“I agree with you, but Adonis had nothing to do with the way Boris treated Monique.”
“I didn’t say he did, but had he not been living there, he wouldn’t have overheard them arguing, and he wouldn’t have sent roses to her job to cheer her up.”
“He was trying to comfort her, Lance.”
“Arykah, that wasn’t his place. Monique is his cousin’s woman.”
“That’s besides the point.”
“No, sweetie, that’s exactly the point. Monique cooked Adonis’s breakfast and dinner along with special pitchers of grape Kool-Aid. Boris didn’t get that kind of treatment.”
“That’s not true. Monique did no more for Adonis than she did for Boris. Boris is a fool who doesn’t appreciate what Monique does for him. He chose to go outside of their relationship to get what was being offered at home. Adonis was the one wiping away her tears; he was there for Monique. Boris never gave her a shoulder to cry on.”
“That wasn’t Adonis’s place.”
Arykah couldn’t believe what Lance was saying. How quickly had she forgotten that she sang that same song to Monique not long ago. “Are you suggesting that Monique and Adonis should’ve ignored each other while living under the same roof?”
“I’m suggesting that the moment Adonis knew he had feelings for his cousin’s fiancé, he should’ve moved out. He had no business upgrading her car and sending flowers. But this isn’t only Adonis’s fault; Monique played a huge part in this. Spending private time with Adonis and accepting his gifts allowed him to get closer and closer to her.”
“She didn’t have a choice, Lance. Boris was off doing whatever the heck he wanted to do. Adonis took care of Monique, and did all the things Boris wouldn’t do.”
Lance came and stood in front of Arykah. He gently grabbed her by the shoulders. “I know you want what’s best for Monique, and I know you’re angry with Boris for the way he treated her, but you can’t make excuses for either of them. All three of them did the wrong thing. Boris and Monique were wrong for shacking, Adonis was wrong for allowing himself to fall in love with his cousin’s woman, and Monique was wrong for leading Adonis on. Accepting an expensive bracelet and letting him devote most of his time to her was wrong because it sounds to me that Monique never intended to leave Boris for good. You said she kept her engagement ring on, and she didn’t cancel the wedding invitations.”
“She said she forgot to cancel them,” Arykah said.
“No, honey, she didn’t want to cancel them. And now Adonis exposed his heart by putting it on the front line, and it got shot down.”
More tears ran down Arykah’s face. “I can’t believe how this has turned out. It’s not supposed to be like this, Lance. I gotta do something to stop this wedding.”
“You can’t do that. What you need to do is accept the fact that Monique is an adult, and she’s going to do what she wants to do. Right now her mind is made up, and if you try to change it, your friendship will suffer.”
“So I’m supposed to just sit back and act like everything is peaches and cream, and go along with this joke? Because that’s exactly what this wedding will be, a big joke.”
“You have no choice, Arykah. Whether you like it or not, your best friend is marrying a man that you strongly dislike. But Monique needs you right now. The only thing you can do is be the best friend that you are when she calls you for comfort.”
“Humph, that will be on the wedding night when Boris tells her he’s bringing another woman into their marriage bed.”
For the next two hours, Lance held Arykah in his arms and listened to her sniffles. At ten p.m., she announced she was going home.
“It’s storming like a fool outside. You’re not leaving this house,” he said.
“Lance, I have to work in the morning.”
“You can go to work from here. The master suite is stocked with everything you need.”
“I don’t know, Lance. What will your wife say when she finds out that you let another woman roam through her closet?”
Lance looked deeply into Arykah’s eyes. “I don’t know, what would you say?”
That question reached deep into Arykah’s soul. Her stomach dropped as if she were on a roller coaster. “Don’t play with me, Lance.”
He had Arykah right where he wanted her. The mischievous grin on his face showed it. “What are you talking about?” he asked.
“You know doggone well what I’m talking about. Why did you ask the question like that?”
“I asked a simple question.”
“There was nothing simple about it. You put special emphasis on the word ‘would’ when it should’ve been on the word ‘you.’ Then it would’ve seemed like you were asking my opinion rather than, in so many words, saying that the items in the closet are mine.”
Lance decided not to expound on this subject any longer. It was too soon. “Arykah, you can sleep in my bed, and I’ll sleep upstairs. And just so you know, I have a real problem with the women that I love driving in bad weather. Please don’t do it again.”
‘The women that I love’. Arykah was halfway to the master suite when Lance’s words hit her.
On Monday morning, the smell of bacon had aroused Arykah from a deep sleep. She turned to lie on her back and looked around the bedroom. Waking up in a five-bedroom, six-bathroom house to the smell of bacon every morning was something she could get use to. In the kitchen, Lance sat at the table reading the Chicago Sun-Times and drinking a cup of coffee when Arykah appeared.
“Good morning, beautiful,” he greeted.
Arykah looked down at her wrinkled pajamas and ran her fingers through her tousled hair that somehow lost the ponytail holder throughout the night. “Beautiful? Maybe you need glasses.”
“Maybe you need to accept the fact that you’re beautiful to me.”
Arykah smiled and sat at the table. “Do I smell bacon?”
“You smell bacon, scrambled eggs, grits with cheese, and French toast. Are you hungry?”
Arykah was starved, but she didn’t want to touch what Lance had prepared. “I think I’ll just pick up a bran muffin on my way to the office, Lance. I’m trying to keep my waistline from expanding.”
Lance laid the newspaper down and looked across the table at her. “Arykah, I will say this one time and one time only. I need you to listen real good so that I won’t have to repeat myself. What’s my name?”
“Excuse me?”
“What’s my name?” he repeated.
“Your name is Lance.”
“That’s right, and ‘Lance’ doesn’t sound like ‘Eric.’ I’m not Eric. When you deny yourself food when you really want to eat, you treat me as though I’m him, and I don’t like that. Haven’t I told you that you are beautiful as you are? Didn’t I tell you that it’s not a woman’s outer appearance that matters? Didn’t you receive my sermon yesterday? When you left here Friday evening, I was up the entire night writing it.
“I don’t ever want to see you deprive yourself of food. If you want bacon, eggs, and French toast for breakfast, then eat it. If you want a cheeseburger for lunch today, then have a double cheeseburger. Get it in your mind that Eric is gone forever. Lance is here now, and I don’t count your calories.” He leaned back in his chair and spoke with a lower tone. “Now, what would be your pleasure for dinner this evening?”
Who would’ve thought that a man would care for her that way? For years Arykah had been walking around with a self-conscious attitude about her weight. But thank God that Lance was a chubby chaser. “What I would really like is pork roast with garlic potatoes. And I love homemade banana pudding.”
He smiled. “Then you shall have it.”
“You’re so good to me, Lance. What did I do to deserve you?”
He stood her up from the table and looked deeply in her eyes. “It’s not you who should be asking that question. Now let’s eat.”
The first thing Arykah did when she sat at her desk was to call Monique’s house.
; “I didn’t think I’d ever hear from you again,” Monique said.
“I’m sorry for everything I said yesterday. I love you, and I’ll support you in whatever you want to do. If you wanna marry Boris, I’m behind you one hundred percent.”
“Wow, I can tell you got up in the right side of the bed this morning.”
“I sure did,” Arykah said.
“Thanks for calling me. I need you, Arykah. Can we go shopping for dresses tonight? Because it’s so late, we’ll have to buy something off the rack.”
“I can’t do it tonight, I have plans. But I’m free tomorrow night. Is that good for you?”
“Tomorrow night is good for me. You have plans with Lance tonight?”
“Yes, he’s cooking again.”
“Girl, you better be careful of the calories he’s pouring into you.”
“I don’t have to do that,” Arykah said.
“And why is that?”
“Because Lance said I didn’t.”
Chapter 16
The Tuesday before Monique and Boris’s wedding, Adonis took the day off to move into his house. On his way to return the moving van to the rental place, he saw a Lincoln Navigator turn into the parking lot of the Holiday Inn Hotel on East 95th Street. Adonis’s eyes grew wide when he saw IM BORIS on the rear license plate. He remembered the day when the license plates had arrived in the mail. Boris couldn’t wait to put them on his truck. Adonis turned into the lot of the hotel and pulled into a parking spot, not far from where Boris’s Navigator parked.
“Oh, heck no.” Adonis couldn’t believe it when he saw Boris and a woman get out of the SUV, then walk hand in hand into the hotel. Immediately, he called Arykah’s cellular telephone. “Arykah, you ain’t gonna believe this. On my way to take this moving van back, I happened to see Boris’s Navigator turn into the parking lot of the Holiday Inn Hotel on Ninety-Fifth Street.”
“What the heck is he doing at the Holiday Inn? It’s early Monday morning. I know he’s not with Monique, because I just talked to her ten minutes ago. She said she was on her way into a meeting,” Arykah said.
“Nah, he ain’t with Monique.”
“Did you see the woman?”
“Yep, and I couldn’t believe it, Arykah.”
She became frantic. “Who is Boris with?”
“Jennifer Ayers.”
“Jennifer, from the choir?” Arykah shrieked.
“Yes, and guess what? Jennifer is Taj’s woman.”
“Taj, the drummer?” she shrieked again.
“What are you gonna do about it?” Adonis asked Arykah.
“Not a darn thing, Adonis. I’m done with telling Monique everything Boris does. It won’t change a thing.”
Adonis thought about what Arykah had just said. “You’re right.”
On September 16th, as planned, Boris and Monique stood at the altar, face to face, listening to the words of their bishop. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered in this place to share and to witness these two souls come together in holy matrimony.”
Monique could see Adonis over Boris’s left shoulder, staring into her eyes. If Monique didn’t know any better, she’d swear Adonis was slowly shaking his head from side to side, silently begging her not to go through with the wedding.
“I, Boris Dexter Cortland, take you, Monique Lynnette Morrison, to be my lawfully wedded wife. To have and to hold from this day forward.”
Looking into Boris’s eyes, as he spoke to her, Monique wondered if she were the only one in the entire church seeing Adonis moving his head. She forced herself to focus on what Boris was saying.
“To love and to cherish, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health. Keeping myself solely unto you until death do us part.” Boris slipped the ring onto Monique’s finger.
The Bishop gave her the go ahead to say her vows. Before she opened her mouth, Monique again looked at Adonis standing behind Boris. She saw through his eyes that he was pleading with her not to marry Boris. You could’ve heard a pin drop as everyone, including Boris, wondered why Monique was stalling.
The bishop spoke to her. “Monique, it’s your turn.”
Monique kept her eyes glued on the man standing behind her fiancé. She opened her mouth and spoke slowly, as though she was in a trance. “I, Monique Lynnette Morrison . . . ”
She paused there and reflected back to the words Adonis had spoken to her over and over again. I appreciate everything you do for me.
“Take you, Adonis . . . ”
The entire church gasped at the same time.
Boris was stunned. “What?”
“Oh my God,” Arykah uttered as she stood next to Monique.
The Bishop didn’t move or say anything, but then again, what could he say? He’d never had a bride call out the best man’s name before. Everyone witnessed Adonis step out of the pulpit and walk down the center aisle. Halfway to the sanctuary door, he stopped, turned around and held out his right hand for Monique to come to him.
Her blood was running warm throughout her veins. Time stood still as friends and loved ones waited to see what Monique would do.
“You want my arm to fall off?” Adonis said to her.
Through teary eyes, Monique looked at this man standing in the middle of the church. Again, she reflected on his words. “You know what your problem is, Monique? You don’t value yourself and you don’t know your true worth. You’re so use to settling for whatever life throws at you instead of going after what you really deserve. You gotta get out of that mindset because there’s so much more in life that God wants you to have.”
Arykah stepped to Monique and spoke in her right ear. “If you don’t seize this moment and go for yours, I’ll personally kick your . . . ”
Before Arykah could complete her threat, Monique dropped her bouquet, lifted her dress, ran down the aisle, and into Adonis’s arms. He picked her up and spun her around twice. As he carried her out of the church, they purposely didn’t acknowledge the stunned faces.
Arykah looked at Lance seated on the front pew and gave him the biggest grin. He responded with two thumbs up.
Myrtle sat on the front pew with no visible expression on her face. Boris hung his head and followed the bishop out of the sanctuary.
Outside in the waiting limousine that he had hired himself, as a wedding gift to the couple, Adonis instructed the driver to take them to Midway Airport. Monique didn’t say a word. She sat calmly next to Adonis as he made a call on his cellular phone. “Operator, can you connect me to Air Jamaica.”
Monique’s eyes bucked out of her head.
“When is the next flight to Negril scheduled to leave?” Adonis looked at his wristwatch. “I would like to purchase two first class tickets, please.”
Monique felt as though she were in a dream. She refused to open her mouth out of fear that she’d wake herself. She listened as Adonis gave their names and his credit card information. The customer service representative told Adonis their electronic tickets would be at Air Jamaica’s airline counter when they arrived at the airport. He disconnected the call and spoke to the driver. “Dude, one hundred bucks has your name on it if you get us there in the next twenty minutes.”
Monique looked at him. “Adonis, don’t we need passports and birth certificates?”
“Everything we need is in our luggage in the trunk. You can thank Arykah when we get back from our honeymoon. She and I had this planned since Tuesday.”
“Honeymoon?” she asked.
With gentle hands, Adonis cupped Monique’s face. “Will you marry me on the beach while the sun is coming out of the water?”
A single tear dripped from her eye. “I’ve always dreamed of getting married on the beach at sunrise. I only shared that passion with Boris, and he thought it was a dumb idea.”
Adonis kissed her lips. “Well, he shared it with me, and I think it’s a great idea.”
Just hours later, they were in the air sipping Mimosas and feasting on caviar when Monique looked over at Ad
onis. “You know we gotta face the fire when we go back home, don’t you?”
“We ain’t going back,” he said.
That’s exactly what Monique wanted to hear, even though it wasn’t true. She sank down in her first class leather reclining chair and let it massage her back. She closed her eyes and made a wish. Monique looked out the window, down at the Atlantic Ocean, and rode the waves all the way to Negril.
Just like candy. I toss and turn in my bed in the morning when I think about you!
The End
About the Author
Nikita Lynnette Nichols is employed at the Chicago Transit Authority. She resides in Naperville, Illinois and is currently writing her next novel.
You can reach the author at:
www.nikitalynnettenichols.com
[email protected]
Readers’ Group Guide Questions
1. Monique and Boris resided together before marriage. Do you think playing house hurts or enhances a relationship?
2. Was it wrong for Adonis to have developed strong feelings for his cousin’s girlfriend?
3. Boris and Adonis were cousins, but were raised as brothers. Describe the difference between the two.
4. Monique had moved out of the house that she shared with Boris because she had grown weary of his disrespect toward her. Why do you think she continued to stay engaged to Boris even after she realized the strong feelings she had for Adonis?
5. Myrtle Cortland never sided with her son, Boris, in his wrongdoings. Why?
6. Arykah had a crush on Adonis from the beginning. At what point had she given up hope of the two of them becoming a couple?
7. Why did Myrtle share with Adonis how his parents had met? Was it wrong for Adonis to follow in his father’s footsteps?
8. Monique jilted Boris at the altar? Was that the Christian thing to do?
9. Pastor Lance Howell had fallen for Arykah the moment he had met her. Why do you think that was so?
10. Do you believe that Monique and Adonis were each others’ true soul mates?
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