Any Way You Want Me by Yuwanda Black Read Free Book Online

know what, I'll meet you in 20 minutes. Let's meet at that bar in
DUMBO; you know the one with the awesome calamari. I had dinner before we went
to the theatre, but I could go for a late-night snack and that's about halfway
between us," she said, ringing off as Gatlin exited the bathroom.
     
               
"Hey," Kylie said. "Katrina called. She really needs an ear —
man trouble — so I'm gonna meet her in DUMBO and then go on home tonight, ok?
It's been a long day and I'm wiped."
     
               
If the truth be told, Kylie was more mentally than physically exhausted. She
was starting to worry about Gatlin's inability or unwillingness to open up to
her.
     
                She
could swear he seemed relieved at the fact that she was leaving, which
infuriated her.
     
               
Controlling her rising temper and hurt feelings, she said bluntly,
"Gatlin, do you want to continue seeing me? Because if you don’t, all you
have to do is say so, you know?"
     
               
"Why do you ask me that?"
     
                A question with a question she thought. Her reporter's intuition caught
that one right away. People usually do that when they're trying to avoid giving
a straight answer.
     
               
Up for the challenge of being brutally honest, she replied, "Because you
haven't acted like it lately. You've cancelled dates; you don’t call as much
and when we are together, you're moody, for lack of a better word."
     
               
"I know you've been busy with your book and with work. We're in the same
business, remember, so I get all that. But when I ask you what's wrong, you
won't even talk about it. So, what else am I left to think?"
     
               
"How about not thinking that it has anything at all to do with us?"
he replied coldly.
     
               
"How can I not think that when you won't tell me what the problem
is," she replied, still trying valiantly to stay calm. "Look, I've
tried to give you your space, and I've tried to find out what it is so maybe I
can help. But it's like you just shut down," Kylie continued, desperate
for him to communicate with her. "Look — whatever it is, you can tell
me."
     
               
"You wouldn't understand," he said.
     
               
"How do you know if you won't even tell me what it is?" she blasted
back, letting the lid off her anger. She'd had it up to here with him shutting
the emotional door in her face.
     
               
"Let's just say I know you won't understand," he said, his patience
wearing thin with this conversation.
     
               
"That's mighty presumptuous and sanctimonious of you Gatlin. As a
reporter, you should know better than to assume before you have all the
facts."
     
               
"Alright, try this on for size," he said.
     
               
"I saw the body of a 24-year-old woman today. She'd been beaten to a pulp
by her boyfriend. Pretty girl, you could tell, she used to be a very pretty
girl. She left behind a toddler, who's now in foster care unless and/or until
her family can be located. The woman had needle tracks up and down her arm, so
it makes me wonder what kind of family she came from, and if they'll be able to
help her child if they are found. That's what's on my mind," he said
finishing.
     
               
"I know those kind of stories never get easier, Gatlin. And I'm sorry to
hear that that's what you had to face today. I truly am. But this goes much
deeper. Does it have something to do with your father? You've never told me
about him. You never talk about your early life at all."
     
               
"And it's not exactly a conversation I want to have right now," he
said.
     
               
"But how do you expect to ever heal; to ever fix it, if you're not even
willing to confront whatever it is," Kylie said softly.
     
               
"You know