"Meet me at 10 o' clock at Tippy's." Devon kept it short when he called Derick at 5:30 in the morning.
"What? Why? What time is it?" Derick was groggy and noticed that it was still dark.
"Payment."
The line went dead.
Derick looked at the phone, pressed the 'off' button, and went back to sleep.
* * *
Derick walked down the street, his white jumpsuit dusty and stained from the factory. He carried a tin lunch pail. He shuffled along, tired and overworked. Days at the factory were becoming harder and harder, and while he walked home, he prayed that the book deal would pan out.
"Derick?" A sweet voice asked.
Derick shifted his gaze from the sidewalk to the voice in front of him.
"Lydia?"
Lydia smiled, and moved to hug Derick. Derick accepted the hug, but didn't return it. "What do you want?"
"I miss you."
"Oh, Lydia. That's rich." Derick began to walk away from her.
"Wait!" Lydia ran after him.
"What is it? Do you want money or something?"
"No! I want you, Derick."
"You should have thought about that two years ago." He turned his back on her.
"Derick, listen. Let's go up to your apartment and talk this out." She began to walk with him.
"Can't. I've got better things to do."
"Like what?"
Derick spun on her. "Did you really believe that I was cheating on you? That I would give up all that I had for a fling? If you think that, you are dumb as shit. I never touched that woman, and I think you know that. Always have known that." Derick left Lydia behind, standing on the sidewalk, stunned.
Derick reached the stoop of his apartment building before she snapped out of it. "Derick, hold on a second. You want a new beginning?"
"Yes, I do want a new beginning."
"We can start a new life together, just the two of us. C'mon." She pulled on his jacket like a child wanting candy in the checkout like at the grocery store.
Derick's anger prompted him to push her off the stoop so he could open the door to the building. Lydia recovered quickly. Her alabaster skin flustered. Lydia managed to grab the door before it closed on her and slipped inside.
"Please, let's just talk about this. Over some coffee or tea? You used to love the way I made tea."
"No. Don't come anywhere near me."