Heart Missed A Beat

Chapter 15

Veronica and Darrell are awaken by Darrell's cell phone ringing from a distance.  He reluctantly gets up from Veronica's embrace and pecks her lips before quickly sliding on his underwear and leaving the bathroom towards the sound of the phone.

He looks through his clothes on the floor until he sees the phone.  He grabs it just as it stops ringing.  On the locked screen is a missed call from Stephen.

"Going back to work?" Veronica appears around the corner, with her underwear on.

Darrell turns to look at her.  "It's your cousin."

She rolls her eyes.

Darrell steps up to her, gently grabbing her hand.  "When are you gonna tell him how you feel?"

"I'm not.  When I say I'm done, I'm done."

"So you're no longer mad about the things he said?"

"Oh, I'm still mad."

"Well if you're mad, I suggest you tell him how you feel so you can stop letting him have that much power over you."

"Power? His ass don't have any power over me."

"Then why are you still mad at him, then?"

"Are you seriously asking me that?" She asks incredulously.

"Baby, hear me out.  I agree that how he and his father treated you a couple of months ago was trash.  However, I care about your peace.  Even though I feel y'all can fix this problem and start all over, if you really want to cut them off, it'll benefit you to be able to love them from a distance.  Meaning, whenever you hear their names, it doesn't bring out any negative emotions out of you.  That's what I mean by having power over you.  But if you tell them how you feel, I bet you, you'll feel better and the mention of their names won't faze you."

"I wanna know every detail on what you've gone through in life, because I swear the advice you give is like you've experienced a past life.  Like, you have an old soul or something."

Darrell chuckles. "That's what happens when you've been raised by an old woman."

"So, what happened to your mom?  If you don't mind me asking?"

"You can ask me whatever you want. After my father died, my mom couldn't take care of me financially, so I moved with my grandmother."

"I'm sorry to hear your father died."

"I'm not."

Veronica looks at him in shock.  "Why don't you care?"

"He put his hands on my momma." He releases her hand and starts to put on his clothes.

"Oh."  Veronica watches him get dressed, not sure on what to say next.

Darrell glances at her and notices the concern in her eyes.  "Don't be afraid to ask me anything."

Veronica smirks.  "If you don't get out of my head."

He leans down to her height and pecks her lips a couple of times. Veronica pulls his body close to her and kisses him passionately.

Darrell reluctantly pulls away. "I gotta go. But, you wanna go out for dinner tonight?"

Veronica grins and nods like a shy school girl.

Darrell chuckles. He kisses her one last time before turning to leave.

"Darrell?"

"What's up, baby?"

Veronica blushes. "...I really like how that sounds."

"How what sounds?"

"Baby."