When the stylist finished, she’d been shocked at how different she looked. At first she’d wondered if her sudden change had been too drastic. In the days following, Chey would absentmindedly attempt to run her fingers through her hair and be reminded that she had chopped all of it off. As the days passed, Chey had received loads of compliments at her part-time job and eventually became so pleased with the style that she wondered why she hadn’t cut it before. Her new look highlighted her high cheekbones and made her big brown eyes pop in a good way. Then she remembered. She’d kept it long because Todd preferred that length.
Feeling free and light was becoming addictive. Chey had taken other actions and made plans to do things she had wanted to do for years. Now that she was no longer tied to Todd, she did whatever she desired and it felt great!
Chey’s phone rang. She walked over to retrieve her cell from the side table. She didn’t recognize the number but did recognize the area code as being from her hometown in Virginia. It had to be someone she knew.
“Hello,” she said in the same courteous tone she used at work.
“Chey?” Todd’s greeting sounded more like a scolding.
Chey hadn’t heard from him since the day she left home three months before. She resisted the initial urge to hang up. There was no reason to hide from him.
“Hello, Todd.” She kept her tone professional.
“I’ve given you enough time to get over whatever little fit you’ve been having. It’s time for you to come home. I need you here.”
Chey found herself laughing at how ridiculous he sounded. “You can’t be serious.”
“You find this funny?” He was clearly annoyed.
“As a matter of fact, I do. It’s not that at all, is it? You don’t like the idea of me being independent. You can’t handle the fact that I walked away from you! This is a joke!”
“This has gone on long enough.”
Chey dropped her head into her free hand and shook it. “Todd. We’re done. I have a new life. I truly wish you the best with yours.”
“Tell me where you are.”
“Goodbye, Todd.” Chey ended the call, but not before hearing him declare that he would find her.
Chey walked to the refrigerator and pulled out the bottle of champagne she’d purchased to bring in the New Year. Suddenly she felt as if there was no need to wait the few days. She popped open the bottle and toasted to all the fresh starts of the past few months and the ones on the horizon.
Hunter looked across the roomful of people at his brother Blake snuggled up against his fiancée, Cadence, on the couch and wondered if settling down was somewhere in his future. No one ever anticipated Blake finding a wife before his big brother, Hunter, who was more laid-back. Drew, forget about it! As the youngest, he was the rebel, completely commitment phobic and having way too much fun running through as many women in as many countries as he possibly could. Jade Donnelly, the only woman the family thought could have been “the one” for Drew, had run off with a chunk of his heart and was never to be seen again. Hunter believed that there was a slight possibility that Drew might have been holding out for her return.
“Hey, bro. You don’t hear me talking to you.” Drew pulled Hunter from his thoughts, bringing him back to the roomful of music and people attending his brother’s New Year’s Eve party.
“What’s up?” he asked, sipping the champagne in his hand.
“I said, look at Blake—he’s a sucker for love.” Drew’s infectious laugh roared, garnering the attention of nearby guests.
“Yeah! Rightfully so, though. Cadence is a great catch.”
“You’re right. I’m just teasing. She’s good people!” Drew took a long swig of his beer. “What about you? You think you’ll find someone that would make you want to quit the singles game?”
“I don’t know, li’l bro. I don’t know.” Hunter sipped again.
For a moment, Drew seemed caught in pensive thoughts. “I don’t know either.”
“What about Alana? The two of you went out before, right?”
For a quick second, Drew looked uncomfortable. “Hmm, Alana,” he said with a puzzled expression. Hunter gave him a look that told him he wasn’t buying his poor attempt at acting as though he didn’t know whom he was talking about. “Oh! Pfft!” He waved his hand dismissively. “She’s cool.”
“Ha!” Hunter shook his head at him and continued sipping.
“Hey, Hunter!” said some girl dressed in baby pink, looking like a happy Easter egg.
“Hey...” He hesitated, trying to figure out if he knew her name.
“Tricia,” she paused a moment, apparently waiting for some sign of recognition to spread across Hunter’s face. “I recently joined the New York Association of Attorneys.”
“Oh! Okay.” Hunter had no idea who this woman was. “Nice to see you, Tricia.” He held out his hand to shake hers. She was pretty enough not to forget. Hunter discreetly took in her curves. Obviously, he wasn’t inconspicuous enough. She smiled seductively and arched her back slightly, giving him an unobstructed view of her ample cleavage.
“I guess I’ll see you around,” she said, then turned slowly and swayed her hips, leaving an imprint on Hunter’s mind with her seductive gait.
“Who is that?” Drew reappeared by his side, ogling the woman as she walked away.
“Tricia!”
“Tricia?”
“Yeah...Tricia,” Hunter said, still eyeing her. Though she was beautiful, he already knew she wasn’t “the one” kind of material.
Hunter shook his head hard. Why was he even thinking like that? He hadn’t been assessing the women he met in order to determine if any of them might be “the one” material before. Maybe he was just caught up in all the love oozing from Blake and Cadence.
Hunter looked over at Drew, who was still taking Tricia in, and laughed. He was at a New Year’s Eve party. It was time to act like it. Old-school R & B floated through the hidden speakers. People were bunched in groups, chatting, laughing and sipping everything from hard liquor to bottles of water.
“Hey, Blake!” he yelled, snaking through the lively crowd with his empty flute leading the way. “It’s almost midnight! We need to get more champagne in here.”
Hunter’s announcement caused a stir of cheer. Excitement rose in the atmosphere.
Blake gave Cadence a quick peck, which brought a sweet smile to her face, and then jumped up. “Let’s get some more bottles from the cellar.”
“Turn on the TV!” Alana, Cadence’s best friend, shouted. “We have to watch the ball drop!”
Hunter and Drew accompanied Blake to his basement to retrieve more chilled bottles of champagne. When they returned, the crowd made a show of cheering them on as they carefully balanced several bottles in their arms on their way to the table reserved for beverages. Blake danced to the music as he opened a few of the bottles.
The party flowed on, getting louder as it drew closer to midnight. Hunter caught Tricia watching him from across the room. Nodding, he acknowledged her but kept his distance—surprising himself. Any other time, he would have had a pretty girl like that eating from his skillful hands, enjoying flirtatious chatter as he competently weakened her resolve—if in fact there was any resolve to weaken.