Page 33 of The Need to Know

Regardless, I heard him clearly. “A’ight, Leslie it is.”

Cesar bobbed his head. “Thank you.”

I sank back in my plush chair on wheels, eyeing my best friend. I was too curious to let it go. “So, what’s up with it? Since she got a name now, is it serious?”

Cesar shrugged, looking off, appearing thoughtful. “Yeah, you can say that. I know I’ve been in the game for a minute, but I’m ready.”

For as long as I’d known him, he’d never been this way about a woman. “You hanging up the jersey?” I had to know.

He cracked a soft smile, shy it seemed—so unlike him.

“I’m almost thirty. I don’ done it all, it feel like. I don’t do relationships because I ain’t tryin’ to be tied down and shit. But then…”

“…but then you doubled back,” I added.

“I never double back,” Cesar agreed.

“But ‘Leslie’ different?” She had to have been.

“I got my R&B, man. My rhythm and blues,” Cesar said simply. “Leslie make me feel old—mature, you know? I like staying in and just being with her. When I’m here, I just wanna be there. I’m at that age now where I’m tryna make memories with somebody. It was casual at first, but now I don’t want another man in my place. I want that to be me. This one hits different.”

I threaded my fingers together, trying to understand him clearly. “We talking feelings or love?”

“Love,” he didn’t hesitate to say.

“Leave a toothbrush at ya crib type of love? Shorty got a drawer and all’at?” I joked.

Cesar flipped me the bird, his shoulders shaking as he laughed a little. “That weather changing shit. Can’t stand the sun when I’m not with her type of love. Like, the sex is fucking impeccable, but it’s deeper than that, Eaze. I wanna know how her day is and what she’s been up to. I wanna know what I can do to make her life easier or better. It’s just different. I’m doing things I don’t usually do, and I like it. I put thought into things now.”

Love. Wow. In my two serious relationships of the past, while I’d had love for each woman, I wouldn’t quite say I was ever in love with either. At least, not like how Cease was sounding. He was a good-looking guy who could go out into the Club Suite and pull any woman of his choice most nights, but here lately, when I really thought about it, he hadn’t been doing that. In all the years we’d known each other, he’d never spoken of a woman like he was speaking on Leslie. We were close friends, brothers even, and he wanted me to address her by name and not Gusher. Obviously, it was more respectful, but that in itself said a lot.

“Leslie cold, bro,” Cesar concluded. “She be cookin’ for me, and I’m takin’ out her trash. I’m mowin’ her lawn and helping her with her flowers. Domestic type of shit I never even thought of. One day we was just chillin’ and she hit me with a ‘What are we doing this weekend?’ and I ain’t never been a part of a ‘we’ before. It just felt…natural, right.”

I couldn’t relate, but I wasn’t about to clown him for what seemed like a good thing. “Are you happy?”

“Incredibly,” Cesar answered with a gleam in his eye. He looked at the monitors behind me. “It’s not going to affect my work performance.”

I waved him off, shaking my head. “Nah, I’m not questioning that. If you happy, I’m happy.” I leaned over, holding my hand out. “Congrats on Leslie, man.”

Cesar shook my hand and stood up. The office was soundproof, so whatever music the DJ was playing out on the floor that had everybody moving, we couldn’t hear. Nor could anyone outside the door hear us. I admired the way Cesar was both vulnerable and proud about this new occurrence in his life. He had a woman, a woman he was in love with.

“Drive safe,” I told him as I settled back in my seat.

“Always,” Cesar responded. He made it over to the door before turning and regarding me. “You hear back from that girl from the gym? Natasha?”

“Nastasia,” I corrected. “And no, not yet.”

Really, I was content with letting it go. It’d been two days and not a peep. I figured our nice talk up on the roof was just that, a nice talk.

Cesar whistled. “She was pretty.”

I leaned back in my seat. “All for the best.”

“All right, I’ll see you.” Cesar slipped out of the office, allowing the brief sounds of Lil Baby to be heard before the door shut behind him.

Peering up at the ceiling, I heaved a sigh. Not that I needed him, but I essentially just lost my wingman. He was in love and happy. So I couldn’t even be mad.

R&B.