Love Me or Leave Me Alone 3

by Nikisha Mock

Chapter 24

  Ciara

  I was sleeping really good and having dreams of me and Omari Hardwick when my phone started ringing. I glanced over at the clock on my nightstand. It read 2:30am. Oh, this better be good.

  “Hello?” I answered without looking at my phone or turning on the lights.

  “Open the door, Ciara,” a deep voice boomed in my ear. I took the phone away from my face to see who it was.

  “Darren? What do you mean open the door? It’s late and you decided to pop up over here?” I said, sitting straight up in the bed.

  “Ciara, open The Door,” he said, slowly pronouncing each word.

  I guess he was pissed. I clicked my phone off without saying anything else. I ran to the bathroom and quickly swished some mouthwash around then spit it out. I glanced in the mirror to make sure I didn’t have bed head then went and opened the door.

  “Darren, you have a lot of nerve showing up over here like this-”

  That’s all I had the chance to say. As soon as I opened the door, Darren pushed his way inside. He was all up on me, kissing me so hard and with so much passion that I went with it.

  “Mmmmm. Damn, I have been waiting a long time to do that again,” he finally said, breaking away from the kiss.

  “I see that. Now can we go sit down or something?” I laughed. We headed over to the couch. I reached over to turn on a lamp.

  “Now, what is so urgent that you had to see me at 2:30 in the morning? I should be pissed off at you,” I said only half-joking.

  “You should be pissed off at me? Nah, I’m pissed at you for ignoring all my calls and texts for weeks. What’s up with you, Ciara? Did I do something wrong?’

  I let out a deep breath. We had to have this conversation sooner or later. “It’s more about what you didn’t do. You didn’t tell me that you’re still married. You certainly didn’t tell me that y’all still have some sort of connection since your stuff is still at her house. I know how vindictive women can get. I really don’t have time for those types of games. I have a question. What type of car does she drive?” I blurted out. Darren looked real confused at the question.

  “A Lexus. Why?” he responded.

  “What color is it?”

  “Blue.”

  “Well, I’ll be damned.”

  Chapter 25

  Eva

  I was so busy cleaning the house and singing to the music playing that I didn’t even notice that Ty had come in the house. When he came up behind me and hugged me, I dropped the vacuum cleaner. I screamed at the top of my lungs.

  I placed my hand on my chest “Oh my God, baby! You scared me!”

  “My bad, baby. You looked so sexy cleaning and singing. I couldn’t help myself,” he said while smiling at me.

  He was still every bit as sexy as that day he walked into Ciara’s house with Jay and his brother. I loved him on sight. What had happened to us since then was starting to be a blur to me. I still felt crazy about it all.

  “It’s fine. I didn’t hear you come in, that’s all,” I said as I managed to move away from him to avoid the possibility of him getting to close and seeing any marks on me that might still be there.

  Somehow, I managed to not have any hickies from Bryce’s attack but I did see light bruises on my chest and neck above my collarbone. I’d assumed Ty didn’t see them there would have been an immediate argument if he had.

  Speaking of Bryce, I had been avoiding him like the plague. He was texting and calling so much that I finally put him on my blocked list. I was glad that I still used my mom’s address as my own for certain things because that meant he had no clue where we lived. Now that he had shown his other side, I had no idea what he was capable of. I wasn’t trying to find out.

  Ty had been asking questions again about the wedding. I felt like shit so I went along with the flow. We even attended a bridal show. He was way more excited than I was. Wasn’t it supposed to be the other way around? I still loved Ty even though I had mixed emotions about that whole scene that night with that girl. He had been going above and beyond ever since then to show me that it was all about me. I couldn’t be mad at that. I was mad at myself for getting involved with Bryce out of spite and anger. Now look at me, scared to answer my own phone.

  One night my phone rang really late. It was a private call. Ty stirred a little bit in his sleep but he didn’t say anything. I knew I couldn’t not answer it so reluctantly I picked it up. Whoever it was on the other end didn’t say a word, a lot of heavy breathing. I hung up and turned back over.

  “Who was that?” Ty asked me, causing me to jump a little but I tried to play it off.

  “I don’t know. It was a private number. They didn’t say anything.”

  Ty didn’t respond after that. Eventually I heard him lightly snoring again. I didn’t get any sleep until much later though. Bryce officially had me shook. I had no idea what to do about it.

  “Baby, you been real jumpy lately. You sure everything is okay?” Ty said, bringing me back to the present.

  “I’m fine, honestly babe. How was your day?” I asked, diverting the subject.

  “It was cool. Got a lot done.”

  “Good. Well I’ll have dinner ready in a little bit. You go relax.”

  The kids were in their rooms watching TV. Tyler went upstairs to take a shower. I was busy cooking. It seemed like a normal day, which is one reason I should have been extra worried. As I was calling the kids down for dinner, my phone rang.

  “Hey ma, how are you doing?” I answered.

  “Eva, is there something you want to tell me?” my mama asked with an accusing tone.

  “No ma, why?”

  “Because for the life of me I can’t understand why Tyler would send you all these flowers and balloons over to my house when he lives right there with you,” she said.

  My breath caught in my throat. I had a feeling Bryce would eventually do something but to send stuff to my mother’s house, not even knowing that I don’t live there meant that he no longer cared if I got caught up or not.

  “Mama, I can explain. Please don’t be mad,” I tried but she cut me off.

  “Chile, I ain’t mad but you are about to mess things up with a man that loves the ground you walk on. I don’t know what kind of games you over there playing but you leave me out of it, you hear me?”

  “Yes ma’am. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again,” I said, hanging my head in shame.

  She asked to speak to the kids. As I passed the phone to Miles, I noticed Ty staring at me. I turned my head quickly, hoping he wouldn’t ask me too many questions. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do about the crazy doctor, but I had to put a plan in place fast because I wasn’t trying to lose the man I truly loved.

  Chapter 26

  Ayanna

  “Hey, is this Ayanna?” a soft female voice responded when I answered the phone.

  I took the phone away from my face and looked at the number. I didn’t recognize it and was instantly pissed off.

  “Yeah, who is this?” I snapped.

  “It’s Karen, Mario’s wife,” she laughed.

  “Oh, okay. Girl, you almost got cussed out. What’s up?” I said, still feeling weird. Why would Mario’s wife be calling me?

  “Well, Mario and I had been waiting for you to call us so finally I decided to take the initiative and call you. Our offer still stands, Ayanna. We would love to have some fun with you. I know you would enjoy it.”

  I sat there speechless for a minute. She was bold. I kept Mario’s number when he gave it to me but I never bothered to call. Why the sudden interest in me? It made no sense.

  “Wow, you like to get straight to the point, huh, Karen?” I chuckled.

  “Yep. I figure there’s no reason beating around the bush. I know how Mario felt about you. I will do anything to please my man. He wants a threesome so I figured who better than a woman he’s already so familiar with?”

  It sounded like bullshit to me. I mean, I thought women would want
a threesome to be with some random chick so that they have less chances of worrying about their man messing around on them with the girl. I guess I was wrong.

  “I mean, I hear you and all, but you’re gonna have to let me think on that one, okay?” I said. I couldn’t believe I was actually considering it.

  “Okay girl, that’s fair enough. Please let us know. Mario’s birthday is coming up soon. It would be perfect!” she said, sounding all excited.

  “Will do,” I said.

  I quickly ended the call. How weird was that? Still, I didn’t immediately dismiss the idea. I remembered how good Mario was in the bedroom. I had never been with a female though. I hoped she wasn’t expecting too much because she would be totally disappointed.

  I shook my head at the craziness and prepared to lay down for my evening nap before work. As I was getting comfortable, my phone rang again.

  “Hello?” I answered, dragging out the word to show my irritation.

  “Damn girl, what’s wrong with you?” Eva laughed on the other end.

  “Nothing. I am trying to take a nap before work but this phone keeps ringing. Wassup, honey?”

  “I’m sorry but I really needed to tell somebody what’s been going on with me. Girl, Bryce has turned into a total stalker. It’s freaking me out!” Eva said. She was talking real fast. I sat straight up in the bed.

  “A stalker? Lord, what has the good doctor done now? Or should I say the bad doctor?” I chuckled.

  “Yanna, this is serious. Please don’t laugh. The last time I went to see him, I told him that I couldn’t do it anymore. I really never should have gone over there in the first place but,” she started but I cut her off.

  “The last time? You’ve still been seeing him?” I asked in shock.

  “I’ve snuck around to see him a few times since then but I know it was wrong so I tried to break it off. When I got home that night, Ty was so hurt and apologetic. He told me he never messed with that girl and I don’t know, Yanna. I think I believe him and that made me feel even worse about messing around with Bryce. Not enough to stop, though. Now that I have come to my senses, he has freaked out! He got real rough with me the last time I was over there. I thought the man was going to rape me. I was so scared. My mama told me he sent all these flowers and balloons to her house! He only has her address because that’s the address I use for my doctors. That proves to me that he doesn’t even care that Tyler could have seen that mess. I don’t know what to do, Yanna. I’m actually kind of scared. I don’t wanna lose Ty. He means too much to me!”

  I had to take a minute to process everything Eva had told me. I wasn’t mad at her for getting up with doc. the man was fine. Hearing that he was acting crazy was a bit too much to deal with.

  “Damn, Eva. You got a real mess on your hands now, chica. We will fix it. Bryce is a doctor. He is not going to want to do anything to jeopardize his career. Maybe someone needs to remind him of that,” I said as the wheels started to turn in my head.

  “I was thinking that too. Something tells me he might not care! You didn’t see his eyes that day. He really scared me. I’ve been avoiding him ever since. I’m scared, Yanna. I can’t lose Ty,” she said as she started to cry.

  “Aye! Listen to me. First, you’re gonna have to stop all that crying because people who are worried about losing someone they love don’t go around messing with other people. I’m sorry to say it like that but it is what it is, honey. I know how you feel about Ty. It would be a shame to lose him over this. What you are going to have to do is figure out a way to get Bryce to leave you the hell alone. Otherwise, you might have to tell Ty. I know you don’t want to do that.”

  “Hell no! I can’t, Yanna, Not when he hasn’t done anything to me. Do you think I should try to reason with Bryce? My mama was too mad at me when she called me about those flowers. She might tell Tyler her damn self if it happens again.”

  “Yeah, you know your mama loves her some Ty. I say set up some sort of meeting with Bryce, but not at his house or anything. That’s too much temptation. See if you can get him to be reasonable about things. All you can do is try. If that doesn’t work, then we will have to move on to Plan B.”

  “What’s Plan B?”

  “We’ll tell him that if he wants to remain in his profession, he needs to leave you the hell alone. Most successful men aren’t trying to ruin their careers over no snatch,” I said causing Eva to laugh finally.

  “I knew I could count on you to make me laugh at least once during this conversation. I’m not sure if Plan B will even work but anything is worth a try. Okay girl, you get some sleep. Thank you, Yanna. Thanks for not judging me and for always keeping it real with me.”

  “Eva, I am your friend. No matter what, I got your back. I would never judge you. Hell, how could I anyway? You know all my dirt.”

  She laughed and we ended the call. I shook my head wondering how we always managed to get ourselves into these crazy ass situations. I turned my phone on vibrate so I didn’t run the chance of being disturbed again then I finally drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter 27

  Ciara

  Ever since the night Darren came to see me, things had been pretty much back to normal between us. I was taking things slowly but I wasn’t mad that he seemed to be really interested in pursuing things with me. He was mad as hell when I told him about the blue Lexus that I saw sitting outside of my house weeks ago. He assured me that it would never happen again. I still kept a lookout in case because if there was one thing I knew well was how a woman scorned would sometimes do some crazy things when she felt like she was being replaced.

  Darren told me that the divorce process was well underway. He asked me to be patient. I decided that I did like him enough to wait things out so for now, we would see. As for Jay, he had attempted to call me several times. Each time I sent his sorry ass to voicemail. We were over. There would be no going back. I had finally reached my ultimate breaking point with him. I had no intention of hearing anything that he had to say. Darren was satisfying me in ways that Jay never had. That was enough for me.

  After work, I decided to go home and cook a nice dinner for us. I was busy in the kitchen, cooking sautéed shrimp and making homemade pasta sauce to pour over angel hair pasta when my phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number but decided to answer it anyway.

  “Ciara, this is Charlie. How you doing, baby girl?” my mama’s husband greeted me.

  “Hey Charlie. I’m doing fine. What’s wrong? Is my mama okay?” I asked, immediately getting worried because Charlie never called me.

  When he took a deep sigh before answering me, I knew it had to be bad.

  “Well baby, your mama has been sick for a little while. Today she took a little spill at the house,” Charlie was still talking but I had gotten stuck on the sick for a little while part.

  “Wait a minute, what do you mean she’s been sick for a little while? How sick? Nobody told me about this. Is my mama okay, Charlie? Tell me!” I started to cry.

  “Now baby girl, calm down. Judy Lee is fine. She fell today. She’s been a little weak from her treatments.”

  “Treatments? What treatments? Charlie! Please tell me what is going on?”

  “She got cancer baby. Your mama has breast cancer. She didn’t want to tell you because she didn’t want you worrying about her.”

  I heard him but I couldn’t focus on anything after he said the word cancer. Cancer? How could she not tell me? I just talked to her. While I was wallowing in my own self-pity, my favorite girl was down in Florida fighting for her life. I felt so ashamed.

  “I’ll be on the next flight out,” I said, feeling like I was on autopilot.

  “Now Cici, she would be so upset if she knew I told you. She’s fine. She sprained her ankle, that's all. I’ll…” he started but I cut him off.

  “That is my mama, Charlie. I’ll be on the next flight out. Now tell me what hospital and room number. I will be there as soon as I can,” I said.

  This wa
s not up for debate. Reluctantly, he gave me the information. We ended our call with me telling him to promise me that he would keep me posted until I got there. I was already online searching flights when I heard my doorbell. Darren. Damn I had forgotten that fast that he was coming over for dinner.

  “Hey sweetheart. Oh no. What’s wrong, Ciara?” Darren asked, immediately looking worried.

  “My-my mama. She’s in the hospital,” is all I managed to say before I broke down.

  He held me and let me cry. I cried for I don’t know how long. My mama had been all I had for so long. Hearing that she was sick was too much to handle.

  “She has breast cancer. I had no idea. She never told me. Charlie says she didn’t want me to worry but that is exactly why I needed to know. I should have been there for her. Oh God what am I gonna do if something happens to her?”

  After awhile, I pulled myself together long enough to find a flight.

  “Book two tickets,” Darren said. “I’m going with you,” he said. I hugged him so tight.

  “Really, Darren? You haven’t known me that long. You don’t know my mama so I wouldn’t expect you to leave with me,” I said, giving him a way out in case he was caught in the moment.

  “Book the tickets, baby. I want to do this. You shouldn’t have to go down there alone. There’s no place I would rather be than with you.”

  When I looked into his eyes, I saw sincerity so deep that it made me immediately fall in love with him. I knew he meant it. In that moment, I wanted him to be with me. I booked the flights.

  For the rest of the night we talked and laughed as I told some funny stories from my childhood. I loved my mama. I knew that if the shoe were reversed, she would be on her way here to be with me. That night was one of the most intimate nights I had ever had. Darren held me all night. When I wanted to cry, he hugged me tightly.

  When I was calm, he stroked my hair and laid there quietly with me. I didn’t sleep peacefully, but having him there made things a lot more manageable. I had managed to find us tickets for seven the next morning. Sometimes, when you least expect it, love finds you. It sneaks up on you and puts you in a bear hug. This time, I didn’t want to be let go.