Rodrigo stands up from the sofa defending his brother. “Lovely, Patrick there are things going on you don’t know about involving you friend Gerard, Lena and Fahim. My brother is upset and didn’t mean anything by his words.” “Oh, I meant what I said, but I didn’t mean to offend you Patrick” Fahim explains.
Lovely can’t stand the suspense. “So, Lena didn’t call you to explain she’s been using Gerard as an excuse not to face the fact she’s in love with you Fahim?” She states with a smug look on her face “When I spoke with Lena earlier, she told me she was calling you to tell you the reason why she said what she said to you.” Fahim looks at Lovely shocked she knew what had occurred between them. “You know Lovely?” “She smirks “I don’t know everything that was said between the two of you. But I do know she realized what a mess she made of everything and was going to tell Gerard she’s in love with someone else.”
Now Robin is confused and asks “So how does her friend, Tura, fit into this picture?” Lovely snuggles deeper into the soft cushion on the sofa where she is sitting and stretches her leg over Patrick’s lap. She looks at him with a sneaky smile on her face and asks “Should I tell them, honey?” “It’s up to you babe. Everyone will know soon enough at the Christmas dinner.” All eyes are on the Alcoas and their cryptic conversation, and they look at one another totally confused waiting for Lovely to provide more information.
“Well” Lovely begins “if Lena hasn’t spoken with you yet Fahim it’s not my place to say until she’s ready to reveal it.” Fahim rubs his hand down his face as he paces back and forth agitated. He needed answers. He had to know what is going on with Lena. He sits down on the barstool and sighs heavily. “Yes, Lena called me earlier today. She told me she realized I’m the man she’s in love with and was only using the whi… I mean Gerard as a scapegoat so she wouldn't have to face her true feelings for me. I told her I didn’t believe what she was telling me. Since she wanted to keep dating us both, I was going to start back dating other women again.” He lowers his head ashamed he didn’t believe Lena. “So she was telling me the truth?” he asks Lovely.
“Yes, Fahim Lena was not lying to you. I’m sure you know about her past. You can’t imagine what that despicable man put her through. She survived his verbal and physical abuse. I saw firsthand along with Robin, Lesa, and Laria what Wayne did to her. So for Lena to open her heart completely to another man is a huge step. Fahim you brought Lena out of the repressed state she’s been in when it comes to getting involved in another relationship. Her friendship with Gerard is just that, friendship. They were both thinking of taking it to a romantic level, but it wasn’t meant to be. They both understood their hearts belong to other people. Lena loves you Fahim. If she said it was you who opened up her heart to love again, she meant it.” “So how does her friends Tura fit into all this?” Salvador asks. “That’s a whole entirely different story and not mine to tell” Lovely answers and waits for Fahim to react to what she’s told everyone.
Fahim walks behind the bar, ignoring the food, and pours a double shot of Tequila into a glass drinking it down fast and feeling the burn as it flows down his throat and into his chest. “Damn” is all he says afterward and walks out of the room saying nothing else.
Lesa hugs up against Ivan thinking back on all they went through to get where they are now. Rodrigo and Robin wrap their arms around each other remembering the struggles they endured before finding their road to happiness. Lovely and Patrick huddle closer grateful they found true love surviving all the obstacles placed in their path.
Salvador says as he holds tightly to Natasha “Well, what do you think he’s going to do?” Ivan just answers “If he knows what’s best, he will go find his woman and make things right between them.” Every male in the room nods their head in agreement and cuddle with their wives who have stolen their hearts.
CHAPTER 23
Fahim lets the cold water cascade down his body so he can absorb everything that has happened recently and conversations discussed. First, it was the look of relief when Lena saw him standing at her door when her ex escaped from jail and came after her. Second, the passionate embrace afterward and he confesses his true feelings for Lena only to have it thrown back in his face with her revelation she’s dating another man. Third, later Lena’s confession she loves him and no one else. Fourth, Robin and Lovely’s descriptions of her life before he knew Lena.
As things become clearer in his mind, he needs to hear from Lena those three small words to take away all the hurt caused by a lot of miscommunication. He also has to find out how Gerard and Tura fit into the whole scenario. Turning the shower off and stepping out onto the cool tiled floor, he grabs his phone from the counter to call Shady. Hearing loud music playing in the background, he could barely make out Shady saying “What’s up Fahim? Hold on ‘til I get somewhere I can talk.” Fahim says nothing and waits for Shady to speak again.
Hearing less background noise, he says “Shady.” “Yeah, I’m here. What’s up my man?” “Same thing different day. I know Lena is partying it up at the club. What time you shutting down?” “Man, this party is scheduled to end at 2:30. If you’re looking for Lena, she and Laria left about ten minutes ago. They said they were stopping to grab some food before heading home. Laria has classes tomorrow, and Lena didn’t want to stay and party alone.” “Thanks for the info. Hopefully, I can catch Lena at home.” “No problem. Glad to be helpful. I’ll holla back at you.” “Adiós.”
Wrapping a towel around his hips, he heads back into the bedroom. He dresses in a pair of black Levis, a Fendi black and brown turtleneck sweater covering up his tattoos and a pair of coffee bean Marc New York Borden boots. Next, he pulls on a black Sable Bomber jacket and a Yankees black knit beanie on his head to ward off the cold air outside. Checking himself out in the mirror, he mumbles out loud “Lena Campbell before this night is over you will be branded with my love, branded as my woman.” Grabbing his wallet and keys, he heads out to find the woman who’s stolen his heart.
Lena sits with Laria at Waffle House catching up on things after placing their orders. She listens to Laria explain how things were going in her life. “Yeah, Shady and I are still trying to have a relationship, but it’s hard with both of us going to school and working. Daddy being sick has taken up a lot of my free time. It pains me the doctors can’t find why he is deteriorating before our eyes. He’s so weak and has lost so much weight. I’m scared he’s not going to be around to see his first grandchild come into the world.”
“Laria are you having a baby?” “Yes, and you’re the first person to know. Balinna is so wrapped up in her problems with Marcus while trying to work full time and take care for Kaiya and Shanda. I believe she’s ready to leave Marcus abusive ass. It’s so much going on with my family.” “I’m so sorry to hear about your troubles Laria. Mine seem small compared to yours.” “Chick, I would love to hear about what is happening in your life. We haven’t had much time to hang out together with our busy schedules.”
Lena sighs and Laria grabs her hand saying “Whatever it is bothering you will work out. I tell myself that when I open my eyes every morning. These last couple of years I’ve had to grow up and face you never know what the universe is going to throw you way. So how do you like living in your new home?”
Lena’s face lights up, and she answers “Buying Lovely’s old house has been a blessing for Tamisha and me. I’m sorry for circumstances keeping you from moving there but it’s been a godsend to us.” “I’m glad things are going well, and the two of you are enjoying your home. I was scared you would never get away from the bad situation with Wayne.” “I believe Wayne will always be a constant threat in my life” and Lena goes on to explain what has happened earlier in the week to Laria.
“Man, I’m sorry you had to relive all the bad stuff Wayne did to you all over again. At least Fahim showed up when he did and saved the day. Speaking of Fahim, how are things developing between the two of you?” “Oh Laria, I’ve made such a mess of
things between the two of us.” They both stop talking so the waiter can place their food on the table and pour fresh coffee into their semi-empty cups.
“Can I get you pretty ladies anything else?” he asks flirting. Laria and Lena both say at the same time “We’re good” and he walks away to serve more customers. They both take several bites of their food before continuing their conversation. “Fahim is in love with me Laria. With all my insecurities about men and relationships, I may have pushed him away for good.” “Wow” Laria replies. “What happened?” Lena tells her all about Fahim, Gerard, and Tura. Once she finishes, Laria sits back against the booth trying to wrap her head around everything Lena has told her.
“So you have no qualms about Tura, your best friend, having a relationship with Gerard; someone you were interested in having a romantic relationship with?” “No, I don’t Laria” Lena answers after swallowing her tasty scrambled eggs. “I was using Gerard as the reason to repress the fact I’m in love with Fahim. My heart knew, but my mind wasn’t ready to acknowledge it yet. It wasn’t willing to release all the hardship I went through with the one and the only serious relationship I’ve been involved with.”
Taking a few more bites of food Lena continues. “Fahim knows everything about me flaws and all. So after his confession of his love for me, I told him I was dating someone else and my plans to continue dating Gerard. Laria you should have seen Fahim’s facial expression. It was like I threw a hard punch in his gut.”
“Damn Lena, what were you thinking?” “At the time I thought what I was saying was rational. It took Fahim informing me he was going to resume dating other women while I decide if he was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life to realize what a fool I’ve been.” “Wow, Lena. I see why you are so stressed out. I’m going to say something and hope you don’t get angry.” “Go ahead Ria. Everyone else has been giving their unsolicited opinion on how I chose to handle this” Lena answers sarcastically.
Laria raises an eyebrow but continues with what she has to say. “You may have at the time wanted to be selfish by continuing to date both men while wading through your emotional challenges of trusting another person with your heart. Where I think you may have gone wrong concerning Fahim is he’s been showing you the whole time the two of you have been getting to know each other how much he loves you. Did you not recognize it?” “Ria with Fahim, I could never tell when he was serious and when he was his playful self. Yes, we discussed my past but we never really had a serious discussion about how deep our feelings are each other or if we wanted to become exclusive, dating only each other.”
“Seriously Lena. Fahim’s traveling back and forth from New York to Tennessee just to say hello and spend time with you on a weekly basis didn’t set bells ringing he may be feeling more than friendship?” Before Lena can answer, their waiter returns removing their empty plates and asking “Will you ladies be ordering anything else? Can I refill your coffee cups?” “No,” Laria says. “We’re good. Thank you.” The waiter walks away leaving their bill on the table, and they resume their conversation.
“Ria, it may have crossed my mind Fahim was showing more of an interest in me other than friendship. As you know Michael was also always flirting with me and he was flying back and forth from Atlanta supposedly to see Ivan and Lesa, but he made a point to see me as well. I guess I may have been comparing Fahim and Michael in the same scenario. Michael is married and still paid more than the usual attention to me. Fahim is a self-proclaimed playboy with many women he’s bragged about dating. I know Michael was off limits but how was I to know playboy Fahim was spending so much time with me because he’s fallen in love with me. That’s what I can’t get everyone to understand where my mindset was at the time!”
Laria smirks at her comment but says nothing. Lena adds “All that is mute now. Fahim ultimately saying he’s going back to the dating scene and Tura saying the same words you are telling me now made me grasp how selfish and narrow-minded I was being. I realized Fahim is the only man I want, the only man who has my heart, the only man I’m deeply, deeply in love with.”
Laria smiles and asks “So why are you partying at some club like you’re a single woman? When you called to invite me to go with you to a fraternity Christmas party of all places, I was baffled why you weren’t spending time with Fahim making plans to get married and have some black rican babies.” Lena laughs and answers “Because now I have to crawl on my knees and beg Fahim to believe my love for him is real and I won’t break his heart again.” “I don’t know about the crawling on your knees part being a good idea. You don’t want him to think you’re some weak, insecure woman. Yeah, you made a mistake on how you’ve handled this particular problem. But if Fahim loves you as he claims, he won’t be able to stay away from you. He knows your heart and that you love him. His ego is damaged, but I promise you haven’t seen the last of Fahim Zavala.”
Lena ponders what Laria has said, and as they both pay for their meals and prepare to head their separate way to their homes, Lena hugs Laria and says “I’m glad you and I were able to spend some time together tonight. I’m going to heed your advice and let Fahim come back to me when he’s ready. I’m sure once he finds out about Tura and Gerard being together as a couple, he’s going to want to know the details.” “I still don’t know how all that happened, but you never know who cupid’s arrows will destine to be together. It seems he’s struck again bringing those two together like he did our friends. It took a minute for his arrow to penetrate your heart but now you’ve been struck with that hypnotic magnetic seduction potion called love. Cherish it. It doesn’t happen to everyone. Some people have to settle.”
“Laria you mean Shady ain’t the man who’s stolen your heart?” “Hell to the no! We definitely don’t have what they call a love match. I’ll have to tell you about it when we get together again.” “Okay, Laria. I’ll see you next Saturday at the Christmas dinner.” “Okay, chick. Holla.” “Bye” and they both get in their vehicles and head their separate ways.
CHAPTER 24
Tura wakes up feeling rested and relaxed. Her earlier anxious thoughts were still in the back of her mind. But she is confident the love she and Gerry feel for each other is real, and they will find a way to navigate through the challenges they will face.
Feeling Gerry’s eyes on her, she smiles saying “Hey.” “Hey yourself beautiful” Gerry answers back. “It seems we’ve slept most of the afternoon and part of the evening away. We wore ourselves out with our magnetic chemistry which ceases to amaze me. To be honest Tura, I was scared what we experienced together when we hooked up the first time was a fluke. Sometimes I thought what we shared was a dream. When you and I were apart for that small length of time, I felt a piece of my soul was missing, and I knew it wasn’t a dream but reality. I know we have an uphill battle since we’re practically strangers to each other. What I want you to know and understand is I love you Tura. I don’t care if our family members reject our union. We were brought together for a reason, and if you’re on the same page as me, you and I will learn about each other every day, discuss what we like and dislike and work as a team and as lovers to make our connection a success.”
Holding Tura hand in his Gerry continues. “I’m not good at speaking romantically to a woman. I’m a nerd, a bookworm but what I can’t say with words regarding my love for you will be shown by my actions. Like I mentioned before, the instant you came into my eyesight, I became hypnotized by your beauty and your saucy attitude. Our magnetic chemistry seduced me. I’m yours now, forever, always and I hope you’re mine.” He pulls Tura on top of his body and kisses her lovingly.
Tura head is reeling with love and devotion for Gerry. He’s her man, the love of her life, her soul mate. Their thought process is on the same page about their dynamic connection. As they embrace the blending of their love and gaze into each other’s eyes, she is once again entranced by his hypnotic, seductive pull to her heart.
Lowering her head to join her lips with his
, Tura thrust her tongue between them instantly feeling heated fire when they touch. For several minutes they do nothing but enjoy the taste of each other. She ends the sensual lip lock and says “Gerry/Gerard Conway, you’ve entered my life like a Tasmanian devil whipping your hypnotic aura deeply into my heart. That fateful day we crossed paths the last thing on my mind was meeting a gorgeous stranger, having smoking hot sex and falling in love. The agenda I had set for my life was finishing my college education, becoming a criminal law paralegal while continuing my education to eventually becoming a lawyer. I’ve enjoyed my three years being a college student, living in the dorm on MTSU campus, attending parties, enjoying life. I’m twenty-one years old and still learning my way in life.”
“You entering my life has changed my view of what my agenda should be. I still want to continue my education and find a job, but it will also include loving you and having a serious relationship with you. My heart belongs to one man, and that’s you, Gerry.” She tastes his lips again and rests her head against his chest before continuing.
“Yes our backgrounds are undeniably different, but as you said a few minutes ago, we will learn about each other daily. We will find a way to take what we discover and make our budding relationship the best it can be and more. If our families can’t accept the love we’ve found in each other, so be it. As the saying goes – love conquers all. Let’s make that our motto – our love will conquer any negativity anyone tries to throw our way.”
Hypnotic Magnetic Seduction Page 11
