CHAPTER THREE
Amara
On Monday morning before work, with a shaky hand I opened the door to a small café where Darriun and I used to have breakfast before work. The familiar scent of freshly brewed coffee washed over me, mingling with the memories of happier days spent lost in each other's company. But today, there's no warmth in the atmosphere—only a simmering anger that threatened to boil over.
Darriun stood as he spotted me entering the doorway, his tall stature cutting a striking figure against the soft light filtering through the windows. He was dressed in a navy suit with a blue and white striped tie, he looked every bit of the charm and sophistication that first captured my heart. His dark skin is flawless, and he flashed me a smile showing off his bright white teeth
The faithful admiration I once held for him evaporated in an instant, replaced by a seething resentment that bubbled beneath the surface. I crossed the room with purposeful strides, my gaze locked on him as I approached the table where he waited.
“Darriun,” I greeted him tersely, my voice laced with a bitterness I couldn't quite conceal.
“Amara,” he responded, his tone carefully neutral as he gestured for me to take a seat across from him. “It's good to see you.”
I resisted the urge tell him to go to hell and take his fake pleasantries, with him. My jaw clenched tight against the torrent of emotions threatening to spill forth. Instead, I settled into the chair opposite him, my posture rigid with tension as I braced myself for the confrontation that I knew was inevitable.
Darriun cleared his throat, his gaze flickering away from mine as he struggled to find the right words. “I know this is... unexpected,” he began again, his voice hesitant. “But I felt we needed to talk.”
The audacity of his statement ignites a spark of fury within me, and I felt my control slipping as months of pent-up frustration bubbled to the surface. “Talk?” I repeated incredulously, my voice raised with each syllable. “After everything you put me through, you have the nerve to sit here and act like nothing's wrong?”
Darriun recoiled slightly at the venom in my words, his expression faltering for the briefest of moments before he schooled his features into a mask of indifference. “Amara, I understand that you're upset,” he said placatingly, his tone grating on my already frayed nerves. “But I think it's time we put the past behind us.”
“The past?” I sneer, my laughter bitter and sharp. “You mean the past nine months that you've spent avoiding me like the plague? Or the past three years that you threw away without so much as a goodbye?”
Darriun's jaw tightens at my accusations, his facade slipping ever so slightly as the weight of my words hangs heavy in the air between us. “Amara, I never meant to hurt you,” he insisted, his voice tinged with a hint of desperation. “But things just weren't working between us anymore. You know that.”
Rage surges through me and brimmed over before I can stop myself, the words come tumbling out in a torrent of pent-up emotion. “You're blaming this on me?” I seethed, my voice trembling with anger. “After everything I gave to this relationship, you have the gall to sit there and tell me it's my fault?”
Darriun's expression softens, a flicker of remorse crossed his features as he reached out to place a hand over mine. “Amara, please,” he implored, his voice tinged with regret. “I don't want us to be enemies. I just want us to be civil, for old times' sake. That’s why I invited you to my wedding.”
“Oh, so your future wife caused you to break my heart. How long have you known Tina?”
“All of my life it seems. We were high school and college sweethearts. She moved away to pursue a modeling career. She married and then I met you. Tina was and is the love of my life. When she divorced a year ago and told me she was moving back to Atlanta, I knew I had to follow my heart. I’m sorry I hurt you and should have told you all of this from the jump, but I cared for you too, I not only cared for you, but we became friends.”
“Friends don’t do friends dirty, Darriun. And you’re right, you should have told me you were hung up on another woman when we met. It would have helped me to decide whether I wanted to invest three years of my life in a relationship that wasn’t going anywhere. I’m thirty-one and I always told you I wanted marriage and children. My clock is ticking Darriun, and I’m so angry at you.”
“I’m sorry you feel this way. It would mean the world to me if you came to the wedding. I want bygones to be bygones.”
I gulped in a deep breath. I wanted to stand and slap the taste out of Darriun’s smug mouth. Hell, I wanted to pick up the chair I’m sitting in and crash it against his head. But instead, I forced out a smile and said, “I will let bygones be bygones. I’m glad you ended our relationship because I wouldn’t have found my current boyfriend, who I’m so in love with. I didn’t know the meaning of love until him. I guess I have you to thank for that. He’s going to be my date for your wedding.”
Darriun’s brows rise in surprise. “I thought you said I broke your heart. How did you move on so fast if you’re still pining over me? Do I know this man? When did you meet him?”
My heart slammed into my chest. Damn, I didn’t mean to say all that.
“I'm not sure if you're aware of him or not, but Andrew Del Rossi is his name. He has helped me to get over you, and I’m not pining over you. You have some nerve! No you don’t know him, and we started dating six months ago. I’m deliriously happy and he is everything I can ask for in a man and more.”
Something like fear entered Darriun’s gaze. I gave my head a shake, I’m sure I was imagining things.
“What does he do for work?” Darriun is giving me a look that said he doesn’t believe me.
“You don’t need to know all of that, you will meet him at your wedding. Anyway, I’m glad we had this talk, but I must get to work. Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials.”
“You’re still one of the most beautiful and sweetest women I’ve ever met. I don’t want to see you used or hurt Amara.
“You did that all by yourself, Darriun,” I spat out.
His head bowed and he had the audacity to look repentant. His head raised and his stare met my own. “Can I have a hug?” he asked standing as I stood to my feet.
“No, my boyfriend doesn’t want me hugging other men. He’s very jealous in that respect,” I lied.
“Damn, Amara, it’s like that, huh?”
“Yes, Darriun, it’s like that,” I replied and walked away like Loretta Divine did from Gregory Hines in the old movie Waiting To Exhale.