No smut: Continuation of Chap 20

Mercedes stood in the mirror to check out her half dressed body. She ran her fingers over the dark bruise at the base of her neck. "Sam, we've talked about this," she groaned. "It's starting to warm up, and I can't cover them." She couldn't wear turtlenecks in a Tennessee summer.

I hugged her hips. "Maybe you should put something on before I give you another." I kissed the back of her neck, making her giggle.

Stepping away to get dressed, she ordered me to do the same. "We're already late to sneak you out."

It had been three years since me and Mercedes started our unusual relationship. Mercedes couldn't break free of Tank, so I was stuck sharing her. I decided it was okay because she was with me more than with him. Although Tank was the only person she could show off, I loved her to no end.

Mrs. Thompson caught us as we were leaving Mercedes apartment. She was a friend of my mom and she attended Mercedes's church. The old gossip knew that Mercedes and I had no business together that early in the morning.

Mercedes greeted her neighbor before turning to me. "I hope that I was able to help. I'll pray for you." Her church girl act was never doubted. She patted my arm before sending me off to work.

My job was as fun as working with your mom could be. She had the green thumb, I was artistic, and we were both great sellers. The two of us filled every role at the shop, but we both thought we knew best.

My mom watched me from behind the counter. She shook her head at the displays. "Move all the sweet pea and freesia arrangements closer to the windows," she ordered. "Their time is almost over." In her shop, all flowers' sellability depended on the season. She had the techniques to grow most flowers past their three month window, but she knew people would fall into the 'limited time' trap.

I had to disagree. I had set up the lantanas in the window because their bright colors could bring people off the street, and the spring flowers lined the aisle for the people that were too shy to look around the store. I knew I had made the right decision.

Mercedes entered the shop, making us both glow. She waved at me as she strutted up to the counter. She chatted with my mom before getting to why she was there. "Would you be interested in speaking and presenting my award Friday night." She was one of the business owners being celebrated that year. Making her list of presenters, my mom wasn't her number one choice, but she ranked higher than everyone in Tank's family. "I know it's last minute, but-"

"She can never run out of nice things to say about you," I finished as I joined them. I put my arm around Mercedes's shoulders, and immediately began to overthink our fist action of PDA in front of my mom; did we look like a pair of friends or did it make her suspicious. I slowly moved my arm back down. "She'd love to."

My mom warned me about answering for her but repeated me. She could have left it at that. "You're not going to change your mind, are you? Five years ago, I was supposed to give Gwen Nelson her award, but she changed her mind. She went with Betty Reed, and Betty was the one that reported her for her taxes." She scowled as I shook my head at her inability to hold anyone's secrets. "Go do what I told you."

I refused to move the flowers. I left to water the potted plants. I ignored the two women giggling behind me, but they got my attention when my mom gasped.

When Mercedes propped her elbow up and leaned into the counter, my mom saw the ring on her finger. "He finally did it! After all these years, he finally proposed!" She snatched Mercedes's hand. Studying the ring, she noted, "Tank could have gone bigger."

She didn't have to turn to know that I was watching. "I think it's perfect." She politely took her hand back and hid it behind the counter. She slid the ring off and dropped it into her handbag. "Keep this between us. You can't tell anyone, please," she pouted. With her brown eyes, she had the power to take over the whole town if she wanted.

"You know I can't say no when you make that face." She slapped the wood top, disappointed that she couldn't share the news. My mom growled when the phone rang. "If it's that Ashley girl calling to make another change to her order, I will scream." She stomped off to the back… way back.

Alone, Mercedes rushed to me. "I'm sorry." She gave me the same pout. "I forgot to take the ring off. It's hard to do. I love it… I love you." Her lips stretched into a smile and lured me to them.

I had repeatedly told Mercedes that I would marry her. I saved a little money out of each paycheck until I could afford a ring. After three years, I proposed to a woman I couldn't claim as all mine. I couldn't shout from the rooftops about how much I loved her, but she drove me that crazy.

"You can make it up to me tonight," I offered. "I can have dinner ready when you get home and-"

Mercedes shook her head. "I have a full schedule this week, and I have to start planning the gala at the church." She couldn't help that she was busy. "I wasn't planning on staying here long. I have to meet a client on the next block." She snuck a goodbye kiss before leaving.

We weren't the only couple with struggles. Quinn was a Yale graduate. Puck had a record of doing whatever he wanted. Most people didn't believe they belonged together, but her parents hated the relationship. Puck and Quinn had to put in a little work to keep their secret, but they seemed fine, happy.

I was brought into the relationship as a cover boyfriend for Quinn. If there was any event in town, I was her date. I was more just eye candy because I didn't have much to say. We were together thirty minutes, tops, before she left the party to be with Puck.

At the award ceremony, I spent most of the night scouting the room for Mercedes. I half heartedly nodded at everything that was told to me. I didn't care to be there longer than I had to. I clapped through two awards, and when Mercedes's award was given, I couldn't hold back my smirk. The only time I saw Mercedes at the event was on stage.

I swear Mercedes went out of her way to avoid me the next few days. She refused to respond to my calls or texts. She sent her employees to deliver orders to the shop. She even missed "our night"; Tuesday was the only time we were guaranteed to be together. When I waited for her at her apartment, she spent all night at the office.

I had to plan carefully to catch her alone at her office. As an apology, I brought her lunch and a bouquet of daisies. I tapped my knuckle against her open door for her attention. When she looked up at me, I froze; the sparkle in her eyes had grown to a wildfire of irritation. I invited myself into the room and put her gifts on her desk.

She pushed the food container with the tip of her pen. Returning to her notepad, she mumbled, "Maybe your new girlfriend will like them." She sounded so silly that I had to laugh.

"What are you talking about?"

"You and Quinn."

That was when I remembered that I had never told Mercedes about the arrangement I had with Quinn. I never had a reason to bring the conversation up. In our fake relationship, Quinn and I hadn't crossed Mercedes's path anytime before the award ceremony. I would never parade another woman in front of her, especially at an event to celebrate her.

I was hurt that she'd doubted my faithfulness, but I promised her that there was no one to worry about. "Was that what this whole week was about?" I asked. "You thought I liked Quinn?"

She stood to get a file from the cabinets behind her. She found her folder and slammed the drawer with more force than needed. "How long?" She returned to her seat, but fought not to look at me.

I refused to explain anything when she was bent on making me a cheater. I shrugged, "Why does it matter? You have Tank." I trusted her and expected the same in return.

"I told you everything about Tank before we got serious, and you know I've tried to get away from his family."

"Try harder."

We went back and forth for minutes. A lot of stupid things were said- not a lot of it was meant. Neither of us were innocent. All the fussing wasn't getting us anywhere, so it all ended with me stomping off.

Before that day, I didn't whine about the hold up with the contract. I never questioned her about anything she did with Tank. Not a single complaint left my lips when she posed for vacation pictures with him. I had really convinced myself that a piece of her was better than none at all, but I couldn't lie to myself anymore.

I left her office crushed but so sure of myself. I had to take another L in life. Again, I was quitting, but I could say that I really tried to make it work with Mercedes.

Two weeks later, the last thing I wanted to do was go to that church. I was dragged to the fundraiser because my dad picked up a double shift to keep from taking my mom. I was doing an encore performance of all the things I did for Quinn: stay at her side, smile and nod. I had it down.

The moment we walked into the event, my mom ran for Mercedes. "This is so beautiful," she complimented, struggling to remember how the old picnic area looked before that night. Her blue eyes shined like the string of lights that hung. "You should be so proud of yourself." She started a chain of comments from people in the group.

Tank held Mercedes by her waist. "Yeah, she's something special," he agreed before kissing her temple. Like his girlfriend, he ignored me.

After the group thinned out, and we were left with Tank's family, my mom felt it was safe to congratulate the couple. "I was so happy when Mercedes told me the news." She surprisingly kept the secret of Mercedes's engagement- even though it was broken.

Confusion flashed on Tank's face before he smiled and thanked her.

Mercedes stepped forward and took a tight grip on Tank's hand. Looking up at him, she asked, "Would you please show Mrs. Evan to her seat." She personally reserved a nice spot for my mom and a guest. "I need a moment alone with your parents."

Tank's mom waved her off. "I'm sure it can wait," she decided. She knew what was needed of her and refused to entertain it. She expressed her gratitude to my mom for attending the fundraiser and left to greet more guests.

The event was like church but with a meal, so I behaved like I did when I was dragged to the services on Sundays. I slumped in my seat as I watched everyone but the preacher. I was sitting behind the first family, and though I didn't like it, they were the most interesting table.

Mercedes sat between Tank and his mother. Her head repeatedly turned as the three were in conversation. The hint that the discussion had gotten too hot was when her body tensed, locking her sight straight ahead at the stage. She was frozen that way for minutes before excusing herself.

"Don't go after her. Don't go after her," I told myself. God, I didn't want to, but I chased her anyway.

She could've lost me inside the church, but she was heading out. When I called her name, she stopped in the church's entranceway. Turning, she sniffed, "What?" She wanted to go home.

All the anger I had for her melted when I noticed the tears wanting to escape her eyes. I closed the gap between us. "Don't cry. You look too beautiful for that." I folded her in my arms and squeezed her tighter when she didn't push me away. "What did he say to you?"

Mercedes wasn't the one to make a scene. She took her time to speak. With her head resting against my chest, she mumbled, "I'm so tired. I-I-" She stopped, not sure of what she wanted to say. "None of this is worth it. It's like the harder I try, the further I get kicked down." In the past days, she had taken her contract to a lawyer- one not recommended by Tank- and found several details that were never pointed out before.

It was 95 pages calling Mercedes a loser- Tank's loser. She really thought that there were still two years left in the agreement, but there were four. The only person that could control and change the terms was Tank's father. The biggest hit to her was her business. Because it was started with their church's money, the first family owned 55% of the company that she broke her back to build. They had a grip on her, and she didn't know how to shake free.

"I wish I knew how to make it better," I huffed. I began to massage circles into her back because it used to calm her down. "I know the things I said the other day didn't help." I apologized. When she looked up at me, I wiped at her tear's trial and returned to my position.

She sniffed, "But you weren't wrong… about any of it."

I couldn't trick myself into not loving her. I didn't want her to go through the fight alone, but if she didn't know what to do, of course I didn't. "Everything will be okay. I'm not leaving again. We can go back to the way things were, and time will fly by. You w-"

She jerked out of my hold. "That's not the point!" she snapped. "I don't love Tank. I don't like him. I don't want to see him. I don't even want to be near him, but they won't let me go." She dropped her head to hide her tears from me.

Another moment where I was speechless.

Mercedes wiped at her cheeks before straightening. She tried to give orders, but her voice was shaky and frail. "Go back out and please don't say anything to Tank." She had changed her mind about leaving. "I, um, I have to clean up." She walked past me.

I returned to my seat and pretended to be interested in the program. I looked at the table in front of me and didn't care that Tank was gone, and when Mercedes sat, she didn't mind either. Minutes passed, and I was watching the choir's performance when my phone, and the phones of everyone else that followed Mercedes and Tank online, buzzed with a notification. I ignored it.

No one else did.

A video of me and Mercedes was posted to their page. It was just taken. We didn't kiss. What we said was barely caught. It was barely ten seconds long, but it did its job; everyone was asking why we were hugging so close.

Mercedes deleted the post as soon as she saw it, but she couldn't make anyone forget it. She knew it was Tank; he was the only other person with access to the page. She was put on pens and needles by the fear of the video being reshared. As she stood, she tried to ignore the whispers. She started though the crowd without noticing that I was following behind her.

When she stopped me, I declared, "I'm going with you."

"I can talk to him by myself," she argued.

The car ride home with my mom felt long. My mom was only ever quiet when she was focusing on things in her head. She knew her son. She knew Mercedes. "I didn't want to believe that they're capable of cheating, but could I be wrong?" she was probably thinking. "No, I'm never wrong." She had made up her mind that we were too innocent, and everyone else was twisted for misreading our friendship.

After taking my mom home, I went to Mercedes apartment. I looked around the living room, and the only thing that stood out to me was her engagement ring that had probably been on the coffee table since the day we broke up. I fell back onto the couch. I wished that I could clear my mind and think about literally nothing, but there was too much that needed to be explained.

Two hours later, Mercedes finally came home. Her eyes were focused on me as she closed and locked the door. She dimly smiled. "I'm really glad you're here." She folded her arms as she made her way to me. She knew that I was eager to know what happened. "First, I want to say sorry."

Neither of us deserved the three years of sneaking around. Every step was planned. We had a lie to cover for everything but what happened that night. We had so many secrets that we started to keep them from (or forget to tell) one another. Our relationship wasn't easy.

She continued, "I love you. I don't care what anyone has to say about tonight, and no one will change my mind." she reached out and her thumb petted my cheek. "It's just me and you now."

Mercedes wanted out of the relationship, so Tank gave it to her.

The video had created such a problem that Tank's parents decided that it wasn't worth cleaning up; stolen screenshots of me and Mercedes were out, so the story was far from dead. Their son could walk away as the victim of cheating because Mercedes refuses to put any energy into a tit for tat game.

The saddest news was about her business. She would be bought out. She was going to lose her company, but she had all my support to follow her dreams: event planning, singing, or whatever else she wanted to do.

She took the ring from the table. "Ask me again." Her twinkle had returned, and I had to smile knowing I could see that for the rest of my life. She nudges me out of my daydreams. "Come on. Just like before."

I took the ring and slid to one knee. I could never forget the words I said the first time I proposed. "... Every great moment I have in the future, I want you there. Will you ma-" My words were cut short by her eager lips. I took that as a yes.

Finally, she was all mine, I was hers, and everyone would see how she could bloom under real love.

Thank you for reading.