Page 23 of Heartless

“Liar!” she hisses. “It’s almost two in the morning, and you’re not at home. Not answering your calls. I was worried about you. But then I knew exactly where I’d find you,” she grits through clenched teeth.

“So, what’s the problem?”

“You should’ve come home, Onyx.”

“Maybe if home were more appealing, I would have. Look, I’m tired of the arguing and the tension.”

“Then maybe you should find someplace else to be. Like that woman’s room,” she says, getting a little louder.

“Lower your voice.”

“You don’t tell me what to do, Onyx!” she says a bit louder.

“Don’t play with me, MJ,” I say, looking around and noticing that we’re gaining attention.

Just as the bartender makes her way down the bar towards us, I get off the stool and grab MJ by the hand.

“Let me go!” she hisses, jerking away from me.

She storms from the bar, and I’m hot on her heels. We both hand the valet attendants our stubs and wait in strained silence for the two attendants to return with our vehicles.

Throughout the twenty-minute drive home, I’m on her tail all the way. She’s flooring her Lexus, but no matter how fast and reckless she drives, she can’t shake my Porsche.

Anger rushes through me because I don’t give a damn how upset she is, she has no business driving the way that she is. She’s not only jeopardizing her life but anyone who crosses her path.

She slams the car door after pulling into the garage, but I don’t bother to park my car. Grabbing her by the elbow when she’s on the step leading into the kitchen from the garage, I spin her around to face me.

“What the fuck was that? Why did you follow me to the club tonight?”

“I didn’t follow you! I went there because I knew that’s probably where you were when you didn’t come home!”

“You know what the fuck I meant! Why are you going around town looking for me?”

“You didn’t answer your goddamn phone, Onyx!”

“Maybe because I needed a break! Maybe because I needed some peace and a fucking reprieve from what we’ve been going through!”

“Is that what she was offering, O? Peace? A reprieve?” she asks as tears pool in her eyes.

“What?”

“You’re fucking cheating on me, and you think that I’m stupid!”

“How many times do I have to tell you that I’m not cheating on you, MJ! This insecurity bullshit you’re on lately is not like you!”

“Insecure?”

“Yes!”

“You’d feel the same way if you saw men hitting on me.”

“I’ve seen countless men hitting on you, and you entertain it until I show myself, so don’t come at me with that bullshit. I don’t allow it to distort my image of who you are, though!”

“That’s because I don’t cheat with those men!”

“And I haven’t cheated!”

“Why? Because I showed up? Was she so intriguing that you were tempted to fuck her?”

---