Ex Again

CHAPTER ONE: "FLIRTATIONSHIPS"

This story is the intellectual property of J.C Sinclair and may not be copied or reproduced under any circumstances without the consent of the author. Enjoy! :D

CHAPTER ONE: "FLIRTATIONSHIPS"

"Come on Azania, you can't spend the rest of your life in isolation."
"That is not what I am doing Amber."
"It's Friday night and instead of being out there enjoying your life, you're on the couch with that oversized Old Navy t-shirt that you've been wearing since our college days and a shower cap on your head deep conditioning your hair. I can hear Common in the background so I know that you're watching "Mr. Wright" for the umpteen time and having your favorite Dutch Chocolate ice cream" Amber finished.
"No..." Azania replied guiltily. It was scary how well Amber knew her.

Azania Parker and Amber DeMarco had first met in high school when her brother Yanda dated Amber's sister Haylee. Coincidentally they ended up going to the same college and became roommates. Although the relationship between Yanda and Haylee ended years ago, Azania and Amber continued being friends.

"Look," Amber said with a sigh "you need to let the situation with Kendrick go..."

"If only it was just him..." she whispered.
Kendrick Williams was a guy that Azania met two years ago on set of a photoshoot that she was doing for a client. She fell in love with photography when she got her first camera phone but as a plus sized woman who did not fit the mold created by society regarding the standards of beauty, she did not feel comfortable being in front of the lens only to be criticized at every twist and turn. So she resorted to working behind the camera lens as a professional photographer.

Kendrick was not one of the models but he might as well have been at the height of 6.5 feet, beautiful dark skin, chiseled body and dimpled smile. He owned the modeling agency that Azania was creating a portfolio for. A business lunch led to a business dinner and the lines between business and personal got crossed. He was a gentleman who knew how to wine and dine a woman. A lot of the qualities that she always wanted in a man, like being attentive, a good listener, ambitious and family orientated, is what he possessed and Azania was falling hard and fast.

Things were never official and on the faithful night that Azania decided to ask where the relationship was going, she was shocked to discover that he never regarded what they had as a relationship. They had what is called a 'FLIRTATIONSHIP: more than a friendship but less than a relationship.' In other words, he took what he needed from her emotionally. She was emotionally playing the role of his confidant, his cheerleader, his girlfriend. It was not a 'friends with benefits' situation but much worse because her emotions were involved while his were clearly not even in the equation. While she was thinking that he was a gentleman and they were taking things slow, he was not on the same page with her. Let alone the same book. She was heartbroken. Again. She had misinterpreted the situation. Again.

"Somewhere out there an amazing guy is waiting for you Zaza" Amber said calling her on her nickname that she came up with in their college days, "you just need to be more open to love and stop isolating yourself and let me hook you up!"

"No ways! I am not doing that" she protested. "You want me to come across as desperate and I'm not doing that."
"That is not true. Brian has a lot of cute and successful friends that I would like to introduce you to."

Brian Houston was Amber's soon to be husband and an all-round decent guy. They went to the same high school and Brian was the nerd that no one noticed at the time, except Amber. Although she was the somewhat popular pretty girl with her cinnamon skin and hazel eyes, she always had a crush on the shy, smart, reserved guy who hid his beautiful brown eyes behind his thick glasses. She had time and eyes for no one else, but the guy with skin the color of Hersey's chocolate kisses. He just never seemed to notice when she would make lame excuses to hang out with him. She would fake not understanding some concepts just so he can explain it to her. She loved to hear him talk because he had one of those deep baritone voices. He went off to college and she never got to tell him how she felt about him.

As faith would have it, they bumped into each other at a business conference. He was one of the attendees and she was working for the company that had organized the event. Although he had gotten rid of the glasses and awkwardness, she still recognized his eyes and his smile in the crowd of people. They reconnected and he finally confessed that he always had loved her.
A year later and she is now engaged to the beautiful specimen who she only discovered much later was a very successful business man.

"They may be cute and successful but a man who is above 30 years of age, has a good job and is still single just makes every red flag in my head go of. With so many single women, why on earth would he be single?"

"Well maybe just like some 30 year old woman I know, he could have been busy with his career or not finding what he was looking for."

"I'm sorry but I don't believe all that. There are more women on earth, so I have an excuse to be single."

"Look let me just hook you up so you can stop spending your weekends like some old person."

"I'll think about it and I need to go because Common is about to take his shirt of in the movie" Azania joked. "Love you!"

Azania hung up before Amber could get another word in. It was not the first time that they had this conversation. She just did not feel like putting her heart out like that again because it took a very long time for her heart to heal. She loved Kendrick. He was the one for her. But sadly she was not the one for him. She knew that he was attracted to her mind, he had told her so countless times. So the problem had to be with her physically she thought to herself. Dark skinned, plus sized with nappy hair.
Azania never doubted herself in the past but Kendrick was the last straw. She did not want to fall in love all by herself again. Emotional scars took much longer to heal.
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Chapter One done and dusted!

Hey guys, this is my first story on Wattpad. Feedback, feedback, feedback. It is not edited, so please don't be too harsh. Constructive criticism is welcome.
I'm actually thinking about writing a story about Brian and Amber after that introduction of their relationship.

Ps: theme song for this book is by Eric Bellinger and Jhene Aiko - Ex Again.