"Whatever, you're just saying that 'cause you miss your boo, Vance," her friend cooed playfully.
"I do. And you know he still hasn't called me yet?" She huffed, glancing at her phone.
"Ugh, forget him."
"No, it’s been days since he left, Stace. He could've at least called me to find out how I'm doing."
"I don't know why you're still hung up on him. I know you love him and all but it's been what, 7 years? And he still hasn't changed. At this point, you just need to let him go and move on."
"I can't. Do you know how much I tried? We've been through everything together." She shook her head with a sigh. "I thought me getting pregnant would change things but it only made it worse. He doesn't even want me to have this baby. You know what he told me before he left, Stace? To get rid of it."
Her friend gasped. "He said that?"
"He pretty much did. And stupid me, for thinking this baby would bring us closer together. Ugh! This nigga got me so damn stressed out, I swear. I wish I could just drink right now." Laurie rubbed her forehead.
Zara listened in shock. So it turned out, Vance didn't want the baby after all. All this time, she thought that everything was lollipops and unicorns, when the truth was, there was trouble in paradise. The thought made her grin.
Zara jumped, when her phone vibrated in her purse. She pulled it out and noticed Sean had texted her. Shit. She had forgotten all about him. She read the text message.
Sean:
Everything okay? I hope you didn't pull the bathroom trick and run off on me lol
Zara typed her reply.
Zara:
No im sill here. Sorry 4 takin so long. I’ll be there in a few
She slid her phone in her purse and flushed the toilet. She wished she could eavesdrop some more, but she didn’t want to keep Sean waiting for too long. And plus, she wanted to drop in on Laurie just to see the look on her face when she realized she had heard every bit of her conversation. Yeah, it was petty. But fuck it.
Zara stepped out of the stall. Laurie's head turned and her eyes widened at the sight of her.
"Zara? Oh my god, you were in there the whole time?"
Zara forced a smile. Yeah bitch.
"Wow, uh I didn't expect to see you here. How you been?"
"Fine and you?" Zara washed her hands.
"Great. Couldn't be better." Laurie cleared her throat. "Cute dress."
“Uh-huh."
She didn't have any desire to act friendly with the bitch. She was never the one to be fake. She bypassed her and collected a paper towel from the dispenser.
"Oh and Stacy, I don't know if you met Zara. But she's the one that killed Vance's sister."
Zara froze.
The air cut with silence. Zara stood there for a moment, unsure if she heard her correctly. She couldn't have.
"Excuse me, what was that?" She turned around.
"I was just simply telling her who you are." She flashed a pretentious smile that Zara urged to claw off.
Heaving in a deep breath, Zara fought to keep calm.
"You know what? I'm not even gonna do it..." Zara shook her head, crumpling her paper. She was on probation, there was no way she was going to risk going to jail over this bitch.
"But am I not right, Zara? That is what you did."
"Alright, Laurie chill," her friend, urged.
"So tell me, Zara. How do you sleep at night, knowing that you're the reason his sister's dead? How do you honestly look yourself in the mirror every day? It must be hard isn't it?"
Zara glared at her.
"Laurie, seriously stop." Her friend, told her. "Let's just go."
Laurie stepped closer and Zara tightened her fists.
"You know, when I look at you, I just get sick to my stomach." She got in her face. "You're nothing but a trashy bitch. Vance told me a lot about you, how you're a cracked out whore who's been around the block many times. You're a waste of space. And if it was up to me, you would've been the one killed in that crash that night."
Zara’s heart shattered.
"Laurie, stop! You know what? That's enough let's go." Her friend got in between them, urging her to leave.
Zara's fists trembled. Her words cut her deep, more than she could withstand and it only enraged her. In that instant, she wanted nothing more than to scrape the floor with this bitch's face. She stepped to her, ready to fight, but when her eyes dropped to Laurie's pudgy stomach, she refrained. Before she did anything she would regret, she turned away and quickly left the bathroom, swallowing every ounce of her pride left.
Chapter 19
Vance was sure this was worse than death. The sharp pain in his skull felt like someone was carving hieroglyphics in his temporal bone and through his eye socket with a piercing blade. Every aching minute, the pain seemed to spread to every part of his skull like a blazing fire. The wavering auras marring his vision, became even more unbearable, and he shut his eyes, rubbing his temple to keep himself from bellowing out a scream.
A fucking migraine.
Right before he had to get to work. Perfect. Just perfect.
He could withstand a lot of shit. The flu, allergies, stomach virus, but a migraine was not one of them. That was just one relentless villain he could never seem to conquer.
Vance grabbed the bottle of Tylenol from his nightstand and trudged downstairs. The floor seemed to sway beneath his feet as he slogged his way into the kitchen, trying his best to keep his balance as the dizziness overwhelmed his senses. He filled a glass of water then poured a couple of pills in his palm. With the way he felt, he was tempted to take the whole damn bottle.
He swallowed the pills down with the water, before huffing out a breath as another sharp pain shot through his skull. Unable to hold himself up, he rested his elbows on the countertop, rubbing his temple profusely.
The sound of the door caught his attention, and he lifted his head to see none other than Zara at the doorway. In that moment, the pain seemed to disappear in a flash. Her body embellished in a black strapless dress grasped his focus as he scoped every part of her curves.
"Hey," she said to him, taking off her heels.
The pain rushed back like a flooding stream and he buried his head in his hands. Fuck. He almost wanted to cry.
"Sup."
"What's wrong?" She asked, entering the kitchen.
"Nothin', just having a migraine," he uttered in a heavy tone.
"Oh, those are the worst. Did you take anything?"
He nodded.
"You should probably rest, then. That'll help with the pain."
"Nah, I can't. I gotta get to work. What time is it anyway?" he asked, drowsily.
She glanced at her phone. "It's 10:20."
"10 what?" He stood up, shaking his head. "Nah, I gotta go."
He had a 12:00 meeting today with the executive board to discuss the oncoming programs he wanted to implement for the center. He couldn't be late. He turned to walk only to stumble weakly from the wave of dizziness that came over him.
"Whoa, whoa!" Zara embraced his torso, startling him a bit. He hadn't even noticed how quickly she had come to his rescue.
"You know what? You need to lay down." Her hands slid to his abs as she tried to hold him up steadily.
"What? Nah, I'm not laying down. I don't have time for that."
"Look, I know how migraines are. You need to rest first."
"Do I look like I got time to rest? I got less than 2 hours to get to work."
"Well you're gonna have to call in and tell them you're gonna be late, because right now you're not in the right state of mind to even drive."
He scowled at her persistence. Was she really trying to stop him from getting to work? Who did she think she was? Before he could fight her off, the pain in his head deepened.
"Fuck..." He huffed under his breath.
"C'mon, lay down on the couch for a minute. I'll give you something."
Too weak to fight, he reluctantly followed her into th
e living room and laid on the couch.
"I'll have to close the blinds, the sunlight is only gonna make it worse." She headed to the blinds and closed them, dimming the room. "I'll be right back."
She left the room. He shook his head, wondering why the hell he was even doing this. He was supposed to be on his way out the house, and here he was, laid up in his wife beater and sweatpants, wallowing in pain. This was some bullshit.
After a moment, she entered the room with a washrag.
"Here put this on your forehead. It should help with the pain." She handed him the washrag. He took it from her and placed the cool rag against his forehead.
"Stay right here. I'm gonna go make you some tea. It'll make you feel better," she said before walking into the kitchen. His eyes followed her every move as she prepared the drink.
He couldn't help but wonder why she was helping him in the first place. He didn't ask her to.
Since they had that talk at the bbq, they had come to an agreement to let bygones be bygones. He would never forgive her for what she did, but he decided to at least be cordial to keep the peace. Harboring so much hate for her began to grow tiring after a while. And lately it became harder to do so. He kept waiting for her to fuck up, or do something to give him another reason to hate her. But she didn't. She seemed to be doing everything right. And that's what got to him.
She approached him with a mug. "Here you go."
"Thanks," he said lowly, taking it from her. He sat up and took a sip of the hot drink. The pleasurable taste surprised him, and he took more sips. She sat at the other end of the couch, watching him.
"You like it?"
He nodded. "Yeah, what you put in there?"
"My secret."
"Your secret?"
"Yep."
"So, you give me something to drink and you won't even tell me what you put in it."
"Nope."
"So, how do I know you ain't tryna poison me?"
"You don't." She smiled.
He smirked, shaking his head. "Smart ass."
He took more gulps of the drink, the warm liquid pleasuring his taste buds and soothing his chest. Silence filled the darkened room, as they delved in their own thoughts sipping their drinks. He couldn't stop himself from admiring her curves adorned in that sexy dress.
"So, where were you last night?" he had to ask.
"Why?" She arched a brow.
"I mean you walk in lookin' like that, it raises some questions." He shrugged.
"Fine, if you must know, I was out with Sean."
He frowned. "Who?"
"You know, Sean. You met him the other day."
"Doesn’t ring a bell." He shook his head, taking another sip of his tea. He knew, but he just felt like playing dumb for the hell of it.
"C’mon, you know who I’m talking about. He picked me up the other night to take me on a date."
"Ohh, the Bryant Gumble lookin' dude. Yeah, I remember."
She gasped. "He does not look like Bryant Gumble!"
"Yeah he does, with the light skin and weird lookin' face."
Zara broke out into laughter. He couldn't help but admire her smile, especially the way her eyes squinted as those small dimples of hers dented the curvature of her cheeks, brightening up her entire face. Damn, she was beautiful.
"Shut up, hater." She pushed his arm. "Anyway, we went out to a salsa nightclub. It was pretty fun."
"What ya'll do after?" he asked, nosily.
"Just went to his place and chilled." She shrugged.
He nodded slowly and took another sip.
"And no, I didn't sleep with him."
He fought a smile. "I didn't say you did."
"Well, I know you were thinking that." She rolled her eyes.
"And what gives you that idea?"
"Because, I open my legs to plenty of niggas according to you."
He grew quiet. She got him there.
"Yeah, my bad for that," he said, feeling slightly bad now.
She shook her head and continued drinking her tea. It grew silent again.
"Oh, by the way, I ran into your girl last night," she spoke up.
"You did?"
"Yeah, at the club. And I have to say, she’s really uh…something.”
“What makes you say that?"
She shook her head, mumbling ‘nothing.’
"So how long you and your girl been together?" Zara asked after a moment.
"About 6 years."
"Damn, 6 years? You must really love her."
"Yeah, I guess.” He shrugged.
"You guess?" She raised a brow.
"I mean yeah, I love her but..."
"But not the way she loves you."
Her words rendered him speechless and he wondered how she came up with that accurate conclusion. With a sigh, he rubbed the scruffy hairs of his goatee.
"I care for her, you know. She's been there for me through everything. But she wants more than I could give. And as much as I wanna be the man she wants me to be, I can't."
He didn't even know why he was revealing this to her in the first place. Or the fact that he even felt comfortable enough to do so. He must've really been losing his senses.
"Hmm. That's tough." She ran her finger along the brim of her mug. "I can't say I don't feel her pain though."
"What do you mean?"
"Loving someone who doesn't feel the same way you do. That's a horrible feeling, trust me I know." She gave him a sad smile and looked down.
He watched her as she drank her tea slowly, licking her lips after every few sips. The memory of how soft her lips felt plagued his mind and he forced his eyes away, drinking more of his tea to quell the sudden heat rising within him.
"So, how's your head?
He fleeted his eyes to her. "My what?"
"Your migraine, I mean.
"Oh," he said foolishly.
She gave him a knowing look, before looking away with a faint smile.
"Yeah, it's feeling better." He cleared his throat, playing it cool.
The numbing pain was still there, but it all seemed to fade as the sudden nervousness radiated within him. It unsettled him and confused him at the same time. Why the fuck was he feeling so nervous?
"That's good." She nodded.
"Yeah, thanks for the tea.’Preciate it." He removed the damp rag off his forehead and stood up. "I should start getting ready for work."
He couldn't even imagine how late he was going to be today.
She stood up as well. Before he could leave, she extended her hand to him.
"It's okay, I'll put it away."
Realizing she was referring to the mug, he handed it to her.
"Thanks."
Their fingers touched as she grasped the mug and their eyes met. He noticed a glint in her eyes, a look he recognized anywhere. Lust. Heat permeated from her like airwaves, sweltering him with desire. Urging to touch her, he moved closer and she stepped back, her gaze faltering.
She turned around and stepped into the kitchen. He stared at her ass, lusting at how plump it looked in her tight satin dress. The way her hips swayed to the rhythm of her walk made his manhood rise, burning him with temptation. Huffing out a sigh, he rubbed his goatee. He should really go. There was no telling what he would do, if he didn't.
He drifted his gaze to her. She placed the mugs into the dishwasher then began wiping the countertop with a cloth. He walked in steady steps toward her. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, but continued to wipe the table without a word.
He stood behind her. She stiffened, as his body pressed against hers. His hands slowly roamed the curvature of her frame, from her round breasts down to her hips, the softness of her body feeling so good to touch. Biting his lip, he swiped her hair over her shoulder, before planting his lips on her neck. Zara drew in a deep breath. Reveling in her sweet scent, he brushed his tongue sensually on her skin, blessing it with kisses. She let out a soft moan. He grasped her breasts as her chest heaved
in a quicker pace. Her restless movements aroused him. She wanted him and he knew it. He couldn't hold back any longer. All he wanted right now, was to drill every part of himself inside of her. Hear her scream his name, as he fucked her senseless. He spun her around and collided his lips into hers. She moaned. His sleek tongue embraced hers, as she invited him in her mouth. He savored her taste, the heat of desire arising within him. She wrapped her arm around his neck, kissing him hungrily. He placed her on the counter and nestled himself between her legs. She tugged his wife beater, urging to pull it off. He quickly ripped it off, baring his upper frame. Her hands roamed his muscles with yearning as they kissed.
"What the hell?!?"
They pulled back at the high pitched tone. He turned his head to see Reyna and Rodney, and his heart shot to the pit of his chest.
"Shit," Zara uttered under her breath, hopping off the counter.
"Yo, what the...what the hell is goin' on?" Rodney looked just as shocked as Reyna.
Vance stepped back, too embarrassed to even face their gaze.
"Oooh, see I knew something was going on between you two." Reyna wagged her finger, like a detective finally revealing a clue.
"Nah, I can't believe this...Vance and Zara? Nah this is crazy." Rodney shook his head in disbelief.
Vance picked up his wife beater off the floor, as Zara adjusted her dress.
"Mmm-mmm, mmm." Reyna folded her arms. "So, all this time you two were acting like ya'll hate each other, when really ya'll was busy sexin' it up behind closed doors."
"It ain't even like that," Vance defended.
"Yeah, it's not what it looks like," Zara spoke up.
"Oh please. Ya'll was seconds away from making babies on that damn counter. Don't lie now."
"Yo, Vance...bruh, wassup?" Rodney stared at him confused, as though he were looking for answers to the puzzling scenario. Answers that Vance did not have at all.
Shaking his head, Vance left the kitchen and went upstairs. He was too ashamed to face anybody. He had lost control once again with Zara and it sickened him.
Chapter 20
"Um, why didn't you tell me you and Vance were messing around?"
"Rey, please just let it go." Zara sighed, searching through the clothes in her closet.
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