TANGLED HEARTS
- CONSIDER IT DONE.
Nothing speaks to the heart like a promise of a new love. It’s too early to release hers from the cage that she locked it in and part of her doesn’t want her to get excited over whatever it is that is starting to blossom with Shane, or daddy Shane as Leona calls him. Amerie laughs at this, her friend seems to have a title for almost everyone, she’s starting to wonder if she has one too, she should ask her.
She’s still laying in bed, she always has her alarm set to fifteen minutes before she actually has to get up so she has just a few minutes to prepare herself for the day ahead. Laying in bed and facing the ceiling while swiping through a couple of thoughts always does it for her. It is a lot better than switching off the alarm and immediately getting off the bed while your body is still adjusting to being awake, she will get up fifteen minutes later, when the second alarm goes off.
Her phone beeps and it’s a good morning text from Shane, he prefers calls to texting but in the mornings, for the past few days he has been sending good morning texts and then he calls before they both go to bed. She’s loving the attention and how it’s all going, again, it’s still early days so she’s not getting her heart in it but she won’t lie and say this feeling is not refreshing and enticing because it is. She doesn’t remember when last a man paid her this much attention and because she knows that it’s bound to end or run dry at some point, she’s just taking full advantage of the feeling and hoping it will make for a great memory. She’s just enjoying the moment, riding the wave if she may even put it like that.
She replies to today’s morning message and wishes him a good day but before she can send, her phone starts ringing and it’s her big sister, Isabelle.
“Isa,” She answers her phone wondering why she’s getting a call this early and her sister’s voice comes through, sounding like there is no crisis.
“Hey sis, how are you?”
“I’m okay, you?”
“I’m good,”
“Is everything okay?” she asks and Isa laughs.
“You worry too much, Amy? Why wouldn’t everything be okay now?”
“I don’t know, you never call this early,”
“I actually meant to call last night but I got a bit busy. Chase called me,” She says and Amerie immediately feels her mood deflate.
“Oh,”
“Is that all you’re going to say?”
“What am I expected to say, Isabelle?” she already feels annoyed with her sister’s judgemental tone and it is at this point that she regrets introducing the two of them, thank God she never took him home or she would have a lot of explaining to do.
“I don’t know, anything… The poor guy says you blocked him and chased him out of your apartment, Amy…”
The poor guy? Really?
“He’s not lying, I did but did he tell you why I did that?”
“Of course he did. He explained himself and he is remorseful, Amerie. He knows he was wrong and he regrets it,”
“Oh, so I’m the bad guy now for wanting him to stay away from me?”
“Of course not, That’s not what I’m saying-”
“What are you saying then, Isabelle? because it’s beginning to sound like you called me to judge my reaction to his actions, and also to plead his case and act like what he did wasn’t that bad when it actually is the worst thing to do to someone you claim to love,”
“I’m not dismissing your feelings. You have every right to feel the way that you do right now, you know I’ve been there and I also gave him a piece of my mind, but don’t you think you’re being a little extreme, sis? Giving up four years and the love that you guys share just like that? I think you’re making rash decisions out of anger and that’s never a good thing,you know that,”
” I don’t want to be with a cheater, Isabelle. I walked in on him screwing someone else and this isn’t me making rash decisions. Chase knows very well what he has been doing all this time and he made me feel like I was imagining things when I wasn’t. Had I not caught him in the act I’d still be trapped in that state. Him acting like he’s not sneaking around when the signs are clearly there, no, you don’t get to make me feel like I’m overreacting because we both know that if the roles were reversed he would have used every deragatory word under the sun to drag me and still leave me. I’m not doing this with you, the things you are willing to overlook are not things I’m willing to overlook-“she stops talking when she realizes that she’s just crossed a line.
” Wow, just wow Amerie. I called you so I could talk sense into your head and you just turn and say what you just did? ”
” Isa, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-”
” Just forget it, when you’re done being bitchy, go and fix things with your man, unless if you’d rather be known as the woman who jumps from one man to another and for your information. Chase is a good guy who made a mistake, show me someone who is free of fault in this world,” Isabelle ends the call on that note without waiting for a response and Amerie has no intention to respond anyway. She doesn’t even understand why the conversation had to go the way that it did. Why would Isabelle be more concerned about pleading Chase’s case instead of being concerned about her own sister?
Yes she could have avoided mentioning things that her sister is willing to overlook because she knows things aren’t always rosy in the relationship that she is in but she also had no business trying to convince her to go back to Chase. Speaking of Chase, the cowardly bastard, she should have known that he would run to Isa instead of just moving on, this is the kind of drama she doesn’t like or even want. Again, she regrets ever introducing them.
Her day starts on that sour note and she carries a frown on her face from the moment she leaves her apartment up until she gets to work and she’s forced to put on a smile because personal matters are meant to be left at home. Isabelle ruined her morning and yet she knows that she will be the one who is expected to apologize simply because she pointed out a fact that Isa would rather not hear even when she knows it is the truth.
She soldiers on with the day and the only thing that seems to lift up her mood is when she sees a call coming in from Shane, it’s her lunch hour and she decided to get some air outside.
“You sound different, what’s wrong?” he asks because he was able to pick it up from her second sentence that she’s not okay.
“It’s nothing hectic,” She sighs.
“I’d still like to hear about it because it’s clearly making you unhappy,” he sounds like he could actually care about her feelings. She shakes her head at herself, she needs to try and not second guess everything that he says and does. This is still a trial run and it’s meant to be fun.
” I got into it with my sister in the morning,” She begins to explain parts of their conversation and that she may have overstepped by saying something and all this while, Shane is listening attentively until she’s done.
“It sounds to me like your sister asked for it,” he says and it takes her by surprise.
“Shane…”
“What?” he chuckles “If you are going to be so invested in someone else’s business, to the point of wanting to force them to see things the way that you do then you also need to be prepared for the possibility that they will push back,”
She listens and sighs, deep down she knows he is right. Isa overstepped and forced out a reaction from her. “And what do you think about everything else that she said?”
“I’m afraid I can only give a biased point of view. I don’t want you to go back to your ex, I really don’t so nothing that comes out of my mouth right now will back up what your sister said,”
“What if you didn’t care about whether or not I go back?”
“That’s a hypothetical question that I cannot answer, Amerie,”
“Why not?”
“Because I cannot imagine not caring” he says and it goes silent. She doesn’t know how to respond to that. This man never dilutes his words, he says exactly what he’s thinking and she’s thankful this is happening through a phonecall. Shane on the other hand is smiling to himself because he wants her to know that he really doesn’t want her running back to her ex, not when he knows he can make her feel a lot better. Even though she’s holding out, he is a patient man and has all the time in the world to soften her up until she is comfortable with the idea of letting him in. He is exercising his patience and she is worth it, she’s worth every bit of patience that he’s having to stretch out.
“I have to get back to work now, talk later?” he says.
“Yes, I’ll see you later,”
“You don’t have to start being my chauffeur, you know? I might just get used to it and you would have to uphold that standard,” she points out, half joking.
“I might not be able to always be your chauffer but I don’t mind getting one for you,”
“You mean like a constant driver?”
“Yes, do you like the idea of having a chauffer?” he asks and she knows better than to just agree to it. Shane will take it serious.
“On some days, not all the time though,” She sheepishly admits. The last thing she wants is for him to think she’s out to get his coins but she can’t lie and say the idea of having a private ride on some days isn’t tempting, especially on days like today.
“Days like today?” he asks as though reading her mind.
“Yes, it would be nice to not catch a taxi and just have someone ready to drive me home without having many stops,”
“Consider it done,”
“Wait, you mean that?”
“I do, I’ll send you the driver’s details and he will be in contact. I need to get going now,”
“Oh okay,. Wow… Thank you,” it almost sounds like a question.
“You’re welcome, I’ll let you get back to work now and if you want to talk just call me,”
“Will do,” she says then hangs up and she energetically walks back to work with the idea of having a personal driver waiting for her this evening playing loudly in her head and making her smile.
.
.
.
Just as promised, Shane sent a driver. She was just expecting that he would show up in just a car and drive her home but no. Firstly, the car isn’t just a car, it’s a luxurious black suv with tinted windows. Secondly, the driver is waiting outside the car so he can get her bag for her after he introduces himself as Aaron and also get the door and thirdly, just as she slides on to the red leather seats, she she sees a bouquet of mixed flowers that are arranged so beautifully.
“These are beautiful flowers,” she assumes that they belong to him.
“Mr. Mathews will be pleased to know know that you love them, ma’am,” he answers and she looks forward but can’t see his face.
“They are mine?”
“Yes, ma’am,”
“Oh… Thank you,” she picks them up from the seat and smells them then she takes out her phone to text him a thank you message and then she sits back and smells her flowers while allowing herself to relax and enjoy the comfort and luxury of being driven home. She has a smile on her face again and she has Shane to thank for that.
They are delayed by slow moving traffic but she doesn’t mind, she is too relaxed in the car and doesn’t even realize that they are near until Aaron parks outside the apartment building. Someone gets the door for her from the outside and she’s surprised to see that it’s Shane. He helps her out and thanks Aaron then she sees his car which is parked closely to where Aaron had parked.
She’s happy to see him and her smile shows it as she briefly hugs him, taking him by surprise but he loves it “I wasn’t expecting to see you here,”
“I thought I’d pass by later but you guys took longer,”
“Oh yeah, the traffic was terrible. I thought you had to be somewhere?”
“Not before making sure that you really are feeling better,”
“You didn’t have to come all the way, Shane,” she blushes. This man has her feeling all sorts of things.
“I wanted to see for myself that you are really okay,”
“I am. The chauffer and flowers picked up my mood, thank you,”
“I’m glad you are feeling better, that’s all that matters. Are you sure you don’t want Aaron to come pick you up daily?”
“No, only on some occasions. I don’t want to take advantage,”
“You’re not taking advantage, I’m offering,”
“And I’m grateful but not yet… Occasionally, yes,”
“Alright then, my lady. I’ve seen you and my heart is content. I’ll get going now,” they hug again and he kisses her cheek while she breathes in his cologne and thinks about how he just made a stop to come check on her. She watches as he drives off and the entire time she has a smile plastered on her face, she doesn’t think she can ever get used to this.