Checkmate - THE FINAL LEVEL

TwentyOne

A huge smile peeled across my face as I spotted Chris with a huge bouquet in his hand. "Hey beautiful."

"Hello." I said as I approached him. "This is so pretty."

"Well my lady said she wanted to be asked out on a date properly and I think this should do the job right?"

"Yes, absolutely."

"So Mya, would you like to go out to dinner with me this weekend."

"I would love to." I held onto his chin with my free hand and kissed him multiple times. "I love you."

"I love you too baby." He kissed me again. "Wanna take a walk?"

"Of course. Let me sit down these heavy ass flowers though." I placed my flowers on one of the chairs then grabbed his hand and we started walking. "It's so peaceful out here. Would you ever move to an island?"

"Absolutely. Anything that gets me away from the craziness that LA brings."

"You know you love LA. I've been saying that it's toxic for years."

"But you stuck around."

"Yes because you were there and it was your home. I didn't want to pull you away."

"If things get back to how they were with us, would you be up to leaving LA?"

"I would, but the real question is would you?"

"I've already been looking."

My eyes grew. "Seriously?"

"Yeah...I love LA but I've outgrown it. I want more peace and quiet. I want a big ass house on acres of land for kids to play on. Some shit that we can pass down."

"So you want to go back to Virginia?"

"It's an option, it doesn't have to be there. I'd stay in Cali as long as I'm further away from the chaos but I don't think that's possible for real."

"I think we should leave Cali for sure if we want something new."

"We? So you're coming with me?"

"I'll go anywhere you go."

He smiled. "I think we should have a moment of transparency right now."

"About?"

"A few things." Chris walked us over to a spot further from the water and sat down. I took a seat next to him. "Did you really want this divorce?"

"No and I thought we already established that. I felt like I had something to prove to the world. I didn't want to be seen as weak. My husband did me dirty but I still love him more than anything. That doesn't sound crazy to you."

"We're human, we're allowed to do crazy things like that."

"And I just never expected you to do what you did. The way you claim you're obsessed with me and all of that but it was so easy for you to betray me. I'm really obsessed with you, so obsessed that nothing another man says or does could move me. To even imagine myself with anyone other than you is stomach turning."

Chris deeply inhaled. "I'll forever kick myself for letting that lady get close to me. I wish I could go back and change it all but I can't."

"And I wish I would've told you about Ro because that's what started all of this."

"Yeah."

"How do you think she's doing mentally. I check on her all the time and she says that she's okay but I'm not sure if I buy it."

"I ask her the same thing and get the same answers. I pray for her sanity. I try not to smother her but I never want to let her out of my sight after what happened? And the fact that LAPD is just not doing shit about this case is killing me."

"I'm sure if she was a white woman it would've been solved the same night it happened but that's another story for another day. When we get home we'll go down to the station."

"For sure. Something gotta happen that stupid ass nigga. I hope that we've done such a good job with Landon that he knows to never harm a woman in any kind of way. I'll never want him to repeat my mistakes."

"He won't Chris." I grabbed his hand. "I think we're doing a good job with our babies. There's still some ways to go but so far they're decent little human beings. A little crazy but cool."

"True."

"And since we're talking about kids, why the hell do you let Landon jump off the balcony into the pool?!"

Chris opened his mouth then closed it then gave me a goofy smile. "It was once baby, relax. I made sure he jumped from the perfect spot. It was pretty cool."

"You and that boy want to give me a heart attack, I'm convinced."

"I thought you agreed to let him live a little."

"I didn't want him to jump off a balcony Chris."

"You're so boring."

"I'll be that if it keeps my son safe."

"Blah, wanna have sex?"

I squinted my eyes at him, then shook my head while getting up. "You're annoying."

"What? Did I say something wrong?"

"You're not touching me until I'm ready for you to do so. I said I was serious about this no sex thing."

"Ugh, alright man damn." He got up too and we headed back to the house.

"Can I tell you something?" I asked before we walked into our backyard.

"Anything."

"I want to address this before it becomes a big issue but me being drugged has me a little paranoid. Like I went to get some water before I came out here and something in my head tells me it's probably not safe. I'm freaking out Chris."

"If I have to bring somebody in here to test everything in this house to make you comfortable I'll do that. I hate that you went through that Mya."

"I just have to fight this because I don't want to end up freaking out about everything, you know."

"You won't, I got you." Chris pulled me into his arms and hugged me tight.

I really hope I don't spiral.