Chapter 9

Ororo guided her car through the streets of Downtown Atlanta. Her car seemed to instinctively know the route and needed little coaxing to close the distance between them and home. Her brother gazed out of his window in awe at the changes that took place in the city while he was away.

"Do they ever stop building?" he asked as a large crane hovered in the skyline, looking right at home among the many skyscrapers that dotted the midday sky.

"No, but I wish they would. It's getting a bit crowded down here," she said, as she turned into the parking deck of her building. Ororo lived in one of the many highrise condos that featured residences, restaurant and offices all in one building. The phrase Live, Work, Play had become the mantra of this generation of Atlantans, natives and transplants, who were tired of spending all of their time sitting in traffic, heading to the suburbs. Gone are the days where everyone travelled to downtown and left after seeing the sites. Now, Atlanta has become more like her northern sisters who offer its citizens living space in the midst of downtown so that if you had the cash, you could live in the center of it all, with nearly everything within walking distance. Life for many residents living downtown has become one where a car was optional.

Parking in her assigned space, Ororo noticed one of Damion's cars parked in the guest parking space for her condo.

"Ro, what's wrong. You look like you saw a ghost?" Oliver asked, after hearing a large clap of thunder. He knew it was caused by his sister since there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

"Not a ghost, a jackass," she said angrily, locking her door and walking quickly to the entrance, with her brother falling behind her.

"A jackass? This is so not your style, Ro," Oliver remarked, standing beside his sister as the elevator took them up to the main floor.

"Well, when you're dealing with one, you have to call them like you see them," she replied, stepping out and greeting the doorman who held the door open for them.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Ro. Mr. Stewart is waiting for you at the bar," Jameson, the security guard sitting behind the desk informed her.

"Okay, thank you, Mr. Jameson," Ororo told him, glancing at her brother before heading to the bar.

Oliver read her silent message. He entered the bar after his sister and sat in a chair nearest the door.

Ororo's eyes met Damion as he sat in a lounge chair that faced the entrance.

Ororo, not interested in making a scene in a public place two days in a row, asked Damion to join her upstairs so they could talk.

Damion, figuring that his persistence had paid off, followed Ororo out into the hall with a smile on his face, as she fell in step with a guy who looked vaguely familiar.

"Oliver, is that you?" Damion asked finally recognizing him, as they waited for the elevator.

"Yeah. How's it going, Damion?" Oliver asked, not moving to take the hand Damion offered.

"It's going, man. Just need to speak with your sister for a minute. She's a hard woman to catch up with," Damion replied, in an attempt to break the tension in the air.

"I'm sure. Finding out that my fiancée is cheating on me would make me a hard person to catch up with too," Oliver said, looking Damion in his eyes.

"It's just a misunderstanding, O. Just something me and Ro have to talk about."

"I heard the last time you two talked, it got a tad bit physical. Is that the type of talking you planning to do this evening?" Oliver asked, his voice tinged with anger.

"Oliver," Ororo said quietly, subtly shaking her head no, as they entered the elevator.

"One more thing then I'll be quiet," Oliver said, looking at his sister then Damion, "Just so you know, that was the first and last time you put your hands on my sister."

"Are you threatening me?" Damion asked.

"No," Oliver said, looking at his reflection in the elevator door, adjusting his collar, "It's a promise."

"O, you don't scare me. Neither does your father. So all of these little promises ya'll making are for naught. I don't scare easily nor do I back down from a fight. So whenever you ready, motherfucker, bring it," Damion said, facing Oliver, his hands balled into fists.

Oliver chuckled evilly. "Boy, you don't know who you fucking with but if you keep running that mouth of yours, I will show you."

"Who in the fuck you calling Boy?" Damion asked, taking one step toward Oliver just as the elevators doors opened on Ororo's floor.

"Stop. Damion, go ahead and step out. Oliver wait," Ororo said, standing between the before they could make contact, "When we go inside, Oliver, you stay in the living room. I'm going to talk to Damion in the bedroom."

"Fine but leave the door open," Oliver told her, walking into the condo and heading to the kitchen.

Ororo sighed and motioned for Damion to enter. She led the way upstairs to her bedroom.

"I really don't appreciate at you just showing up here, Damion," she said, going to her closet to get her suitcase, "I thought I made myself clear this morning when I said I didn't want to see or talk to you."

"You did but I really needed to see you so I can give you this," Damion said, extending his hand toward her with the little blue box in his open hand, "I was hoping this would make you change your mind about talking to me."

"Really? You think that a box from Tiffany's will make me forget what you did?" Ororo told him, fighting to calm herself. She took a deep breath before saying, "You can put that away because I don't want it."

"Take it. I bought it for you," Damion told her.

"The only reason you bought it was because you thought you could buy me. Not happening," Ororo replied walking into her closet and grabbing more clothes. "Instead of trying to convince to me to accept your guilt gift, why not do some of that talking you said you needed to do."

"Ro, what happened to you? You've never been this way towards me," Damion said, not understanding how the woman he loved could treat him this way.

Ororo laughed mirthlessly at the asinine statement. "You're such a comedian, Damion," she told him, her laugh never reaching her eyes, "I've never treated you this way because I didn't know before yesterday that you were a lying, cheating bastard who only thought of himself and his needs. Does that answer your question?"

"Ro, I can explain," Damion began but was interrupted by the intercom.

"Yes, Mr. Jameson," Ororo said as she pressed the call button.

"There's a Mr. Logan here for you. Should I send him up?"

"Yes, please. Thank you."

"Who in the hell is Mr. Logan?" Damion asked angrily, following Ororo out of her bedroom and back down the stairs.

"That is no longer your concern," she said, stopping at the base of the stairs and turning to face him , "Now, I have given you your opportunity to talk. I need to take care of a few things so I would appreciate it if you would leave now."

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me who that is?" Damion said as the doorbell chimed.

"Well, I guess you will see in a second."

"Hello Logan. You didn't have any trouble finding the place did you?" Ororo asked him after opening the door and stepping aside so that he could enter.

"No problem at all. The directions were easy to follow," Logan said, stepping aside so that Ororo could close the door. Standing behind her was her ex with an angry expression on his face.

"The security guy? You invited the security guy to your house? What's going on here, Ro?" Damion asked his voice rising with each question.

"First of all, don't raise your voice in my house. Secondly, it's none of your damn business who comes to my house. Lastly, I asked you to leave 5 minutes ago so have a good night," Ororo said opening the door and holding it open for him.

Damion angrily tucked the Tiffany's box in his pocket as stepped out the door. "This isn't over Ororo," he said, turning to face her outside of the door.

"It is, Damion. This is the bed you made, now lay in it," she said before slamming the door in his face.

"Hey Logan. Sorry you had to see that. I'm normally a calm person but as of late, Damion seems to bring out the worst in me," she told him, extending her hand toward the living room, "Come in. You can have a seat in the living room with Oliver while I finish up. You remember Oliver don't you?"

"Yes. It's good to see you, man. I heard you were married with a kid possibly on the way," Logan said, shaking Oliver's hand.

"Yeap. Dad told you about it this morning?" he asked.

"Yeah. He said he had to get back to the house because you had a big announcement. He guessed it was a grandbaby. Was he right?"

"Yeap. In about 5 months, I'll be a daddy." Oliver said, looking up as his sister descended the stairs with her bag, "Scary thought, right Ro?"

"Definitely but luckily for you, Mama and Daddy will be around to give you and Shelia a hand," Ororo said, coming out of the bedroom and standing near the door, "You guys ready?"