Heated Conversation

I found myself waking up that next morning to more than just sunrise…I was a nervous wreck. I sat in front my mirror and gently ran the brush through my hair. My eyes ached, my head was pounding, and what's worse, I was absolutely terrified to speak to the man who I once loved. Different scenarios of how this conversation was going to go kept pouring into my head. What would we say to each other? How will he react now that he realizes my innocence? Does he even believe I'm innocent? I didn't know any answers to these questions, but I was sure to find out.

I slipped into a form fitting Dallas Cowboys jersey dress with a pair of white tennis shoes and a white headband. Bill agreed to watch Aalayah for me while I "stepped out" for a bit. He almost didn't seem convinced about where I said I was going but I didn't blame him. I wasn't very talkative that morning and I barley ate my breakfast. On top of that I never looked him directly in the eye. I felt as though he could read me like the front page of a newspaper. He gladly allowed me to borrow one of his cars so I could get to my destination quicker.

On my way downtown, I kept wondering if I was making the right decision to go and meet Mark. I missed him dearly but I didn't want to get into another argument with him. When I pulled up in front of the karaoke bar, I felt my stomach tie into knots. He was standing outside of it holding yet another bouquet of flowers. I looked around to make sure there was no sign of my enemies before getting out the car. When he saw me approaching him a soft smirk formed on his face. I walked up to him slowly until we were face to face.

"Hey," he said.

"Hello." I responded.

He stepped closer to me and handed me the flowers, "Here, these are for you."

I chuckled, "Thanks, at this rate I don't think I'll have enough room for more flowers."

He smiled and then pulled out his car keys. "Come on, let's go."

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Back to my place. I don't want any risks of someone seeing you." He told me as he gently grabbed my arm and tugged me towards his truck. "Where is Aalayah?"

"She's still with Bill…why?" I asked.

"Just asking." He said as he opened my door for me. "You really should be careful around him."

"Why? He's been nothing but nice to me….unlike some people."

He sighed and shut my door before heading to his side of the truck. I wasn't sure why he was so surprised at my attitude. After all….he was the one who acted like an ass. When he got in the truck he started it and then glanced at me.

"Look Carmen, I'm sorry for everything ok? But how did you expect me to believe you after everything you went through with your family before?" he said as he put the truck in reverse.

I laid the flowers on my lap and stared at him, "Mark how many times are you going to throw that damn lie in my face? It got out and I pay for it every single day!"

He sighed and stepped on the gas, heading towards his house. "Yeah? Well then you can't blame anyone but yourself for how your life is going. Sure I don't think it's right for people to do horrible things to you but do you seriously blame them?"

I gasped, "Are you really trying to justify my uncle and Rocky's behavior!"

"No Carmen, but I am saying that everything that's happened to you shouldn't surprise you."

I shook my head, "There's one thing that did surprise me…the man that I thought loved me actually turned his back on me."

He face fell blank for a moment before he sighed and glanced at me for a moment. "Carmen I said I was sorry."

I narrowed my eyes and folded my arms, "Pull over."

"What?"

"PULL OVER!" I screamed.

He shook his head, "I'm not stopping the truck Carmen."

I took off my seatbelt and grabbed the door handle. "Then I'll jump out."

"No you won't." he almost snapped.

"Try me."

"Carmen….you have a daughter who needs you and one growing inside of you that I refuse to let you harm. If you jump out of this truck and live to tell the tale, I'll make sure it's the last thing you do." He said.

I looked at him sternly unsure if he was being completely serious or not. Not wanting to find out I sat back in my seat with my eyes glaring at him. I wished I could burn a hole through his chest because he was pissing me off so much.

When we finally got to his house, I hopped out of the truck and threw the flowers down into the dirt. I then marched up to his porch with him in close pursuit. I was so angry with him that I turned around and smacked him across the face.

"How dare you blame all of this on me!" I screamed. "You have no idea what it's like to be in my shoes!"

"Oh I don't?" he snapped. "Exactly how much hell do you think I've been through since before I met you huh? You actually think I had a perfect life?"

I shook my head as he stepped past me. "Don't you dare make this all about you Mark! I have had to belittle and disgrace myself in order to take care of my child! And for what? All because you were too scared to listen to me!"

"Carmen I've already told you, I wasn't sure what to believe. You're a known liar!" he snapped as he opened his door and pulled me inside.

"Get your damn hands off of me!" I yelled as he slammed the door shut.

"You better calm down Carmen." He said in a warning tone.

"Or what huh? What the hell are you going to do?" I asked as I put my hands on my hips. "You gonna throw me out like last time? Shower me with insults and other bad names like Kevin did?"

"Carmen."

"No Mark! I don't want to talk to you anymore if this is how it's going to be every time we're together!" I screamed.

He sighed and stepped closer to me, "How do you want it to be?"

I felt my bottom lip trembling as I fought back tears. "I want you to trust me Mark. I don't have anyone else besides Bill…"

He chuckled, "Bill isn't too trust worthy when it comes to me. He believes I was involved in his sister's disappearance but I wasn't."

"Do you know what happened to her?" I asked.

He shrugged, "How could I know? The last I heard she gave birth to two children and ran away."

I raised my eyebrow, "Two children? I was told she only had one…a son."

"Yeah well she has a daughter too and no one knows what happened to her." He said. "But enough about that…what are we going to about us?"

"Oh now you want to talk about us?" I said sarcastically as I turned away from him.

He reached out and grabbed me, catching me by surprise when he pressed his lips against mine. I pushed him off of me and swung to hit him, but he grabbed my waist and lifted me up onto a table that was near his steps.

"Mark stop!" I yelled before he forced me to kiss him again. I pressed my hands into his shoulders, begging him to stop…but soon I found myself kissing him back. I wrapped my hands around his neck as he lifted me up and carried me upstairs to his bedroom…a place I was all too familiar with. He wasted no time placing me on the bed and stripping me out of my clothes. I couldn't believe I was allowing this to happen after he was such an ass towards me but my body was betraying me from the beginning. We spent a good portion of an hour making love all over that bed. I felt like I was finally back to my former self with my former fiancé right by my side…well in this case on top of me.

We laid in his bed for a few moments tangled in his sheets before I decided to get up and get dressed. He silently followed my lead, making sure not to say anything until we were completely dressed.

"I love you Carmen. You know that right?" he asked as I brushed my hair.

I ran the brush through my hair a few times before looking at him. "Yeah I know…and I love you."

He nodded and then took my hand, "I want to see you again but next time…bring all of your stuff."

"You mean…you want me to stay here with you?" I asked.

"Yes. There's still a lot I have to tell you." He said.

I nodded and then kissed his lips softly. "I better get back before Bill gets worried."

"Yeah that sounds like a plan." He said before we left his house hand in hand….