Chapter 8
Chapter
Eight
“We just got back together and you breaking up wit’ me already, Evie?” Owen asked as he sat across from her on the couch in her office. “I gotta tell you, this is a fucked-up way to welcome a nigga back home.”
Evie sat slightly leaning over her sewing table, working on the last of six dresses for a wedding anniversary for one of her top clients.
As soon as he’d gotten home from California, Evie texted him, asking him to stop by so they could talk.
Instead of beating around the bush, she ripped the Band-Aid off and told him that their relationship was no longer serving her.
Owen Parker was fine as fuck. His light brown skin was healthy and blemish-free.
He had dreamy brown eyes, bushy sexy ass eyebrows, and long wavy hair that he kept neatly cornrowed.
He was average height, slim but fit. His lineup was perfection, and he always smelled amazing.
Unfortunately, he no longer made her heart, or her pussy beatbox, the way it once did.
“Owen,” Evie sighed as she tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear.
“We’ve been together for six months; we didn’t just get back together.
Now, I apologize for hitting you with this shit as soon as you got back in town, but you know I don’t sugarcoat shit.
It’s just not working. And to be honest, we shouldn’t have gotten back together in the first place.
And you know that shit as much as I do. I think we both wanted shit to work out because we’re familiar with each other and have a certain level of trust from that familiarity.
But the same problems we had, and the same reason I broke up with you then, are exactly why I’m ending things with you now.
“Yeah, but we both said we’d try to?—”
“I’m tired as fuck of trying, Owen. Absolutely, positively tired, actually.
I think, in my mind, because you were the first man who allowed me to be soft after living in survival mode with my ex for so long, ‘til I just felt obligated to give us another chance, so I spent the block with you. The love I’ve always had for you, the hope that you’d changed, and the fact that I was lonely clouded my judgment and were all factors in a decision I shouldn’t have made.
I was wrong. But because I was broken and still dealing with the ashes from being in a bad place both when we got together the first and second time, I convinced myself that us getting back together was the right choice. ”
“But I still love and support you even?—”
“To an extent, Owen. Work has always been and still is your priority. And you are one of the least affectionate men I’ve ever met.
You complain about how many times in a day I wanna fuck.
You hardly ever wanna take me out on dates, and you constantly disregard my job and tell me it wasn’t smart to choose my passion over the good job I had as a dentist. Sometimes, I feel like you just exist in my life to let me down and crush my dreams with your doctor’s degree nose that you look down on me with.
You’re all about me living a realistic, safe, prestigious life that you can be happy about.
And that living up to your standards is the only way I’ll be able to get acknowledgment in your world. ”
“Damn,” Owen scratched his chin. “You always were a straight, no-chaser typa chick. Though I’m still not a fan of it most of the time, I’ll forever respect it. I honestly wish you would’ve given us more time to get shit right this time, though. I really believe you’re my person and that I’m yours.”
“There’s no way you really believe that, Owen.
Shit, I don’t think your heart was ever truly in this relationship the first or the second time.
We both accepted the bare minimum from each other and were roommates and friends, with very few benefits beyond that.
And I, for one, don’t want that typa relationship. ”
“Don’t speak for me, Evie, but even if that was the case, why would you accept the bare minimum when you wanted something else? Why not just be honest about how you felt and what you wanted?”
Evie shrugged, “Scared to want more, I guess. I wasn't sure I deserved it. Between the heartbreak that came before you, the verbal abuse and disregard for my feelings when I was in past relationships, and the fucking emotional ass rollercoaster I was on when you ran into me at Bert’s piano bar back in March, you were like a breath of fresh air. For a little while at least. And even though you became a safe space for me for a while, you’ve been more like a friend and less like a lover. ”
Owen massaged his chin as he processed her words. He was surprised and disappointed in her true feelings. He glanced over at her and was just in awe of her beauty and her drive. He sat with his thoughts for several long minutes before finally gathering them to speak.
“Well, I appreciate ya honesty as always, but I ain’t gon’ lie, knowing how you really feel, how you've always felt, stings like a muthafucka. I really thought you’d accepted me for me.
And maybe you forgot, but once I explained the reasoning behind everything, I thought we were good.
I told you that I was taught that work is my first priority as a man.
That’s just something my father drilled into me long before I took over his medical practice.
I don’t know how to show affection besides buying you things, because that’s the only kind of affection I've known. Both from my parents and the women I've dated. Well, every woman except for you. As far as you choosing your passion to make a living, I didn't see anything wrong with it; I just agreed with your dad that it isn’t practical to go from being a dentist to a seamstress. You don’t go from guaranteed money to maybe money.”
Evie whipped her head up so fast from the sewing table that she damn near got whiplash.
Mugging him, she chuckled almost sinisterly as she sat back and asked, “Who said that being a seamstress wasn’t guaranteed, Owen?
I’ve literally had nonstop business since the day I announced my business.
And when I added the mobile service, my business tripled.
Also, who told you that being a seamstress isn’t practical, besides my fucking daddy? ”
“I didn’t say that being a seamstress wouldn’t make you money; it’s just not a good long-term job choice. Whereas dentistry isn’t just a profession where you can make money; it's a respected profession and will open doors in the business world for you that can only lead to more success.”
“Tuh,” Evie chuckled as she shook her head. “You sound just like my dad. You‘re wrong just like him too.”
“Hey,” Owen shrugged with this high and mighty air that only he could deliver. “You know we’re right. That’s why you’re pissed. You’ve always struggled with reality and the fairytale world you live in, Evie.”
“No, I haven’t; you’re just so fucked up mentally that you refuse to see life any other way but the strict, loveless way that it was taught to you. Also, being a seamstress makes me happy, more than being a dentist ever did. So that's gonna always count for something in my book.”
“It shouldn't,” Frowning, he sucked his teeth. “Happiness is overrated. True happiness in a dream profession or in love or life, period, is all an illusion. It always has been.”
“Hence the very reason that I’m finally pulling the plug on this relationship that’s been on life support way too long.
Please, see yourself out, Owen. I’ve got work to do.
“Evie said as she pushed back from the table, stood, and headed to the breakroom for a bottle of cold water.
She was annoyed when she came back a few minutes later, and his ass was still there.
“Owen,” she began as she lowered her head into her hands and began massaging her temples. “Why the hell are you still here?”
“I uh, I need a favor.”
“Interesting.” A sarcastic smirk spread across Evie’s lips as she placed her hands on her hips. “You need a favor from a dummy. How does that work?”
Owen chuckled as he shook his head. “I never said you were a dummy. Just because I don’t agree with your career choices don’t mean I think you’re dumb. You’re actually one of the smartest people I’ve ever met.”
Smacking her lips, returned to her table and took a seat. “Of course you gon’ clean that shit up now that you need a favor.”
“I promise you I ain’t trying to clean shit up, but I do need you to do me this solid. At least do it for me off the strength of the friends we used to be.”
“Your sarcastic ass is laying it on kinda thick, ain’t you nigga? What do you need, Owen?”
“For you to pretend that we’re still together and be my date for my sister’s wedding Sunday evening. I’on need my momma and aunties trying to hook me up with any of their friends’ granddaughters or nieces.”
“Mhm, I need to think about it. I’ll text you my answer by morning.”
“A’ight, I appreciate you,” he said as he stood, stretched, then headed to the exit.
And if your answer ends up being no, being able to call you mine, even if only for a little while, has truly been my pleasure.
Whatever nigga that ends up learning how to properly handle your heart is gon’ be one lucky muthafucka wit’ you as his lady. ”
Evie didn’t want to smile when the nigga left, but her lips curved into a smile anyway.
Owen had a lot of qualities she loved, but it was the ones she couldn’t get past that would forever be a problem for her.
Sighing, she welcomed the heaviness that had been lifted off her shoulders for finally nipping shit in the bud with Owen, but thoughts of Norie caused a different kind of heaviness to settle deep within her.