When a Champion Wants You (11 page)

“Dang,” Sherita
said.

“Rita, I told Melanie to
give him a chance,” Emily said.

Melanie shook her head. “I
wanted to give him a chance because the quick marriage route worked
out well for you and Dante. But it doesn’t work for everyone,
especially when your heart has been broken so many times, you’ve
pretty much given up on love.”

“But you
can’t live in the past, Melanie,” Emily said. “That’s where I was
going wrong. I never thought I could love another man after I lost
Melvin, and I had no desire to. And yes, Dante came on to me very
strong, but eventually I saw that he really did care about me and
love me. I know Scott hurt you, and you thought you would be with
him forever…that you would have a family and live happily ever
after, but sometimes you have to go through a lot of bad ones to
get to that
one
good one…the one who could completely change your life
forever. That’s what Dante has done for me, and I know he loves me.
I know he wouldn’t hurt me and I’m looking forward to spending the
rest of my life with him. You could have that with Dimitrius. He’s
bit of a straight shooter, but he’s never been indecisive about
anything. I think it’s worth a shot to explore him a lil’ bit,
girl.”

“It’s not that easy,
Emily.” Melanie sighed. “I…I haven’t told anyone what I’m about to
tell you ladies, so please do not repeat it.” She sighed again. “I
never wanted anyone to know this but, here goes. I lied. I didn’t
break up with Scott because he cheated on me.”

“You didn’t?” Emily asked
confused.

“Hear me
out,” Melanie said. “Scott never cheated on me. The reason we broke
up is because I found out I couldn’t have children and when I told
Scott, he changed…he slowly began withdrawing from me since he knew
I couldn’t give him a family.” Melanie’s eyes brimmed with tears.
“So
he
broke up with
me
, and I promised myself that I would never become seriously
involved with anyone after him because I never wanted to have a
conversation about my infertility ever again. I have no strength
left inside of me to explain to another man why I can’t have his
children and how he could never have a family with me. It’s not
fair for me to put someone in that predicament, so I chose to be
single. After all, some people are meant to be happy in this world,
and some people are not. Unfortunately, I fall on the side of those
who are not, and I’m trying to cope with that as best as I
can.”

“Oh my gosh, Melanie,”
Emily said, scooting next to Melanie on the couch, throwing her arm
around her. “I’m so sorry.”

“Me, too, Melanie,”
Sherita said. “I know that’s difficult.”

“Why didn’t you tell me,
Melanie?” Emily asked.

“I was too ashamed. I
didn’t know how to tell you.”

“It’s nothing to be
ashamed about. It’s beyond your control, and if Scott didn’t
understand that, then he wasn’t the man for you anyway.”

“But look at Dimitrius for
example,” Melanie said. “Let’s say that I agree to take him up on
his offer to get to know him and somehow, by means of a miracle
from above, we end up falling in love. How am I going to tell
him?”

“You could tell him right
now so he’ll know what he’s getting into,” Emily
suggested.

“Yeah, so I can have
another man walk away from me…”

“That’s not necessarily
true, Melanie,” Emily said. “You won’t really know unless you have
a conversation with him.”

“Then I guess I won’t know
because I promised myself I would never do that again.” She wiped
her eyes. “It’s hard enough for me to accept the fact that I can’t
have children. I don’t want to see the look of disappointment on
another man’s face simply because I can’t have children.” Melanie
stood up and dabbed her eyes again. “Anyway, I need to go…not
feeling so good right now. Sherita, I’ll take some banana pudding
to go.”

“Okay, girl.”

Melanie walked to the
kitchen. Emily followed, taking a small, plastic Tupperware
container from the cupboard for her, then after Melanie took a few
scoops of banana pudding, she closed the container
tight.

Emily walked with her to
her car and wrapped her arms around her. “You know I love you like
sister, don’t you?”

“Love you too,
Em.”

“Alright. Drive safe. I’ll
see you tomorrow, ‘kay?”

“Okay.”

Chapter 14

Melanie sat up
in bed the next morning after enduring a
frustrating night of bad memories. She hated it when Scott was on
her mind because he had been the man she thought she would marry.
He was a respected business man. He was smart. He dressed nice. He
was good to her. A
great
catch
, her mother would say. He quickly
became a part of the family, and everyone knew she and Scott would
be married. It was the next logical step in their relationship,
especially since they were so much in love. Melanie had even begun
looking at wedding gowns and thinking about the season in which
they would tie the knot. She had discussions with her mother about
love and marriage – the ups and downs of it. She remembered her
mother saying that marriage was a lot of work, and everything
wouldn’t run smoothly all the time. There would be some good years
and some bad years, but it was the making-it-work part that would
give her the most satisfaction.

Then, a visit to the
gynecologist revealed the unsettling news that she wouldn’t be able
to get pregnant. She took the news hard and debated on whether or
not to tell Scott. She knew he wanted kids. Three of them, he would
say. But if he really loved her, he wouldn’t leave her, right?
That’s why she decided to tell him, and, to her surprise, he seemed
to be understanding. Then she felt him withdrawing his love and
affection for her, little by little until he couldn’t take it
anymore. He was tired of pretending to be okay with it when he knew
he couldn’t be with her.

After Scott broke up with
her, she was depressed and spent a lot of time in seclusion,
completely removing herself from family and friends. She took a
leave of absence from her job and sulked in her own misery for
nearly a month. She had to pay bills, so she went back to work
eventually, but it didn’t mean she was ready. Even down to this
day, she still hadn’t fully recovered from what Scott had done to
her.

* * *

She stood up, shuffled her
hair then washed her face, staring at her sad eyes in the mirror.
Whenever she cried, even if it was only for a little while, it
would be noticeable by the puffiness of her lids. Grateful that she
didn’t have anywhere to go today, she slid into a black robe then
headed for the kitchen to get a glass of water, but the ringing of
the doorbell interrupted her stride. She glanced at the clock. The
time was 10:17 a.m. Who was at her door this time of morning?
Unannounced? On a Saturday?

Tying the straps of her
robe tighter, she walked over to the door, peered through the
peephole and saw Dimitrius, standing there.

Crap! What is he doing
here?

She racked her brain,
trying to figure out if he’d made plans and she’d forgotten. That
maybe her little meltdown last night had thrown her off track, but
she couldn’t recall making any plans with Dimitrius for a Saturday
morning. The last time she’d spoken to him, he’d stuck his tongue
in her mouth. She swallowed hard at the thought that he might try
something like that again. Maybe she shouldn’t open the
door…

The doorbell rang once
more.

Once again, Melanie looked
through the peephole, staring at him. He was bright-eyed, looked
ready to tackle the day or maybe even tackle her. And why was he
smiling now?

“Melanie, I can feel you
behind the door, sweetheart,” Dimitrius said. “You may as well open
it.”

Leaving the chain locked,
she unlocked the deadbolt and then, with a crack in the door, she
asked, “What are you doing here, Dimitrius?”

“A better question is, why
do you have the chain on the door like you’re scared I’m going to
rob you?” He laughed.

Melanie smiled. “Because
you’re at my apartment in the wee hours of the morning unannounced,
and I’m not dressed.”

He rolled his wrist to see
his watch. “You said
wee
hours of the morning?” He laughed
again.

So did she. “You know what
I mean. And I also said I’m not dressed.”

“Well get
dressed.”

“Why?”

“I’m taking you out to
breakfast, then we’re going hiking.”

“Hiking?”

“Yes, hiking. Now will you
stop treating me like a criminal and invite me in?”

She unlatched the chain
and opened the door wide, inviting him inside. She caught a hint of
his scent when he walked pass her. He smelled fresh and masculine,
and he looked stunning. She was glad to see that he stepped up his
casual game a notch, too – wearing a pair of khaki shorts, a
burgundy Polo T-shirt and Timberland shoes.

Dimitrius looked Melanie
up and down once he stepped into the living room, noticing the
black robe she wore stopped at her knees, exposing a nice pair of
legs. He studied her feet, observing every single toe, then his
gaze roamed up to her face. She wasn’t wearing any makeup, he
noticed, but he also noticed something else – something he didn’t
like. Sadness. He’d never seen her eyes so puffy. So sad. She was
always happy and jovial – never sad.

“This is the first time
you’ve been to my place, huh?”

“Yeah. It is.”

“Well, it’s just a
one-bedroom apartment…not much to show. This is the living room,
there’s the kitchen and the bathroom and bedroom is down this short
hallway. “I’m going to take a shower real quick. I’ll be right
back.”

“Wait,” he said, taking a
few steps closer to her. He tilted her head up so she was looking
at him, and with his hands resting against her face, he asked, “Did
I upset you last night?”

“No, well, um…”

“I’m sorry if I did. I
never want to do anything to upset you, Melanie.”

“I’m okay, Dimitrius,” she
said, looking into his eyes.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’m fine. Now the
sooner you remove your hands from beside my face, the sooner I can
get ready to go.”

“Okay.” Dimitrius lowered
his hands, but he would’ve liked nothing more than to kiss her
again like he’d done last night, holding her head in place just
where he wanted it.

“I’ll be right back,” she
told him, then turned to walk away. “Oh, and excuse the place. I
wasn’t expecting company.”

Dimitrius looked around.
He didn’t know what she was excusing because nothing appeared to be
out of place.

“I’ll try to make this
quick,” he heard her yell from behind the closed bedroom
door.

“Take your time,” he told
her as he walked around the living room. Something about being in
her living quarters felt homey and comfortable – like he was
supposed to be there. Like he belonged. It left him with a good
feeling of knowing she was indeed the woman for him. He could sense
it. Now, he had the task of making her sense it as well.

Looking at the pictures on
the wall, he saw a photo of her parents. Melanie had striking
similarities to her mother. Beautiful.

He stood still and glanced
around the place again. Her apartment was small, about the size of
the place he had when he and his brothers had relocated to
Ashville. It was cozy and quaint compared to his five-bedroom house
that sat on two acres. He bought the place a year and a half ago,
around the same time he made up his mind that he wanted to be a
one-woman man and settle down with a family.

He continued on to the
kitchen. It was neat and organized, everything in its proper place.
On the wall, there was a mail organizer near the refrigerator and a
calendar that she’d written on constantly. Every block had a
different message. Appointments. Her work schedule. That told him
something, too – that she liked order and organization as much as
he did. That was one thing they had in common, something he could
build on.

“Ready?”

He turned around to meet
her voice and, when he did, he felt something stir inside of him at
the sight of her. She had on a pair of distressed jeans, a yellow
tank top and a pair of black Toms. Her curly hair was gathered up
into a ponytail, allowing the visibility of the gold hoops in her
ears.

“Yes. I’m ready,” he
finally said.

He headed for the door,
then she followed, locking it, and when they were both in the car,
he looked at her and said, “You look beautiful.”

She grinned. “I bet I do
now, compared to how you saw me a moment ago.”

“You were beautiful then,
too.”

“Liar.”

He smirked. “You
were.”

“Why didn’t you say that,
then?”

“Because I was more
concerned about why you’d been crying.”