by Tina Martin
“Good. How are you, Mother?” he asked, standing, greeting her with a kiss.
“I’m okay.” Padma took a seat across from him. She hadn’t been to Tuesday brunch since Gabrielle left, and she wouldn’t be here now if Dilvan hadn’t called and practically begged to meet with her. He’d also invited his brothers, Heshan and Prasad who were due at any moment.
“This is a lot of food for two people,” Padma observed.
“Heshan and Prasad are supposed to be here...that is, if they’re still coming.”
“Oh...making this a family affair, huh?”
“Yeah...need to talk to everybody.”
Dilvan heard commotion at the front door and moments later Prasad, Heshan and Colin, their Father, came walking in the dining room.
“You made it,” Padma said to her husband. She didn’t know whether or not he’d be back from Virginia in time.
“Yes, dear. I made it.” Colin placed a kiss on his wife’s puckered lips.
“Hey son,” he said, to Dilvan.
Dilvan stood up, hugged his Father tight. “Good to see you, Dad.”
“You, too. You look good.”
“Thanks.”
Once everyone was settled with food in their plates, Dilvan cleared his throat. “I wanted everyone here today so I could apologize to you all for the way I’ve been acting. I know I’ve been a jerk—”
“That’s an understatement,” Heshan mumbled.
Dilvan continued, “I hurt all of you and I’m sorry.”
Heshan shook his head. “Dilvan, man, you’re my brother and I love you regardless. I just couldn’t come over here anymore and watch you treat Gabrielle the way you did.”
“What do you mean?” his Father asked because Padma hadn’t made him aware of what had been going on between Dilvan and Gabrielle. Colin was busy recovering and working – she didn’t want him to be bothered by this drama.
“Mom didn’t tell you?” Prasad asked his Father.
“Basically, Dilvan had been torturing Gabrielle...” Heshan said.
Colin frowned. “Wha—”
“Let me explain,” Dilvan said, cutting in.
“Prasad and I stopped coming over here,” Heshan continued, “Because we both watched him disrespect her time and time again and I just couldn’t watch it anymore.”
“What?” Colin asked in disbelief. “Dilvan?”
“Dad, I made a mistake. That’s why I wanted to talk to—”
“You knew about this, dear?” Colin asked, looking at his wife.
“I didn’t initially...but when I found out, I made sure to take her out of this house.”
“And where is Gabrielle now?” Colin inquired.
“She’s staying with Tyson,” Prasad answered.
Colin shook his head. “Dilvan, I don’t believe this. What on earth were you thinking?”
“I wasn’t thinking, Dad. I was just upset that Mother made me marry Gabrielle, okay. Prasad didn’t have to follow the traditional, Sri Lankan arranged marriage, and she didn’t make Heshan marry anybody. Why did I have to? I felt like Mother was punishing me.”
“Punishing you?” Padma frowned. “If I was punishing you, I would’ve set you up with those half-naked whores you seem to like.”
“Dear,” Colin told his wife, placing his hand on her forearm to calm her down.
“Gabrielle has been nothing but good to you and this family,” she said. “She’s the reason your Father is still sitting here right now. You ever think about that?”
“I’ve had three, long months to think about that, Mother. I’m sorry. I wanted you all to know that I’m sorry...sorry for being a jerk, for being the family member everyone hates. I’m sorry for not joining the family business and I’m sorry I’m not the man you expected me to be. I’m not perfect.”
“Nobody’s perfect,” Colin said. “That’s no excuse for treating Gabrielle the way everyone is saying you did.”
“I know, Dad, and I’m going to talk to her.”
Prasad crossed his arms. “And she actually agreed to talk to you?”
“Yes, this evening for dinner.”
“There’s no need to talk to her,” Padma said. “Just let her be.”
“No. I need to apologize and after trying to talk to her for the last three months, she finally agreed to meet me, so I’m going to meet her.”
“Well, you should know that you and Gabrielle were never officially married to start with,” Padma revealed.
“What?” all three brothers and Colin said in blended confusion.
“Well, the ceremony we did was real. However, the license was never filed. I just found out about it last month.”
“I don’t believe this,” Dilvan said.
Padma continued, “In the eyes of the state, you are not married. So like I said, let her be.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not? It’s what you’ve wanted all along. Now you’re free. Let her be.”
“I can’t, Mother.”
“Why not!”
“Because I think I love her.”
Prasad said, “If you love her, why treat her the way you did?”
“Because I’m stupid. There, is that what you all want to hear. I’m stupid and I didn’t realize what I had until I didn’t have it anymore.”
“Well, thanks for the delayed apology, but actions speak louder than words,” Prasad said standing. After giving his parents a hug, he left. Heshan followed soon after. So did Padma. She was so upset, she couldn’t listen to another word from him.
Alone with his Father now, Dilvan asked, “So what should I do, Dad. I admit, I made a mistake with Gabrielle, but I don’t feel that I can walk away from her after I apologize to her tonight. I want to try to make things work.”
“You heard your Mother. You and Gabrielle weren’t even married.”
“Then maybe, if she forgives me, we can get married.”
“Depends on what you did to her. How bad was it? You didn’t hit her, did you?”
“No. I pushed her a few times, but never hit her.”
Colin gasped and shook his head. “What else?”
“I won’t go into detail, but I did some bad things, Dad.” His lips trembled and he almost broke down in tears. “I found out she lost two babies because of me,” he admitted.
“What?”
“She had two miscarriages.”
“So you did hit her.”
“No. I pushed her, but—”
“And what makes you think it’s ever right to put your hands on a woman, Dilvan? I didn’t raise you that way. I have never laid a hand on your Mother!”
“I know, Dad.”
“Then what were you thinking?”
“I was angry with Mother. I didn’t want to be married to Gabrielle.”
“Well you’re not. Didn’t you hear what your Mother just said?”
“Yes, I heard her, and she’s right...I didn’t want Gabrielle then...but I want her now.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I’ve had time to think about it, and when I learned she’d donated that bone marrow to you, it made me realize that she’s a good, genuine woman. And I need to get her back, Dad. Tell me what to do to get her back.”
“Dilvan, I don’t know, son. Why would she want you back after everything you put her through? I can’t believe you would do this.”
Dilvan hung her head in shame.
“You need to apologize to her, that’s for sure, but don’t think that just because you offer her an apology, she’s going to come running back to you. Just apologize and move on. That’s my advice to you.”
Dilvan dabbed his eyes and nodded, but he had no intentions on giving up on Gabrielle. Maybe, just maybe if she had a tiny bit of emotion left for him, she’d come back to him somehow.
CHAPTER 20
Gabrielle
- - -
“Jeez, I didn’t think I was going to make it,” I say, huffing and puffing, sweat running down m
y forehead from our morning beach run.
“You didn’t make it,” Tyson quips. “I carried you the rest of the way here on my back. What was that? A mile?”
“Oh, whatever, Tyson,” I say, watching him chug a bottle of Dasani. “That was not a mile. That wasn’t even half of a mile.” I drink more water to help my breathing return to normal, but instead I end up losing more breaths as I watch Tyson pull his sweat-soaked tank top over his head, revealing his cast-iron chest and abs that are so toned, so ripped, they look fake. His physique is mind-blowing.
“All I’m saying is, we’ve only been doing this every morning for the past three months, Bri. You should be used to this by now.”
“I...uh...um...” I literally force myself to look away from his abs. I don’t want to turn away, but I do. “I am used to it.”
“Then why are you out of breath?”
Because you took off your shirt. That’s what I want to say. Instead I respond, “Just thirsty.” I drink more water and can only laugh at myself. He’s right...I should be accustomed to the morning run by now, but I’m not. While I’m aware of the benefits of physical activities and know that running is good for exercising the body and relaxing the mind, the best thing about running in the morning along the shoreline, for me, is being next to him. We’ve grown close over these last few months, extremely close. I feel comfortable with him, even though we are just friends, roommates, or whatever you’d call two people of the opposite sex who live together without a romantic attachment.
As I finish a bottle of water, I look across the center island in the kitchen and see him leaning up against he counter, his arms crossed, legs crossed at the ankles, looking at me with a smirk on his face. Yeah, he did carry me on his back for a few minutes and while I tried to pretend I hadn’t felt an attachment to him while our sweat co-mingled under the rising of the morning sun, I’d be a liar if I said I wasn’t feeling something for him. He’s good to me, nice to me – how could I not?
“I’m surprised you came with me this morning, though...thought exercise and sweat makes your hair frizz up.”
He’s referring to my natural hair that I’d recently had flat-ironed. My straight, flowey strands falls to bra strap length. This was my first time straightening it ever and I had no idea how straight hair would change my appearance. I look like a different woman.
“Yeah, it does, along with the humidity,” I tell him. I massage my scalp, feeling around to see if the hair at the roots is starting to revert back to its natural state and it is, although it’s not noticeable. “Yep, it’s already starting to frizz.”
“Let me see,” he says, walking over to the barstool where I’m sitting.
He drowns his hands in my hair and I feel his fingertips massage my scalp.
“Hmm...I don’t feel anything but a big head,” he quips, then grins while sitting on the barstool next to me.
I laugh and get up from my seat. “Okay...let me see what you’re working with.”
I massage his head, because his hair is cut so low, there’s no hair for me to immerse my fingers in. “Yeah, just as I suspected...an even bigger head,” I say, sliding my hands from his head to the sides of his face while watching him display his amazing smile. As I look at him, I ponder how he could be so handsome and yet still remain humble. He knows how to treat people, especially a damaged soul like me. For that, I’m thankful.
“You okay?” he asks me, probably because I’m still standing here, between his opened legs as he’s sitting on the barstool. My hands are on his face and I’m lost – somewhere in fantasy dreaming up the possibility that a man like this could be remotely interested in me. We’ve been living under the same roof for three months and not once has he ever tried to kiss me, or make any sort of move on me. Now, as I stare at his lips, I want to make a move on him. I feel like, even if I didn’t want to, it would happen anyway. Our lips would somehow find each other’s and lock into something sublime – something as delicious as the desserts he whips up in this kitchen.
“Bri, are you okay?”
I nod and lick my lips. Unable to stop myself from doing what I’ve been dreaming of for the last few weeks, I move my head closer to him, my lips closer to his lips until they touch. The moment they do, I jump...like a static charge has jolted me back to reality.
“I’m sorry,” I say, then run upstairs, embarrassed. I sit on my bed and cover my face with my hands. What was I thinking? Just because Tyson was nice to me didn’t mean he wanted me...just meant he was nice...a million times nicer than Dilvan. Now I feel silly for kissing him, even though our lips barely touched.
The knock at the door has my heart pounding, mind racing. I don’t have the wherewithal to get up from this bed.
“Bri.”
The sound of his voice makes me close my eyes. I feel my stomach quivering. How could I be so stupid?
“Gabrielle, may I come in?” he asks after knocking again.
I don’t know what to do, so I do nothing. For a moment, I can’t think. Then I realize I shouldn’t be this afraid to face Tyson after an innocent, barely-there kiss. It’s not like he’s going to hurt me. I trust him. He’s proven himself. What do I have to be afraid of? All I have to do is apologize again and brush it off.
So I stand up from the bed, rake my hair behind my ears and open the door.
Tyson is standing there, shirtless, the way I left him, and there’s a fire in his eyes, a hunger I haven’t seen in them before.
“Why’d you run away?” he asks me, taking small steps in my direction.
With each step he takes forward, I take one backwards. “I’m sorry, Tyson. I didn’t mean to kiss you.”
“Yes you did,” he states.
“I know, but...I...I’m sorry...it just happened so fast and...”
“Why do you keep apologizing to me?”
“Because I’m sorry...I...I’ve never kissed a man before. Dilvan never kissed me.”
“And how many times do I have to tell you that I’m not Dilvan.”
When I cannot take anymore steps backwards, because my legs are up against the side of the bed, I feel Tyson’s hands against my face. I close my eyes at the warmth of them, then feel his lips plunge into mine as he kisses me with a greedy, passionate longing. I don’t know what I’m doing and when I feel his tongue in my mouth I try not to pass out.
Am I floating? I can’t even decipher whether or not my feet are still on the floor. This kiss, my first kiss, is pure bliss, something I always wanted to feel when I finally connected with someone. I’ve never had a man’s tongue in my mouth before and no matter how much I’ve seen kissing scenes on TV, nothing could prepare me for the real thing. Tyson Alexander is the real thing.
“You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to taste your lips, Gabrielle,” he says in a quick breath, then is back to kissing me again. His lips are firm and his mouth is so strong, so dominative that he seems to be pulling me even closer to him just by use of his lips alone. I feel his hands meander around my waist and I’m not imagining things this time – my feet are off the floor. He’s lifted me to the bed and as I lie there, I watch him crawl on top of me, taking my lips once more.
I wonder if he feels what I feel – like we are in sync at a greater degree than this friendship we’ve shared over the last few months. There’s something special between us, something so dreamy and ethereal that I feel like we’ve crossed over into unknown relationship territory, something far greater than just girlfriend and boyfriend.
While we kiss, I hold a firm grip on his head, the area just above his neck and allow him to school me in this kissing game. I love the taste of him, love the way his lips feel, his tongue feels. Just when I think I’m getting the hang of it, I feel his manhood brush up against my leg through his thin shorts. He moves his lips to my neck, sucking and kissing me there.
“Oh, Tyson.”
He stops when he hears my whimpers. Staring down at me, he’s panting harder than I am.
Moments pass and
we say nothing to each other, only stare into each other’s eyes. Then, out of the blue, Tyson smiles and gathers enough breath to say, “That’s what you get for kissing me.”
I smile at him, watching him move away from me. He’s standing on the floor now and I sit up, looking at him.
“I know you have to get ready to go, so when you’re ready, meet me downstairs,” he says.
I’m having heart palpitations and his kiss has left me so befuddled, I can’t find my voice. So as I watch him walk away and close my bedroom door behind him, all I can do is smile and touch my lips. Did that just happen?
CHAPTER 21
Tyson
- - -
Tyson sat on the couch in the living room, waiting for Gabrielle to come downstairs. He was taking her to Padma’s house today, where she would be meeting to talk about the community garden upkeep for the fall months. With October approaching, she wanted to discuss new vegetables to plant.
He admired her work with Padma. Gabrielle was a woman who didn’t mind getting her hands dirty, who didn’t place emphasis on things that didn’t really matter.
He’d been unable to stop thinking about the kiss they shared this morning, even while he was showering. He hadn’t been with a woman in three years and to have Gabrielle there, sharing his time, space, meals and lips made him realize how much he missed being in a relationship – being in love.
Is that what this was? Love?
He had considered that it could be, but for one to truly love another person, they must be sure of what it was they were feeling. He was helping her, taking her from a bad situation and from the abuse being delivered upon her at the hands of his cousin. He provided a safe environment for her, a new beginning.
Tyson scooted to the edge of the couch and rubbed his hands together. He had to admit to himself that he enjoyed her company – their runs on the beach, cooking together, even their conversations. What he didn’t like was how often she brought up Dilvan.
For a man who’d hurt her so much, Dilvan was always on her mind for some reason, like she wasn’t completely over him. Tyson had a suspicion that this was the case, but he wouldn’t bring it up unless she did.