The car approached her condo building and before she could ask him to come inside, he told her goodbye.
Kaiya couldn’t wrap her head around why he got so distant. In her mind everything was going well. She thought she needed to call the only expert on men she knew.
Jalissa.
Jalissa picked up her phone immediately like she always did, “Hey Kai, what’s up?” It was like she pushed a button – Kaiya poured out everything that had happened that afternoon between she and Tyler.
She heard the sound of a scuffle and a new voice sounded in her ears,
“Hello Kaiya. I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Jal and I hope you don't mind my two cents.” Justin? Kaiya wasn’t even shocked that Justin was with Jalissa. She learned from Kalilah that Justin spent most of his weekends in Montreal, even though he lives in Ottawa. Jalissa still kept mum about their relationship and Kaiya didn’t want to push her friend. She would wait until Jalissa was ready to share.
“Go ahead Justin.”
“Tyler is your man and he was right there with you and instead of leaning on him for advice, you called another man for help instead.”
Kaiya was beginning to feel horrible. “It was only Finn.”
“No man wants to see their woman asking someone else for help when they're right there.”
Kaiya shook her head before remembering that they couldn't see her, “But I meant no harm and Finn is my brother in law. There's absolutely no reason for him to feel off, I just felt Finn would be in a better position to help.”
“Look at it this way. You're Lili's mom, right? Imagine she had a dance routine to perfect and she went to someone else to help her.”
The thought caused a bitter taste in her mouth and she swallowed. She felt immediately guilty. She didn't want Tyler to feel unappreciated.
“Thanks you two, I need to talk to Tyler now. By the way, don’t forget to use protection.” She hung up before either one could say something.
She dialed Tyler’s number while pacing around the house, trying to calm her heart down. Her call went straight to his voicemail and she ended the call. She sent him a quick text.
She dropped her phone and proceeded to pace even more. When she thought time had passed and he didn't return her calls, she called him again. She kept getting his voice message and it started to feel like déjà vu. Her heart sank.
***
Tyler was alone in the house, in the silence and it seemed like his thoughts took pleasure in tormenting him. It had been a tw0 days since he had seen Kaiya and he was feeling the pain as acutely as one would feel the pain from the loss of a limb. He had listened to all the voicemails and read all of the text messages she left, yet whenever he wanted to call her, anger would encompass his mind and he’d put the phone down.
He heard the front door slam shut and bolted out of his seat. No one was supposed to be in the house, he reached for the baseball bat he kept behind his door and held his phone in his other hand.
He heard footsteps heading up to his office and he gripped his bat even harder with his heart beating faster as the footsteps slowed in front of his door. In a second the door had flown open and he had raised his bat when there was a scream.
The adrenaline wore off as he recognized Kaiya’s voice. She leveled him with a glare, “Are you crazy? What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Her tone made him agitated, “Am I crazy? Are you crazy? You just barged in here. I thought you were a burglar! What if I had a gun? Whatever happened to calling? Or ringing the doorbell? Or knocking?!”
She opened her mouth, presumably to shout before sighing and speaking in a calmer voice, “You’ve been avoiding my calls,” his guilt increased.
He sighed and dropped his baseball bat and pulled her into his arms, missing the feel of her in his arms. She stayed there for a second before pushing him, her anger returning to her face, “Don’t think you can distract me Mister, you’ve been avoiding me and I want to know why.”
“I hate this stupid distance between us, it’s killing me and you look terrible so it must be killing you too.” He smiled at that, remembering how bold she used to be when they were younger, full of fire and never taking no for an answer.
She glared at him, “Don’t try using your pretty face to distract me. I’m trying to apologize here. I’m sorry I went to Finn when you were right there. I thought since Finn was Marcus’ boss, it’d be easier to handle.”
He frowned, remembering how her face looked whenever she said the name ‘Marcus’, “Is he the same man from the gala?” he asked and he watched an unfamiliar expression flit across her face.
She took a deep breath, “Yes he is,” she looked at the ceiling as if to ask for answers before continuing, “Marcus and I used to be involved but now it’s simply business. He is nobody important, he never was.” Anger took over him at the thought of another man touching and kissing what he considered to be his.
He raised his eyebrows. “Does he know that?”
“I don’t care what he knows. Can you please take my word for it? I really don’t want to talk about it anymore.”
