Love Defied, page 4
“But his parents have money! They could easily take him away. Look where I live!” She rolled her eyes again.
“Trust me when I say they won’t be laying a finger on my nephew if I have anything to say about it.”
I smiled at my best friend and let my shoulders sink. For the first time in days, I felt at ease—even if it was for the night.
Chapter Ten
Anderson
I stared down into the dark swirling liquid. Maybe I was studying it? Who knows, it was my fifth glass of whiskey, and it was taking over my senses. However, I was finally feeling relaxed until I heard the door slam shut. I hurried up and gulped down the last remaining bit, and opened up my laptop. I had been sitting here since Aliyah left, mindlessly staring into thin air or at the succulent drink that calmed my nerves. I made myself look busy. She couldn’t know I was halfway intoxicated. A smile crept on my face. Then suddenly I hear a wham! The door flew open, making me jump. Aliyah stood in the doorway.
“Get up and help me with dinner. My parents will be here soon.”
“I can’t,” I said confidently, trying my hardest not to sound drunk or slurred. “I’m busy with company things.” Her eyebrows furrowed. Her hands slid down her hips as she slowly made her way towards my desk. Shit. I quickly clicked on a file, praying it would load fast, but to my dismay, it did not.
“Liar!” she screamed. “There’s nothing there on your screen. Have you been drinking again?”
“No, and I’m not lying. I just clicked it off my screen.”
She smiled wickedly. “Good, then you are suddenly not too busy to help. Get up!”
My anger was now coming back. I wanted to punch her. Lucky for her, I wasn't the kind of man to hit a woman. “Don’t tell me what to do in my house!” I yelled back, getting to my feet. Who did she think she was?
“This is my house too! I’ll yell all I want to.”
“Well, get out of my office then! I’ll help if I want to help. I didn’t invite them over!”
She gasped, holding her hand to her chest. Oh, here we go. I just opened a whole new can of drama. Ugh.
“What are you saying? You don’t like my parents now? What? They aren’t good enough to be in your house?”
I rolled my eyes and rubbed my face. “You know I never said that!”
“Yes, you did! Loud and clear! Every time your parents come over, I make sure everything is clean, and I offer everything to them!” Her hands were flailing in all directions. “But when my parents come over... noooo. No help from Anderson! Anderson doesn’t give a shit!”
I don’t know if it was the alcohol talking or what. But the next thing I did, I couldn’t believe it myself. I reached out my hands to her waist and apologized. I hated her, and we fought a lot, but she was still a human being; she was still my wife.
“I’m sorry. I don’t want to fight anymore. Please forgive me.” Her expression never changed. Frozen—Completely ice cold.
“Get your filthy hands off of me. Why don’t you apologize to me when you haven’t had six drinks?” She turned and stomped out of the room before I could utter a response or denial. I sighed in relief. Well, at least that was over. The doorbell rang, and I hurried to the door, hoping to avoid more conflict. I didn’t like the person I had become. I had to get myself under control for my sons’ sake. I swung open the door that revealed several people holding trays of food.
“Aliyah! Caterers are here.”
No response. Great. “Right this way, please.” I led them into our empty kitchen and pointed to the counter. I gave them Aliyah’s specific instructions that were embedded in my mind. Aliyah’s parents were worse than mine. Everything had to be perfect. Then I went searching for Aliyah.
I opened the room to her bedroom; yes, we slept in separate rooms, only to hear sniffling. I followed the noise to her closet and peaked in to find her sitting on the floor. She was crying. Did she do that often? She never cried in front of me. Of course, I purposely stayed in my office most of the time to avoid these types of situations.
I backed away quietly, not wanting her to notice me. I got to her bedroom door and called out, “Aliyah. Are you in here?”
“What do you want?” Her voice was angry, but I could tell she had been crying.
“The caterers are here setting up.”
“Great. Now get out of here.”
This was why I wasn’t nice to her. I shook my head and left her room. I sat in the kitchen, watching the caterers move quickly. I couldn’t help but think what it would be like to watch Gracie in this kitchen cooking and making us a family meal. She’d have the best kitchen and the best of everything because that’s what she deserved. I promised myself I would give her and my son the best of everything, including me.
Aliyah came strolling in. Her makeup was flawless. If I hadn’t seen her in her closet, I would have never known she had been crying. She stiffly carried herself, eyeing all that the caterers had done. Making sure everything was perfect like she always did.
“All right, you can go,” she simply said with a wave. I rolled my eyes for the tenth time today as they quickly scurried out of the house. She glanced my way and then spun back.
“You need to change. You look disgusting,” Aliyah said as she picked at something.
I scoffed. “You know, I thought we could call a truce, but I guess not. I’ll do as you request, but don’t expect much from me.”
She gave me no response. I went to change, and as I was finishing, the doorbell rang. The alcohol had since worn off, and I was craving it. I kept telling myself no, I couldn’t be like this anymore. I needed to sober up for my son and Gracie. My heart raced at the thought of her.
I walked out of the room and greeted my father- and mother-in-law.
“Hello, Welcome.”
“Hi, Anderson. So good to see you again.” Just when I was about to turn to follow them, I noticed Amal, Aliyah’s brother, walking up the stairs. He was wearing a perfectly pressed blue suit. He had his hair slicked back, just so. On his arm, he had another Indian girl. I had never seen this one before. She looked to be in her early twenties, with long brown flowing hair and the perfect model physique to go with her skimpy light pink dress and significant-high heels.
“Anderson,” Amal acknowledged, walking past me, nodding his head. I hated him more than his sister if that was even possible. He was always vulgar and cocky, especially towards me. He was independently wealthy and took full advantage of it.
“Aren’t you going to introduce your new gal?” I asked incredulously. He spun around with a glint in his eyes and a smirk. I wanted to smack it off his face, but I resisted the urge.
“Of course. How rude of me. Anderson, this is Malka. Malka, this is my wonderful brother-in-law Anderson.”
I reached out my hand to shake hers. Malka only smiled in my direction and quickly lowered her head.
“I see you have a leash on her already,” I smirked, knowing that hit a nerve. Amal was known for being demanding and nasty to women. He treated them like trash, dumping them to the curb as soon as he was bored.
His smirk grew wider. “Oh, you mean like the one you have on my sister?” Damn this man.
“I assure you, your sister is well ‘unleashed’ in this house. She rules the castle,” I said through gritted teeth.
“Right,” he slowly mocked before turning to head to the kitchen. I followed behind reluctantly and found a seat at the large table that engulfed our kitchen.
“How’s the business, Son?” her father asked.
“It’s going. Busy, busy, you know.” He didn’t know because he knew nothing about business. He simply pretended just to fit in. The only reason he and his wife were here was because of his son. Oh, and they knew my parents so well. Well enough to arrange the marriage between their daughter and me.
“Great to hear... this food smells wonderful. It looks like you’ve slaved all day making this!”
I had to bite my tongue with that one. I looked towards Aliyah, only to find she was whispering with her brother.
“Thank you, Father.” she quickly responded and then continued whispering.
I walked over to them, wrapping my hand around her waist. I felt her stiffen for a minute and then relax.
“So, what are we talking about over here?” I put on my best fake smile.
“Oh, boring gossip is all,” Amal said as he waved his hand in the air.
“Oh, I see. Well, shall we eat before this food gets cold? Aliyah worked hard on it all day. Wouldn’t want it to go to waste now, would we darling?” I looked at her. She was in shock for a minute but quickly recovered.
“Yes, honey,” she replied through gritted teeth.
We all sat down at the table and dug in. I drowned out the useless talking with thoughts of my son and Gracie. I wondered what they were doing? But for the first time in a long time, I felt happy.
Chapter Eleven
Gracie
I woke up to the sound of a door closing. My mom’s apartment wasn’t that big, so we could hear when one opened or closed. I looked at the clock; it was 7:30 a.m. Isaiah had gotten up only once. He was getting better, but I couldn’t wait until he slept all night. I got out of bed, careful not to step on my best friend snoring away on the floor. I closed the door shut behind me and walked into the kitchen.
“Hey, mom. How was work?”
“Long as always,” she murmured. Her eyes had dark circles under them, her eyelids heavy. I watched her take a long sip of coffee before heading to the couch. She plopped down and rested her head on the back.
“Any plans today, honey?”
Her subtle way of saying, “get out so I can have some quiet to sleep.” I always tried to take Isaiah somewhere when she worked overnight shifts. Primarily to Sasha’s house since money was tight.
“Yeah, I will take Isaiah to Sasha’s today as soon as she wakes up or maybe to the park for some fresh air.”
“Oh, that’s nice, honey. As soon as I’m done with my coffee, I’m hitting my bed. Do you need anything?”
“No. I’m fine. I’m just going to take a quick shower while they are still sleeping.”
“Ok, sweetie.”
I grabbed some clothes and jumped in the shower. By the time I had finished, I could hear Isaiah babbling in his crib. I smiled. I loved his baby talk. It was the sweetest thing I had heard in my entire life.
“Sasha, wake up.” I shook her a few times as she stirred.
“What time is it?” she groaned into her pillow.
“It’s half-past eight.”
She groaned some more before sitting up and tossing the pillow at me, making Isaiah laugh.
“We gotta go to your house today, so my mom can sleep.” She nodded and, like a zombie, retreated to the bathroom. Mornings were not her thing. About an hour later, we headed out the door.
“Let’s take Isaiah to the zoo, my treat,” Sasha said.
“If you insist. How can I resist the cute little animals?” Sasha laughed.
I hadn’t been to the zoo in forever. Anderson took me there once because he knew how much I loved animals.
‘One day, I will buy you a house. A big house, and we will have all the animals you want in it.’
‘What! that’s crazy!’ He laughed, a deep laugh vibrating through his chest as he held me in a cuddle.
‘Nothing is crazy for you, my love...’
I shook my head at the memory and continued to look around. I took Isaiah out of his stroller when we got to the polar bear exhibit. He lit up, reaching to grab them.
“No, no, Isaiah. They are starving; they will gobble you up nomnomnom.” I stuck my nose in his belly, making him squeal with laughter.
My heart soared. Next, we walked to the lion exhibit. As soon as Isaiah saw them, he bounced up and down in my arms, trying to grab at thin air. This was Anderson’s favorite animal. It didn’t shock me that this might be Isaiah’s as well. After looking for a couple of minutes, we moved onto the next exhibit, and Isaiah screamed. Times like those were the worst. Times that I wished Anderson would appear from behind me and take over. I struggled to keep my tears at bay. He kicked and reached his tiny fists out before sliding down the stroller.
“I think he likes the lions,” Sasha pointed out.
I sighed as I fought to push him back up in a sitting position. “I figured he would; after all, it’s his father’s favorite animal.” She gave me a look that I ignored. I couldn’t help but feel sick to my stomach at the thought. Once we had walked away, Isaiah calmed down, allowing us to finish our jaunt around the zoo. He fell asleep as we headed back to Sasha’s house to eat lunch. I stared at Isaiah as I picked at my salad, his tantrum still on full display in my mind.
“What’s on your mind?” Sasha asked as she munched on a crouton.
“I know this sounds silly to you, and maybe I’m just sleep-deprived, but when Isaiah threw that tantrum, I couldn’t help but long for Anderson to scoop him out of the stroller and make things better. I keep imagining life would be better if he were here.” I couldn’t look at my best friend. I couldn’t handle seeing any more anger in her eyes because of Anderson.
I heard her sigh as she placed her fork down, and it clattered against her plate.
“Honey, it isn’t silly; it’s wishful thinking. I know I can be a crass when it comes to him, but that’s because I love you like the sister I never had. I couldn’t stand to see you upset when he first left you, the way he did. It was wrong and uncalled for. But that doesn’t mean I’ll get angry every time you bring him up. You just saw him for the first time in over a year. Of course, you are going to feel this way.” I forced myself to look up at her. Her eyes were mournful, which shocked me but brought a small smile to my face.
“I hope with every fiber in my body that he will help you. But face it, he’s married, and he chose his path. I don’t want you to get your hopes up for him to drop you again.”
“I appreciate that more than you know.” She smiled at me.
“All right, let’s finish and have a little relaxation time before bubba wakes up.” We both giggled before digging back into our food.
“What time are your parents supposed to be home?” I asked Sasha, glad for a topic change.
“Anytime now. Their flight was supposed to land a half-hour ago.”
“Oh good. We can go to my apartment and grab your things in a few.”
“Yeah, that sounds like a great idea. How long does your mom sleep?”
“When she doesn’t work the night shift, she gets up around two, so she can sleep overnight.” Sasha looked at her watch.
“Well, It’s one now. When we get there, she should be awake.”
“What about some relaxation?” I chuckled. She shrugged her shoulders, and Isaiah stirred.
“It doesn’t look like we’ll be getting any after all.”
“Welcome to motherhood. Let me just change Isaiah, and we can go.”
I grabbed Isaiah and took him into Sasha’s bedroom. When I finished, I headed out to find her waiting by a cab.
“I called a cab. I don’t feel like walking anymore.” I chuckled and got in.
Once the cab sped off, Sasha turned towards me. “Have you thought about our talk last night?”
“Yes, I did; you’re right. I should go to court and try to get custody before anything bad happens.”
“Good girl,” she said as she patted me on the shoulder.
Although I had thought about it, I still felt terrible deep down. Was I making the right choice? Was it necessary?
Anderson kisses the top of my head as we continue to stare out into the setting sun. I nestle my body into his chest and lay my head back while he leans up against a tall oak tree. Deciding to come to our favorite spot was what we needed after fighting about his parents again. We did that a lot, screaming until we were red in the face over things that were nonsense. Then afterward, apologizing, kissing, and sitting curled up in our favorite spot. No matter how much we fought, we would never leave each other angry. We wouldn’t walk away from each other. I loved that most about him.
I snapped back to reality as the cab came to a stop. I needed to push the memories down before they got out of control. We pulled up to the apartment building and jumped out. Sasha asked the cab driver to wait a few minutes. I walked with her up the stairs, all the while listening to her pant and complain. I was used to the stairs and enjoyed the exercise. I gained a chunk of weight while pregnant and worked hard to get it off.
I reached the door before Sasha and swung it open. What I saw next was a nightmare.
Chapter Twelve
Gracie
“What the hell are you doing here?” I growled protectively. My senses were jumping to an all-new height.
“Gracie, calm down,” my mom said and stood up. I stared into his familiar emerald green eyes. He stood there with his hands in his pockets, and I instinctively squeezed Isaiah tighter to my waist. Anderson took a step forward, and I took a step back. Sasha finally came through the door, huffing and puffing.
“Gracie, how many times—” She halted when she saw Anderson, and her expression immediately turned dark. Before she could say anything, my mom took over.
