Read Online Waiting to Exhale by Terry McMillan - Free Book Online Page B

laughing. Michael also had the shortest, fattest little hands I'd ever seen on any man, and I've heard all the stories about short men with thick fingers before, but there's a whole lot of lies floating around in the world that have become myths that ignorant folks believe. I say make me a believer.
    - After the small talk about his two diseased marriages, two consequential children, dialing-for-dollars divorces, office politics, and what have you, it was clear to me that he was what teenagers call a nerd. But when Michael leaned forward in his chair and said, "So tell me, Robin, why isn't a beautiful woman such as yourself happily married?" he got my deepest attention, and all I could say was, "Because I haven't met a man I want to marry yet." I didn't dare tell him the truth, that no one had ever asked me, and Russell's phony little lightweight desperation plea doesn't even count. I couldn't believe Michael called me beautiful.
    "What about you, Michael? Do you think you'll ever say 4I do' again?"
    "Certainly," he said. "It's not that marriage itself is bad; it's the people we marry who give it a bad name." Then he sort of chuckled. "I think I'm wiser now, so I'll make a much better assessment the next time."
    Assessment? Is that what you guys do, I thought, assess us? Well, if I had to assess him right now, on a scale of one to ten, I'd be generous in giving him a five. First of all, he's definitely not my type. He's light-skinned-pale when you get right down to it-and how about those freckles? His hair is that rusty reddish-brown, and he's about two inches shorter than I am, which would make him a whopping five foot seven. He's obviously not spending any time at the gym, because he's leaning toward pudgy. But I will say one thing. That baritone voice and those juicy lips could tip the scale in his favor.
    So I had lunch with him again the next day, because he asked me. This time we went out to eat. Most men usually talk about themselves until you don't have any questions left to ask, but not Michael. He was actually curious about me.
    "So, Robin," he said. "Tell me a little more about yourself."
    I had already told him that I graduated from ASU and majored in anthropology, that I grew up in Sierra Vista because my daddy was in the army, and that I was an only child. "What else do you want to know?"
    "How old are you?"
    "How old do you think I am?"
    "Twenty-seven. Twenty-nine at the most."
    He got three points for that. "Thirty-five," I said.
    "No kidding."
    "No kidding," I said.
    "Where's your family?"
    "In Tucson."
    "So at least you get to visit them."
    "Yeah, I do, but it's not all that pleasant. My parents've been through living hell these last few years. My mother had to have a double mastectomy, and then two years ago my father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's."
    "I'm sorry to hear that, Robin. Is he still able to be at home?"
    "Yeah. Which is one reason why I try to get down there at least twice a month to help my mother out. He can't do too much for himself anymore. Look, can we talk about something else?"
    "Okay," he said, and took a sip of his coffee. "Do you have any hobbies?"
    "Hobbies?"
    "You know, things you like to do on a regular basis."
    "I used to sew a lot, make quilts, but I don't have much time for it anymore. I do collect black dolls, though."
    "Really? What's your favorite color?"
    "Orange."
    "Favorite place?"
    "Hawaii."
    "Fruit?"
    "Plums."
    "Movie?"
    "I don't know. What is this, JeopardyV'
    He laughed. "I'm just trying to make getting to know you more fun, that's all. If it bothers you, I can stop."
    "No. Let me think. One of my favorite movies of all time was Body Heat, and I have to put Raging Bull in there and Raiders of the Lost Ark."
    Michael smiled. I didn't notice until now that he had a rather sexy, self-assured smile. "So do you have a steady?" he asked.
    How corny, I thought, but at least he wanted to know, and for that reason I thought it would be smart not to tell the truth. "Well, I've