Mahogany Desires

Chapter 10

              MACHAYLA WENT DOWN the steps of the basement and an eerie feeling washed over her. The basement wasn’t anything scary; in fact this was probably the best looking basement she had ever seen in her life. It was decorated with a plush carpet, a wide window with a gorgeous view of the back yard, black leather couch and a recliner, plasma television, pool table and etc. It was basically where Mason’s crew hung out whenever they had nothing better to do. It could've been considered a second man-cave, the warehouse in the back being the first.

The basement wasn’t what scared her though; it was the memory of what happened between her and Mason that caused her to shudder in fear.

Not long before he forced himself upon her while in his drunken state, he pushed her down the flight of stairs in the basement after she threatened to leave him. She was used to getting bruises from him by then but that was the first time that she broke a bone… two to be exact.

At that moment, she promised herself that she would leave him the minute she got a chance but after what he did finally sunk in, he rushed her to the hospital only to tell the doctor that she slipped and fell in the tub. Before she even had the right mind to correct him, he shot her a look that dared her to speak a word of the truth to anybody. She quickly bit her tongue in fear that he’ll do more damage to her when they returned home.

She was taken by surprise when he tended to her for two weeks. She was ecstatic even. She was so sure that he realized that he was mistreating her and had returned to the old Mason that she fell in love with.

He'd bring her breakfast in bed, cooked for her and cleaned around the house. He spent every waking minute with her till he was sure that she was able to take care of herself with a broken wrist, ankle and a fractured skull.

But in week three, the lovable Mason started to slowly fade away and the abusive one slowly but surely showed its ugly head once again. He started to command and disrespecting her again. He stopped treating her like a human being again and sent her hopes of fixing their relationship down the drain.

With a deep breath, she took the steps slowly down to the basement. This was the first time she’s been down there since the incident. Her foot left the last step and landed on the carpeted floor with a soft thud. When she was sure that her heart beat had slowed, she felt the wall, searching for the light switch. The moment she found it, she flipped the switch and quickly made her way into the wine cellar; grabbing two bottles of red and white Italian Chianti wine.

She headed up the stairs, and maneuvered the bottles so she was able to hold them while locking the door. As she did so, one of the bottles slipped from under the crook of her arms and she quickly grabbed it before it could hit the ground and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Mason would’ve had my ass if I dropped his damn wine,” she uttered to herself and took a look at the labels on the bottle as she started walking, curious to understand why they were so expensive. As she was walking pass the bathroom in the hall with her eyes still glued on the bottle, she crashed into a hard chest that felt more like a wall to her. The impact had her stumbling to find her balance in her high pumps and before gravity could send her and the bottles crashing to the ground, two hands gripped her shoulders and held her steady.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was go-” The owner of the chest halted his apologies and who else did she find staring down at her but him.

Jason. ‘Of course it had to be him.’ 

She watched him apprehensively as he put a hand through his dark hair and chuckled. "I find it funny how we keep meeting this way, don't you?”

Rolling her eyes, she cocked a brow. “Nope.”

She couldn’t help but humor him as he sent a wide grin her way. She found her sudden pull towards him very out of place. Never have she ever thought about hooking up with or dating somebody who wasn’t the same shade of brown as her.  She must’ve been off her rockers. Mason must’ve knocked her around one to many times to count because she has never wanted somebody as bad as she wanted Jason right now.