Exposed (Free Falling) (12 page)

“What do you say we get out of here?”

Kira looked up into my eyes when the question flew from my mouth like a bullet.

“Are you feeling okay?” she
asked.

No, not anymore.

“Yeah, I’m cool.  Just kinda tired.  Besides, all the important stuff is out the way.  No real point in sticking around.”  My blood was practically boiling and I couldn’t even put my finger on why.

Kira
watched me for a few seconds, and then finally shrugged.  “Okay…if that’s what you wanna do.”

I nodded to con
firm, and then looked for Terrell.  When I approached him, Kira hung back a little.  Tension crossed my shoulders and neck.

“Hey, look, I think I’m
gonna take off,” I announced, shoving my hands inside my pants pockets. 

Terrell looked me over.  “Something happen?”

“No, everything’s fine,” I assured him.  “It’s just been a long day.”

There was a slight look of disappointment that flashed across his face, but he didn’t let it linger.  “Alright, man.  Take it easy, then. 
Y’all still coming to the breakfast tomorrow, right?”

I almost cursed out loud – I’d forgotten about that part.

“Uh…yeah!  We’ll be there,” I said, forcing enthusiasm.  Truth was, I wanted to be back home in D.C. and back to the way my things were before coming here.

Terrell eyed me again.  “You sure everything’s cool.”

I nodded.  “Positive.  See you in the morning, man.”

He stopped questioning me and
eventually went back to talking to his uncle like he was before I interrupted.  Kira smiled when she took my arm and I escorted her to the car.

“Did you hav
e a good time at least?”  Her voice rang out into the silence.

I wasn’t sure how to answer that. 
“Umm, yeah.  Everything was nice.”

In my peripheral, I noticed a smile on her face.

“There was the cutest old couple sitting at my table,” she started.  “The man pulled his wife’s chair out for her whenever she got up, she shared her water with him when his was empty – you could just feel how much they love each other.”  Kira reached across the console and gripped my hand.  “That’s how I want us to be fifty years from now.”

I smiled back but didn’t respond.

“I really like the way the turquoise accents looked that Maisha picked out.  I mean, I know we can’t do the same colors as them, but it gave me a few ideas.”

“Whatever you want,” I said out of habit.

“And we haven’t said much as far as a date, but how about my birthday next year.  June’s the perfect month; and I checked, the eleventh falls on a Saturday, so it’s perfect.  What do you think?”

“I think that’s perfect because I get to roll your birthday and anniversary gift into one,” I joked.

She laughed and snatched her hand away playfully.

“Kid
ding.  That sounds fine, though,” I said, retracting my statement.

Kira rolled her window down a little and then took my hand again.  “And I think there are some kinks that we need to work out with the guest list early
on just so we know we’re on the same page.”  She hesitated.  “I really think you should consider including your father.”

My mood soured just thinking about him.  “Kira –“

“It’s just a suggestion,” she interrupted.  “Promise not to push, but it’s something to consider.”  While I sat silently thinking of all the reasons why I hated the idea, Kira spoke up again.  “I’m even thinking about inviting Reina.”

I smashed my foot against the brake when we stopped at the red light.  The severe look that I shot Kira gave her pause.

“It’s just something I was thinking about,” she practically whispered.

I couldn’t e
ven wrap my mind around why she would even
think
of inviting her sister.  She knew better than anyone how much I hated Reina.  The few family gatherings that Reina made it into town from Miami to attend, I avoided those events like the plague, meaning I hadn’t seen or talked to her since that day I tossed her out of my dorm room.  I preferred it this way.

“It’s not like I want her to be
in
the wedding….I just thought it’d be nice if she were present.  Besides with her expecting the twins in January, there’s no way she’ll have all that weight off by then.  And you and I both know, she’s not gonna stand up there in front of all those people if she doesn’t feel like she looks her best,” she added, followed by a nervous laugh.

None of
those petty details mattered to me. All I know is, I didn’t even want her
there –
in it or not.  I turned to face traffic again with nothing to say when the light turned green.

“I know you dislike her, but…AJ, it’s been years.  Besides, it’s not like things didn’
t work out eventually.”  I wasn’t sure what she meant by that until she squeezed my hand and added, “I mean, depending on how you look at it, she’s kind of the reason you and I got together.  So shouldn’t you be past all this?”

Shouldn’t I be past it?

Images flipped through my mind like a silent movie.  I recalled that moment that I stepped out of my bathroom and found Reina naked in my room….and that look on Sam’s face as she jumped to the most plausible conclusion about what’d taken place.  Next, I remembered the way Sam cried and screamed in the courtyard.  Then I thought of each and every other event that transpired as a direct result of what Reina had done.  If she hadn’t showed up, Sam wouldn’t have been out on her own and vulnerable, and Antonio….

“She’s not coming,” I asserted, trying to mask the anger tha
t was currently boiling in my veins.

Kira released my hand.  “Are you serious?  Just like that?  No discussion?”

“We just
did
discuss it and she’s not invited,” I added, feeling the tension in my jaw as Kira stared.

When she sat back in her seat, she sighed and rested on her fist while staring out the window.  “I knew it,” she whispered to herself.

Initially, I started not to respond, but I changed my mind when she started shaking her head.  “You knew what?”

Kira
chuffed a breath through her nose and glanced down at her engagement ring.  “That
that
was why you can’t let this thing with my sister go.”

I frowned.  “What’re you talking about?
”

In the seconds it took Kira to respond, I shifted my gaze between her and the road several times. 
“This hatred you feel for her,” she said hesitantly. “I thought that maybe what she did just made you dislike her as a person – in
general
, but…it comes from somewhere deeper than that.”

Getting the feeling that this was about to be a long
er conversation than I was up to having, I shut off the engine in the hotel lot.  Kira didn’t bother waiting for me to open her door.  We walked to the entrance in silence, holding our tongues until we were all the way in our room. 

“Just what the hell are you getting at?”  I asked flatly, removing the jacket to my tux when I did.

Kira set her clutch down on the dresser, but stayed fully clothed as she sat on the edge of the bed, staring down at her polished toenails instead of looking at me.  And when she asked her next question, I understood why she wouldn’t make eye contact – it was a ballsy one. 

“If you could rewrite history, you’d be with
her
wouldn’t you?”

“Who?
  Sam?” I asked, not believing what I was hearing.

Kira sighed when I sidestepped the question with a question of my own.

“History can’t be rewritten, Kira, so that’s kind of a moot point.”

She sat there in silence for a moment and then shook her head.  “Maybe not…but it most certainly can repeat itself.”  When she stood and disappeared in the bathroom, I felt my blood pressure rise.  Removing the rest of my clothes, I killed the lights and climbed in bed in my boxers.  By the time she came out
, enough time had passed that I would’ve fallen asleep if I hadn’t been so mad. 

Why would she say something like that? 
Me and Sam’s relationship was water under the bridge at this point.  Kira knew better than anyone the kind of person her sister was.  Why downplay my feelings toward Reina to make it seem like I’m just bitter about losing Sam?  Granted, there was some truth to Reina being responsible, but Kira failed to see the bigger picture.

The sound of her feet padding closer to the bed frustrated me.  When she s
at and eased beneath the covers I stared at the ceiling.  Her soft apology could barely be heard even over the quiet.

“I’m sorry.  I shouldn’
t…I shouldn’t have said that,” she stated.

Frustrated, I sighed.  “
The issue is that you even
think
like that.  It’s a fact that, yes, if it hadn’t been for Reina it’s possible that Sam and I wouldn’t have broken up.  However, things
did
go down the way they did and no one can go back and change that.  My dislike for Reina isn’t because she messed things up for me and Sam.  My issue with her is that she’s….
her,
” I concluded.

Kira was silent while she thought.  “You’re right, it’s just that…”  She paused and pushed her hair back in frustration.  “This whole weekend is just…not what I expected.”

I turned so that I could see her through the darkness.  “How so?”

She sighed first.  “I don’t know.  I feel like I’m this crazy, jealous girlfriend and I hate it,” she admitted, laughing a little.  “You know I’ve never been
‘that girl’
.”

“And I also know this is the first time you’ve ever met one of my ex’s….well, my
only
ex,” I amended.  Liela, the crazy one, didn’t count. 
None
of the others before Sam did really.

Kira nodded. 
“Yeah.  And I’m failing at keeping up this whole
‘chilled, self-confident, modern-day, evolved woman’
thing I was hoping to pull off when I spoke to her at that meet-and-greet yesterday.”

We both laughed a little.

She sighed again.  “I’m sorry if I ruined this for you with all my craziness.”

“Don’t apologize,” I replied, pulling her into my arms.  There was a little guilt when I thought back to the feelings I had while
I held Sam on the dance floor.  I wasn’t completely innocent and Kira deserved better than that.

“Still love me?”  She asked, snuggling her face into my neck.

My eyes drifted shut as she placed her hand on my cheek.  If it hadn’t been for her, I’d probably still be broken, damaged goods.  Only a certain kind of woman can heal a man form the inside out like that and I was lucky to have one fall right into my lap at the exact right time.

Kissing the palm of her hand before holding it to my chest, I told her what she needed to hear, and what I needed to reme
mber: “You’re the only reason that I’m even
able
to love, Kira.”

Her cheek tightened against my neck when she smile
d.

*****

Terrell understood when I told him that we’d be leaving out early to head back to D.C.  Kira and I would have to pass on breakfast at his and Maisha’s house.  After my talk with Kira the night before, I realized that the best thing I could do for myself
and
my relationship was to go home.  Being around Sam was only causing conflict. 

Eight hours after leaving the hotel, we were parked in our own garage, ready to unpack and relax.  I carried the rest of our luggage in while Kira threw a load of our laundry into the washer.  I left the tux hanging in the back of the car so I could return it the next day after work.  It took a good hour to get everything back in order and then get settled on the couch in front of the TV.
  We’d barely started browsing the DVR for a show to watch when my phone went off.

Kira lifted from her post, lying on top of me with my arm draped over her back
, so I could answer.

I frowned.  “It’s your dad.”

She frowned too.

“Hello?”

“Sorry to disturb you, I’m sure you’re just getting back into town,” he replied.

“Actually we made it in about an hour ago.  Is everything okay?” I asked, alrea
dy sure that this call was work-related.  That was about the extent of my relationship with my future father-in-law…much like my relationship with my
own
father.

“Yes, yes, everything’
s fine,” he replied.  “I understand that you’re technically scheduled to have tomorrow off to rest up from the long drive, but I’d like for you to come in if that’s at all possible.”  He paused.  “There are a few details that I’d like to discuss with you.”

That’s it?  Was he really going to be that vague?

“Uh – sure.  That’s not a problem.”