When The Light Goes Out

Chapter - 6

"Hey, Mo', hun, I'm so sorry for not calling or texting or anything for so long I just... Work got really busy, you know? I want to see you again. Let me know when you have some free time and we can meet up."

This was the message left on her phone when Monique checked it during her lunch break. At first she was really excited to hear his voice again and know he was okay, but then she realized how long it had been since he said a word to her: a week. An entire week. She had busy days too so she understood, but, in all that time he couldn't even text her once? What about the message she sent him? The zoo wasn't even open all day, how busy could he be?

Monique shook her head slowly. It was soothing to hear his voice again though. Honestly, she had begun to wonder if the spontaneous meeting was to blame for him running off. He hadn't said anything about that. Should she even take him back in the first place? Who knows what he got into the past week.

She sighed as she replayed the message. Despite how upset she was with him and how worried she was about Terrence's reaction to him skipping out on dinner, she really did want to see him again. Barry was the first successful interaction she had made on her own. She really wanted it to work out. Monique text him since there was no gaurantee that he was free to take a call. She still felt somewhat apprehensive in getting back in contact with him.

Terrence's opinion of him had changed just a little. Skipping out on the dinner wasn't that big of a deal, it was rather spontaneous to just include him like that. The fact that he didn't communicate his absence was a little annoying, but Terrence understood that sometimes life just happens. You can't make every plan you make, it was fine. When he found out that Barry had not been speaking to her for the past week, then there was a problem.

"Have you heard anything from him yet?" Terrence had called while she was out taking care of a few work related errands.

"Um, yes," Monique replied. "He called me and left a message this morning, I think. He apologized for disappearing."

"Mhm, and did he apologize for the dinner?"

"No, but-"

"I don't like that Mo'. He skipped out on a chance to meet me, he calls you a week later and doesn't even mention the dinner or anything about me."

Okay, so it did sound a little sketchy, when he put it like that, but this was Barry they were talking about. "He wouldn't do something like that," Monique said, more to herself than to Terrence. "He's like a friend. Besides, he wasn't necessarily attracted to my wardrobe post meeting."

"But he's got you dressing a little more lady like now, huh? He's paying attention to you Mo', a lot of attention. You're a beautiful woman and now he has you dressing like one."

In a normal conversation, hearing him refer to her as beautiful would make her feel very embarrassed but it only made her more upset at the moment. He didn't even know Barry and he was just stating these things like they were facts. Then again, she wasn't as aware of people as he was. It had only been about a month and they mostly communicated over the phone and even more so text. What if he was trying to run some game on her?

"Mo'?"

Monique shook her head as if she could shake out the thought. "No, he's not like that Terrence," she said, again, more to herself than to him. "Barry...He's struggling with something, I know he is. The last time I saw him he was in pain."

"That's all the more reason to cut ties. Hurting people hurt people. It happens all the time Mo' and I don't want that to happen to you."

"What if he just needs someone there to support him? Someone to lean on or a reason to keep pushing through it?"

"Mo', two people on crutches holding onto each other aren't going to get very far. You have to be able to help yourself before you can help anyone else, baby. Trust me on this. I've seen it."

Monique had stopped walking and sat on a nearby stoop with her free hand covering her eyes. There were things she just didn't understand about people and sometimes she would make mistakes. Concepts others grasped a long time ago took her a longer time to understand because she preferred to do so alone. It was too painful trying to interact, she just couldn't stand the way her body felt afterwards. But she had reached out to him and to be afraid of someone she decided to include in her tiny circle was beyond ridiculous.

"Mo'... I didn't mean to upset you. It's just that you don't have family to go back to if something happens... I'm all you have and I just want to make sure I'm protecting you."

Monique wiped the tears from her eyes and looked to the sky. "I know, baby, I know. You just want what's best for me and I appreciate you so much for that. Please, just let me do this one thing. Let me be there for someone when nobody could be there for me. If things go bad then I'll let you know, but I want to do this. Please."

Terrence sighed into the receiver. "Baby, I will support you in whatever you want to do, but make no mistake, if I have to come over there it's a done deal. I'm not letting anybody take advantage of you."

"I know, I know," she replied, her voice shaking. "I'm sure it's fine though. I have to, um, get back to work. I'm gonna be late for a shoot. I'll let you know if anything happens."

"I'll be right here if you need me. You know where I live so don't hesitate to come by if you need to. I love you."

"I love you too. Bye."

There was no way she could recover from that too quickly but she had to. She had an appointment and she had to be on time. She moved quickly from assignment to assignment, slowly working away her morning hours. She took a minute between appointments to grab a milkshake, something sweet and cold would help to calm her frayed nerves. As she skimmed over Barry's name her heart skipped a beat. It wasn't happiness she was feeling this time.

"If you're still out doing some things I can wait. Maybe we could get together afterwards if it isn't too late."

For some reason she felt like she shouldn't reply, but she did. "I'm almost done. I'm heading to my second to last stop if you want to meet me there."

Barry replied quickly. He'd gladly meet her there. She gave him the address and time then went about her way. That milkshake felt like the most reassuring thing she'd come in contact with all day. She dreaded the end of the appointment and even moreso the end of the next one. Why did her boyfriend have to be so sure of himself?

Monique hesitated at the door. She could see Barry standing by the stoop with his hands in his pockets. He hadn't given her reason to be afraid of him so she decided to suck it up. She fixed her camera bag over her shoulder and pushed the door open. Barry turned suddenly when he heard the door open. "Hey, hey there she is," he greeted her as she came down to meet him. "How are you doing?"

Monique did miss the sound of his voice, but something was a bit off. "I'm doing good," she said with a smile to match his. "Terrence and I were worried when you didn't show up for the dinner...or call."

He laughed nervously and rubbed at the back of his neck, "I'm sorry about that, really. I was looking forward to meeting him but things got a little out of hand at work and..." He shrugged. "I really do feel awful about that. Could you tell him I'm sorry?"

"I think he'd rather if you told him yourself," she replied.

Barry's smile faltered. "I'm sorry Mo'."

She folded her arms over her chest and sighed. "I know you're sorry. I didn't mean it to sound like that."

He slipped his hands back into his pockets. "Look, Mo', there's something I wanna tell you and I'm...I'm not really sure if I should but I wanna be honest with you. Is it alright if we go somewhere where we can talk in private?"

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A/N: Another rather short chapter that I think didn't have much to it. I just felt a little anxious about holding onto it. Generally, I stop a chapter where I feel like if anymore is added it would just be unfulfilling. Thank you for reading, as always!