After Hours

Chapter 8: What's For Dinner...Leftover Resentment

(listen to the song at the side- its purtyful)

Alex had never mentioned getting married nor had she been curious enough to investigate for herself. While she had researched him, there were no records of him ever getting married. Her sisters surrounded her as they washed the dishes. "What's he like sis?" Her oldest sister Kemani asked taking the dishrag from her and drying the dishes. Kemani was the family rebel but had finally settled down after years of promiscuity.

"He's very complex," She bit her lip as she washed the dishes handing over the last one to her sister who dried it, while her other sister  Gabrielle carefully stacked them in the overhead cupboard. Unfortunately, she was the youngest and the shortest, so she never had graduated to the cupboard. Somehow, she didn't mind because she was never the one who got into trouble for breaking the dishes.

"Complex how?" Gabrielle put the last dish into the cupboard before returning her attention to her sister, grilling her with an evil look. She was the baby of the family and everyone wanted to protect her from eminent danger, but sometimes they took it too far, especially when they wanted to meddle in her personal life. In high school one of her boyfriends had been beat up pretty badly after he had cheated by her oldest sibling Dom.

"He's like an onion. I thought there was one side to him when we first started dating but the more time I spend with him, the more I see that there's someone underneath all those layers trying to protect themselves from getting hurt," She wiped her hands in the dish rag before leaving her sisters to swoon over her statement. To them Alex was sauve and charming, but she knew there was a darkness underneath that he never let anyone see. That darkness was both intruiging and  incredibly scary.

What were the skeletons in his closet? 

"Let me take you to your room," She heard her mother telling Alex as she entered the living room. He looked beautiful against the dark wood of the living room and her heart skipped a beat when he smiled at her. "Destiny love, you're just in time.I was just about to show Alex your room," Her mother goes on about making Alex comfortable for a few minutes before the three of them walk down the hallway to her room since she was a little girl. After her breakup, she had bought a queen sized bed ,replacing her twin bed while she had hid from Jace. He hadn't been the happiest that she had taken his money and invested it instead of having the abortion that he had wanted.

"I know that this will be suitable accomodation for your stay. I know this is far from what you're used tobut I hope you enjoy our modest home," Destiny cringed as her mother indicated which room he would be sleeping in. "You two are adults so I am sure that you will have no problem sharing a room," The older woman smiled to herself, implying the obvious. Eventually they would sleep together and if things went sour, a house full of Paynes were around to kick his boogie ass.

"Thanks mom," She opened the door after her mother retreated down the hall to check on her grandchildren. The scene before her almost took her breath away, as she had never seen anything like it in her life. From every vantage point were fagrant roses, the fragrance  overwealming her senses. "I can't believe they did this." She pinched herself, hoping it was a dream they could wake up from. As she moved through the room, the arrangement on the bed caught her attention. On closer inspection, she realized that they were words. They simply said:

Enjoy!

"Trust my family to be natural romantics," She twirled one of the blooms between her fingers, inhaling the sweet scent, sighing to herself. 

"I think its sweet," With one fluid moment, he produced a hibiscus flower and tucked it behind her ear, smiling at the hint of color on her cheeks. "But not as sweet as you," He stroked her cheek with his thumb and in her head she was screaming.