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-Two weeks later-
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It was Monday afternoon; Precious had just finished her final class of the day and was walking down her campus hallway, along with her two friends Gabrielle and James.
As she listened to Gabrielle rant on about something, her mind was in another place completely different. She hadn't been able to stop thinking about what happened with her and Ian at the gala. It was why she had been avoiding him and was refusing to go back home on the weekends, in fear of having to face him again.
When he kissed her, it had taken her by surprise. She never expected that to happen, especially due to the fact that he was Chris' uncle, and that made her feel even more guilty. For the past two weeks, numerous thoughts had been running through her mind about why he did what he did. Could he possibly be interested in her, or did he simply just do it in the heat of the moment?. As confused and bewildered as she felt, she was even more terrified of knowing the answers to that question.
Almost six months ago when he had decided to remain in Michigan and give up his life in LA after Chris had left to New York, it had confused her as to why. She didn't expect him to check in on her everyday and look out for her, and although she found it a little strange at first, she realized that he was simply protecting her and taking care of her due to her broken heart. They had spent a lot of time together ever since late April, and she deeply appreciated his time and company. She saw him as a friend, and like an older brother she could confide in, but little did she know that despite the age difference between them, he saw her as something more. It made her wonder how she never noticed the way he looked at her for a little too long, how tender he was to her and how he gave her everything she wanted, even when she didn't need to ask. She had never been more confused, and although her and Chris were broken up, she knew that he would be furious if he ever found out.
Shaking away her thoughts moments later, she breathed out a quiet sigh and clutched onto her, before turning her attention back to Gabrielle.
"I still can't believe Professor Shane called me out in class and threatened to expel me in-front of everyone all because I said that I didn't like the movie Call of the wind" Gabrielle groaned, throwing her hands in the air. "Like I'm sorry that I'm not about a movie that glorifies black people being happy as slaves in a racist time period... what a fucking joke" she stated briefly.
"He threatened to expel you because you called him a sad old man who failed in his film career so he resulted to teaching instead" James spoke up, arching his brow at her.
"And he deserved it, right Precious?" said Gabrielle, rotating her head to glance down at her as she scoffed lightly. "That reminds me, Precious. I have a favor to ask you, and girl please don't say no".
Precious furrowed her eyebrows and pursed her lips slightly, before speaking up. "What is it?" she asked, a little puzzled.
"Well..." Gabrielle trailed off, placing her hand on her hip. "You remember that boy; Will, I told you I met on Campus last Thursday?" she asked, as Precious slowly nodded. "Well he asked me to go to this club not far from campus tomorrow night. His friend is coming along, and I told him I'll bring one of my friends to make it a double date, so... how would like to?-"
"No" Precious spoke, quickly cutting her off.
"Oh girl c'mon, why not?" she groaned. "Look his friend's name is Martin, he's a student athlete, not to mention tall and fine as hell. He looks like a younger version of Michael B. Jordan".
"Look, Gab, I'm sure he's nice but, I'm not really looking to date anybody right now or be set up" Precious shrugged, turning to look ahead.
"Precious, we're both two beautiful black women who deserve the world. Now we've been at College for a little over a month now and the only guy we've been hanging around with ever since is boring ass James, so you have to come with me tomorrow night, please" she pleaded, clasping her hands together.
"Uh, in-case you forgot, I'm right here" James chimed in at Gabrielle. "And you shouldn't pressure her, if she doesn't wanna go on the double date then-
"Ugh stay outta this James, this is girl's business... besides don't you have basketball tryouts to go to and fail to make the College team?" she asked, as they reached outside.
James rolled his eyes away and groaned under his breath before speaking up. "For your information, I actually made the team this morning" he uttered.
"Seriously? you're like what 5'8, 5'9? they must be desperate" she sneered, folding her arms as she mocked him.
"They chose me, because I'm good at basketball" he hissed, looking directly at her.
"I'm sure you are" she replied.
He rolled his eyes away from her once again and said his goodbye to Precious, before turning to walk away. They watched as he walked further down, before turning to head in the other direction.
"Look, Gab, I'd love to go to the club if it was just the two of us, but I'm not in the right state of mind to go on a date" she breathed out, thinking back to Chris and Ian.
Gabrielle tapped lightly on her hip and pouted her lips, before speaking up. "Well, you see... I already told them you'd be coming" she uttered as Precious stopped dead in her tracks to look at her. "I'm sorry, I knew that if I asked you before you would've said no. C'mon, it'll be fun, and you never know we could both be dating somebody by the end of the semester. I have to go, but I'll see you back at our room later" she leaned down to give her a hug, before going to walk past her.
Precious closed her eyes and breathed out a deep sigh. She stood frozen to the ground for the next couple minutes, in her own whirlwind of thoughts. As the cold October's breeze blew in her direction, she quickly zipped up her jacket and wrapped a scarf around her neck, before hearing the sound of her phone ringing from inside her backpack.
Opening the zip, she quickly reached inside for her phone. As she glanced down at the Caller Id to see that it was Ian calling, her heart rate began to quicken. She held in a deep breath and watched it ring for a few more seconds, before deciding to decline the call.
As she went to place her phone back inside her backpack, she heard a voice come from behind her, causing her heart rate to instantly increase.
"I never thought we'd get to a point where you'd avoid me and decline my calls".
With hesitation, she slowly turned her head around to see Ian, holding up his phone in his hand. The feeling of him grabbing her face and kissing her, came flooding back to her, causing her to look away from him and take a step back.
Ian peered down at her as she looked everywhere but right at him, whilst she nervously joined her hands together and pressed her lips tightly. Truth is he didn't know what came over him that night. He'll admit he lacked self-control in the past with many different women, but he was able to keep that self-control with Precious for a little while, till he no longer could. He knew the kiss completely threw her off and came as a great shock to her, but as much as he tried to regret it as she dated and is probably still in love with his nephew, he couldn't.
"Precious..." he trailed off, as he tried to get her to look at him. "I know I'm the last person you wanna see right now, but can we talk and I'll explain-
"I-I'm late for my world debate club, I have to go" she said, lowering her head as she went to walk past him, but he quickly grabbed her arm, before she could walk any further.
"Please just let me explain..." he muttered silently as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable, it wasn't my intention to. I know you probably have a lot of questions for me, but just know that I-"
"I don't wanna know anything" she spoke, quickly cutting him off his sentence. "I don't wanna know that you probably have a thing for me, when I thought we were just friends. I think its best if you just leave me alone right now, Ian, I'm confused as it is... I'm sorry, but I have to go".
She slowly removed his hand from her arm, before she glanced back up at him one more time, before turning her back to him, leaving him in deep and endless thoughts as he watched her walk away.
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-Over in New York-
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After a long morning of work, Chris was over at Valentina's apartment as he watched her show him the baby clothes she had recently bought.
He chuckled lightly as she brought out a tiny baby blue elephant onesie, before going to grasp his dad's necklace that Cecelia had given him on his birthday, around is neck. Just like his dad many years ago, he had refused to take it off ever since. It was something that was slowly bringing him a calmness and peaceful clarity and closure which was allowing him to finally move past his father's death, as it was something that destroyed him and all of the relationships with people close to him, earlier on in the year
Moments later, he heard his phone beep, and he slowly reached into his pocket and pulled it out to read through the message.
"Chris, I was gonna ask you, since you're really good at drawing, do you mind painting some pictures on the wall in his nursery?" Valentina spoke up, as she ruffled through the baby clothes in the bag. When she didn't hear him reply, she scrunched up her face, before lifting her head back up to see him looking down at his phone.
"What are you looking at?" she asked, placing her hand down on her bump.
"Oh its just something from Kayla" he replied briefly.
She studied the expression on his face as he continued to read through the message, noticing some little things about him.
"Oh my god, don't tell me..." she muttered quietly as Chris lifted his head back up to face her. "Do not tell me that you are sleeping with her, that was a sext that she just sent you right? when did this even start?" she groaned, placing her hand on her forehead.
"What if I am?" he asked, turning his phone off and placing it back in his pocket. "Besides, I don't know why you hate her so much".
"Because we don't know her" she groaned loudly. "She came into your life five months ago and just threw herself in everything like she was obligated to you; in your business, in your personal life, and you just let her instead of telling her to piss off and now you're sleeping with her? you don't know anything about her, Chris, other than the fact that she's just another rich girl, and your mom is defending her possible killer dad in court".
Chris ran his hands down his face and leaned back on the sofa before letting out a deep sigh. "I know everything about her, we've talked, about a lot of things. And if you think I'm leading her on, I'm not. I told her that I'm not looking to be in a relationship and she understands that. Its just sex, which we've had several times. Plus she's been there for me, I thought she was a little strange at first, but-"
"Oh please..." Valentina hissed, rolling her eyes away and cutting him off his sentence. "Just because someone's been there for you, doesn't mean they deserve you or are obligated to you. And we all know she has a huge crush on you, so what if she ends up wanting a relationship with you, what are you gonna do then?".
"What the fuck do you want me to say, Val?" Chris kissed his teeth, getting irritated by the second.
"What about Precious?..." she questioned, getting up from the sofa and throwing her arms in the air. "You're still crazy in love with her and you're screwing another girl? don't you think she'd be hurt by that if she finds out?".
Silence fell upon them as Chris ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "Precious is in College, and in College there are guys, and she's beautiful. Look I know you want us to hopefully get back together someday, but this isn't a fucking fairy tale, Val. I'm not gonna sit here and feel miserable over her when I know she's moved on. Its been almost four months and its time I moved on too. That's what we both did; we both chose to move on with our lives instead of working things out, and I hope she's happy right now, because that's something that I could never give her" he muttered the last bit silently.
"No... when you went back, she broke up with you this time and chose to move on even though you didn't want to, and you didn't have the courage to fight for her. Maybe that's what she wanted, for you to really fight for her and show her that you love her and-"
"I'm not doing this right now, Val... just please stop" he breathed out, quickly cutting her off her sentence.
The expression on her face started to slowly soften as she watched him hang his head low in silence. Sighing quietly to herself, she slowly sat back down on the sofa beside him, before lifting her hand to place on his shoulder.
"Chris... you know I love you, I'm your best friend" she muttered quietly, gently rubbing his shoulder. "I just want you to be happy and I'm trying to look out for you the best way I can and protect you, just like you do the same for me".
As she finished her sentence, Chris slowly lifted his head back up and turned to face her. "I know... but I have to try and move on with my life, Val, its the only way..." he whispered as she slightly pursed her lips together. He glanced down at his watch around his wrist, before running his hand down his face.
"Cecelia's flight back to Michigan is soon, I'm gonna go see her off at the airport. I'll see you later" he said, picking up his leather jacket from the side, before getting up from the sofa and going to head over to the front door as she watched his every move, sighing to herself as he walked out the door.
A while later, Chris strolled inside JFK airport. He stopped to look around at all the people, before spotting Cecelia waving at him from afar, drawing some attention to herself. He smiled over at her and lowered his head as he slipped one hand in his pocket, before going to walk over to her.
As he approached her, she quickly placed her suitcase on the ground and threw her arms around him, pulling her into a big hug and he hugged back, placing his head down on her shoulder.
Ever since she came to see him for his birthday, she had remained in New York. The time they had spent together for the past two weeks had given them a chance to find the nature of their relationship before Phillip's death and deepen their bond with each other. When he died earlier on in the year, they never had time to comfort one another or be there for each other as they were both deeply hurt and broken in their own ways, and seeing as Chris had left for New York right after his funeral, they made up for it these past few weeks, and even though being around her made reminded him more and more about Precious, he was extremely thankful and grateful he had someone like her in his life, someone who would never give up on him, despite all of his faults and mistakes.
They pulled away from the hug moments later, and Cecelia placed her hand on his cheeks to properly look up at his face. She glanced down at the small gift bag in his hand, before speaking up.
"What's in the bag?" she asked.
"Right, I forgot to give it to you yesterday, I had to rush back to my place to get it" he said, before handing the bag to her.
She looked at him for a brief moment, before going to take the bag of him. She reached inside moments later to pull out a drawing, causing her to quickly cover her mouth. It was a drawing of her and Phillip when they were younger, along with Angela when she was a little girl.
"When I left for New York, I took some of my dad's photo albums with me. I was going through it last week and I came across this picture of the three of you on a beach in 1991 so I decided to sketch it" he spoke, glancing down at the drawing. "The three of you were really happy together as a family, and I'm sorry things didn't work out for you and my died in the end. If he wasn't dead, I know you two would be together now, but I know he'd still want you to be happy because he loved you more than anything or anyone he's ever known".
Cecelia lifted her hand up to rub his cheek as tears sprinkled into her eyes. "You're very talented, baby, I'll keep this with me and show it to Angela when I get back" she spoke teary-eyed, before the announcement for her plane echoed through the speakers.
She placed the drawing inside her purse and took a deep breath, before going to look Chris in the eye. "These past two weeks have been great for the both of us, don't think that this is the last time I'll come to see you, baby. We need each other, and I'll miss you too much" she said, taking his hand as he flashed a warm smile at her.
"I know, I'll miss you too" he replied as she rubbed his palm gently.
"Now, pick up when I call you okay, and make sure that you're eating well, I know that you're a great cook, hell even better than me" she muttered, as he laughed lightly. "Also make sure that you take care of yourself, and... and I want you to forgive your mom. Give her another chance. She's not a bad person, she loved you, and women like her its hard for them to show love sometimes, but she needs you right now, more than I do" she spoke, giving him a hug, before going to pick up her suitcase as Chris lowered his head slightly.
"Precious will be fine, she's a big girl now. Whenever you're truly ready for her, she'll be ready for you, just remember that".
That was the last thing she said, before she gave him one last smile, before turning around to walk away, as he stood frozen to the ground with her words echoing over and over in his head, despite the loud noises around him.
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-Later on in the day-
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After debating with himself for hours, Chris had found himself outside the door of his mother's pent-house.
He slipped his hands inside his pockets, wanting to turn around to walk away, but he brushed away his fear and built up the courage that he needed. Courage; that was something that he severely lacked, it wasn't something that came easy for him. If it did, then everything in his life wouldn't have previously fallen apart.
He stared at her door in silence for a few more minutes, before reaching for the key inside his pocket that he had given her when he was living with her, and used it to open the door.
After he inserted the key in the hole, he paused for a little while and took a deep breath, before slowly pushing the door open. Once he stepped inside, he looked ahead to see his mom fast asleep on the sofa in her pant suit. On the table was numerous files of documents for Kayla's dad's trail scattered all across, with some on the floor. It was 7:30 pm, but he didn't expect her to be asleep as his mother was a woman who never believed in rest. For the past 20+ years, she's prided herself in absolute and complete perfection in her career, even if that meant given up peace and rest, especially when she most needed it.
Turning around, he slowly and carefully closed the door behind her so he wouldn't wake her. He bent down to pick up her heels of the floor, before placing it to the side.
Looking back at her, he then walked over to close the blinds, not before stopping to glance down at the city and the bright New York street lights that cascaded into the living room.
He took of his jacket and threw it to the side, before going to grab a blanket from inside the closet. He walked back over to his mom and used it to gently place over her to keep her warm as it was a little cold inside. Once he was done, he slipped his hands inside his pockets and watched her sleep for a few minutes. This was the first time, in his whole life that he's ever watched her sleep or seen what her sleeping face looks like. As sad as that was, it was the truth. Just like his dad, she was never around and always working so he never got to watch her do many things, just like this.
After a short while, he turned around to go sit on the sofa opposite her, picking up some of the documents on the table to help her with along the way.
As he sunk into the sofa, he began to skim through the files, till he came across a particular one that quickly caught his attention. His mind quickly raced as he slowly pushed his back of the sofa to read through the paper. It was a Doctor's note which stated that she had Stage four cancer.
Lowering the paper from his face, he held a heavy and shocked expression on his face as he stared across from her. He can't remember how long he had sat there in silence watching her sleep as he held the note in his hand, trying to process it, and when he finally did, it hit him harder, harder than he had ever expected.
End of Chapter 14.