Delusional Love (2nd Edition) (19 page)

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“Come
on Ivan, your making a scene” Adam said.

“I
don’t give a fuck, did you see him disrespect me.” Ivan yelled.

“You
disrespected his date Ivan, what did you expect him to do hand her over to you.
Get a fucking grip because this shit isn’t cool. You left her broken hearted
remember, don’t get mad because she is finally picking up the pieces and moving
on with her life.”
 
Lawrence
shouted.

Adam
had never seen his brother out of control.

“Fuck
both of you.”

“Yeah
yeah
, now let’s go find another place to get you
drunk because I’m pretty sure they’re not going to let us back in there.”
Lawrence said as he patted Ivan on the back.

The
three men ended up at Napoli’s, they sat and drank. They all got drunk. Marco
looked over at them and decided to join them. “Can I drink or am I the designated
driver?” Marco said with a smirk.

“No,
Danny’s waiting
outside for us.”

Marco
motioned the waiter to bring him a drink. They all sat solemnly at the booth.

Marco
spoke up. “So, who lost their puppy.
”
Lawrence and
Adam pointed at Ivan. “Huh… I see.” Marco said.

“I
don’t know what I’m going to do, this shit is making me crazy. I despise the
woman I’m about to marry and the one I love now despises me. And to top it off
I’m going to be a father. This shit just is not right.”

“This
is why I don’t do relationships.” Lawrence interjected.

“Yeah
okay, so what do you call what you have with Tara?” Adam responded. Lawrence
glared at Adam but did not respond.

“So
what happened with Stephanie?” Marco inquired. Ivan explained the decision he
made to honor his mother’s wishes. “I know I have no right to be jealous, but
when I saw her at the restaurant with another man I was blinded with anger. I
just wanted to rip his fucking head off. I still want to believe that
she’s mine
,
she belongs to me
. I
was her first and I was supposed to be her last. This entire situation is
fucked

up
.”

“Are
you saying she was a virgin before you?” Lawrence asked.

He
lowered his head as he drained another drink. They all drained their glasses on
that information. “You’ve made your choice so you have to let her go so she can
move on with her life.” Adam added as he signaled the waiter for another round
of drinks.

“First,
the decision was made for me and second I don’t know how to leave her alone.
Did you see how good she looked?” He said to no one in particular. “Enough Ivan
regardless of reason, you made your decision. You now need to man up, stop
fantasizing about what could have been and start preparing yourself to be a
husband and a father.” Adam stated firmly.

“Yeah
well, fuck you too Adam.” Ivan said while signaling for another drink.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Stephanie
and Mark ended up at her apartment. They sat on the sofa and ate their dinner.
Mark started talking about the night she left him.

“Steph
I really need you to understand what was going on in my life when we were
together. I am not making excuses, but I was a different person back then. As
you know my career was just taking off and I thought I had the world by the
balls. I had women throwing themselves at me left and right, but I loved you.
In my warped twisted thinking I justified my sleeping with other woman by
rationalizing that I wanted to wait until our wedding night to make love and it
was okay to sleep with other women. I told myself when we did get married I
would then be faithful. I thought it would be out of my system and I would
eventually marry the woman of my dreams.”

Stephanie
looked at him with a raised brow as she put her food container on the coffee
table. “You know that’s bullshit right. You may have had women throwing it at
you but you didn’t have to take it.”

“I
know that now Steph but at the time I thought I could have it all. It wasn’t
until I saw you standing there in that beautiful black sexy lace bra and thong
under your coat, it was at that very moment that I realized
  
that I could have had it all with
you if I had just been patient. That was a turning point in my life. I decided
I would make myself worthy of you again, but as time went on and you changed
your number and moved, short of hiring a private investigator, I thought you
were lost to me forever. Then I saw you in the restaurant the other day and I
said to myself, God does answer prayers.”

“Oh
Please, you did not pray to find me.” She said laughing

“You
laugh but I’m serious. I just wanted to get the opportunity to say I’m sorry.
I’m sorry for hurting you, for breaking your heart and trust. I am not asking
for a second chance just your forgiveness.”

She
looked into his eyes and saw the sincerity. “I forgive you Mark.”

“Good.”
He said and kissed her on her cheek. He placed his container on the coffee
table. “Now you want to tell me about the crazy Italian and why you have not
told him you are having his babies?”

“It’s
complicated.”

“I’ve
got time.” He said with a smile.

“Well,
I use to work for Ivan he was actually my boss.”

“Oh
an office affair.” He said and smiled.

“Something
like
that. We were instantly attracted to each other,
well I was attracted to him it wasn’t until later that he confessed that he was
also attracted to me. We dated for about a month before our relationship became
intimate.”
‘Maybe less.’
She thought.

“Ouch,
you make a brother wait over six months but the white boy only had to wait one
month, not fair.” He teased.

“You
had your chance, you blew it. Anyway. Our relationship was going well until we
attended a formal gala and his ex shows up claiming to be pregnant with his
baby.”

“I
don’t understand were you sleeping with him without protection?”

“No,
we used condoms every time. Here’s the crazy part, he told me that he never
slept with his ex without using a condom.”

“Well
either someone’s lying or he had a faulty box of condoms. What type were they
anyway so I know never to go near them.” Mark smirked.

“Whatever,
all I know is, I now need to figure out how to handle this situation going
forward.”

“When
are you going to tell him about the babies?”

“I
don’t know, there is a part of me that doesn’t want to tell him. He’s starting
a new life with his new fiancée and this would just complicate the situation.
He chose her over me so I don’t want him to feel obligated because of my
babies.”

“That’s
bullshit Stephanie, you did not make those babies by yourself and he is
obligated and he needs to take responsibility for his actions. Steph don’t be
one of those women who deny a man the opportunity to be a part of their child’s
life. I can help in any way you need me to that is until I move.”

“You’re
moving?”

“Yes,
I received an incredible job offer from The Jade Corporation. They offered me a
shit load of money plus moving expenses to relocate and run their Architect
design department in Miami.”

“That
sounds exciting Mark, congratulations.”

“Thanks
it’s been a long time coming, so what about you, what do you plan to do?”

“I
am currently weighing my options. I am thinking about moving to Florida to be
with my parents, but I’m not sure.”

“If
you do, we will be closer together and maybe we can at least mend our
friendship. One of the things I loved and missed about our relationship was the
long talks we used to have and while I did not expect you to stay a virgin
forever, I selflessly hoped that your first experience would have been with
me.”

She
just stared at him. “I know, I know, I ruined that opportunity.”
 
He looked at her with sadness in his
eyes. “Well I better get going. Steph I would like to continue to see you
before I leave, if it’s okay. I miss my friend.” She nodded as her eyes started
to tear up. “Hey, what’s wrong?” He said as he hugged her. She loved the feel of
him. His masculine smell took over her senses as she leaned into his hug.

“Nothing,
my hormones are out of control, but yes I would like to see you again. Thanks
Mark I really needed a friend tonight, thanks for being there for me.” She
walked him to the door and he kissed her on her forehead.

“I’ll
call you tomorrow.”

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Ivan
was restless as he tossed and turned in his bed before he eventually got up and
headed to his exercise room. He needed to work off some energy and the alcohol left
in his system. His mind kept going back to Stephanie and her date at the
restaurant. He knew he needed to let her go but he loved her and the thought of
another man in her bed infuriated him. After a brutal hour of working out he
headed to the shower. Ivan got dressed and decided he needed to talk to
Stephanie. He grabbed his phone and headed out the door. Once out the door and
into a waiting car, his phone rang, He looked at the caller id and cursed.

“What
is it?”

“Good
morning to you too. I need to talk to you.”

“About
what.”

“About
what? Ivan we are going to be married in two months and we need to talk about
the ceremony and our living arrangement. We need to talk about purchasing a
house. I spoke with my doctor and she believes that I should not be living
alone because of the complications I’ve been having. So I thought we could look
at houses and decide on something that would suit us and our baby because we
can’t live in your condo it is not baby friendly.” Ivan was partly listening to
Ashley’s ranting.
 
He thought about
Stephanie, he really needed to let her go this was his fate now. “Alright
enough we will start to look for a place next week.” He heard her squeal and he
held the phone from his ear. “I have to go Ashley.”

“Wait
Ivan, what about me moving into the condo until we buy a house?” Ashley whined.

“Fine
I will make the necessary arrangements, goodbye Ashley.”
 
He hung up the phone while she was still
talking.

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Over
the next couple of weeks Mark and Stephanie spent a lot of time together.
Stephanie could not believe how much difference a month made. Her stomach felt
like it doubled in size and she was wearing her maternity clothes. Mark was
fascinated with Stephanie’s pregnancy and how much weight she had gained. He
thought it was the most beautiful thing in the world. He secretly wished she
were carrying his babies. Stephanie enjoyed his company and he enjoyed having
his friend back. She helped him with his packing and he was very attentive to
her and even planned to attend her next doctor’s appointment. They finished the
last of wrapping his artwork and pictures. “You know the moving company would
have done this.” Stephanie said teasingly.

“I
know but I didn’t want to trust some random person with my stuff that I really
care about.” The last picture was of the two of them at a formal event.

“We
really made a cute couple.” Stephanie said as she looked at the picture and
smiled.

“Yeah
until some jerk screwed everything up.” He gave her a smile. “What time is your
appointment tomorrow?”

“It’s
at ten o’clock but if you are busy you don’t have to go.”

“Are
you kidding I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I still can’t get over the fact
that my Steph is having a baby correction babies.”

“Well
I can believe it because it would have to be babies that would cause me to gain
so much weight.”

“What
are you talking about, you only gained a little and you have filled out in all
the right places.”

She
tossed a pillow from the sofa at him. “So when are the movers coming to get
your furniture?” Stephanie asked.

“The
early part of next week and I move for good the week after next.” Stephanie
felt a sudden sense of loss. “I’m going to miss you Mark.” Mark sat on the sofa
beside her.

“I’m
going to miss you too but we will talk on the phone and you will have to come
visit me while you still can.”

“I
know.” Stephanie yawned.

“Come
here.” Mark said to Stephanie and she complied. “Lay down and I can rub your
back.” Stephanie laid her head in Mark’s lap and he rubbed her head, neck, and
back.

“That
feels so good.” Stephanie said while yawning. Within minutes Stephanie was
sound asleep. Mark gently picked her up and she instinctively put her arms
around his neck. He took her to his bedroom and laid her down on the bed. He
removed her shoes and pulled the covers over her. He grabbed a pair of pajama
pants and headed to the bathroom to shower. Several minutes later he returned
to find her still sleeping. He climb in the bed wrapped his arm around her
protruding stomach and tried to get some sleep.

A
few hours later Stephanie woke up disoriented.
‘Where the hell am I?’
She felt an arm around her mid section and
turned over to see a sleeping Mark. “What the hell?” She instantly looked under
the covers to make sure they both had clothes on.

 
“You okay?” Mark said half asleep.

“Why
am I in your bed Mark?”

“You
fell asleep, you were tired and I didn’t want to wake you. Is everything ok,
are you angry?”

“No
next time wake me up and ask.”

“I’m
sorry. Do you want me to take you home?” He asked as he slowly swung his legs
so that his feet were planted on the floor.

“No,
go back to sleep, I always wake up in the middle of the night to go to the
bathroom, thanks to my two little bundles of joy. Do you have something I can
sleep in that’s a little more comfortable?”

“Look
in the second drawer there are t-shirts and shorts help yourself.”

She
grabbed a white tee and drawstring shorts both of which were a little too big
but it would be comfortable on her big belly.

“Do
you have an extra toothbrush?”

“In
the medicine cabinet.” He said before dozing back to sleep. After exiting the
bathroom she thought about going into the guest room but decided against it and
climbed back in bed beside Mark. He made her feel secure. Once she settled back
into bed, Mark’s arm came around her waist again she did not protest.

She
just settled in and went back to sleep.

DECEMBER
6th

Mark
and Stephanie woke up the next day and there was no awkwardness. They made the
bed together, ate breakfast and he took her home to change for her doctor’s
appointment. Mark was in awe when he heard the babies’ hearts beating in
unison. The doctor told her she was progressing nicely and scheduled her next
appointment. As they were leaving Ashley spotted Stephanie and turned her head
so that she would not see her. Ashley heard the gentleman with her say “I can’t
believe you are almost six months,” Stephanie smiled and said “yeah but I look
like I’m nine

Months”.
“You look beautiful Steph.” They walked out the door.

----------

Ashley
couldn’t believe Ivan was going to be late again for her appointment. She had
her back to the reception area when she saw Stephanie coming from the back.
‘What’s she doing here?’
She overheard
the handsome black man with her mention that he could not believe she was
almost six months. ‘
six
months; Oh My God it can’t be.
I can’t believe that Bitch is pregnant.’ She started to feel her heart race.
She thought about all the condoms she left behind in Ivan’s condo. I can’t
believe she is pregnant by Ivan. She had to sit down
  
she was feeling light headed. Her
name was called and it took a few seconds for it to register. She needed to
think fast on how she was going to take care of this problem. She walked back
to the examination room. After her appointment, Ashley went home and hoped her
plan to get rid of Stephanie would work.