“Like I said,” Tao replied, stressing his words and keeping his voice deadly quiet. “I don’t know what you’re going on about, and I’m not talking to you while you’re shouting and getting on.”
“Oh, so you’re not going to answer me, huh?”
He looked her dead in the eyes to show how serious he was, then turned to walk away. Unfortunately, Monique chose that moment to step out of the changing room and was just in time to hear Tanisia blow her lid.
“Fine then! Walk away like you always do, you bastard! You better lose my number, ’cause there are plenty of men who want some of this! You ain’t nothin’, do you hear me? LOSE MY NUMBER!”
Tao’s back was still turned to Tanisia, but from the corner of his eye, he could see Monique’s expression, a mix of guilty curiosity, disgust, and humor as she watched Tanisia storm off, her high-heel boots clicking loudly on the tiled floors. Monique then gave him an assessing glance, as though seeing him for the first time, before also walking away.
Tao could only shake his head, wondering exactly what had happened to send this evening in such a weird direction.
Inside the men’s changing room, Gary and a couple of other players were getting dressed after showering. The look on their faces made it obvious that everyone in the room had heard the confrontation.
“So I guess you’re free to go get a meal, huh?” Gary asked before bursting into rolling, riotous laughter.
“Tsk! I don’t know what’s wrong with that girl,” Tao said once his friend calmed down a little. “We’ve only been hanging for a few months. You’d think we were married or something.”
“Who told you to invite her to the game? That’s always a mistake.”
“I didn’t invite her! She invited herself, going on about where am I playing and why can’t she come? I just got tired of hearing about it.”
“Sam, my man, I’ve got to say, you knew her ass was a little crazy, but you went there anyway,” stated Gary, chuckling again at his own words. “She’s cute and all, but we’re talking ‘slash your tires,’ ‘boil your rabbit’ crazy!”
Tao just gave him an annoyed glance then headed to the shower.
“How about Mexican? I’m craving tacos,” Gary continued while still laughing.
Tao could still hear the guys ribbing him until he was standing under the spray of water. Now that the drama had passed, he could see the humor in the bizarre situation. His lips curved into a smile and he started to laugh silently.
Gary was right. Tao should have known that things would not work out between him and Tanisia. He had met her at the grocery store near his old apartment. They had both been picking out bunches of bananas, and their eyes had connected. He could tell right away that she was interested in him, just by the way she flipped her hair, and discreetly looked him up and down. Tao had not said anything to her at that moment, but gave in later when they passed each other twice in the frozen food aisle.
There was no doubt that Tanisia was an attractive girl. She had a tight, petite body and a nice, if not exactly pretty, face. But he had hesitated to make a move on her at first. She was a little too made up and obvious for his taste, wearing butt-hugging yoga pants and a tank top that clung to her torso like a second skin. She could have been coming from the gym, except she had on a full face of makeup.
When she finally spoke to him, he was standing near the ice-cream section, looking at the frozen desserts and trying to remember what he still had in his freezer.
“Excuse me? Have you seen any caramel crunch?”
Tao had not been surprised that she approached him. He had been anticipating it, but it still took him a few seconds to figure out what she was talking about. She must have mistaken his confused glance for flirtation, because she gave him a big smile and came several steps closer to him.
“I’m Tanisia,” she added.
“Hey,” he immediately replied. “I’m Tao.”
“Tao?” she repeated, mispronouncing it. “That’s interesting. Is it Spanish?”
It was the typical response he got to his foreign name, so it didn’t faze him. His face, skin tone, and particularly his eyes often had people confused about his nationality.
“No, it’s Chinese,” he explained.
“Really? You’re Chinese?”
Tao almost smiled as she looked him up and down, her gaze lingering around his crotch as through trying to assess how Asian he really was.
“Half Chinese actually,” was his brief response.
Tanisia just nodded, a sparkle in her eyes.
They spoke for a few minutes and eventually exchanged numbers. Things took a casual course after that, where they spoke a few times on the phone, and then went out to dinner. On the second date, Tanisia invited him back to her apartment and into her bed.
Though Tao wasn’t dating anyone else at the moment, he had not considered their relationship to be exclusive or committed. Things between them were fine, and the sex was okay, but nothing more than that. It did not take long for him to realize that they had very little in common.
Clearly, after tonight’s outrageous behavior it was over between them, and Tao wasn’t at all upset about it. Her loud voice and unnecessary attitude had gotten tiresome really quick. She wasn’t that cute.
Chapter 3
Monique had been playing organized basketball since junior high school and spent three years in college back in Michigan playing with the best and toughest girls in the country. She was accustomed to the bumps and bangs that came along with the sport and had been fortunate to avoid any serious injuries.
Despite how dramatic her fall had looked on Wednesday, there was very little harm done. The next day, her shoulder was uncomfortably stiff, with a sore spot that was tender to the touch. By Saturday, only a dark bruise was left on her upper arm.
Monique woke up that morning around eight o’clock as usual but lay snuggled under her comforter for several minutes, letting her mind wander over the plans for the day. For the first time in weeks, she had a date. Unfortunately, it was a blind date arranged by her girlfriend Cara, and one that did not come with the best endorsement. “Very sweet” was the strongest term that Cara had used to describe her coworker Colin Grant. Of course, Monique had flat-out refused at first, but then had to listen to a long lecture on how she needed to open up to new opportunities and possibilities. Finally, she agreed to the date just to shut Cara up.
According to her friend, Colin wanted to take her to dinner, but Monique wasn’t going to be available until at least seven o’clock that evening. She had already promised to help Gary paint his house. In the end, Cara arranged for Monique to meet Colin for drinks at a lounge downtown at 8:00 PM.
Monique finally rolled out of bed about thirty minutes later. Gary wasn’t expecting her at his house until around eleven o’clock, so she still had a couple of hours. She washed her face and brushed her teeth, then headed out the door for a walk, wearing cotton track pants and a windbreaker.
She lived in the Mission Bay area, an oceanfront community in the north end of San Diego. She was lucky enough to own a small bungalow less than a block from the beach. Unfortunately, Monique had purchased the house under the impression that Donald would move in with her once his separation was official. That never happened, and now she was stuck with a mortgage much higher than she was comfortable with. But, it was a nice house in a wonderful part of town, so she tried to make the best of it.
There had been several times in the last few months where Monique seriously considered selling the house because of the failure it represented, but the minute she