The Art of Love

Chapter 17: Departure

Zahir watched everybody from the top floor of the club. Rah had dragged him out tonight, stating he needed to get his mind right. Why he thought it was good to do so in a club was funny to him.

"Listen, all you gotta do is go down there and grab you one of them honeys." Reason said to him.

He shook his head. He wasn't into entertaining one of them. Besides, he knew what came with that.

"I'm just hear to vibe."

"So why the fuck you out here looking like a sad dog. Pick yourself up."

"Type shit. Have some fun!" Rah yelled over to him.

He didn't want to be here but he also didn't want to be stuck in the house in his thoughts. That shit didn't matter anyway though.

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It was going on 3 in the morning. Opening the front door, Zahir smelt this pleasant smell. It smelled real sweet. Intoxicating.

It was alarming and it made him curious. Who the fuck was in his shit? Cooking at that.

Rounding the corner, he watched Rayne take something out the oven. His mind was racing and he couldn't process all the emotions he was feeling.

"What you doing Rayne?"

The base from his voice made Rayne jump a little. She wasn't expecting him to be home tonight. Figured he'd be out with whoever.

Why wouldn't he be though? It was his house.

She needed some peace and remembered that he had gave her a spare key. She wanted to be around him without actually being in his space.

"You scared me."

Zahir just looked at her before turning to go upstairs. He didn't really enjoy himself at the club because he couldn't get his mind off her. It didn't really make sense.

There was no point in arguing. He ain't even feel like raising his voice. He just wanted sleep.

Rayne knew she was out of bounds but after seeing him at the mall , she wanted to have an actual conversation about what was told to her.

On one hand she believed the lady but then again , wasn't too sure.

It was pissing her off the way she was letting her thoughts consume her. It was like she couldn't tell the difference between reality and what was going on in her head.

After icing the cinnamon buns , she made sure to clean up the kitchen. Putting everything back in its rightful place.

She walked into the spare bedroom where she had placed her bags in. It was nothing but silence. An uncomfortable silence.

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Pacing back forth, Rayne looked at the clock once more. It read 6am. She had awakened an hour earlier. Not really being able to sleep. Whether to leave the room and wake him up or wait for him to wake up were the questions that she kept asking.

"What the fuck are you scared of?" She asked out-loud.

"Rejection." She said in her head.

Unbeknownst to her, Zahir was wide awake lying in bed. He didn't sleep. He couldn't.

Everything seemed to move quickly with them. Extremely fast. But should it matter if she was who he wanted? He thought back to the times where he was lying in bed in prison, thinking about her nonstop.

It was like they were destined for each other. Made for each other even . So why did she have to move out of state? Why did he have to get mixed in with bullshit?

If they were meant to be, why were they going in two different directions?

He sat up and looked at his clock. He cursed himself for not getting any sleep but glad that he didn't have shit to do today anyway.

There was a soft knock at his door. He wasn't too sure if he heard correctly but got up from the bed. Opening the door, he towered over Rayne.

She was standing there playing with her fingers, not giving him any contact. She was scared and didn't understand why.

She bit her lip, trying to focus on the right words to say to him. She didn't want anything to be misconstrued.

"I'm sorry." She said, barely above a whisper.

Zahir said nothing and that made her look up.

"I figured you'd be gone and I just wanted to be here. I should've asked."

He still stood there not saying anything. She was growing self conscious under his gaze. She was feeling small.

"Can you say something?"

"What do you want me to say to you?" He asked.

She shrugged. "Anything."

He laughed, catching her off guard.

"You got mad at me over something that someone else told you . You instantly believed her. Over me."

"I... I guess it made sense for something like this to happen.? We were moving so fast and something was bound to happen. To slip up."

Zahir walked away from the door and sat down on his bed.

"Do you hear yourself? That shit makes sense in your head?"

Frustrated, she didn't know what to say.

"You were my man. She said she was carrying your child."

"Me? Like said my name? Zahir?"

"No but..."

He had to laugh. "I don't discriminate but I prefer my women to be black. That's what I like. I never messed with a white woman before."

"What the fuck do you want me to say!?" She yelled, catching him off guard.

"Nothing. You should be gone before I get back."

Watching him walk out the room, she couldn't believe that the conversation went that way.

Trying to process the emotions she was feeling, she made her way back to the guest room. Was she being naive? Was something wrong with her thought process?

"Why doesn't shit ever go right for me?"