How Deep Is Your Love 3

by Jade Royal

  “I think it’ll be perfect. I also been thinking about me and you. I had Destiny already and she was great. But I just want to feel you again, Charm.” Charm sucked her teeth and just walked away from him. She was starting to think the drugs was seriously fucking with his brain. She didn’t understand how he could cook up that kind of fantasy.

  “You think you’re all that?” Destiny said, hotly, coming into the kitchen.

  “Look, your man is the one making all the moves. Not me.”

  “Just remember, I’m the one carrying the fucking baby. The baby you can never fucking have!” She snarled. Charm felt her word going black again. But unlike Gabby, Destiny was untouchable. She couldn’t rightfully fuck a pregnant woman up. So even though she wanted to stiff arm Destiny in the mouth, Charm just walked away. There were other ways of getting back at someone you wanted to fuck up. Remembering what Brianna had told her, Charm went straight to the room she was staying in, so she could change from her large t-shirt and baggy jeans. She didn’t find what she wanted in her room, so she went to the master bedroom where most of her clothes were still in the wardrobe. She smiled when she found her short plaid school girl shorts. She’d bought it when she wanted to role play with Terrell one time and he fucking loved it. Destiny wanted to try her and Charm was going to prove yet again, that no matter how many babies she pushed out for Terrell, he still wanted Charm.

  With her plaid skirt, that was so short her ass cheeks were hanging out, she put on a pair of red lace panties and the matching bra. On top of the bra she slid into a white button up shirt and tied it at the bottom, and didn’t bother buttoning up the buttons so the shirt laid open with her bra visible. Then she went into the closet and put on Terrell’s favorite pair of heels.

  Lucky for her when she went back to the living room Destiny was sitting on Terrell’s lap tongue kissing him. Charm didn’t interrupt them. She simply walked around them and retrieved the vacuum from the hall closet. Terrell heard the sound of heels clicking and then Charm moving something. He pulled away from Destiny’s mouth and looked over at Charm. His mouth fell open as she bent over to plug in the vacuum, and he saw nothing but her beautiful peach, covered in red lace.

  “Oh, shit,” he gasped.

  “What are you-” Destiny looked in the direction he was gawking at and gasped herself. “What are you doing?!” She screamed towards Charm.

  “Cleaning,” Charm replied, standing up and turning on the vacuum. She practically pranced around the living room area rug, vacuuming it like she was a model out of a photoshoot. She was clearly making her point, as Terrell could not take his eyes off her. Sitting on his lap, Destiny felt his arousal. She got up quickly and went over to Charm.

  “Alright, you made your point,” Destiny snapped. “Now get dressed!” Charm just looked at her.

  “Remember when you first came here, and you insisted on being barely clothed around him, despite how I pleaded with you not to do it?” Destiny was speechless.

  “Exactly,” Charm said. “Now excuse me, I’m trying to clean.” Destiny huffed and ran away going back into the kitchen to hide from the fact that Terrell wanted Charm more than he wanted her. She paced in the kitchen feeling helpless. How could she have Terrell to herself if Charm was going to pull those kinds of stunts? And let’s face it, Destiny did not like to be upstaged.

  Charm’s phone vibrated loudly on the island in the kitchen. A photo of that sexy chocolate man popped up on her screen. Smiling, Destiny grabbed up the phone and answered it.

  “Why are you answering Charm’s phone?” Denzel asked.

  “Because your girl is busy entertaining Terrell, that’s why.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You want proof?” Destiny asked. “She’s talking about how Terrell is a cheater, but look at what she’s doing to you.”

  “What are you talking about?” Denzel asked.

  “Wait, I’m going to FaceTime you.” Destiny hung up the call and quickly called him back through facetime. She flipped the camera around and went into the living room so he could see what Charm was wearing and doing.

  “Charm, come here, baby!” Terrell called out to her trying to reach for her. But she continued vacuuming, making sure to stay out of his reach. He thought about getting up so he could touch her soft skin, but his ribs were shooting with pain. Charm stood in front of him and bent over slowly as she vacuumed under the couch putting her ass directly in his face.

  “Why should I come to you? You have Destiny to fuck, don’t you?” Charm asked, teasingly.

  “You know I want you-stop it!” He tried to reach for her, but she moved out of the way. She finished vacuuming and in no rush she wrapped up the cord all while shaking her ass and moving like an exotic dancer.

  If Denzel wasn’t watching it live, he would never believe it. His heart was throbbing with so much hurt, he didn’t know how to handle it.

  “I wonder what Denzel would think about this,” Destiny spoke up. Charm snapped out of her teasing quickly, and looked over at Destiny. She didn’t even see Destiny there recording her.

  “What are you doing?!” Charm shrieked. Seeing the guilt on Charm’s face, Denzel just hung up the phone. He was painting when he’d called Charm in the first place, so that very canvas that stood in front of him, he ripped apart in his anger. He couldn’t believe Charm had betrayed him like that.

  “Give me my phone!” Charm demanded of Destiny. She had to delete that video. “Why were you recording me?!”

  “Who said I was recording?” Destiny asked. Charm grabbed her phone and realized she wasn’t recording indeed.

  “What were you doing?”

  “Next time you wanna try me; just remember I’m the heartless bitch. Now go and try to explain to your man why the fuck you were being a personal dancer for the man you say you want a divorce from.”

  Charm’s heart pumped in her chest frantically at realizing what Destiny had done. She pushed Destiny out of the way and went into the kitchen to call Denzel back. But Destiny was hovering over her, trying to bask in her handiwork. So Charm left the kitchen and locked herself up in her room. Denzel answered the phone on the first ring.

  “What?!” He barked.

  “Let me just explain what happ-” Denzel banged the phone on her, hanging up. Charm cursed. She stripped out of her clothes in a hurry and returned to her baggy jeans and t-shirt. Without a word to Terrell or to Destiny, she left the house, hurrying to get to the gallery where she knew Denzel was.

  ********

  Denzel was packing up his art supplied angrily when Charm burst through the door. He’d hung up on her only 15 minutes ago but he figured she would come talk to him face to face.

  “Don’t get any closer,” Denzel warned her. He was too angry to know what the fuck he might do to her.

  “It wasn’t what it looked like,” she said. “I was only doing it to get on Destiny’s nerves. She called me out about my miscarriage again and I just had to do something to get at her. And Terrell, they’d been fucking in my face, and I don’t know I just wanted to tease the both of them.”

  “But why?” Denzel asked. “Why is it that important for you to tease them like that when you’re not interested in being with Terrell. Or are you?”

  “You know I’m not!” She exclaimed.

  “So where’s the divorce papers. You’ve been holding onto them and you still haven’t shown it to him. Why?”

  “Because-I’m waiting for the right time to bring it up!”

  “The right time?” Denzel asked. “There will never be a fucking right time!”

  “But-”

  “You have me here waiting on you like a fucking fool, and you’re playing games with my fucking heart, Charm! I told you I loved you! I told you not to string me along if you were going to get back with Terrell.”

  “I’m not getting back with him!” She screamed. “I WANT YOU!”

  “So you prancing around in a fucking stripper outfit, is a way of showing me that you want me,
Charm? There’s some shit I’m not gonna tolerate, and that’s one of them. You’re supposed to be sharing your body with me, Charm. And I don’t give a fuck if he’s seen your body a thousand times. Now it’s not his to see. It’s mine! How the fuck do I know you haven’t been fucking him?”

  “You should know, because I’m telling you I’m not fucking him,” she snapped. “I’m sorry, I wanted to tease him, but I’m telling you it was innocent. I haven’t touched him or thought about fucking him. Which it’s not like you’ve been fucking me either. I’ve been dick-less on both you and Terrell’s account.” Denzel crossed his arms and glared at her.

  “Maybe if you pranced around in one of those outfits for me, I can feel like fucking you,” He stated.

  “So I’m not enough for you now?” She asked. “You know what-I’m not going to let you yell and throw a tantrum with me about something I did as a way to stand up for myself and not let Destiny or Terrell walk all over me. I was just wearing a fucking outfit, you actually fucked your ex!”

  “I fucked her to keep you out of jail!” Denzel shrieked.

  “I don’t know why the fuck you’re so damn mad, Denzel. Remember what you told me?! We’re not together, because I’m still married. So if you can use that to justify fucking Gabby, then I’m gonna use that to simply teasing my husband to get back at him. And you know, ever since you fucked her, you been sticking up for her, crying, talking about she has a fucking disorder.”

  “Because it changes shit!” He snapped.

  “She still tried to fucking kill me!” Charm screamed.

  “Don’t try to turn this all on me,” Denzel said. “You’re the one to violated my trust. At least I told you straight to your face I was going to fuck Gabby to keep you out of jail. You know point blank it was wrong of you to do what you did. That’s why you looked so fucking guilty when you thought Destiny was recording it.” Charm raised her hands and dropped it.

  “What’d you want from me?” She asked.

  “Nothing,” he replied, shrugging.

  “Nothing?” She asked. “You know what, have it your fucking way, Denzel Johnson.”

  “Oh no. It’s your fucking way, Charm Robinson. Go back to your fucking husband and stay with him, if you don’t want to move on and have a life with me.” Charm opened her mouth to speak but she couldn’t. In his eyes she saw he was angry, but there was something else there. The heartbreak was evident. And she was sure he could see that reflected in her eyes as well.

  “Fine,” She whispered. “I’ll get out of your life, if that’s what you want.” She turned to leave. Denzel watched her walk away, fighting the urge to run after her. What he’d seen her doing with Terrell made him unsure that he could trust her. Insecure in the fragile relationship they had. And even though he wanted her desperately, he had to stop himself from being even more heartbroken by the fact that she truly might never leave Terrell. And Denzel just had to accept it for what it was and try to move on himself.

  Chapter Twenty

  It took Brianna and Jason two days to figure out what was happening between Charm and Denzel. Charm refused to go to the gallery at all, because she just couldn’t handle seeing Denzel. Her heart would just continue to crumple, and she couldn’t lose herself in front of him. With her phone on DND, she sat in her room, painting with her music playing loudly. It was so loud she didn’t even hear Terrell knock on the door, only when he entered the room. He was holding his ribs and breathing heavily, but he took his time and caught his breath before speaking.

  “What’s wrong?” He asked, over the music. Terrell knew when Charm was listening to her India Arie especially ‘I am Ready For Love,’ something was wrong. Charm turned down the song.

  “Nothing,” she replied, continuing to paint. Terrell peeked at the painting, seeing it was of a woman crying next to a window splattered with raindrops.

  “You’re not a good liar,” he said. “I see it all over your face, plus, this damn painting.”

  “What you want, Terrell?” She sighed.

  “I finally got a good nurse. She starts next week. But even though she’s here, I still want you to stay with me.” Charm blinked away a tear that was threatening to fall. She didn’t even know why she was starting to cry.

  “I can’t stay,” she said. She went over to the night table drawer and pulled out the divorce papers. She handed them to him.

  “I’ve stayed here to help you, Terrell, and it killed my chance at having a relationship with the man I really wanted. Pay me back by please just signing the papers. Please.” Terrell had rarely heard his wife beg. And right now, she looked downright sad and helpless.

  “You didn’t really love him,” Terrell said. She looked at him.

  “How could you know that?” She asked. “If you loved me, you had a poor way of showing it. And Denzel, he showed me what it was like to get real love.”

  “I’m not signing these papers, Charm. I’m not giving up on us, because I do love you.” Terrell didn’t know how she was going to react, but when she burst into tears, he didn’t know what to think.

  “Cha-”

  “Just get out!” She screamed. Terrell left the room quickly and locked her inside. Charm ran to the bathroom in the room as vomit came up her throat. She fell in front of the toilet, throwing up and crying at the same time. Her life, like her undigested food, was going straight down the toilet.

  ********

  “Have you lost your mind?” Brianna asked Denzel. He wasn’t answering her calls, so she’d shown up at his loft and let herself in. Back in his bedroom he was sprawled out on his bed looking up at the ceiling.

  “Not now, Brie.”

  “Yes, now! Charm needs you more than ever right now, why would you say you don’t wanna see her?”

  “She was entertaining her husband in a cute little outfit. I guess for his pleasure. Who knows? I just can’t deal with that kind of shit.” Brianna slapped him on the chest.

  “You idiot! I’m the one who gave her the idea to do it anyways!” Denzel looked at her.

  “It still doesn’t matter. She’s not gonna get her divorce.”

  “Yes, she is! Denzel, stop this! You know you want to be with her!” Denzel just rolled over, giving her his back. Brianna saw her best friend sad before. She saw him angry. And she saw him at his lowest of lows. But this was something else. It was like he was more than heartbroken. He was crushed.

  “Denzel,” she whispered. “She’ll come back to you. I know it.” With that said, she left him alone, not wanting to keep bothering him. But she wished she could make everything better. She phoned Jason.

  “I just left Denzel. He’s a wreck. Your turn to try with Charm.”

  “I just did. She won’t budge and she refuses to come to the gallery, because she doesn’t want to see him. She’s more than a fucking wreck. Especially with Terrell hanging over her. I don’t know what to do about this.”

  “Give it time,” Brianna sighed. “I guess that’s the only thing we can do.”

  ********

  For another week, Charm avoided going to the gallery. They didn’t have any events planned, so Charm wasn’t worried about missing out on anything. The only thing she did miss was Denzel. His voice, his touch, his smile. Oh, his smile would light up her day, no matter what. As she lay in bed, she opened her phone and looked at the messages they’d send each other. She was still mad at him for blacking on her the way he did, but then again, she was upset because she lost him. All because of her stupidity and her need to one up Destiny. She seriously fucked up. Her phone when off in her hand, and for a dumb moment, she really thought it was Denzel. It wasn’t.

  “What Jason?” She asked.

  “You need to come to the gallery right now,” he said, urgently.

  “I told you I’m not going there-”

  “No, Charm, seriously. You have to come to the gallery. This is important company business. And you’re gonna wanna be here for this.” Charm knew Jason was serious about the art company
, so his alertness about the company meant real shit was happening.

  “Okay, I’ll be there.” She hung up the phone and quickly got dressed. Terrell’s nurse was scheduled to start working the next day, so she checked on Terrell real fast before leaving the house. Charm knew Denzel was going to be at the gallery, so she just prepared herself to see him.

  Denzel felt his heart yearn the moment Charm walked through the gallery doors. She was wearing baggy jeans again and a tank top, and Denzel couldn’t stop thinking about how beautiful she was. He missed her like crazy, but just remembering her in that damn outfit for Terrell countered his heartbreak.

  “What’s going on?” Charm asked, not even looking in Denzel’s direction. Jason hurried over to her with the iPad in his hand.

  “We just got hired to paint a mural for a private school. It’s a school of the arts and it’s newly opening, so they want something done before students and parents arrive.”

  “Holy crap,” Charm gasped. She read the email they’d sent to the company account.

  “Look how much they want to pay,” Jason said.

  “Twenty grand?!” Charm shrieked. She opened the photos they’d sent. The wall was huge and they expected it to be completely filled. The job alone would take months, but was well worth the twenty grand.

  “Oh, shit,” Denzel gasped. Charm made the mistake by looking in his direction. Their eyes met and Charm’s clit jumped while her heart mourned. She looked away immediately.

  “I don’t know about y’all, but I need this gig,” Brianna said.

  “We all need this gig,” Charm said.

  “Then you and Denzel have to be in this. I can paint, but not like y’all. So we’re literally, counting on the both of you,” Brianna added.

  “We’re taking this job,” Charm replied. “I’m sure Denzel can be professional and so can I.”

  “I think you guys should talk,” Jason said. “Without me and Brianna here. Because then we have to discuss as a whole what would look good on the wall, based off what the school wants. It has to be a team effort. That, plus, the school is about 45 minutes away, we don’t want things to be awkward on the drive on the days we were working on the wall, and when we’re actually working.”