Late

Chapter Two

This endless cycle continued and with each passing day you began to loose your mind more and more. It wasn't healthy to lust after one man this much, this hard. Yes there had been other men for you, you'd had relationships of course. Given none of them lasted longer than 9 to 11 months, with the exception of one that lasted for almost a year and a half, but there were other men.

Through all your relationships some point in time you always expected them to be T'Challa. Always expected them to get your jokes without explanation, expected them to be able to discuss different countries' strengths and weaknesses as it posed to their ecosystem and hold a debate as to why half of the international policies were so hard for different countries to abide by or even get on board with. Hell you expected them to stimulate your mind and light your body on fire the way T'Challa did. The insane part was that T'Challa had never even touched your body in the sense to set it on fire, but you dreamed about it, several nights a week. When they all failed to live up to your possibly unfair expectations, your attention faded and so did the relationship.

2 years of this and you knew you couldn't take much more. You ached with how much you craved him, craved his touch. You wanted more, you needed more. You had no idea how he felt but if the hardness you felt against you nearly every time you sparred was any indication to his feelings then perhaps he felt the same way. Perhaps he felt the same way when your eyes remained glued to each other for a moment too long, or when your fingers remained touching a little too long after taking something from him, or even the tight clench of his jaw every time he heard of another date you had. Maybe?

Long ago, the Wakandan council members implemented that the King had to marry a woman of Wakanda, outsiders were not welcomed. The only reason they allowed you was because King T'Chaka vouched for your worth and over the years you'd more than proved yourself, more than shown them all that you were not an outsider. Wakanda was your home now, you'd long left everything and everyone behind when you took the job with the king 6 years ago. They respected you, and they liked you, but that did not change things. This was an old country after all built on tradition and principles of old.

You'd almost made your decision that you were going to take a risk when one day you saw him laughing with another woman, Nakia.

They'd grown up together, trained together, everyone loved her but it wasn't clear to you T'Challa's feelings for her. You were jealous, but knew you had no right. You had no claim to him. So you swallowed your emotions and kept things professional.

On the night of Wakanda's Summer Cycle Banquet you saw he kept her by his side, they laughed and whispered heartily all through dinner, which he placed her next to him. Once the festivities continued on into the ballroom, she remained close to him with a smile plastered to her face.

The sight burned you. It burned you badly, so badly you had to keep your distance or else your salty ass would be discovered by anyone who spent more tan 5 seconds with you. You'd never been a jealous woman. Never. Never had you been salty over anything or anyone. You were feeling it tenfold now.

You left the room before the celebration finished needing to be away from everything and everyone; especially him. You snuck away to the gardens with a bottle of Wakandan wine, the good stuff and hid out.

The garden was deserted mostly being that all the entertainment was happening in the ballroom. You felt relieved that you could turn off for a few moments. You kicked off your 4 inch heels an sighed from the relief. You stared at the shoes. T'Challa had gifted them to you.

You'd protested for a week that you could not accept them but he would not hear it. You played back and forth, him leaving the gift in your office, you making your assistant return it to his an back and forth. This went on for two weeks before you succumbed and accepted the damn thing. He'd even gotten the size correct.