Cicely plastered on a bright smile. “Nothing’s wrong. I just missed you and Gran and I needed a break. Don’t worry, sis. I just got a little homesick, that’s all.”
“Well okay. But I hope you aren’t missing anything important.” Latonya leaned back on the sofa.
“Nope. In fact, I’m ahead in all my classes. So, what’s up with you? You look like you’ve seen better days.”
“I’m fine. Couldn’t be better.” Latonya wasn’t about to tell Cee Cee that she had just quit her job. The girl would probably withdraw from college in a heartbeat and move home to help out with the house. Latonya knew she’d be able to find another job with her credentials, even in a tight job market. But when?
“You don’t look fine. In fact, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were having man troubles.” Cicely eyed her incredulously.
“Man troubles? What do you know about man troubles?” The sad fact was, Latonya’s sister knew a whole lot more about man troubles than she did. Cicely at least dated during high school and had the occasional steady boyfriend.
Latonya studied Cicely carefully. They shared the same facial features, but Cicely’s were a little more angular. Her soft cocoa-brown skin was a couple of shades darker than Latonya’s, but they shared the same brown eyes. Cicely’s hair, which she currently wore in a long ponytail, was a deep dark brown instead of auburn like her older sister’s. Gran always said that Latonya took after their mom in coloring and Cicely took after their dad.
“Spill it, Peanut. Is it that mean old boss you were complaining about? See, that’s why you need to let me transfer to the University of Miami and move back home. You wouldn’t have to work for that…what do you call him? Oh, yeah, that ogre.”
“I’m fine. I don’t have man troubles or boss troubles. I’m actually—” Latonya’s lies were interrupted by the doorbell. As she watched Cee Cee jump up to answer the door, she figured it had to be one of her sister’s friends stopping by to visit her. Cicely must have called them all to tell them she was coming home.
“Woooo! Flowers! For me?” Cicely’s high-pitched squeal made Latonya get up and walk to the door.
“No. They’re for Latonya. Is she here?”
Latonya felt her jaw drop when she saw Carlton standing in the doorway holding the most beautiful bouquet of tropical flowers she’d every seen.
Cicely looked at her. “Somebody’s been keeping secrets.” She turned back to Carlton. “Well, I guess I’d be rude if I didn’t invite you in. I’m Latonya’s sister, Cicely.”
Carlton walked in and Latonya’s eyes narrowed. How dare he just come here with flowers, as if that was going to be enough to get me to forgive him!
“Hi, Cicely. I’m Carlton. Nice to meet you,” he responded as his eyes searched Latonya’s face.
“I’ll take these. I think we have a vase in here someplace. Although, I doubt we have one big enough for all these flowers. I might have to separate them.” Cicely glanced from Latonya to Carlton as she took the flowers. “And, nobody’s paying me any attention. All righty then.…” She walked to the kitchen in the back of the house.
Latonya folded her arms across her chest and gave Carlton a pointed glare. “What are you doing here?”
Carlton took a deep breath and exhaled. “I came to tell you that I was out of line today and I behaved horribly.”
She couldn’t believe Carlton. The audacity of the man was mind blowing. He probably actually thought he was making a huge gesture! “Oh, so now you’re making road trips to the hood in order to state the obvious. Tell me something I don’t already now, Carlton!”
Carlton winced. Things weren’t going exactly as he’d planned. He hadn’t expected her to just leap into his arms and forgive him because he brought flowers, but he’d never done this sort of thing before. Apologizing just wasn’t something he did.
“Well, I figured if I admitted I was out of line—”
“I don’t need you to admit that you were out of line. I have eyes and ears. I saw it for myself. But thanks for backing up what I already knew. If that is all you came for, then you can leave now.” Latonya walked over to the door and started to open it.
“Wait a second, Latonya. Can you just hear me out? Please?”
She turned to face him.
He let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”
She shook her head in mock amazement. “Wow, he can say please and thank you, but not I’m sorry when he’s been a total jerk!”
“I said I was out of line. I brought flowers,” was all he could say in his defense. What more did the woman want?
“I want an apology, Carlton, and then I’ll decide if I will hear anything else you have to say.”
He ran his hand across his head. “Can we sit down somewhere and talk?”
She tilted her head and crossed her arms. Her body posture and stance answered with a resounding no.
“Okay, the flowers are in vases. What did I miss? Why aren’t you two sitting down somewhere?” Cicely came breezing back into the entryway.
“Thanks, Cicely, but Carlton won’t be—” Latonya started as she made a move for the door.
“Okay, I’m sorry! I acted like a jerk. Will you please forgive me?” The words came out in a mad rush as he struggled to come to terms with the fact that he was experiencing another new emotion with this woman. The pounding in his chest as he waited for her response was a feeling he never wanted to feel again.
Latonya smiled. “That wasn’t so hard, was it? Now, if that will be all…” She reached for the door.
“Can we go somewhere to talk? I really want…need to talk to you.” He couldn’t believe he was begging. Yet another first!
“Do we have anything else to talk about?” Latonya asked hesitantly.
“Oh, come on, sis! Cut the man some slack. He’s begging! Plus, he’s kinda cute!” Cicely added her two cents, and both Latonya and Carlton turned. He’d actually been so wrapped up in getting Latonya to listen to him that he forgot the younger woman was there.
Latonya’s eyes widened. “Cee Cee,” she said in a scolding voice.
“Pea-nut,” Cicely mimicked Latonya’s voice.
“Peanut?” Carlton asked.
