(The Root) — On last night's Single Ladies episode, "Stormy Weather," the cast was not only weathering Atlanta's rain, wind and threats of a tornado; they were also dealing with some pretty heavy relationship issues.
Raquel (Denise Vasi) and Charles' relationship has continued to heat up with their tantric sexcapades. Keisha (LisaRaye McCoy) is finally coming around with Sean (Terrell Tilford) and admits that she might be willing to consider dating him again. Morgan (Cassandra Freeman) resists an aggressive pursuer at the boutique, just as her boo Jobari (Finesse Mitchell) shows up with her favorite coffee mixture for their three-week anniversary. Reggie (Mark Tallman) and April (Charity Shea) decide to take a last-minute trip to Puerto Rico, and also agree that they'd like to take their relationship to the next level.
Keisha is still juggling her budding "friendship" with Malcolm, and as they watch a boxing match, he loses a $500 bet to her. But Sean isn't too pleased with Malcolm's constant presence in her life. She quickly silences his rant and tells him that she wants to try things again with him. "I am going to make you so happy that you will never doubt me again," Sean tells her just before they make love.
Everything seems kosher, yes? Well, not so fast. A tornado is about to stir a few things up.
Reggie and April's flight to Puerto Rico is canceled. Morgan and Jobari's surprise anniversary celebration is postponed. The crew has to take cover in the storage room while the storm passes over. But Raquel left her windows open in her apartment, and then she and Charles get stuck in an elevator. Raquel starts to freak out after they can't reach any emergency. But Charles quickly turns that freakout into a get-your-freak-on session. Tantric sex to the rescue!
Just as Keisha starts dishing to April about her rendezvous with Sean, which she admits was "nice, but not magic," Veronica, Raquel's lawyer who was handling a few business transactions at the boutique, reveals that she and Sean were colleagues and sex buddies. While he was waiting for Keisha to come around, he was, um, sowing his oats with her. Keisha isn't too happy about it but concedes that "it wasn't like he was cheating" on her. Keisha, who's often quick to get angry, might just be maturing a bit.
April and Reggie continue talking about taking their relationship to the next level, and the conversation leads to moving in together. The look on Reggie's face proves that he's not ready, but April keeps pushing, with talks of buying a new property for them to share.
Morgan and Jobari continue to click and are glad they are taking their relationship slowly. That is, until they start to talk about getting married and changing last names. (She'd be Morgan Freeman if they got married and she took his last name. Ha.) But she wants to keep her last name. In an effort to compromise, she says that their kids could have his last name. But Jobari's insistent that he doesn't want kids. It's a dealbreaker for Morgan, however, and they decide that they'd be better off as friends.
While all the drama goes down, Raquel and Charles are still gettin' it poppin'. And he utters three words she wasn't ready to hear: "I love you." So how does she respond? With perhaps the worst comeback ever: "Thank you." He says that he'd rather that she be ready to say it than be forced to say it.
Reggie runs out on April and sends her a text saying, "I can't do this." April's baffled, until Sean tells her that Reggie wasn't ready to move in with her. To make it even worse, Reggie sends her another text message, confirming their breakup.
The storm finally moves on, and the cast emerges from the storage closet, with two relationships over, one needing to be mended and another just on the verge of flourishing. What could the forecast predict for next week?
Erin E. Evans is a writer in New York. Follow her on Twitter.