RESTRAINING ORDER

RESTRAINING ORDER Part 3 (chapters 2&3)

Chapter 2

Julz

I stood with my back against the door, clamping my eyes shut, shaking my head and cursing below my breath. "Shit!"

I turned around and looked through the peephole only to see him lingering a moment. For the second he stood there, it looked as if he waited for me to change my mind and follow up on his advances. But it was only a few seconds more that passed before he left and went about his business.

"Shit!" I cursed again.

There was something alluring about that man that drew me in instantly. It wasn't just his bow-legged stance or his muscular frame giftwrapped in dark Hershey coating that made me raise an eyebrow. It was his presence that screamed boss. A powerful sumthin' sumthin' that said hello before the thickness of his lips parted or the smile in his eyes greeted me.

But I didn't feel as desirable as his deep browns said I was, so I clammed up. The horrid blue-black tint that roofed my eye had me feeling mad unpretty. God only knew what went through his mind after seeing that.

But, oh, how I wished I would have returned the flirty vibe he was giving a sista instead of camouflaging my usual brash and sexiness under such a fragile front.

I shook my head and sighed as I eased over to my front window, peeking out of the blinds. I saw no sign of him in the parking lot but I did notice his car still parked downstairs from mine.

I should have hollered, but it was all good.

I enjoyed the feeling of being desired our brief interaction brought me, even though my shyness said otherwise. It was probably for the best that I let him go his way in the long run. After all, I needed to concentrate on getting my life together and a making a new friend in the midst of still going through the up but mostly down relationship I had with my son's father, Marcel, would just make things more complicated.

Besides, it had been hard trusting men after him. And even as lonely as it was not having a man stroke my ego by day and my pussy come night, I figured it was best I remained single and focused on getting my life back on track.

It had taken me an excruciatingly long time to regain what footing I had. I finally had normalcy after all of the trifling bullshit Marcel took me through, shit that left me broken and insecure. And I wasn't ready to risk letting a man tear me down like that ever again. Hell no! I would take loneliness over heartbreak any fuckin' day of the week.

That damn Marcel, I rolled my eyes. I found my self-doubt deplorable because I had no real reason to be. It was factual that men had always found me attractive but Marcel left me questioning my looks and everything else.

How could the same love that built me up, break me down? I questioned, then I answered myself. Gurl, love didn't do shit! You allowed him to break your ass down to the least common denominator. Get it right!

The shit was too pitiful to laugh at, so I just stood there shaking my head as I reflected on our time together.

Marcel had taken so much from me I was surprised to still be standing.

Snapping out of my thoughts, I walked through my naked living room and down the short length of hallway that led into the bedroom that me and my four-year-old shared.

I told myself I would move into a larger apartment when I could afford it, but daycare was doing a fine job of kicking my ass and keeping me in what was supposed to be my starter place when I made my move from the N.O. to the ATL a year ago.

I headed over to my queen sized bed, where he lay sleeping as wild as he wanted. I slid his Jordan's off of his feet and gently shook him.

"Justus! Wake up, prince. Go to the bathroom before you go to bed."