UnPretty

UnPretty - Chapter 3

The Next Day

I'm glad she's dead, Gisa thought cold-heartedly concerning Peaches as she stood on the balcony of a luxury Atlanta hotel after a long relaxing shower.

She was also very much relieved to no longer have that kind of competition lurking in the shadows. To not have to worry about her husband growing a backbone someday or getting sentimental enough to return to his ex-girlfriend.

What Gisa was not glad or relieved about was how hard Kenan took the news when Flora Solace, Peaches' mother, called him this morning. Not only did he break down into deep, body-heaving sobs right there on the phone...in front of his new wife...after she just finished serving him breakfast in bed, he later cancelled their honeymoon altogether, or rather their honeymoon trip.

Same difference in my eyes. Gisa sucked her teeth in disgust like her mother-in-law often did when displeased about something. She seriously doubted her husband would be in the mood for romance any time soon, so their honeymoon might as well be cancelled, too. He'd barely been in the mood last night and had insisted on keeping the lights off.

Their planned trip to Nigeria, the home of Kenan's own mother and maternal relatives, was postponed indefinitely. Gisa was furious about it and so was the first Mrs. Kinchlow. Kenan was on the phone in the next room talking to both of his parents now.

I knew I should have married him earlier. Gisa frowned about that lost opportunity. She tied the sash of her plush pink robe tighter in anger.

Earlier wasn't four months ago after he finally relented to his parents' will. Earlier was right after they graduated high school when he first proposed to her. That proposal had been in honor of the three years they dated prior and represented a promised future together.

Gisa regretted not marrying Kenan back then because by his junior year of college, his affections toward her began to cool. Suspecting that he'd fallen for another woman, she deliberately made a concerted effort to get even closer to his parents while she attended a local college in their hometown. She particularly became good friends with his African born mother.

Mrs. Adaeze Kinchlow was a native of Nigeria, who married a rich Black-American banker that treated her like a queen and behaved like a humble vassal instead of a coequal king. The domineering stalwart woman believed strictly in the honor code. The fact that Kenan had given his word to wed Gisa was enough for Adaeze to instantly dislike any other woman he brought to meet them. Thus Peaches was soundly rejected upon sight and Kenan was given that fateful ultimatum – marry Gisa or lose your trust fund.

Suddenly Kenan appeared on the balcony beside her. He was still dressed in his black pajama bottoms, allowing his magnificent chest to be on full display. "Make sure you're all packed. We're leaving for the airport in an hour."

"To go to Africa?" Gisa hoped his parents had finally talked some sense into him. She especially hoped they would make their connecting flight out of Atlanta after all.

"No, you're going back to D.C." He turned and looked her square in the eyes. "I'm heading to North Carolina."

Gisa inhaled sharply as Kenan's bold declaration penetrated her heart like a sharp dagger. Clearly he was still out of his mind. Had his parents' ability to influence him waned? Had his mother's refined weaponized guilt lost its potency or missed its usual mark?

"To North Carolina? For what? She's gone, Kenan. Your presence there is not going to bring her back," Gisa squeezed out, refusing to call Peaches by name even in death.

"Had I been present for Peaches when she and our...our daughter needed me most, they both might still be alive." Raw pain galloped across his mahogany face as his equally raw anger twisted the knife in her heart. He took a deep breath and blew it out as if to tame them both.

There was a child involved, too? Gisa didn't know what to make of that new information. She certainly didn't know how to feel about it.

Being glad her rival was gone was one thing. But an innocent child? Her maternal instincts simply would not allow it and thus overruled any callousness in her tattered heart.

Why didn't he tell me this before? Had he even known before today? Gisa tightened her sash even more. Maybe that's what Miss Solace shared when I left him to shower earlier.

"So you're going to Moxley to pay your respects?" she asked gingerly, not really sure how to proceed in their conversation or in their marriage after all these bombshells.

"Yes, and to help Miss Solace any way I can with the funeral arrangements. So don't bother trying to talk me out of it or siccing my mother on me again because it won't work," Kenan replied decisively before heading back into their room.

Gisa didn't know whether to cry out of heartbreak or fear at the realization that the man she married twenty-four hours ago was suddenly a completely different person. The Kenan from yesterday always did as his parents asked, especially his mother. Today's Kenan seemed strong enough to do whatever he wanted regardless of the consequences.

But is he going to want to stay married to me after all this? Gisa's bottom lip trembled as she cried tears from a mixed cocktail of heartbreak and fear. Either way, she was shaken, not stirred to her very core.