Mama's Boy

♊️23♌️

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Starry-eyed, Loretta stared at the first man who stole her heart many years ago. He didn't look all too different; she hoped he felt the same about her.

When she'd heard of his plan to meet up, she had began to fret immediately over what she would wear. After an hour of raiding her closet, she'd settled on a form fitting suede dress and simple black pumps. To him it may have been an ordinary meet-up, but to her it was more. To her, it was much more: a chance to rekindle perhaps.

He too watched her movements carefully. She seemed nervous. He could tell by the way she was fidgeting with her napkin as if she didn't know how to control her hands. From the moment she'd sat down, her nerves had went into overdrive. He was making her feel like a young girl all over again.

Slowly, as if not to frighten her, Jackson moved his hands across the table to cover hers. Her hands stopped almost as soon as her heart had.

"Jane..." He smiled as his grip on her hand tightened. "Calm down."

She took a deep breath and did as he said. Her nerves were still jumping, but she fought to get control over herself. She was a grown woman after all, not some little school girl. She'd been around plenty of men; she made young boys drool. He shouldn't be affecting her the way he was.

Yet, he was.

Hoping to loosen her up with a conversation, he complimented her, "Ya' look beautiful ta'night."

"Th-thank you," she stuttered in return, to which he chuckled softly.

"I haven't seen you in so long...how you been?"

"Good, I guess..." She sighed and sat up straight in her seat. She was slowly becoming less anxious in his presence and was suddenly more willing to contribute to the conversation. "Life hasn't been that eventful."

"Yeah, mine neither..."

He took a sip of his drink while Loretta took the time to study him for a bit. He was dressed casually in a  light-grey, crewneck sweater; simple dark jeans; and grey Nike sneakers. Around his neck was a sterling silver chain with a small cross dangling from it that really complimented the small diamond studs in his ears. It was incredible to Loretta that the man was in his forties and still managed to look like he was in his late twenties.

He looked up in time to catch her staring at him and smirked. He had come to the restaurant with the intention of getting some information from her, but at the moment, that was far from his mind. He couldn't lie to himself; he had missed her dearly. It had been nearly two decades since they had sat down to have a conversation with one another. He almost couldn't believe it.

"What are you smiling about?" Loretta wondered. She continued to stare at him shamelessly, almost lustfully, shocking him with the dynamics of her personality.

"I just ain't seen you in so-"

"-Long. Yeah, you've already said that."

He shrugged. "It's true."

"Who do you suppose is the cause of that?" Loretta mused as she sat back into her seat and crossed her legs.

"Mine," he admitted regretfully. "But Janie, you gotta know what'chu did was wrong."

"He was just as much mine as he was hers..." She snarled.

"I get 'dat, but 'chu took him from her-"

"And you didn't stop me, Jackson! So, why are you trying to preach to a choir that you conducted?" He shut his mouth at her statement and sat back in his seat as he observed her person. He'd almost forgotten that the woman had an attitude that functioned as that of a land mine: one wrong move and she'd blow up on him.