Free Changing Faces by Kimberla Lawson Roby

sick?”
    “Probably so. Sometimes I feel ill when I get my period. But it’s no big deal.”
    “Well, it kind of is a big deal, because I’ve spent the entire day thinking we were going to be together.”
    “And we still can be.”
    “But not intimately.”
    “Is that all you care about?” I said, wishing I hadn’t because I didn’t want to start a fight with him.
    “Is that what you think?”
    “No, but you’re making it seem like we can’t have a nice evening together without sex.”
    “That’s not what I meant at all, but I guess I’m just a little disappointed. And I’m also pretty exhausted. I had a very stressful day at work, so what I should probably do is just head home and get some rest. And after flying all afternoon, you should probably do the same.”
    “You’re kidding, right? I just got back to town and you’re planning to leave already?”
    “All I’m saying is that we both need some rest so that we can get together early tomorrow.”
    “You know, Cameron, you do this all the time, but to keep peace between us, I never say anything.”
    “What are you talking about?” he said, frowning.
    I hated this. Over the last couple of years, we’d had a few minor disagreements, but never any major blowups. And I preferred it that way. The thing was, I didn’t like confrontations. Of course, I didn’t mind having them in the courtroom, but not when it came to my personal associations. I avoided all arguments with family members, close friends, and men I dated, but Cameron was trying my patience. His lack of compassion and commitment to our relationship was really beginning to tire me.
    “Why are you so upset?” he asked when I didn’t answer his first question.
    “If you don’t know, then let’s just forget it.”
    “Women,” he said, grabbing his keys.
    Then he kissed me on the forehead. “I promise I’ll be over first thing in the morning, okay?”
    “Sure. Whatever you say.”
    “I can’t believe you think I don’t want to be with you,” he said, laughing.
    But I didn’t see anything funny. There was nothing humorous about any man making lame excuses the way Cameron was doing now. I loved him and I wanted to marry him, but I would never be his fool. I would never be any man’s fool because I didn’t have to.
    “See you later,” I said nonchalantly.
    He walked toward the front door. “You know I love you, right?”
    I smiled, but not genuinely.
    “See you tomorrow,” he said, and then left.
    I locked the door and then picked up the mail that was lying on the glass and wrought-iron sofa table. I had brought it inside when Cameron and I had first gotten home but I hadn’t taken time to look through it. Most of my bills came toward the middle of the month, so mostly what I saw were magazines and junk mail. There was also a package from Victoria’s Secret, though probably the clothes I’d purchased for Brianna. It wasn’t her birthday or anything like that, but when she’d spent the night with me a couple of weeks ago, she’d been looking through the VS catalog and had become ecstatic over some of their new apparel. She’d fallen in love with this black knit dress and a cute worn-looking denim pants outfit. Actually, I was loving the jeans outfit myself and was thinking about ordering another one.
    Miss Brianna was my heart. For the most part, Charisse was like a sister to me, so I loved Brianna like a niece. I took her lots of places, even out of town on occasion, and there were months when I bought her things she hadn’t even asked for. Although there were times when I knew Charisse didn’t like it. I wasn’t sure if maybe she was a little jealous of the relationship that Brianna and I shared or if it was that she and Brianna didn’t get along with each other. But either way, I didn’t understand because Brianna was a good girl. She was beautiful and smart and to me she was a mother’s dream. But Charisse just didn’t feel that way. And I had even asked her