Bound by the Heart

by Ashley Goss

  That’s true. We are all best friends, and that would be awful if she is someone that we don’t get along with. That would make for awkward outings. Would Elijah think that’s weird? Maybe we should invite her to one of our girls’ nights?

  “How about we invite her to one of our girls’ nights?”

  “That’s a good idea. I’ll call Elijah and see if she is available.”

  She calls him. He says she’s free now and he would send her over. Oh wow. She is coming right now? I must prepare myself. What if she’s drop-dead gorgeous? What if she is stuck up? What if she is cute? I need alcohol.

  “Here’s a shot for you.”

  “Cheers!”

  I need liquor. I didn’t want to be completely sober when having to deal with meeting new people. I wasn’t a very social person with new people. I never know what to talk about or end up talking about something that I shouldn’t be. Good thing Rachel is here so she would keep me in line. Rachel and I take a couple more shots until we hear the doorbell ring.

  “Hey, ladies.”

  “Have fun, babe. Call me when you want me to come pick you up.” He says to Jess as he kisses her.

  She walks inside, and I couldn’t help but stare. She is gorgeous. She has very long, dirty blonde hair and beautiful bluish green eyes. I could understand why Elijah spent all his time with her now. Who wouldn’t want to? She sits down around the table with us.

  “So, what are we celebrating?” She asks.

  “Nothing, just drinking for fun.” We respond.

  “Well, I’m all for that. I’ll take one,” she says while pouring herself a drink.

  She’s my type of girl. She’s friendly. She seems sweet and likes to drink. I rarely actually drank so when I did, it’s usually a lot.

  “So, we just wanted to meet you. Get to know you. Hoping that we can all hang out. We miss Elijah around and hopefully if we can all get along, he will be more apt to come back around more.”

  “I’m sorry. We are busy a lot of the times. I didn’t know he was neglecting his friends because of me. That was never my intention. I’ll talk to him.”

  We sit around talking about random topics once more. We keep drinking, and soon we are all drunk. I notice as the night went on that Jess keeps staring at me. I couldn’t tell why she would be staring at me. Maybe I have said something that I shouldn’t have. Heck, I don’t know.

  “So, I’m glad to see that you make Elijah so happy. We have been waiting for a girl to come around and make him smile.”

  “Yes, I am a lucky girl to have found him. He makes me melt. I couldn’t ask for someone better.”

  Well, that’s good she feels the same way that he does. Sometimes, I get worried. I just want to protect him from the shady girls out there. You never knew whose intentions were pure. She seems like a lovely girl, though.

  “Well ladies, Elijah is here to get me. Hopefully, we can do this again soon.”

  Elijah is waiting in my driveway for her as she walks outside. Overall, it didn’t go bad. At least she’s not really stuck up. I can’t stand women like that. We get along which is great. Not sure what we would have done if it had gone the other way. It wouldn’t have been pretty.

  Overall, I am just glad he found someone that loves him. It’s hard to find your perfect match in this world. He’s lucky to have found her.

  “So, what do you think?” I ask.

  “I’d say she is a keeper, but my opinion doesn’t matter. Only his. Now, you need to get a boyfriend, so we can all go out together.”

  “I doubt I would be dating anyone anytime soon. I’m quaint just being by myself for now.”

  Chapter 20

  Elijah

  I wake up, and Jess is in the shower. Maybe I should surprise her with breakfast. I make waffles and sausage, which is her favorite. I want to do something special for her. She means so much to me. I didn’t think I could ever show her how much.

  I hear her get out of the shower. I make our plates and set them on the table.

  “Yum. What’s that smell? What did you cook?” she asks, surprised.

  “Your favorites,” I reply with a smile.

  She kisses me and sits down.

  “So, how did it go with the girls?”

  “They are sweet. I know it’s important that we get along.”

  “Yes, they are my best friends. It would suck if you guys didn’t get along for obvious reasons. So yes, I can say I am glad that you guys like each other.”

  I receive a call from Chris.

  “Hey man, what’s up?”

  “I think I’m going to do it,” Chris replies.

  “Do what?”

  “Ask her to marry me,” Chris says.

  “Holy crap, finally. She’s been waiting for that ring. When?”

  “Tonight. I wanted you guys to be there. Can you come?”

  “Yeah, text me the details. We will be there.”

  He texts me the park where he is going to propose tonight. I couldn’t believe that he is going to do it. They have been together and happy for a long time. I figured it has been coming.

  “Babe, we need to get dressed. We got to be at the park in twenty minutes for Chris.”

  “Okay, I’m getting ready now,” she yells back from the bedroom.

  She comes out in a cute pink dress and heels with her hair curly.

  “I don’t think that you are supposed to look cuter than the bride to be,” I say laughingly.

  She looks gorgeous. I am a fortunate man to have a woman like her by my side. I couldn’t believe I have gotten so lucky. We hop in the car and head for the park.

  When we get there, we hung back so that Rachel wouldn’t see us. She would wonder why all of us were here. From far away, you could tell she has no idea what is going on. Nikki is so excited. She couldn’t stop smiling.

  Finally, we see Chris drop down on one knee and hear Rachel shriek. That is our cue. We all run down there.

  “So, what did you say?” Nikki asks Rachel.

  “I said YES. Of course, I said yes!”

  I’m so happy for them. They make me believe that love is real. They genuinely care for each other. You could see it in the way they look at or spoke to each other. It makes me jealous. I am hopeful that one day I would have that kind of love. After we all celebrate, Jess and I head home. I am tired and must work the next morning. I get back, change, and pass out.

  When I wake up, Jess is in the shower, and her phone keeps going off. Who’s texting her so early in the morning? I pick up her phone to make sure it wasn’t her mom. Who the hell is this? Jeff? I open the conversation and see they have been texting back and forth for weeks. She has been sending him pictures that are not appropriate. Is she really doing this to me? How could she?

  I hear the shower turn off. I didn’t want her to think I had been snooping, but I couldn’t act like I didn’t see the messages.

  “Good morning, babe,” she says as she came out of the bathroom.

  “Who is Jeff?” I ask pretty pissed off. This just isn’t right.

  “What?” She responds asking stupid with a dumb look on her face.

  “Jeff?”

  “He’s just a friend from work.” She responds like it is no big deal some guy has naked pictures of her in recent messages.

  “You send half-naked pictures to random guys from work?”

  God, has she really been doing this for months? How did I not notice?

  “Why were you going through my phone?”

  “It wouldn’t stop going off, so I wanted to make sure it wasn’t an emergency. Nope, not an emergency, just your other boyfriend.”

  “I need you to get dressed, get your things, and get the hell out of my house. NOW!”

  “Excuse me, at least give me time to get fully dressed. Wow, why are you such an asshole?”

  I couldn’t stand to look at her. She didn’t see anything wrong with what she has done. It’s wrong on so many levels. You don’t do that when you are with someone
.

  I have done nothing but treat her like a queen, and this is how she treats me. This is utterly ridiculous. Every time, I think I have found a good woman, they end up proving me wrong. The thing that sucks is, I am in love with her. My heart feels like it’s being ripped out of my chest.

  Why do I have such bad luck with women? It’s ridiculous. I always end up with the cheaters or liars. Can’t I just find someone who is faithful? Is a woman like that hard to find nowadays? I am starting to lose faith that I will ever find my person.

  Chapter 21

  Nikki

  It’s a typical Friday night. Rachel and I are watching TV as usual, and my phone rings.

  “Can you come over?” Elijah asks on the other end.

  “What’s wrong? Everything okay?”

  “Just come over, please. I really need someone to talk to.”

  Something is wrong. He seems agitated but depressed too. I tell Rachel I’m heading to Elijah’s.

  I arrive at Elijah’s and knock.

  “Come in! Door’s unlocked!” he shouts.

  When I walk in, he is slouched over on the couch with his hand covering his face.

  “What’s going on?”.

  “Why can’t I just be happy?”

  “What do you mean? Jess makes you happy. You are happy.”

  “Well, she did until I caught her cheating on me. Why are girls always saying that the guys are bad when they are just as bad?”

  “Err. I’m sorry. I don’t know how to answer that but how do you know she was cheating on you?”

  “I went through her phone earlier and found some text messages from another guy talking about the fun they had.”

  Why would she do this? She seemed genuinely happy with Elijah when she was talking to Rachel and me. I don’t understand what happened between then and now.

  “I’m sorry, Elijah. I don’t know why she would do that to you. I liked her. But all you can do is move on.”

  “Why can’t I just find a normal girl?”

  “You will find the right person for you. You just have to take risks to find her.” I say smiling.

  “Well, I already found that person, but it’s never going to happen.”

  “Why?”

  “She doesn’t feel the same way. Or at least I don’t think.”

  “Well, why don’t you just tell her how you feel?”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Well, yeah, you are never going to be happy if you don’t tell the person you like that you like her, right?”

  Elijah looks stumped. He should tell whoever it is that he likes her. If you already know someone that would make you happy, then you must at least let them know. You couldn’t just go on without saying anything. If you didn’t say something, then you are forfeiting your own happiness.

  “Well, I guess you should know that the person I am talking about is you,” he says, looking at me for a reaction.

  I stand there in shock. What? Me? He has been talking about me? He likes me? No way. This couldn’t be happening.

  “Me?” I ask, shocked.

  “Yes, you. I have liked you since that night at the party, but you were dating someone. Then when you weren’t dating someone, it was just too close after you were going through the abuse and then Dwayne’s death. It was just never the right time to bring it up.” he explains.

  He’s right. There never has been a right time. I haven’t exactly been trying to date lately. I have told him multiple times that I wasn’t ready to date anyone. I couldn’t hold that against him since I did tell him that.

  “Well, I’m not sure how I feel about that. I find you attractive, and you have been there for me more than I could ask for, and we have gone through things that only we can understand.” I reply.

  “I know you feel the same. I know you feel the connection between us. The gazes we make toward each other. The tingling feeling when we get close to each other. I know you do. I have seen you experience it.”

  Wow, he is serious. I couldn’t deny the fact that he is attractive and a fantastic guy but is it worth it? Is it worth throwing away everything we have built? I couldn’t deny myself happiness because I’m scared, or I would be a hypocrite.

  “Well, I guess we could do something and see how it goes. We will never know until we try.” I tell him with a smile on my face.

  “Okay, tomorrow. I’ll pick you up. You can go back to your girls’ night with Rachel.”

  I head back to Rachel’s house, replaying what just happened. So, I am going out with Elijah tomorrow. He just told me that he had liked me since the night we met and that we had a special connection. This is crazy. Underneath it all, I know I love him, but with everything that has gone on, it just didn't seem right. I didn’t want to jeopardize our relationship and say anything. I guess I am just as scared as he is.

  “Is Elijah okay?” Rachel asks as I walk in the door.

  “He is now,” I reply with a smile.

  “What? What happened? Dish?”

  “Well first, he caught Jess cheating on him. Second, he told me he has had feelings for me since the night we met. We are going out tomorrow night.”

  “Are you kidding me? That’s amazing. I’ve always hoped that you guys would get together, but I didn’t want to instigate anything. This is great news, well you and him going out, not that he got cheated on of course. Now, we really will be doing things together as couples. This is going to be great.”

  Chapter 22

  Elijah

  I couldn’t believe that I told Nikki how I feel about her. I have been so nervous to tell her. I now feel a sense of relief. She finally knows and agreed to go out with me. I couldn’t help but smile. I am glad that I found out about Jess. If I didn’t, then I never would have been able to tell Nikki how I felt. It always would have been a “what if” scenario and I didn’t like those.

  I must figure out what we are going to do. We could go to the movies. A simple date. I didn’t want to do something too crazy on the first date. We could both ease into it. I pull up the theater posting on my phone and see that the chick flick movie Nikki has been waiting to see is out. I will take her to see that. I could sit through a chick movie. It wouldn’t be too bad.

  I have all these things running through my head. Am I pushing her too fast? Should I have not told her how I felt? Is it too soon? She has been through so much, and I didn’t want her to feel rushed or like she must go out with me.

  I text her.

  Elijah: Hey, I just wanted to make sure that you didn’t feel pressured into saying yes to going out with me. If you don’t want to go or you aren’t ready to date someone, then it’s okay. I won’t be mad. Believe me. I will understand. I can wait if you need more time. I just don’t want you to feel pressured.

  Nikki: It’s okay. I feel safe with you. I’m okay with going out with you tomorrow. I’m nervous but excited at the same time. Don’t worry about me. If it becomes too much, I’ll be the first to let you know.

  Elijah: Ok. Good. Good night.

  Good. She wants to go. This makes me feel better. I could just see her with her big beautiful eyes. I could remember the kiss we shared that night. Even though it was uncalled for, it felt amazing. I have waited so long to feel her lips on mine. I couldn’t wait for it to happen again.

  I want to look nice. I figure I should go ahead and pick out what I am going to wear, so I didn’t have to hurry at the last minute when I get off work. I dig through my closet and find a cute blue button-up shirt. She bought me this shirt for my birthday. I am going to wear it. I figure I would just wear some nice slacks. I didn’t need to go too fancy. We are just going to the movies.

  This is more thought than I have ever put into what I’m going to wear on any other date. Why did it matter what I wore? I guess I want to look nice for her. Is this bad?

  I set the clothes out on my bed and call Chris. I need to tell him about Nikki. He will be happy for us. He always rooted for us to be together eventually.

&nbs
p; “Hey, what are you up too?”

  “Well, I wasn’t sure if you heard the good news yet.”

  “Nope, I guess not. What good news?”

  “Well, I finally asked Nikki out.”

  “Wait, what about Jess?” he says, surprised.

  “She was cheating on me. I found text messages with some random guy from her work with half-naked pictures. I kicked her out this morning.”

  “Oh dang, brother. That sucks. But on the bright side, I know you have had a thing for Nikki for a while. You didn’t have to tell me. Rachel and I could tell. I’m happy for you!”

  “Thanks. I’m hoping it works out. I’ve been attracted to her since the first day, but you already knew that. I wanted you to know because I’m sure Rachel will be telling you any minute now. She can’t keep a secret for very long.”

  Chapter 23

  Nikki

  I wake up around noon. I slept hard last night. Rachel is already gone from staying the night before. It isn’t like me to sleep this late. I just realize that today is my date with Elijah. I am getting nervous because I didn’t know what to expect. We have been friends for a while. Hopefully, it’s not too awkward. I get up and shower so I could get ready since I only have three hours until it’s time for Elijah to pick me up. I want to take the opportunity to dress up a little bit, but I have no idea what to wear. I wasn’t the girly girl type, so I didn’t dress up very often. I am usually wearing jeans and a t-shirt with some converses. That’s my style. I need to recruit help.

  “Hey, I need you over here now!” I tell Rachel.

  “Why?”

  “Date disaster. Need help!” I scream.

  “On my way.”

  It wasn’t but about ten minutes and she is walking in my door. I know she is just as excited as me about this date.

  “Did you tell Chris?”

  “Of course, I did.” She responds.

  “What did he think?”

  “He’s happy about it too.”

  She went digging through my closet to find something I wouldn’t usually wear. She wants me to look my best for this date. I might as well take this opportunity to, right? She is going all the way to the back of my closet which usually means that I haven’t worn the clothes since I got them.