Chapter 2

© Copyright 2004 by Kimberly Jones

Sharon parked her car in front of her parent�s house and opened the back seat door to get the apple pie she had bought form the store, while Constance ran to the front porch and knocked on the door. As they entered, the house was filled with laughter, and everyone greeted them with a warm smile and hugs. They all began talking and enjoying each other. Joyce had cooked a wonderful meal with greens, black-eyed peas, garlic and rosemary roasted potatoes, and smothered pork chops with homemade biscuits. Even though she began to cook the day before, the food was every bit of delicious, not to mention the apple pie for desert. Sharon�s mother was a great cook, and she tried to imitate her mother in that area.

Sondra, Sharon�s older sister, and her husband, James Cooper, came to the gathering and that filled Sharon with joy. Her and Sondra spent most of the time talking and laughing at the others joke, while James and their dad watched football on the television.

Once Sondra got Sharon alone with her in her old room, they began to get into deep conversation.

�You know, Michael is back in town.�

�Yes, I know. I saw the two of you talking in church this morning.�

�He�s asked me to meet him at the Pizza Parlor tomorrow,� she said as she fidgeted with her hands.

�What�s the matter?� Sondra looked at her sister intently. She always felt that her sister had deeper feelings for Michael than she was letting everyone believe.

�Whenever you move your hands that way, something�s going on in that head of yours.� �Well�it�s been so long since we�ve seen each other, and�� Sharon threw her hands in the air as she sighed. �I don�t know. Maybe I�m just being silly.�

�Being silly about what?� with a puzzled look on her face, she looked at Sharon as she flopped down on the bed.

�What if he thinks different of me?� She stood and began to pace the room. �I mean, her I am, �One of the good girls�,� She gave quotes with her fingers, �and I got pregnant while I was only seventeen.�

�Sharon,� Sondra stood and went to her sister and held her hand. �Don�t be to hard on yourself. Look at you and what you�ve become. If he thinks different of you, then he doesn�t deserve your friendship.�

�I guess you�re right,� she sighed. �But this is Michael we�re talking about. We were friends since I was in junior high. He was the only person who stood up for me when no one else would.�

�I know, Sharon, but you got to understand that the two of you are grown now. Things have changed. You have changed.� Sondra took a seat on the bed and patted the empty space beside her so that Sharon would sit next to her. �If you want that old friendship, then you and him are going to have to start all over again.�

�I wish things could go back to the way they were.�

�If they did, then we would never grow up, now would we?�

Sharon chuckled to herself and looked at Sondra with a smile, �I hate it when you�re right.�

�I�m your big sister. I�m always right,� they both laughed and walked back down the stairs to join everyone else.

After the dinner, Sharon had went home to prepare for the next day. She made sure that Constance took her bath and brushed her teeth. Then she picked out their clothes for the next day and ironed them as her daughter sat in a chair next to her watching her iron.

�I can do that,� Constance said looking at her mother ironing intently.

�I know you can, honey, but I�ll do it for right now,� she didn�t her to know that she didn�t trust her with an iron yet.

�I can�t wait for Christmas. I want that doll that talks, and I want a bike. Do you think Santa will give it to me.�

�Well, have you been a good girl?� she laid a shirt neatly on the sofa.

�Uh, I don�t know,� she shrugged as she thought of her past behaviors. �What do you think?�

�I think that there is room for improvement, but overall, you�ve been mama�s little angel,� she said as she looked at her daughter with a smile, �Come here,� she said as she motioned with her hand for her daughter to stand near her. She raised Constance head so that she could see her eyes. �I love you, you know that?�

�Yes, ma�am,� she said with a smile.

�And there is nothing that you can do to change that. The Lord feels that way about us as well. No matter what we do, he loves us and he will take care of us,� she bent to kiss her daughter on the forehead, �Now come on, let�s go to bed.�

After saying their prayers, Sharon put Constance to bed and read her Bible and went to bed herself, but only to wake up to a loud boom. She quickly jumped out of the bed with her heart beating fast, and looked around her room waiting for the slightest movement. Oh, Lord, please, help me. She looked in the room for anything to protect herself with and grabbed a bottle of her perfume. I can use this to spray into their eyes. She thought as she heard another thud that sounded as if it was coming from her daughter�s room. She quickly ran to the closed door. Panic took over as she grabbed the knob and began to turn it as her body began to tremble. Lord, please, don�t let anyone be in my daughter�s room. She prayed silently as she opened her the door.

She looked around the room, and as she heard another thud coming from the ceiling, she began to calm down when she realized that it was coming from up stairs. She looked at her daughter sleeping peacefully without a clue to what had just transpired. If anything ever happened to her� she shuddered from the thought. She smiled as she walked to the bed and kissed her daughters brow then began to thank the Lord before she went back to bed. Lord, I don�t know if I can go on like this. She thought. She tossed and turned, but finally found the peace and immediately went into a deep sleep.

~*~*~*~

After a long hard day of seeing her daughter off to school and a workload of processing database information, it was finally five o�clock and it was time for her to pick up her daughter from her mother�s, and then head to the Pizza Parlor to meet Michael. As she drove around in her old 1992 black, chipped paint Nissan Sentre that was passed down to her from her mother, she began to think about how nervous she was about seeing Michael again. How would he think of me now? She thought, and then reminded her of what her sister told her, and it filled her up with confidence.

She thought about the past and smiled. She finally had someone other than her sister to talk to. She couldn�t wait to get caught up on the things that have been happening in his life. She wondered what he�s been up to since he left for college, and if things were going good for him. Was he happy? There were so many things that she wanted to ask him, and she was so excited to talk about them.

Sharon parked, and got out of the car. She went to the door and opened it with her key and saw Constance sitting on the sofa watching cartoons, and when she turned toward the opening door, a smile crossed her face.

�Hey, mama,� Constance said as she ran to her mother and wrapped her arms around her waist. �I did my homework,� she said with a smile looking up at Sharon.

�Good,� she gave her daughter a hug. She was always happy to see her. �Go get it so that I can check it,� she watched her daughter moved to her backpack, and when she returned with her work, she looked over her work and help her with the problems she needed help with. �Where is your grandmother?�

�She�s in the kitchen baking cookies.�

�Okay, I�ll be right back, and when I return we�ll leave,� she said as she walked in the direction of the kitchen. �Hello, mom.�

�Hey, sweetheart, I thought that I would fix Connie a snack. I hope that it�s okay.�

�Well, I would like for her to eat dinner first. You know how young children can be after they eat something sweet.�

�Oh, yes. I remember those days. How about I put it in a bowl, and you take some with you.� �Sounds good,� Sharon said looking at her mother put the cookies in oven. �So, how was your day?�

�Oh, it was good. It went by kind of fast though, but I figured that it was because of me cleaning up all day. Your father went to the store. He should be back shortly.�

�Oh, well, I got to meet Michael at the Pizza Parlor at 7:00.�

�Oh, Michael, it was so good to see him this Sunday. I almost forgot how handsome he looked.�

�Yes, it was good to see him,� she said as she tried not to think about his looks. He was after all, her best friend. �I�m hoping that we could play catch up this evening.�

�Well, that sounds wonderful. I always liked Michael. He�s a very respectable young man.�

�Yes, he was my one and only best friend, regardless of are age differences. He was always there for me. Almost like a big brother figure.�

�Yes, I know. I believe he felt the same way about you. It�s almost ashamed how the two of you fail to keep in touch.�

�Yeah, well, after I had Connie, I kind of felt ashamed to talk to him,� she paused as the memories began to flood her mind. �I felt like�like I disappointed him in some way.�

�Why did you feel like that?�

�I don�t know. It sounds stupid doesn�t it?� she shrugged with a soft chuckle. �I mean, here we are suppose to be best friends, and I couldn�t even confide in him.�

�I don�t know honey. Life doesn�t always make sense.�

�I know. When I got pregnant with Connie, I was terrified of being a mother, and then after I had her, she was the most precious gift God has ever given me. I wouldn�t trade her for nothing in the world.�

~*~*~*~

Michael sat at the table waiting patiently for Sharon to appear through the doors. He didn�t have a clue of how she would react, but he took the moment to pray. Pray that everything would work out all right. When he was in California designing his clients� homes and companies, he came to the decision that he could open up his own business doing what he loved. He had all the experience he needed. Within three years, he was already a successful Interior Designer, but he knew that it was by the grace of God for his success, and he knew that with the grace of God, he would succeed.

By the time he was finish praying, Sharon and Constance walked in. He smiled and raised his hand so that they would know where he was. They seemed very happy and deep in conversation as they approached. Sharon was smiling at something Constance said, and Constance looked up at her mother and as if realizing that she said something funny, she began to laugh. He then realized how much she changed. She was now a mother, and from the looks of it, a good one. Once they approached, he gave them a hug and they all sat down.

�Sorry, I�m late. Me and mama began to talking and I lost track of time,� Sharon said with a nervous smile.

�Oh, that�s okay. It gave me time to think,� he looked at Constance as his nerves began to seem to take control of him. �Are you ladies ready to eat?�

�Yes,� Constance spoke up first.

�Okay, I�ll go and put the order in,� he smiled at Constance innocence which made him more comfortable.

He walked to the line and realized that he forgot to ask what they wanted. He remembered that Sharon always got pepperoni, and figured that was the right choice. As he looked back at Sharon and her daughter, he saw Sharon reaching into her purse for something. A smile crossed his face. It�s been so long since he last saw her. They both had change. She still looked like the same beautiful, slim, but not too skinny girl he remembered when he was in high school with her shoulder length hair, and beautiful eyes. He turned to move forward in the line, as he thought about the past, he wondered how it would have been if he pursued a relationship with her. Would Constance be his daughter instead of someone else�s? He sighed as he thought about how he had wanted for them to be more than friends, but she was so in love with her daughter�s father that he just gave up on any relationship that he had hoped for between them, and went on with his life.

After placing his order, he walked back to the table. Seeing Sharon alone, he thought that it would be a good opportunity to talk to her, and when she looked up and smiled at him, he heart began to speed up a beat, and he tried to hide it as he smiled back and sat down.

�Where�s Constance?� he asked.

�She went to play some games.�

�Oh, well, I put in an order for pepperoni. Is that okay?�

�Yes,� she said as she began to fidget with her hands, �So what have you been up to?�

�Working hard. Before I finished college, I was an interim at this interior design firm and they hired me once I finished. It seemed smooth sailing after that. What about you?�

�Well, I finished college a few years ago and been working for a four years now at Financial Solutions. After I saved enough money, I moved out on my own.�

�And how is that going?�

Sharon hesitated and looked down at the table as she began to picture last night�s incident, and she shuddered, �To be honest, it�s a little scary. I hear noises at night, and it doesn�t help that the people who live above me act like they are going to fall through the roof,� she said with a chuckle.

�Mom!� Constance came running up to the table, �I got up to the third level and then I lost.�

�Well that�s good.�

�I tried jumping over the pipe, but then an evil plant came up and bite me.�

�Ouch, that had to hurt. Well, it looks like you�re just in time to eat,� Sharon said as the waitress sat the pizza on the table.

They all began to eat. Michael began to tell stories of his childhood, as he tried to get to know Constance a little better. They all laughed at most of the stories. Especially when Constance found out that her mother use to climb trees.

After the eating, Michael turned to Constance, �Would you excuse me and your mother for a while?�

�Yes, sir,� she stood with reluctance.

�Here, I have something for you,� he reached into his pocket and gave her some quarters, and then once she left the table. He looked at Sharon. �I guess I�ve been holding out way too long. The reason I asked for you to come and meet with me was�well, I was hoping that you would take me up on a very promising offer.�

�Okay�what kind of an offer?� she began to fidget with her hands.

�Well,� Michael took a deep breath before continuing, �I guess I better start from the beginning,� he sat back in his chair, and looked at her in her eyes, �I quite my job at the interior designing firm that I worked for, and I came back home to start my own business.�

�Oh, that�s wonderful. How is that going?� she said with excitement and joy.

�So far so good. I got all the legal stuff out of the way, and�I was hoping that you would take care of the business side of it. I have no clue about business, and you went to school for this sort of thing and I�I was wondering if you would consider leaving your job and come to work for me.�

�I�I don�t know. I mean, I have a little girl who depends on me, and leaving something that is secure and going into something that might not work is�is a hard decision. �

�Yes, I know, but I know it will work,� he looked down at the glass of water before him. Feeling hurt that she would have any doubt in him. �I already have clients,� He looked up into her eyes, �Some of my clients have even offered to donate money to help me start. All I need is that backbone, and I believe�no, I know that you are the person for the job.� He wanted so much to beg, but held back, �I will pay you well, and I�m in the process, right now, of renting a little small office space all I need right now is you, and once we get things rolling, I�m hoping to hire more people, but right now, you are the person I need.� He paused and looked into her eyes. Hoping and praying that she would say yes. �Please say that you will do it, or at least, think about it.�

Sharon looked at him and saw the hope written all over his face, but she just couldn�t agree when so many things stood in the way. She had a daughter now to think of. Maybe if things were different, she would agree, but for now, she had no idea of what to do. �I�ll think about it.�

~*~*~*~

Michael went into the little small office space in the downtown area that he just rented and looked around. A little paint here and there, and some nice flooring, this space would be perfect for his company. It�s been a week since he last talk to Sharon, and he hadn�t heard a word. He began to assume that he might have to start things on his own. When he saw her at church, they talked for a little while about the sermon, but nothing was said about his offer.

He looked at the area that was soon to be his workspace, and began to draw on the paper he brought with him as he thought of how he was going to decorate this space. He wanted it to represent his talent so when new clients walked in, they would get a glimpse of what to expect from him.

As he drew, all his thoughts that flooded his mind began to take shape on the paper before him, and he smiled because he liked what he saw. It made him feel confident because he knew his business was going to be a success through the help of the Lord. At that moment, his cellular phone began to ring. He set his drawings aside, and frowned when he didn�t recognize the number, but decided to answer it anyway.

�Hello,� a female voice on the other end said, �Michael?�

�Tracy?�

�No, this is Sharon. �

�Oh, Hi, Sharon. How are you?�

�I�m fine,� he heard a little shuffle on the other end as she paused. �I guess I better get straight to the point. I was calling to let you know that I made my decision.�

Michael heart began to beat fast. It was beating so fast that he could hear it in his ears. �Oh? And what did you decide?� he laid his papers down on the floor beside him.

�Well, I just want you to know that I�ve been praying very hard all week for this and when I saw you Sunday at church. The Lord told me what I must do, and�I gave my job my two weeks notice. If you don�t mind, I will start working with you in two weeks.�

�That�s great. By then, the place will be ready for business,� he switched the phone to the other ear.

�Good.�

�Uhm, if you don�t mind, this weekend, I would like to take you to the office space so that you could see your new job.�

�Sure, that sounds good. I�ll see you then.�

�Okay, talk to you later. Bye.�

�Bye.�

He stared at the phone in disbelief, and when the realization of what just transpired hit him, he began to shout for joy. Finally, everything was going as planned. He couldn�t wait to tell his mother and of course, Tracy. Everything was going in order, and he had no one to thank, but the Lord.


HEY! and don't forget to e-mail Kimberly Jones if you have a comment! She would really like to hear from you.





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