Jey drowned out Jimmy's voice. He couldn't concentrate on what his brother was saying. Not when Shadolla had just walked in. She looked amazing in those tan colored, flowy pants combined with a simple, black, formfitting t-shirt. Her short hair was still dyed a dark blue to match her eyes. He missed looking into those eyes everyday.

"Jey? Are you listening?" Jimmy asked.

Jimmy looked in the same direction as Jey, and his smile dropped.

"Oh," Jimmy said. "Let it go, Jey."
"I need to speak to her," Jimmy said.
"No, you don't. May I remind you that you fucked up? You practically pushed her out of the door. You were always so damn cold towards her, and all she ever did was try to love your sorry ass," Jimmy said.
"And I regret that so fucking much. You know that. I just want her back to prove to her that I am the man she once thought I was," Jey said.
"You can regret it all you want but you don't get to expect her forgiveness. She's never coming back. She already moved on. You should do the same," Jimmy said.

Jey turned his head and gave Jimmy a hard look. He wanted to say something nasty to his own brother, call him some very nasty words, but he knew he shouldn't take his anger out on his twin. Jimmy was right. Jey had fucked up big time when it came to Shadolla. She took so much shit from him until there wasn't room for anymore in her heart. It wasn't until she left that he realized how much he had fucked up. He wanted to rectify that. He wanted another chance. He wanted to be with the woman he loved.

"I need to speak to her," Jey repeated. "And you're not gonna stop me."
"It's your funeral," Jimmy said.

Jey turned his head back around. Shadolla was still there, looking over at him. She turned as if she was about to walk away. He crossed the floor as fast as he could. She didn't get to disappear in the crowd like that. He needed to see her.

"Shadolla!" He said firmly.

He grabbed her arm. She stopped and looked down at his hand holding on to her. He felt like a creep and quickly let go. He had no right touching her. Not until she had forgiven him.

"Can we talk?" He asked.
"What is there to say?" She asked.
"Please," he pleaded. "I just wanna talk. Can we go somewhere?"
"Anything you got to say can be said in here. I'm not going anywhere with you," she said.

That hurt deeply. It was almost as if she feared him which shouldn't be the case. He had been cold and cruel, but he had never hurt her in a way to make her fear him. He looked into her eyes, and it wasn't fear he saw. It was anger.

"You're mad," he said.
"No shit," she said. "I never want to be near you again."
"Anger means you still care," he said.
"No, anger means I'm angry that you came over here and put your hand on me. I was perfectly fine when you were standing in the other end of the room. I'm angry because you seem to think I should give a shit about you still, which I don't. I'm angry because you're up in my personal space. I just want you to leave me alone," she said.
"Then maybe you shouldn't be a place where you know I'll be," he snapped.
"I was invited," she said.

He gritted his teeth and looked over at Kofi. It was his party. He thought they were closer than that and that Kofi would not invite his ex girlfriend. It didn't make sense.

"Maybe Kofi wants us back together too," he said. "I love you, Shadolla. I know I treated you wrong, but give me another chance. I swear I'll be the man you deserve."
"I already got a man I deserve," she smirked. "Why do you think I was invited?"

He looked over at Kofi again who was hugging his wife, and then back to her.

"But he's married," he said.
"What? I'm not dating Kofi. Give me some credit here. You hurt me but you didn't hurt me that bad that I'll go out of my way to hurt others," she said.
"I don't understand then," he said.

She looked past him, and her face lit up in a smile. She used to smile like that at him in the beginning. Before he fucked up everything. She raised her hand and waved. He looked over his shoulder and saw Big E wave back.

"Big E?" He asked. "You're dating Big E?"
"Yes," she answered.
"What the fuck?" He shouted.

She took a step forward. She was close to him. So close that he could hear her breathe. All he had to do was move his hand forward just a bit, and he would be able to touch her. He didn't. He stood completely frozen, waiting for her next move.

"I don't love you anymore, Jey. I haven't in a long time," she said. "I'm happy with E. If you ever cared about me, you're gonna let me be happy."

She walked past him. Just like that she was out of reach. He turned around and watched as she walked over to Big E and placed a kiss on his lips. The fire burned inside him. He was hurt, jealous and pissed off. Jimmy saw it too, rushed over the floor, and grabbed Jey.

"No!" Jimmy whispered harshly. "Don't fucking cause a scene!"

Jimmy dragged Jey outside for some much needed air. Tears finally spilled down Jey's cheeks.

"She's with Big E," Jey cried.
"I saw," Jimmy said. "Let her go, Jey. It's the only right thing to do."

Jey took out his phone and opened the old texts sent between him and Shadolla. He never deleted any of them. Instead he started scrolling through them and showed them to Jimmy.

"She said she loved me," Jey said. "Look. Here she said she couldn't wait going to the market with me. There were goats at that market. She was so happy when she got to pet them. I got a picture of it. Let me show you."

Jimmy placed his hand on Jey's wrist and lowered the arm holding the phone.

"Let her go," Jimmy said.
"But I love her," Jey said.
"Let her go," Jimmy repeated.

More tears ran down Jey's face. He couldn't stop them. He had held them in for so long while clinging on to the hope that he could win her back. Tonight made him know there was no chance. He knew it deep inside but he refused to admit it. If he didn't say it out loud, there would still be a small chance. He could still hope one day she would come back.

"I'll wait for her for as long as it will take," Jey said. "That's what people do when they're in love. You should know that. They wait in the name of love for that one person to come back. I don't care what you say. I will wait forever."

Jimmy nodded. There was nothing he could say to his brother to make him think otherwise.

"As long as you promise me you won't reach out to her at all. If you believe so strongly that one day she'll come back, let it play out by itself. Don't push her any further," Jimmy said.
"I promise," Jey said. "One day I'll get my happy tomorrow."
"Tomorrow may never come," Jimmy sighed.

Jey was quiet for a few seconds and then slowly nodded.

"I know," Jey said lowly. "Just let me keep this hope alive for now."
"What do you want to do tonight? We can stay out here for as long as you like but eventually we gotta make the choice of either going back inside or going home," Jimmy said.
"You go back inside," Jey said.
"Are you sure?" Jimmy asked.
"I'm sure," Jey said. "I'm gonna head home. Tell Kofi I got a headache or something."

Jimmy hugged Jey, patted his shoulder, and then walked back inside. He knew tonight was important. Jey had finally seen that Shadolla had moved on. His brain knew it but his heart wasn't ready to accept it yet. One day it would. One day it would stop being so blind, and hopefully it wouldn't be as frozen the next time he fell in love. Mistakes had been made, and Jey had to learn from them.