Chapter 18: The Calm Before the Storm
Kori awoke to the sunlight shooting in long bright yellow beams onto the large bed through the sheer curtains that covered the long, wide windows on the opposite side of the room that lined the wall. Sitting up she yawned and stretched her arms over her head still dazed from waking up only a minute earlier. Rubbing her eyes she regained full consciousness and gasped when she realized her exposed form. Grabbing the soft navy blue comforter she quickly pulled it over her chest.
As the nights events flooded back into her memory she leaned back against the sliver headboard and rested a hand over her quickening heart. Though nothing in a long time had ever felt so right, she couldn't believe what she had done so soon. It seemed to her as if one minute the two had just started to rekindle their friendship and then the next they were making love.
She looked over at Richard who was sleeping, a peaceful look on his face. Kori smiled as she ran her fingers lightly through his hair, over his cheek, and down his bare, muscular chest. Inhaling sharply she quickly retracted her hand and covered her mouth. How was she ever going to face Richard once he awoke? 'It's going to be so awkward between us now.'
Getting out of bed she quickly grabbed her dress, undergarments, shoes, and purse and ran into the enormous white tiled bathroom. As quickly and as quietly as she could she dressed. Reaching into her purse she pulled out a hair band which she used to pull her muddled dark amber hair into a messy bun. Tip toeing out of the bedroom she raced down the granite stairs, out the large oak double doors, and down the long driveway until she reached the entrance gate. Gasping for breathe she pulled open the heavy gate and crept through.
Leaning against the gate she continued to struggle for breath as she opening her handbag and pulled out her cell phone. Flipping it open she ignored her new voicemail messages and looked at the time. '7:12 A.M!' She looked at the sky and saw the multicolor sunrise beginning to fade away into a bright yellow April sky. After calling for a cab she leaned against the gate's iron bars before sinking down to the concrete sidewalk ignoring what might happen to her silk dress. She had too much on her mind to worry about how she looked in her already wrinkled attire.
"Thank You," Kori said with a smile as she leaned through the window to tip the cab driver. Smiling at her he waited until she reached the curb before speeding off. Watching the yellow car until it disappeared she then headed up the stairs and went to unlock her door. "What?" She whispered to herself grasping the doorknob. The doorknob was already unlocked, the door slightly ajar. Kori felt her stomach drop, was someone breaking into her house? Was she being robbed? Was someone in there with a gun?
As silently as she could she opened the door and stepped into the foyer. She looked around, nothing was missing that she saw. She turned around to examine the door. It didn't look broken into, maybe whoever was or is here has a key. That would be Raven and-
"Kori!" Kori's eyes widened at the sound of the deep voice calling to her from the top of the stairs.
Turning around she stared at the ground unable to look into his eyes. "Roy," she breathed in shock, "I…how long have you…"
"All night." He said. His tone menacing, angry. "I've been here all night…where were you? Why didn't you come home last night?"
For the first time she looked up at him and then seeing the angry look in his dark brown eyes she looked back down at the ground. "Roy," her voice nothing but a meek whisper, "I...I…spent the night at a friends'."
Roy gave a bitter laugh as he walked down the stairs, "A friend huh? Anyone I know?"
Kori remained silent.
"I thought so." Turning away from her he put his head in his hands. "I can't believe I came over here to try and work things out with you!"
Kori could feel the tears coming to her eyes. Stepping towards him she went to place a hand on his shoulder. "Roy," before she could finish her sentence he had turned around and grabbed hold of her forearms, hard. Kori squeezed her eyes tight as she winced in pain, "Roy…please…stop…your-"
"Hurting you! Is that it? Am I hurting you! Do you have any idea how much you have hurt me?" He shook her, "do you have any idea! Do you!"
Kori's tears were falling freely now both from fear and heartbreak. Her head fell back as she moaned, "Roy…please stop this…please."
"Kori we can work this out, we can! I know we can we-"
"Roy," she interrupted awkwardly bending her arm to place her fingers on his mouth to silence him. "We can't," she whispered her voice wavering. "Don't you understand Roy; I cannot do that to you. I can't. I'm not in love with you. It would be unfair…cruel of me to marry you, to bind you to me by law not by love. You deserve the chance to find the woman in this world who will love you the way you deserve to be loved."
Roy pulled her closer, "I want you." Before Kori had a chance to register what was happening Roy's lips crashed down on hers in a hard kiss. Kori pressed her hand on his chest trying to push him off while she struggled to move her head out of reach of his lips.
He finally pulled away, both of them breathing heavily. Leaning his forehead against hers he whispered, "you can't tell me you don't want this."
Kori closed her eyes, tired, her will to fight gone, "I don't want this." She felt her stomach drop once again. She knew what she was doing was hurting him, she knew. She didn't want him to be hurt, she didn't but he had to understand. 'He has to know that I'm not doing this to hurt him. That I do love him; I'm just not in love with him.'
With a grunt he roughly shoved her away and began to storm out the front door. "Roy, wait!" Kori screamed turning around and grabbing hold of his arm. He didn't look at her, he couldn't.
"Roy, please look at me," he didn't. "Roy, please," this time she reached out with her other hand and rested it on his cheek, turning him to face her. She looked up into his eyes, her hand not leaving his cheek. "I'm sorry. I don't want you to be angry. I don't want you to become an angry person, because…you are so wonderful, so amazing. I want you to be happy, and you will be." She sighed, "I know it."
Without another word from either of them Roy briskly shoved Kori off his arm and stalked out the door.
"Kori, hey. Where were you last night? I called you're house to make sure you got home okay and you didn't answer. I figured you probably didn't get home yet but when you didn't call me back I got worried. I know you always check your messages."
Kori sat down at the small table by the window in the little café that her and Raven met at every Sunday morning. As she sat down she kept her gaze on the black table top unable to look Raven in the eyes. She didn't know what to do, tell her the truth? How would she react? Lie? She couldn't do that; it was a terrible thing to do. Plus she still felt that she had to redeem herself after lying to Raven for years. "I…um, well," she hesitated.
Raven sighed and sat down. Reaching over she tiled Kori face up to meet hers with a finger under her chin. Her brows knitted together as she asked, "Where were you last night?"
Kori's head dropped, "I…I spent the night with-"
Kori heard Raven take a sharp intake of breath and realization dawned on her. "You spent the night with Richard didn't you?" She lifted Kori's head once again so their eyes met. Raven stared at her for a long moment before pulling back and leaning against her chair, her hands dropping heavily to the table. "Kori, you slept with him."
Kori could do nothing but slowly nod her head.
"Well…?"
"Well? I don't know what came over me. But you know what Raven? It felt so right and I don't regret a single moment with him last night. I did however forget to think about what was going to happen in the morning when we woke up."
Raven rested her elbows on the table top and her head in her hands as she stared at Kori unable to believe what she had just told her. She never expected that, though now that she thought about it she should have. They had left together and there was an obvious spark between them. But Kori, for some reason she didn't think Kori would be so bold. "So…what happened this morning?"
A blush formed on Kori's cheeks as she answered sheepishly. "I woke up this morning and he was still asleep. I guess I panicked. I got dressed as fast as I could and got out of his house just as quickly."
"Do you plan on ever speaking to him again?"
Kori gasped, looking at Raven as if her hair was on fire. "Never speak to him again! Of course I plan on speaking to him. True, it will be awkward but, we'll just have to take it as we go."
"Well, I'm here for you if you need anything."
Kori smiled for the first time since this conversation had begun, "I know. So," she said leaning closer to Raven and changing the subject, "where's Garfield?"
Raven grinned, "Gar? This is our thing together. I wasn't about to let him come."
Kori laughed, "So how are you two?"
"We're good," she said nodding her head, "we're doing great." Raven knew that was a bit of an exaggeration. After her black out a couple weeks ago she had been very preoccupied lately, lost in her own thoughts. Though she knew Gar was there for her she still couldn't bring herself to open up to him completely. As for Kori, she had so much going on in her life that Raven couldn't bring herself to burden her with more problems and worries. "Yeah, we're ok."
Grabbing her sweater Kori stood up and left the café with Raven. "I'll see you later, Raven." Kori smiled at her as she got into her car. Heading to her own car Kori watched Raven drive out of the parking lot.
As Kori pulled up to her house fifteen minutes later she parked in her driveway and stepped out of her car. She turned to walk up the stairs to her front door when she stopped short. She felt as if all the breath had been knocked out of her as she stared at the man waiting for her at her front door.
Kori inhaled deeply, "Richard."
"Raven? Hey, what're you doing here? Not that I'm not glad to see you."
Raven smiled as Gar wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her cheek. He pulled her closer to him and kissed her gently on the lips. "I just thought I'd stop by and see what you were up to. Was that okay? Because I mean if this is a bad time I could-" She began to pull away from him when Gar took hold of her forearms and pulled her to him.
He laughed, "It's fine. I was just taken by surprise. Here c'mon," he brought her toward the bar at the back wall of the front room of the restaurant. "You hungry? Want something to eat? Something to drink?"
Taking a seat on one of the bar stools she smiled at him, "I'll have a cup of tea, thanks. I just had lunch with Kori."
Preparing her drink for her Gar replied, "Yeah I remember. You told me that you two always meet at some café every Sunday right?"
Taking a sip from her cup she laughed, "yeah, some café, the Café Latte, it's actually very nice. I'll take you there sometime."
"How is Kori?" Gar asked leaning over once more to kiss her.
"Well, actually…"
Richard turned around at the sound of her voice. When he woke up this morning and found her gone he panicked. What if she really hadn't been okay with what they had done? What is she woke up in the morning regretting the whole thing? What if she never wanted to see him again? He hoped none of those were true but he knew that he had to find out.
That's why he had been standing in front of her house waiting for her to come home. He couldn't help but notice as she stepped out of her car how beautiful she looked in her black knee length denim skirt and light purple tank top. Richard could feel his breathing waver as he admired her slim, model figure.
"Richard," she said again and he could see how nervous she was of him confronting her about this morning. She covered her body self-consciously with her arms as she walked towards the stairs. "I can guess why you're here. I know about this morning I…I just didn't know how to face you." She looked down at the steps ashamed of her actions.
He hesitated, "was it because you didn't…you…regret what we did?" He didn't want to think that that was true. But what if it was? How would he ever face her again? How could they even at least be friends? How could they ever be more?
She gasped and stepped closer to him grabbing his arm. "No! No, Richard. I don't regret what we did at all. In fact," she removed his sunglasses and looked into his eyes, "I had never been surer of anything in a long time. I guess I just panicked when I woke up this morning. I mean, everything's happening so fast. We were just starting to be friends again and then a few days later we're sleeping together." Looking down she reached into her bag and pulled out her key. Unlocking her door she stepped past Richard and into the foyer, "are you coming in?"
"No way," Gar replied leaning on the counter in shock at what Raven had just told him. "They slept together last night?"
Raven sighed, "Yeah. She's confused though. She doesn't regret what they did and she said she wouldn't change it but I think she feels like everything's happening a little too fast. I mean, they aren't even dating. In fact, they just re-became friends."
"That must be hard on her. She's had it so tough for so long. I just wish for once things would go her way."
"Would you like something to drink or eat?" Kori asked rummaging though the cabinets in the kitchen nervously. She couldn't help it, she was shaking and she didn't want him to notice. She figured if she moved around he wouldn't be able to tell she was having mini spasms every five seconds.
"Kori," Richard said calmly resting a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. I don't want you to be nervous around me. If it'll make you feel better I'll go-"
"No!" She yelled louder than she had intended grabbing his arm. Pulling on him with more strength than she had intended to she fell forward into him. Holding onto his red t-shirt she rested her head on his chest. "Don't go. Please don't go. I'm just scared. I'm scared. I'm so unsure of the future, it's a scary feeling."
Richard wrapped his arms around her tightly. "I know Kori. But no ones sure what the future holds. It's not always a bad thing though, not knowing. It's hard yes, but not always a bad thing. It keeps life interesting, imagine how boring life would be if you knew exactly what was going to happen to you next week or next year."
She slid her arms up to his shoulders and around his neck. "Yes, that does sound boring. Safe though." She sighed, "Richard…what are we?"
"What?" He asked confused as to what she meant by that statement.
For lack of any other way to phrase it she repeated herself, "What are…we? I mean are we acquaintances…friends…more?"
He turned her and held her tightly to him resting his forehead against the back of her head, in her hair, and whispering into her ear, "We're whatever you want us to be. I don't want to rush things or do anything you don't want or aren't ready for. You know that I love you…" he hesitated, "but after everything I've put you through, you don't owe me anything."
He felt her inhale sharply and sniffle. She leaned her head back against his shoulder and rested her cheek on the soft fabric. She felt the tears forming in her eyes again but fought to suppress them. She didn't want him to see her cry, not again.
"Please don't cry. I hate it when you cry. Everything's going to be okay, please don't cry." She heard him whisper, his tone begging.
"I'm just scared, I mean…" What was she supposed to say? She was scared because she didn't trust him? She didn't want to hurt him. "I don't know." She whispered the last part, her voice barely reaching his ears.
"I know that you have no reason to trust me after everything I've done but…I'm asking you to, give me a chance. I love you so much, and I promise I won't ever hurt you again. I promise."
"Richard," she began, closing her eyes, "don't make promises you cannot keep."
"Kori," he sighed, "I know that I've let you do-"
"Don't!" She breathed out, "don't talk like that ever again."
"Garfield? What are you doing here?" Kori asked after she had opened her door as saw Gar standing on her front steps. His brows furrowed in hurt and she fumbled over herself to make him smile again. "Not that I'm not happy to see you," she added, the words coming out as one. "It's just that I wasn't expecting you. Come in, honey." She said smiling and moving a side to let him enter.
Walking in he hugged her and kissed her cheek. He was about her height maybe a half an inch taller but in the heels she was wearing she towered over him by an inch or two. Stepping back he smiled, "you gotta take off those shoes; you're making me feel short again. I finally got taller than you and you do this to me." He faked hurt. He put the white paper bag he had been carrying down on the small table by the door and observed the main level of the house. Almost everything except the big items like the couches, tables, and lamps was in boxes. "I see you're almost finished packing."
Kori removed her attention from the bag on the table and roved her eyes around to peruse the living room, dining room, and kitchen. "Yes, I am for the most part done. I have been packing most of the day. The movers will be here bright and early tomorrow morning." Kori and Roy had signed with a realty company and the house was for sale. They had both agreed to move out and leave it vacant until it sold. Kori was to give a set of keys to the realtor so she would be able to show the house without either of them.
For the time being Kori was to move into Raven's large, spacious penthouse with some of her more important and necessary items. While she looked for another place for herself most of her belongings were going into storage while some of the more valuable items stayed with Victor and Karen. Just to be safe.
"You're dressed pretty nice for a day of packing." Gar observed with a smirk.
Kori blushed and looked down at her outfit. She brushed off her black cocktail dress. The dress hugged tightly to her torso, flared out at her waist and ended at her knees. The top and bottom were lined with lace and the sleeves, which went a little past her elbows, were soft black mesh. "Oh, well…" She laughed sheepishly, "I have plans for later tonight and I…um got ready a little earlier than I needed to." She kicked off her heels and smiled at him. "So, what is in the bag?" Truthfully, she had been dying to know since she had noticed him walk in with it.
"Oh, right." He said suddenly remembering why he had come over. He reached behind him and grabbed the bag. Holding it up he shook it in her face. "It's a surprise for you," he teased. She stared at him oddly, "we always used to have these when we were low on money and a little down in the dumps."
Kori's eyes widened in recognition. "Gar, you did not! Where did you ever find it? It is pretty late at night. I mean I'm sure you could find it somewhere but, not the good kind."
"This," he said gesturing to the bag "is the good kind." He headed up the small flight of stairs with the bag. He smiled to himself and he heard Kori following, her quiet laughter making him feel like a hero again.
"Gar this is delicious," Kori said ripping off another piece of funnel cake from the maze of sweet dough on her plate. Her and Gar, when the Titans had first separated, always used to meet just to keep the other company. They always had funnel cake at their meetings. There was a stand on the pier that made the best funnel cake either of them had ever tasted. Soon, it had become a weekly, and highly looked forward to event.
The stand had closed years ago, Kori remembered. She wondered where he had found funnel cake this good. Nothing they had tried after that stand had been as appetizing. It wasn't a big deal but it was something that they shared and she cherished it. She loved Gar like her very own brother. And when they were struggling for money, two funnel cakes for twenty-five cents a piece was a very good deal. Even though it was so cheap and some days they went hungry, they only went to that stand together. The owner, a kind balding old man, soon knew them by name and would give them the funnel cake for free and smile at them sweetly.
Kori smiled happily at the memories. They were like the bright rays of sunshine the broke through the dirty, gray sky once every week for almost five whole years.
"So," she began again, turning to Gar who was seated across from her at her empty kitchen table in her bear kitchen. "What is the reason for this unexpected, yet delightful, visit?"
Gar suddenly turned serious and Kori felt her stomach drop. He leaned forward in his chair, "I just wanted to see how you were. We haven't really talked in a long time. You know… just you and me."
"Yes," Kori replied solemnly, she missed their private time together too. "We have all been very busy."
"Yeah I know, but we should make time. Like we used to do," he motioned to the now funnel cake-less plates. He hesitated before he spoke again. The real reason he had come was to find out about her and Richard and her and Roy and how she was with everything. Hearing it from Raven was better than being in the dark but he really need, for his own peace of mind, to hear Kori say that she was okay. "You talk to Roy lately?" That seemed like the best place to start.
He heard her sigh, "Yes, we have agreed to sell the house, out last attachment to each other, and part ways. I understand why he does not want to speak with me every again after this is over and I will respect that of course. I wish that we could at least remain friends but he does not wish it and…I do not blame him." She dropped her head.
Gar rested his hand over hers, "Kori, don't beat yourself up okay. You didn't setout to upset Roy and in the end you did the right thing. There's a woman out there who's in love with him and he just has to find her."
"I know."
He pressed on, "and you and Richard? I presume that is who you got all dolled up for tonight?"
Kori blushed and fiddled with her fingers. "Yes, he is taking me out for the evening. A private, romantic dinner for two and then a drive through the city. I love the city at night, all the lights, it is simply beautiful!"
Gar smiled at how happy she was. He was happy too, she belonged with Richard. He loved her so much more than any other man and in a way that no other man ever could. He hoped that everything would work out and that they would both be happy together for a long time. 'They've waited long enough for their happy ending,' he thought.
But this discussion brought up another topic that he was hesitant to go into. "I heard about you and Richard, umm a few nights ago, umm…." He didn't know how to say it. Should he have just been blunt?
"Oh, yes I figured Raven would tell you." She felt her cheeks grow hot as a blush seeped into them. "I…I guess, it just happened." She leaned forward and looked into Gar's eyes, she didn't feel awkward around him, they were just too close. "It felt right, Gar. Really, really right. I mean, for once I was not scared or doubtful. I knew I had to just stop thinking. But when I woke up I panicked and had gotten out of there as fast as I could. Then he found me."
Gar leaned forward as well, "then what happened?"
Kori told Gar of there talk and ended by telling him that they were still not sure where or what they were in terms of a relationship but they were…taking it slow and playing it by ear as the saying goes.
Kori waved to Gar from her doorway and she watched him get into his car, pull out of her driveway and speeded off down the street. She turned to look at the clock hanging on the wall only to realize that she had already packed it.
Remembering that she cell phone was on her bed upstairs she turned around quickly to race up the stairs but froze a grabbed her head and stomach. She fell to her knees, and held her breath praying that the sharp pains in her stomach and the pounding her in her would stop.
She crawled painfully over to the stairs and sat on the bottom one. Hunching over to try to lessen her harsh stomach pains she closed her eyes and resting her elbows on her knees, rubbed her temples. She breathed in and out in deep breathes.
Soon, he muscles began to unclench and relax and she sighed with relief, leaning back against the stairs for a moment. She stayed like that for a few moments afraid to move and cause herself anymore pain. Slowly she got up and continued up the stairs.
Reaching for her cell phone in the center of the bed she flipped it open and checked the time. '6:45'.She sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, holding her still queasy stomach. 'At least queasy is better than those terrible pains. Did I eat something bad today? I mean funnel cake never did that to me before so I don't believe it was that. And I only had pancakes for breakfast and a sandwich for lunch. I've been packing this whole day. Maybe I pulled a muscle? That still doesn't explain my head. What's wrong with me?'
She suddenly felt very tired. She looked at her cell phone again. She had a little time before Richard was coming to pick her up. Slowly she crawled into bed and curled up under her sheets. She sighed, worried, though she had gone over many possible solutions in her head she still had doubt. She had been feeling lousy and nauseous these last couple of days. She had even thrown up yesterday morning after battling a stomachache that whole night. Again, however, just like now, she had attributed it to some food giving her an upset stomach.
But now, that she lay in bed holding her stomach as if to comfort it, she had to admit it to herself. "What's wrong with me?"
I am so sorry. I know I promised that I would update during April break but I was swamped with work and them I had even more work and a ton of tests when it ended. I finally had some free time to finish this chapter and post it. I really like this chapter a lot and I can't wait to get started writing the next one. There should be about two maybe three more chapters left to the story. Then I'm starting a high school fanfiction. It is going to be amazing I have so many ideas for it. I can't wait to start writing it! I wanted to focus on this story and make these last few chapters really good before I started a new one. So look for my new story when I finish this one. It is going to be so amazing that you won't want to miss out.