Extraordinary Love

Chapter 21

Song: Picture Perfect by Chris Brown

Christopher

He never would have guessed that Aaliyah was a mother. She was just so young and he couldn't believe all that she held on her shoulders, between her mother passing and her absentee father, and now this. He understood now why she had her guard up so high. She had been hurt, especially by the men in her life. Chris wouldn't be another person to leave her in heartbreak— he couldn't be. He'd be a fool to let a woman like that go.

He used every chance he got to see her, including picking up lunch that day for Aaliyah. She was at work but Chris wanted to surprise her. He loved seeing her face light up; it was the quickest way to make him smile, and he needed one. She was the sun in his sky.

With all that sunshine, however, has to come tosome rain. He couldn't seem to escape Robyn lately. She was on the cover of every magazine and newspaper: "RIHANNA WALKS THE CATWALK IN MILAN"; "NEW FASHION LINE IN THE WORKS- RIHANNA X LOUIS VUITTON"; etc. She was on every station, every billboard, every Instagram ad.

The man working the counter inside the corner store noticed him eying the newspaper stand.

"She's a beauty, yeah. Want one?"

"I'll knock all this shit over," Chris thought.

He flashed a forced smile, thanked the man for the drinks and left.

He couldn't even go to the local bodega without seeing her latest night out. What did he expect? She was one of the biggest models out right now. Her feisty spirit, exotic Barbadian accent, and striking looks had landed her numerous deals and a few million followers. She was living her best life and he was trying to live his too— but he couldn't pretend that seeing constant reminders of her wasn't hard for him. Each time he saw her face or heard her name, it felt like a crack in the fam he had worked so hard to build up. He needed to be strong; he didn't know what would happen if he wasn't.

Riding up the elevator, Chris felt a little nervous. He knew that Derek had said he was welcome whenever but he didn't want to feel like he was imposing. While he was cool with Derek, he didn't want to do anything to jeopardize Aaliyah's job. On top of that, he knew that it was unavoidable running into Karrueche here. That girl was about as crazy as Robyn.

He could spot Aaliyah's curly head of hair a million miles away. He crept up behind her, putting his hands over her eyes.

"Guess who?"

"How many guesses do I get?" she asked.

He could feel her facial muscles moving; her eyelashes fluttering against his palms.

"Three."

"Okay. Hmm, is it... Shemar Moore?"

"Younger."

"Omarion?"

"Better dancer."

She laughed.

"You sure about that?"

He tutted. "Positive."

She turned around, not taking his hands away.

"There are only two people I can think of then, and Michael's no longer with us sooo it must be..." she lowered his hands, "Chris."

He held up the bag of food and bottles of soda, beaming like it was show-and-tell day.

"Sunkist Orange and General Tso's from Mr. Chang's; best in Brooklyn."

"Are you staying to eat lunch with me?"

"You know it."

Chris followed Aaliyah to the break room. She was so petite. He wondered what the rest of her family looked like. She was about four inches shorter than Raven, several shades lighter and a lot less curvy. Raven and Desiree were his only points of reference to compare her to. He didn't know if Aaliyah's parents were short too, if they were as light as she was or if she was mixed with anything. At first glance, one would think she was biracial, Hispanic or mixed with white, but she was quick to shut all of that down. She was his Black Queen.

They sat down and started eating while Chris continued to look at her.

They had become so intimate with one another and still hadn't been intimate with one another. He definitely thought about it. It was impossible not to think about it. It had been a while since either of them had been with anyone and the sexual tension was starting to build. Sometimes he just looked at her and he just--

SMACK!

"Have you seen this shit?"

A furious Karrueche came storming into the break room, interrupting their solitude. She was visibly flustered, face red and cheeks puffed. She was fuming. Her wavy hair had half fallen out of its bun and she wouldn't stop pacing back and forth across the room.

Chris and Aaliyah both looked down at the magazine Karrueche had slammed on the table. It was a copy of In Touch Weekly, of course with Robyn on the cover. This one, however, had her pictured with a man about half a foot taller than her, covered in tattoos and a trimmed bread. The headline read "RIHANNA SPOTTED WITH NEW BOO".

Though Chris was about equally part amused and annoyed, he didn't see what relevance the story had to Karrueche. Apparently, Aaliyah didn't either.

"Wait, what's wrong? Why are you so upset?" Aaliyah asked, getting up to console Karrueche. "I see a thousand of these every day."

Karrueche snatched the magazine back off of the table. Pointing at the man on the cover, she said, "That's Aaron. That's Eli's father."

Aaliyah, perplexed, said, "I thought he was locked up?"

"He fucking should be! I'm out here damn near selling ass to provide every day and he's out here fucking partying and dating supermodels? Oh hell no, I'm beating his and his bitch's asses."

Chris tried to eat his food and mind his business but he felt like he was on the set of a Love & Hip Hop episode. If it was, he was a Safaree; he was definitely intrigued but he didn't want to face Karrueche's wrath. He avoided eye contact with her and kept his comments to himself. Karrueche may be something else but she was far too little to take Robyn.

Aaliyah tried to calm Karrueche down, sitting her in a nearby chair.

"No, there's no need to fight anyone. If you want him to support Eli, take him to court."

"No, I'm gonna find him first. Mhm, best believe I'm gonna find his ass."

"Don't do anything stupid, Kae. You have your son to think about."

Karrueche shrugged Aaliyah off of her.

"When you have a kid you have to take care of every day, then you can talk to me about what I should be doing."

She stormed off.

Aaliyah looked like she had been smacked across the face. Her jaw set.

"It's okay. People say things when they're upset, you know. She doesn't know that you have a daughter too."

Aaliyah smacked her teeth, shaking her head.

"No, it's not okay. Because she knows."

• Aaron = Dave East

Diving deep into Chris' past in the next few. Also will probably start adding questions at the end of chapters. Should I create a social media account too? I want to be able to interact with you all more, whether it's commenting or tweeting, etc.

Social media? If so, would you like to see Instagram, Twitter or WeHeartIt? Leave a comment.