Chapter Forty-one
Korie felt guilty.
She felt guilty for sleeping with two men at once. She felt guilty for leading one man on. She felt guilty because of the things that she would do over the next week. She accepted two proposals when she should have only accepted one. She fooled around with two men when she should have only been with one. Finally, she gave one man her heart and let the other back in.
She should have never let the second man back in.
He had his chance. He blew it.
She thought about the sex. It was something that she had been struggling with since day one. Sure, she couldn't have sex all day, every single day, but did she need to? Was sex that important? Also, would she have sex everyday with Darren, or just everyday that the relationship was new? Accepting Darren's ring was a mistake. Like Jayna said, sex tended to cloud a woman's judgment. Had Darren not returned, Korie would have married Vaughn, hands down.
That was another thing: Was Darren a godsend or someone the devil sent back into her life? It's funny how when a woman just began to get over a man or just began to get herself together, that same man who broke her heart would pop his ass up again, acting like he was a changed man. Darren should have changed while he had her. Men needed to hold on to good women when they were blessed to have one. Korie thought to herself that she might still love Darren, but she was going to give Vaughn a chance. She was going to give love with him a chance. She needed time to get herself together; time to see where this thing with Vaughn might go. If anything, if Darren really loved her, he could wait. He could wait another five years, just as she had for him.
She moved in with Vaughn. She didn't tell Darren right away. Just as it was going to be hard to tell Vaughn no, it would be equally hard telling Darren. She didn't know how she would tell him. How do you tell someone that you are moving on without them, while things look like they're perfect?
She told Darren that she was busy with work and she moved in with Vaughn in one day. She took her clothes and her jewelry. Everything else she had thrown in the trash. She paid her lease up for the remainder of the year, just in case things didn't work out. She had the utilities cut off.
She phoned Jayna and told her of her decision. Vaughn proposed on a Monday. Korie put Darren off for as many days as she could via phone and it was Thursday that he received his ring back. She sent Darren's ring back to him by express mail, sending back the ring and a note. She thought a note would be the most appropriate way to tell him. She also decided that if she were going to marry Vaughn, there should be no secrets between them. She needed to tell her fiancée about her ex-boyfriend. Her note to Darren read as follows:
I'm sorry. I am truly, truly sorry. I don't know how to say this. But it appears that we had our chance at love and that time has passed. I don't regret the past two weeks. They have been wonderful. But you left. In a way, you abandoned ship. I understand that I might not be the woman I am today had we stayed together, but we didn't. Maybe I was meant to be the woman that I am now, the way that I am now and perhaps it was meant for me to get to this place in my life via the journey I had with you. I love you. I do. But again, our time has passed. I can't chance you walking out on us again. I can't chance you leaving me again. You say that you love me. You say that you never stopped loving me. But love wasn't enough to stop you from walking out on me like you did five years ago. It hurts, but I have to say good-bye. I have to at least see if what I have with Vaughn is real or not. I have to give my relationship with him a chance. He loves me. I love him. Just as I began to fall in love with him, you popped up and changed everything in my life. I used to pray to God to send you back into my life. I don't know how to say this, but I think maybe it was the devil that answered. Darren, I can't marry you. If things don't work out between Vaughn and me, you will be the first person that I call. I waited five years for you. That's five years too long. Again, I'm sorry.
Â
With love,
Korie
Darren was crushed. His heart was broken. He looked at the ring and couldn't believe what Korie was saying. He received the ring at work, and minutes after he received it, he drove to her apartment. He used his key to let himself in and all traces of Korie were gone.
He jumped back in his car. Panic set in as the thought of losing his one true love burned in his head. It then dawned on him to go to Vaughn's house. He did. He drove like a madman and onto the shoulder of the expressway to get to Vaughn's Wilmette mansion. He raced to the gate of the grand home and rang the bell. No one answered. There were no cars in the driveway and no sign of Vaughn anywhere. He dialed Vaughn's cell phone.
Â
Â
“Hello?” Vaughn said.
“Uh, hi Vaughn. It's Darren. Iâwell, I need to speak with you.”
“Go ahead. Say what you have to say.”
Vaughn sounded upset. He sounded annoyed.
“I need to tell you something. It's hard for me to say, but there is something that you have to know.”
“You mean about you and Korie?”
Darren was speechless.
“Your silence makes me think that you're stunned or surprised. She told me everything.”
“Everything?”
“Everything. I can't believe that you proposed to her. I can't believe that you would pursue her knowing that I was with her!”
“Vaughn, you have to understand, I was with her first. I didn't know that the woman you were in love with was my ex. Is she with you? I need to speak to her.”
“You're kidding me, right? There is no way in hell that I would put you on the phone with my fiancée.”
“Fiancée? Vaughn, man, she's not going to marry you.”
“Yeah, well, she already said that she would. In fact, I plan on marrying her shortly after the wheels on the plane touch down.”
“I don't believe you.”
“Believe it.”
“She's going to marry me.”
“Maybe you should be sitting around waiting for FedEx. Your ring should have come back to you by now.”
“It did. That changes nothing.”
“That's where you're wrong. It changes everything.”
Darren's heart was racing and he couldn't believe what he was hearing. He couldn't believe that Korie told Vaughn everything. Just then, as he was heading back south on the expressway he heard another man in the background on the phone.
“Wheels up in twenty minutes, Mr. Harris.”
Wheels up? They're at the airport.
Darren sped to O'Hare Airport. He opened up the engine on his 100,000 dollar car and raced to the largest airport in Chicago.
“Vaughn, please, let me talk to her! You all are making a mistake.”
“You're the one making the mistake. I can't believe you! I can't believe how you betrayed my trust. I can't believe how much business I threw your way! Nigga, I made you!”
“You helped me, but you never made me. I would have been a success one way or the other. Vaughn, I know that you love her and man, I can respect that, but she's not meant for you. In my heart I know.”
Vaughn hung up. With the disconnection he was slowly beginning to lose hope.
It was as if Vaughn disconnecting him was his way of disconnecting her from him as well.
Darren weaved in and out of traffic. He raced to the airport and risked getting arrested by driving onto a private, restricted road. He had his car going smoothly at 100 MPH. He headed to the airplane hangar with Vaughn's company logo on the side. He got to the airport in thirteen minutes.
Thank God for his luxury sports car, although in truth it was Vaughn's money that paid for it. He pulled into the hangar and his car came to a screeching halt as it blocked the private jet that was just about to start taxiing out to the runway. The plane put its brakes on, almost hitting Darren's car, which was still running. Darren stood there defiantly. He wanted his woman back. He made up his mind that he would get his woman back. He didn't mind a storybook ending. He didn't mind admitting that he fucked up. He just wanted the plane to stop and for her to open the airplane door and come back to him. All would be forgiven. He didn't care that she accepted another man's proposal. He didn't care that she gave him his ring back. All he wanted was for her to come back to him.
Minutes later, the door to the plane opened. Rather than Korie stepping out, Vaughn stepped out at the top of the plane stairs and looked at Darren, furious. He had a look of fire in his eyes. The old lion was ready to once again bare his teeth. The airplane cued down its engine. It was clear that one way or the other, they would be delayed.
Â
Â
“You have some fucking nerve coming here,” Vaughn said.
“Yeah, well, like I was trying to say, I'm sorry. I love her. Vaughn, I can't let you take her.”
“Can't let me? Nigga, no one tells me what to do! Ever! No one stops me, ever! Now I admire your taste. Hell, I even admire the fact that you have the balls to come here, but I'm only going to tell you this once. Take your low-budget bargain-basement ass back to the hood or the middle-income suburb that you came from! Get the fuck off of my property!”
Just then, a gentle, manicured hand patted Vaughn's shoulder from behind. It was a hand that was delicate and strong all at once. It was a hand that was reassuring.
Korie surfaced. She whispered in his ear. Darren couldn't hear her from the distance between them. His heart skipped a beat as he saw her. Once again his spirit was filled with hope. She spoke to Vaughn, making an attempt to calm him down. Darren couldn't hear what she was saying, but clearly she was calming down Vaughn, who looked as if any minute now he would have a heart attack. That's how angry he looked. It did take balls to come here. It did take heart to tell another man that you desired and came for his woman, but Darren was not backing away. He would have to be killed or taken away in cuffs if they wanted him to go. Korie knew Darren. She had to know that he had no plans on letting her walk out of his life again.
He believed that she must have finally realized her mistake and was coming to her senses. He opened the passenger door to his car so she could get in. He then leaned on the front of his car with a look of confidence, arrogance. He waited for Korie to return to him. He was sorry for the ordeal that he was putting Vaughn through. He liked the older man. He admired him. But on this matter there could be no compromise. Darren came back for his lady.
Vaughn listened to Korie. She was able to calm him down and although he occasionally looked in Darren's direction, he listened to her. They hugged and somehow she convinced him to go inside the plane. Before going, he pointed at his watch as he went inside. He tapped it three times before going in. He was insistent. Darren still couldn't hear what was being said, but it was clear that Vaughn was telling her that they had a schedule to keep.
Darren thought,
she's not going with you
. Just get your ass on the plane and leave. He said a slight prayer to God. Thank you for sending her back to me.
Korie went to Darren.
Vaughn went inside the plane.
Â
Â
Korie had on a form-fitting satin dress that hugged her body and accentuated her ass. Her high heels matched her dress and she wore sheer black stockings. In her ears were two diamonds and on her hand was the ring that Vaughn gave her. It was a ring that put the rock Darren gave her to shame. Her makeup was flawless. Her hair was down and she looked so good that she could take a man's breath away. As she walked in his direction he thought about how lucky he was to have her back in his life. He thought about how breathtaking she looked. He gave her a look that said he would never let her go again. It was a look that said he fucked up, but for the rest of their lives he would try and make it right again.
He expected Korie to jump right in and for them to drive together in any direction. He stood by the passenger door, confidently, arrogantly. That is, until he saw the look in her eyes. It was a look that shook him to his core. It was a look that said I can't go with you.
He had a look of confusion.
The engines of the plane started up again.
The sounds of police sirens were in the backfield.
Korie walked over to him.
She hugged him.
She slowly kissed him on the cheek.
He took in her Issey Miyake perfume.
She took in his Chrome cologne.
He hugged her tightly, in a manner that said he would never let her go; like a child being pulled from his parent or like siblings being separated in foster care. He held onto her and hugged her for dear life, for love.