“And I didn’t, Erica. I admired her, and I found her attractive. But she was just my friend.”
“And you’re still lying to yourself now. You had feelings for her. It’s over between us, so why can’t you admit it?”
I dropped my gaze to the floor and tucked my thumbs in the pockets of my jeans. “Fine. If that’s what you wanna hear, I did have feelings for her. But I couldn’t admit it at the time, because I couldn’t come to grips with that myself. I couldn’t admit something to you that I hadn’t admitted to myself.”
“No, you couldn’t admit to something that you knew was dead wrong.”
“It’s not like I acted on that shit.”
The doorbell rang as she replied, “Are you sure? Because I’ve seen her baby, and she looks just like you.”
She walked to the door and snatched it open. Angel was on the other side, and her beautiful smile dropped, and her face turned into a composed mask of indifference when she laid eyes on Erica.
“Well, isn’t this a nice surprise. Hello, Angel.”
“Hi, Erica. Did I interrupt something?”
“No. I was just leaving.” Erica looked back at me and declared, “Your BS never ends. You’re priceless,” before she turned back to Angel and stated, “Good luck with that.”
“What did she mean by all that?” Angel asked, closing the door behind Erica.
“Ignore Erica. She’s on some dumb shit. Are you good?”
“I’m fine. I wanted to talk to you about what happened the day of the volunteer drive.”
“What happened?”
“Ashanti came to me pretending to discuss how great the event was, but then said she would have expected more from a girl like me. I asked what she meant by that, and she proceeded to tell me that I have to consider Belle’s best interest, you only want one thing, you cheated on Erica, and I’m better than that. She even said it doesn’t look good the way that I’m being passed around in the friend group.”
“Baby, I’m sorry. You’re so much better than that, and you and I both know it. Ashanti is a disgusting person, and everyone knows this. She’s got her own issues to worry about, so she needs to get out of our business. But I never said that what we’re doing was going to be easy, but we’re not doingthis for others. We’re doing it for ourselves.”
“Are you sure, because sometimes it doesn’t feel like it?”
“All I can tell you, Angel, is that I love you, and the way that you’ve made my life feel so meaningful and fulfilled over these last few weeks is like nothing I’ve ever experienced. When we get the calls to go out to a scene, there’s this adrenaline rush. We’re going out to make a difference, and we’ve got to figure out how traumatic the scene might be, how impactful we can be, and what we’re dealing with. But even all that pales in comparison to how I feel about you. And I don’t want to lose you because you mean the world to me.”
“I love you, too, and I don’t want to lose you either, Chris. I’m just afraid of getting hurt again. I bent over backward to please Jeremiah, but it never seemed to be enough. I changed my hair, clothes, what I ate, who I hung around, and even my workout routines to please him, and he still left me.”
“Baby, I’m not Jeremiah. We all saw what he was doing to you, and we all knew he was a fool. We always thought you were too good for him. And when I spoke up to him about changing you, he snapped at me. You walked in on that argument, and you took his side. I couldn’t do anything else but step down, because it wasn’t my business.”
“I’m so embarrassed that I played the fool for so long and everyone saw it but me.”
She broke down crying, and I pulled her into my arms.
“You weren’t a fool; Jeremiah was. You were simply being the best version of yourself, trying to salvage your relationship and please your man by giving your all to someone you loved, and that someone didn’t respect or honor you. That was Jeremiah’s loss and my gain. Although I hate that you were hurt through it all, I’m thankful that it happened, because without the pain, you wouldn’t have Belle, and that road wouldn’t have led you to me.”
Chapter 14
Angel
ONE WEEK LATER
“Friend, you are stunning. You’re going to make such a comeback at this ball. And when all the pictures are posted, not only will you get all the fans you lost back, but you’re going to gain so many more. I can’t wait ’til everyone sees you.”
“I’m so nervous. Do I really look beautiful?”
“Girl, you have a one-of-a-kind dress designed for you by Christina Dorché, and her shoes set this dress off right.”
I turned one more time to take in my appearance. I wore a black and silver mermaid gown that had sheer panels at my belly, waist, and back. The shimmering silver bodice of the dress had a sweetheart neckline with long sleeves and crystals interspersed throughout, and the skirt of the dress was black silk to the floor. A split in the skirt of the dress went up to my right hip, and the silver heels set it off perfectly. Diamonds adorned my wrist and neck, and a diamond tiara held my hair back.
