Page 80 of Tarek

Penny sits on the highchair, she changed into a thin-strap orange sun dress. She’s a vision of glowing beautiful skin and a fuck-able body. Dear God, I think I will have to go to the bathroom again to fix my erection.

“What’s bothering you?” she asks as she sips the wine.

What was bothering me? Who the fuck was that shitbag? Why does he think that he has some kind of authority over you? Why the fuck did he say you were barren? Who the fuck says the word barren? I have so many fucking questions, where do I start?

“Who was that guy?” bending I take out the roasted veggies.

“That’s my ex-Melvin. I got my full revenge when we broke up,” she sips her wine and wiggle her eyebrows.

I begin to plate the couscous and the roasted veggies. “What did he mean by barren?” I know what the word barren means, but I want her to explain it all to me…I want her to trust me.

Silence settled over the kitchen. The only thing I can hear is the tinkle of the spoon as I plate the chicken.

I didn’t look at her, I just waited to see what she was about to say. Slowly I drizzle the pomegranate balsamic glaze over the chicken. A few sprinkles of garnish and walla, we have pomegranate glazed chicken with couscous and roasted vegetables.

“Where would you like us to sit?” I ask taking up the plates in my hand.

“We can eat here on the barstool, or in the dining room,” she replies

I set the plate in front of her, then took a seat beside her, waiting for her explanation.

She close her eyes and offered a silent prayer over the food. I don’t know why Melvin words bugged me, but it did.

“If I crossed the line, and it’s too personal, I am sorry,” I state. Picking up my knife and fork, I begin to cut into my chicken.

“I was nineteen when I fell in love with Richardo Buluts. Long story short, much to my mom’s disappointment I became pregnant and as expected Richardo bailed.”

“Note to self-find out where Richardo Buluts is and kill him,” I reply as I slice into the roasted peppers.

Penny unpinned her red locks and one by one they fall on her back, “Your intrusive thoughts are winning today, huh?”

I chuckled and chew, she thinks that I am kidding. Part of me really wants to find Richardo and beat the shit out of him.

“Anyway, I had an ectopic pregnancy, and one of my fallopian tubes was damaged,” she picks up her wine and sips it.

“What is an ectopic pregnancy.”

I hear her sigh. “It’s when a fertilized egg implants and grows outside the uterus. In my case it was my tubes,” she said as she cut into her chicken.

“Did it hurt?” I needed to know, I don’t know why but I feel the need to reach out and squeeze her hand, so I did.

“It did, they operated on my womb. Now I have one Fallopian tube and PCOS. Pregnancy is impossible.” I can feel the shift in her energy.

“Do you have a solution?” If she doesn’t have one, maybe I can ask Dax for one of his special people and they can help her. Either way the sad look on her face wrings my insides.

“All the doctors say it’s impossible to have a child, I should adopt. All the doctors except a Chinese holistic doctor called Dr. ChuPing.”

She leaps from the chair and rushes into the bedroom. Penny brings back a small folder with brochures and pamphlets sticking out. She opens a pamphlet and points to a humble grand pa looking Chinese man.

“This is Dr. ChuPing. He believes that each woman’s body is a sacred temple,” Penny closes her eyes, and makes prayer hands bringing it to her chest.

“A temple? Okay, hmm.” I sip her glass of wine, trying to hold back a laugh. She looks so adorable.

“Within that temple lies an inner garden, and in that garden, a field of lotus begin to bud. The only way for a lotus to fully bloom is by accepting the special waters offered to her by a man,” Penny says.

I don’t know if she is serious but seeing the way her hands are moving it’s like she is telling a story.

“However, if the man is filled with dark energy, the garden will wither away. But if his water is teeming with vitality and divine energy, the garden will bloom and thrive.”

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