TANGLED HEARTS
- YOU PROMISED
BONUS chapter sponsored by Vee Aviwe❤️
“I didn’t like how you spoke to me the other day…”
“Yeah well, I didn’t like how you spoke to me either,” Amerie rolls her eyes at how her sister is acting.
She knew this would happen when she decided that she wasn’t going to reach out first. Isabelle is okay with saying things to people but can not handle a couple of harsh words herself, that’s not fair. If you’re willing to dish it out then you should be able to take it too. Maybe she also took it too far by referencing the state of Isabelle’s relationship but it wasn’t planned, she just got heated up by how her sister expects her to follow in her footsteps, she’s not built like that, she’s not built to be the kind of girlfriend that lets things slide, especially what Chase did.
She decided to go quiet and now they are on this awkward phonecall which was initiated by Isabelle because they have to talk about going to see their parents and Isabelle’s six year old son in the Vaal. They usually take these trips together because only one of them has a car and it’s convenient, plus their parents and the child love it when both of them are there. They become one full family again.
“But you shouldn’t have-” Isabelle starts to argue but gets cut off.
“No, Isabelle. First you admit that you were wrong for wanting to shove Chase down my throat and then I apologize for bringing up a sensitive matter and then we make up, that’s how this works, the blame game will not get us anywhere,”Amerie tells her and she swears she can hear her smiling.
” Okay, fine… You are right, I was completely out of line and I sidelined the fact that Chase did hurt you. What he did wasn’t right, no one deserves that, ”
” Exactly, no one does and I’m expecting that you as my big sister will want to protect me from him instead of wanting to force me to pardon his rotten behavior, ”
” I hear you, it’s just… You guys have come too far, you know. Some relationships don’t even last for a year, ”
” I’d rather have short term relationships than to count anniversaries filled with misery, ”
” Are you sure you can’t forgive him? I mean, except this recent development, he’s been making you happy. ”
” I don’t know about forgiveness, maybe one day I’ll move on from the hurt but even when I do, I’ll want him to keep his distance,”
“Okay, I hear you little sis, I won’t push.”
“Thank you. I’m sorry for saying what I said, I know you and Romeo have had your issues and you have forgiven him… And you don’t like talking about the things he has done,”
“I don’t, him and I are in a better place now and I don’t need you rubbing the past on my face whenever we fight,”
“To be fair I hardly do that. I only did it this time because we were arguing about something related and I was trying to put a point across,”
“Aren’t you supposed to be apologizing?” Isa’s cheeky tone comes through making Amerie laugh.
“I’m sorry, Isa. I don’t want to fight with you, you’re my big sister and I love you. The last thing I want is to fight you because of a good for nothing cheater.”
“I love you too… And big sister’s know best,”
“Sometimes,”
“Seriously?”
“Yes, sometimes you need let me make my own decisions without trying to influence me. I’m no longer a child, you know,”she says this with Shane in mind. She knows her sister might not approve of her being with an older man but she’s old enough to make her own decisions, even if the thing she has going on with Shane never becomes a solid relationship, it still will be a choice that she made for herself, sober minded and she will move on, that’s life.
“I know, I know… Look, why don’t we meet this Sunday to watch a movie or just to have lunch, it’s been a while,”
“I’d love that, but no more talks about Chase or I’m going to lose my mind,”
“No more, I promise,”
She thinks about Shane again and wonders what Isabelle would really think but she quickly crashes out that thought. She has learned her lesson, she’s not introducing anyone to her sister anymore, not even by mistake. The next time she introduces someone it will be when he has asked for her hand in marriage and they have a date set for their wedding. Until then, no one is meeting anyone. She has learned a hard lesson.
“Okay, let’s do it.”
“Yay!! I can’t wait to see you,”Isabelle squeals in excitement” Oh, and don’t forget we have a pending trip back home. I miss my baby boy so please don’t disappoint or I’m gonna have to leave you behind, ”
” I won’t, I’ve already made arrangements for that weekend so we are good to go, ”
” Alright then, sis. I’ll see you soon, ”
.
.
.
Just as agreed, the two sisters meet at Menlyn. The plan is to first catch a movie then go and have lunch. They haven’t done this in a while so Amerie was happy to put on a dress that she hadn’t worn since buying. A body hugging mint green dress that stops midthigh and a pair of sneakers. She curls her long brown hair and put on a bit of make-up and accessories with a necklace and a couple of bangles that match the cour of her nails and she made sure to smell good before leaving the house. It’s only now she realises that she hasn’t put in much effort into dressing up for the longest time, it feels refreshing to put this much energy into looking good. She knows she has a free ride at her disposal but she still requests a ride that she pays for instead, not wanting to be a nuisance or take advantage of Shane’s kindness. She’s trying hard not to go all in, to leave a bit of room for herself and disappointment of course.
When she enters the mall, she calls Isa to find out where she is “Sis,”
“Hey sis, are you here?”
“Yeah, are you at the cinema?”
“Yes, and I’ve got the tickets already. Come, I’ll be waiting outside for you,” Isa says then hangs up.
This is quite a big mall but Amerie works in an even bigger mall so getting around is not much of a problem for her. She just makes sure to follow the signs and before she knows it, she’s found the place. It’s packed, there’s obviously a new release that people are lining up to see. Her eyes scan around trying to find her sister and she spots her standing with her boyfriend, Romeo. This takes Amerie by surprise because all along she was under the impression that it will just be her and Isa but she still approaches the couple, she’s already here anyway. Maybe she will just watch the movie then excuse herself afterwards because she has no intention of being a third wheel.
“Oh hey! You’re here,” Isabelle wraps her arms around her sister and sways their bodies from side to side like she always does “Oh gosh, it feels like I haven’t seen you in forever, Amy,”
“Yeah, it’s been a while,”… This is awkward, especially as she looks over to Romeo who’s just standing there. She can’t say that she likes him, especially after everything that Isa has told her about how his unfaithful ways, so she just tolerates him because for some reason, Isa cannot seem to let go even though he has made a fool out of her more than once… Or twice “Hey, Rom,”
“Hey, Amy. You good?”
“I am… You?”
“I’m good,” he grabs a handful of popcorn and shoves it in his mouth and she turns her attention back to her sister who’s smiling like she knows something the rest of the world doesn’t.
“I know, I know. You weren’t expecting to see Rom here, right?”
“Yeah, you forgot to mention it,” Amerie tries to sound calm so as to not come across as the mean little sister.
“I figured it was only fair if he comes along too,”
“Only fair?” As she asks for clarity. Something catches Isabelle’s eye behind her and she starts smiling widely, which makes Amerie turn to see what’s going on and the second she does, she is hit by an unexplainable wave of anger toward her sister “You’re unbelievable, you know that?”
Isabelle reaches out and touches her sister’s arm “Don’t get upset, just hear him out,” she says with a soft tone and Amerie can’t believe her sister would go this far.
“Seriously, Isabelle? You went and did this to me after you promised,”
“Amy-”
“Ladies, how are you?” They are interrupted when Chase stops next to her and his stupid brain tells him it’s okay to put his arm around her waist like they are still together.
“Chase, get your filthy arm off me,”Amerie roughly pushes the hand off her.
“Amy,” Isabelle says with a disapproving tone.
“Don’t you start with me. You lied to me, Isabelle. How could you? After our phone call? All this time you knew what you were planning and you led me along. Do you care so little for me?”
“Don’t say that, you know I love you,”
“You have a crazy way of showing it. What the hell is this?”
“Keep it down, you will cause a scene. Look, I can explain,” Isabelle starts to panic when she realises that her actions have backfired and Amerie is seething.
“You can’t explain shit,” Amerie says and this takes the audience of three by surprise, even Romeo stops munching on the popcorn . They all aren’t used to hearing her swear, she’s not used to it either but Isabelle has pushed her.
“I’m sorry but what was I supposed to do? Chase called and begged me to connect him with you and we both know that this guy loves you, Amy. He made a mistake and he wants to fix things, would it be so hard to hear him out first before you make a decision regarding your relationship?”
” What were you supposed to do? Are you kidding me, Isabelle? Be a big sister, that’s what you’re supposed to do? Are you his sister or mine? ”
” Amy-”
“Why are you forcing him on me? What is your problem?”
“I don’t want you to make decision that you will regret later on. Forgiveness is a real thing, Amerie and let him prove that he has learned his lesson, right Chase?”
“Yes, that’s right. Look, baby I know-”
“Shut up, I don’t want to hear anything coming out of your mouth, and you,” she turns to her sister “You should be disappointed in yourself, you have failed me, Isabelle, I can’t believe you,” the way she’s so angry at her sister, she feels like screaming at the top of her lungs while crying to. What kind of mess is this from someone who should be having your back? The anger she’s feeling is making her shake from the inside while her body heats up.
“Why don’t we all talk about this after the movie? Over a nice lunch and then we can iron out the issues that the two of you have. You’ll see, everything will be fine of you just calm down,”
Isabelle proceeds to hand two tickets to Chase and tells him “The movie is starting soon, Rom and I will go now and maybe you two need a few minutes together before coming in,” she says and is about to be playful when she’s met by Amerie’s burning glare. She realizes that she may have went a little too far but everything will work out. This is the real world, Amerie needs to realize that no relationship is perfect and it all takes hard work. She can’t just keep hopping in an out of relationships, at some point she has to grow up.
When they are left alone, Chase tries to take his chances “I’m sorry that we did upset you but I had no other way of reaching you, baby. I need to talk to you. I love you, Amerie, so much and I regret what I did to us everyday-”
“Chase?”
“Yes, my love,”
“Disappear,” she says as of she’s casting a spell then turns to leave. She takes quick steps but he’s right there, unwilling to leave her alone. Damn Isabelle, never did Amerie think her sister would do something like this to her. Now she’s stuck with this idiot who doesn’t know when to stop talking.
“Amy baby, please -”
“Leave me alone,”
“Just a few minutes of your time then,” he continues pleading and she continues walking until she spots a bathroom. There, he can’t follow her into the ladies bathroom now, can he?
“Wait here, I need the restroom,” she says to him and he is more than willing to wait.
“Okay, baby. I’m not going anywhere.”
She walks in hoping to find another exit that is in the opposite direction from where she came from and yes! There is one. It leads to a whole complete other side of the mall. She quickly dashes out and walks too far away for him to even find her. She decides to call Shane while still walking inside the mall.
“Amerie,” his manly, calm and soothing voice comes through. It always feels like he was expecting her call when she calls him.
“Hey, are you busy?”
“Not for you, what’s going on?”
“I was such a fool, Shane,” as she says this. She feels hot tears beging to pool in her eyes. It’s not so much about Chase anymore, it’s about Isabelle not respecting her decisions and dismissing her feelings.
“What happened? I thought you were meeting with your sister,”
“I thought so too but as it turns out, my backstabbing and insensitive sister went and invited my ex to come join us. This was her plan from the beginning and I was the fool that fell for her fake sincerity and you know what the crazy part is? She sees nothing wrong with what she has done. Just because she has chosen to be miserable for the rest of her life, she figures everyone deserves the same.” she furiously wipes off a tear, no longer caring for the makeup.
” Where are you now? Are you still at Menlyn? ”
” Yeah, the idiot wouldn’t stop following me around so I found a way to get away from him, ”
“Is he threatening you?”
“No, he’s just being a nuisance but I want to get out of here. I think I’ll just go home,”
“Wait… Are you comfortable with coming over to my house?”
“Who is over there?” she asks and they both laugh, she’s right to ask though, people will surprise you.
“Just myself, I swear. I can ask Aaron to come get you and we can spend the day together while I cheer you up,how does that sound?”
She thinks about it for a moment, she wants to get out of here and the thought of seeing Shane makes her feel better already. Plus, she thinks she trusts him enough to go to his house “Okay, tell him to come,”