All men treat you like a queen in the beginning, she reminded herself as she thought of Tyrese and their fantasy beginning.
She gathered from conversing with him that his name was Cornelius Johnston, but most of his friends called him Neil. He and Trey both worked for Naytek, a consulting firm, where Neil had been a sales manager for the last two years. Neil was recently promoted to vice president and that meant he would have to relocate to Atlanta.
Naytek was almost the largest company in Opelika, second only to Auburn University. While it was obvious that he loved his job, the most important details were that he was single and he was 32 years old; Lela was definitely done with younger men, for good.
Neil was doing all the things a man was supposed to do without expecting her to bow down at his feet. One thing Lela hated about clubbing was when men thought buying a drink equaled butt-naked sex in some cheap hotel until four in the morning. She was quite capable of purchasing her own drink and may offer to purchase his under the right circumstances.
Lela could have sat there and talked to him all night just to inhale his seductive aroma. Unlike Tyrese who wore braids and white tees all the time, Neil had a baldhead and was dressed classy yet casual. As he moved closer to her, his baritone voice made her heart skip a beat…one beat away from Tyrese's drum.
"So, Lela," he said, "now that I've told you all about me, what about you? Tell me who I'm messing with." He hinted to what she told Spanky earlier.
"Well, first off, my name is Lela James. As far as men go, I've been through it all. As a matter of fact, I'm just getting out of a relationship where I was really feeling this guy. I mean, really. We were supposed to get married next year, but I caught him cheating today." She swallowed a lump in her throat. "I guess it's a good thing I found out what I was working with before I married him, huh?"
"Yes, it is. I know a little bit about that myself." His voice was sincere.
"And I have a six-year-old son who gets most of my time and attention, except for some weekends, like this one, when he's at my mother's house. Other than that, I'm like most grown folks, working and paying bills."
"You don't look old enough to have a six-year-old son," Neil said in amazement. He put her age at no more than 23. "What's his name?"