Chapter 16 #2
That took much for Irish to reveal. Taking a leap of faith without her lifeguard, Jovanis, by her side was nerve wrecking. However, she had a man willing to catch her wherever she fell and Irish was relieved by that fact.
“But it’s time. You guys aren’t even in love anymore.” Ivory shrugged.
Irish envied her na?ve nature. She had no clue of how complicated love was or how making hard decision sometimes was a guaranteed way to hurt someone.
“Oh, Mama called again. Said something about her needing some money, so I dropped off some. I got it from the emergency stash.”
Irish’s nose scrunched. “Don't give her anything. I don't need you trying to save her ass. She will be fine until next week. I give her more than enough to live off once a month.”
“But she said she ran out of her medicine,” Ivory explained.
“She ran out because she’s taking more than prescribed. I know how to handle her, and you don't. She’ll try to guilt you into doing what she wants so don't fall for her shit. Whatever she needs has to go through me. You got it?”
“Geez, when did you become so damn mean to me?” Ivory rolled her eyes and walked toward the window.
Irish’s grimace softened. Life was beating her ass right now. She was married to a gay man and in love with a king, who had gotten her pregnant. Irish didn’t have time to be in her soft nature at the moment. Too many occurrences were happening in her life to be meek.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to come at you like that. It’s just… Daisy likes to play games, and I don't want her to do that to you.”
Ivory turned toward her. “Look, I know Mama left you to raise me after my father passed away. I know she didn’t offer any support to you, but why do you hate her?”
Irish cleared her throat, feeling nausea gather in her stomach.
Ivory was only aware of the soft parts of her story.
The kind that were able to be easily digested.
She didn’t know how Daisy hadn’t protected her from Emanuel and how he had sold her out to turn a profit.
Irish never wanted to bleed on Ivory so she shielded her from the truth.
“She didn’t offer me any assistance with you,” she halfway lied.
“I get that but it’s like you hate her and I don't think that warrants it. Like there has to be something else, Irish.”
There's so much that you're not aware of…
Irish wasn’t ready for that conversation. Between her woes with Jovanis and trying to figure out life after him, she didn’t have the emotional capacity to nurse Ivory. Irish’s story would indeed break her.
“Right now, I want to focus on telling the agent that I think this is the one.”
“Really?” Ivory gushed.
Irish was grateful for the distraction.
“Yes, I can see us here, living it up, and moving into the next phase of our lives.”
Ivory ran to her and wrapped her arms around her neck. “You are like the best sister ever. In the next lifetime, I wanna come back as your sister.”
Irish laughed, embracing her in her arms. “I appreciate that.”
Ivory pulled back. “Let’s go tell her.”
“Let’s.”
Darkness surrounded Rio as he laid in his bed.
His phone was propped in his hands as he scrolled through different apps.
Sleep had evaded him on this particular night.
Ever since the accident, Rio had trouble sleeping.
He’d fall asleep only to be awakened a few hours later.
For the last hour, he had been submerged into the Tuck exposure.
He couldn’t believe a man he considered a friend was out in the streets fucking men.
Being gay was something he never expected from Tuck.
Rio didn’t have any issue with gay people, but he hated the down low ones.
The ones that portrayed themselves as straight, deceiving everyone in their lives.
Despite his disdain, Rio felt bad for Tuck.
The St. Parklynn streets had been buzzing for the last two days about his sexual trysts.
With Tuck being in jail, it had to be sickening knowing he had been exposed and couldn’t do much about it.
Rio went on Instagram and scrolled. He wasn’t a person that used the app often but would post a quote in his story here and there.
Scrolling, he stopped at a post that literally provoked his heart to race.
He recognized the dainty fingers that were painted a deep plum shade.
Cali had the most beautiful hands ever with her smooth cacao skin. The caption read New paint!
“The fuck,” he whispered, wearing the perplexity on his face.
Rio zoomed in on her left hand and noticed an R on her ring finger.
When the fuck did she get this?
Rio was stumped and shouldn’t have cared, but his interest was piqued. Sending the picture to her inbox, he sent her a message. When did you get that?
Rio went back to scrolling until he received a notification in his direct message.
Not thinking she would reply at three o’clock in the morning, he was stunned to see her response.
Rio hadn’t spoken to Cali since their divorce meeting.
He’d written her off and sworn not to converse with her ever again.
Yet here he was, dead in the middle of the night, reading a message from her.
Not too long ago.
Rio read her message, trying to decipher when she could have gotten a tattoo with his initial on her finger.
Looking to his right, Rozalin was still fast asleep as he rose from the bed.
His bare feet padded the chilled tile as he walked into the living room.
The city lights illuminated his dark condo as he took a seat on the couch.
Rio couldn’t understand why he was so invested in this.
Or why he tapped the phone icon up top and placed it to his ear.
“Hello?” Cali answered on the first ring.
Immediately, Rio’s eyes closed. Pain and yearning clashed inside his heart. One battling the other. Why was he so conflicted? This was his biggest opp. The girl who used to have his heart in her palm but decided to step on it rather than cherish it.
“Why you getting tattoos of my initial, Calia?”
His voice was void of love; only resentment resided there now.
For a while she was silent, until her tone broke through. “I just… I wanted it.”
“Why?”
That question was loaded. It wasn’t just a why did she get that tattoo, but why did she ruin them? Why did she cheat on him? Why did she choose a nigga that wasn’t a fourth of the man Rio was? He’d never asked why because truthfully, Rio didn’t think he would be able to stomach her answer.
“It’s a reminder of the love I lost. I’ve been depressed and needed to feel you, but I know I can’t. So, it was a night where I couldn’t sleep because you were on my mind. I got up and went to get it. I don't know why but I just needed to do it.”
Rio scoffed, unmoved by her story. If only she had been that adamant about keeping her legs closed.
“That shit ain't gon’ change nothing. It’s still fuck you.”
Rio loathed being mean to Cali, but he had to make that clear. They would never share the passion and love they once possessed. Even though he wanted nothing more than to envelope her body into his embrace and kiss her pain away. He couldn’t do that because she was the source of his agony.
“I know,” she muttered.
For a while neither of them said anything. They just held the phone while the pain of what used to be lingered between the two.
“Rio, I’m sorry. I swear I am. I regret ever hurting you. You didn’t deserve it.”
This conversation required some emotional maturity and Rio didn’t have any. Instead of listening, he abruptly ended the call while cursing himself for even reaching out to Cali. Her sorry did nothing but refuel his bitterness. It reminded him of why he despised her in the first place.
“Fuck her,” he mumbled, rising from the couch. He stalked back to his bedroom and resumed his position in the bed.
Rozalin snuggled closer, casting her powdery scent over him.
Rage visited Rio again, but he couldn’t blame anyone except himself.
He should've never reached out to Cali. Hearing her voice revived feelings he had deemed dead.
Cali should've been a distant memory by now. Instead, she abided inside Rio’s being, encouraging him to walk away feeling hollow because his heart had been missing.
“Are you okay?” Rozalin asked.
Rio wanted to yell out, “Hell no!” He wanted to shove her away and run back to the girl he thought was his safe haven.
Rozalin had been a great distraction, but she wasn’t Cali.
She didn’t smell like her. She didn’t feel like her and she didn’t taste like her.
However, she was still great. Rozalin was all woman.
She didn’t parade herself as this loyal person because it was authentically her.
Rozalin did what she said and had been honest so far.
Rio didn’t necessarily possess warm and fuzzy feelings for her, but he fucked with her.
“Do you need me to put you back to sleep?”
She climbed on top of him, traveling down to his erection. They’d been fucking like hot-blooded teens, lately, exploring each other’s bodies like they had a personal manual. As much as Rio secretly yearned for Cali, he had to admit that Rozalin was a nice stand-in.
“Yeah, handle that.”
Noble hated awkwardness. Being the natural born leader he was, he always felt he had to navigate every situation he was in, except this dilemma had nothing to do with him.
He was summoned to be a listening ear, but Tuck had been in silence ever since he sat down.
Pain inhabited his eyes. He looked ill and rightfully so.
His character had been stripped without his permission. That had to hurt.
“So, you called me here to be quiet?” Noble asked, tired of the silence.
Tuck leaned up, resting his arms on the table. His head hung a bit as he dodged eye contact with Noble.
“Cuz, I’m… I can’t believe this shit.” He shook his head.