Date: Tue, 7 Sep 2004 23:33:32 -0700 (PDT)
From: Cassandra Whitehead <cocoa8007@yahoo.com>
Subject: Garden of Eve

**   Eve looked around her empty apartment, checking
to make sure she had left nothing behind.  This move
to Florida was going to be a big one for her. New
life, new environment, no drama.  She had known for
some time now that she needed to get away from
Missouri, but she was afraid of what her parents would
think.  But at the age of 24, it was past time for her
to start living her own life, and stop taking care of
everyone but herself.  Eve had graduated from college
two years before, just to move back home down the
street from her parents.  For a time it seemed as if
they  couldn't survive without her being here.  Now,
she knew that she couldn't survive unless she left. 
Her friend Mike had moved to Florida after graduation,
and said he could get her an entry level position with
the computer company he was working for.  Eve had
jumped at the chance.  She sent him her resume 6
months ago, and had a response within 2 weeks. The
rest as they say is history, because here she was
ready to make a new life somewhere else.

**  Jackie looked in the mirror one last time.  Making
sure that every hair was in the right place and that
her makeup was flawless.  Tonight was the big night
for her.  Tonight Tony would ask her to marry him, and
they could finally begin their lives together. 
Suddenly she heard a knock on her front door.  Taking
one last look in the mirror, she hurried to open it. 
There stood Tony, but to her surprise he was not
dressed for a night out.  He had on blue jeans and a
t-shirt.  
"Baby, what's wrong? I thought we were going out."
Jackie stepped back as Tony entered the room. She made
a move to close the door, when someone else stepped in
front of it.  Tasha.  
"What are you doing here?" Jackie asked as Tasha come
in her apartment behind Tony.  She had known Tasha for
about 2 yrs.  They had some what of a friendship, but
Jackie had to admit that she didn't really trust her. 
Shutting the door behind Tasha, Jackie turned to face
them both.
"Tony what's going on?" She knew that the next words
coming out of his mouth would change her life forever.

** Eve walked through the airport, toward the exit
terminal.  The butterflies were finally starting to
settle in her stomach.  She knew she wouldn't be
completely at ease until she was entirely settled in 
her new apartment.  A moving company was transporting
her things from Missouri to Florida, and they should
be waiting for her when she reached her apartment. 
She looked around until she finally saw the one face
in the crowd that she knew.  Dropping her bags, she
ran to Mike and was engulfed in a huge bear hug.  
"Eve, I can't believe you're here.  We are going to
have so much fun." Mike placed her back on her feet
and walked with her to get her bags.  Eves parents
were under the impression that Mike was her boyfriend,
and that she was moving to Florida to be closer to
him.  Little did they know that good ole' Mike was
gay, and that their little angel was a lesbian.  They
grabbed her things and walked outside to the car that
Mike had left double parked.
"I can see you haven't changed at all.  Still waiting
for your car to be towed away."
"Come one Eve, you know the real reason why I do this.
 One day, the right police officer is going to come
and give me a ticket, and on that special day, I will
meet the man of my dreams."
"And that's exactly what it is, Mike. A dream" 
"You'll see.  And when it happens I'll say I told you
so." 
All Eve could do was laugh as she got into the car. 
Mike was the best friend a girl could ask for.  She
hoped that his dream did come true, because if someone
deserved to truly be loved and adored, it was Michael
Addy.

**  Jackie stood in shook looking from Tony to Tasha. 
She couldn't believe her ears.  Did Tony just say that
Tasha was pregnant, with his baby?
"You're kidding right?  I mean, there's no way you can
possibly be serious." 
"I am serious, Jackie. Tasha is pregnant, and we have
decided to get married." Now, Jackie knew that she was
losing her mind.  Tony getting married, to someone
else.  No way.  She didn't know how to react. She
should be upset, no mad as hell.  She should be
throwing things, hitting things, or just hitting him. 
She should be yelling and screaming at the top of her
lungs.  But all she could do was stand there and look
at him.  
"That's why I came over, Jackie. To tell you the truth
face to face.  I wish I could make this better, but I
can't.  I'm sorry." Not saying a word, Jackie opened
the door and waited for him to get the picture.  Tony
took Tasha by the hand and walked out with her. 
Jackie softly shut the door behind them, and crumbled
to the floor.  Allowing all of her pain to come out in
the form of tears.

** Eve and Mike arrived at her apartment just as the
movers were pulling in.  With Mike's help, Eve had
secured a studio apartment, not more than 20 minutes
away from her job.  Mike had taken care of everything,
including getting the key from the landlord the day
before.  They began to move things into her apartment
when Mike's cell phone rung.  Eve could hear him
talking to someone in the background.  The other
person seemed to be crying.
"Eve, sweetheart, I have to go. A friend of mine is in
pretty bad shape right now and she kind of needs me."
"Oh, that's okay. I should be fine here.  The trailer
with my car should be getting her some time later this
afternoon, and I can occupy myself by getting this
apartment in some type of order.  Go, and I hope your
friend is okay."  Mike placed a kiss on her forehead
and walked toward the door.
"I'll be back later tonight to make sure everything is
okay, and maybe we can even go out and see a little
bit of the city."
"Sounds great."  Eve gave Mike a smile goodbye and
turned her attention toward the tornado called her
apartment.

** Jackie once again opened her apartment door, but
this time the face that she saw was full of love and
compassion. Mike walked into the apartment and took
Jackie in his arms.  He reached behind himself and
closed the door.  They walked over to the couch.  Mike
placed a pillow on his lap, and Jackie laid on the
couch placing her head on the pillow.
"Tell me everything that happen, sweetie."
Jackie began telling Mike what Tony had told her. 
Mike had never liked Tony.  There had always been
something about him that rubbed him the wrong way. 
Tony and Mike were about the same height and build.
Both were around 5'10", but were Tony had muslce, Mike
had bone.  Tony was a light caramel color, with
pothole dimples, and beautiful hazel eyes.  He kept
his hair close cut, and dressed to a "T" everywhere he
went.  Mike, like Tony, was also a wonderful dresser. 
Mike loved to look good where ever he decided to go,
even if it was just the corner store.  Mike had long,
shoulder length hair, that he kept in braids.  He too
had an outstanding smile with dark brown eyes.  Mike
was more of a cocoa color, with smooth skin.  He loved
to take care of himself. His motto was, "In order for
someone to desire you, you must first look desirable."
And he did.  The big difference between Tony and Mike
wasn't their sexual preference, it was Tony's
inability to care about anyone but himself, and Mike's
inability to not care so much.  Mike got taken
advantage of and Tony was the type of person who took
advantage.  Mike had told Jackie since the day she met
Tony that he was not the one for her.  It was just to
bad she had to learn the hard way.
Mike sat with Jackie for another two hours consoling
her, telling her how lucky she was to be rid of Tony,
but of course she didn't see it that way.  Finally
Mike knew it was time for him to go. He had promised
Eve he would be back.
"Sweetheart, I have to go.  Eve is expecting me to
come back some time tonight and I don't know what she
might need help with." Jackie slowly lifted her head
from the pillow and sat up on the couch.
"Look why don't you come with me.  You can finally
meet the only other woman in the world that could
drive me to go straight."
"I don't know, Mike. I'm not really up to meeting new
people right now."
"Who said anything about people? She's one person.
Come on." Mike stood up and pulled Jackie up by her
hands. He walked with her into her bedroom and helped
her find something to put on.  She took her hair down
out of the bun she had put it in and placed it in a
ponytail.  Mike was always jealous of Jackie's long
hair.  He couldn't believe Tony was so stupid. 
Eventhough he was gay, he knew a good woman when he
saw one, and Jackie was one of the best.  She stood at
about 5'1", long dark brown almost black hair, light
brown eyes, beautiful smile, her skin was the color of
oak wood, nice brownish complexion.  She was about 115
lbs, and loved to dance.  Mike didn't know many
African American women were ballerinas, actually he
didn't know any accept one, and that was Jackie. To
watch her dance was to be taken away into a dream
world.  Finally Jackie was ready to go, and they left
to go meet Eve.

**  Eve had been trying for what seemed like forever
to hang a painting up on the wall behind her couch. 
She had divided her apartment into three areas, the
livingroom, bedroom, and dining room.  Once entering
the apartment you would step into the living room,
which at the present moment and time was packed full
with all her belongings.  Off to the right were four
long stairs that would lead up to her bedroom, which
had a long window for it's back wall.  Mike had
informed Eve of the window in advance, which had given
her time to search for blinds to cover the huge
attraction.  Eve had also purchased Chinese blind
walls which would go at the top of the stairs,
separating her bedroom from the rest of the apartment.
The bathroom was on the same little level as her
bedroom. Straight ahead from the door, you would walk
into the kitchen area and off to the left of it she
had placed the same dining set she had in her old
apartment.  Eve almost had the painting in place when
she heard a voice behind her saying,
"That's a beautiful painting." Eve lost her footing on
the back of the couch and started her descent toward
the floor.

**  As Mike and Jackie pulled up, the trailer carrying
Eve's car pulled up behind them.  Mike told Jackie to
go up while he took care of the car situation.  Jackie
walked into Eve's apartment and watched as she
struggled to place a painting on the wall. Jackie
walked up behind her to get a closer look at the
painting.  Once she was standing behind Eve she
realized why that painting looked so familiar.  It was
a painting by Melinda Byers, entitled Fourth
Generation. Without thinking Jackie spoke to Eve.
"That's a beautiful painting." Realizing the great
error she made, Jackie watched in horror as Eve lost
her balance on the couch and began to fall.  Jackie
reached out to catch her and they both hit the floor.
Eve landing with her back to Jackie.  Eve turned
around to look at who her intruded upon her peacful
silence and was astonished to see who had to be the
most beautiful woman she had ever seen looking back at
her.  Hurriedly, Eve got up off of Jackie, afraid that
she had hurt her. She stood in front of Jackie and
reached out for her hands to help her up off the
floor.  Suddenly the butterflies were back in Eve's
stomach, but it was not because she was nerves about
her move, but as soon as she touched Jackie's hands
she felt a wave go over her entire body.  
"Are you okay?" Jackie asked Eve once she too was up
on her feet again.  Eve found that she couldn't speak.
All she could do was stare into those sparkling light
brown eyes.  Jackie too was staring at Eve.  Eve stood
at about 2 inches taller than Jackie at 5'3", 120 lbs,
shoulder length black hair, that she also had in a
ponytail.  She had dark creamy brown skin, and soft
full lips. As Jackie continued to stare she could see
that Eve's eyes were not dark brown, but a dark
grayish color. But what caught Jackie's attention the
most was the small beauty mole that was on the right
side of Eves mouth.  It gave her face a whole new
dimension.
"Well, it's nice to see you two have already meet."
Eve quickly dropped Jackie's hands and turned toward
Mike, who was standing in the doorway, enjoying what
he had just seen.  He knew that this was the beginning
of some new develops in all three of their lives.

****More to come*********