VIXEN

25.

Lorenzo.

"Where the fuck have you been?" I yelled at Lorraine. It was close to midnight and she was just now walking through the door. She looked at me and walked past me, and walked up the steps to our bedroom. "Oh, so your just going to ignore me?"

She continued to ignore me, and walked into our bathroom, closing the door behind her. "Open the door, I want to talk to you." I said knocking on the door.

"If this is about last night, I'm sorry. I was upset and I had few drinks. I really don't remember anything besides coming home."

"Go away, leave me alone." She finally said. I opened the door, realizing it was unlocked. She was sitting in the bath tub full of water with millions of bubbles surrounding her. I sat on the edge, and just stared at her.

"Lorraine..." I whispered, trying to get her attention. She continued to ignore me making me frustrated. I undressed, and got in the tub with her. "Lorenzo, leave me alone."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She shrugged her shoulders. "Then why are you ignoring me?"

She stared at me, giving me an unreadable look. She stood up and started to walk out, but I pulled her back in. "Let go of me!" She yelled, trying to get out of my arms. I let her go, and she walked out of the bathroom.

**

"Are you coming to work today?" I asked Lorraine before leaving. "No, I'm not feeling well."

"Do you want me to stay here with you?"

"No, you don't have to." I walked to the bed, and pulled on her arms, making her stand to her feet. I hugged her tight, and gave her a long kiss before I left. She hasn't really been talking lately and its making me worried.

"How have you and Lorraine been lately?" Shereen asked stepping inside of my office. "Not so good, she hasn't really been talking lately."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. When I try to talk to her she ignores me, shes not even coming to work today, she says shes not feeling well."

"Not trying to come between y'all, but have you done anything to her lately?" She asked sitting in the chair in front of me, crossing her legs. "Not that I know of."

"What do you mean by that?"

"About two days ago, I went out for some drinks, and I came home drunk. That's all I really remember."

"Maybe that's the problem." I thought to myself for a moment, trying to remember anything from two days ago, but nothing came to mind. "Is there anything else going on between y'all?"

"I want us to have a baby, but everytime I try she pushes me away and says that she isn't ready."

"That also could be the problem. Your not thinking about how she would feel about this. She might feel like your pressuring her into something she doesn't want to do, and it could make her upset."

"What are you trying to say?"

"It seems like your the only one who wants a baby, meaning your being selfish." As I listened to her rant about the possible things that could be wrong with Lorraine. I would think if she had a problem, she would come and talk to me about it.

"But she told me she wanted to have a baby." I said not understand any of her possibilities. "Maybe she meant some time in the future."

Besides me and Lorraine's problems, Shereen and I had worked on some new clothing designs. "I'll see you Saturday." She smiled at me. "Bye, Shereen."

By the time it arrived for me to go home, I was tired and I wanted to sleep. "Lorraine..." I yelled effortlessly. I slowly walked up the steps, and started to take off my suit in the process. I threw my jacket on the chair and stripped to my briefs. I slipped on some sweatpants, and walked to the guestroom, assuming that's where Lorraine would be.

I peeked inside. The bed was perfectly made, and she wasn't in the bathroom. I walked downstairs to the kitchen, but she wasn't there either. I called Lorraine's phone, and she answered after the fourth ring. "Hello?"

"Where are you? I looked all around the house, and I didn't see you anywhere."

"Did you look on the balcony?" I sighed deeply, as I made myself feel awfully stupid. I never go out there, so it just slipped my mind. I hung up the phone and stood at the door, watching her stare out into the open area.

"What's the matter?" I asked standing behind her, wrapping my hands around her waist. "Nothing."

"There's something wrong, you've been quiet lately. I don't like it."

"I'm fine."

"What happened the night I came home drunk?"

"Nothing, you just yelled a lot." She said quickly and looked of to the side. "I feel like your lying." I admitted. She was acting strange, and I expected the truth from her. "Tell me the truth." I said standing straight, facing her towards me.

"When you came home, I had found you passed out the floor. I tried to help you up, but you pushed me away and kept yelling 'Don't touch me!' When you did get up, you almost fell and I caught you in my arms, and pushed me into a wall. After that I left you alone, and slept in the guest room."

"I put my hands on you. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to speak about it." She said walking away, "I'm going to bed."

I picked her up and laid her down in our bed, stripping her from her clothes. I left her In her bra and panties, and laid on top of her. "Get off of me!" She struggled trying to get up from under me. "No, you have been making me feel very lonely lately."

She stopped fighting me, and laid still. I got off of her and laid beside her, pulling her close to me. "Lorraine?"

"What?"

"Do you feel like I'm pressuring you, about the baby?" I asked, making her face me. It was dark, but I could still see the green gloss of her eyes, like she had been crying. "Yeah."

"I'm sorry. I just feel like if we had a baby, it would make everything better."

"Why do you feel that way?"

"I just worry a lot."

"About what?"

"About you leaving me again." I answered honestly, getting a deep sigh in response. "I'm not leaving you, Lorenzo."

"How would I know that?"

"I'm here now, aren't I?"

"Only because I made you stay."

"How do you want me to prove it?" I thought to myself, not thinking of anything convincing enough. I turned over and turned on the table lamp. I sat Lorraine up, puttting her in my lap. I looked into her tired eyes and grinned. "Marry me?"

Happy birthday to me.

Excuse all mistakes.