Chapter 9

Sheryl looked back and saw that Cricket didn't seem to have hardly even noticed. He just eased his car out onto the street and drove away like nothing happened. He knew Shawn's car, and he had to have seen him peeling out like that, but it didn't seem to bother him in the least.

Walking up to her apartment building, she had that awful sinking feeling way down deep in the pit of her stomach, and she kept looking, expecting to see Shawn driving back down the street towards her, but he didn't.

'How stupid could I have been!' she thought, before mumbling, "Well maybe it just saved me the trouble of having to break up with him."

Then, she thought about Daryl. What would he say? She didn't want to think about that, and pushed the thought from her mind.

Although Shawn didn't drive back down the street, he called even before she reached the door of her apartment. Sheryl's heart froze when she saw his number on her phone, even though she expected it. At the moment, she didn't know which would be worse, talking to him or her brother, and debated whether or not she should even answer it!

'Damn! I don't need all this drama today!' she thought.

Then thinking that she might as well just get it over with and let him break up with her, she answered the phone.

"Hey Babe, wha's up!" came Shawn's voice, sounding as cheerful as ever. "I'm sorry I peeled out like that when I saw you with Cricket. He just called me, and told me that he saw ya getting' on the bus, and gave ya a ride home."

"He did?" asked Sheryl, in both surprise and relief.

"Yeah, but ya know, ya could have called me! I mean I would've given ya a ride home. You know that."

"Yes, Shawn. I know, but sometimes I don't want to be around you all of the time, and it's not like I called Cricket you know."

'Which is true, ' she thought. 'It was Cricket who called me!'

"So what are ya sayin'? You don't want to be with me anymore? Is that it?"

Sheryl thought a moment. This was the perfect opportunity to break up with him, and one would think that after the scare that she just had, she'd jump at the opportunity to do just that, but she just couldn't quite bring herself to do it.

'Not quite yet anyway, ' she thought. 'Who knows, maybe I need all this drama in my life after all!'

"No Shawn, I'm not sayin' I want you out of my life or anything like that. I'm just sayin' that sometimes I need a little space that's all."

She heard his sigh, and she could just see that beat puppy look that he'd have on his face, and for what must have been the thousandth time, she wished that he could just be at least a little bit more like Cricket.

"So do ya want some company later?"

"Damn! He just doesn't get it!" she thought.

"Uh, I don't know Shawn. Why don't you give me a chance to get settled in? I just now got home, you know. I'll call you later and let you know. Okay?"

"Sure, so long as ya don't forget to call me," came Shawn's reply, with his voice showing more than a little bit of hope as well as worry in it.

'Do I really want Shawn to come over today?' she asked herself.

Of course, the answer was no, but she was worried about putting him off again, especially after he saw her getting out of Cricket's car. Even though he doesn't suspect anything now, she knew that she needed to make sure that he didn't start thinking about it.

Sheryl took her time in the shower. She somehow felt dirty, and the warm water felt good splashing over her body. It was as if it was cleansing her mind as well as her body, and she wished that all of her worries would just go down the drain along with the water, but she couldn't stay in the shower forever.

Toweling herself off, she thought, 'I suppose I'd better call Shawn before the boy goes crazy looking at his phone waiting for it to ring!'

"Hey Shawn, I don't feel much like cooking today. Wanna come by and pick me up? Maybe we can go out and get some Chinese or somethin', Okay?"

"Oh yeah, sure, Babe, we can do that! I'll be right over!"

His voice sounded so enthusiastic and happy, it reminded Sheryl of a child getting his birthday present.

'Just like a little boy!' she thought, feeling more than a little smug.

In fact, Shawn sounded so enthusiastic, that she half expected him to be knocking at her door the moment she hung up, but it was a good twenty minutes before she heard his knock, and by then, she was ready to see him. Besides, she was also hungry as well.

Shawn began his apologetic behavior by surprising her with flowers, but it didn't end there. He was very respectful towards her to the point where he was almost too polite. Even his smile was broader than it should have been, like he was forcing it.

'He's trying too hard, ' she thought. 'He's so afraid that he's going to do something to piss me off, that he's pissing me off!'

Naturally, he opened all of the doors for her, put her seat belt on for her, and let her decide where she wanted to go.

"Shawn, you don't have to do all this for me ya know."

"What do ya mean?" He couldn't even look her in the eye when he asked that.

"I mean the way yer actin' and all. I'm not mad at you or anything. I mean, I understand why you peeled out like that. I can only imagine what it looked like when you drove up and saw me getting out of Cricket's car."

"Yeah, I guess I was pretty jealous, and know you have a right to be mad at me."

"But I'm not. Let's just go out to the Chinese place, get us something to eat, and have a nice evening. Okay?"

Shawn swallowed hard and nodded his head. It was pretty obvious he thought that he was lucky to be off the hook. Still, he didn't try to have sex with her when he brought her back to her apartment, and Sheryl didn't offer, either.

As soon as Shawn left, Sheryl's phone buzzed. It was Cricket. His call came so soon after Shawn left that she briefly wondered if Cricket was outside somewhere watching the apartment, but just then, she didn't really care even if he was watching the place. She owed him, and quickly flipped open the phone as soon as she saw his number on the screen.

"You're welcome," he said, even before she had a chance to say hi.

"That was pretty cool of you Cricket. Thanks."

"Aw now you know I got your back Baby! 'Sides, if ya get all pissed off at me, then maybe you won't give me some of that sweet stuff you got between those fine legs of yours!"

Sheryl momentarily forgot all about her earlier scare and smiled. She liked the way Cricket talked to her. His sexual references were just his way of complimenting her.

"I'll be droppin' by tomorrow to make sure things stay cool, too. You just be nice to Shawn, and let him come over ta visit ya tomorrow, and don't go worryin' yerself none about it neither. Cricket's got this!"

Sheryl didn't know how she felt about that. She could see so much that could go wrong. "That's okay Cricket. You don't have to do that."

"Yes I do. I'll be there 'round five; see ya then," and that was that. No good-bye, no room for debate, it was Cricket's way.

'How many times have I wished that Shawn would act more like that, ' thought Sheryl, hanging up her phone. 'Who knows? Maybe if Cricket did start to hang out with Shawn and my brother, maybe between the two of them they'll teach him how to be more of a man!'

That idea seemed much more likely to her just then, than Shawn teaching Cricket how to me more like a gentleman! The thought nearly made her laugh, and she went to bed that night wondering how the visit would turn out. At the very least, she thought it would be quite interesting, albeit a little scary.

Work slowly dragged by for Sheryl the next day. It wasn't that she was excited about Cricket coming over while Shawn was at her apartment. In a way, she was actually dreading it, yet at the same time, she was curious about what Cricket was going to say and act, and how Shawn would take it. Mostly, she was as hopeful as she was curious whether or not Shawn would learn to be a little more like him, and it was that curiosity that made the time drag so slowly by.