Black Rose

Seventeen

Raine POV

I stared at the scrupulous woman sitting across from me, regretting my decision to meet with her. I vowed to never speak another word to her when I called our relationship quits three years ago, but here I am backtracking and ready for the lies to start pouring out of her mouth. With a bored expression on my face, I impatiently waited for her to begin the conversation. 

"It's nice to see you again." She smiled, but my emotionless face remained the same. "How have you been, Raine?"

"Let's skip the small talk, alright?" I waved my hand around. "What's with the unexpected pop-up? I clearly had no intentions of seeing you ever again, yet here you are--in Seattle, so what's the deal?"

She twirled a strand of hair around her finger and sighed. "Oh, my gosh. Are you seriously still mad over that, Raine? It's been ages since it happened and you're blowing the situation out of proportion. We all lie at some point, whether it's big or small and we make mistakes. It's apart of this thing called life." She shrugged with no remorse present.

"That's not the damn point B and you know it." I said through clenched teeth. "You pursued me out of spite for almost two years, knowing who I was previously involved with romantically. Oh, if that isn't bad enough, your conniving ass poked a hole in my condom and gets pregnant. Then you wonder why our baby didn't make it. Look at yourself B. You possess a dishonest, mistrusting, ruthless, tactless character. No one like yourself should be allowed to bring life into this world, especially not a child of mine. Now, what the hell are you doing here? I know you have a secret agenda."

"There is no agenda to my arrival. I'm here because my restaurant staff is catering the Spring Festival this year and I thought it would've been a good idea to catch up with you to make things right."

I shook my head slowly, letting her know she and I will never call a truce. "You're delusional if you thought for one second we'd be friends or cordial. B, you have caused me an immense amount of stress, worry and trouble. Now, that I'm free from the negativity, I don't want it near me, so this meet up was a waste of time for the both of us. I don't even know why I agreed to meet your ass anyway." I mumbled, standing to my feet. 

She jumped up and grabbed my arm. "Don't be like this Raine. We can move past this and start over. We can be happy together. Just you and me." 

"That's not what I want B. You're not what I want. My happiness is probably at home right now. A place I should've been at instead of here with you." I peeled her fingers from around my arm and walked around her when she shouted three words that stabbed at my heart.

"I'll tell her!" Halting my movement, I turned around to see her smiling evilly at me. 

"What?" I queried, walking up to her. "You'll tell her what?"

"Nothing, except for the truth. Should I start with the real reason you left her when you found out she was pregnant? Or should I tell her that you knew about y'all daughter's death long before you moved here?" My face hardened as I listened to this homewrecker basically threaten me. "Why the long face Raine? Isn't this what you wanted from me? Honesty? Well, I'm taking your advice and doing just that."

Feeling my blood pressure rising, I closed the space between us, leaving our nose inches apart. "Stay away from Melrose, B. You will not say one word to her about anything. If you do, I'll see that you get taken care of in the worst way. Do I make myself clear?"

"Very. But you know me, Raine. I love a challenge." She tapped the side of my face lightly and turned on her heels. "See you around."

"Son of a..." I need to find Mel and make it right. She can not get anywhere near B or I'll lose her for good. I grabbed my phone and tried to reach Mel again, but to no avail. It looks like I'm gonna need some extra help.

*****

"What's up old man?" I hugged my dad once he opened the door for me.

"I told you before I'm not old. Just aged gracefully." He did a full spin, showing off his silk pajamas.

"Yeah, I here you. Where's mom?"

"She's around here somewhere." He shrugged carelessly. "Sunlyn, where are you baby?"

"Right here." She entered the room with her locs scattered all over her head. "Raine, sweetheart you came."

I had to bend down in order to hug her being that I'm over a foot taller than her. "I told you I would come over and see you guys. I'm a man of my words."

"That you are." She pulled away, staring at me intensely. "Now do you want double fudge chocolate cake or lemon lime pie while you tell me what has you upset."

"What do you mean? I'm not upset about anything." I lied.

"Raine, please. I'm your mother boy. I can feel when your vibe is off. You can't lie to me and you've been knowing this, so come in here and tell me all about it." She grabbed my hand and led me to the kitchen with my dad behind us. "Sit your butt down at that island and start from the beginning. Don't leave a single detail out."

Following her rules, I told them everything from the day I met Melrose up until now, purposely leaving out the pregnancy--both pregnancies and drama with B. Only when she goes against my order is when I'll involve my parents, mainly my dad.

"She sounds like an amazing, well put together woman, Raine. It baffles me to know that she's been around for years and I haven't met her yet. What's your reason for keeping her away this long?"

"I just want to get and stay in her good graces before I take the huge milestone of introducing her to my parents and vice versa."

"That's understandable baby, but I want to meet this young lady soon. Have you met her parents?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I met her mom and stepfather the night we left for Puerto Rico."

"Mmm." She mumbled and clasped her hands together on the island. I knew she had something brewing in her head. "Since you've had the pleasure of meeting her parents, I think it's only fair if we meet her."

"I wouldn't say it was pleasure, but it was something."

"It doesn't matter what it was. It happened and it needs to happen for us. So make nice with this young lady Suri and bring her to dinner this Sunday."

"I don't know if she'll be alright with that mom-"

She cut me off. "This Sunday, Raine. She needs to be at this house by seven-thirty. Do you hear me?" She queried as her harden eyes peered into mine, daring me to disagree.

"I understand." I responded in defeat.

"Wonderful." She smiled widely and stood up from her stool. "More cake?"

"No, thanks. I need to be using all of my time trying to get Suri to forgive me before Sunday." I leaned over the counter and kissed her cheek and fist bumped my half asleep dad, who overdosed on the chocolate cake. "I love you guys."

"We love you too baby. Be safe out there." She called out to me. I locked the door on my way out and jumped in my car, driving to my house with a heavy heart and thoughts.