Chapter 2

Sheryl wasn't sure what she was going to do over the next week and sincerely wished she could just disappear until her next appointment. Unfortunately, she hadn't even gotten halfway home before she heard the familiar sound of her phone buzzing.

"Hey Babe; wha's up?"

She knew it was Shawn even before she answered it.

"I'm on the bus headin' home."

"Where you comin' from?"

She could hear the irritation in his voice and tried to make light of it saying, "An appointment, nothin' serious, just routine stuff."

"Why didn't you call me, Babe? I could've given you a ride."

She hated when he acted like this. It was like playing twenty questions, and she was in no mood to answer them--especially while riding on a bus full of strangers!

"I didn't want to bother you. Look Shawn, I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"'K, but don't forget to give me a shout; 'k?"

"Shit," was all she could think of. She knew that she wouldn't want to talk to him any more then than she did while riding on the bus, but what could she do? After all, he'd been nothing but nice to her all along. He even surprised her once with a pair of earrings for no reason at all.

"I can't even get away from him for one day! Now how am I going to avoid him for a whole week?"

Sheryl's best friend, Georgette, couldn't understand why she would want to.

"Look girl; he's got a job, a car, his own crib and he treats you like a queen. Now don't go fuckin' around playin' any head games with the boy or you're gonna end up losin' him! There're plenty of ho's out there who can't wait to jump in your place the moment ya give 'em enough space ta do so."

Sheryl was about to answer her friend when suddenly, her cell phone went off again. Had she thought about it, she would have just let it go when she saw the number that came up, but instead she answered before thinking.

"Hey Babe; why didn't you call me when you got home?"

"Sorry Shawn, Georgette was here when I got home, and we just got talkin' and I forgot."

"You forgot! Aw, come on Babe. How'd you forget me? What'd I do ta make ya give me the cold shoulder like this?"

"I'm not givin' you the cold shoulder. Look, Georgette is with me; we'll talk later okay?"

"Yeah, this time call me back alright?"

"'K."

"Now don't forget me this time!"

"Okay!"

"Now see what I'm sayin'? That's what I'm talkin' about! Girl, you keep puttin' him off like that, and he's goin' ta find someone else ta spend his time with."

"Well he wasn't spending any time with anyone before I met him," countered Sheryl. "What makes you think he's going ta find someone else now? You forget how shy he is. The man's got no confidence 'round women at all."

"He won't be alone for very long after all that braggin' you been doin' about how good he is in bed! Girl, I'm tellin' you, the word is out. Those ho's out there ain't goin' ta give the boy any time ta be shy."

Sheryl decided she didn't like the way the conversation was going, and she began to wonder if maybe Georgette was thinking about making a play for Shawn herself! After all, wasn't her friend giving her fair warning?

It was then, when Sheryl looked over Georgette with a doubtful eye. After all, the woman was nearly twice as big as Shawn was! She had to laugh when she thought that if Georgette ever did go to bed with Shawn, she'd probably break his skinny ass!

Still, the idea of other women going after him made Sheryl feel uncomfortable enough to say, "Well, I guess I'd better be callin' Shawn back."

"You do that," replied Georgette, with a light laugh. "I gotta be goin' anyway. The kids'll be getting home soon, and Lord knows what they'll be gettin' inta if I ain't there when they get home."

As soon as Sheryl heard the door slam shut behind her friend, she picked up the phone and called Shawn. Even if she did have this problem with him, there was no way she was going to let some other woman take her place with him, and as she punched the numbers to his phone, she cursed herself for telling anyone how good he was in bed.

"Heyyy, you called me back!"

"Of course I did; I told you I would didn't I?"

"I thought you were tryin' ta ignore me for a moment there."

"Now why would I go and do something like that?"

"I don't know. I thought that maybe you felt like I was crowdin' you a little and that maybe you were startin' ta get tired of me.

"Now Baby, why would you think that? You know I love our time together."

"Yeah, I know. I was jus' checking I guess. Anyway, how about tonight? You got anything special goin' on?"

"Gee, I'm sorry, Shawn. It's been a long day. You know, with the doctor's appointment and all."

"Yeah, I guess so. Are you sure you don't want any company, though? I can make you some dinner or somethin'. You won't have ta cook."

Sheryl hated whenever he talked like that. It sounded too much like begging, and she didn't think any man should have to beg for anything!

"I don't know Shawn. I think I'll just order some take out tonight, and go to bed early."

"You sure? You can always change your mind you know and call me later."

Just then, her phone buzzed, letting her know there was another call coming in, and she quickly ended her call with Shawn saying, "Okay. I'll give ya a call later if I change my mind." She didn't even wait for his reply before hanging up.

"Hello?"

"Heyyy, whassup girl?" came the deep, slow voice of Cricket.

"Nothin' much," replied Sheryl, trying to sound happier than she really was.

"So you feel like havin' some company tonight?"

"No. I'm sorry, but I'm just not into it right now."

"Hey Baby, if you're feelin' a little down, you know I can make you forget all about your troubles."

"No, Cricket. I just can't deal with anything like that just now."

"Okay girl. Jus' give me a shout when you change your mind."

"'K."

That's what she liked about Cricket. He just takes everything at face value, and leaves it at that. No whining or playing twenty questions with him!

"But then there's the other problem with him," she thought, as she clicked the button that would end his call.

Sheryl was proud of herself because she did a pretty good job of avoiding everyone until her next appointment. Mostly, she just told everyone that she wasn't feeling very well. That worked for her friends, and, of course, for Cricket, who wouldn't have anything to do with a sick person anyway. But it didn't go over that well with Shawn. He insisted on stopping over nearly every day to take care of her. Each time he came over, she not only had to pretend that she really was sick, but she had to think of ways to get rid of him, too!

Still, she knew that Shawn would have been a big help if she really was sick. She would have truly appreciated his efforts to make her feel better then. Another thing, he didn't try to make her have sex with him either, and she was grateful for that.

All in all, her appointment with Dr. Jameson couldn't come fast enough. To make matters worse, the day before her appointment, Georgette had called to tell her that she saw Darlene talking to Shawn, and that Darlene was looking pretty good.

"You should'a seen her, Sheryl. She was wearin' this top that was cut so low that if it was any lower both her boobs would've fallen out and hit the sidewalk! She was wearin' these super tight assed jeans, too. I'm tellin' you, they were so tight you could practically see the girl's entire butt crack! I bet it took her an hour ta squeeze herself inta them!"

"Darlene's a slut. Shawn wouldn't ever go for anyone like that," came Sheryl's quick reply. Perhaps she said it a little too quickly, as if she was trying to convince herself that she was right.

"That may be so, but I'm just sayin', she was showin' a lotta tit and she was flashin' that little bubble butt of hers every chance she got."

Although Sheryl shrugged it off, she knew that she had to make some kind of decision soon.

"So how have you been this past week?" asked William, with an emotionless face.