Now after a year, she felt she could talk to him. Denver was okay. She had been right about Marks-St. Claire. Already she was promoted to editor’s position. She wanted to let him know that her decision was a good one and that leaving, though not in the manner in which she did, was the right thing to do and maybe, just maybe he would understand and forgive her.
So, she slowly dialed his number. The phone rang several times before the answering machine picked up.
“You’ve reached Darius.” His speech was strong and mature. She smiled at the sound of hearing his voice again. “I’m sorry, I can’t take your call—”
The greeting cut off with a screech, and suddenly a male voice cut through the message. “Hello!” Alexa’s heart began to thud rapidly. “Hold on while I turn off the machine.”
She was a bundle of nerves as her frozen hands trembled while trying to grasp onto the phone.
“Hello!” he repeated. He sounded somewhat cheerful, not somber, for which she was glad.
Alexa took a deep breath and lightly whispered, “Hey, stranger.”
“Who is this?” Darius asked slowly, his voice laced with suspicion.
“It’s me, Darius, Alexa.”
Silence hung between them like an iron curtain.
“What do you want?” he finally huffed after several minutes.
“Hey, is that any way to greet an old friend?” she teased, going for the lighthearted approach. Her heart was beating so rapidly, she wondered if he could hear it as well as the quick nervous breaths she tried to contain.
“Friend?” he threw back harshly. “I’d hardly call you a friend.”
“Darius,” she sighed. “I know how you must feel—”
“You don’t know a damn thing about how I feel!” he cut in. “Why are you calling me anyway?”
“I just wanted to tell you how I’m doing.”
Her heart sank when he began to laugh sarcastically. “Do you honestly think I care?”
“I hoped that we could talk.”
“Talk about what?”
Darius’s responses were so full of bile that it made her want to hang up in his face. She expected some kind of lashing, but thought he would at least be civil given the feelings they had once shared.
“About us,” she stammered. “About what happened to us?”
Her answer caused Darius to rear back in laughter. She couldn’t make anything of it because she wasn’t used to him behaving in such a way. She sat there in silence through his amusement, hoping that it meant she was getting somewhere with him. When he finally caught his breath, his response turned ice-cold.
“Alexa, I don’t care about what happened anymore. In fact, as far as I’m concerned nothing did. And for the record there is no us, never has been and never will be. So, if you are sitting alone in your house flipping through your little black book in search of an old flame to torture, just bypass the R’s. You did it once before and that we both know you are really good at!”
The next thing she heard was ringing in her ear from the slamming of the receiver.
“He was so mean, so ugly,” Alexa stated after recalling the story to Maya. She hadn’t shared their conversation before now.
“Have you ever thought that his words could have been said out of anger?”
Alexa shrugged. “Whatever the case, it’s been said and was buried years ago. I don’t want to revisit that chapter in my life and I prefer if you didn’t either. Although I may have some misgivings about being here, I will be civil for you and Bryant’s sake.”
“Alexa,” Maya began, but Alexa cut her off with a firm shake of her head. Finally, Maya gave up and the two rode home in silence.
As they approached the house, Maya gasped, but Alexa pretended to hear nothing. She was firm on her stance of not wanting to discuss the issue any further.
Had she known anything about the owner of the black Chevy Suburban parked in the driveway she would have prepared herself, but it didn’t provide her with any clue. The secretive smirk Maya flashed should have hinted at what was to come, but it too had passed without comment.
Still silent, the two women went inside the house.
“Honey, I’m home!” Maya called from the kitchen.
“We’re in here, May!” Bryant shouted back from the family room. Maya led the way and Alexa humbly followed. As soon as she entered the room, her eyes widened. Sitting there surrounded by the girls was Darius.
Alexa felt as if her feet were glued to the hardwood floor. Darius gazed up at her looking every bit as handsome as he did back then and more. Neither of the two said anything, as if they both were tongue-tied. Little Sasha, who sat on Darius’s lap, pulled his bearded face to hers, nuzzling her face against it. The innocent gesture brought back to Alexa’s mind memories of herself in the same position.
It was Monaye who broke the awkwardness of the situation when she ran up to Alexa and hugged her waist.
“Auntie,” she exclaimed with a bright smile, pulling Alexa’s arm. “Say hi to my Uncle Darry.”
Alexa allowed the little girl in all of her innocence to make the first move for her. “Hello, Darius.”
“Alexa,” he returned. The cold tone in his voice mirrored the equally cold look in his eyes, causing Alexa to turn away with a shudder.
Bryant and Maya exchanged glances.
“So when did you get in, Mr. Darius?” Maya asked, breaking the tension. Alexa stood by and watched as Maya pranced over to the man who stood to give Maya a hug.
“Just this afternoon,” he replied over her shoulder, his eyes never leaving Alexa’s face. She averted her eyes to the floor. However, her attention was restored by Maya’s next question.
“Are you going to stay with us?” Maya asked.
Alexa’s breath caught at Maya’s invitation. It was a suggestion followed by awkward silence. She couldn’t bear to stand before him now; how could she withstand four days in the same house?
Her eyes flashed in Darius’s direction. He sarcastically laughed in reply. “No thanks. I don’t think there’s room enough for all of us.”
Alexa caught on to the double meaning that was intended and rolled her eyes.
“Nonsense,” Maya retorted. “We have plenty of room.”
“I think it’s for the best that I say at the hotel,” Darius continued.
Maya was about to challenge his response when Bryant intervened by slipping his arm around his wife’s waist. “If that is what you want, D, we understand.”
“But…” Maya started in.
“May, if he says he can’t stay, we shouldn’t press the issue,” he quickly interjected in an obviously firm tone.
A wave of warmth permeated Alexa’s collar. She knew Darius’s reasons for not wanting to stay at the house were because of her being there. As far as she was concerned, she was not about to let him take a potshot at her.
“Yeah, Maya, let the man go,” she piped up. “It’s apparent that he doesn’t feel comfortable with me around and frankly I don’t care to be in his company either.” With that comment, she did an about-face, picked up her shopping bags and marched upstairs to her room.
Once behind the confines of her door, she let