by Lena Skye
We played pool for the next couple of hours, caught up on old times, and enjoyed each other’s company. I was doing exactly what I told myself I wouldn’t do anymore. I was making myself too available to Kenneth, and he was about to marry someone else. But it felt good to be around him and his brother again, it was comfortable and I needed comfort.
The night was winding down, and I’d thoroughly enjoyed my evening. Being around them was always so easy, and I loved the playful banter between the both of them. It made me wish that I had a sibling. They really loved each other, and the light in Kenneth’s eyes was undeniable whenever his brother was around. I was happy that Michael had returned because Kenneth always seemed more grounded in his presence. His brother was his rock, and that’s why it shouldn’t have been a surprise to me when he ran off to New York when he was upset about our broken relationship.
“It’s time for me to make my exit,” I announced as I put my cue back on the wall.
I looked at Kenneth, and he seemed like he wanted to say something. I could see the look of words unsaid in his expression. He needed to say it, but he couldn’t because his brother was there.
“We need to get out of here too,” Michael said, “Kenneth pay the tab and let’s roll.”
“Umm alright, Nicole thanks for coming. I’m going to call you because we still need to talk.”
“You have the number, and I’ve been waiting,” I said with a raised eyebrow.
“Cut me some slack, I’ve been busy,” he said.
“Okay, just call when you’re ready.”
I gave Michael a hug and headed out of the door. I almost skipped out of the pool hall because I knew what Kenneth was going to say. He was going to say that he still loved me and that he wanted to be with me. He and I had been off and on enough for me to know that look. We’d both grown tremendously during the time that we’d known each other, and I vowed to not let him slip through my fingers again. I felt bad about stealing him from Amanda because she was so damned sweet, but I wasn’t making him do anything that he didn’t want to do. He was mine first, and we wanted each other.
It was terrible for me to think that way especially since she was so nice to me. My friends love her, and she was okay in my book. But the fact of the matter was that she was in-between me and the man that I considered to be mine. But I would wait and let Kenneth make the first move. I wasn’t going to do anything until he admitted how he felt about me. There was no way I would be the other woman.
#Chapter2
“I gave it all some real thought and I made my decision..”
Kenneth
“I can’t believe you held that information from us! Must we ask you specific questions in order to get the full truth out of you?” Patrice asked.
“No, I just wasn’t ready so don’t judge me. The both of you don’t always tell me everything either, and I’m telling you now!” I said.
“You’re lucky I’m too damned tired to be mad at you,” she laughed as she slumped against the park bench. We’d went jogging together early in the morning before our work day started. We were on a mission to keep our bodies in shape instead of having our weight constantly fluctuate.
“I understand,” Jasmine said, “I didn’t talk about Cedric until I was ready. Some cards you just have to hold close to your chest.”
“Exactly.”
“So I really think that this is it. We’re finally at a point where we’ve matured, and we’re ready to be together.”
“I’ve seen this process with the both of you time and time again. Please be careful with your heart. I don’t want to see you get hurt again,” Patrice said.
“I know but I have to take the risk. No risk, no reward and he’s worth it to me.”
“I hope that it works out but don’t get your hopes up. Kenneth and Amanda seem pretty solid, and they’re engaged. I don’t want you to become his fling,” Jasmine said.
“I promise that I won’t do anything with him until I know for certain that he’s ended it with Amanda,” I said as held up my hand for added affect.
“Good,” they said in unison.
*
The following evening after work I decided to pour myself a glass of wine and absorb myself in the latest Lena Skye novella. It was a nice escape but I was surprised that this book didn't have a happy ending. I guess I do like it when authors can surprise you like that. I just pray to god that if anyone ever wrote a story about my life that they give me the happy ending I feel I deserve. Just as I was thinking it all over, Kenneth called me.
“Hey stranger,” I said playfully.
“Good evening Nicole. How is everything going?”
“Things are going well. I’m finally taking a breather after a long day.”
“Well, I carved out this time to call you today so that we could finally speak about what’s on my mind,” he said.
Butterflies took over my stomach, and I paced my bedroom, “Okay, I’m interested in hearing it.”
“Thank you for being so friendly with Amanda, I know that had to be difficult for you. I don’t know if I could have done the same if the tables were reversed,” he said.
Was that what he called me to talk about? I thought to myself. “It was difficult but I got over it.”
“That may have all been in vain. Things aren’t going how I want them to with her. Then I enjoyed just being with you the other night and….hell… we just need to talk about it face to face. Can I come over in about an hour?”
“Sure,” I said.
Then my line went dead. I was going to have to talk to him about the art of saying goodbye. I leaned against my dresser in a mild daze. First, I was a little annoyed that he needed to talk to me face to face considering the fact that we’d seen each other already. He could have saved the both of us some valuable time. Second, I was finally getting exactly what I wanted. I couldn’t wait until he showed up. It was time for us to get back together and to stay together. Although, I still needed him to tell me he had ended it with Amanda, he was a bit vague about that part.
Soon my phone rang, and it was from a number that I didn’t recognize. I would have loved to have the luxury of not answering numbers that I didn’t know, but in my field of business that was just foolish. It could easily be a huge contract just waiting to happen.
“Hello?”
“Nicole?” I heard a familiar voice say.
“Yes it is, may I ask who is speaking?”
“It’s Amanda. I’m so sorry for bothering you, but I was wondering if I could drop by and talk.”
“Ummm,” I said aloud.
“I’m already outside,” she said in a distressed voice.
“Alright then,” I said, “Come to the door, and I’ll buzz you up.”
Internally I was freaking the hell out. I really didn’t want to have to fight her but if she came acting crazy, I was going to have to whoop her ass. I wondered if she knew what happened between me and Kenneth and was coming confront me. Then again, nothing actually did happen.
She buzzed my door, and I hesitantly let her come up. How in the hell did she get my number or address? When I found out, heads were going to roll. I hoped that her visit would be brief.
Tears were streaming down her face before she entered my door. It annoyed me a little because she even cried pretty.
“Thank you so much for letting me come over,” she sniffled.
“No problem, have a seat,” I said sympathetically. “What’s going on?”
“I think that Kenneth is cheating on me,” she blurted out.
My eyes got wide, and I did my best to hide my facial expression. That had to be one of the most awkward moments in my life.
“Oh?”
“He stayed out all night the other night and he said that he was at the office. But he was lying, I could tell from his voice. He’s been acting strange ever since then. It’s as if he doesn’t want to be around me, and he keeps making excuses to go out.”
I sat listening as intently as I could while tryi
ng to calm my racing heart. She was so far in her own world that she didn’t really seem to notice me at all.
She continued, “I even offered to cook for him last night, but he said that he had to work. Then I heard that he was out playing pool with Michael and you.”
My eyes bulged out of my head, “I can explain that.”
“There’s no need for you to explain because it’s not your fault that he doesn’t want to be around me. I would have loved to come and hangout with you guys, but he never even asked me. He is avoiding me.” she said.
I didn’t know why I was so relieved at her words. I was getting what I wanted , and things were working out in my favor. Sure her feelings were hurt, but she hadn’t invested over four years into Kenneth, I had.
“When you were hanging out with him, did he say anything to you?” She asked.
“No,” I said quickly, “He didn’t mention anything out of the ordinary,” I said. Technically I was telling the truth. Although, he did lie to me about her being at work.
“Is this behavior normal for him? Did he do this to you when you were with him? I’m sorry I know that this is a little weird. If you don’t want to answer these questions just let me know and I’ll back off,” she said.
I took pity on her, “Ken isn’t the cheating type anymore, and he would do things like that all the time. Sometimes he just needs some autonomy and some space. His brother just got here, and he has a one track mind.”
I wanted to ask her to leave my apartment because Kenneth could come to my door at any moment with a huge smile on his face and make the situation look a lot worse. I was lying to her, but I wouldn’t have been able to stand seeing the look of betrayal on her face.
“I have to be honest with you. I worry about history that you and him have together. I think that he may want to go back to you someday. You seem like such an amazing person, you’ve been on and off with him for years, and…” she stopped mid-sentence, “I sound like a fucking paranoid psycho.”
“It’s okay,” I gave an understanding chuckle, “I’ve been there. Ken and I had our chance, and he wants to be with you now. Once he makes up his mind, that’s it.”
“Thank you so much for reassuring me. I’ve taken up more than enough of your evening with my blabbering,” she said as she stood to her feet.
“It’s okay, we all need a little reassurance sometimes.” I said quickly as I rose to my own. I was ready for her to get the hell out of my house.
She gave me a big hug before she stepped out of the door, “Thank you so much. I’m going to call him when I get to my car and talk things through.”
I didn’t need her sitting in front of my house, “I think that you should wait until you get settled in at home. Those kinds of conversations are best in a comfortable setting.”
“You’re right, I’ll see you later,” she said in her usual cheery tone.
“Bye.”
That was horrible to go through because I was the cause of her suffering even though nothing happened. I lied to her about it and so that meant that I was doing something very wrong. I was seeing my life through another person’s experiences. Amanda was in the same position that I was in when I was with Kenneth. I was being a selfish bitch by disregarding her feelings to get what I want. That didn’t make me any better than Amelia or Loren. He was engaged to be married and I was planning on being with him. I realized just how wrong I was being in all this.
Kenneth needed to completely work through his current situation before him and I could take things any further. I refused to be the other woman in his life. I refused to do to another woman, what had been done to me. Nothing good comes to people that have a lack of respect for the feelings of others. I texted Ken.
To: Kenneth
From: Me
Amanda came over. You need to call her asap and sort things out.
He quickly texted me back,
To: Me
From: Kenneth
Thanks X
He took the news pretty well, and I was happy that he was going to talk to her first. It was the honorable thing to do. I busied myself with research and paperwork for the next couple of hours, and I hadn’t heard anything from him. I wondered if I’d done the right thing by demanding he speak with her. It was obvious that he was planning to break it off with her, and I sent him right back to talk things out. She didn’t want to be without him, so I’m sure she would have said anything to keep him from leaving. I was an idiot but an idiot with morals, I guess.
I crawled into bed and slept on it.
*
A few days passed and I still hadn’t heard anything from Kenneth. I didn’t want to be a pest and contact him first, but I deserved to know what was going on, especially after our last phone conversation. I called him,
“Hey,” he said.
“Don’t ‘hey’ me,” I laughed, “Where have you been? Are you okay?”
“Yes I’m okay,” he said.
“Did you still want to talk or is that a thing of the past?”
“I still want to talk, and we should meet up in about an hour if you have the time,” he said.
“It will have to be this evening because I’m booked solid today,” I said.
“Okay, let’s make it early evening,” he replied.
We settled on a place, and we decided to meet up at 6p.m. I met him at a bar and grill, and I felt really funny about everything that happened up to that point. I was looking forward to hearing him say the words that I’d been waiting for, but I felt bad that it was at Amanda’s expense. I hoped that she would find someone that deserved her soon.
Kenneth showed up a few minutes late, and he seemed harried. That was odd for him because he was usually a pillar of calm. He slid into the booth seat across from me.
“Hey,” I smiled.
“Hey, I asked you here because I wanted to tell you to your face rather than you finding out.”
I shook my head because I knew that I wasn’t going to like what he had to say. Nothing good every started with that.
“Okay.”
“Amanda and I are pushing our wedding up a lot sooner. We’re getting married in 6 weeks, and it will be a small ceremony here in Atlanta.”
I splashed my water in his face and called him a pathetic asshole. Well, that’s not what I did at all but that’s what I wanted to do. He sure deserved it, but all I could do was sit there and stare at him as if he was growing horns on his head before my very eyes.
“I wanted you to be the first to know instead of hearing it from anyone else,” he said.
I scoffed at the irony, because I would have rather heard it from anyone other than him. He was stomping all over my feelings again. I fought back tears as my reality sank in, I wasn’t getting him back. He belonged to someone and it wasn’t me, our time had really come to a close.
“So why the change of heart?” I asked.
“I gave it all some real thought and I made my decision. I love Amanda. Getting back with you wouldn’t be the best idea because it just wouldn’t last. It’s only a matter of time before something happens, and we’re apart again. I want something safe now.”
“You’ve never wanted safe since the day that I met you,” I said.
“People change Nikki, and we both know that I’m right,” he pleaded.
“You know what? I have to go, I have a lot of work to get done before the day is over with,” I said as I prepared to leave. I just wanted to get away from him before I said something that I would regret forever. I wanted to cause a scene and act out, but I was too cute for all of that.
He hugged me to his body before we parted ways outside of the restaurant, “Will you still come to the wedding? It will mean a lot to me because you mean a lot to me, but I’ll understand if you don’t want to come.”
“I’ll think about it,” I said as I pulled my body from his and walked away without saying goodbye. Two could play that game.
#Chapter3
“I’m going to try to pack it w
ith as much opulence as I can.”
Amanda
Me and the girls were out at our favorite spot, and I quickly took a shot of sake. I then revealed to them everything that had happened recently. They had no idea that I was going to unload on them because I hadn’t mentioned it when I talked to either of them. It wasn’t something that I wanted to talk about over the phone because I knew that I would cry. I also didn’t want to talk it out with them because they wouldn’t be able to resist saying ‘I told you so.’
“We told you that it was a bad idea to flirt with him again in the first place,” Patrice said.
“You’re right but I couldn’t help it. It just feels so right when we’re together, and all of my sensibility goes out of the window when I’m around him. He’s who I thought that I would end up with, and so it seemed right to flirt with him,” I admitted.
