Baron smiled when Diamante opened the door. She was in a rose red, semi loose maxi dress that made her light golden blonde hair shine brighter. It was braided and the braid hang over one shoulder. Her baby blue eyes sucked him right in. If it hadn't been for her, he would have declined Andrade's dinner invitation. He knew it was fucked up that he had the biggest crush on another man's girlfriend but he couldn't help it.
"These are for you," he handed her a bouquet of white and yellow roses. "Thanks for the invite."
"Thank you. That's very sweet of you. I can't remember the last time a man gave me flowers," she smiled. "Come on in."
He frowned a bit at that comment. Flowers might be old school but surely Andrade had to give her a bouquet on her birthday at least. Or their one year anniversary which Baron knew had been the week before. He had been jealous at that information. He wanted to have a day like that with her and pamper her to no ends.
"Baron!" Andrade was one huge smile when Baron stepped inside the living room. "Come sit down. Food is almost here."
"What are we having?" Baron asked.
The door bell rang and Andrade sent another huge smile in Baron's direction before walking out to open. He came back two minutes later with a bag of sushi.
"I hope you like shrimps," he said.
"Love it," Baron said.
"Sushi?" She looked at her boyfriend. "Why?"
"Why not?" He asked.
"You know I'm allergic to seafood. Did you at least order some vegetarian or chicken ones?" She asked.
"I didn't know that," he said and looked at Baron. "I swear she's never told me that before."
Baron could see Andrade was lying through his teeth and he had no idea why this man wanted to hurt his own girlfriend like that. To him it seemed like Andrade was an abusive son of a bitch that took pride in hurting her anyway he could, even with stupid food.
"Let's sit down and eat," Andrade said.
"Can I use your bathroom first?" Baron asked.
"Of course. Up the stairs, first door to your right," Andrade answered.
Baron walked up the stairs, into the bathroom and took out his phone. His first thought had been to slap the taste out of Andrade's mouth and then leave but he couldn't do that. He couldn't leave Diamante after doing something like that. He had no doubt she would feel Andrade's wrath afterwards. Instead he did something entirely different as he made a call in secrecy.
"You got a nice house," he said as he came back.
"It's mine," Andrade looked proud. "It was easier to move her in here when we moved in together since she had a small apartment."
"So she's stuck with you?" Baron asked.
He used a light, joking tone even though he meant it from the bottom of his heart.
"Pretty much," Andrade grinned. "Now dig in. I bought enough to feed an army."
It was heartbreaking to see her sitting there with her arms hanging down her sides, just staring at an empty plate. There was no doubt in Baron's mind that she had gone through this before. No one would sit there and take it if they weren't used to it. His thoughts were broken as the door bell rang.
"That's for me," he grinned.
"For you?" Andrade asked.
Baron walked out to open and came back a minute later with a box of pizza.
"For you," he handed it to Diamante. "I'm not sure what you like so I hope I played it safe with cheese, beef and corn. I know corn is weird on a pizza but I like it myself so I was hoping you'd be open to it."
"It's perfect," she had tears in her eyes. "Thank you."
She opened the box but jumped back in surprise as Andrade slammed a hand down on the table next to her.
"No!" He yelled. "We don't eat fast food in this house. If you wanna eat, you go make yourself a salad. If not, you go to bed. You act like a fucking kid. Just because your real daddy is dead, doesn't mean you need to hook a new one in Baron."
Baron felt disgusted by those words. This man was begging to be slapped around and Baron would gladly be the one to do it if he thought it would help anything. To his surprise Andrade stormed out of the room and they heard the back door slam after him.
"He'll be back soon," she said. "He just needs to calm down. He usually doesn't lose his cool like that in front of our guests."
He reached across the table and tipped her head up with three fingers under her chin.
"But he loses it in front of you constantly, doesn't he?" He asked.
"All the time," she answered lowly.
"Come with me," he said.
"Where?" She asked.
"Out of this house and away from him. I'm not gonna lie to you, Diamante. I'm very much interested in you but I'm not gonna try anything unless you ask me to. I got a guest room and there's a key so you can lock the door and feel safe. Just come with me and leave him. You're better than this," he said.
She stared in his eyes and saw nothing but honesty there. She had wanted to get out ever since she moved in but she hadn't been able to find the strength. For some weird reason it burst through her like a whirlwind. It was now or never. She knew that.
"Okay," she nodded.
"Great, let's hurry and pack a bag of clothes before he gets back in," he said.
"He'll destroy my clothes," she said.
"I'm not even surprised to hear that. Pack something for a few days and I'll go shopping with you tomorrow. Just take whatever is important," he said.
Clothes didn't matter. All that mattered was getting her out of the house before Andrade could stop her. She ran up the stairs and he waited nervously. Five minutes later she came back. She had changed into a pair of light blue denim jeans, a black tank top and an open black hoodie. She had a backpack over her shoulders.
"What the fuck is going on here?" Andrade asked.
They both looked at him while the man looked between them.
"We're leaving," Baron answered.
"You're going home already? But you just got here," Andrade said.
"We're leaving," Baron repeated. "Me and Diamante."
"I think not," Andrade said.
He stepped towards her but Baron grabbed his arm, spun him around and stared him down. Andrade actually looked scared coming this close with a man that tall.
"I'm taking her out of here and you're not gonna do a damn thing about it. You're not gonna text her, call her or even think about her. From here on out you're single and I suggest you stay that way or get some professional help because no woman deserves a piece of shit like you," Baron said.
He stepped back to the table, closed the pizza box and grabbed it.
"And we're taking the pizza. I paid for it after all and I'm hungry," he said. "Enjoy your sushi."
He took Diamante's hand and she held her head up high as they walked out to his car. They drove to his house in silence. She looked around and felt strangely free all of the sudden. Tears started running down her cheeks and he was fast to try and dry them with his fingers.
"Don't cry, beautiful. He's not worth the tears," he said.
"That's not why I'm crying. I'm crying because of you and what you just did for me," she said. "And I forgot the flowers you gave me. I really liked them."
"I'll buy a new and bigger bouquet for you tomorrow," he laughed. "Let's eat that pizza, shall we?"
He guided her to the kitchen where they sat down on opposite sides of the table with the pizza box in between them.
"You can ask me out on a date," she blushed.
"You can ask me too," he winked. "But I'd love to take you out. I already promised to take you out shopping tomorrow so let's make an entire day out of it and have dinner too. Pick a restaurant."
"I get to choose?" She looked surprised. "I like Chinese."
"We'll find a Chinese place then," he smiled. "And I promise to be a gentleman and only kiss you goodnight if you want it."
"I think I do," she mumbled and blushed again.