Dangerously In Love by TJ Hope

Dangerously In Love - Part 2

Chapter Three

The next poet made her way to the stage. She was a gorgeous brickhouse, dressed in a red lace shirt and leather skirt. She looked a little shy and as if she was working through a lot of pain.

"Hello. My name is Sierra Grady. I don't normally do this," she said with a chuckle.

"It's alright," yelled out a man from the audience.

"This is something that I wrote about two years ago. I want to dedicate this to the love of my life. It's titled, Closer."

She then went into this alluring poem about feeling safe wrapped up in the one you love. The audience again erupted in applause, as she made her way back to the dark corner in the back.

I observed her for a moment as an older gentleman took the mic with a poem adoring the woman he loved. The poets were on point tonight, hitting every emotion tied to love.

Then, one of the club's owners took the mic. I remembered her from when I came with Maurice, she had just become a partner at Odyssey at the time. Her name was Skye.

Skye was cool people, outspoken and free. She'd added a lot of ambiance to the place since she came aboard.

She started a poem, "When Sierra Grady wears red, her face is like an ancient cameo, turned brown by the ages ..."

Sierra Grady. Wasn't that the name of the poet that went after Omari? I turned to look at her again. She looked at the stage in disbelief. I did too. I didn't know Skye liked women.

After her poem she rushed over to sit with Sierra. It was one of those beautiful moments when true love finds its owner. I tried to tear my eyes away, but it was stirring up thoughts of my own true love.

Chapter Four

Maurice had been the only man that I ever truly loved. I was trying not to think about him, but emotions were running through me like a pint of gin at a spades party.

The first time I saw Maurice, it seemed as if time stood still. Love and lust at first sight, he reminded me of a tall glass of chocolate milk that I wanted to take my time to enjoy sip by sip. We'd clicked and fallen in love so quickly that it felt surreal.

He was the perfect mixture of rough neck and intellect. He'd gone from being the inexpensive barber at his high school to attending Morehouse College. There he escalated his vocabulary and excelled in mathematics. He became a Financial Analyst and promised that once we were married, I could concentrate on starting my fetish business. He was a man of many fetishes and I slowly satisfied each one. We were supposed to be one another's forever.

A small lipstick stain on his threw a rift in those plans. I got closer to make sure I wasn't seeing things. I was unsure on how to approach him about it. I never imagined another woman. He'd always made me feel like the only one. I could feel my anger begin to boil over. I confronted him.

He looked at me calmly, his demeanor not bothered by my discovery.

"Would you like the truth or a lie?" he asked, looking directly into my eyes.

"What do you think?" I said. My heart speeding, understanding that our lives together was in some way about to change.

"You see, I lie to you so that I won't hurt you because I love you. There are things that I am selfish in and if I am honest about them, it will hurt you." he calmly stated with sincerity in his eyes.

"I guess I'd like the truth. I don't want to live a lie." I replied softly.

"That's Jazmin's lipstick. They say you can't love two, but my emotions just light on fire for both of you. I don't know how much longer I can keep her a secret."

He took a deep breath as if he felt lighter now that I knew. I felt faint. I loved this man to my core. How could I have not known. He was always attentive to me, never giving a reason for me to feel suspicious of him.

He worked a lot, but I always knew that came with the territory of being kept by a man. He had to make the money, which meant less time with me. I never had a problem with that because I enjoyed living in a lavish home, driving luxury cars and shopping whenever I felt the inclination.

Thoughts and scenarios clouded my mind. We were to be married in a few months, but he'd already added me to his will because he always believed the next day wasn't promised to you, and he wanted me to be taken care of if something were to happen to him. What if he loved this other woman so much he took me out of his will?

I figured he was leaving me for this Jazmin, and seemed to be growing angrier with every breath I took.

"Secret? How long has this been going on? You fucking her? How could you do this to me?"

"None of that matters, I don't want to further hurt you. I want to be with you both. Everything will continue as it's been. No one will know of her. I am very discreet."

"Discreet? So discreet that I just found lipstick on your damn collar! I can't believe this. I thought you loved me? I thought we were getting married?"

"I still want to marry you. She knows you are my fiancé. We just have this connection and energy with one another that I can't let go. I'm sorry. I feel that fire with you also."

He was so calm during this conversation that at that moment, I truly wanted to end his life. I felt betrayed and knew that he really had deep feelings for this woman. 

If I would have left him or not, he was still going to be with her. I was heartbroken, but was not going to hand him to her. If I couldn't have him all to myself, neither could she.