by Trina Crooks
“I’m here now. Sorry I cut it kind of close.”
Sonya just smiled her beautiful smile which always pierced his heart like none other. “You are so handsome,” she said as she straightened out his tie. “How did I get so lucky?”
“I don’t know,” Antonio responded with a chuckle before he stepped back to take another look at her.
“You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.”
“Thank you, baby. But wait until you see your grandmother. She looks amazing.”
Soft wedding music began to play so they made their way over to Gigi’s side of the hall and took a seat in the third row. Sonya cozied up to him and gave him a quick peck on the cheek just as the doors started to open. He stood to watch Gigi practically float down the aisle. She didn’t even look like she saw anyone else except for her soon to be husband. “Isn’t she just beautiful?” Sonya whispered to him quickly.
Antonio leaned over to whisper back to her. “You are still the most beautiful woman in the room to me.” This made her grab his hand as a gesture of thanks before they were told to be seated.
The ceremony was short but emotion filled because the bride and groom presented their own vows to each other. He watched as Sonya started dabbing her eyes with tissue so he put his arm around her to soothe her a bit.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride.”
The couple smiled brightly and then gave each other a passionate kiss as everyone stood to clap. The attendees then all made their way to an adjoining banquet room and Antonio quickly found their nameplates and took a seat. Gigi and Mr. Frazier entered the room and immediately started their first dance while everyone watched them.
“I love weddings,” Antonio said as he came over with glasses of champagne in his hand. Sonya was already feasting on the plated dinner of roast beef with cheesy potatoes that was catered by Maxwell Diner.
“Oh really?”
“Mm-hmm. Our wedding is going to be grand; I hope you know this.”
“I don’t need all of that.”
“Me either actually,” he said as he kissed her cheek. “As long as you are there, I will be a happy man.”
“Do I hear a proposal on the horizon?” Rashad asked from the other side of the table.
“You never know.” Antonio didn’t pay his brother any attention. Rashad and Angela had been trying to get them married off for months now. All in due time.
*~~~*
This wedding was turning out to be the party of the year. It was almost nine at night and well past when I thought this thing would be over but everyone was enjoying themselves as if the reception just began. I stood talking with my mother who had been on the dance floor with my father practically the last hour and the smile on her face was great to see.
“Look at you acting like you are some teenager out on the dance floor.”
“Your father and I have not had this much fun in forever.”
“That’s great.” I, on the other hand, was not having as much fun because Antonio and Rashad had to take a drunk cousin of theirs to the hotel to sleep it off, in the middle of the reception.
“I am going to go get some wine. Do you want some?”
“No.” My mother walked away from me and I joined Angela at our table. “Girl, does this guy do this a lot?”
“Every holiday or special occasion,” she replied with a shrug of her shoulders but just then our men came waltzing in the door.
“I am so sorry. He would not stay in the room. Kept trying to walk out of the room as soon as we walked out.” Antonio plopped down next to me and downed the champagne he left on the table before I grabbed his hand.
“I’ve been wanting to dance with you all night. Come on.”
He shook his head quickly. “Nope. Last time I danced with you; you gave me bad news. I am staying right here.”
I chuckled as I pulled at his arm and he eventually stood. “I just want to dance. I won’t even talk to you.”
“All right.”
I dragged him off to the floor and we danced a few faster songs before finally a slow one come on and I stepped into Antonio’s waiting arms. We swayed together and I kept my promise for the first part of the song until I finally leaned back to look in his eyes and he shook his head. “Oh no.”
“Antonio,” I stated with a chuckle but he pushed me back to him.
“No conversation.”
I leaned into his ear and whispered, “I just wanted to tell you about our baby.”
“Our what?” Antonio stopped moving and stared right in my face with wide eyes and a big grin. “We’re having a baby?”
I nodded my head. “Yes.”
He wrapped his arms around me and lifted me into the air as he whooped and hollered. “She’s having my baby!”
“Put me down, crazy man.” He did as he was told and I wished I could take a picture of his face. He was so immensely happy and I was too. Just a year ago I longed for my life to be filled with a love of my own and I finally had that. And now we were having a baby. Life just couldn’t get better than this.
Please enjoy the first two chapters of
Almost Paradise
Synopsis
Sandy beaches.
Amazing blue water.
Rest and relaxation.
These were all of the things that Kenya Burrows was looking forward to when she arrived in Jamaica for her best friend Marley’s destination wedding. It was going to be a wonderful week in paradise…well almost. Except for the fact that Maurice, Marley’s brother and Kenya’s ex-boyfriend, was bound to be in attendance too and he was the last person she wanted to see on her tropical vacation.
Maurice Parrish couldn’t wait to get to Jamaica for one reason only—Kenya. It had been three years since she walked out on him and in that time, he had grown and matured; just as she wanted from him all along. And now that his sister had asked Kenya to be her maid of honor for this wedding in paradise, it was the perfect set up. He needed to be face to face with the one and only woman he ever truly loved so that he could get her back once and for all.
Prologue
Three years ago
“I am tired of this shit,” I fussed as I stuffed the last forkful of apple pie into my mouth and slammed the plate onto the coffee table in such a huff that the silverware clanged on it. The clock on the wall ticked loudly, filling the quiet of the house because once again I was in this predicament. I was sitting here on my sofa waiting for my inconsiderate ass boyfriend to bring his sorry ass through the door. It was a Thursday night and long past the time he stated he would be home, so I was royally pissed and annoyed at Maurice. Night after night I sat in the house while he was out having the time of his life. I was sick of it.
“Why am I still dealing with this,” I complained to myself as I went into the kitchen to pour myself a glass of water. I leaned against the counter and stared out into space as I thought about what my life had become. My days were spent working a job I loved but for a boss I hated and my nights were spent alone, waiting for my boyfriend to come home. I set the empty glass in the sink and just as I was about to go take myself to bed, I finally heard the key click in the lock.
“Where have you been?” I asked Maurice when he came waltzing in the door at two in the morning. I walked over to him, standing right in his face while I waited for an answer. He breezed right on past me like I hadn’t said a word.
“Working.” He flopped his six-foot five frame down on the couch and laid his head down on one of the throw pillows I just bought three days ago. I had to replace the old ones because after one of Maurice’s late nights drinking and partying, he threw up on them. I stared at him as he laid quietly and wondered if that’s all he had to say for himself. That answer was not going to be good enough for me considering that he did not even have a damn job.
“Working? You are going to have to come better than that.” I know he was not trying to tell me that him hanging out at the club all night was a job
.
“That’s what I said,” he answered with more attitude than I cared for. I crossed my arms and stared at the man I had loved for the last two years. Maurice was my best friend’s brother and I had the absolute biggest crush on him all of my high school years. Finally, on my 24th birthday he saw me as a grown woman and not his little sister’s little friend. At that party we danced all night long and were inseparable ever since. That was when things were great.
But then he grew unhappy with his career in marketing and decided he wanted to make a change. His goal was to have a successful event planning business, planning parties and travel packages for the residents in and around the Cincinnati area. Maurice loved to party and travel so he figured he would make that his life’s work. That would be fine with me as long as he still brought an income into our household. Why couldn’t he follow his dreams while still holding down a nine to five?
“Maurice…”
“Save the lecture,” he stated as he stood up and walked his long legs into our bedroom where he pulled off his shirt to get ready to jump into the shower. I found myself staring at this man that I loved and was angry at, but still so attracted to. His dark chocolate skin was calling to me in ways that I wished it didn’t right now which caused me to sigh. Focus Kenya.
“Maurice I was worried sick. It’s a Thursday and I have to go to work tomorrow. You know I hate it when you are not here when I go to bed.”
“You should have just gone to bed,” he answered nonchalantly as he made his way to the shower and I sat down on our bed with frustration. I was so tired of this. I grabbed some pieces of paper from the dresser before I sat on the bed in a huff. These crumbled pieces of paper contained women’s names and phone numbers that I found in Maurice’s pocket from his night out two days ago. Tiffany and Roxanne seemed to want my man to get in touch with them later and since he didn’t have the presence of mind to throw them out before he got home, maybe he had plans to. I choked back tears as I waited for the water to turn off and soon Maurice was standing in our room with a towel wrapped around his waist. “You still up?”
“We need to talk.”
He grabbed a bottle of lotion and pumped some in his hand before sitting next to me. “What’s on your mind?”
“First of all, who are Tiffany and Roxanne.” I sat the papers down in between us on the bed and he glanced quickly at them before rubbing on his legs.
“Nobody.”
“But you have these nobodies phone numbers Maurice.”
“I forgot to throw them out. Flirting is part of the job. I do some small innocent flirting to get the women to keep coming out to the parties.” He said this like it was something that I should be okay with. Well I wasn’t.
“How do I know it is so innocent? I’m not there.”
He abandoned the lotion so that he could turn more towards me. Maurice cupped my chin gently so that I had no choice but to look him straight in the eyes. “My heart belongs to only you. I love you so much that I don’t think I knew what love was until we started dating. I am purely flirting—no touching, no kissing, hell. I don’t even dance with these chicks. You have to believe me.”
I knew he loved me but I couldn’t help but have that lingering doubt sometimes. But I was going to take him at his word this time because that was not the only thing on my mind tonight. “I can’t keep carrying the load around here. I feel like I am barely keeping my head above water.”
“I appreciate you holding it down for us but I just need a little more time to get this thing off the ground. I thought we talked about this.” Maurice looked at me and I know he wanted me to be understanding but I was almost plum out of that. I just stood up without another word and moved to get under the covers. I had a long day at work and now that he was home safe, I could finally get some sleep.
**~~~**
“Where are we going tonight?”
Usually on a Friday night Maurice always had somewhere he planned on being at so he was not surprised that Timothy, his best friend and sidekick, was calling about his evening agenda.
“I got to stay home with my lady tonight.”
Tim chuckled. “Got some making up to do?”
“Mm-hmm.” This morning Kenya left in a huff after a cold and icy night in the bed. It was like sleeping next to an iceberg. Maurice knew he had to make this up to her so he planned a night of romance, starting first with an amazing dinner that he cooked himself. “I will catch up with you tomorrow.”
“Good luck,” his friend said to him before Maurice busied himself cleaning their small one-bedroom rental house and he then started on a dinner fit for a queen. Kenya’s favorite was his mouthwatering meatloaf and garlic mashed potatoes. He couldn’t even remember when the last time he made it for her which made him stop and think to himself.
“Shit,” he cussed softly. If he was honest with himself, he’d been really slacking in the boyfriend department. They normally went on a date night at least once a month and that hadn’t happened for a few months now. He also used to give her massages and foot rubs after her hard days and he hadn’t done that for a while either. “Note to self to add a foot massage to the agenda after dinner.”
Maurice sprinkled seasoning into the steamed green beans before he thought about how much he loved his girlfriend. He chuckled about how at first, she was just this annoying girl that was always smiling in his face when she came to visit his sister, but one day, he looked at her and all he could think was damn. She was fiiinnnnne! Had curves in all of the right places and all he was thinking about was what he wanted to do to her. But after going on a few dates he realized he loved her heart and mind which made him fall hard for Kenya. Harder than any other woman before her.
The front door opened and in walked the love of his life, looking exhausted as she always did. She was a design assistant and although her job was not physically grueling, her boss was a bear. Kenya always fussed about how she rode her and rode her but the pay was good so she put up with it. Maurice knew he was going to have to work extra hard to get this evening to be a pleasant one.
“How was work baby?” Kenya stood silent as she perused the mail that Maurice had put on the kitchen table.
She remained quiet after that question for a moment before she spoke up. “I’d like you to leave.”
“What!” She hadn’t even looked at him since she walked in the door. That was usually a tale tell sign that she was angry.
“Could you pack your things and go?”
“Come on Kenya. Can we talk about this?”
“No,” she responded very plainly as she continued looking through her mail.
“I know I have not been pulling my weight around here but things will get better. Last night was my first paying gig. I have another one tomorrow night. It’s really turning around,” Maurice pleaded. He loved Kenya and could not imagine life without her.
She scoffed. “So, you are going to be out late tomorrow too. No,” she said while shaking her head. “I am tired of this. I want a man that will be home at night, not partying the night away. We are getting too old for that Maurice.”
“Kenya…”
“Just be gone from my place by the time I get home,” she stated. Kenya picked up her keys and left the house just as quickly as she had come in. Maurice stood there in disbelief. He could not believe that just happened.
He quickly tossed all of his belongings into several bags and made his way toward the front door. He set the engagement ring that he had just purchased this afternoon with his first night of earnings on the coffee table at first, but then thought better of it. Maybe Kenya was right. Maybe he was not ready to be the man she needed—yet. But one day he would be and he would get her back.
Chapter One
Sunday/Monday
I stood in front of my overflowing suitcase in dismay. Why do I always do this? I am only going away for seven days and I swear from the look of this bag you would think that I was moving away forever. I had enough clothes to change five time
s every single day. I had to condense this down somehow but every item that was packed felt important.
My cell phone rang in my sister’s ring tone and I happily welcomed the distraction from this catastrophe I had put myself in. “Hey Lisa.”
“Are you ready for this trip? I’m sure you are staring at a suitcase with way too many clothes in it as we speak. You never pack accordingly,” she stated with a giggle.
I pushed what I could to the side so that I could sit on a corner of my queen size bed and had to laugh at myself. “You know me too well Lisa. Yes. I have to figure out what is not going to make the cut.”
This weekend was my best friend Marley’s wedding and she had planned it to be a destination wedding in Jamaica. I had never been there and after all of the wonderful things I heard about it I was absolutely ready to get there so I could bask in the hot sun with a cold drink in my hand.
“Well I want you to have a good time and leave all of your troubles here in Cincinnati.”
“I will,” I answered with not much confidence. Oh yes, I was getting away from the stress of my daily life but I knew I was going to run smack dab into another issue as soon as I got to the resort.
“You think he is going to be there.”
The ‘he’ my sister was referring to was Maurice, my best friend’s brother and my ex-boyfriend from some years ago. “Uh yes Lisa. I am pretty sure he is not going to miss his only sister’s wedding.”
“Alright smarty pants. Have you thought about how you are going to handle this?”
I had done nothing but think about it. I’d been lucky not to run into Maurice in the three years since our break up however that good luck streak was bound to end soon. But I knew that I could handle this. And I was not going to let him mess up my time in paradise. “I will be fine.”
“Okay. Keep packing and call me to let me know you made it safely please.”