Epilogue
SEVEN MONTHS LATER
“How do I look?” I asked as I spun around nervously in front of Salem, Chelsea, and Nate. The two of them had started dating, and we all had several date nights together.
“You look gorgeous as always,” Salem answered before he kissed me.
“I tried to tell her that,” my mama stated as she walked out of the room that I had used as a dressing room from behind me.
“You know that girl doesn’t listen to anything,” Primrose remarked.
“Hmm, sounds just like her big sister.” Kalvin reprimanded my sister.
I giggled, and she rolled her eyes.
“Must be a woman thing,” Mason, my older brother, chimed in. That comment earned him an elbow from my sister-in-law, Reena, who warned, “You better watch yourself, Mason.”
My mother rolled her eyes at my father, who walked up to me and kissed me on the top of my head. “Y’all can leave my princess alone.”
“Okay, it’s time to open up now. The natives are restless,” Chelsea remarked as she headed for the doors.
Everyone moved around the room to different spots as I walked to the door where my best friend stood, and my man stood on the other side of me.
“Ready?” Chelsea asked.
I blew out a calming breath, and I nodded. They pulled the doors open, and I smiled at the waiting crowd.
“Welcome to Koi’s Pond.”
They all stepped inside and took a look around at the space. It was decorated in hues of blue and green with large leafy palms throughout the space. On the back wall, there was a large aquarium, and on the two side walls, there were waterfalls.
As you walked past the initial lobby and deeper into the space, the color scheme remained the same, but my paintings hung on the walls underneath spotlights and track lighting.
“Thank you all for joining me tonight. This place has been a dream in my heart for a long time, but one that I did not dare pursue. I tucked it away and hid it out of fear that it would become trampled on.
“But in time, I met a very special man, who convinced me that our gifts aren’t given to us to hide. Instead, we are supposed to place them out for the world to see that we may glorify the Almighty.”
I closed my eyes briefly and thanked God for His amazing grace and gifts He had bestowed upon me.
“Because of the love of one great man, I have been able to take the talents that were bestowed upon me by the Almighty, nurtured by my family, and highlighted by the love of my life, and share them with you tonight. But we didn’t stop at just sharing these gifts with you . . .”
I walked deeper into the space and pulled open glass double doors. “We have created a space for you to nurture your dreams.”
They stepped into the large open space with concrete floors, floor-to-ceiling windows that let in amazing light, with two double doors that looked out onto a garden with four koi ponds for inspiration.
“This is the space where you will create your pottery,” I explained as I pointed out the wheels, the equipment, and explained our processes to them. I led them further back to see the clay, glazes, and some of the pottery I had created with Salem, my family, friends, and Nate’s men.
I led them through a covered walkway that led to a space where one soda, one gas, and six electric kilns were housed. We moved beyond that area to a much larger, well-ventilated space with large windows.
“This is where you will sculpt the art that resides here,” I stated and placed a hand over my chest. I explained the process and rules. “You all may feel free to wander throughout both spaces and check things out. I have volunteers on hand to answer any questions you may have.”
“What about painting?” a middle-aged woman asked.
“I don’t offer that here, but this amazing woman, Chelsea Parker, has a wonderful art studio two blocks from here. Chelsea, would you please tell these amazing people what they can expect from your studio?”
“Sure.”
“Also, dinner will be served in half an hour, I’m told.” I had seen my sister lift her fingers and give me the sign. Primrose had catered tonight’s event.
I moved throughout the space for a while, mingling with the guests before it was time to eat. I had a total of one hundred people tonight for my grand opening, not including my family. Tables were set up in the art gallery space for us to eat.
We had finished our meal when I heard a clinking sound.
“I would like to propose a toast,” my father pronounced.
All eyes went to him, and he smiled brightly at me.
“Paulo Coelho said, ‘There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.’ My daughter lived her life in fear for a while, forcing her to remain stagnant in a state of mind and a place where she was unhappy. When she dared to unlock her heart and give life to her dreams, they all came true. I challenge every person in here tonight with a dream in their heart to breathe life into it.”
I smiled at my father, and everyone clinked their glasses with someone close to them. Salem stood next, and I wondered what he was about to toast.
“This amazing queen here that we are celebrating tonight is compassionate, selfless, kind, and creative, as you have been able to see by her paintings, sculptures, and pottery.
She inspires those of us around her to be at our best and to reach deep inside to give more, to be better, to aspire higher.
“She has taught me patience and shown me that I have strength I didn’t realize that I had. This queen has stretched me, pushed me, tested me, and made me a better man. Koi is the better half of me, and had it not been for her, I would not have taken half the challenges that I have taken.”
Tears filled my eyes as I stared up at my man. I grabbed his hand and replied, “I couldn’t have done it without you.”
Salem winked at me and mouthed, “Yes, you could have.”
He glanced around the room. “It wasn’t too long ago that I didn’t know what my future would hold. But unknowingly, she helped me map out what I needed, wanted, and couldn’t live without. “
Salem looked down at me and pressed on. “Baby, I have realized that you are the only one who I cannot live without. They can take away my knowledge, my will, my strength, and my freedom. As long as you’re by my side, none of that would matter.
You are my reason for fighting for another day.
You have helped me carve out my purpose in life.
Koi Pisces Hall, you are my purpose, my passion, my promise, and my professor of life.
There’s only one more role that I need you to fill in my life.
Would you marry me and become my wife?” he asked as he kneeled in front of me.
Shock filled my insides as love swelled in my heart. Gasps, cheers, and claps went around the room as I stared at him in disbelief. It had only been just over two years since we met, and we were here already.
“Yes, I’ll marry you!” I exclaimed excitedly as I wept.
Salem pulled out a white gold, halo ring. There was one large, marquise diamond surrounded by natural pear, round, and marquise diamond accents, with a natural diamond pavé along the band.
He slid the ring on my finger, and it fit perfectly. I was overwhelmed by the emotions of the moment. I was overcome with emotion as I continued to cry the tears that had threatened at various intervals throughout the night. He sat in his chair and pulled me onto his lap.
Salem and I lost ourselves in our kiss as everyone around us continued congratulating and cheering for us.
We arrived home two and a half hours later, after we celebrated with our family, friends, and the others we had invited to share the night with us.
Salem and I barely made it into the house before he had pulled my black sequined dress up around my hips. I tugged at his tie, trying to loosen it as we kissed our way into the living room. We didn’t make it past the chair that had been moved two more times since we moved in.
“You make me happier each day that we’re blessed to have together, Salem,” I whispered against his lips before he hungrily devoured mine.
“You betta appreciate me, girl. Got yourself a good ass man.”
Laughing, I replied, “I do.” He covered my mouth to kiss me again.
When we came up for air, I declared, “I don’t want to remember anything that came before you. I want to forget everything that happened with other men before you, Salem.”
“I’m gon’ make sure you do that shit. No worries, baby. It’s my life’s mission to make you happy, baby, and to make sure you never doubt my love for you again.”
“I never will. You’ve more than proven yourself.”
“Good. So now let me accomplish my other mission.”
“Which is?”
He turned me around, positioned my hands on either side of the chair, and answered, “To tattoo my name on this ass.”
He ripped my panties off, lifted my leg, and propped my knee on the arm of the chair. When he pushed into me, it wasn’t with gentleness or tenderness.
Salem aggressively made room in my body for himself. His hands reached around the front of my body and gripped my breasts tightly in his palms. He pushed them against me and then tugged my nipples.
His teeth sank into my shoulders before he pummeled me from behind.
“Ohhh shit! Yes, Salem. Like this. Just like this. I want to forget anything that didn’t feel like this.”
“Like what, baby?” he asked.
“Your love. Your attention. Your dick!” I screamed as he pounded me intensely and much faster than before.
I rocked forward, until my ass was in the air and my face pressed into the seat of the chair. Salem didn’t let up.
“I can’t breathe,” I cried out.
“Whose pussy is this?”
“It’s yours.”
“Whose ass?”
“Yours.”
“Whose heart?” he asked, reaching around and ripping my dress down the middle and pressing his hand against my chest.
“Yours,” I cried out as my voice grew hoarse.
Salem grabbed my other leg, and he rammed into me with my ass and legs in the air. When he pulled out, he pulled me up to my feet. My ponytail that I had fashioned for the night was now messy, my makeup smeared, and my dress ripped.
He sat on the chair, patted his thighs, and commanded, “Get on this dick.”
I climbed on him and slowly sank. Salem stared into my eyes and smiled. His hands held my face, and he pressed his lips gently against mine.
“I will always love you, girl. I knew the day I laid eyes on you that my heart was yours. I knew that I would lose myself with you.”
“And yet, you scared the hell out of me,” I confessed as I rose and fell on his dick.
“Why?”
“I felt too comfortable with you, in ways that I had never felt with another man.”
“That’s when you should have known you were destined to be my wife.”
I smiled, looked at my ring, and let the joy explode in my heart.
“I love you, Salem Iman Gates.”
“I love you the most, Koi Pisces Hall.”
When I dared to open my heart and let love in, I had the privilege of experiencing all my dreams come true, including those I had never expected.
As I accomplished each dream, I had the pleasure of being gifted new dreams by Almighty God.
And He had blessed me with an amazing partner to share them with.
“The world is ours, baby. Just let it all go and trust your man to secure this beautiful future that’s in store for us.”
“I trust you.”
“All right. Now teach me how to make this pussy weep, Professor P.”
I claimed his mouth in an intense kiss as he fingered my button and then slid one finger into my ass. Salem worked it as I rode him into a fevered frenzy.
We orgasmed together, and when I lay there out of breath, resting against his chest, and my body and soul were pleasured, my heart knew that it had found its home. Our breathing and our hearts were in sync.
I had the pleasure of being loved by and loving a man who was my passion, my purpose, and my promise.
THE END