Page 47 of Rewind

Pastor Caldwell, cleared his throat. “You haven’t been in church for a while. I think you may be in need of the word. Of course if this marriage is going to happen, the two of you will definitely need couples counseling before I can consent to marry you in the church. Amina, I always thought you were a good, modest girl but your behavior right now is questionable.”

She blinked innocently and placed her hand over her chest. “You think my behavior is questionable? You mean ungodly like doing something against his word? Pastor, I’m surprised you’d say that. It’s not like I’ve ever been unfaithful to Mark. I’d be a real scumbag to cheat on someone I’ve made a commitment to, don’t you agree?”

“We-we-well, no one is accusing you of that,” he sputtered.

Mrs. Caldwell, turned a deep shade of purple. It was clear she was well aware of her husband’s philandering ways.

“We’re going to take our seats,” Mark cut in and dragged Amina to their table.

Once they sat down he leaned over. “What the hell was that about? Why did you say that to my parents?”

“Say what Mark? We were just having a conversation right?” Amina patted him on the arm. “It’s okay, no matter what happens, you’ll still be their golden boy, I’m sure.”

He narrowed his eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Amina picked up the water glass from the table and took a sip. “You’ll see.”

Just then her text tone blasted. She dug into her purse and saw a message from Jasmine.

There was a huge car accident on the road. The driver had to take an alternative route. He said it should be another twenty minutes. Hold tight, I’ll be there as soon as I can.

Amina bit the inside of her lip. She was hoping Jasmine would be here by now because she didn’t know how much longer she could keep up this act. Mark sat beside her, fuming and she was getting angry glares from his parents.

She’d have to put up with these assholes just a little longer.

“Who was texting you?” Mark attempted to peep over her shoulder.

She pulled the phone out of his eyesight range. “Just a friend. They said they were running late.”

“You invited someone besides that white girl?”

“Her name is Paisley. And yes, I have another guest coming. You did say I could invite my friends and it looks like there’s a seat still available.”

“Amina, you’ve been acting weird lately and maybe you’re going through a woman’s thing or something but you need to calm down. Here. Maybe this will put you in a better mood.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a red velvet box.

She recognized it instantly but she feigned ignorance. “What is it?”

“Open it dummy.”

Again, she bit the inside of her lip, to keep her from saying something out of pocket. She took the box and opened. Sure enough, nestled inside a satin bed was a gold ring with one of the smallest diamonds she’d ever seen. She didn’t know a whole lotabout jewelry but if someone said it was a quarter carat it would be a generous estimation.

He took the ring out of the box and grabbed her left hand and slipped it on her ring finger. She could only stare at this ridiculous thing.

“You’re speechless aren’t you? I knew you’d like it.” He had no business having so much pride in his voice over this pathetic purchase.

This time when Amina bit the inside of her lip, she did it with enough force to keep herself from laughing in his face. She was aware that it was the thought that counted, but she knew for a fact that he’d put no thought or effort into this at all.

She was also aware that he’d gotten the money to purchase this ring from his parents because in the previous timeline, Mrs. Caldwell had told her to be grateful for having in-laws like them to help out.

Amina could almost guarantee that Mark didn’t use all the money his parents had gifted him and spent as little as he could on the ring and pocketed the rest.

She was saved from actually answering when the servers started going around the table and placing salads in front of the guests and more bread on the table.

Some of the attendees decided to use this time to come to their table to congratulate them and look at her ring. A few of the women made polite comments while others declined to say anything about it at all.

And then to Amina’s annoyance, Candace strolled over, wearing a maxi bodycon dress that was so low cut the top of her areolas could be seen.

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