Today has sucked major ass.

From beginning to end, I haven't been able to catch a break. I woke up to Charlie dragging my phone charger across the floor like it was one of his toys. He did not get a treat from me this morning, I'll tell you that. When I dropped Tasha off that my day took a turn for the worst.

I expected to get a little bit more attention when driving there in Nick's car. That's was no big deal. But Trey always has to run his big mouth and ruin shit.

"Woah, nice whip, Maya," Terrell said when I pulled into their driveway. He stood tall like his brothers, but he was body was framed with thick muscle. He was in the army, he only got back from his station in Texas a few months ago. "You finally got a new car."

"Not exactly," I said from the front seat. "Mines getting fixed right now. I'm borrowing this one."

"Oh," he said. "Nevertheless, it's really nice."

"Who let you borrow it, your sugar daddy?" Monique asked coming from the garage behind him. Trey's inconsistent girlfriend was almost as nerve wracking as he was. Maybe that's why they went so well together. Her leggings and low cut t-shirt bared her curves for the world to see. And her bone straight weave fell past her ass.

"Yeah, tell your dad to spring for the drop top next time," Tasha snapped at her getting out of the passenger seat.

Monique scoffed rolling her eyes. "Like my daddy would ever buy a car for her."

"You're right he wouldn't," Tasha smiled viciously. "Because he's a fucking bum. But like father like daughter, I guess."

I cackled I couldn't help it. Monique looked like she wanted to attack her, but she wouldn't do that. Because if she did Trey would drop her, and she couldn't have that.

"Trey!" she screamed storming back into the house. I stepped out of the car, leaning against the hood.

Tasha rolled her eyes. "What does she expect him to do? I'll call him a damn bum too."

"Your mouth is going to get you in trouble one of these days," Terrell warned her.

"It already does," she winked. "And maybe I like it."

He groaned. "Lord, you need Jesus, girl."

Trey then came out of the garage coming up to where we stood by Nick's car. "So you are driving a Benz," he said eyeing the car. "I didn't believe it when Monique told me."

"Why would anyone believe anything that comes out of that heifer's mouth?" Tasha asked. "Not only is she an idiot, but she's a compulsive liar."

He didn't bother to defend his girlfriend against his sisters insults keeping his attention on me. Unlike his brother, he wasn't built, Trey was slim in comparison. But they shared the same golden skin tone. He came outside in a short sleeve t-shirt despite the chill in the air. He didn't have on any of his chains so I figured he wasn't done getting dressed. But he'd made sure to slip his grill in before coming outside--priorities.

"Who bought it for you?" he asked looking me up and down.

"Not that it's any of your business," I stated. "But no one bought it for me. I'm just borrowing it."

He laughed, "Yeah, right. No guy is letting you drive his Benz without anything in return."

"Who says I borrowed it from a man?" I asked cocking my head to the side.

"You a lesbian like my sister now?"

"I'm bi, you idiot!" Tasha yelled at him. "There's a difference!"

"Whatever. As long as you're fucking girls you're a lesbian." Wow, he really is an idiot.

"I'm not a lesbian. And neither is Tasha."

"So why can't you tell me who got you the car," he went on, continuing to press me for information. "Was it your boyfriend?"

I guess he took my lack of response as a yes. "I knew it," he laughed. "Who is he? Some rich old white guy with a fetish for young black girls."

"No," I sneered. "He's not old, at all. And he doesn't have a fetish either."

"Oh, I see, you got one of those preppy white boys like Nia did," he crossed his arms looking down at me. " No wonder you wouldn't go out with me. I guess I wasn't good enough for you. Am I too black? Not rich enough?"

I couldn't believe he would say that. Tasha went to lay into him but I beat her to it. "Listen up, dick for brains, the reason I'm not with you and never will be is because you mistreat your girlfriends, cheat on them constantly. You're out here wondering why I won't go out with you while your girlfriend is inside your house! You have no respect, you have no drive to better yourself, and quite frankly you are TLC's definition of a scrub. It doesn't matter if you are white, black, or purple, I would never, ever, go out with you."

What I said must have hit close to home, because he was pissed. "Nobody wants to go out with your ugly ass anyway, you uppity bitch," he growled before going back into the house slamming his door on the way.

"Maya, I'm so sorry," Tasha rushed to apologize for her brothers actions.

"It's fine," I said despite the fact that I was fuming. "It's not the first time a guys called me ugly after I rejected him." And it wasn't. That's not what bothered me. It's that he assumed that I suddenly thought I was too good to be with black guys because I was now dating a white one. It's not true, and it pissed me off.

"I can kick his ass for you," Terrell offered. And usually I would have told him not to, but today I wasn't feeling so nice.

"Go for it," I encouraged him.

Tasha looked at him suddenly excited. "Oh, I'll hold him down!"

"You'll have to give me a recap of it later," I said looking down at the time on my phone. "I have to go to work." I hope they did their worst.

"Okay," she hugged me. "Thanks for letting me sleep over. And letting me vent about my girl problems."

"Anytime," I told her. She gave me a kiss on the cheek before letting me go. I got in my car before I decided to join them and jump Trey too. I hate him with my whole heart.

I turned the music up full blast as I drove to work only turning it down when I drove through the Java Joe's drive-thru to get a mega sized iced coffee. The joy I received from the delicious caffeine was short lived as I went into work only to be bombarded by rude and annoying customers for eight long hours.

Sometimes I love my job, and sometimes I hate my job. Today was one of those days where I hated my job. When James and I shut down the store I wanted to cry tears of joy. The day was finally over, and I could finally go home to my cat and my boyfriend, or whatever Nick is to me.

When I pulled into my apartment, Nick wasn't outside. Which I found odd, he was always outside around this time. Maybe he went to the bathroom or something.

I pushed open my door, and was met with the wonderful smell of marinara sauce. Did he order pizza?

"Nick!" I called dropping my bag in the hall and hanging my jacket back on my clothing rack.

"I'm in the kitchen," he called back.

Charlie met me at the door, and I immediately picked him up cuddling him to my chest. "Oh, I've missed you, handsome. I hope you didn't get into anymore chords while I was gone."

He purred placing his paw over my mouth. I'm going to take that as his way of telling me to shut up. "Okay, no need to catch an attitude," I said moving his small paw from over my mouth. "Let's go see what Mr. Ainsworth is doing in my kitchen."

I carried Charlie into the kitchen expecting to find Nick eating a sandwich at my makeshift dining room table. But what I found surprised me.

"Nick, what is this?" A candle from my house warming basket sat in the middle of my checkered tablecloth along with two steaming cherry painted plates. I put Charlie down stepping further into the kitchen.

"I made dinner for you," he said spreading his arms out over the table. "I hope you like pasta."

"I love it." I love most carbs, and most carbs love me.

"Great, because it's the few things I know how to make. And I just recently learned how to make this, turns out I can boil water pretty well," he smiled proudly. The sleeves of his sweatshirt were pushed up to his elbows, his jeans were unusually clean. His beard was starting to fill in quite nicely, and his hair was in it's usual disarray.

I said, "I've never had someone cook dinner for me before." I've had someone take me through the McDonald's drive-thru a few times. He wasn't big on romance.

He put his arms around me. "And I made garlic bread."

"Homemade of frozen?"

"Frozen. Who do you think I am, Gordon Ramsay?"

I smiled, pulling him in for a kiss. "I don't think Gordon Ramsay can boil water as well as you."

"You're damn right, he can't." he said brushing his nose against mine.

Charlie wedged himself between us, sitting directly between our legs as he stared up at us. "I didn't forget about you, sir," Nick said to him. "I have dinner for you as well." Charlie responded to him with a loud meow before rubbing himself against his pant leg. He sighed, "Have a seat, I'll be back in a second."

"This was so sweet of him," I thought as I sat down. He'd even put a single rose in a vase in the center of the table. I felt like I was in one of those cheesy Hallmark movies.

"The king has been fed," Nick said finally coming to sit down. "He should leave us alone now." I could her Charlie's tags clinking against his food bowl.

"He'll be back," I said knowingly.

"Then we better eat quickly then," Nick said. "I hope it's not cold."

I took a bite of it. It was perfect. "No, it's great. Perfect temperature." I said trying to cover my full mouth with my hand. I was starving. I'd forgotten my lunch again, and I wasn't feeling like a greasy cheeseburger or an expensive smoothie from the food court.

"Okay, so you like it," he asked nervously, not even touching his food.

I swallowed. "I told you it's great. Now eat something, you're making me feel like it's poisoned."

"It's not," he took a bite himself. "See."

"I'm not convinced eat more."

He made a show of taking a bite of his garlic bread. "Better?"

"Much."

"How was work?" he asked. "Did it get better?"

"Nope," I told him. "I had a woman yell at me because we didn't have a Disney's Greatest Hits cd."

"Yikes," he sympathized. "If it makes you feel better I would never yell at you over a Disney's Greatest Hits cd."

I chuckled taking a sip of the sparkling water he'd set out for me. "Thanks, that does make me feel better." This whole dinner has made my day so much better. "What have you done today?"

"I cleaned," he stated.

"Okay, what did you clean exactly?"

"I cleaned your apartment," he explained. "Not your room though. Just the living room, and the bathroom, and the dishes that were left in the sink."

I opened and closed my mouth unable to form words for a second. "Thank you, but you didn't have to do that. I could have cleaned it." I was well aware of the mess that Tasha left behind, and I had all intentions of cleaning it when I got home. The image of her fake lashes on my bathroom sink had been floating in the back of my mind all day.

"I know," he said. "But I wanted to. I know how weird you get when your house isn't clean."

"I don't get weird," I denied it.

"Yes, you do," He took another bite of his garlic bread, "I saw you vacuuming the living room rug at twelve o'clock at night."

"It was dirty," I defended myself. "Charlie had gotten his treat crumbs all over it."

"But couldn't that have waited until the morning?"

"If it was twelve o'clock then it was morning."

He smirked at me, "Very clever."

I smiled. "It's hard being a genius."

"Tell me about it," he huffed. "How do you think I feel? I just learned how to put pasta in boiling water, and I'm still waiting for everyone to catch up."

"Nick, I know how to put pasta in boiling water," I laughed.

"Well, it's good to know I'm not alone in my intelligence."

"I wonder if Charlie is a genius too," I pondered watching his drink from across the kitchen.

"If you put enough food in front of him, he will be," Nick said turning in his chair to watch him too. "He'll turn into Albert Einstein for catnip." He turned back to me. "Wait until you see what I got him."

"It's not anymore toys is it?" He'd buy him every cat toy known to man if I didn't stop him. One corner of my living room is now solely devoted to housing Charlie's toys.

He shook his head, smiling. "No, I kept my word no more toys."

"Then what is it?"

"I'll show you after dinner."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Okay."

He reached over and squeezed my cheek. "Don't look so apprehensive, you'll like it. I also got candy."

Candy? Now that's what I like to hear.

****

"If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go?" Nick asked as he dried a plate.

I was elbow deep in warm soapy water. After going back and forth on who would do the dishes we finally settled on doing them together. And we'd started a game of twenty questions while doing so. "Disney World."

"Disney World?" he asked, openly surprised.

I nodded handing him the last plate. "Who doesn't want to go to the happiest place on earth?" Sure it may seem corny, but that mouse rakes in billions of dollars, so it must be true.

"What about you where do you want to go?"

"Me?" He furrowed his brows thinking about it. "I don't know."

"You don't know. You've never wanted to travel the world."

"I've been everywhere anyone could dream of going. Paris, Italy, London, Greece, but as beautiful as those places were I didn't feel any connection to them. I was mostly stuck with whatever Nanny my parents had hired for the trip." Wow, that's sad. Meanwhile I've never been anywhere.

"So in your head you don't have a dream vacation? Nowhere you want to go?" There has to be somewhere. "Yosemite? Six Flags? Grand Canyon? Anywhere?"

"No," he answered honestly.

"Wow," I exhaled. "So you just want to stay here forever?"

He shrugged, " I don't think I've ever thought about going anywhere else."

"Nick...that is the saddest shit I've ever heard."

He laughed. "I'm sorry. I can't think of anything."

"Well, you better start thinking, because there is no way you want to stay trapped in your mansion your whole life."

"I will not be trapped there my whole life," he said suddenly determined. "I'm moving first chance I get."

"See that's better," I told him drying my hands on my dish towel. "You might like Seattle they have Orcas there."

He raised his brows. "What makes you think I like killer whales?"

"Uh, everyone likes killer whales. Have you ever seen Free Willy?"

He pursed his lips together. "Are you going to be mad if I say no?"

"I will be very disappointed if you haven't seen the national treasure that is Free Willy."

"I haven't seen it. But I've heard about it," he rushed to say.

"How have you survived this long without me?" I asked with a long sigh.

"Honestly, I'm not sure." The sound of a single bell jingled in the living room. Charlie had picked a new toy to play with. Looking at him, I remembered Nick saying he got him something.

"Can I see what you got Charlie now?" I asked politely.

"Yes," He said suddenly excited. "You are going to love it."

If it's something that stops him from chewing on phone chargers, then yes, I will.

"Come into the living room with me."

I followed him into the living room where he told me to take a seat. I took a seat and waited patiently for whatever it is he was so excited to show me. He took Charlie into my room, which made me equally anxious and suspicious. I couldn't remember if I had picked up my dirty clothes from off the floor or if I had made my bed. Would he see my underwear laying on the ground? And if he did would they be cute ones?

I was contemplating going in there when he yelled to me from the hall. "Close your eyes!" He exclaimed from the hallway.

"For what?"

"You'll see, just close them!"

Sighing, I closed my eyes. "I closed them!"

I heard Nick's footsteps and Charlie's incessant meowing as I sat with my eyes closed. The couch dipped next to me.

"Okay, open them," Nick said suddenly close.

I opened my eyes and immediately started laughing. Nick had gotten Charlie a Halloween costume, and it was everything I never knew I needed. His little ears poked out of the top of his pumpkin hat, and it was absolutely adorable.

"He looks so cute," I grinned at them. Charlie looked confused, as he pawed at the stem on top of his head. "Who knew cats looked so cute in costumes?"

"It matches his fur," Nick said, "I didn't think he would like it."

"I want to take a picture of him, before he figures out how to take it off." He was already trying to chew on it. We didn't have much time.

"Hold him." I took out my phone and began snapping pictures as fast as I could. The first few were definitely a struggle, but I think I got some good ones.

"Okay, we can take it off now," Nick said undoing the Velcro under Charlie's chin. Charlie then took the hat in his mouth and jumped off the couch and strutted to his cat tree where he chewed on it.

"Do you think he's mad at me?" Nick asked putting his arm around me.

"Maybe," I leaned into his side. Charlie pawed at his pumpkin costume scraping his claws against it. "I don't think he will let you put it on him again."

He ran a hand over his jaw. "It's too bad. He looked so nice in it."

"We have pictures so it's okay." I rested my head on his shoulder as he ran his hand up and down my arm. "Thank you for tonight it was perfect."

He's perfect. And smart, and funny, and patient, and kind. Despite having almost the same shitty upbringing as me he's not jaded by it. Unlike me. And I'm terrified that I'm going to hurt him because of it.

"Your welcome," he smiled, pressing a kiss to my forehead. "Anything to make your day better."

I really don't want to hurt him.