The Love Square

The phone rang. Dre’Sean looked at his caller ID. It was De’Aun. He answered the
phone, “Hello.”

“Was up Dre.”

“Nothing much. Just chillin’.”

“Cool, I need to talk to you. Can I come over?”

“Sure,” Dre’Sean wondered if there was a problem. “What time you gon’ be here?”

Just then, the doorbell rang. “I’m already here.”

Dre’Sean hung up the phone and went to the door. He greeted De’Aun, “You idiot.”

De’Aun laughed, “Well I just wanted to be sure it was alright just in case you rejected
me. Then you would have had to see the rejection on my face.”

“Whatever,” Dre’Sean said as he sat back down on the couch. “What brings you over?”

De’Aun sat down and looked at Dre’Sean. Dre’Sean saw the look of concern and
seriousness on his friend’s face.

“Okay. Promise you won’t tell anyone Dre’Sean. No one.”

Dre’Sean looked, wide-eyed at his friend, “Okay. I promise.”

De’Aun sighed, “Well, I’m cheating on Nia. It’s this chick I met the other day at the
store. Her name is Imani. She’s real cool and I really like her, but she got a boyfriend.”

Dre’Sean looked at De’Aun with a look of amazement. He didn’t know what to say.
Then, during that moment of silence, the phone rang. It was Nia, De’Aun’s girlfriend.

“Hello,” Dre’Sean answered the phone and headed into the kitchen. He mouthed to
De’Aun, “Hold on.”

“Hey Dre. Can we talk right now? It’s important.”

“Sure. Go ahead. I’m all ears.”

 “Okay, but please promise me that you won’t tell anyone.”

Millions of thoughts ran through Dre’Sean’s head. “You have my word. No one will hear
this from me.”

“Okay. This is difficult to explain, but I really trust you. But okay, I’m cheating on
De’Aun, with this dude named Airic. I really like him and he real cool. It was crazy because we
ran into each other when I was on my way to work and he decided to escort me to work and we
exchanged numbers and everything went from there. He is amazing. But I still love my De’Aun.”

Dre’Sean stood in amazement. How could both of them be cheating on one another at the
same time? “Well your secret is safe with me. I have to go though. I have to start getting ready
for work.”

“Alright. Thanks Dre. Talk to you later.”

“Bye,” Dre’Sean hung up the phone and went back in the living room. De’Aun was
watching TV. He sat down and just went into a daze. He didn’t know what to think or what to
say. He just got up and headed for his room to start getting ready for work.

De’Aun came to the door, “Are you alright Dre?”

“Yeah. I’m just getting ready for work. Why? Was’ up?”

“Nothing. Well since you doing that and about to leave, I’m just going to go ahead and
leave. I’ll catch up with you later, and thanks for listening to me and hearing me out.” He was,
obviously, referring to his secret.”

“Not a problem. That’s what I do. See you later.” He heard De’Aun walk away and close
the door. His phone rang again. It was his friend Airic. Without a thought on his mind, he
answered the phone, “Hey Airic, make it quick. I’m getting ready for work.”

“Okay, but before I tell you this news, you have to let me know, can I confide in you?
Just making sure?”

Dre’Sean sighed, “Yes, Airic. Whatever you tell me will be confidential.”

Airic started, “Okay, well, I’m kind of cheating on Imani. It’s with this girl, obviously,
and her name is Nia…” Dre’Sean dropped the phone. Everything else Airic said was a waste of
breath. How could I be so stupid? Dre’Sean was thinking. How come I didn’t think about it?
Then, when he finally picked up the phone, he was getting another phone call. It was Imani. Just
then, he thought, that she was a part of this whole thing, this love square.

Airic was still on the phone, “… Hello? Hello?”

 Dre’Sean finally responded, “Okay Airic. This is confidential. I have to go. I will talk to
you later. Bye.” He clicked over, “Hello, Imani.”

“Hi Dre’Sean. How are you?” She sounded nervous.

“I’m good, just getting ready for work. How are you?”

“Oh. I’ll call you later then.”

“No. I have time. What’s on your mind?” He just had to be sure that his assumption was
correct, that Imani was the girl De’Aun was talking about.

“Well, I have this secret, and you know how secrets are, so you can’t tell anyone.”

He was expecting it, “Sure. You know you can trust me.”

“Okay. I’m cheating on Airic. It’s this guy named De’Aun. He’s really nice and it’s not
just a sex relationship. We kick it together and do all that good stuff, but I really love my Airic.
There’s nothing wrong, it’s just, well, I don’t know what it is, but it’s nothing wrong with us.
But, since you getting ready to go to work, I will let you go, so talk to you later. Bye.”

“Wow,” Dre’Sean said after he hung up the phone. He didn’t know what else to say. He
just sat there thinking. How come he didn’t realize when De’Aun and Nia first said the names of
their respective lovers? And he knows all of them. He knew there would be a lot of stress from
the situation. How could he face his friends, friends that trust him, knowing this about all of
them?

Doing all of that thinking, he lost track of time. He was running late. He hurried and
finished getting ready, grabbed his necessary things, and got out the door.

Dre'Sean has a B.S. in Psychology. He’s still in school to earn his doctorate. For work he
goes into an office with his “mentor” and watches him work. It’s kind of a study job for him. He
learns and gets paid. He loves it. He sees how the job he wants is and how to do it.

He got in and went straight to the office.

“You’re late Dre'Sean.”

“I know Dr. B. It’s just a lot of stuff happening lately. I’m sorry.” Dre'Sean hated how his
somewhat mentor, Dr. Brown, nagged him for doing some of the smallest things wrong, case in
point, coming to work a couple of minutes late, but he puts up with it.

“Well, today is, probably, your lucky day. Our patient cancelled his appointment this
morning.”

Dumbfounded, Dre'Sean asks, “What are you saying?”

 “I'm saying, go sit or lay down on the patient sofa.”

Lost, Dre'Sean asks, “Why?”

“Well, you said you’re having problems so let me help you.”

“Okay.” Dre'Sean went to sit on the sofa. The sofa was different from the one that most
psychologists have in their offices. It wasn’t that dark, dull color like they usually are. It was
more lively and made Dre'Sean want to sit in it even more. “This is confidential right?”

“Dre’Sean, you know, for a fact that everything spoken in this room is confidential,” Dr.
B said with this “you already know” tone.

“I’m just making sure, because, like, I promised these people I wouldn’t tell anyone the
things they told me.”

“How many patients have told us that same exact thing? So why would you hesitate?”

“Well, okay. Where do we start?”

“Just start. Tell me all about it.”

“Okay,” Dre'Sean said hesitantly, “here goes.” And with that, he started. He told Dr. B all
about his friends’ problem.

“Wow,” Dr. B said when Dre'Sean finally finished. “So, my first question would have to
be, do they all know that you know each of them involved in this “love square?”

“No. Just the couples. Like, one couple doesn’t know that I know the other couple.”

“Hmm. I see. Do you plan on telling them or keeping it a secret?”

“Well, I’m not sure. If I tell, I’m a good friend and a bad friend. If I don’t tell I’m still a
good friend and a bad friend, plus, I feel guilty for just letting it go on. So, I’m not too sure what
to do.”

“So, how did this make you late getting here?”

Dre'Sean could see where he was getting at, “It was heavy on my mind Dr. B”

“Well, in anyway except as your boss or anything job-related, tell them, because if it’s
that heavy on your mind, think of all the other things this might affect.”
 “Thanks Dr. B. that really, kind of, helped me out.” Dre'Sean felt a little relieved that he
could tell someone. The advice was also, somewhat, helpful.

As Dre'Sean was getting up to go get something to drink from the lobby, Dr. B stopped
him, “Dre'Sean, take the rest of the day off.”

Dre'Sean turned and looked surprised, “Are you serious?”

“Yes. I don’t want you to be distracted while you’re here. So go rest or think about the
situation.”

Dre'Sean grabbed his things and headed for the door, “Thanks Dr. B”

“It’s for your own good.”

Since Dr. B gave him the rest of the day off, Dre'Sean went home to rest and think about
the whole situation and what to do about it all. When he got in the house and turned on the TV,
The Maury Show was on. How ironic, he thought. The episode was about cheaters and them
getting caught or telling their loved ones they’ve been cheating. When he started watching it, a
man was telling his friend that she was being cheated on by her boyfriend. He felt that his whole
day was this episode of The Maury Show. His friends telling him and now he doesn’t know what
to do. Maybe, he thought, I should take them all to Maury and tell them all the news.

He was really stressing out over this. He decided to go to sleep so he got him some milk
and cookies; it always helps him sleep better. When he lied down, he just couldn’t seem to get
himself to sleep. He declared it had to be because of this whole love square. He had to do
something about it.

Dre'Sean was stuck between a rock and a hard place. It was like one side was telling him
to tell, another telling him not to. He started pacing the floor with his phone in hand. He decided
to call.

Just as he starts to dial there’s a knock on the door followed by a voice, “Dre'Sean, it’s
Airic. Please hurry, open the door.” He sounded a little distraught.

“I’m coming.” Dre'Sean wondered what was wrong. He opened the door, “What’s wrong
A?”

“Okay, you remember what I told you earlier? About me and that chick Nia?” he sounded
nervous now.

“Yes I remember. Why?”

“Well-“
 He was interrupted by another knock on the door. Dre'Sean got up to answer it. It was
De'Aun. He let him in.

Just when he was closing the door, he heard someone call his name. He looked and saw
Nia running to the door. While he was waiting for her to come to the door his phone rang. It was
none other than Imani.

“Hello,” he answered.

“I’m coming over right now. Emergency.”

“Okay,” he hung up and muttered under his breath, “Come join the party.”

Just as Nia got in the door, Imani was coming up. She made it to the door and went in.
He knew there would be drama.

He turned into his home and there was all this commotion. This was the whole love
square. “Quiet! All of you.” They became silent and looked at Dre'Sean. “Now what, ironically,
brings you all here? On second thought, where are my manners? Let me introduce you all. Airic
and Imani, meet De'Aun and Nia. De'Aun and Nia, Airic and Imani.”

“Wait,” De'Aun interrupted, “you know both of them and you didn’t tell me?”

“Well yes I do know them and I didn’t tell you because I didn’t know that she was the
girl you told me about. Now again, why are you all here?”

“I was here to tell you about what just happened but I guess one of them could tell you,”
De'Aun said with an attitude.

“Okay. Wait a minute. I need to get something to drink.” Dre'Sean ran to the kitchen to
get some water. He just knew that they all caught each other. That had to be the reason. He went
back to the living room and they were all there just looking mad at the world. Dre'Sean broke the
silence, “So, would anyone like to tell me what happened?”

Nia started, “Well Airic and I were out and we decided to go to his place.”

“And mine!” Imani added furiously.

“And hers,” Nia continued, “and we were kind of hugged up and kissing and stuff. While
we were doing that De'Aun and Imani walked in all on each other tonguing each other down like
there was no tomorrow.” Dre'Sean loved how Nia was so honest with some things.

“Okay. So, you all know that you all have been cheating on each other in like, this
square. Well, how do you feel about your love square, as I have come to call it?” They sat silent.
“Okay, I guess I’ll start. I’m actually glad you all found out this way because, it was really
stressing me out, knowing that you all were cheating on each other.”
 De'Aun sat up, “Wait! You knew that she was cheating on me and you didn’t tell me?!”

“He didn’t tell you because I asked him not to. I trusted him not to. He promised he
wouldn’t tell.”

Airic spoke, “That’s not the point. He should be able to tell his boys stuff like that
regardless of a promise or anything.”

Imani cut in, “How would you feel if he told us that ya’ll was cheating. Think about it.”

Airic argued, “That’s not the point.”

“Yes it is. And if it’s not, then what is?” Nia argued back.

“Enough!” Dre'Sean had to step in. “See. Those are the same things I had to think about,
whether or not to tell you all. I had to think because it was like, if I tell you I would be a good
friend and if I didn’t tell I would be a good friend. Now, before all this just happened I was going
to call and tell each of you because it was really stressing me out. So, you all need to decide what
to do. If you all choose to stay together I don’t mind helping you with some counseling or
something. You all said there was nothing wrong with you all’s relationships so I wouldn’t see
why you wouldn’t stay together. I mean, like, the way I see it, you all are even. You all cheated
on each other, so, what could be unfair? So do you all think you’ll be able to make it through
this?” They all nodded in agreement. “Great. Now, just to help you all out, you can all come by
on Saturday at 12 o’clock. Are we clear?” They all nodded again. “Great! Now you all can get
out of my house so I can rest with the rest of my day off.” With that Dre'Sean got up and opened
the door, signaling for them to leave. “Don’t forget, Saturday at 12.”

“Thanks,” Imani said as she walked out.

“Yeah, thanks,” Airic said walking behind Imani.

“You’re the best Dre,” De'Aun said walking out.

“We’ll be here early,” Nia said with a smile.

“That’s good,” Dre'Sean told her. He closed the door behind them and went straight to his
room and lied down. He just started thinking to himself, I’m glad that’s over. Only a day and all
that drama. Unbelievable. A love square.

He continued thinking about it until he went to sleep.

The End