2.ONE LAST TIME.
The first thing Amerie does when she enters her apartment is to strip off the wet clothing that’s sticking to her body. She throws those clothes in the washing machine and then leaves it to do it’s job while she walks to her bathroom so she can warm her body up with the shower water.
It’s been a long day and no matter how much she would like to stop thinking about what she walked in on, her mind refuses to archive that memory and it hurts, it hurts so much to think that she has always known that Chase was cheating on her but she couldn’t fully prove it, she could never fully prove it and he used that to his advantage. He always had an explanation, an excuse or even better, he would turn the entire thing on her and blame it on her insecurities. There was a point where she blamed herself too, she thought she was being too hard or unfair on him. Countless times he accused her of “bleeding” on him and she always apologised. Now, looking back, she feels like a complete idiot to have apologised when her intuition was right from the word go, she felt it and now she has seen it with her own eyes. There is nothing that Chase can say now to convince her that everything is just in her head and not happening in real life and if she’s being honest, a tiny part of her is somewhat grateful for how things played out, no assumptions but facts and now she won’t be judged for walking away because that’s exactly what she’s planning on doing. She can never look at him the same way or even give him the same respect that she used to. He repulses her now.
While still under the shower head that’s providing warmth and comfort to her body as she breathes in the calming scent coming from her oceanic shower gel, her mind wanders off to that kind stranger. He did not need to do what he did for her, he could have cussed her out for stepping on a busy road without caution and he could have left her there but he didn’t. He drove her home and offered her his nice and fresh smelling handkerchief as well as some kind words. It is nice to know that kind people still exist, people with good intentions. If she ever sees him again, she will be sure to express her gratitude.
Once she’s done with the shower and dressed in her warm pajamas, she checks her phone. She blocked Chase when he wouldn’t stop calling and texting so now she’s just receiving notifications of the calls that bounced, she ignores it all and texts her best friend, Leona who lives just a floor above hers, asking her to come over because she needs someone to talk to. She will cry it out later when she’s on the bed, alone. For now, she just wants someone to vent to, someone to tell that all this time she wasn’t just being crazy.
Leona has never liked Chase, she just tolerated him simply because he is her friend’s man… Or was, and now she sits on the couch with her mouth wide open and eyes looking like they will pop out any second now,”He what?”
“Yeah, I can’t believe it too.” Amerie’s tries her best not to replay the fresh memory in her head but she fails. She just sees them all over again.
“Oh no, honey. I can absolutely believe it,” Leona says and Amerie frowns at her “No, for real, babes. I’ve always gotten the feeling that he was a sneaky one but for him to take it this far? Why the hell would he give you the keys to his place if he knew that he would be bringing his other girl there?”
“Maybe it was a miscalculation on his side,”Amerie shrugs, it really doesn’t matter now.
” Or the lord finally had enough of him and his cheating ways so he decided to air out his dirty secrets to you,” Leona says. She has always wished that her friend would some day see the douche that Chase is. She always knew that he’s no good but what can you do when your best friend is in too deep? She can only hope that Amerie won’t fall for his stupid apology and will actually realize that she deserves so much more than what whoring Chase has to offer. If there was ever a sign that her girl needed in order to ditch the dead weight that goes by the name of Chase then this is it right here, she needs to lose this weight.
“It doesn’t matter now, what’s done is done,” Amerie says thoughtfully. She doesn’t see herself going back to him, love isn’t supposed to hurt like this and she cannot stand to go back to the man who has been making a fool out of her. How long has he been doing this? Has he been secretly laughing at her for being a fool? Has this just been a game to him?
“That bastard, I swear… When he bumps into me he better quickly head to the opposite direction or I’m going to clean the floor with his stupid face. How dare he? Who the hell does he think he is and why are you so calm right now?”
Amerie shrugs again “I’m just tired, Lee. It’s been a long day, I found my boyfriend having sex with another girl then almost got hit by a car-”
“Wait, what? You didn’t tell me that part. Are you okay?” Leona starts to assess her friend with her worried eyes.
“I’m okay, there was no impact… Just more humiliation on my side,” She mumbles the last part, thinking of how she embarrassed she herself in font of that man, part of her is glad that it was a stranger because she would wish for the earth to open up and swallow her if it was anyone she personally knew. He saw her at her worst.
“Are you sure? We could go to the doctor,”
“I’m okay, I really am and the driver was kind enough to offer me a drive home. He even allowed me to send you his license details.”
“The one you deleted?”
“I was already home and safe, there is no need to hold on to his details, he’s just a kind stranger.”
Leona chooses to let it go and focus on helping to soothe Amerie’s broken heart. They cuddle together and watch tiktok videos, skipping through the heartbreak ones of course and just focusing on the funny and entertaining ones.
Her phone pings again, another notification of Chase’s blocked calls. She stares at it then tosses her phone away, he will eventually get tired and go back to his other girl. Leona sees this too and a sense of pride hits her when she sees that Amerie isn’t budging, she knows it’s early days but she has faith, whoring Chase won’t win this one.
After a while, there’s a knock on the door and the two of them look at each other, both knowing who is at the other side of the door.
“I could get it for you and tell him where to fuck off,” Leona offers.
“No, for it to have the desired effect it needs to be me, or he’s never going to get the message,”
She gets up and goes to get the door and there stands a miserable looking Chase. If he were to tell her that he is sick now it would actually be believable, giving how he’s looking but she knows better, she can see through his lies and acting now.
She has the door open but stands right there in the middle, blocking the way and facing him “What do you want?”
“Baby, can we please talk?”
“Don’t call me that,”
“Please, I just need a chance to explain,” at this, Leona scoffs and claps once in the background.
“What’s there to explain, Chase?” Amerie gets his attention back to her.
“May I come in? Please, I just need to talk to you,” He continues to beg and she stares at him for a while and then moves to make way. He slowly makes his way in and then his eyes meet Leona’s and he can see the anger in them like she wants to cut his head off.
” Well, well, if it isn’t whoring Chase, ” She gets up and her eyes never leave his. If he didn’t have any pride he could admit that she is scaring him a little right now. He doesn’t even know how to respond to his new name that he knows will not be dying down any time soon.
” Lee, can you give us three minutes? This won’t take long,” Amerie asks and Leona unwillingly drags her feet to Amerie’s bedroom. She doesn’t shut the door, she leaves it slightly open so she can be able to eavesdrop effectively and jump in should there be a need.
When it’s just the two of them, Chase proceeds with his mission. He starts to go on his knees and begs “Baby, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what got over me and I hate that I hurt you like this. I love you so much, Amerie. You mean the world to me, you are my world. Without you, I have no purpose in this life, baby. Please forgive me, please… I swear, it won’t ever happen again, ”
She stares to him, arms covered over her chest” Chase? ”
” Yes, my love, ”
” Get up, these theatrics aren’t doing what you thought they would, “She says flatly.
” Baby-”
” Stand up, “This time she uses a commanding tone which even takes Leona by surprise.
Chase does as he is told and he continues to look at her with pleading eyes.” Please forgive me, Amy… What you walked in on meant nothing to me, I wasn’t thinking straight, it was a moment of weakness and she overpowered me with her seduction. I know better now, I won’t betray you like that again, I swear,”
“How many times did you have to practice that speech before coming here?” she asks him, completely feeling unmoved.
“What do you mean? Baby, I’m speaking from the bottom of my heart, I made a mistake-”
“Oh cut the bullshit, that was no mistake. You made a decision and that’s that. You decided that I’m not enough so you went looking for more and you got more. Now that I’ve caught you, you want to come and perform fake apologies for me? Do I look that stupid to you or have I just given you enough power to think you can break my heart like this and then fix it with more lies?
You say you love me? You never loved me, Chase. You just loved the idea of always having a backup plan, someone who would always take all your crap and open up her heart for you but you know what? I’m done,”
“Amerie, please… Don’t say that, my love, please,”
“I’m done with you, I’m done with feeling like this. I deserve so much more than what you’ve been giving me. I deserve so much more than a man who will hurt me the way that you have. You made a choice so stick with it, stick with her-”
“No, I don’t want her. She means nothing to me,”
“I don’t care, that’s not my problem and your three minutes are up. We are done here, Chase. I’m done with you and I don’t ever want to see you again. There is so much I can say to you right now, about how you used to make me think I was imagining things, how you always turned things on me when you knew very well what you were busy with. There is so much that I imagined and planned on telling you when I saw you but now that I think about it. It’s not worth it, I don’t need to waste my energy on you or even ask why you would do that to me. You won’t give me and valid answers and I sure as hell know that none of this is my fault. All I ever did was love, respect and be faithful to you and that wasn’t enough for you and that’s okay, it’s over now. It hurts but I’ll get over it and if there is one thing I will never ever do in my life, it’s to come back to you because I would only be setting myself up for failure and heartbreak. You’ve gotten what you could from me and I hope you enjoyed it because this is where it stops, this is where it ends and this is where I stop being your girlfriend. We are done, Chase. There is no apology that can ever get me to change my mind, ”
She walks to the door and opens it” Leave. ”
Chase looks at the person who used to look at him like he was her whole world and now he sees just a shell of her. This isn’t the Amerie he knows, she isn’t the same anymore. It scares him to think that she is really leaving him but he has already compromised so much of his pride by going on his knees and begging. Maybe this was too early, maybe he should have given her time, a few days but if he hadn’t shown up tonight she would have thought he was still with Carmen… He doesn’t know how to make this right and win her back, he doesn’t know how to get her to look at him the way that she used to… He doesn’t know how to get his Amerie back.
All defeated, he starts to make his way out and then he stops on the door way and she maintain her brave face. Making sure not to give even a hint of emotion “I love you, Amerie. I know I messed up and I have no reason or excuse for it. You are right, you did nothing wrong, I’m the messed up one. I’m sorry, I really am. I want you to know that this man loves you and you will forever be the queen on my heart, I can never love anyone the way that I love you, Amy. I never have and I never will. Even through my screw ups. I love you so damn much. You and I make so much sense together, it’s always been us, you know that. I’ll keep begging because I know I’m wrong. Knowing that I hurt you hurts me so much too, I’m disappointed in myself and it even physically hurts to know that I’ve broken the heart and trust if the one person who loves me unconditionally. I’m sorry, baby. ”
She looks away and chooses not to respond and he finally walks away. After shutting the door, she leans against it and Leona comes out of the bedroom having heard everything. Her heart breaks for her friend, she really thought Chase was the one. Amerie just stands there and finally allows her tears to come steaming down her cheeks. “I’m proud of you for standing up for yourself and realizing that you deserve more. I’m so sorry that your heart is breaking right now but it will be okay, you will see and may the car that wanted to hit you, hit him instead and break both his legs.” Leona holds her in a tight hug and comforts her and she bawls her eyes out one last time for Chase, just one last time.