by B. Love
Denver thought over her words carefully before she spoke. The last thing she wanted to do was say something to make him want to change his mind more.
“But…” His eyes found hers. “I’ll be bad for you.”
2
How it was maintained – five years later
Denver
All she could do was stare at the pictures. Their wedding was two weeks away, and pictures of her fiancé with another woman were delivered as if their love meant nothing. Obviously it didn’t mean anything. Not to Rodrick.
Denver’s tears hit the picture on top of the stack as she rocked back and forth. That picture did the most damage. It was of Rodrick with his tongue down the woman’s throat and his hands filled with her ass. He snatched the pictures from her hand, pulling her out of her trance.
“Stop looking at them. That’s only going to make you feel worse.”
Denver looked at the pictures he’d tossed onto the floor. It didn’t matter what he said, her eyes kept going to them. Rodrick swore the pictures were taken months ago, and that he’d called off whatever he had going on with the woman to give Denver his whole heart, but that didn’t matter to her. Just like their love didn’t matter to him.
Okay, realistically, she wasn’t in love with Rodrick, but he had as much of her heart as any man possibly could. That’s why she said yes when he asked her to marry him. And up until now, Denver was confident that she was the only woman Rodrick wanted. Now, she wasn’t so sure.
“Denver.” Rodrick stood directly in front of her, blocking her view of the pictures. “Listen to me. You have to believe me. That happened three months ago. The week we called it quits. I have never and will never cheat on you. I’m happy with you.”
Denver chuckled as her head shook. Shoulders caved. Yea. She remembered that temporary breakup. How it seemed to come out of nowhere. How they were doing perfectly fine until he went out with his brother for his divorce party.
Her mind began to race a mile a minute. Was that where Rodrick met her? Did he break up with Denver just so he could see what was up with this other woman? Is that why he all of a sudden needed a break?
“I want you to leave, Rodrick.”
“No,” he whined, kneeling before her, taking her hands into his. “We’re getting married in two weeks, D. Tell me you’re not changing your mind.”
Denver’s eyes closed as she removed her hands from his. “Be honest with me.” She opened her eyes but couldn’t stand to look into his. “Did you break up with me to be with her?”
His eyes told the truth before his mouth did. Denver licked her lips as his slowly opened.
“Yes,” he whispered. “I was sure I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, then I found out my brother’s marriage was over. It had me questioning if forever really lasted these days. When I met her, I don’t know, D. I just… needed to be sure that I was ready to tie myself to you for life.”
Denver stood and walked over to the door with Rodrick following behind closely.
“But I know now, Denver. I know that I love you and that I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Opening the door, she continued to avoid his eyes. “Leave.” Refusing to waste another tear on him, Denver snapped her eyes together as she rested her head against the door.
“But, we’d split, Den–”
“Leave!”
Her outburst had surprised them both. Usually soft spoken, Denver barely recognized the volume and power behind her own voice. Wiping the tear that slipped down she chuckled, shaking her head as her left leg shook just as hard.
“Denver…”
“You don’t love me. You couldn’t possibly love me. Not if you were able to risk it all like that.”
Rodrick inhaled a deep, calming breath. He took her hand into his, lowering his voice as he spoke. “We weren’t together, so I wasn’t risking it. I broke up with you to preserve what we had.”
Denver removed her hand from his, chuckling again. “Do you hear yourself right now, Rodrick? You broke up with me to have sex with someone else. What? You want me to thank you for that?”
Taking a step back, Rodrick placed his hands in his pockets and lowered his head as he mumbled, “Close the door so we can talk, Denver.”
“No. You need to go.”
His head lifted, but she didn’t catch the first few words of his statement. She was too caught up in the purr of Symphony’s Challenger as he made his way down their street. Her head turned to the right, and his presence commanded her attention until she could no longer see his car.
“Are you even listening to me?”
Turning toward Rodrick, Denver lifted herself off the door completely. “No. I want you to go. I’m not going to ask you again.”
Rodrick’s tongue rolled around his cheek. The sound of Symphony’s door opening and closing quickened the beating of Denver’s heart. He hadn’t been able to stand Rodrick since they first met. Said there was something off about him. If he or her brother had anything to do with those pictures randomly popping up in her mailbox…
“So you’re going to give up on us just like that? You’re not going to fight for us at all?”
Denver considered his request briefly. True enough, she cared for Rodrick deeply. Even loved him. But it wasn’t the kind of love that led her to believe she couldn’t live without him. Now Symphony? Her love for him over the years had grown something fierce. The love she had for him was one she couldn’t do without. Well, she could, but she’d fight like hell to maintain it.
Even if for some reason they parted ways, it was the kind of love she had no choice but to thank God for temporarily blessing her with. Rodrick on the other hand was one she’d been thanking God for sparing her from.
“Why should I? Obviously this isn’t what you want…”
“It is, baby, I swear.” Rodrick took her hands into his and kissed them both. “I’m not going to lie and say I wasn’t having doubts because I was, but I know what I have in you now, Denver. Tell me I don’t bring enough value to your life for you to give me a second chance?”
Before Denver could answer him, her nostrils were filled with the scent of Symphony’s cologne. His tall, muscular frame towered over both Denver and Rodrick as he stepped inside of her home.
“The hell he doing here?” Symphony grumbled, walking between them, causing their connected hands to fall. “I know you ain’t letting him convince you to stay with him?”
Denver’s underarms began to sweat as she massaged her suddenly throbbing temples. Almost every time they were in the same room together she had to keep things from getting physical, and with the tension being as thick as it was between her and Rodrick right now she was sure that would be the case today as well.
“I’m so sick of this fool coming over here whenever he pleases like he has some kind of claim to you, Denver,” Rodrick confessed, gripping her arm a little tighter than she liked. He used it to pull her into his chest, and Denver prayed silently that she could come out of his grasp before Symphony turned and saw it. “You need to tell him to leave so we can finish our conversation.”
“What you call me?” Symphony asked for clarity, turning slowly in their direction. As Denver expected, his entire demeanor changed, and his body stiffened at the sight of Rodrick’s hand around her arm.
“You heard what the fuck I said. You need to go.”
Symphony scratched the top of his cheek. Then the inside of his left nostril.
“Let her go and apologize.”
Rodrick chuckled, laughing even harder when Denver grabbed his shirt and pleaded with him to release her.
“We can talk later, Rodrick. I promise. Just go.”
“Nah. We’re going to finish our conversation now. I’m sick of this shit, D. Every time he comes around you start switching up on me. You want this man or something?”
Giving her no time to reply, Symphony wrapped his arm around her stomach, effectively pulling her from Rodrick’s grip.
&
nbsp; “Apologize, my guy.”
Symphony’s voice was calm, but Denver was no fool. She knew the anger that was building up. The anger that would soon explode because of Rodrick’s disrespect if he didn’t leave soon. Stepping between them, Denver focused her attention on Symphony. Her arm lifted. Hand went to his neck. She used it to lower his head and eyes to her.
“He didn’t mean any disrespect, Sym. Please don’t do anything stupid.”
“I don’t need you to speak for me, Denver.”
Rolling her eyes, Denver released a low “Ow,” at the feel of Rodrick grabbing her arm again and trying to jerk her behind him. Trying. Before he could succeed, Symphony had pulled her behind him, grabbed Rodrick’s shirt, and connected his fist with his face repeatedly.
“That’s enough!” she yelled, trying to pry Symphony off of Rodrick unsuccessfully. “Symphony!” He’d black out, completely ignoring her and the fact that Rodrick was now unconscious. “Symphony, that’s enough!”
With all of her strength, Denver pulled at his arm again. Still no match for his strength, her body flew across the floor when he pushed her off of him. The sound of her back colliding with the wall snapped Symphony out of his trance. He released the hold he had on Rodrick’s shirt and rushed over to her.
Pushing him away, Denver wished she could push her angry tears back just the same. “I told you to stop! You can’t keep doing this, Alexander!”
Symphony’s shoulders slouched at the sound of her calling him by his middle name. She only did that when she was mad at him. Or disappointed.
“I told you I can handle myself. I don’t need you to protect me anymore. I’m good.”
Denver’s chest heaved as she stood. Pushing Symphony away, she walked over to Rodrick and kneeled to check on him. The feel of Symphony’s eyes as he peered down at her had Denver closing her eyes and pulling in a few deep breaths. She hated when he got like this. All quiet and detached, unsure of what to do. It wasn’t really his fault.
He’d been her protector for over ten years. How did she expect him to just… stop?
“I’m sorry for yelling at you,” Denver whispered, looking up at him briefly. “But you can’t fight my battles anymore, Sym. Figuratively or physically. You can’t fight every man that breaks my heart.”
“Then stop giving it to niggas that don’t deserve it like it means nothing to you,” Symphony gritted, snatching the top part of Rodrick’s body off the floor by his collar. Denver watched as he dragged him out of the house, through the grass, and to his car that was parked on the street by the mailbox. He opened Rodrick’s door and put him in the driver’s seat of his car, and Denver couldn’t help but chuckle as she nibbled on her bottom lip.
After closing the door, Symphony looked in the direction of her home, but he walked to his, leaving Denver with nothing but his words to haunt her until she fell asleep.
3
Symphony
“You need to go and see about your hand, bro. It looks like you popped a vessel or something.”
Sighing, Symphony stared at his cut, swollen hand before reapplying the sleeve he’d taken off for his training session. He didn’t want to accept it, but he believed Petrell was right. During his fight with Rodrick yesterday, Symphony was sure he’d chipped a couple of his front teeth and cut deep into his skin with them. Going to the hospital had never been his thing, and he wouldn’t start now, so he’d been ignoring the fact that he’d lost feeling in his middle finger and could barely move the rest of his fingers.
“I’m good,” Symphony assured him before cursing under his breath. Grimacing, he held his breath as he quickly wrapped his hand, wanting to get home as quickly as he could to smoke and sleep the pain away.
Symphony spent his mornings at culinary school up until recently. He’d graduated last month and couldn’t have been prouder of himself. Originally, his plan was to never attend a trade school or college. He’d been a personal trainer and chef for years. Cooking and exercise had always been the two things he was most passionate about, besides Denver, so he saw no need to go to school. It was because of his grandmother’s begging and pleading for him to get a degree that he went for it.
She’d been staying with him for the past four years because old age was starting to cause her memory and health to decline, but the second Symphony graduated and started receiving job offers in other states she had him to move her into a nearby nursing home. He’d been angry, depressed, and missing her terribly. Which was a lot of the reason why he spazzed on Rodrick as quickly as he did yesterday.
Sure, he was quick to defend Denver, but he’d been trying to fall back with that lately. Ever since she finished law school and started practicing as a lawyer, she’d been gaining a backbone that Symphony never thought she’d get. One that had her not wanting to depend on him or anyone else for anything else. While Symphony loved her newfound independence, he couldn’t help but miss the shy, quiet girl who followed behind him around the hood and never seemed to want to let him go.
Since he was done with his last client for the day, Symphony decided to head home instead of hanging around the gym. A few minutes into his drive home, he received a call from Devin, Denver’s twin brother. Still behind bars, Devin and his parents were a lot of the reason why Denver decided to become a lawyer. She was determined to do all she could to have them all released soon. Symphony didn’t want to burst her bubble by telling her that the chances of that happening were slim to none, so he offered her help with whatever she needed whenever she needed it.
“Yea?” Symphony answered, then waited for the operator to connect the call.
“What’s up, my guy?” Devin greeted.
“You good?”
“I’m good. Business good?”
Symphony nodded as if Devin could see him. “As always.”
Even with Symphony making decent money doing what he loved, he still continued to work for Abraham and Devin. More out of loyalty than anything. Abraham took Symphony under his wing and acted as the father he never really had. Without Abraham, the streets would have had an even tighter grip on Symphony than they already did. At least now, Symphony could see himself leaving to live a legit life. Without Abraham’s guidance and protection, that might not have been the case.
“How did D take the news?”
Symphony’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. It was Devin who had Rodrick followed. When Symphony expressed his concern about Rodrick not being right for her, Devin had him trailed. He’d known of Rodrick’s infidelity for months, but he wanted to see if his sister would actually go through with marrying him without his and her parents blessing. Since their wedding was only two weeks away, Devin figured it was now or never. He had the pictures given to Symphony and as usual he took care of the rest.
The call only lasted fifteen minutes, and that’s around how long it took Symphony to get to his place. As he drove, he filled Devin in on what happened with Denver and Rodrick and he also told him that he’d finally accepted one of the offers he’d been given. In two weeks, he would be moving to New York to train under Miagi Mero – the African American version of Gordon Ramsey. The great thing about this opportunity was that he would be junior chef, have six months of his rent paid up, and he’d be flying back and forth from New York to Vegas and Paris with Miagi to work in his other restaurants as well.
There was no way in hell Symphony would pass this job up for anything, but… there was a lingering thought in the back of his mind about how Denver would be able to function without him. How he’d be able to function without her. For years, she’d given him purpose. Made him feel as if he filled a need. What would he do if he wasn’t here to protect and serve her?
When Symphony pulled into his driveway and saw Denver sitting on his porch, elbows on her thighs, cheeks resting against her palms, a smile covered his face. She called herself ignoring him all day yesterday, but he was sure it would only be a matter of time before she softened toward him again. Normally her limit for going withou
t talking to him was twelve hours if he was mad at her and thirty if she was mad at him.
At the sound of his car, she opened her eyes and looked in his direction, biting down on her lip in a failed attempt to hide her smile.
“Damn,” Symphony muttered, cutting his car off. “Ima miss this.”
Taking a moment to implant the sight of her deep into his memory, Symphony took his time cutting the car off and heading her way.
Denver was beautiful. There was no doubt about that. She had the smoothest cocoa brown skin. No blemishes, tattoos, or piercings other than her ears. Glowing skin left her with no need for makeup, but she did wear clear lip gloss, fake eyelashes, and mascara from time to time. Her eyes were rich brown in color. Almost the same shade as his favorite whiskey.
The roundness of her cute button nose teased him more than anything. He had to consistently keep himself from kissing it. And her lips. Symphony could still feel the softness of her juicy lips. They were medium sized, but the bottom one was just a little bigger than the top.
Her hair was long, thick, and black. Most times she wore it in big waves that came down to her arm pits in length. Denver was short and slim, all the more reason for him to want to be her knight. It didn’t matter if he’d taught her how to shoot a gun and box, Denver wouldn’t harm a fly, and the thought of that had Symphony wanting to tell her that she was coming to New York with him. But he couldn’t do that. She didn’t even know about the job.
By the time Symphony made it in front of her, Denver was avoiding his eyes. He stared down at her for a while with a smile before asking, “Did you come over here to ignore me in person?” When she looked up at him, Symphony removed his smile, but at the sight of hers it returned.
Her head tilted as she looked at his hand. “What happened? Did this happen yesterday?” Symphony nodded as she stood. “Jesus, Symphony. You have to stop doing this.”