Page 43 of Fervor
“Yes.”
“You were absolutely right. The trauma I went through as a child was still buried deep within me. It was because I walked in on a man my dad trusted, molesting my baby sister. That man was his father.”
Their hands flew to their mouths. To offer some clarification, I said, “I didn’t know about that until after our last interaction at a club. She had already been matched. There was no need in revealing that to her since that would most likely be my last time seeing her outside of the dentist office.”
“Surprise,” Yunique said as the women looked on sympathetically.
It seemed they didn’t know what to say. Yunique revealed the rest of the story, how it affected her when I revealed it to her and how she was able to heal from it and accept I was the man she was supposed to do life with. I also added the details about my relationship with Mo or rather the lack thereof. When we were done, they both clapped. I frowned slightly as Yunique chuckled.
“Yunique, I’m so proud of you. You’d told me there was some childhood trauma there. The fact that you were able to work through it and accept Harlem as the man God meant for you to love is progress like you wouldn’t believe. Harlem, I applaud you for being the man she needed throughout all of this. I’m more than sure you made the decision to stay with you easier, simply because of the man you had been to her in such a short amount of time,” Kerri said.
“So the other man backing out was a blessing in disguise,” Mrs. Joan added.
“Hell yeah,” I said. “I wanted her before I knew her. I went to her office because of the picture I saw of her online. There wasno way I wanted to let this dark chocolate goddess walk away from me.”
Mrs. Joan laughed. “I remember you saying how much you loved dark complexioned women. I’m so glad this worked out for y’all, baby. Your story is one of triumph and agape love. For you two to feel that strongly about one another only thirty days after the wedding proves that this was meant to be. I’m so happy Arranged Hearts had a hand in it, although we felt bad about the first matching falling through, Yunique.”
“I thought I felt bad too. However, the minute you called saying you had another match for me, my excitement about it caused me to forget all about him. I’m so grateful he backed out, because we probably would have screwed that success rate all the way up. My heart was meant to love Harlem. Trying to love anyone else wouldn’t have been easy, especially once I would have seen Harlem again in four months for his cleaning.”
They chuckled. “Well, we won’t keep you. You need to get back home and get some rest. Hopefully, your body gets used to those new anxiety meds soon.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Yunique said as I helped her from her seat.
Both came to Yunique and hugged her tightly, then hugged me. After taking a picture, we left the office, my arm wrapped around her. Once we got to the car, I helped her inside, then walked around to the driver’s side. I opened the door and slid into my seat then started the engine. “Baby, do you want something to eat?”
“No. I’ll just do soup. My stomach is feeling queasy.”
“Okay. Well, I’ll eat soup too. Do you want me to stop at Jason’s Deli or somewhere else to get soup? You gotta be tired of that canned shit, right?”
She chuckled. “A little bit. That’s fine, Harlem.”
I leaned over and kissed her head, then headed to Jason’s Deli since it was right down the street. When I got there, Iglanced over at Yunique to see she didn’t look so good. I quickly got out and ran to her side to open the door. I hopped out of the way, and she leaned over and puked her guts out. Because of how she’d been feeling, I’d prepared for something like this to happen. I went to the back and got a towel and bottle of water for her.
When I got back to her, she was crying. “I just wanna stop taking that shit. It’s not helping with anything, because I’m becoming depressed with how sick I am.”
“Call Doctor King and let her know. Maybe she’ll tell you to discontinue it.”
She nodded. “You’re right. I’m gonna call while you’re inside. Thanks, baby.”
“Of course.”
I closed her door, being sure not to step in that throw up, although it was only liquid, and headed inside to get her some chicken noodle soup and the potato soup for me. As long as she was eating soup, that was what I ate when I was around her. I refused to eat anything else in front of her. When I went to the carwash to wash my SUV, I hit up IHOP. A nigga was starving.
I couldn’t wait until she was feeling better so I could take her out on the town. The two trucks I’d purchased were doing extremely well. This month alone, they added ten grand to our profits. I’d also amended the paperwork for the business, adding Harlan’s name to it. He was doing most of the work, but the financial investment was coming from me. My baby deserved to be catered to, not to mention made love to.
Shit!What if she was pregnant? She thought it was the medicine, but I’d been shooting the fucking club up for the past month. A wide smile spread across my face. While I had only graced her insides once since she’d been home, if a test revealed she was pregnant, I was going to slide into her soon after. I waswilling to bet her sick feeling would dissipate with a positive pregnancy test.
After getting our soup, I headed back to the vehicle with a smile on my face. I was about to be a father. I just had that damn feeling. When I got in, I smiled at her. “Doctor King said I could discontinue it.”
“Good, baby. Just, if you’re feeling like you can’t deal with something, know that I’m here for you. I will help you through anything.”
“I know you will. I love you, baby.”
“I love you too.”
I smiled as I headed to the convenience store.
Iwas so damn tired. After eating the soup and drinking a Sprite, I wanted to go and lie down, but Harlem was playing games. I wasn’t in the mood. He’d turned on some music, and he was dancing as I watched him. He was grinding his hips as he held his hands out like he was hitting it from the back. I supposed I looked unamused, because he stopped and chuckled.