Truth & Consequences: A Miss Independent Novel

by Leach, Kiki

  “V!”

  “NO!”

  Her arms went wild before he finally managed to wrap his hands around her body and pulled her into his tight, calming embrace.

  A violent spark of electricity shot straight through her system the moment she collapsed against him; her body froze before she tried pulling away again, knowing exactly what that feeling meant, knowing that he had always been the only one to stir up such deep emotions within her even during the most abysmal times.

  “Let me go,” she said, her voice quiet as her mouth skimmed the rough fabric of his shirt.

  “No,” he told her. “You don’t get to run away from me this time.”

  As he squeezed so tight that she could hardly catch her breath, she crawled her fingers around his waist and yanked hard on the back of his shirt. Being so close to him never did her body any good. At least, not in any way opposite of the Biblical sense.

  When he finally pulled back, allowing her some air, he was determined to look at her. But she avoided peeking up into those deep root beer colored eyes because she knew exactly, her body knew exactly what would come next if she had.

  And so did his.

  He wanted to touch her. God, did he want to touch her, to hold her even tighter, to feel her again even more than he did last night. He knew from her reaction, from the anguish she carried in that perfect face that she wanted the same and more.

  He leaned down even closer and bathed in her apprehension. It fueled him like an addict to his favorite drug.

  “Would you have picked up for me if I called?” he asked.

  She peeked up at him before diverting her eyes again. “What?”

  “Would you have picked up for me if I called you this morning?”

  She waited to answer as a reluctant smile crept upon her face. “If I picked up for Nathan, there wasn’t any way in hell that I was going to leave you twisting in the wind.”

  “You would’ve if you wanted to make me suffer just a little bit more for what happened.”

  “Yeah, well, I hope you do suffer,” she said. And then she thought for a split second about how harsh her words sounded, not even recognizing that her blatant insolence made him smile. “Look, I don’t want you to lose your job or anything and I hope like hell that this doesn’t leak out to the press like everything else that happens within this group. But you and Nathan went at it like two wild animals that I had no control over whatsoever. I knew that the shit between you two could get worse, especially once you found out the true reason behind his motivations that night, but--”

  “Motivations of which I’m still not too clear on, V.”

  “And I don’t want to make them any clearer for you, Mo. I want everything that happened last night to end just where it did. And I don’t need to hear about that shit picking up again once he’s out, alright? I say that not just for my sake, but for yours too.”

  He bobbed his head up and down and slid his fingers down her arm. As they trickled to her wrist and around hand, he caressed the back of it with his thumb. She trembled. “And what about his sake?” He slid his fingers between hers and pressed their palms together.

  Without even thinking of why, she lifted the back of her heels from the ground to move closer to his face and stared directly at his mouth. His full pink lips were like two ripe strawberries she was aching to sink her teeth into. “I don’t care about his sake,” she whispered. “When it comes to the two of you, you’ll always be my first concern.”

  “When it comes to you and anyone,” he said.

  His smile turned deeply seductive and her chest expanded against him as she inhaled. He placed his other hand on the side of her throat and felt her pulse beating so fast that his fingers trembled. He slid his thumb beneath her chin and lowered his face to hers, resting his mouth just a few inches from her lips. Her eyes threatened to close the moment she felt his mint flavored breath slowly trickling inside her mouth and swirling around the tip of her tongue, but she vowed to keep them open.

  Even through the pain, he was still the most beautiful and sexiest man she had ever known. And did she love him. My God, did she love him just as much as he loved her; maybe even more.

  As he bent down further, brushing his lips against the corner of her mouth, she slightly recoiled and brought her free hand up to his face, pressing her palm against his swollen cheek. The moment he felt her, it was as if the air had been punched from his lungs. His breathing became hard and sharp as he turned his head and pressed his mouth hard against her palm, enough to make an imprint, and closed his eyes tight – taking in every small bit of that moment for as long as it lasted between them.

  He inhaled her, he tasted her.

  He wanted her, he needed her.

  Just like fire, she burned against his skin.

  Just like oxygen, he needed her to breathe.

  “When I told you that I missed you like hell, V,” he said, his voice raspy, intense, “it was no exaggeration.” He drew his lips back and forth against the lines in her palm and encircled her wrist with his entire hand. “I’m no good without you any more than you are without me.”

  She blinked back more tears before they could escape and tried releasing herself from his grip. “Mo.”

  He brought his lips down to her wrist, and when his teeth dipped into her skin, her pulse exploded between them. Dropping his other hand to her waist and yanking her close enough to feel his growing erection against her pelvis, her purse slipped down from her shoulder and slammed to the ground. Her sketches went flying as did Nathan’s wallet. But the more Maurice kept touching her, kept holding her, kept kissing her, the more she forgot even the sound of her own name.

  But that moment wouldn’t last for long.

  As Melanie exited the building and marched down the sidewalk, she reached down inside her purse for her cell phone and glanced at the time. Since checking in on the progress of the new shop hadn’t taken nearly as long as she was expecting, she figured she had a few more hours to spare and hoped to spend that time getting to know Maurice just a little bit better.

  But when she came upon him and Vanessa and saw how they looked at one another, how they touched one another, how they seemed to crave one another in a way that was almost too mesmerizing to believe it was even real, she recognized that the opportunity might not come that day for her, if at all.

  Glancing at every bliss-faced patron surrounding them, Melanie had quickly come to the conclusion that the man of her dreams, and the woman of his, were in fact a fantasy come to life for one another, as well as everyone else who chose to continue gawking at them and capturing pictures – some in the hopes of sending them to the highest bidding tabloid, the rest with plans to show them to their spouses and significant others as subtle tutorial guides.

  Melanie on the other hand stayed back and did neither.

  Even from the distance, she didn’t only see the innate connection between these two people sweeping throughout the entire market like an unexpected torrential storm, knocking down everything in its path and sucking up those who managed to survive it, she could actually feel it crawling beneath her skin and crippling her bones. Their eyes were set so hard and focused on one another’s faces, it was as if all those people swept up in their love for each other had completely disappeared. Nothing seemed to matter except for the two of them, which explained their current carelessness, seeing as how they were both so determined to keep the relationship as quiet as possible until they felt the time was right when they were actually together.

  All things considered, now was definitely not that time.

  When Maurice finally spotted her approaching, he looked back down at Vanessa and whispered something only the two of them could hear. Vanessa quickly pulled out of his arms and reached to the ground for her purse, sketches and Nathan’s wallet.

  As she stood back and fixed her hair, Maurice attempted to fix her blouse, but she gently shoved his hands away. And suddenly the people around who remained in awe began clapping
while others whistled. The raven-haired woman and her strawberry blond friend were all but aflutter and eager for more.

  Vanessa glanced around at the crowd and felt mortified at having been so public with her affection. Maurice felt empowered and more determined than ever to make things right.

  “I hope I didn’t interrupt much of anything,” Melanie stated as she finally came upon them.

  Neither Vanessa nor Maurice took their eyes off of the other as they each shook their heads ‘no’, all the while thinking yes, yes, yes you did – as did everyone else.

  “I should probably get to work,” said Vanessa, her eyes remaining locked upon Maurice’s face. “Since I promised Alexis I’d be getting there earlier than she usually expects, she’s probably sitting in my office as we speak and staring at her watch.”

  “Yeah, and I, uh…” Maurice stopped for a moment, unsure of what he even wanted or needed to say. “I told my boss I’d be in to see him this morning” – he glanced down at his watch – “in about an hour as a matter of fact, to explain about the face and any potential hazards that may pop up over the next week and a half because of it.” He glanced over at Melanie, but quickly turned his attention back to Vanessa. “Do you plan on telling Alexis about any of this?”

  “Hell no,” she said with a soft laugh and smile. He did the same. “The last thing I need is to have her on my ass about you and Nathan, or us, so no. I’m hoping to keep her in the dark about everything that happened last night for as long as possible.”

  “Do you really think that’s a smart idea?” Melanie chimed in.

  Vanessa instantly felt a chill as she turned to Melanie and took note of her dour appearance, but didn’t give a damn for the reason behind it. “What?” she snapped.

  “Your mother finds out everything, doesn’t she? It might be smart to finally tell her the truth about your current relationship with Maurice and even the fight between him and your other ex before she finds out from someone else.”

  “Oh really? And would that someone else in fact be you?”

  Anxious, Melanie looked up to Maurice for answers, but was put off as he only arched his brows and remained in a silent agreement with Vanessa.

  “I’m only saying what you should be thinking,” she finally told her. “With all of the people out here with their phones, someone is bound to pick up this story the moment they get a good look at the bruises all over his face and realize he and Nathan were both in jail.”

  “If it happens, I’ll deal with it just like I deal with every other bullshit problem that arises. In the meantime, why don’t you take your own advice and stick to minding your own damn business where all of this is concerned, okay?” She lifted the strap of her purse on her shoulder and turned on her heel. “I have to go.”

  “V,” Maurice called out.

  But she wouldn’t stop for him this time and continued moving forward with her eyes focused on the concrete as she shook her head to quickly erase the overbearing emotions weakening her every step.

  Maurice kept his eyes on her until she finally disappeared into the office building.

  Hoping to gather his attention for herself, Melanie moved in front of him and looked up, forcing a smile as she wrapped her hands around both of his thickly muscled biceps.

  The raven-haired woman and her strawberry blond friend saw the ‘all too willing’ look in her less than entrancing eyes and arched their brows at one another before quickly paying for their items and heading out of the market.

  “You remember what I said to you on the night she told you to get out? That if it’s really meant to be between the two of you,” said Melanie, “then it will be.” Her eyes shifted up and down as she stared at the lipstick stain on the collar of his shirt and discretely tried wiping it away. “But here’s some other advice that I forgot to mention as a ‘just in case’ it doesn’t work out… If you’re meant to move on from her and what you two had, then that’ll happen too. Maybe even before you think you’re ready for it.”

  He looked down into her eyes and crinkled his brows. “What?”

  “Well what I’m saying is that if you’re meant to move on from her, it’ll happen when it’s supposed to happen, just like anything else. That could be today or tomorrow or--”

  “Even if I wanted to move on from Vanessa, no matter what day of the week or month or year, it’s never been something in my DNA. If it were, I’d have found it by now and maybe even taken advantage. But I haven’t, and won’t.”

  Feeling immediately shot down and regretful for having even opened her mouth, Melanie dropped her hands from him and stood back. “Oh.”

  And then he remembered that this wasn’t just some random woman in which he was giving an instant brush off after a night of quick sex in a cheap motel room that he made her pay for, before skipping out and leaving nothing but a note on the pillow to thank her for a ‘fun’ time. This was a woman who cared enough about him to jump out of bed at 5am the moment she heard his voice on the phone and headed down to the police station with enough money in her pocket to bail both him and Nathan out of jail. He couldn’t speak to her as if he would never see her again, or as if she didn’t matter to him as a person, even if she didn’t matter as much to him as she had hoped.

  “I’m sorry,” he told her, his voice now less intense. “I don’t mean to sound like an asshole.”

  “No.” She waved her hand across her face and smiled, feigning acceptance. “You don’t sound like an asshole at all. You sound like someone determined not to give up on the woman he loves, no matter how stubborn she might be to accept it. If only my husband and every other man on the planet had your hardiness.” She bent her head and ran her fingers through to the ends of her hair. “So I know that you said you need to get to your office and to be honest, there are a few other things I need to take care of today myself.”

  “Yeah.” He gulped. “Melanie, I can’t say enough how much I appreciate you helping to bail me out this morning.”

  “What are potential friends for?” she said.

  “We’re friends,” he told her reassuringly. “Don’t let anything Vanessa might make you feel get in the way of the truth.”

  “She’s not exactly the one leaving me with any uncertain feelings about that,” she said, leaving Maurice unsure of how to respond. “In any case, you better get going. You don’t want to be late to that meeting with your boss.”

  “Are you going to be okay?”

  “As long as I’m still standing, I’ll be fine. Besides, I have to be someplace else soon too. You go.”

  “Alright,” he said. “But if you need anything, just--”

  “Sure.”

  He stared into her solemn brown eyes and gave her a quick squeeze on the shoulder before bouncing away and racing to cross the street.

  It was only when he had officially vanished into the hordes of people hustling and bustling right alongside him that Melanie looked around the market and realized many of those who had stayed around for he and Vanessa, or just long enough to conclude that she wasn’t nearly as interesting enough to capture their attention for more than a few seconds, had pretty much disappeared. The only things that seemed to be left behind aside from her and a few elderly couples were the fruit, coffee and newspaper she had purchased for Maurice all before Vanessa came up to ‘greet’ them.

  “So much for benevolence,” she said to herself.

  She snatched the bag of fruit from the counter and ran to the corner to hail for a cab. When one finally stopped, she quickly hopped inside and slammed the door.

  “Where to, Lady?” the driver asked, looking back at her in his rearview mirror as he chewed down on his toothpick.

  “Just drive,” she said, her eyes turned to the window. “When we get close enough to where I need to be, I’ll be sure to let you know.”

  “Sure thing,” he replied, speeding off from the curb.

  Part Eighteen

  After returning to her room and taking a well needed shower to
rinse off the feeling and funk of having slept beneath a pile of mothballs, Sheila stayed behind in her bathroom to stare at her naked body in the mirror. And she wondered to herself if she looked any different thanks to her time spent with Adrian long before she was ever forced to sleep on Vanessa’s backbreaking couch.

  She lifted her hands to comb her fingers through the wet curls of her hair and twisted her body side to side, taking a good long look at every inch of her silky smooth ebony complexion. The only differences she could see in the light that she hadn’t noticed the night before were the tiny bite marks left behind on either side of her breasts and around her nipples, as well as two on both of her inner thighs, located just below her sex. Her lips parted when she exhaled and grew into a smile as she thought back on how Adrian took her, owned every single inch of her body in the way she always imagined Nathan would do, should do as her fiancé, and ran her fingers alongside and around every single mark left behind.

  But before she could fall any further into a trance, she heard someone knocking on the door. She closed her eyes even tighter, hoping like hell that they would just go away and leave her to her fantasies, but after a few seconds, the knocks became louder and more disconcerting.

  “UGH!”

  Rushing to the other side of the bathroom, she grabbed her robe from the hook on the wall and quickly slipped her arms through each hole. She took one last look at herself in the mirror before turning off the fan above her head and yanking the door back, then found her house shoes near the bed and slipped on each one. When the knocking picked up again, she groaned and anxiously lifted her hair from beneath the collar of the robe, hating the slapping sound it made as large pieces landed against the back of her neck.

  Initially figuring the person on the other side of that door to be Nikki wanting to finish what they had started inside Vanessa’s house earlier that morning, she was surprised as hell to say the least when she pulled the door back and saw Adrian standing there instead.