Page 15 of Owen's Heart

RANIA

Maybe I can believe that Owen didn’t sleep with Chantel. I decide for the moment to push it aside and try to enjoy the night. After all, we’re no longer in college, and this is the very first time I have put on a sexy dress and felt comfortable on a date with a man since then.

Just as I’m talking myself into trusting Owen, it’s as if God himself sends a sign. A slender white woman approaches our table and glares at me as if I’ve stolen something from her.

Along with the woman’s rude interruption is Owen’s immediate discomfort.

“Well, well, well… look who we have here. Owen Clemonte!” the woman yells insanely loud.

Owen looks from the woman to me then back to the woman. Suddenly, a man who was pouring his heart out minutes ago has lost his very capable tongue.

“What’s wrong, Owen? The cat got your tongue,” the ill-tempered woman addresses him snarkily.

Owen points to our food sprawled out on the table to clue the woman in on our private dinner. “As you can see, we’re having dinner here, and you’re interrupting us,” he states the obvious.

“I can see what you’re doing, and I don’t care about your dinner. Why haven’t you called me, Owen?” the woman snipes back.

Owen shovels the juicy piece of steak that was on his fork before the woman walked up into his mouth. “I don’t have a reason to call you, Melissa,” he says with a mouthful.

Melissa slams a fist down on the table right beside Owen’s plate. “Yes, you do have a reason to call me, dammit!”

Owen looks up at his deranged friend. “Melissa, you need to stop it. You’re causing a scene.” He glances around the restaurant. Then, his worried eyes collide with mine.

“I don’t care if I cause a scene. I told you that you should leave me alone if you didn’t want anything serious. I told you that I could never be one of the girls you use for your pleasure and throw away when you’re done. I told you that you didn’t want to see this side of me,” Melissa screams.

Owen grates out through clenched teeth, “And that’s why I left you alone.”

“No, you didn’t. You used me. Stop lying in front of her.” The woman hits her fist on the table then points at me. “You don’t have to do that for the precious black girl that you’re always thinking about.”

I clear my throat and reach for my purse. “I think that’s my cue to go to the car. I’ll let you two talk this out. Owen, the keys,” I say and reach my hand out for the keys to Owen’s Jeep.

Melissa holds up a hand to halt me. “No, don’t leave Ray-nesha. Not before I tell you how Owen fucks anything with two legs and a pussy. Then, he throws us away because we’re not you.”

Owen stands and tries to step around Melissa to get to me.

“Do you hear me, Ray—” Melissa’s yells are cut off by the restaurant manager.

“Ma’am, I’m going to have to ask you to leave. We can’t have you in here hollering like this. We have other customers who are trying to enjoy their meals,” the manager admonishes.

While Melissa is preoccupied with the restaurant staff, Owen walks around her. I start walking toward the door. He reaches out to touch my back to guide me to the car. I shrug him off of me and speed up. I don’t want to feel his touch right now, not after Melissa’s display.

The mood of the night has gone from tentatively giving him another chance right back to ‘fuck you, Owen!’ I accept him opening the door for me because I don’t have another choice. He has the key, and he beat me to the handle.

I don’t care who opens the door. All I can think about is getting home and away from Owen and the disgruntled woman he’s been avoiding.

I ride silently in the car, arms crossed over my chest until he passes the road to my aunt’s house five minutes later. “Where are you going?” I question him.

“To the ranch. We have to talk.”

“No, no, no. You should talk to Melissa because you two seem to have some things you need to work out. Not us,” I tell him.

“We—as in you and me—are the only two that matter. And we’re going to the ranch to talk,” he says as a command.

“Fine. Hopefully, after we talk tonight, you’ll understand how over we are.”

Owen doesn’t respond to that. He drives quietly through the dark, desolate roads leading to his family’s ranch. When we pull up into his driveway, nostalgia hits me at once. This place used to be a place of refuge once I got my driver’s license.

I would run away from high school stress and the busy world and come out here just to be at peace with the land and nature. The smell of pure earth. A horse’s neigh in the distance. The barn house sitting miles back from the road. Just like in high school and university, it all relaxes me.

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