The Double-Tap Accident

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Above and Beyond.

I glanced over at Iman. One of his many sweaters' arms was poking out of the sleeve of his jacket. "You're wearing it."

"I had two sweaters I brought today. Mari forgot hers and she was cold in genetics so I brought it for her. Also, she's been seeming a little tense lately."

The Kyle stuff. Of course, Iman would be able to read her properly. "You think so?"

"I know her," He declared, keeping his eyes straight ahead as we approached the room I figured was his destination. "I know so."  

He opened the door, gesturing for me to enter first. But once I did, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye.

I froze, locking eyes with the other person in the room.

Oh my God. When I turned around, away from him, the door slammed shut behind me.

That was when I got angry. Jiggling the doorknob with all my might, it didn't give. "Iman!"

The man in the room didn't say anything but the man on the other side of the door remained calm. "I'm not letting you out until you see what he has to say."

See? "IMMANUEL."

"NO!" He shouted back. "Give him five minutes."

"I don't want to give him any minutes!"

"Jaime, please," We both struggled with the handle for a few more seconds but he had the upper hand of strength. "You know I wouldn't be holding onto this door if I didn't think this was a good idea. I wouldn't do that to you. You wouldn't do that to me. You know it."

The air expelled from my cheeks at his last sentence. A part of me hated that I did know it. Iman was a man of good intentions. If he was doing this, it wasn't going to be because he foresaw me getting hurt. He always meant well with his actions and that caused me to turn around.

Aven looked patient as he always seemed to be, expecting this response from me. He still had yet to shave; the stubble dusted the golden-brown skin of his cheeks. The clothes he was wearing made me suppress my surprise. They were a part of the ones I had picked out for him that time he came to my workplace. That felt like forever ago. We felt like forever ago.

I stood there staring at him, wondering why he was wearing clothes as if he had presented in front of a group of important people. As if he was about to present in front of me.

When he spoke I fought the need to shut my eyes and embrace his deep voice. "I need you to hear me out."

"Hear you out about what? We don't need to have a repeat of our last conversation," I stressed. "At the end of the day, we weren't together. You didn't cheat on me."

"But you said it feels like I did."

"Because that's what it felt like," I snapped before putting my hands on my face. I was doing so good at moving past this, past him.

Iman's five-minute rule flew out the window of the room we were standing in as my frustration got the best of me. I rattled the doorknob, ignoring my friend's protest on the other side of the room as I put my entire strength into exiting the room. Whatever he had to say didn't matter. There was absolutely nothing to speak about anym—

"I have proof."

I stopped rattling the doorknob, turning to face him. "Excuse me?" 

"I have proof," He said slowly and it was then I noticed he had a remote in his hand. "Iman said that you won't change your mind about us unless you were proven otherwise. I'm here to prove you otherwise."