Torn Apart (African American Romance) (11 page)

             
At around 1:15am Rhonda jumped at the loud knocking she heard coming from her front door. David was knocked out sleeping like a baby by this point. She immediately began to wonder if it could be Ken trying to get in to see her, so she jumped out the bed, threw on her bathrobe and headed down the hall quickly before the knocking woke David. She was not ready to confront Ken right now, as it was, but especially not now while David was there naked in her bed. When Rhonda got down to the end of the hallway she saw her cell phone and realized she had not looked at or heard it ring for hours since David had arrived to her place; she could imagine that her phone was filled with missed calls, texts, and voicemails. When she got to the peephole, she was relieved but as she opened the door she felt like shit.

“Girl, are you ok? I’ve been trying to reach you for hours!
” LaVerne rushed in grabbing Rhonda for a hug.

“Oh Verne, I am so sorry. Yes, I am doing much better. I was a little upset earlier and was actually running behind and trying to get myself together to get ready and get to you, but then I got a little distracted and…”

“I see…hmmm,” LaVerne said as she took a closer look at Rhonda inspecting her hair on top of her head and the bathrobe.

“I’m so embarrassed
—I’m so sorry Verne. I was really on my way to you. I didn’t want to leave you hanging for the evening. Please forgive me,” Rhonda pleaded.

“Of course girl. If it was the other way around, I know you’d understand. I don’t want to be a cock blocker and plus I know Ken really wanted to spend the evening with you. It’s ok,”
LaVerne beamed at the thought of her friend and her newfound romance until she noticed two things: Rhonda’s smile fading from her face at the mention of Ken’s name and the sparkling ring she noticed gleaming from Rhonda’s left hand as she was pulling back her hair.

“Umm, what is that?!”

Rhonda had forgotten about the rock on her finger until that very moment. As she searched for the best way to tell her friend her good news, she and LaVerne were interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming down the hall and David calling for Rhonda asking if she was ok. They both turned to look at David who was completely naked and almost at the end of the hall before he realized Rhonda was not alone.

“David!” Rhonda tried to stop him but by that point
LaVerne had gotten a full view of Rhonda’s source of pleasure that evening and he had gotten a view of her shocked expression. David immediately turned back around and rushed back down the hall apologizing.

“I’m so sorry
—I thought you were alone. I just wanted to make sure you were ok.”

After he was no longer in view, Rhonda and
LaVerne both looked at one another in shock and silence with mouths wide open. Rhonda was trying to figure out what LaVerne might be thinking at that moment and where she needed to begin explaining the events from hours earlier. LaVerne had a load of questions first beginning with who was the naked, fine man she had just seen in the buff.

“Oh, you got some
explaining to do, Ms. Thang!” LaVerne said breaking the silence and pulling Rhonda towards the kitchen so they could talk over some wine at the kitchen table.

             
After Rhonda explained everything from the beginning, going back as far as her meeting with David during the Christmas break all the way to the disagreement with Ken earlier and David popping up over her house proposing, they had gotten through one bottle of wine and was popping open another bottle.

“Wow, are you serious?!”
LaVerne asked in disbelief but knowing her friend wasn’t lying to her.

Rhonda nodded her head in shock about the turn of events herself.

“Please forgive me for tonight Verne—I just totally forgot to call you and say anything. It was just so much happening so fast. I didn’t mean to stand you up and then make you worry.”

“That’s ok girl, but what I want to know is do you really want to marry this guy? I mean, I remember when you told me about him and how he treated you. Now he pops up when things are going so good with you and Ken. And I know you have strong feelings for Ken
—I hadn’t seen you that happy in a long time.”

“
Shhh, not too loud girl-just in case…” Rhonda said as she pointed referencing David being near and possibly within earshot.

“No disrespect to your new fiancé girl, but I want to make sure you haven’t responded hastily out of hurt and disappointment with what happened with Ken.
If you aren’t ready to get back with your ex, let alone marry him, then you may want to get all of this resolved now before either of you get in too deep. And what if Ken pops up tomorrow ready to talk and make amends—are you over him and ready to tell him that you decided to marry this man?”

Rhonda realized her friend was only looking out for her well being but with the combination of her
emotions from the hours before, the wine, and the fact that David was there in the house, she came across as defensive in trying to explain her actions. She knew LaVerne was right about everything she was saying to her, but this was not the time to deal with it.

“
LaVerne, thank you so much for always looking out for me but this is not the time for me to be discussing this right with David upstairs. I need to get back to him anyway. Let’s plan to meet up for lunch later today girl. By then I would have had the chance to rest, talk to David, and just have a clearer head about all of this. Do you mind?”

LaVerne
looked at her friend and gave her a big hug.

“No girl, I don’t mind. Call me after your fiancé leaves and we’ll decide o
n a place and meet up there. I love you girl!”

“I love
ya’ back!”

As
LaVerne headed to her car, she had a bad feeling about where things were heading—not just with Rhonda’s hasty decision, but also with their friendship. LaVerne cared too much for Rhonda to just sit still and let her make a mistake like this that she could regret for a long time. LaVerne would do her best to be the supportive friend Rhonda needed but she prayed that she would be able to get through to Rhonda because anything good could not come from this considering how quick it all happened. Rhonda also had a bad feeling as she watched LaVerne through the window making sure she made it back to her car safely. She knew lunch with her friend was not going to be easy because she knew how outspoken LaVerne was. It was more than that though—could her bad feeling also be connected to her decision to marry David? Something was making her rethink everything but Rhonda brushed it off and assumed Laverne was the cause of her having second thoughts about everything. Before she could give it more thought, David came back down the hallway naked, again.

“So is your company gone? Do I have you to myself again, beautiful?”

“Yes, you do sir,” Rhonda responded with smile as David wrapped his arms around her.

“Are you ready for another round?” David asked as he unfastened Rhonda’s
robe and opening it until it fell to the floor.

“You bet I am.
”

David ended up staying in town until that early evening of New Year’s Day, not even calling
LaVerne until that evening. Needless to say, LaVerne was not amused because this made the second time within 24 hours that Rhonda had stood her up and both reasons were due to David. In their 15-minute conversation, LaVerne tried to make Rhonda see how quick David was already having an effect on her and making him priority just that quick. Rhonda did not take too kindly to what Laverne was saying and further implying. Their conversation became more heated with LaVerne telling Rhonda she would not talk to her about this anymore until Rhonda calmed down and got some sense; then LaVerne hung up on her. Rhonda was livid, but it was more than just LaVerne trying to tell Rhonda about herself and hanging up on her; it had to do with what Rhonda was feeling about the words LaVerne said. Rhonda had recently told David that she had given so much of herself to him when they were together before and that she was no longer going to cater to him. Now it seemed that she was already heading in that direction with the slightest actions, such as standing up her best friend. It had gone beyond that, though. Although Rhonda had not mentioned it to LaVerne, David had already asked her about going back home during the weekends to spend time with him and becoming an active member of the church since she would be the first lady eventually. This meant that she would eventually be moving back there permanently. Rhonda was already working from home more often, but in those last few hours she had told David she would look into working permanently from home as they made this transition into becoming a married couple. Rhonda had not thought of all of this when she accepted his proposal. Was she really ready for all of this?

Rhonda’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her doorbell. When she looked through the peephole, her heart practically stopped
—it was Ken. Rhonda panicked for a few seconds before realizing that it was better that he found out the truth from her than someone else. She slowly opened up the door and saw that Ken had a bouquet of flowers in his hand.

“Can I come in, please?”

Rhonda stepped back opening the door far enough for him to step in with the flowers that he handed over to her.

“Thank you,” Rhonda said as she admired the arrangement.

“Rhonda, I’m sorry I didn’t call you back or show up last night. I guess in a way I was trying to punish you for how you made me feel when we were on the phone. That was so childish of me, especially since I do want you in my life. I hope…”

Rhonda was looking at Ken as he spoke trying to figure out how she was going to tell him what she did but suddenly he stopped talking and stared at the flowers he brought her.

“Ken, what’s wrong?” she asked as she looked at the flowers to see what caught his attention but then she realized it was not the flowers he was staring at but the ring on her left hand that was wrapped around the flowers. It had not crossed her mind to take the ring off before she had let Ken inside the house. Her heart dropped even more as she saw the hurt on Ken’s face.

Ken was speechless. He
felt the need to ask about the ring but he already knew the answer. It was even more evident by the look on Rhonda’s face and the tears that began to form in her eyes. He just looked at her and shook his head.

“Ken, I…I was going to tell you. I’m so sorry.”

“When?! When did this happen?” Ken asked trying to put it all together.

“Ken, it’s not like you think. It just happened last night. David proposed to me when he came here last night.”

“Oh, I get it now. I was talking about punishment, and I guess you decided that you’d serve up your own punishment to me, huh?” Ken said as his hurt turned into anger.

“Ken, no-I would never do this to try to get back at you. I care for you too much…”

“Don’t you fucking say that to me!”

Rhonda stopped in her tracks immediately from Ken’s response. He had never spoken to her in this manner, but she could not blame him either. She knew that Ken’s feelings were really hurt and she did not know what to do.

“How can you even marry him? Do you love him?”

Rhonda continued to remain quiet because if she spoke her voice would break. She was having a tough enough time trying to hold back the tears that had already started to fall on the right side of her cheek.

“You know what—you don’t have to answer that because it doesn’t even matter. Happy fucking New Year.”

As Ken stormed out of her
apartment Rhonda fell to the floor on her knees still silently weeping. She kept telling herself to hold it together but her body wouldn’t let her. The next thing she knew, a howl that she did not recognize came out of her body so strongly that it made her whole body fall outstretched on the floor. Rhonda had never felt this kind of hurt or pain ever, and it wasn’t just because of her guilt for hurting Ken; she realized she had just let the love of her life leave. If she had any doubts before, her reaction to Ken walking out the door and the pain she felt inside as a result of feeling that she would never see him again was all the proof she needed.

             
A month had passed since all of the events that had taken place on New Year’s Day; it had been a couple of weeks since she said her goodbyes to everyone at the office and the kind exchanges with LaVerne, and even Ken, before she walked out to meet David. She had constantly thought of Ken, especially since seeing him back at the office. Rhonda had been tempted to ask LaVerne during their last phone call if Ken ever mentioned her but she knew it was unfair to bring LaVerne in the middle of all of that. I made my decision, Rhonda thought to herself often, so I need to live with it. The Sunday before, Rhonda went home for the weekend because David was ready for her to come see him preach, not to mention introduce her to the congregation with the announcement that they would be getting married. They had already discussed plans to have an early summer wedding, so the pressure was on for Rhonda to become more visible back at home and gradually become more active with the church.

When Rhonda and her parents walked into the church, it was like a small community reunion because she recognized many of the faces
that made up the congregation. One familiar face Rhonda immediately saw from a distance before she headed to her seat was her old friend Dana, who she had not spoken to in many years. Last time they spoke they had a somewhat heated conversation so Rhonda was not sure if she should approach her or not. She walked in Dana’s direction and as she decided to tap Dana on the shoulder to greet her, Dana turned around. While Dana was shocked to see Rhonda in front of her after all of these years, Rhonda was equally as shocked to see that Dana was pregnant.