Page 71 of Happy Is On Hiatus
Rita knocked on the door, willing her fingers not to shake as she released them and let her arm fall to her side.
Her head hurt so bad she’d felt a little dizzy when she’d stepped off the elevator, but she hadn’t turned back. She couldn’t. Anger pumped through every vein in her body. It had pushed her feet down on the gas as she’d broken every speed limit to get here. Only the grace of God had kept her from getting pulled over or worse, ending up in an accident.
She could hear the buzzing of her phone. It was in the purse that she’d crossed over her chest. In the car she’d put it on vibrate because she hadn’t wanted to be alerted to the text messages and calls she knew were coming from her family. She had no words for them right now. Every thought, every movement of her body, was all for Nate at this point. Sheshould’ve turned the phone off completely, but that nagging responsible part of her couldn’t manage that, just in case there was an emergency.
“Hey, Rita. What’re you doing here?” Nate asked when he opened the door.
He looked like he hadn’t a care in the world. Wearing brown basketball shorts and a beige T-shirt, he stood in only his socks, and watched her curiously.
“Your baby mama was at my house tonight.” That was all she said before pushing past him and walking into the room.
It was a standard hotel room. Well, no, it was a suite, which she should’ve figured he’d reserve for himself. Before she’d left her lawyer’s office on Monday, he’d given her the name and room number of the hotel where he was staying, just in case she needed to find him. Rita had taken the information, believing she’d never have a reason to visit him here. Oh, how wrong and misguided she’d been.
She heard the door close behind her and turned with her back facing the minimal sitting area of the suite. Nate’s expression had gone from casually questioning to impending dread as he came to stand a few feet away from her.
“What do you mean she was at your house?”
If hearing him sayyour housesounded foreign, she ignored it and folded her arms over her chest.
“She brought her bright dress and pregnant self into my house to pick up a cake for her mother,” she snapped. “You know, the woman who also goes to my church.” Yeah, it was easy now to claim that church as hers because she prayed Nate would never show his face in there again. “How the hell could you sleep with a woman at my church? At my father’s church? Have you no shame? No scruples? Or do you really just think with your dick?”
Nate used both hands to rub down his face; then he let his head fall back and groaned.
“Yeah, there’s no point in you trying to come up with an explanation, because there is none. You’re just as dirty and deceitful as she is!” Her heart thumped in her chest, fingers going into fists at her sides. She wanted to hit him, to punch every good-looking part of him so that he’d never be attractive to another woman again.
She wanted to stomp on his chest so that it felt like it was going to implode with pain the same way hers did.
“I thought we were gonna do this amicably,” she said and then shook her head. “But I can’t. I can’t do this with you. Not anymore.”
“Rita, listen,” he started, “I don’t have an excuse. I can’t begin to—”
“No! You don’t and you absolutely can’t explain!”
“I wasn’t going to sayexplain. I was gonna say I can’t begin to try and figure out how to make this up to you.”
She held a hand up to stop him. “You can’t! And I don’t want you to.” Again, bringing her fingers into fists, she had to close her eyes this time to remind herself why striking him wasn’t a good idea.
The memory of slapping Amy was still fresh in her mind, and while she didn’t regret that, she knew it wasn’t her best moment. None of the moments since that child had called her house had been Rita’s best. But damn if she was going to let what Amy and Nate did continue to make her sacrifice her character.
She pointed a finger at him now. “I don’t want you or that ...” All the names she shouldn’t call that girl flowed through her mind, and Rita struggled to find the grace and class she’d been raised to project. “You nor that bitch bet not evah show your face at my church again. Do you hear me, Nathaniel? I don’t want to see you or her.”
Now her entire body vibrated with anger. “She better not look at my daughters cross-eyed, or that smack I gave her today will only be the preamble to the ass-beatin’ she’ll be signed up for. And you better make sure our children have everything they need until they get on their feet, or so help me, Nate, I’ll gladly let Benny and Tariq handle your sorry ass.”
He took a step toward her because, damn, he was as foolish as she’d started to believe he was. “Rita, listen. Let’s just talk about this calmly.”
She shook her head, and the moment he was close enough, she used both her palms to push at his chest until he stumbled back.
“Rita,” he started again, but she didn’t want to hear a word he had to say.
Instead, she went to him and pushed him again. Then she balled her fists and slammed them into his chest. Nate only stood there, letting her hit him as tears streamed down her face. “Don’t say my name! Don’t whisper it or think it! I hate you for doing this to me, and I’ll never forgive you. Never!”
He finally grabbed her wrists, holding them tight as he lowered his head. “I know,” he said. “I know.”
It seemed like an eternity that she stood there crying, him holding her wrists and whispering his apologies. It was too long, and she pulled away from him, hating herself for even coming here. She moved around him and started for the door.
“I’ll make sure she doesn’t bother you again,” he said.
Rita didn’t even turn to look at him. She opened the door and walked out.
