Authors: Destiny Davis
“Angela, let me take you home.” Dimitri said quietly.
She smiled a small, bitter scorn. “And then what? You run back to wifey and come back when you get bored again? I’m sorry, Dimitri but I can’t do this anymore.”
“What are you saying?”
She laughed and this time it was sincere. “I’ve been obsessed with you for the longest time, Dimitri. I thought I loved you.” She shrugged. “Maybe I do. But that’s no longer the point anymore. You have all your issues going on. Your family, the…
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that you have to project to society… well, in spite of it all, you’re nothing but a cheater and a two-faced asshole. This is me walking away from you and all your drama.”
“What?” Dimitri looked aghast. “Angela, you need to let me explain.”
“Don’t you get it? I don’t care! I couldn’t care less anymore. Be married. Or don’t. That’s your business,” she said. “Look, don’t worry about the baby, alright? We’ll sort all of it out after he’s born. Or she. You can have visitation rights and all. Oh, wait. You don’t want any visitations rights, don’t you? Maybe you already have kids with her.”
“Angela, don’t do this.” He whispered.
She stood on tiptoes and brushed a light, sweet kiss across his lips. “You wanted your freedom? Well, here it is.”
She turned around and walked away from him. Part of her was expecting him to follow her. After all, it wasn’t just her anymore. There was the baby now. Their baby.
He never followed her. Never once tried to stop her. This time, it was truly over.
Angela somehow managed to get a cab home. It had started to rain and she was completely soaked by the time she got back to her apartment. She let herself in and stood at the threshold for a few seconds, suddenly realizing how unfamiliar this space had become to her. She’d been spending so much time at Dimitri’s that she barely felt at home in her own place anymore. In the back of her mind, she remembered that her toothbrush, favorite pillow, and most of her clothes were still in his house.
She slammed the door behind her and trudged through the usual clutter in the living room. She shut herself in the bedroom and, not bothering to change out of her dress, she curled into a ball in bed. Angela closed her eyes, taking deep breaths as she listened to the rain lashing furiously against the window. She suddenly sat up and opened the bedside drawer, rummaging furiously through it until her fingers closed over the small picture of her latest ultrasound. She couldn’t help but smile through her tears as she looked at the tiny, bean-shaped blob.
“Hello, little bean,” Angela whispered, her heart swelling with emotion. “It’s just us now. But don’t worry. I’ll take care of you. I’m here for you.”
She held the picture close to her heart, trying not to give in to a fresh torrent of tears as she recalled her last appointment with Doctor Nelson. It was just after her hotel tryst with Dimitri, just after they’d decided to give their relationship another try.
“I’ve changed my mind,” she’d told Doctor Nelson. “I don’t want the abortion after all.”
The doctor had handed her the picture after her exam and Angela could still remember the emotions that had invaded her body as she’d clutched the picture. There was a tiny sense of fear and responsibility, of not knowing whether she would be good enough but most of all, there was this… this absolute sense of wonderment. She’d felt excited, alive at the prospect of starting this new adventure with Dimitri by her side.
The door buzzer suddenly rang, interrupting her thoughts. She glanced at the clock. It was nearly midnight.
With a sigh, Angela carried the picture with her as she walked to the front hallway. The door buzzed again and she hit the intercom with an irritated sigh.
“Yes?”
“It’s me.”
She immediately dropped her finger. Dimitri rang the door again, a series of loud, insistent buzzes that echoed loudly through her apartment. Angela hit the intercom with a shaky finger.
“What do you want?”
“Angie, let me in. Please.”
“Go away, Dimitri.” She was too exhausted to even feel angry at him. “We have nothing more to say to each other.” She looked down at the picture. “Go back to your wife.”
“Damn it, Angela!” He yelled. “Will you just let me in?”
“Or what?” Angela challenged. “Will you break down the door to my building? Go ahead.”
There was an angry pause and then he spoke again. “I’m not just here to see you.”
“Oh?”
“No. I’m here to see my kid. You have no right to keep me away from my child.”
In spite of herself, Angela could feel her lips spreading into a smile. “And you have no right to use my child as an excuse.”
“Your child?” He sounded absolutely livid. “Did you get pregnant by yourself? This is my kid too and I’ve got rights over her.”
“Her?”
“I meant…” Dimitri sounded embarrassed. “Well, I’ve been imaging a her. A little girl who looks just like you. But I would be equally happy with a boy, too. I couldn’t care less about the gender, Angie. Just as long as it has your genes. Just…” His voice broke. “Just as long as it’s ours. You and me.”
One single tear trickled down her cheek.
And downstairs, Dimitri stood alone in the rain, leaning against the doorframe with his head bowed down. He waited, hoping against hope that she would give him a chance. Pain lanced through his chest. It was the sort of pain that was entirely new to him. The only time he’d ever been close to being as broken as he was now was when they’d split up a few weeks ago.
It took this moment for him to realize that he could never live without her. He was - in every sense of the word - nothing without that beautiful, stubborn, feisty woman who’d crashed into his life and turned his entire world upside down.
He pressed the buzzer again, ignoring the cold rain that lashed over him. “Angela… Angela please…”
There was a short silence before the unmistakable beep of the door rang loud and clear in the rainy night. He didn’t think twice. Wedging the door open, Dimitri hitched his bag up his shoulder and ran into the front hall.
“Shit,” he cursed, jabbing furiously on the elevator. “Come on, come on…”
Unable to wait, he turned around and yanked open the door to the emergency stairwell. He ran all the way to the tenth floor, hardly noticing the burn in his lungs as he drew in gulps of air.
The door was open. She was sitting in the living room, waiting for him.
For a second, Dimitri could only stand in the doorway staring at her. There, in the semi-darkness of her living room, she’d never looked more beautiful before. She was sitting on the windowsill and in the moonlight her black skin had an almost mystical glow to it. He didn’t know how he missed it before but there was a certain roundness - softness almost - to her features.
At that second the love that he felt for her was so gargantuan, so immense, that he felt it rip through every single muscle, every single pore of his body. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for this exceptionally irritating woman. And, as dramatic as it sounded, Dimitri knew that he would willingly take a bullet for her.
He may not have realized it before but he certainly did now. He loved her. He yearned, with every ounce of strength, to protect her, cherish her, and devote every single second of his existence to her happiness.
He loved her. It was as simple as that.
“You do know we have an elevator in the building, right?” Angela said as she got up.
“Yeah.” He rasped, trying to catch his breath. “It wasn’t working.”
“So.” She crossed her arms to her chest and fixated on him with a steely glare. “What did you want to say? And what’s this?” She spotted the huge bag that he was holding.
“For the baby.” Dimitri set the bag down without taking his eyes off her face. “The convenience store was the only thing open at this hour.” His lips curved at the thought of convenience store shopping. “So these were just a few emergency things. But I’ve already asked Rebecca to send me a list of the top baby stores in town. Our child will have nothing but the best.”
“You called your assistant at midnight to ask for a list of baby stores?” Angela said as she peered into the bag. “What’s this? Travel Scrabble? Sippy cup?” She looked at him incredulously. “Do you know anything at all about babies?”
“No. But I’m willing to learn.”
“Oh yeah? What about your wife?” Angela said coldly.
Dimitri winced. “I haven’t seen Celine in over four years, Angie,” he said quietly.
“What…”
“I had a crush on her in college. She’s… she’s blonde, beautiful, elegant and comes from one of the best families in town. We run in the same social circles and she was everything my mother was looking for.” Dimitri paused. “It only took a few months into our marriage for me to realize that I didn’t love her. I loved the idea of her. The idea of finally living up to my mother’s expectations and marrying the blonde, blue-bred girl that she liked so much. My mother’s spent all her life reminding me of how pathetic I was, of how I would never be good enough, of how I killed my twin… When I married Celine, I thought she would finally be pleased with me. Finally stop comparing me to my dead sister. I thought that marrying a girl of her choice would make me good enough for her. I was wrong.”
His powerful shoulders sagged.
Angela stared at him. For a brief second, she could no longer see the powerful billionaire entrepreneur who had inspired success stories from all around the world. In front of her was a broken man, shattered by his past, destroyed by his mother.
Yet, when he spoke again, his voice was calm and confident. “I was all resigned to endure a lifetime of misery with a woman I didn’t love. After all, through her upbringing, my mother made sure that I would never feel good enough for anyone. She put me off meaningful relationships for life. Maybe the shallow liaison that I shared with Celine was the only thing I deserved. But then she started to drink and it didn’t take me long to find out that she’s nothing short of a drunk. I can’t count the number of nights that I got called to clubs or restaurants to pick up my wasted, unconscious wife. We didn’t even share a relationship anymore and that was fine by me.”
He continued. “More than once, she would go out with her friends, drink herself into a coma and then, if she was still conscious, she would come back home with a man and I would hear them fuck in the guest room. But,” he shrugged. “She was still my wife so I took care of her. She’s borderline bipolar as well and there were times when she was too depressed to even get out of bed. So I washed her, brushed her teeth, fed her like a baby. I loathed Celine but I was bound by my relationship to her.” He paused again, as though to recollect his thoughts. “Fueled by her drinking, her condition got worse. Her parents finally intervened when she tried to kill herself. They sent her to an institution and she’s been in and out of the place ever since. They just showed up one day, packed up her stuff and took her away. They send me all her bills and I pay them off. Sometimes they send me invoices for stuff they’ve bought for her, clothes, jewelry and crap. And I pay it all. I also give them a monthly allowance to take care of her. I haven’t seen her in four years but I know from the bills that she’s been in and out of rehab three times last year.”
“But… why?” Angela whispered.
“Because I feel responsible for what happened to her.” Dimitri looked squarely at her. “After all, I killed my twin sister. How do I know I’m not the reason why Celine took a turn for the worse? Maybe she felt my lack of interest in her. Maybe I drove her to suicide. After all, I was her husband, wasn’t I?”
“Dimitri,” Angela’s eyes pooled with tears as she took his hand. “Dimitri, you’re not responsible for any of it, do you hear me?” Her voice was harsh with emotion. “Not your twin, not Celine. None of these had anything to do with you. Life dealt you a shit hand of cards but that’s it. It has absolutely nothing to do with you.” She repeated. “Why didn’t you tell me about that before?”
“Because I didn’t want to associate you to these memories, Angela,” Dimitri said. “And I was afraid I would lose you if you knew about my past. And about the fact that I’m married. And because… because I just don’t feel good enough for you.” He looked at her, radiating pain in spite of his strong, arrogant demeanor.
“Oh, baby.” She whispered, breaking in a torrent of tears as she held him close, desperately wishing there was some way she could absorb some of his hurt.
“Don’t.” His voice shook as he stroked her hair. “Don’t cry for me, Angela. I don’t deserve it. I’m not worth it.”
“You are.” Angela pressed her lips to his chest. “You are worth everything to me, Dimitri.”
“I never bothered divorcing Celine before because I never thought there would come a day when I would want to spend the rest of my life with someone.” He whispered in her ear. “I’d all but given up on love. But I’ll start the divorce procedures at once, Angie. I already called my lawyer before coming here. He’ll see me first thing tomorrow morning.” Dimitri pulled back.
Angela’s hand flew to her mouth as, in a fluid motion, he sank to his knees in front of her. His caramel eyes blazed with emotion as he took her hand and looked up at her.
“Angela Banner,” Dimitri said quietly. “I know that I’m unworthy of your love. But if there was a chance, any chance at all that you would consider giving us yet another try, would you please consider marrying me? Well, as soon as I’m divorced anyway,” he added with her favorite one-sided grin. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small square box. Her heart hammered as he opened it to reveal the most enormous diamond she’d ever seen. It was circled by tiny rubies that sparkled magnificently in the darkened hallway.
“How long have you had this?” She whispered.
“Just now,” he admitted with a small grin. “I called the CEO of Tiffany’s and asked him to open the store for me. What do you say, baby?” He leaned over and kissed her stomach. “Want to start a new life with me? And little one here?” He reached up and gently palmed her belly.
“Yes,” she whispered. “I would like that very much.”