Gerald

"Coming here was a mistake."

"Gerald, relax for a minute and breath."

"No." I deadpanned, stuffing more sweaters and jeans into my suitcase. It was time for me to go. "I already made a few calls to the academic advisor and she told me that if my professors allow me to take the final early, there is no need for me to stay in Japan any more than I have to."

Arnold grew quiet, contemplating on what to say next. For the past week and a half he had been trying to get me to reconsider leaving an entire month early to go back to the states but I was not open to anything he had to say. I was half-way packed, purchased my plane picket out, and ready to move on with my life. I grabbed the photo frame displaying a picture of me, Haruhi, and Phoebe at the winter carnival I took them to a while back. I traced the contours of the two women I loved before tossing the photograph in the trash bin next to my bed. If I was planning on moving forward with my life I could not allow myself to be hung up on Phoebe. For four years I let the guilt and pain eat at me inside before coming to terms with my wrongdoings towards her. I apologized one too many times and did everything in my power to make her realize I was a different man. The evening she came home and told me she was planning on going back with Kato shattered my world; opening my eyes to see what was truly my reality. Phoebe and I were only playing house. There was no possible future for us and I was asinine to believe that there was. Although I believe Phoebe when she says she does love me, I know that I made my advances far too late and I was beating a dead horse. It was time to move on.

"Gerald, just listen for a second."

"No, you listen!" I cut him off, temper flaring. "For the past ten days you have been hounding me about leaving. Ultimately it's my decision, Arnold, and there is nothing you can say or do to change that fact. I love Phoebe, but she made is crystal clear the other week that she is planning to work out her corrupted marriage with Kato and has moved on from our chapter in her life. It's time I do the same."

"Gerald." He whispered, running a quick hand through his hair. "Listen to yourself. Just talk to Phoebe. One minute she was talking to Helga about wanting to take your relationship with you a step further and the next she ends it with you? Something must have set her off."

I sighed. I was too tired and irritated to be having this conversation yet again after I explained in great detail my motives for leaving. I couldn't do this any longer. "Arnold, I'm going to go for a walk."

"Gerald…"

"Don't follow." I shouted out before slamming the door behind me. I needed to get some fresh air before I suffocated. Ever since word got back to Helga that Phoebe moved back into her shared home with Kato, tension has been building up between the three of us. Helga and Arnold still go out with Phoebe from time to time but I never accompany them anymore. One evening, Phoebe came by to drop off a textbook for Helga. She stood motionless in the doorway as our eyes never once unlocked from each other. I was the first to turn away, grabbing my glass of cranberry juice and heading to my bedroom to finish more studying. Times where Arnold and Helga would like to double date, they dare not ask me in fear of what I might say while awkward periods where the four of us would be in the same room only made things worse. Arnold was my best-friend but also Helga's fiancée. He could no longer take sides; neither could Helga. It got to a point where whenever I saw Phoebe, I would coldly shrug her off and excuse myself from the rest of the group.

I reached into my pocket and retrieved my forgotten cigarette I had since Friday. I picked up the disgusting habit the night Phoebe broke the news to me and was unable to put it down since. It was an expensive choice of relief, but did the body good nonetheless. I fumbled in my right pocket for my lighter, silently cursing when I found out I did not have it. I grew even more frustrated.

"Shit."

"Need a light?" I turned around to meet a short, yet beautiful bi-racial African-American woman. She had flawless almond kissed skin, long flowing raven locks that danced gracefully against the late afternoon breeze, and kissable pink lips laced with a sheer coat of gloss. She smiled, extending a yellow tube towards me. "I saw you struggling back there, thought you might need a spare lighter."

I thanked her, lighting my cigarette before handing it back to here. "Gerald."

"Morgan. Morgan Taylor." She beamed, flipping back her hair as she took in a drag of her own cigarette.

"Sorry we had to meet under these most awkward of circumstances. I normally don't smoke."

She shrugged. "It's alright. Neither do I but even the occasional smoker needs a little stress reliever right?"

I nodded, exhaling a stream of grey smoke against the twilight. "You from here?"

She shook her head, beginning to walk towards her car. She leaned against the mood lazily and motioned for me to come over and join her. I obliged. "No, from California. Just here visiting a friend; who by the way, is supposed to be meeting me here in a few."

"Do you like Japan?" I asked.

She blew another round of smoke, adjusting her scarf before digging her wedge booties into the fertile soft soil. "It's alright. How about you, stranger? You from around here? I don't know many blacks that live in Japan unless in the military."

" It's…different is all I can say. Came for school." I answered. "Had to study abroad for a semester to graduate."

"Major?"

"Political-Science."

"Ambition?"

"Lawyer."

She nodded her head pleased, beginning to scan me up and down before extinguishing her cigarette beneath her feet. Morgan Taylor was a very beautiful woman. She looked to be of African-American, Japanese, and Native American decent but I did not want to ask out of courtesy. I gave her body her own look through, scanning her curves thoroughly before nestling in the valley of her exposed cleavage she had nestled in the valley of her sweater. The jeans she wore fit her perfectly and hugged her in body miraculously. She was a bit taller than how I liked my women, but an overall stunning beauty I wouldn't mind getting to know further. "Nice to see a black man with a plan that does not involve dribbling a damn ball or rapping about the vast number of women he sleeps with nightly."

"Glad to see I have your approval." I sing-songed. She giggled, flipping back another wave of her hair. "How about you?"

"I attend University of Los Angeles, English major, have the aspirations of being a novelist one day."

"That's unique."

"Think so?"

"Yes." I ansewered with genuine faith. "Very. Never met a woman that actually wanted to write novels for a living. If I may ask, what genre."

"I'm really into the super-natural genre, as well as fantasy and romance. I thought of combining the three to make a literary classic." I scoffed, snorting rudely unintentionally as I immediately associated her passion with teenage romance short stories. She narrowed her eyes at me before crossing her arms angrily across her chest, huffing. "What's so damn funny?"

"I apologize. That was very rude of me. I was just thinking about teenage love stories that have cliché plot lines when you told me that."

She rolled her eyes, playfully nudging my shoulder. "That's exactly what I want to write. Thanks for downplaying that for me."

I immediately felt like an asshole and quickly apologized for my thoughtless retort. I offered to make it up to her but she was skeptical and a bit turned off so she respectfully declined. I brought up taking her to lunch one afternoon before I left to at least show her how much of a nice guy I really was and not some snobbish jerk that ridicules other people dreams and surprisingly she agreed. "I sincerely do apologize. It was nothing geared towards you."

She smiled. "It's quite alright. I'm sure you aren't as much of a jerk as you may seem to be."

Before I could quip back another remark, a familiar figure appeared from the distance; waving towards Morgan as she hurriedly jogged down the street to meet us. I silently cursed myself and took a well-deserved drag. It was Hanna.

"Morgan!" she squealed, hugging her tightly. Her backpack slung heavily across her back before she whipped it off and threw it in the trunk. She looked at me, then back at Morgan. "What's going on here?"

"Nothing much, just met a new friend over here. Saw him trying to light a cigarette and started friendly conversation."

"You know Gerald?" Hanna asked, almost stunned. Morgan looked at me and back at Hanna. "How did you two meet?"

"Wait, I just met him ten minutes ago. How do you know him?" Morgan paused, grinning before letting out a low chuckle. "I see, popular with the ladies, hm?"

"You can say that." Hanna grumbled, shuffling her feet. I rolled my eyes, suddenly agitated. Hanna knew nothing more about the situation between Phoebe and I other than what was relayed back to her. Of course it was expected she take Phoebe's side and support her decision to go back and fix her marriage with Kato, but ever since our split, not only has it been drastically awkward between Helga and Arnold, but also a few other of our mutual friends.

I cleared my throat. "Well, it was a pleasure meeting you Miss. Morgan. Morgan Taylor. I'll be waiting for you at the coffee house on Okana at noon tomorrow."

"Alright." Morgan blushed, pulling out a small piece of paper and a half-chewed pencil to write down her number and information. She slipped it in my shirt front pocket with a wink before turning to Hanna. Hanna had her mouth glued to the ground before she began grumbling something in Spanish to Morgan. Morgan dismissed her with a flick of her wrist before opening the driver side door and getting in. She offered to drive me to wherever I was headed but I turned down the offer. I still needed to take my light stroll and get my head clear. I began to walk off before Hanna called out to me, racing towards me like a trained runner away from the ears of Morgan. I wanted to politely ask her if we could discuss whatever it was later, but she was not in the mood for pleasantries.

"What exactly do you think you are doing?"

I sighed. "What do you mean, Hanna?"

"Don't play coy." She spat angrily, shoving her hands on her hips with sass. I rolled my eyes and began walking away but she pulled at my shirt collar. It took every ounce of willpower I had not to lash out at the poor girl. "Phoebe?"

"Hanna, with all due respect, my love life is none of your concern. Phoebe decided to work her marriage out with Kato. I am moving on with my life."

"Going on a date so soon?"

"It's not a date, Hanna." I muffled. "Why am I even explaining myself to you anyway? You are irrelevant."

She gasped, saying something in her native tongue before slapping me. I clenched my left cheek in sudden pain and rubbed it slowly to ease the tension. I wanted to strangle the broad but I decided against it. Hanna and I weren't even friends for her to even fathom the idea of laying her hands on me. I growled. "Hanna, unless you want to see me lose the mask of the gentleman, I suggest you rethink your next move before it gets you hurt."

She took a step back, gulping. "I'm just saying, how you could even think of dating another woman when just a week ago you were with Phoebe."

"I was never officially with Phoebe!" I snapped. "She has always been married and never intended on us getting back together."

"Not true!" Hanna piped, standing on her toes to get full height to become eye level with me. "She did have plans on being with you. She wanted to divorce Kato. She wanted to move back to Hillwood with you. She wanted to possibly think about remarrying. She thought of all that but because her mother is so pessimistic about relationships, she negatively influenced her to give up her pursuit of a future with you and remain with Kato. Why do you think she ended up not keeping the baby!?"

Baby? Hanna gasped, covering her mouth with her mitten before trying to U-turn back towards an impatiently waiting Morgan. I yanked her blouse and snatched her hand to keep her from leaving but she tried her best to pull away from me; even going as far as to scream 'rape'. I finally let her go and watched her run towards Morgan's car. She took a final glance at me before mouthing 'sorry' and getting into the backseat. I watched the two drive off as I allowed my cigarette to finally fizzle out. I stood still for a few minutes, allowing the cool breeze to roughly beat against my hot skin. I balled up my fists before letting out an animalistic howl against the night sky, rushing towards my car. I angrily searched for my car keys for a few moments before finally finding them; quickly unlocking my car door and putting the key into the ignition. I drove damn near ninety the entire ride over to Phoebe's; my mind on autopilot as my emotions guided me. I sat in her elegantly paved drive outside her gated house and called her cellphone several times before being sent automatically to voicemail. That only intensified my anger and caused me to manually calm myself down before I tore off my steering wheel in sudden rage. I gave her cellphone another ring before she finally picked up.

"Gerald, are you ok?"

"Phoebe, what baby is Hanna talking about!?"

There was silence on the receiving end as her breathing quickened in pace. I felt that unfamiliar side of myself emerge from the depths of my soul as I forced myself out of the car and towards the gate of her house. I asked the question again but she began sobbing instead of giving me my answer. I hung up on her and attempted to hop the rather large fence. I tore my leather jacket and almost sprained my ankle getting over the damned thing but that only fueled my fire. I rang her doorbell and waited for someone, anyone to answer the door. One of the maids opened it and tried to greet me but I pushed past her and called out for Phoebe. Haruhi came rushing down the steps screaming out my name but I brushed past her in fear of hurting her. I finally found Phoebe in the den with Kato and a few of his colleagues sipping tea and eating small cookies. Kato stood to confront me but I shoved him aside and forced my way towards Phoebe; grabbing her by her collar before throwing her against the loveseat. I straddled her and asked her again.

"What baby is Hanna referring to, Phoebe."

She glanced at Kato, his colleagues, and then at me. Tears started to weld within the corner of her eyes as she tried to whisper something in my ear but I shoved her back. I did not want her to even touch me. Kato made a lunge towards me and knocked me off his wife but I punched him in the face to keep him from holding me. Security emerged from the foyer, violently snatching me from atop of Kato before I could do more damage to his face. Phoebe laid screaming as I watched Haruhi hide behind a curtain. I was dragged outside to an awaiting squad car before handcuffed and thrown in the backseat. I watched as Phoebe ran to the doorway in an effort to keep the police from pressing charges but Kato insisted; holding his face as the house nurses dabbed away fresh blood with a handkerchief. All I could see was Phoebe mouth something inaudible before I turned my back on her. It was definitely time to go home.

A/N: I decided two updates in one day because I am so behind and I wanted to give you all something for being patient. I am glad to see everyone actively engaged in the story and I apologize if it isn't as 'happy' as you would like but as I said, it is supposed to be realistic. But don't fret kittens, I am sure you all will love my conclusion. We are actually three-four chapters away from the finale so stay tuned. Love you all much! -SensuallyPassionate