Edge of Love (15 page)

Janice returned to her seat.
“Okay.”

Ryan looked at me. “She didn’t mean to
be so rude. She just doesn’t know when to shut her mouth
sometimes.”

I nodded. “I know.” I rose from the
couch then walked down the hall. When I reached the bathroom, I
heard her sniff. She was trying to hold back the tears, but she was
failing miserably. I tapped on the door lightly.

As soon as she heard the noise, she
stiffened. She fell completely silent. By that action alone I knew
she wasn’t going to open the door.

I leaned against the wall and sighed.
“I apologize for yelling at you, Scar. It was wrong and
inappropriate, especially in front of your family. I feel horrible
now.” She didn’t move. I saw her shadow under the door and it
remained stagnant. “Babe, I love you and I’m sorry.” When she
didn’t reach for the door, I knew she wasn’t ready to talk to me. I
sighed. “Cortland will take me home. You can stay here for the
night.” I turned away from the door but she opened it.

She wiped her tears away then crossed
her arms over her chest.

The sight of her crying made me feel a
million times worse. I knew I was justified in saying what I said,
but I should have waited until we were alone. And I shouldn’t have
been so hostile about it. I let my anger get to me when I shouldn’t
have. “I’m so sorry.”

She looked at the floor and avoided my
gaze.

I stepped toward her and wrapped my
arms around her waist. When she didn’t push me away, I knew her
anger had dimmed. I kissed her tears away then ran my fingers
through her hair. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. I continued to kiss her
until her sniffs completely disappeared. She wrapped her arms
around my neck and I knew I was forgiven. “I love you.”

“
I know,” she
whispered.

I rubbed my nose against hers. “You
forgive me?”

She nodded.

“
You ready to go home? You
can see Ryan tomorrow.”

“
Yeah. I’m not in the mood
for socializing right now.”

I sighed. “I’m sorry, Scar. I don’t
have an excuse.”

“
It’s okay.”

I wrapped my arm around her waist and
guided her down the hall. When we came back to the living room, I
looked at Cortland. “I think Scar and I are going to turn in for
the night.”

Ryan looked at her with a worried
expression but didn’t say anything. Janice rose to her feet and
hugged Scarlet tightly.

“
Call me if you need me,”
Janice said.

Cortland grabbed his keys from the
table then walked toward the door. I grabbed Scarlet’s hand as we
headed down to the street and approached his parked car. I opened
the door for her and helped her get in the front seat. I moved to
the backseat and rubbed her shoulder while Cortland drove to our
apartment.

Nothing was said on our drive home. I
saw Cortland reach for Scarlet’s hand and hold it. I knew Scarlet
just saw Cortland as a brother so it didn’t bother me. Besides,
Cortland had his Brazilian girlfriend that he was in love with, and
Scarlet was engaged to me. I couldn’t see anything happening
between them.

When we arrived at the apartment,
Cortland and I grabbed the suitcases and hauled them inside. Before
Cortland left, he hugged Scarlet for a long time then turned away
and left the apartment. None of us said goodbye to each other. It
was still incredibly awkward.

I dragged our bags into the bedroom
while Scarlet moved to the couch. She stared at the screen and said
nothing. When I returned, she was exactly where I had left her. I
sighed before I sat down next to her.

“
Babe, I shouldn’t have
said what I said. It was uncalled for. I don’t blame you for being
mad.”

She nodded. “Your family has no right
to control my wedding day like that. I’m completely justified in
being upset. You should be lucky I wasn’t as sassy as
usual.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Wait.
What?”

“
You heard me.”

I shook my head. “I was referring to
the insult I made about your family. I thought that was the reason
why you were upset. I know how sensitive you are about
that.”

“
I thought you were
apologizing for everything you said to me.”

I took a deep breath. “No. You were
being completely out of line when you were talking about my mom
like that. I don’t appreciate you being so rude about them. I admit
that my mom wasn’t treating you right, but she has my best interest
at heart. She is just trying to help, Scar.”

Her eyes began to spit fire. “That
woman called me a tramp, and your mother apologized to her as she
walked them out the door. She should have defended me like your
father did.” She stood up and crossed her arms over her chest. “I
don’t want to have a fancy wedding, Sean. Of all people, I thought
you would understand that. Why would I want to have a wedding with
five hundred people I don’t know? We aren’t getting married there.
End of story.”

I felt my own anger rise to the
surface. I stood up and stared at her. She glared at me without any
fear. My hands began to shake because her words wounded me so
deeply. “What about what I want, Scar? I want to get married at my
parents’ house. It’s what I always dreamed of. It’s important to my
parents as well. I want a traditional wedding.”

“
Well, I don’t. I want to
get married here. I want it just to be Ryan, Cortland, Janice and
Monnique. That’s it! No one else!”

I stepped back. “And what about my
family? We are just going to purposely uninvite them? You know how
much that would hurt them?”

“
Well, I couldn’t care
less, Sean. Your mother didn’t seem to care about hurting my
feelings.”

I clenched my jaw. “She meant
well.”

“
It didn’t seem that
way.”

“
I can’t believe how
selfish you’re being. This is my day too. I want to have it at my
parents’ estate. I want my friends, colleagues, cousins, and my
parents to be there.”

She sighed. “Fine. Your parents can
come.”

I stared at her incredulously. “And
what about the rest of my family?”

“
You can invite a few more
people, I guess.”

I glared at her. I wanted to rip out
my hair because I was so frustrated with her. “Scarlet, that makes
no sense! Why should all those people come here when we can take
only a few people there? This is so stupid!”

“
This is what I
want.”

“
Well, I don’t. I get that
the wedding is important to the bride, but you want to get married
without any of my friends or family. Marriage is about compromise,
Scarlet. You are being a selfish brat. I realize that this weekend
was pretty unbelievably terrible---horrific—but I shouldn’t be
punished for it. We’ll be getting married at my family
estate.”

She shook her head. “No.”

“
No?”

“
I’m not going to spend my
day with a bunch of people I don’t even like. They are stuck up,
pretentious, hypocritical, rude—”

“
Stop talking about my
family like that! NOW!”
“Then don’t make me get married there!”

I clenched my fists and steadied them
at my side. This fight was far worse than the one we had before.
Scarlet was wrong in every single way, but she wouldn’t budge at
all. It was totally unlike her to act this way. I knew our weekend
wasn’t magical, but it didn’t warrant this. I would do anything for
this girl. Why couldn’t she do this for me? “I MOVED HERE FOR
YOU!”

She stepped back.

“
I would do anything for
you. Why can’t you do this for me?”

“
I shouldn’t have to. It
isn’t fair to me. I’m not going to do it.”

I grabbed my head and closed my eyes.
“I could slap you right now.”

Her eyes widened. “What did you say to
me?”

I looked at her. “I said I could slap
you right now! I’ve done everything for you, Scarlet, and you won’t
even compromise with me. Not even a little bit. This is important
to me but you couldn’t care less. I’m done talking about this.” I
turned around and walked toward the door. I opened it and was about
to step through.

“
You walk out that door
and we’re done.”

I stopped immediately. I didn’t turn
around, and I continued to stare into the hallway. I heard the
sincerity in her voice and I knew she wasn’t bluffing. Despite the
overwhelming anger coursing through my limbs, I stepped back into
the apartment and slammed the door closed. I stared at her for a
moment and gave her a look of loathing before I stormed down the
hallway. I grabbed a blanket and pillow then marched back into the
living room.

I pushed my face next to hers. “You
should be sleeping on the couch, not me.”

She met my angry look with her look of
ferocity.

“
Now get out of my space
and go to bed.” I turned away and stripped off my clothes, getting
under the sheets. I stared up at the ceiling and avoided her look.
“I said get out.” My voice was quiet but the venom in it even
frightened me. After a moment, Scarlet walked away into our bedroom
and slammed the door behind her.

I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep
tonight. I was too angry to stop my accelerated breathing. Scarlet
was so smart and had such a knack for social understanding, but her
psychotic behavior was unbelievable. I understood her point of
view, but she was still being selfish. I didn’t know if I would be
able to talk any sense into her. I refused to get married without
my parents being there. If I told her Ryan wasn’t invited, she
would leave me in a heartbeat. If I couldn’t talk some sense into
her, perhaps her brother would have a better chance. I never
understood their relationship. He was so cold and direct with her,
but she always took it like a soldier. When I raised my voice and
spoke my mind, she broke down into tears. It didn’t make any
sense.

I’ve known Scarlet for ten years, and
I don’t just know her as an acquaintance. This is a woman that I’ve
spent almost every day with. I understood her better than anyone.
She would argue that Ryan understood her better, but that was
complete bullshit. I got her like no one else. And I knew there was
more to this story. Even though we were under stressful
circumstances, I still couldn’t believe Scarlet was acting this
way. I hope tomorrow will be different. A good night’s sleep might
cool her veins and return her to normal. It better.

11

Scarlet

I packed my bag before I left the
bedroom the next morning. I was so angry with Sean that I didn’t
want to be around him anymore. How could he possibly expect me to
get married at his family estate? Rumors would be circulating about
our plane adventure and everyone would whisper behind my back. They
would know I had no parents, I didn’t come from money, and I was
the reason Sean moved away. And I would have to smile and pretend
that I was fine with everything even though I was far from it. This
was my day and I wanted it to happen my way. I didn’t even have a
father to give me away, or a mother to fix my veil. I would just be
embarrassed. Sean didn’t care at all.

When I walked into the living room
with the bag over my shoulder, Sean was already awake. He was
sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee on the table. I was
surprised he was awake this early. I knew he had work, but not for
another hour.

His eyes widened when he looked at me.
“Are you being serious right now?” He rose to a stand and glared at
me. “So when I want to leave you threaten to break up with me, but
you can just leave whenever you want? That’s bullshit.”

I glared at him. “Fuck
you.”

He stepped toward me. “Fuck you, Scar.
Where are you going? To Ryan’s, right?”

I stared at him.

“
Why don’t you marry him
then? He seems to solve all your problems.”

“
Shut up.”

“
No.”

I saw his chest rise and fall with his
heavy breathing. I knew how angry he was. “Are you leaving
me?”

I stared at him. “Yes.”

His breathing increased as he listened
to my words. The pain in his eyes was tantamount.

“
For now,” I
added.

He looked at me. “Are you ending this
relationship?”

“
No.”

He breathed a sigh of relief but he
still looked angry. “Take all the time you need. I’ll be here when
you’re ready to apologize.”

“
Excuse me?” Now I was
pissed again. “You’re the selfish asshole that doesn’t care about
my feelings at all.”

“
Me?” he asked. “You’re
the one who’s being a bitch, Scarlet. There’s absolutely no
justification to your actions. You knew that’s where I would get
married someday. You knew that years ago. It can’t change. This is
what I want.”

I shook my head. “What about what I
want?”

“
Fine,” he said. “My
parents and family won’t be there. That’s what you
want?”

“
Yes.”