(I wanna love; I want a fire to feel the burns, my desires. I want a man by my side not a boy who runs and hides.) (Rhonda's thoughts for Matt)
*The title of this chapter is named after a song by Kelly Clarkson*
The rising of the sun, the cheery sounds of birds chirping and squirrels scurrying around was a typical spring morning. Widely regarded as the season of love, there was someone in particular who was feeling a refreshing reintroduction of romance in her life. After their double date with Nadine and Sid the previous night, Rhonda and Matt retreated to Matt's hotel suite to spend the night together for the first time. As students at Zax-Scesney, the two of them have gone on several dates while Rhonda was still pregnant with Prince. However, when Matt paid a visit to Hillwood, he and Rhonda finally took the next step of their relationship into sexual intimacy, something she wouldn't have done with him when she was pregnant.
The two of them woke up at, more or less, the same time in the morning. However, they just laid nude side by side under the sheets and talked.
"That was so much fun," Matt said, staring at Rhonda with his hazel eyes.
"I agree," Rhonda smiled.
"I missed you a lot," Matt told her." When are you coming back to LA?"
"In the fall," Rhonda replied." I still have my apartment over there, so I'm bringing the baby and I'll just have to find childcare for him while I'm at class."
"For a while, I was wondering if you weren't coming back," Matt admitted." Being a mom and a university student isn't easy."
"Please—nothing gets in my way," Rhonda insisted, self-assuredly." I'm strong, determined and no matter what the circumstances are, I can take control of any and every situation."
"Yeah, it even shows in the way you make love," Matt stated, lustfully.
"Aw, thanks. And you weren't so bad yourself!" Rhonda said, playfully.
Matt laughed at Rhonda's teasing humor. She laughed too for a few seconds and then her face turned serious again. She moved closer to Matt and rested her head on his bare shoulder.
"But seriously, you were amazing," Rhonda told him." Not just for the sex but—in general. You're an awesome guy; the kind of guy I can see myself being with."
"Hmm," Matt murmured, not knowing what else to say.
"Okay, what's on your mind?" Rhonda asked.
"Well, we haven't exactly made it official yet; our relationship, I mean," Matt responded.
"I know that," Rhonda said." But I'll be back in California; we have time to think about it. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, it doesn't. Right?"
"Sure."
"But it can't not happen—I mean, look at me," Rhonda said, full of pride.
Matt chuckled and said." Oh, Rhonda, Rhonda, Rhonda…..if only most girls I've dated had half your confidence."
"Honey, I'm one in a million!"
The two of them laughed yet again. There was no doubt that Rhonda's conceitedness was actually part of her charm, at least to those who knew her the best.
"I'll tell you what—we'll talk more about this some other time," Rhonda decided." How about some room service?"
"Sounds good," Matt agreed." I am kind of hungry—although one of your tasty kisses will do for now."
"Oooh, not with that morning breath, sweetie," Rhonda joked.
"Sorry about that!" Matt said, cracking up.
So, Matt phoned the kitchen of the hotel and ordered breakfast for himself and Rhonda to be delivered to his suite. They spent the morning together talking, eating and making plans to go out again later on that night. Matt was only going to be in town for less than a week and then he was going back home to Los Angeles. So, Rhonda wanted to make sure that she'd spend as much time with him as she could given that she wouldn't be returning to Los Angeles for at least another three months. He was someone that Rhonda had truly developed feelings for. It wasn't quite on the level of love yet but it wasn't far from it, at least on Rhonda's part.
After leaving the hotel, Rhonda headed back home for a few hours. Even though she was more than thankful that she had genuine people in her life to rely on to take care of Prince whenever she wanted to go out, she was still a devoted mother and never once did she take advantage of her blessings. So, she happily spent the entire afternoon and evening feeding her baby, changing his diapers, holding him and simply showing him all the attention and affection in the world. She was certainly shaping up to be the type of mother that was going to disprove the myth that rich parents only show their children love in the form of money and material items. Rhonda genuinely loved and cherished her baby boy; nothing in the world brought her greater joy.
It was close to nine o clock that night and Prince was already sleeping peacefully. Dressed up classily yet sexily, Rhonda was looking forward to yet another date with Matt. The short, magenta Armani Collezioni dress, diamond necklace and red bottom heels that she wore kept her confidence in check, not as though it was going anywhere anyway. While she was waiting for Matt to pick her up at her house in the Jaguar that he was renting for the week, she was having a conversation with Patty via cell phone.
"So Patty, what time are you picking Harry up from your parents tomorrow?"
"Uh, I don't know—probably around six in the evening," Patty replied.
"Great! Because I'm treating you out to lunch tomorrow and I don't want to hear any excuses," Rhonda told her.
"Sure. I'd like that," Patty agreed.
"Oh, that was easy," Rhonda smirked.
"Yeah, I'm sorry that I didn't join you, Mike, Nadine and Sid out for dinner yesterday," Patty told her.
"Forgiven. And his name is Matt," Rhonda corrected her.
"Oh sorry," Patty said, with a light chuckle." So, you and Matt are going out again tonight? You really, really like this guy, don't you?"
"Yes and yes," Rhonda replied, proudly.
"Aaaw. You sound so happy."
"I am; and had you come out with us last night, you would have liked him too," Rhonda said." Nadine and Sid got to meet him."
"Well, as your best friend, I just had to find out how great this guy really is, so I asked Nadine what she thought of him," Patty stated.
"Yeah? What did she say?"
"She said he seems nice but he's kind of quiet," Patty responded." She said she didn't see much personality in him and he's kind of bland."
"Bland?" Rhonda reacted, defensively." No, no—see maybe if Nadine wasn't practically breastfeeding Sid every five minutes at the restaurant, she would have been paying attention to just how awesome Matt really is. Nadine and Sid—I love them and all—but they just can't keep their hands off of each other long enough to even notice what else or who else is around them. They give each other so much attention that their baby might even get jealous! So, how would she even notice how so-called 'bland' Matt is?"
"Rhonda, relax; I'm sure she wasn't trying to be rude about it," Patty insisted.
"I'm not mad or anything; opinions are opinions," Rhonda said." But I see something amazing in Matt. I'm not in love but I haven't felt this way about a guy in a long time. Not even Curly, to be honest, and he's the father of my child. Matt is my type in just about every way. He's sweet, sophisticated, charming and gorgeous. He actually reminds me of Lorenzo—minus that sensual Spanish accent, of course."
"Wow. While most girls seem to hate their exes, you never have an unkind thing to say about Lorenzo," Patty pointed out." Soul mates—mark my words!"
"Whatever. That's why he's engaged to Aida—eeew," Rhonda commented, with a shudder." I'm not interested in going back. Once it's over, it's over. Period. And by the way, why does everyone, to this very day,think I'm still in love with him? I was just making a brief comparison; I'm not trying to get into yet another conversation about Lorenzo. As I've said a billion times, Lorenzo was my first true love and Curly's my baby's daddy. But I'm all about future love, not past love; and for all I know, that future could be Matt."
"Well, if you're really into this guy, there's nothing wrong with trying to see where it goes," Patty said.
"That's the plan," Rhonda responded." I don't know, Patty, I just—I want something special. Something real. Something beautiful. Something fulfilling. Something—"
"Okay, I get it already," Patty cut her off, laughing.
"Sorry—it's just that being with Matt last night made me realize how much I miss having a boyfriend," Rhonda told her." Now that Curly and I are on friendly terms and he's been a great dad to Prince for the past two months, I'm completely over that dysfunctional relationship we had and I'm no longer letting it keep me from finding the one for me. Don't mistake me though; my son and my education will always come first—but I am ready for love again. Nadine is the queen of Sid's world; I want something like that. Even you and Harold, as much as you guys fight, have something special. You live together, you love each other, you two are raising your son together and not to mention, you two have been together for a very, very long time—long before Harry came long."
"I guess I can't deny that," Patty said." Even though he pissed me the hell off yesterday when the first thing he wanted to do on his night off was smoke pot with the guys, he made it up to me by spending the whole day with me. He goes back to work tomorrow, so we'll also have the whole night together."
"Aaaaaw."
"Yeah, that's us," Patty continued." Annoying each other one minute, loving each other the next."
"See, I can live with that," Rhonda said." That's called a realistic relationship. That's all I want."
"And you'll find it, Rhonda," Patty told her." I'm sure of it."
Rhonda and Patty conversed for a few more minutes until Matt arrived to pick her up for their second date of the weekend. Lately, Rhonda has been missing that sense of romantic companionship in her life. Although she made a conscious effort not to pressure Matt into making their relationship official, she truly saw him as someone she could be with for at least, a very long time. The two of them spent a lot of time together until it was time for Matt to catch his flight back to California.
As the spring and summer went by, the babies Prince, Sidra and Harry were growing rapidly and healthily, thus, bringing their respective mothers and fathers a lot of pride and joy. This stage of infancy was where they were growing the fastest. To be such young parents, it was safe to say that the ones who had given life to these three precious babies were doing a fantastic job.
In addition to their household and family responsibilities, Rhonda, Nadine and Patty hung out often, even if they all had to bring their babies along. Harold and Sid would jam with their instruments in Stinky's garage and of course, get high with Josh and Stinky. There has even been a big reunion of the old gang when childhood friends such as Arnold, Helga, Gerald, Phoebe, Lila and Eugene came back to visit Hillwood while on summer vacation from the universities they attended.
At the end of the summer, that bittersweet time has come for Rhonda to return to Los Angeles and resume her studies as Zax-Scesney University. This time, she will be returning with a five and a half month old baby. However, Rhonda's departure didn't feel as sad as the first time she went away. For one, they all knew what to expect and two, everyone had their own lives. Of course, Rhonda was going to miss her family and friends but she was looking forward to returning to school. She missed the Los Angeles atmosphere, her university and her off-campus apartment, where she and Prince would be residing together. There were also a lot of great people there that she met and was looking forward to seeing again, especially Matt.
Back in California, after Rhonda attending three of her classes, she decided to look for a special someone in the dorms. Prince was being cared for at an expensive but top-notch daycare while Rhonda was at school. Since the fall semester started, she and Matt only had a chance to hang out once. So, she decided to surprise him with another visit at his dorm. While walking through the halls, carrying her bag of textbooks and make-up supplies, she saw a familiar-looking guy in the hallway. He was a tall, thin African-American guy with short dreads and eyeglasses. He was one of Matt's fraternity brothers.
"Oh shit, check it out. Bad-Ass Rhonda Lloyd is in the house," the guy said, smiling." Welcome back to Cali."
"Thanks Ahmad," Rhonda said.
They shared a quick hug.
"I see you had the baby. Boy or girl?"
"Boy."
"That's what's up," Ahmad nodded." Congrats. So, what are you doin' here?"
"I'm coming to see Matt," Rhonda replied." Have you seen him?"
"Oh—um, uuuuh—yeah."
"O—kay; what's going on?" Rhonda asked, confused.
"He might be kind of busy right now, so I don't know—" Ahmad started.
Rhonda crossed her arms and stared at Ahmad in confusion.
"Ah, I'm just gonna mind my business," Ahmad decided." Uh, see you around."
With that, Ahmad quickly walked away. Rhonda shook her head and proceeded to walk further down the hall until she reached the door of Matt's dorm room. Before she even had a chance to knock, the door opened and out stepped a short, skinny blond girl with blue eyes. Rhonda eyed her up and down, suspiciously.
"Uh, don't tell me your Matt's girlfriend that I had, like, no idea about," the girl groaned.
Rhonda was silent but the look in her eyes was an unfriendly one.
"Okay, I don't like confrontation, so I'm just gonna, you know—go," said the girl, awkwardly.
Without a second thought, the girl quickly walked away. Two seconds later, Matt stepped out of the room shirtless and wearing a pair of jeans.
"Oh hey, Rhonda, why didn't you call?" he asked." I didn't know you were coming."
"Who was that?" Rhonda demanded.
"Who?"
"Don't play dumb," Rhonda said, sternly." Who was that girl that just walked out of your room?"
"Oh, that was just Danielle; we're in chemistry together," Matt told her.
"Chemistry? I bet there's a lot of that between you two," Rhonda spoke with a jealous sarcasm.
"Yeah—but she's not my girlfriend or anything and technically, neither are you," Matt insisted.
"Yeah, yeah—we're not official—blah, blah, blah."
"Exactly; so why are you upset?" Matt asked.
"Because I thought that eventually you and I would—" Rhonda started.
"Eventually you and I would what?" Matt cut her off." Be together? Raise your baby together? I wasn't planning to play stepdad to your kid."
"Fuck you, Matt," Rhonda snapped.
Angry, she turned around to walk away but Matt tapped her shoulder.
"Rhonda!"
"Don't touch me," Rhonda snarled, pulling away.
"Listen, I didn't—"
"You thought I needed a new dad for my kid!" Rhonda yelled." Are you fucking kidding me? My kid has a dad, first of all. Second of all, I'm not some charity case single mother. I'm a damn wealthy single mother. Don't ever bring up my son in a conversation like this again. Do you hear me?!"
"I hear you loud and clear," Matt responded, embarrassed." In fact, the whole dorm can."
"I don't care!"
"Rhonda, look, I didn't mean it that way," Matt continued." I'm sorry. I just—I felt like you were trying to move a little too fast, ever since I came to see you in Hillwood back in May."
"How the hell was I moving too fast when I told you time and time again that there was no pressure for you to make this relationship official?" Rhonda argued." Yeah—so what, like an idiot, I developed real feelings for you. But even though we haven't officially given each other a boyfriend-girlfriend label, you did not tell me that you were also seeing other girls. But let me guess; since it wasn't official, I can't call it cheating, right?"
"That's right," Matt shrugged, honestly.
"No, that's not right," Rhonda insisted, heatedly." How dare you not tell me that I wasn't the only one you were being sexually intimate with? You could have been honest about that, at least. I wouldn't have kept seeing you but I would have respected you."
Matt dropped his eyes; even though he technically wasn't cheating on Rhonda since they weren't in an official relationship, he did feel bad for hurting her.
"Rhonda, I like you, I care about you and you're great to be around but I just don't know when I might be ready to talk about taking that next step with you," Matt stated." I'm trying to be honest here."
"Matt, don't play games with me. You do know what you want and don't want," Rhonda responded, firmly." What you want is to be free to play the field, free of commitment, for as long as possible. Now, that's fine. You're a typical college guy with many more years ahead of you before you think about committing to one person. I don't hold that against you. What I do hold against you, however, is not being straightforward with me about it from the gate."
"But somewhere down the line, it was possible that I could have decided that I'd make that commitment to you," Matt told her.
"Yeah, that's what I was hoping for but that's not the point here," Rhonda debated." The point is that you're sleeping with other girls and not telling me. That doesn't make you a cheater—technically—but it definitely makes me uncomfortable that I could have sex with you not knowing if some random skanky bitch was all over you just a few minutes or hours ago."
"Oh—well, I'm sorry," Matt apologized.
"I forgive you but…we're done here," Rhonda decided.
Matt sighed and shook his head in disappointment.
"No hard feelings; I promise," Rhonda told him, equally disappointed.
Without another a word, Rhonda turned around and walked away, thus, ending her fling with Matt. For the most part, he was not an indecent guy; the problem is he and Rhonda were both looking for two completely different things and he failed to communicate that to her. It was a shame because before Rhonda returned to Los Angeles, she even briefly considered leaving Prince in Hillwood with her parents for the semester; that way Prince would be closer to his father and Rhonda would have freed up time on her schedule to spend with Matt. Thankfully, she decided not to do that.
As Rhonda left the dorm, she felt like crying but she kept her head up high and stayed strong even though it hurt to do so. Matthew Mapston was just another relationship(if you care to call it that) in passing. Rhonda was bound to find someone else and then someone other that. After all, in love, people take their chances.
Back in Hillwood, Nadine and Patty both resumed their university studies as well. Being a couple years older than her best friends, Patty had already earned an Associate's Degree from community college, prior to enrolling in university. Nadine was also working part-time as a receptionist at an Auto-Dealership while Patty was working as a manager at a fast food restaurant. Sid and Harold still worked as a server and cook, respectively, at the restaurant Sparkle Grub.
One Wednesday afternoon at work, Sid was assigned to train a new employee named Ashley to be a server and show her how to do things such as greeting customers. taking orders, punching the orders in the computer system and printing checks. Ashley stood at 5'4 with a plump, full-figured body, long flowing dirty-blond hair and small green eyes. As one of the best money-makers in the restaurant, she was fortunate to be trained by Sid.
Ashley headed back into the kitchen carrying a plate of steak, onion rings and broccoli. She looked around for the food expeditor(the one in charge of labeling the meals completed by the cooks with tickets that contained the table number and name of the server) or 'expo'. Harold was in the back putting a cheeseburger together when Ashley got closer to the counter.
"Hey Harold, where's the expo?" Ashley asked.
"He went to the bathroom, I think," Harold replied, smiling." Why? What's up, Ash?"
"One of Sid's customers is complaining that this steak is way too bloody," Ashley told him.
"I thought he wanted it rare."
"Apparently not," Ashley shrugged." I guess he wants it medium rare. So, can you cook it a little more?"
"Ugh," Harold groaned.
"Please?" Ashley pleaded, flirtatiously." It's for Sid's customer and I'm training with him, so it helps me out to."
"Anything for you," Harold grinned.
Ashley smiled as she handed Harold the plate where he took the steak and placed it back on the grill to cook a little further.
"Thanks; I'll be back for it in a few minutes," Ashley said, with a wink.
She turned around and walked out of the kitchen, swaying her hips to keep Harold's attention—and it worked. This was only Ashley's second day on the job yet she managed to grasp Harold's interest. Even though she was aware that he had a girlfriend and a baby at home, she has been flirting with Harold nonstop. She had a thing for big guys and for her, there was something oddly attractive about Harold. Although there was nothing physical taking place between the two of them, Harold was discreetly thrilled to be getting some kind of female attention besides what he had at home with Patty.
Gee, that girl is gonna get me in a lot of trouble with Patty, Harold thought. I better keep my distance.
Girls have flirted with Sid on occasion as well but he had no problem letting them know about Nadine, their daughter and his undying loyalty to them. So, it kind of disappointed him to see Harold flirting with another girl, particularly one at work. However, Sid chose to stay out of it. There was no way he was going to violate guy code by telling his best friend's girlfriend about him flirting with another girl.
After work that night, Sid was giving Harold a ride home as usual, talking along the way.
"Uh, Sid?"
"Yeah?
"There's nothing going on between me and that Ashley girl," Harold told him.
"Hey, it's none of my business," Sid insisted.
"If I wasn't with Patty, I would fuck her though," Harold admitted." Just being honest."
"Dude, that's your business," Sid said." I'm staying out of that one."
"Cool, so don't mention anything to Nadine; she will tell Patty," Harold stated.
"Harold, what part of 'I'm staying out of it' don't you understand?" Sid asked, annoyed.
"I'm just making sure!" Harold exclaimed." Don't tell Nadine anything about me and Ashley because like I said, she will tell Patty and then my ass in deep shit. Face it. You do everything for Nadine and you tell her everything. So, I'm just watching my back."
"Please don't start this shit again," Sid retorted, aggravated.
"Hey, I'm not going to call you whipped again," Harold told him." All I'm saying is, I don't want you mentioning anything to Nadine about Ashley. You'd mind your own business but Nadine wouldn't. She is Patty's best friend, after all. Besides, there's nothing to say about me and Ashley because there's nothing going on. She did give me her cell number though."
"Ugh! Dude, drop it already! I don't give a shit!" Sid exclaimed." Goddamn it. I don't care about what you're doing or not doing with Ashley. That's your problem. You're the one who's going to have to answer to Patty if she somehow finds out—which, for the tenth fucking time, won't be from me or Nadine. So I'd appreciate it if you didn't bring me or my girl into this conversation. In fact, I didn't even wanna have this conversation! So, do what you want. Wreck everything you have with Patty and your son if that's what you please to do. That's not my problem; I have my own proprieties."
"Sid, you need to pull your hand out of your own ass for a second!" Harold raised his voice.
"The phrase is 'pull your head out of your own ass', genius," Sid rolled his eyes.
"Whatever!" Harold barked." Pull your head out of your own ass and stop being so self-righteous! While you're at it, pull your head out of Nadine's ass and take a minute to see that it's okay to think about other girls as long as you're not doing anything with them. So, don't fucking judge me!"
"Harold, you brought it up!" Sid argued.
"Because you were shaking your head and giving me stupid ass looks whenever I even looked at Ashley!" Harold argued back." So don't tell me you were minding your business."
"Dude, can we please drop it?" Sid attempted to ask.
Harold exhaled deeply and respected Sid's wish to end the debate. The rode in silence for another couple of minutes until Harold spoke up again.
"Sid, do you mind stopping at this supermarket? Harry needs more diapers."
"Oh shit. Thanks for reminding me; Nadine texted me two hours ago and told me that Sidra needs more diapers too," Sid said.
So, Sid made a left turn down the block where the supermarket was.
"See, Patty didn't even have to tell me that our son was running out of diapers," Harold pointed out." That's because I'm a good dad. Fuck what anyone else thinks."
"Harold, shut up. No one said you weren't," Sid muttered.
After parking the car, the two of them headed inside of the supermarket to purchase diapers and a few other supplies for their babies. Like the best friends that they are, Harold and Sid quickly went back to laughing and joking on the ride back home as if they weren't arguing with each other a few moments ago.
As time went on, things were going well for everyone, more or less. Rhonda didn't take long to get over Matt; she just kept on moving with pride and strength as she always did. Sid continued to treat Nadine like the queen she was in his eyes and Harold, although obviously curious about other women, was still very much in love with Patty and couldn't imagine life without her. However, things were bound to change in the lives of all of them, sooner or later. Where would they all stand with each other in a couple of years or less?