain’t so bad,” he says. “It’s just always crowded as hell. You don’t have to wait too long for it, especially if you have the app.”

  I can’t take it anymore. “So you really just gonna sit here and try to small talk with me, huh? Like we’re two strangers on a bus?”

  “What else are we supposed to talk about?”

  “Really? You don’t know?”

  “This is about last year again, ain’t it? I apologized for that. What do you want me to do?”

  “I don’t want you to act like it didn’t happen.”

  “I’m not tryin’ to. I just don’t really know what to say about it. I mean, I have thought about it since I’ve seen you again. I really do regret how it was left. I think maybe we coulda been something.”

  “Well, we’ll never know now, will we?”

  “C’mon Neeci! You know you remember how good it was.”

  “Whatever, Sha’quan. That’s not the point.”

  “Sure it is.”

  “You just don’t get it. You can’t just do shit like that and expect people to get over it.”

  “You can’t hold onto it forever.”

  “I can hold on to whatever the fuck I want to.”

  “There you go again. You always gotta shoot yo mouth off. I’m tryna make it right, but you just determined to be shitty.”

  “What’re you tryna make right, huh? How do you think you’re gonna do that?”

  “Why don’t you just stop tryna pretend like you’re not still attracted to me and just get to know me? You might like me.”

  I take a moment to think about that. Maybe he is right? I mean, he did apologize, and a year is a long time. Maybe he’s changed, but none of that really matters. I can’t get involved with him, not while I work with him. I guess I could at least stop bringing up the past. Maybe we could be cool. I mean, friends and whatnot…if that is possible.

  There is another stop and even more people start to crowd the bus. As I scoot back off the edge to make room for the people standing, the bus hits a pothole. I lose my balance and fall back into Sha’quan. I try to catch myself, and I accidentally put my hand on the seat between Sha’quan’s legs. I kinda get stuck as people keep pushing past me.

  I am completely pressed against Sha’quan’s body, and I feel all of his muscles, and his penis is pressed up against my arm. I finally shift back a bit so I’m not leaning against him, but it’s too late. My mind is wondering, and I can feel myself getting hot. I flash back to that weekend. It was amazing, which is why I was so pissed when he left like that.

  I don’t say anything else. I just sit, tryna shake off those feelings and the feel of him pressed against me. I keep telling myself that we can’t happen.

  The bus empties a bit and I scoot away. Just as I’m wondering when he’ll get off, he says, “Excuse me.” Then, he maneuvers his way past me. We lock eyes as he passes, and I watch him walk down the aisle.

  He is sexy as hell, I think.

  I shake my head and look out the window, as I realize that this is just one stop away from mine.

  Oh shit! He lives right around the corner from me. This could end up being a problem, I can’t help but think.

  I get up to get off the bus and try not to think too much about it. I just push Sha’quan out of my mind and refocus on making something happen.

  The next day I don’t have to work at the shop, so I spend the day playing my guitar and singing. As it starts getting later, I go into the Coffee Cat Club with my guitar to figure out my show. I go straight in, speak to Nikki and start pulling the show together. />
  Tonight is the first night, and I’m really excited. I can’t wait to put on my lil’ acoustic set. Just my voice and my guitar. There’s no telling who may be in the building, so I gotta give it my all.

  Nikki says that we’ll start working with the setup after she deals with some things in the back, so I sit down and start tuning up my guitar. Just then, Jo comes out of his office. He has clearly been drinking and is stumbling my way. I do not feel like dealing with his shit, so I keep tuning the guitar and try to ignore him, but he walks right up to me.

  “Well, hello beautiful,” he says. I can smell the liquor on his breath. “Just the woman I wanted to see.”

  “Hi, Jo.

  “Hey, come here.”

  “What?”

  “Come over here and gimme some sugah.”

  “No.”

  “No? What do you mean, no?”

  “Just what I said. What do you think this is?”

  “This is the thanks I get for giving you a show? I can always cancel it if you don’t want it.”

  “I’m not about to kiss you for this show, so if that’s what it’s gonna take, you can have it.”

  He keeps coming forward, grabbing at me. I put my guitar down and push him away. Just then Sha’quan comes out of the kitchen and grabs Jo by the arm pulling him back.

  “Hey man, what’re you doin’?” Sha’quan says.

  “This is between me and her,” says Jo.

  “Naw, man, clearly she doesn’t want it to be.”

  “Well, you can wave goodbye to her.”

  “You gonna have to fire both of us then.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me. If you try to fire her on some bullshit, you gonna have to find a new cook.”

  Both Jo and I stare at him in disbelief. Sha’quan stands there looking at Jo like he means it, and I can’t believe he’s going to bat like that for me again.

  Jo steps forward. “That can be arranged.”