Page 25 of A Virgo's Muse
“Welcome toMy Desires,” I called over my shoulder as I wiped down a counter. My voice was warm, professional, and polite. “Thank you so much for booking for your special eve?—”
I turned around mid-sentence, and there he was.Onyx. His towering frame filled the room before the scent of his cologne could. Arms were full, food in one and a bouquet of sunflowers and white lilies in the other. He had that same sorrow in his eyes I saw in my dreams. It quieted the whole room. He didn’t say anything at first. He just stood there and let me look at him. And God, I looked.
He was fine in a way that hurt in a black tee, dark denim, and a gold chain that caught the light as he stepped closer. But it was his eyes that snatched the air out of my lungs. They weren’t angry. They weren’t guarded. They were apologizing before his mouth even opened.
“I didn’t come to interrupt your work,” he said softly. “I came to apologize, not just for what happened but for not giving you the truth… when you deserved it the most.”
I didn’t say a word. I let him speak. For once, I just listened.
“I ain’t used to needing someone the way I need you,” he continued. “I didn’t tell you everything, not ’cause I didn’t trust you, but because I was scared of losing you before you knew me… the real me. The one with blood on his hands and war on his back. I thought if I could just keep you happy, protect you from all the bullshit… I could keep you.”
He took a breath.
“I love you, Desire. I love you because you see the world in colors I didn’t even know existed. I love the way you talk to your paint like it understands you. I love how quiet you get when you’re mad and how loud you laugh when you’re not. I love that you never needed me… but you let me show up anyway. I don’t want to be a man who hides from love. I want to be a man who deserves yours.”
The flowers trembled slightly in his hand.
“I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m sorry I made you question us. But I promise I’ll never lie to you again. I’ll never let this world touch you without touching me first.”
The silence was thick, dense, and holding all my Virgo pride in a chokehold. Because we didn’t take being let down lightly. We remembered details, replayed moments, built walls with precision, forgave slowly, and trusted even slower. But he made a home in me.
And when he stood there, full of sorrow but steady… I felt all those walls I swore would never drop start to crumble like paper in rain.
“I’m mad at you,” I whispered. “For not trusting that I could handle the truth. For putting me in a position where I had to feel unsafe just to feel clarity.”
“I know,” he said, eyes low.
“But I missed you.” My voice cracked. “I missed you so bad I couldn’t paint nothing but you. I missed your arms. I missedhow safe you made my crazy ass feel. I missed how seen I felt when you looked at me like I was art.”
He smiled, soft and aching. “You are art, baby.”
I stepped closer, and without saying a word, I took the flowers from his hands and placed them in a vase near the front desk. Then I walked back over to him and wrapped my arms around his waist, burying my face in his chest. He held me tight like he never planned to let go. And in that moment, I didn’t want him to.
We just stood there for a while. No clock ticking mattered. No customers. No bills. No pain. Just his arms. Just me breathing. It was just us in the silence that said everything we couldn’t put into words.
Then, just as I was about to pull away, I felt his lips brush the top of my head. His voice was low like a secret he had been waiting to share.
“I booked the private paint and sip,” he whispered.
I looked up, blinking. “Wait. What?”
“I reserved it. I used a fake name ’cause I didn’t think you’d say yes if you knew it was me. I just… I needed to be close to you, even if all I got was a few hours, some paint, and a chance to see you smile while you talked about brush strokes.” He smirked a little. “I was gon’ sit in the back like some groupie if I had to. But being near you again? That was worth every dollar.”
I blinked fast, emotions crashing into each other like waves. “You really booked a whole session just to?—”
“To find my way back to you,” he said, holding me even closer. “I ain’t perfect, Desire. But I know real when I feel it. And I’m not letting go of the one woman who makes my chaos feel like peace.”
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. So, I kissed him instead—long, deep, like all those nights we spent wrapped up in each other meant something again. And they did. Because this?This was the beginning of something new. Maybe it was not perfect, but it was ours.
The minute Desirelet me back in her space, I knew I wasn’t fucking around no more. I had wasted enough time trying to protect her from the parts of me she already felt in her spirit. All that fronting and half-truths, trying to wait for the right time… That shit nearly cost me the best thing that ever happened to me.
I told myself if she ever gave me another chance, I was going to show her I was serious, standing on business in every way that mattered. No more guessing. No more running. No more space between us. And that started with the two people who molded her into the woman I damn near worshiped—her mother and her father.
It was quiet when I walked into the nursing home, the kind of stillness that forces you to breathe softer out of respect. I alreadyknew which room to go to. I had visited before, but this time was different. This time, I had something to say.
When I stepped inside, Mr. Howard was sitting right beside his wife, her delicate hand resting in his as he hummed something low and familiar. A gospel melody maybe, something worn and soft from years of being sung with love.
He looked up as I walked in and gave me a small nod. “Onyx,” he said calmly, like he’d been expecting me. “You came.”
