Author's Note: Thank you so much for the love and patience!
Chapter Three:
The Undisputed Truth
"But its still in your eyes my boo,
Even though we used to argue it's alright,
I know we haven't seen each other,
In awhile but you will always be my boo," – My Boo; Usher, Alicia Keys
Audrey Okafor's life was a routine: she got up, went to work, studied the foreign weapon under her care, turned in her reports, put up with the daily racist and sexist bullshit, did some work with Pastor Franklin and went home exhausted. This was her life, and she was accustomed to it. There was little to no time for socializing – her only friend being a fellow coworker with a Coca-Cola addiction. So dating was never a real significant factor in her life. This was what Audrey always told her mom whenever the subject come up during either phone calls or visits.
This is what Audrey always told herself.
It wasn't like there weren't any suitors; there have been many that have tried. Audrey just never had the time – or, better yet, never tried to. And it wasn't because of an inner fire of independence people have accused her of having.
Audrey truly did want someone.
Growing up, Audrey admired the relationship her parents had. They were each other's best friend; meeting each other after her dad had accidentally thrown a basketball at her mom's head. As expected, it was a bumpy relationship in the beginning due to their meeting, but both her parents knew they could find a true companion in each other. That companionship eventually bloomed into genuinely love for each other; a love Audrey couldn't even comprehend. A love in which neither could speak a word to each other, but know exactly what they are feeling. A love in which just their company was enough to suffice any need or want they desired from each other. A love that you could lean on during the hard times so you both could endure through it.
True love.
A love Audrey had dreamed of having ever since she was a little girl.
But finding such love was hard, especially when suitors are easily scared off by your own intelligence and ambition. Audrey has always known she was an oddball compared to the populous, but she is frankly getting tired of being reminded of it every time a date is cut short or when she doesn't get a call back. It seemed like she could never escape being the outsider – even in the ritual of courting. So eventually Audrey just stopped trying all together; knowing the end results would always be the same no matter what.
Nobody wanted a weirdo like her.
"Except Erik," She thought mindlessly, pulling another part from the foreign weapon. Once Audrey had caught on to her thought, she paused in her work, glancing over at her purse that held the proposal ring from Erik. She had refused to leave it in her apartment – preferring to carry it with her everywhere she went, but refusing to wear it.
Audrey had yet to answer the answer the question that came with the ring, still very unsure as well as unsettled of how she was even able to receive it. There were a lot of unanswered questions – questions she didn't know if she'll ever get the answer to.
Lowering her eyes, Audrey turned her attention back to her work. It took her a while, but she was finally about to figure out the inner workings of the machine. It was without a doubt very advanced, but oddly enough, Audrey found herself adapting to type of thinking needed to unlock its mysteries. What was still a puzzle to her though was the metal used to make it. If she didn't know then she could have sworn it was the metal giving the machine its source of power – but that was completely impossible.
"You know it's almost scary how smart you are," Harry commented, approaching the brown skinned female with a Coca Cola in hand. "You're the only one here who was able to figure that thing out."
"Not everything," Aubrey stated softly, picking up a piece of the metal and examining it. It was so pretty, yet so powerful to make such a weapon. "Were you able to find out what the metal identified with the report I gave you?"
Harry grimaced, nervously scratching the back of his neck. "I did—."
"So we do have this type of metal on file,"
"Yes," Harry admitted with a wry tone. "But – and this is a HUGE but, it's in classified records so I still have no idea what this stuff is."
Audrey raised an eyebrow at her brunette co-worker. "What do you mean by "classified", Harry? We work for the CIA…THIS is the most classified in the country."
"Well there someone above our pay grade within the CIA blocking this," Harry said. "Someone doesn't want us to know what this stuff is."
"Well that's great," Audrey said with a sigh before putting her head in her hands. "What am I supposed tell Turner now. He's up my ass about this and I can't even investigate further – I swear he gave me this file to set me up to fail."
"Hey! Hey!" Harry exclaimed, setting down his coke and lifting up Audrey's head. "Such talk is not allowed here, you hear me? I…I think I can get us the information."
"Harry, you just said it's classified information,"
"Audrey, you act like our job doesn't deal with accessing classified information."
"But that's for foreign threat," Audrey argued, catching on to what Harry was suggesting. He wanted to hack into their government's own system, which could easily brand them as traitors trying to commit treason if they were to get caught. It was risky beyond anything and could easily get them in federal prison. And Audrey could only imagine how things would go since she was black.
"No," Audrey firmly said. "We'll figure something out, but anything but that."
"What else is there to do?" Harry inquired, trying to prove a point, but Audrey wouldn't have none it. She had worked and sacrificed too much to do something so stupid and irresponsible to ruin it all.
"We'll figure out something," Audrey said sternly, narrowing her cat eyes at her friend. With that, Harry didn't say another word – simply taking his coke and drinking it quietly to himself.
The rest of the work day went as usual with Audrey getting yelled at yet again by Turner for not having more about what the weapon was made of. She truthfully wanted to explain how she couldn't access the information that told what the metal was, but she knew the stubborn, old man would only see it as an excuse. She left his office exhausted, upset, and embarrassed – leaving the building in complete silence into the dark night.
Pulling her coat closer to her body, Audrey walked the streets of D.C. aimlessly, purposely walking past the building that had her loft. She instead walked to a café a few blocks away and ordered a nice, hot cup of hot chocolate, taking a seat at a small table. As she drunk her drink in silence, Audrey took a good look around the cozy environment around her.
Winter was the perfect time to have someone – the weather was cold and cruel outside, but if you had that special someone then you could easily find warmth in their hugs and tender embraces. It seemed like everyone in the café was with their significant other; a couple was seen every few minutes bundling up with each other with warm drinks in their hands. The view was sweet and romantic, and Audrey found herself feeling slightly peeved from all it. She usually tried not to be the jealous type, but it was moments like these she truly wished everyone was miserable like her. She was already feeling crappy from her day at work now she felt even worse that she was alone.
"You're not alone,"
The thought had passed by momentarily, but the impact it had on Audrey stirred an intense emotion within her. It was by habit now whenever this feeling sprung up her eyes automatically went to her purse, thinking back to the ring and note that haunted her.
They were only kids.
It's been years since they've seen each other.
She was just going through a lonely phase.
Audrey tried her best to reason with herself – to use logic to solve the emotion she was feeling inside, but even logic couldn't stop her from reaching in her purse and taking out the ring. Holding it her hands, Audrey couldn't help but admire how beautiful it was; the diamond large and prominent with an incredible looking silver band. It was the type of ring celebrities showed off to the public.
Audrey found herself chuckling at it, remembering well how extra and overtop Erik was so of course he would pick out the most attention-grabbing ring.
Erik's grandmother could never afford to get him the hottest, most marketable brands of clothing while growing up, so as soon as he was older enough to work, Erik was quick to change up his style. He was always so fashionable – knowing exactly what to wear that wasn't too much, but got the right amount of attention. Audrey was always self-conscious whenever he was around – her simple clothing nothing compared to his threads. It was honestly still amazing to Audrey how such a smooth, confident being such as Erik could have ever been interested in such a book warm such as herself.
Erik was everything Audrey wanted to be – confident, charming, social able, and most of all, someone who demanded respect. He didn't take any mess from anyone and made sure you talked to him the way he wanted you to talk to him. He was the complete opposite of Audrey – which was why she always wondered how he could ever have fallen for her. Audrey has always been someone people looked down upon, and she allowed it. She wasn't very aggressive or demanding. She was honestly blunt however, which in turn has made her social skills quite terrible because she had yet to find the clear line between telling it like it is and just being an asshole. But for the most Audrey was very sensible and empathic towards others which in turn has been her biggest downfall when building relationships. She was willing to easily give her heart to others and understand them, but the world has forever pushed her away – just because she was different. For this reason, Audrey has always been subconscious as to who she was as a person and lacked confidence in being herself around others.
So she instead just built a wall between her and everyone else.
This was her survival tactic in life.
Erik was the only one who ever saw the true her and accepted all of her. He never saw anything different about her – but something beautiful.
"What are you staring at?" Twelve-year-old Audrey asked as a fifteen-year-old Erik sat across from her at a picnic bench. It was another hot summer in Oakland and today was the annual 3rd Street Neighborhood Cookout. Everyone was out in play while Audrey sat to herself reading Pride and Prejudice, trying her best to avoid Kayla and her gang.
"You obviously," Erik responded with a crooked, dimpled smile. "I mean you lookin over here so scholarly and beautiful – you can't be mad at a brutha for starin."
Sucking a breath, Audrey lips formed a thin line as she moved her line of sight back to her turned over book, obviously flustered by Erik's comments. He was always saying stuff like this to make her speechless and she hated it.
Trying her best to change the conversation, Audrey spotted her dad over by one of the grills fired up. "My dad is right over there," Audrey informed, her eyes everywhere except on Erik. "You know he doesn't like it when you are around me."
Erik's smile quickly flattened to a scowl at Audrey's words. "I could give a damn about what your dad wants," The angered male exclaimed. "If I wanna see you, Imma see you."
"Erik!" Audrey exclaimed with a frown. "That's my dad!"
"Fuck. Him," Erik declared with a carefree smirk. He then began to shoot the finger in the direction of Audrey's dad. "Fuck you. Fuck you, Kojo Okafor. Fuck you."
"Erik!" Audrey shrieked, reaching across the table to grab a hold of Erik's hands.
Using up all her strength, the youngest Okafor pulled both of Erik's arms down to the table and held them down. In doing so, she found herself practically on the picnic table – only centimeters away from Erik's face. Erik had grown silent from the whole exchange, eyeing Audrey with intense eyes. Audrey felt her breath catch in her throat as she stared back at him, unsure of what course of action would be taken next. Within an instant, a broad, toothy smile spread across Erik's face and Audrey soon found her hands encased in his in an iron grip. Audrey tried to pull them back but was too late – Erik already had his claws sunk into her. Sighing, Audrey looked back up at Erik, his eyes still glued on her as he showed off his dimpled smirk. She hated it when he looked at her that way, but she slowly found herself spreading a small smile across her own face, avoiding his gaze when she felt a blush coming. Erik chuckled at her, playing with her hands within his.
"You're my girl, you know that, right?" He proclaimed in a low murmur.
"…Yeah, I know," Audrey said softly, directing her eyesight back to his eyes. "And you're my boy."
"Always," Erik grinned.
The thought was naïve back then, but Audrey truly believed she felt a connection that day. How real that connection was – Audrey always wondered.
Was Erik truly the person for her?
The question haunted Audrey as she made her way back to her loft building. Entering her home, the 30-year-old released a deep breath as she removed her winter clothing and traveled to the kitchen. She wasn't in the mood for cooking so she decided to have some leftovers and call it a night. Blackish played in the background as Audrey entered her bedroom and changed into her night wear, sporting an oversized Seattle Seahawk jersey and moving to the bathroom to replace her contacts with her glasses. Laying out her next day outfit, Audrey then moved to the living room with her leftover dinner in hand and collapsed on her couch – focusing all her attention on the family show in front of her instead of the ring that sat on the kitchen counter. When it got close to 11pm, the young black woman proceeded to stretch and release a yawn, signaling to herself she should turn in soon.
It was at that moment that an abrupt knock echoed in Audrey's loft. Audrey stiffened at the sound, confused as to who could be knocking at such a time of night. She stayed stationed on the couch until she heard the knock again; she then rose from her spot on the couch and approached the door. Opening her peep hole, Audrey froze at who she saw on the other and immediately closed the hole – her heart thumping wildly against her chest and her breathing becoming uneasy.
Was her mind tricking her now?
The door knocked again and Audrey scrambled to get a hold of herself, unsure as to why she was reacting in such to the person waiting on the other side. Maybe it was the suddenness of everything or the unpreparedness of having a guest at such a time. Or…maybe because she knew she couldn't hide or find excuses anymore – because he was now here. It's one thing to deny something when someone isn't there, but when they are, honesty cannot be denied – which was why terror was written all over Audrey's face when she finally opened the door.
Because she knew after all these years, Erik Stevens was going to get the truth out of her tonight.
