By the time of Aidy's wedding, Kate had moved in with me, and that only strengthened our bond. Things had been messy for us, but we were still standing strong, knowing that we had done things in our weird, chaotic, beautiful way.
«Hey babe, could you give me back my Columbia hoodie?» I asked her, as she was scrolling through the few photos on her phone, with a glass of wine in her hand.
«So it's yours already?»
«I deserve it, I think.»
She left the couch to go through her things in the bedroom, while I cuddled Nino, who was purring louder than usual.
«Here» Kate smiled, tossing me the hoodie before sitting beside me again.
Before she could resume scrolling on her phone, I took it from her and put it on the coffee table, as I wanted to have an honest, open-hearted conversation with her.
«Kate, you know I love you, but I really need to have an answer to this question if we want to stay together.»
«Shit, you're scaring me. What is it?»
«I know that you don't trust people easily, and that you don't put a lot of faith in your relationships, but I really would like to know why. We have been together for basically a year now, and I still haven't figured that out yet.»
Her eyes saddened a lot, but she made a fake happy smile to cover that. She took my hand and started playing with my fingers, while she tried to find the words to describe her experience to me.
«It happened a few years ago. I...» she sighed. «I was just coming home from work, and one lady bumped into me on the street. Her name was Harper. She was really sweet, and kind, and smart, and she treated me like a princess. I was her princess and vice-versa. We were all we had, or at least I thought. I was really in love with her. We had a beautiful relationship, she would come with me at work, I would happily travel across the world to see her when she was working abroad. We were happy. One day, I discovered that she was cheating on me. I confronted her about it, and she told me that it had happened way more than I expected. Of course, we broke up. I was devastated. This is the part of the story that Cecily, Aidy and Ness know about. Then, there's another one that I haven't told about to anyone.»
Her voice started trembling, and she squeezed my hand a lot harder.
«We saw each other a few months later, just as I was starting to move on. She invited me back to her place, and I followed her, like the dumb bitch that I am. We had sex a lot of times that night, then the night after that, too. I started asking her if she wanted something more, but she always ignored the question and started kissing me, so that we couldn't have that conversation. Finally, I insisted, and I found out that she was in another relationship, and I was one of her many flings before going back to London, where her girlfriend lived. That crushed me. I was hurt deeply, but kept it inside. I became emotionally unavailable after that. Until you came along. You saved me.»
I hugged her as she started tearing up. Thinking about those times must have really hurt her, so I just kept close to me while she calmed down.
«I'm really sorry you went through that.»
«At least now I'm happy... it's true that after a storm there's always a rainbow.»
«Hey!» Tasha exclaimed, hugging me at the gate. «How are you?»
I started telling her about my life in those last few months, while we went back home. I was home alone those couple of days, since Kate had gone to Long Island, and Tasha was there for work.
«Listen, I need your help with something» I became serious, just before entering my apartment.
«You're scaring me, what is it?»
«I need you to help me pick out wedding rings.»
«You wanna propose to Kate!?»
«Not right away. I just have some time off and wanna get a heads-up.»
«I don't know anything about her, how will I know if she will like it?»
«You will just tell me if those you see are ugly.»
She agreed and hugged me again.
«I'm so happy for you» she smiled, almost crying. «I hope you two will be very happy.»
«I've had a great example with you and Brian.»
«Don't talk to me about him, because I'm so mad at him right now. He forgot to pick up Amara from school. My poor baby had to sit in front of the school for thirty minutes waiting for him. He's your own damn kid and you can't remember!? What are you, a senior citizen!?»
I chuckled and helped her get settled, while she told me about every single small and stupid mistake he had done in the last few months.
«What about this one?» I asked, lifting up a ring with a small emerald on top.
«I don't know if she's more a diamond, emerald or sapphire kind of person.»
«I don't know! We never talked about it» I exclaimed, frowning. «What did my brother give you?»
She lifted her hand and revealed a beautiful ring with a pretty big diamond ring embedded on it.
«Money is tight, I can't afford that!» I sighed.
«Do you really think he bought it himself? Your parents gave it to me months before they found out I was black, otherwise they would have never.»
I nodded comprehensively and resumed my search, until I came across a very pretty ring with a sapphire nestled on it, next to two very small diamonds.
«How much would that be?» I asked the cashier.
«Thirteen hundred dollars.»
«Shit.»
«Brook, I can help you buy it» Tasha jumped in the conversation.
«No, I want it to be from me. I guess I could buy it and not eat for a fewweeks» I sighed. «I'll take it.»
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SHATTERED GLASS: love always finds a way
FanfictionSEQUEL OF "SHATTERED GLASS". After the troubled end of their relationship, Brooklyn and Kate have to learn how to work around each other and be friends towards one another. They embark on new journeys and start new relationships, but a feeling keeps...
