Chapter 14 #2
“I hate myself enough without you coming up here to drag me,” she whispered as she sobbed. “You don’t think I replay that night? You don’t think I regret it?”
“This ain’t about you hating yourself,” I said, jaw tight. “I don’t give a fuck about your self-pity bullshit right now. I came up here ’cause my brother told me the truth, and I realized you been doing Harlowe foul on top of doing me foul, and I ain’t about to let that shit slide.”
“I invited her here for you, you know?” she blurted suddenly, like I gave a damn. “This retreat? The brand deal? I sent that email to her because I missed you. I thought if I extended an olive branch, it would show you I was trying and you’d take me back.”
“An olive branch?” I repeated, staring at her like she was crazy. “You flew her halfway across the world so you could fake being friends with her again and get back to the nigga you cheated on?”
“It made sense in my head,” she said quickly. “I thought it would work. I thought maybe we could rebuild something. And then you two showed up together and it just—” She paused, shaking her head. “It felt like y’all betrayed me.”
“You cheated. You left. You broke it off. You lied. Harlowe still tried to be gracious when she saw you again, and you repaid her by trying to embarrass her on a boat full of strangers.”
Her eyes hardened through the tears. “So that’s it? I’m just the villain now? No grace for the fact that I messed up in the beginning of our relationship? I love you, Hasheem.”
“You not the villain,” I said. “You just not the victim.”
She stared at me like that cut deeper than anything else I’d said.
“You really love her,” she whispered.
“I been loved her,” I answered simply. “I just finally stopped pretending it was anything less than what it is.”
“So what did you come up here for?” she asked.
I shook my head. How I never saw that there was something seriously wrong with this girl was wild.
“I came up here to put the truth on the table, so I can move forward with my woman. So you know you owe her an apology and not another slick comment. So you know this little triangle you been running in your head is over.”
“Hasheem, I’m sorry. I never thought we wouldn’t end up back together. You said you were going to marry me,” she said. “You really expect me to just stand here and forget all of that because I made a mistake?”
“I expect you to own your shit,” I said. “And then leave us alone.”
“You don’t mean that,” she said, coming closer. “You can’t. You don’t look at me and feel nothing, Hasheem. I know you. I know your body.” She reached up, palm flattening against my chest. There was a time that touch did something to me, but right now, it was only annoying the shit out of me.
“Don’t touch me,” I said, grabbing her wrist and moving her hand off me. “I’m not interested.” I turned to leave. I did not have time for this shit.
“No, fuck that!” she snapped, running in front of the door and yanking the tie on her robe loose, exposing her black lace bra and matching panties.
“Tell me you don’t want me,” she said, stepping closer to me. “Look me in my face, and tell me you don’t miss me.”
“I already did,” I said. “More than once. Now move out the fucking way, Simone.”
“No!” She took her robe and tossed it on the other side of the room. I jerked sideways as the robe flew past me and landed right on top of a flat pillar candle on the dresser. That was bad.
“Shit,” I said as the edge of the robe caught fire and then quickly started spreading.
“Oh my God.” Simone gasped as the fire rose up the side of the dresser.
“Back up,” I snapped, already moving. “Move, Simone.”
She stumbled back, now in nothing but a matching bra and panties, eyes locked on the fire like it was hypnotizing her.
I grabbed at the robe, trying to yank it off the candle and stomp it out, but heat slapped my knuckles.
The flame jumped to the runner, then kissed the dried flowers they had sitting there for vibes.
“Call downstairs!” I barked. “Front desk. Now.”
“I-I—” She was frozen.
“Simone!” I turned and pointed at her. “Phone! Now!”
“Okay.” She lunged for the nightstand and snatched up the room phone.
“Hello? There’s a fire in my room!” she cried. “My candles caught on fire!”
I looked around the room, my firefighter brain kicking in instantly.
This was a small surface fire. The curtains were a few feet off.
If it jumped there, we were in trouble. The bathroom was too far to get the water there in time.
My options were to extinguish or trigger suppression.
I grabbed the metal trash can by the desk and dumped it, then used the rim to shovel as much of the burning robe and runner into it as I could.
“Come on,” I muttered, hauling the can under the nearest sprinkler head. I needed to trigger the sprinklers. I lifted the can up to hold the flames right under the sensor.
“Fuck!” I cursed under my breath. If this trip ended with the whole damn resort burning down, I was going to be pissed. Cold water rained down from the ceiling, soaking everything, including us, the bed, the dresser, the ruined robe, and the flames until they died down.
“Oh my God!” Simone shrieked as the water drenched her. I dropped the can, letting it hit the soaked carpet.
“Fire’s out,” I said as I walked past Simone.
I grabbed a dry throw blanket off the only chair that hadn’t been directly under the spray and walked it over.
This was not supposed to be a part of my day.
I’d planned on laying up under Harlowe after her massage, not put out a fire with Simone’s ass.
The hallway alarm started blaring a second later, and loud pounding sounded on the door.
“Resort staff! Everyone okay in there?” Someone called. Before we could answer, the door swung open and two staff members and a security guard rushed in, eyes going wide at the scene.
“Sir, ma’am, is anyone hurt?” the guard asked.
“I’m fine,” Simone said quickly. “It was an accident.”
I glanced at her, and she was still looking around like this was some bullshit. The whole room smelled like smoke and wet wax.
“Sir, ma’am, we need you both to step out,” one of the hotel staff employees said, already guiding us toward the door while another hit the panel on the wall.
“We’ll finish checking the room.” They ushered us outside, where more staff were rushing to the scene with fire extinguishers.
It was a whole damn spectacle. People were coming out of their villas, trying to see what was going on.
I rubbed my hand down my face, still trying to grasp what the fuck had just happened.
Before I could fully process it, Harlowe came into view.
She was coming from the other end of the walkway with a Duality staff member, still in her massage robe and hotel slippers.
Her face was curious at first, eyes scanning the commotion, then they landed on me.
I watched it hit her in real time at the same time it hit me.
Shit, this looks bad. Her gaze bounced between me, Simone wrapped in a blanket, and Simone’s villa behind us.
“Lowe—” I started, stepping toward her. I ain’t want to let her mind spin out of control.
“It’s not—” My words trailed off as she lifted her hand and slapped the fuck out of me.
My head snapped to the side. I could hear a few “damns” roll through the crowd.
I deserved that one. I could take it. What I wasn’t ready for was how quick she lunged at Simone.
“You jealous, insecure bitch,” Harlowe snapped, and all hell broke loose. She wasn’t thinking about cameras, staff, nothing. I moved toward her, grabbing her before she could get a full swing off.
“Let go of me, Hasheem!” she screamed.
“Nope. Not here.” Tiana came flying out of nowhere. “We not doing this out here.”
“Let me go!” Harlowe tried to break past me and Tiana, tears already running down her face. “You see this shit? You see him standing out here with this half naked bitch! Are you serious right now, Hasheem?”
I looked around at the crowd. Phones were out all around us and people were whispering.
“Put them damn cameras down.” Tiana clocked that quick. “Ain’t nobody getting a show off my friend’s pain. If I see this on TikTok, I’m reporting pages. I swear to God.” Everybody’s phones went down, but nobody turned away.
“Harlowe.” I tried again, reaching for her. “Lowe, just listen to me for one second. It’s not what it looks like. I was up here to—” She jerked away from my hand with pure disgust on her face.
“What could you possibly say?” she demanded. “I came out of my massage, heard there was a fire, and find you at her door with the sprinklers going off while she standing there damn near naked. How is that ever not what it looks like, Hasheem?”
I opened my mouth, but Tiana cut in, grabbing Harlowe’s hand.
“Not here,” she said firmly. “You can cuss him out in private if you want, but you not gon’ give these people a front row seat to your business. Come on.”
Harlowe’s shoulders started shaking. She sniffled hard, swiping at her face with the back of her hand.
“I don’t want to look at him,” she said, voice cracking. “I can’t. I can’t.” She broke down in Tiana’s arms.
“Lowe!” I called again, but she ignored me and kept walking.
“Sir?” one of the security guys said, stepping into my line of sight with a little tablet. “We’re gonna need a quick statement from you about what happened with the fire.”
I dragged a hand down my face. I didn’t have time for no statement. I needed to get to Harlowe before she jumped to more conclusions and ended us before we even got to start.
“Candles in the room,” I said. “Her robe landed on one, caught the fabric, small surface fire. I moved the burning material into a metal can and held it under the sprinkler to trigger suppression. Fire’s out. No injuries.”
“And you are?” he asked. His eyes flicked between me and Simone.
“Hasheem Hart,” I said. “I’m a firefighter back home. That’s why I knew what to do.”
“It was my fault,” Simone blurted, clutching the blanket tighter. “I threw the robe. I didn’t mean for it to hit the candle. He was just trying to stop it. He saved my life.”
“Anything else you need from me?” I asked. I didn’t bother looking at Simone. I didn’t care to.
“No, we might follow up later,” he said. “But for now, you’re good. Please don’t re-enter the room until maintenance clears it.”
“Wasn’t planning on it.” I turned to walk away, my feet already moving again. I didn’t give a fuck about reentering Simone’s room. That was her mess to deal with. Mine was a few villas down, probably destroying all my shit by now.
“Yo.” I looked up to see Malik coming toward me. “Man, tell me you weren’t in there doing what the fuck it looks like you were doing.”
“I wasn’t.” I blew out a breath through my nose. “You really think I’m dumb enough to cheat on my girl in a resort full of cameras and gossiping-ass people?”
He studied my face for half a second, then nodded once. “Aight. Then go fix it,” he said. “’Cause from out here? It looks bad as hell.”
“Yeah,” I said more to myself than him, already picking up my pace toward our villa. “I’m on it.”
He wasn’t wrong. I hated that I’d even given Simone enough room to spin anything, and I hated that Harlowe had to see what she saw. If I lost Harlowe behind some shit I didn’t even do, I was going to lose my mind.