I'll Settle for You

LYRIC ~ Mr. Wrong

“It is impossible to fall out of love. Love is such a powerful emotion, that once it envelops you it does not depart. True love is eternal. If you think that you were once in love, but fell out of it, then it wasn't love you were in. There are no 'exit' signs in love; there is only an 'on' ramp.” ~Anonymous

“Lyric? Lyric Michaels, is that you?” I heard a man’s voice behind me in the checkout line. Two people back was someone I hadn’t seen since high school graduation.

“Jamal Warner.” I smiled warmly. The lady directly behind me looked like she had a serious attitude, so I waited until we’d both checked out before continuing the conversation. He walked over and hugged me, which took me by surprise I must say, but it was nice.

“You cut off all your hair.” He observed. “It looks good on you though.”

“Thanks. How have you been?” I asked. I wanted to know how he’d become so sexy over the years, but that wasn’t the route I wanted this reunion to take. However, I was glad that I looked decent in my t-shirt and shorts.

“I can’t complain. Seems like it’s been forever since I last saw you. How is Legend?”

“He’s good. In Australia right now, but he’ll be back in the States soon. You still stay around here?” Why did I ask that? That was none of my business and I didn’t even really want to know.

“I stay in North Dallas. What about you?”

“I stay near DFW airport. I’m just out here picking up a few things for my mom.” I answered as he walked me to my car. I just couldn’t get over how much he’d…grown, for lack of better word. Jamal was always cute, but now his tall, lanky form had filled out, and my, did it fill nicely. He was about six feet even, tall dark and handsome. He looked like Jamal, but this was not the same brother from high school.

"Can I convince you to join me for lunch?" He asked as I put the groceries in my trunk. Would it be wrong for me to have lunch with an old friend? What would Ray think? Did I really care what he thought?

"Um, sure. I'd like that, but I need to take this stuff to my mom's first."

"That's wassup. Here, just give me a call once you're available and we can decide where to eat." He responded, giving me a business card.

"You have a business card?" Can't say I knew very many twenty two year olds that had business cards.

"What can I say? I'm a business man." He smiled, showing is his perfect teeth.

"I'll give you a call when I'm finished."

"I look forward to hearing from you." He said as he opened my door for me and waved as I drove off. I couldn’t believe I’d run into him of all people. Jamal had the biggest crush on me in school, but by the time he told me, I’d already met Ray. A few times when I was going through with Ray, I wondered how things could’ve been if I’d chosen, not necessarily Jamal, but someone else instead. Of all the people to bump into at the grocery store.

The first thing I did once I got to my mom’s house was call Renee’ to tell her who I ran into. “You have got to be kidding. How did he look?” She asked.

“Girl, the man is fine! All that tall dark chocolate!” I laughed. “If I was available…”

“Okay, you’ve taken it too far! We both know you wouldn’t do a damn thing!” She cracked up. I was a little offended, but she did have a point. I’ve noticed plenty of sexy brothers over the years, but none of them could make me forget about Ray.

“Anyway, he asked me to go to lunch with him. Do you think it would be wrong if I went?”

“Wrong how?” She asked.