"Timeless" Part 3

[CarolinaCutie]

[glow=red,2,300]“Sweet memories of yesterday/When it all seemed so right/I was loving you/Kissing you/Holding you tight”
—Mary J. Blige: My Love

[/glow]

Although Peaches was supposed to be preparing dinner for her and Tamir, she was standing at her kitchen window looking out at nothing as she thought about Kiara’s situation. It had been almost two weeks since Mike had sent Kiara a letter threatening to harm Mark.

“Peaches! How long are you goin’ to let the water run, boo? I know it’s been goin’ for about 10 minutes, now!”, Tamir stated as he walked up behind her to turn the faucet off. “What’s wrong?”, he asked as he wrapped his arms around her.

“Nothin’.”, she sighed as she began to busy herself.

“Well, it doesn’t seem that way.”, he stated as he let go of her. He studied her face as he leaned up against the counter. “For the last few days, it’s like you’ve been preoccupied with somethin’. Now, for real, what’s wrong, Peaches?”

“I said nothin’, ‘Mir, dn! Look…I’m sorry. I guess work is gettin’ me a lil’ stressed out lately.”, she replied.

“But wheneva I ask how your day at work has been, you always tell me good. So w’sup with that?”, he asked as he went and stood directly in front of her.

“Didn’t I say that nothin’ was wrong? But yet and still, you keep pushin’ the issue! When I say nothin’ is wrong, then that’s exactly what I mean, Tamir…nothin’!” Peaches pushed her way past him as she went to check on their dinner that was in the oven.

“What tha’ fk is yo’ problem?! I’m tryna be here for you and you come at me like I’m doin’ somethin’ wrong!”, he shouted as he followed her.

She turned around after checking on dinner to look him. “Juss drop it, aight?”, she replied with a shake of her head.

“Fine!”, he huffed as he stomped out of the kitchen. For the rest of the night, neither he nor Peaches had much to say to one another. And when they went to bed, he stayed on his side while she stayed on hers. They had had little arguments here and there in the past, but Peaches knew things were getting a little crazy now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Man, it seems like you’ve had a lot on your mind lately. Anything wrong?”, Rufus asked as he and Marked walked up the hall ahead of the others. They had just finished doing an interview and photo shoot with a popular music magazine to discuss their upcoming project and were on their way out to head for Rufus’ ride. However, the others stayed behind to chat with a few people.

“Well, actually, there is, but I don’t really know what to think of some things right now.”, Mark replied as he looked down at the floor. He then proceeded to stick his hands down in his pockets as he and Rufus continued their way down the hall.

“C’mon, man! Ya know you my dawg, so w’sup?!”, Rufus asked as they made their way outside.

“It’s Kee, man. I dunno…she’s been actin’ real funny lately. It’s like all of a sudden, she’s become real distant and isht. She won’t even hardly let me touch her or get near her when we see each other. But don’t get me wrong, I still handle mine!”, Mark replied with a chuckle. “But it’s like she’s not into as much as she used to be which makes me think she’s beginnin’ to have feelin’s for that foo’, Mike, again. And then, ‘Mir told me that Peaches has been buggin’ out lately like she’s jumpy about somethin’. Man…I hope I’m wrong about this feelin’ I’m havin’ though. Who knows, maybe I’m the one that’s buggin’ out.”, Mark stated with a shrug of his shoulders and a shake of his head.

“Aw man, I doubt if that’s what it is. You know how females are durin’ a certain time. Remember, I have one at home! That’s prolly all it is.”, Rufus chuckled as he patted Mark on the shoulder.

“Nah, man, that time has already came and went! Shoo’! Kee and I both keep up with those certain times religiously.”, Mark chuckled. “We don’t want any surprises juss yet!”

“Well if that’s not it, then I think it’s because you know her history and pattern with Mike and that’s what’s botherin’ ya. But juss shake that isht off, man! Besides, everyone sees how much she loves and cares for ya. Now c’mon and let’s go grab some lunch.”, Rufus smiled as the rest of the guys made their way over to his ride.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Hi.”, Kiara stated with a puzzled look as she saw a younger man sitting at Mr. Thompson’s guard station. She had just come in from running a few afternoon errands.

“Hello.”, the new guard replied with a smile.

“Ummm…I hope you don’t mind my asking this…”, Kiara began as she went and stood in front of the desk, “…but is something wrong? I juss saw Mr. Thompson earlier this mornin’ before I stepped out.”

“Well, ma’am…actually there is. I’m afraid he’s suffered a fractured hip. He was on a ladder stocking some items in a utility closet and lost his balance.” Kiara’s face showed a look of horror and shock.

“Oh my God! Is he alright?!”, she asked as she covered her mouth with her hand.

“Yes ma’am. I just got word about an hour ago that he’s doin’ fine. However, he may not be comin’ back to work.”, the guard stated while patting her hand for reassurance. “By the way, my name is Johnny Turner, but you can call me John or Johnny. Whichever you choose.”, he stated with a grin as he extended his hand to shake hers.

“It’s nice to meet you, Johnny.”, she slightly smiled as she shook his hand. “I’m Kiara. Thank you so much for sharin’ Mr. Thompson’s information with me. He had practically become like a part of my family. Is he at Hope General?”, she asked.

“Yes, he’s in room 327. I’m sure he’d be happy to see you.”, Johnny replied as he waved goodbye to her.

“Thank you! Have a good afternoon!”, she waved as she stepped inside the elevator.

After Kiara called Peaches at work to inform her about Mr. Thompson, she decided to take a quick nap on the sofa.

In the middle of her nap, her doorbell rang. She woke up and went to answer the door.

“Mark!!!”, she shrieked as he fell into her arms. They both tumbled to the floor. He was covered in blood.

“He’s comin’! You gotta get outta here!”, Mark said in between shallow breaths as she held him.

“Oh my God!!!! Who, Mark?!!! “Why?!!!”, she screamed at him, but he wouldn’t answer. His eyes began to roll back in his head. “No!!! Mark, baby, no!!! This can’t be happenin’! I can’t live without you!!!”, she cried as she shook him to try to make him get up.

“I can take care of that!”, she heard a voice boom in front of her. When she looked up, she saw Michael standing in her doorway with an evil grin on his face.

“Oh isht!!”, she shouted as she began to crawl away from him as he walked in. All of a sudden he lunged forward to grab her, but she managed to get up and run out of her door.

“Help me! Please, somebody!”, she yelled as she ran down the hall towards the elevator. However, no one came outside to see what was wrong.

As soon she reached the elevator, the doors slid open. She thought she was safe when she stepped inside, but she began to fall down the empty elevator shaft. She heard Michael’s evil laughter over her screaming.

She gasped as she sat up on her sofa. Her t-shirt and shorts were stuck to her with sweat, and her heart felt like it was about to come through her chest. But it gradually slowed down as she calmed herself. She had been having the same nightmare ever since she received Michael’s last gift a few days ago. The minute she thought about him, she became nauseated and ran to the bathroom. After cleaning her face, she looked at her reflection in the bathroom mirror.

“Mark, I love you too much to keep goin’ through this. I’ve got to let you go today!”, she sobbed as she held her head down while holding on to the sink.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Right after work, Peaches decided to go pay Mr. Thompson a quick visit. She had asked Kiara if she wanted to catch a ride there, but Kiara declined because she wasn’t feeling up to it. She decided that she would pay him a visit on the next day.

“Hi, Mr. Thompson!”, Peaches whispered as she walked into his hospital room. “How are you doin’?”

“Hey there, Miss Peaches! I’m doin’ juss dandy now that you’re here!”, he replied as he took her hand and gave it a tight squeeze once she reached his bedside. “You know an ol’ geezer like me won’t stay down for too long!”, he smiled.

“Still the same ol’ Mr. Thompson, I see!”, Peaches chuckled as she took a seat beside his bed. “Have you had any other company today, because if not, I won’t stay too long. I don’t want to take away time from others that may be comin’ in to see you.”

“No, no suga! You’re fine! My daughter and son-in-law came by earlier this evenin’. They’re the only family I have and the fellas from work said they’d be by in another hour or so.”, he reassured Peaches as he grinned at her. “Where’s my other sweetheart, Miss Kiara? I’ve been thinkin’ about her for the past few days.”

“She wasn’t feelin’ too well today, but she told me to tell ya that she’ll be by to see you juss as soon as she can.”, Peaches replied. After a few seconds of silence, Peaches decided to share Kiara’s troubles with him to get his point-of-view on the situation.

“Mr. Thompson, I’m only tellin’ you this because Kiara has a special place in her heart for you, and I know you feel the same way about her.”, Peaches replied as she went into the details behind Kiara’s troubles.

[CarolinaCutie]

“Well, I neva took a likin’ to that young man that used to court Miss Kiara before her new gentleman friend came along.”, Mr. Thompson stated with a sour look. “I wish Miss Kiara would’ve came and talked to me about it. But then I know how she hates to bother other people with her problems. I’ll pray to my heavenly Father above that she comes through this situation with the strength and courage to break free from that young man’s bondage.”

“No wonda’ Kee loves you so much! You’re very wise and encouraging!”, Peaches smiled as she began to stand up. “Well, I’m gonna go so you can get some rest. You take care for me, okay?”, she asked as she took his hand.

“I will honey. You be sweet and give Miss Kiara my love!”, he smiled.

“I’ll be sure to do that!”, Peaches stated as she waved goodbye to him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Why would you do something like this to me, Kee? Huh?”, Mark asked as he sat on her sofa while watching her. However, her back was to him as she stood with her arms folded in the middle of her living room.

“Please undastand that what I’m doin’ right now is for the best for the both of us because I love you that much. I…I juss can’t explain the situation to you right now because it’s too complicated.”, she replied with a shake of her head. “But I’m not sayin’ that I want this to end permanently; I juss need to work some things out in my life right now.”

“See, that’s the part I don’t get. If you love me like you say you do, then you would be able to tell me what’s goin’ on between us so we could work things out togetha’., he stated with a bit of frustration as he stood up to leave.

“Wait!”, she shouted as she ran over to him and wrapped her arms around him. He hesitantly wrapped his arms around her. They both held each other as silent tears fell from their eyes.

“Well, look…I gotta clear my head.”, he quietly stated as he let go of her. He wiped his face with the palm of his hand in one quick motion to wipe his tears so she wouldn’t see them. She slowly followed behind him as he headed for the door.

“Mark…”, she began, “…I love you.”

He turned around, but didn’t say a word. Instead, he leaned over and lightly kissed her on the cheek. “Bye, Kee.”

The first thing she did when she closed her door was head for the kitchen. She began to go through her cabinets to find her punch that she had saved from the last time she felt down and out. She needed something to numb the pain she was feeling. With hesitation, she began to grab a glass from her dishwasher before she decided to get rid of what she was about to drink. She poured what was left in her bottle down the drain.

“I refuse to let you win this round, Mike!”, she loudly stated as she headed for her bedroom.

At times like these, Kiara always played one of Mary J’s CD’s. Listening to Mary pour her soul out in a song always seemed to lift Kiara up; but why, she didn’t know. Maybe it was because she could always relate to the words that Mary sang. Anyway, she decided to play “The Tour (live)” CD. Kiara was reminded of the good ol’ days as she sang along to some of Mary’s older songs from back in the day.

“Ah, life was so simple back then!”, Kiara sighed as she grabbed a book that she had bought a few weeks back. She and Mark had been spending so much time together that she hadn’t started reading it yet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peaches tried contacting Tamir several times on her way home from the hospital. They had recently made up with each other and she couldn’t wait to see him.

“This isn’t like ‘Mir to not answer any of my calls or two-ways.”, she thought to herself as she tried reaching him several more times once she arrived home. Little did she know that he and the rest of the guys were spending some time with Mark who was suffering from a broken heart and rejection thanks to Kiara.

“He must be hangin’ out in the studio.”, she said aloud to herself as she began dialing Kiara’s number. She was going to give her an update on Mr. Thompson.

“Hey girl! What’cha up to?!”, Peaches chimed when Kiara picked up.

“I did it, Peaches.”, Kiara almost whispered into the phone.

“Did what?!”, Peaches demanded.

“I let Mark go a lil’ while ago.”, Kiara replied. All of a sudden she began to cry. “It’s the same isht, juss a different day! I’m so tired of all this mess, ya know?”

“Kee, I’m on my way ova!”, Peaches stated as she made her way out the door to her car.

When Peaches reached Kee’s place, they talked for a few hours. Peaches tried several times to persuade Kiara that she couldn’t let Michael control her life. And time and time again, Kiara stated that she was tryin’ but it was wearin’ her down. But Peaches encouraged her to hang in there and to fight it out with every ounce of strength she had.

“Look, I don’t care what time it is, you call me if you need to talk some more!”, Peaches stated as she gave Kiara a big hug goodbye.

“Okay! If it wasn’t for you…and Mark, I would’ve lost my mind a long time ago!”, Kiara replied as she hugged her back.

“It’s gonna work out, sweetie.”, Peaches stated.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Peaches arrived home, she saw Tamir’s car parked in her garage.

“Hey, boo! I tried callin’ you earlier this evenin’. Where ya been?”, she asked as she went and sat beside him on her bed.

“So how long were you gonna keep what Kiara was plannin’ to do to Mark away from me?”, he asked as he continued to watch the tv.

“’Mir, why are you gonna start on me about this?”, she asked as she rolled her eyes.

"Why not start on you?! You two have been friends for quite some time now so I'm sure she must've told you somethin'!!! I mean, dn! She has my boy really fed up right now! He really loves that girl and this is how she does him. But hey, maybe it was revenge on her part to get back at anotha' na for the way Mike treated her!", he angrily stated as he sat up and faced Peaches.

"Okay...you know yo' @$$ is so wrong for that!", she stated as she glared at him. "There are some things that Kee is goin'...", she started before Tamir cut her off.

"You know what?! I don't even wanna hear the isht that you have to say about her! I guess I shoulda known from the last bh I dealt with that all females are a bunch of triflin' hoes!", he spat as he jumped up off the bed to leave.

"Hold the fk up!!! Don't be poppin' no isht off in my dn house about females bein' trifiln'! Who tha' hell do you think you are?!!", she shouted as she went and stood in front of him. He didn't have anything to say.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I thought!", she stated as she stared him down.

"Look, boo, I'm sorry! I didn't mean what I juss said about all females.", he stated as he began to wrap his hands around her waist.

"Don't even! Juss get out, 'Mir!", she replied as she shoved his hands away.

"Do what?!", he asked in a total state of shock.

"You heard what I said! Don't think I'm gonna let what you juss said about my girl go lightly! If you can't respect my friend and her situation then you can't honestly respect me either! Now please go!", she stated as she walked away from him and went back over to her bed to sit down.

"Peaches...", he began before she pointed her finger as a signal for him to leave. She did this without giving him a second look.

After she heard his car leave, she laid across her bed and began to cry tears of anger and sadness because of what he said. She honestly thought that he had gotten over his last heartbreak. Now she could understand where Mark was coming from even though he and Tamir were both sadly mistaken about Kee's situation.

When Peaches pulled herself together, she called Kiara up to let her know that she and Tamir had had the argument of all arguments. They talked for almost an hour about their problems. One thing they could count on, was always being there for each other. Before they hung up, they agreed in prayer that the Lord would work out the situations going on in both of their lives.

After hanging up with Peaches, Kiara also said a prayer of her own as she knelt down beside her bed. She prayed for guidance, strength, and courage to deal with Michael.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town in his hospital room, Mr. Thompson was saying a similar prayer on Kiara’s behalf.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[CarolinaCutie]

“What a ishtty night this has been!”, Tamir thought to himself as he pulled his ride into Mark’s driveway. He felt like he needed to share what he had just went through with Peaches with Mark since Mark had a similar experience earlier in the evening.

“Hey, man! W’sup!”, Mark stated when he opened the door for Tamir.

“Man, I juss felt the need to let you know you’re not by yourself when it comes to lessons in love. Peaches and I juss had a big fallin’ out. I’ono, man…our communication isn’t on point like it used to be and it’s all been stemmin’ from Kee’s problems within the last few months. I undastand that she’s Peaches’ girl and all, but still...”, Tamir stated with a shake of his head. “I’m afraid that we may be heading down the road to breaking up. Man, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come over here with my problems. You have some of your own to deal with. I’ma be out!”, Tamir stated as he turned around to leave.

“Nah, man, we boys, so it’s cool!”, Mark replied as he persuaded Tamir to stay so they could talk.

They went inside and sat in Mark’s den to talk some more.

“Man, remember when you told me that you saw how Kee loved and cared for me? Well, even though, that’s not the case with us, I see how much you and Peaches love each other. Why don’t you try talking things over with her? Yall are engaged to be married. Don’t throw that away on the count of Kiara’s situation with me.”, Mark stated as he frowned up a little when he said Kiara’s name.

“Man, I want to really apologize to Peaches for some of the things I said to her. But you know how she is…once she’s pissed off about somethin’, you can forget it! She won’t even look at me, knowin’ her.”, Tamir stated with a slight chuckle.

“Well, how about if I call Peaches up right now to come over? I’ll tell her that I want to discuss Kiara with her for a few minutes. But when she gets here, you talk with her instead.”, Mark suggested as he reached for his cordless phone.

“I’ll give it a shot, but I’ono if this will work.”, Tamir replied with a shake of his head.

“C’mon, man! You gotta believe that it’s gonna work!”, Mark smiled as he began dialing Peaches’ phone number.

About a half-hour later, Peaches arrived at Mark’s house. She didn’t even notice that Tamir’s car was parked on the other side of his home. However, when she rang the doorbell, it was Tamir who opened the door.

Peaches’ sucked her teeth and immediately turned around to leave.

“Wait, boo! Please…juss give me a few minutes to level with ya.”, Tamir stated as he stepped out on the porch to stop her from leaving.

“What’cha gotta say for yourself?”, she demanded as she turned around to look at him.

“Can we at least go inside?”, Tamir asked as he stared into her eyes.

“Okay.”, she sighed. “But I don’t appreciate bein’ set up like this!”

Once they were inside, Tamir apologized to her for some of the things he had said earlier in the evening.

“But Peaches…how could you blame me for the way I’ve been feelin’ lately? It’s like you been on edge and distant with me since all of this stuff started happenin’ with Kee.”, Tamir stated as he looked at Peaches. At first Peaches was looking at him like he was stupid, but the more he talked the more she understood where he was coming from.

“Well, I guess I have a lil’ apologizin’ of my own to do too.”, she quietly stated as tears began to fall from her eyes. She was dying inside because she felt like she couldn’t bring herself to tell Tamir, who was her other best friend, the truth about Kiara.

“No, it’s okay! I juss want us to be the way we were!”, Tamir stated as he pulled her into his arms. “I juss want you to be able to trust and talk with me again.” He kissed her on the forehead. When she looked at him, he had tears in his eyes that were on the verge of falling. “I would juss love it if you would tell me the truth about everything that’s been botherin’ you.”, he whispered before giving her a soft kiss.

“Okay…here goes, ‘Mir!”, she stated as she took a deep breath and broke out of his embrace. He followed her over to the sofa where they both took a seat. As she began telling Tamir about the Saturday afternoon that Kiara received Michael’s gift and letter that was threatening Mark’s life and why she couldn’t be with Mark right now, Mark quietly tiptoed into the den to see if everything was alright because he knew about Peaches’ temper. However, he heard part of the reason why Kiara broke up with him and he heard Michael’s name in the same sentence. He automatically assumed that Kiara had decided to go back to Michael.

“So she decided to go back to that son-of-a-bh?!”, Mark shouted as he walked the rest of the way into the den. He began pacing the floor while on the verge of crying. “Fk! Kee should know betta’ than anybody else how it feels to be betrayed. Isht! I was so dn tired of gettin’ dogged by females that I was like “ta hell wit’ it!’ until I met her. I thought she was really different! I ended up loving her and this is how she treats me! I’ll never in my fing life open up my heart like that again!” He stormed out the door. His intentions were to go and confront Kee about what she did to him.

“Man, hold up! Let’s come inside and talk about this. There’s somethin’ you need to know. You only heard half of the story.”, Tamir stated as he followed Mark outside. Peaches stood in the doorway while watching them.

“Naw, man…fk Kee! I’m through with her @$$! If she wanna fk around with that na some more, then so be it!” Mark continued to pace up and down the driveway while trying to figure out what he was going to do.

“Mark, c’mon, man! You’re not listenin’!”, Tamir shouted as he grabbed Mark’s arm.

“Get the hell off me!”, he shouted as he snatched his arm away from Tamir. Tamir backed off because he didn’t want to get into a fistfight with his boy.

“Okay, Mark! You need to come in and sit down so we can tell ya the real deal!”, Peaches stated as she went into her ‘Mama Peaches’ mode. Mark glared at her from his driveway. He was about to give her a piece of his mind. However, when she saw the look he gave her, she put her hands on her hips and shot a look back at him that said, “don’t mess with me because I have cramps and I ain’t for no isht right now!” When Mark saw the look she gave him, he threw up his arms in surrender as he followed her and Tamir back inside.

Once all three sat together in the den, Peaches proceeded to give him the low-down on Kee’s situation and the real reason why she had to separate from him for a while.

Mark sat in silence for a few minutes before speaking. “Ya know, I’m still hurt and betrayed that Kee wouldn’t share somethin’ like this with me. But I still love her with all my heart and soul and I’m not givin’ up without a fight!”

“So what’chu plan on doin’?”, Tamir asked as he and Peaches watched Mark stand up.

“Juss lock up for me on your way out. Later!” Mark climbed in his ride and drove around for about an hour to calm himself down. He thought about stopping by Kiara’s place to talk things over with her, but because it was a little after midnight, he decided not to. He thought it would be better to talk things over with her on tomorrow. He headed back home and fell asleep on his sofa while watching tv.
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[CarolinaCutie]

On the next day, after work, Michael was sitting in his office going over some notes from his all-day meeting when he heard a loud knock on his door.

“Come in!”, he answered.

To his surprise it was Peaches. She marched up to his desk with a look of pure disgust on her face.

“Peaches! What a pleasant surprise!”, he grinned as he stood up to greet her.

“Look, I don’t have time for any pleasantries! I juss felt the need to come by and tell you a thing or two! Now I’d like it if you juss be quiet and listen to what I have to say!”, she angrily stated while staring him down.

He cleared his throat and chuckled. “Well, at least have a seat.”, he offered as he nodded his head to the chair in front of his desk.

“No thank you! I’m fine right where I am.”, Peaches replied. “Now look…I’m on to yo’ game of tryna break my friends, Mark and Kee apart. But it’s not gonna work because none of us want you back in her life as well as ours. And yo’ @$$ need to stop tryna control her with your sick mind-games!”

“Hmmmmm…it’s obvious who wears the pants in your relationship.”, he grinned while giving her a wink.

“Listen ma…my relationship doesn’t have a dn thing to do with you tryna mess up Kiara’s relationship. But then I forget, punks like you aren’t used to a woman standin’ up to yo’ sorry @$$es!”, Peaches spat as she folded her arms.

By this time, Michael stood up and began to make his way around his desk to stand face-to-face with her.

“So ummm…what’chu gonna do to stop me from gettin’ Kiara back?”, he asked with a sly grin.

“Do you really wanna know?!”, she asked as she stepped up closer to him. “Now you’ve been warned to stay away from her, Mark, and the rest of us. And quit sending her those gifts! Because in spite of what you may think…I’ll be dned if you ruin our lives because you’re so sorry!”

“Bh, please!”, he laughed as he rolled his eyes at her.

The next thing he knew, Peaches reached up and checked his chin with a quick right hook. He went sailing backwards across his desk. One of his co-workers that was walking past his office saw what had just taken place. He ran to get security.

“Dn, Peachy-Keen, you have quite a punch there, girl!”, he chuckled as he rubbed his chin.

A few seconds later, security came in and held Peaches in their custody until the police arrived. She was handcuffed and taken away in a squad car.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Hey, Mark. W’sup.”, Kiara stated when she opened the door for him.

“Kee, we need to talk!”, he replied as he took her hand and led her into the living room.

Once they were seated on the sofa he began to talk. “Why couldn’t you tell me what was goin’ on?”, he asked as he sat facing her. However, she looked away without answering him.

“Answer me, Kee!”, he demanded as he took her face with both of his hands to make her look at him. “I need some answers because I’m not ready to give you up.”, he whispered.

“Mark, I…”, she began before her phone started ringing. It was Tamir.

“W’sup, Kee! Listen, I was callin’ to let you know that Peaches has been arrested. I’m on my way to post her bail to get her out!”, Tamir stated.

“Oh my God! What happened?!”, Kiara asked as she looked at Mark.

“Wha?!”, Mark whispered as he looked at her.

“From what she told me, she went down to Mike’s job and juss went buck on his @$$!”, Tamir chuckled.

Kiara started laughing. “This is not funny, ‘Mir! I’m on my way…bye!”

“What’s goin’ on?!”, Mark asked Kiara as she began to stand up.

“It’s Peaches…she’s been arrested for kicking Mike’s @$$!”, she replied as they both left to meet Tamir.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Thanks, boo!”, Peaches smiled as she wrapped her arms around Tamir after being released from the holding cell.

“Juss promise me one thing!”, he smiled as he kissed her.

“What’s that?”, she asked.

“Promise me that you’ll always remind me not to make you that mad!”, he laughed.

“Whateva! That na had no business callin’ me a bh! He’ll know from now on though! And he also knows that he better not mess with Kiara no more!”, she chuckled.

“Yeah, well anyway, I was told that Mike decided not to press charges. But to be on the safe side, I’ma call my attorney to see if one of his boys can give us some legal help in case Mike tries to go back on his word. He’s not to be trusted right now.”, Tamir stated as he and Peaches made their way outside. Kiara and Mark were on their way inside when they met them on the steps.

Peaches and Kiara looked at one another before bursting out in hysterical laughter.

“Leave it to you, girl!”, Kiara laughed as they hugged one another.

Mark and Tamir shook their heads at one another.

“Well, hey! You know…I had to get my point across to him to leave well enough alone!”, Peaches replied.

“But that’s my job!”, Mark snapped as he rolled his eyes at Peaches.

“See…I juss spent an hour locked up for punching the dude! But you wouldn’t leave it at that. You basically wanna kill that na which would give you 25-life! Remember, we all know you and yo’ hot @$$ temper!”, Peaches teased him as they headed for their rides. They all decided to hang out at Kiara’s place for a while.

While Peaches and Tamir watched tv in the living room, Mark led Kiara into the bedroom so they could have some privacy while they talked. He didn’t discuss Mike on their way to meet Tamir at the jailhouse or on the way back home. This was something that needed to be discussed without any distractions.

“Okay, Kee, now that things are back to normal, I wanna know why you…”, he began before she interrupted him.

“Mark, why do we…”, she started before he stopped her.

“Uh-uh…I need to talk right now, Kee. Now I can undastand that you don’t wanna see me hurt or get into any trouble ova Mike, but what hurt me more is knowing that you didn’t have enough faith and trust in me to let me know about the last letter he sent you threatenin’ me. I’m still tryna figga out if you really love me the way you say you did.”, he stated as he took her hand and looked into her eyes. She noticed his eyes watering up.

“Did?! Mark I still love you! That’s why I didn’t want to tell you! I don’t know what Mike is capable of and I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you!”, she cried.

“Don’tchu think I can handle myself?!”, he asked.

“It’s not that easy!!!”, she snapped as she jumped up.

“What’s so hard about it, Kee?! I’m only human and if I know someone is comin’ at the person I love in the wrong way, then it’s time for me to handle some business!”, he shouted. “Now you said that if I went after Mike, then he would’ve won. But the way I see it, when you told me on yesterday that you wanted time apart, the ma still won because that’s what he wanted! Right or wrong?!”, Mark asked.

Kiara nodded her head.

“Oh lawd! Sounds like things are gettin’ outta hand!”, Tamir stated with a shake of his head as Peaches head rested on his shoulder.

“Maybe, we should go and help them resolve things.”, Peaches suggested as she looked up at him.

“Naw, you’ve done enough for one day!”, he chuckled.

“Don’t mess with me, ‘Mir! Now is not the time!”, she laughed as she shoved him on the shoulder.

“Naw, boo, but seriously though, maybe we should be out.”, he replied.

“Listen, Kee…all I’m sayin’ is that I’m willin’ to go down for you.”, Mark whispered before kissing her.

Peaches and Tamir had crept to Kiara’s door to eavesdrop.

“It’s kinda quiet in there! They must be makin’ up!”, Tamir chuckled.

“Yeah, maybe you’re right.”, Peaches smiled.

They began to hear Kiara’s doorknob turn. They both high-stepped it back into the living room.

When they looked up, they saw Mark and Kiara walking out of her room with big smiles on their faces.

“So I take it things are worked out now?”, Tamir asked as he and Peaches headed for the front door to leave.

“Yeah, it was juss a lil’ misunderstanding.”, Mark grinned.

“Well, we’re gonna be out to give you two some privacy. Behave yourselves!”, Peaches joked as she gave them a wink.

“We will if you will, girl!”, Kiara smiled as they all hugged each other goodbye.

No sooner than they left, Kiara and Mark had a few days worth of making up time to catch up on.

[glow=red,2,300]“Don’t you feel the magic/The mystery’s in the air/Let’s go down to lover’s lane/With the love we shared”
—Mary J. Blige: Reminisce[/glow]

[aDRUfan4LiFe]

Good reading!!!