Amended Hearts (Interracial Romance)

Chapter One: When First Our Eyes Meet

Forgetting all about the note he ran out the front door, hurdled over the hedge and made it to the front of her house in record time. As he reached the front porch, he heard music and laughter. Well, obviously she was okay. He felt foolish, thinking about how his sprint across the lawn must have looked. He barely knew the woman, after all. He’d made sure of that. Besides, he was still dressed in dark jeans and a sweater. He hadn’t even removed his leather jacket yet.

Just as he was about to turn around, the door opened. Another man stood there, dressed similarly. “Hey, I’m Derrick. You must be here for the party.”

“Yes,” was all he could think to say. Then, seeing a puzzled look cross his face, “Oh, I’m Gabriel. Gabriel Cortez. I live next door.”

He came out and closed the door behind him. “You must have just gotten back. We’ve been waiting for you to call or come by so we could tell you all about what happened. This probably isn’t the best time, but I’m sure the note explained most of it.”

“Yes, yes of course.” The note! He should have read the thing after all. “Is Aaliyah okay?”

“Yes, she’s fine, but I don’t have to tell you that she’s a little jumpy. You must feel that way also, knowing some stranger was basically staying in your house. Sorry if we compounded that feeling by having the cleaning service come in, but we couldn‘t just leave that mess for you to find when you returned. Francis Merrin was a lot of help, too. By the way, I hope that you enjoyed your dinner. I like cooking a good meal. It always relaxes me when I‘m thinking about a new design.” Then, “Anyway, I’ve got to get going. My girlfriend noticed that we’re running low on ice, and the caterer has his hands full with the number of extra guests who showed up. Go on in and have a good time. You deserve it after all this.”

“Thanks, I will,” Gabriel replied automatically. Inside, he was still stunned. The rapist had been in his house? And what was all this we stuff, anyway? Who was Derrick to Aaliyah? He hadn’t been living here when Gabriel left town, he would have noticed. He stopped himself short. He had no right to speculate about her personal life. They weren’t even friends. She was just a woman he nodded to as he picked up his paper in the morning.

He knocked but, after receiving no response, tried the knob. It was open, so he went inside. Wow! The soundproofing on this house must be incredible. He was startled by the cacophony of voices and background music that emerged from a doorway on the right wall of the foyer. People from the neighborhood were everywhere. They milled about the curved staircase in the foyer with the mahogany banister. As he walked around, he saw retirees playing chess with kids at tables set up in what appeared to be a family room. Teenagers and college kids lounged about eating pizza in an entertainment room, watching a movie that just left the theaters on a huge flat screen television. When he glanced into the doorway where the majority of people were located, he saw everything from adults in their early twenties to retirees enjoying good conversation as they ate from a large buffet and sipped their drinks. Well, at least everyone was reasonably casual. He didn’t stand out too noticeably.

He walked inside, noticing that a number of the people there bore a striking resemblance to Derrick. They must have strong genes in his family. If his family was here, might this be something more than a simple party? They might be getting engaged. He struggled; trying to remember what was written on the invitation he’d automatically tossed into the garbage.

He grabbed a soda from a passing waiter. Where was Aaliyah, anyway? He refused to acknowledge that he’d wanted her to “go away” less than an hour ago. He just needed to see her, to know for himself that she was okay. Then, he could go home.

That’s when he saw her. It was like something out of one of those stupid chick flicks. His eyes had rested unconsciously on one group in particular, and one lady shifted to the left revealing the most striking woman he’d ever seen. He didn’t mean just beautiful, though she was that. She was…arresting. Her skin was so smooth and chocolaty brown. It looked so delicate that he thought it might snag if he touched it, and he wanted to touch it. Her cheekbones were high, her eyes large and expressive, and her smile….  He didn’t know that a smile could contain such warmth and joy. Her hair was cut into a bob that barely skimmed the bottom of her jaw. Long silver earrings dangled from her ears, drawing his eye down to her throat revealed by the V-shaped neckline of her wraparound blouse. It was dark orange in color, with long full sleeves, and seemed to skim her figure, hugging various parts of her curvy body lovingly as she turned this way or that. Her black pants flowed down long legs to brush the tops of her heels.