French Roses and Silk Kisses [Discontinued]

Whore

As they approached her apartment, Zaria felt the alcohol wearing off. All she wanted was to take a hot shower and go to bed.

"I'm sorry your night ended like that, Z. Next we go out I'll make sure we aren't around no scrub ass niggas." Marshal rolled his eyes as he pulled into the parking lot. As she reached into her clutch for her keys, she finally caught a glimpse of her phone. Turning the screen on she saw multiple missed calls and messages from Max.

"Shit. Shit. Shit." Opening the messages, her heart broke as they seemingly got more desperate.

"What? What happened?"

"Look!" She shoved the phone into Marshal's hands. His eyes quickly raked over the messages, his face not giving her any indication of his feelings.

"Wait, wait, wait. You were kickin' it with him before I asked you to come out?" She hesitantly nodded her head and Marshal threw his hands up in exasperation.

"Well what the fuck, Z. You could have told me you were kickin' it with your boo. Now he thinkin' you done left him to fuck on another man." Before she could respond, a knock on the window behind her made her quickly turn around. Max stood there, his arms crossed on his chest, although his face remained calm.

"Shit." She whispered before slowly exiting the vehicle. "Bye Marshal."

"Yeah, bye Marshal." Max spoke, his eyes still trained on Zaria. His face had yet to give her any clues but his voice was full of edge.

"I can explain." Zaria bit her lip. She wasn't sure how she could reasonably explain why she'd gone out but she was sure she'd think of something.

"Shut up and get inside." Zaria wasted no time in hustling into the apartment building, her heel getting caught in the door, before she scurried into the elevator. The small metal box seemed to get smaller once Max stepped inside, his gaze never leaving her. As they ascended, he faced her, simply staring her down and Zaria awkwardly shifted from one heel to the next.

"Max can I-" he held a hand up to silence her. His face had yet to show any emotion and Zaria felt her stomach turning. How was she going to explain if he didn't even want to hear her? What was he going to do?

As the elevator finally reached her floor, she nearly ran to her door and unlocked it. Setting down her clutch on the coffee table, she reached down to remove her heels.

"Leave them. Stand by the window." Max's voice echoed into the apartment before the slamming of the door followed. She gulped down the fear bubbling in her throat at the sound of the locks before slowly approaching the window.

"Did you have a good time?" He sat on the couch, his arms resting across the top, and his back facing her. She nervously shifted on her feet once more- uncertain of how to answer the question.

"Why so quiet now?" He chuckled humorlessly and a chill ran down her spine.

"I-I... Max I'm sorry. I ju-" her struggles to answer were cut off by him raising his hand once more.

"That's not what I asked you. Did you have fun?" Zaria felt her stomach jump to her throat as he moved to put his elbows on his knees, his face now towards her. Although she knew he'd never hit her, she couldn't control the fear that washed over her at what he was going to do.

"Yes- no! No...I-I don't know Max." The floor beneath her was probably worn down from all her nervous shifting. Her breathing was shallow as she processed what his point was.

"So you don't know if you had a good time or not? I'm supposed to believe that?" He stood from the couch and approached her. He had yet to cut on a light and the moonlight streaming through the large window behind her remained the only source of light around them. It's dull rays not allowing her to fully see his expression.