Page 22 of Bricked Up

“That’s great, but you know,” She smiled sweetly at him after taking a few sips of her peach tea.

“An ice cream shop would really stand out a lot better if it was on the other end of the complex. Then you could let me expand into the bagel space. My business would increase dramatically, and I could pay back the damages to your truck lickety-split. Win-win, right?”

“Lickety split, huh?” He chuckled. “Well, since your debt would be forgiven just as soon as you married me, like I asked you to, and we’d co-own the best of both worlds, that would be an even bigger win.

Why are you so resistant to my offer? And why wouldn’t you have just moved into a bigger space when you first realized you needed to expand?

” he asked as he cleaned the rest of his plate of his steak, asparagus, and cheesy, twice-baked potato.

“It’s not that I’m resistant, I’m scared, Saadiq,” She shifted a little in her seat.

It was almost like her own honesty bothered her.

“I’m still trying to process the hurt of leaving after you cheated.

So if you wake up one day and decide that you don’t want me as a business partner anymore or even hate me enough to possibly harm me one day, I would be the one who’d have to once again pick up and start over while possibly being on the run from you.

Now, had us being partners been an option and we were still together, I wouldn’t have even hesitated to say yes, but now, I feel like I gotta protect my heart and my sanity from you. ”

Nodding, Saadiq grabbed his napkin and wiped his mouth.

“The reason I haven’t relocated is because I truly love my spot.

My shop is in a prime location with a big parking lot and close enough to downtown to get a lot of the overflow during city events, but I do need more space.

Expanding into your place would be perfect.

I even thought about moving into the other building at the end of the complex, but not only is the kitchen area and storage space smaller, but that part of the parking lot goes behind the gas station.

The back of the building where I would park would make the alley a blind spot, and the display window would not be floor-to-ceiling like mine.

And lastly and most annoyingly, the lobby faces the wall and not the street. ”

A chuckle eased from Saadiq’s lips as he sipped his bourbon while he processed.

“What’s funny, Saadiq?” she asked, before eating the last of her steak and reaching for a toasted, buttered roll.

“You always had an eye for detail. You’re a stickler for it.

But I gotta admit, your vision does always end up being the best one.

I’d give you the building off the strength of that alone.

That and the fact that I’m still in love with you and cherish the ground you walk on.

But my Gramma wanted this building because it’s the same area where her favorite penny candy store used to be growing up, and it’s right across the street from her favorite city park. ”

“Oh shit,” Zia buried her head in her hands and shook her head in disappointment before she met his eyes again. “Saadiq, I’m so fucking sorry. I just thought you were being an asshole. It never even crossed my mind that–”

“Believe it or not, Zia, I don't have any reason to be spiteful toward you. And no bullshit, but I tried to replace you with so many women. Unfortunately for me, you’re irreplaceable. But you’ve been very self-centered since our breakup.

” He waited until their waiter checked on them, inquired about refills, and cleared their table before he resumed the conversation.

“I get it, though, based on how the shit looked, and I know you may never believe me, but I never cheated. Which is why you assumed I wasn’t affected.

But I was. I am. I was depressed when you left me.

I started seeing a therapist after a couple of years.

Even though I fell in love with reading because of all the times you used to read black erotic romance to me but I stopped for the first three years you were gone.

I picked it back up after a while just to be close to you.

I just knew that wherever you were, you had your nose buried in a freaky ass book with a glass of wine, a vibrator, and a Kindle page turner close by. ”

“But if you understand, why do I hear so much animosity in your tone?” Zia asked as she eyed him skeptically.

“It’s not animosity, it’s irritation because your presence has always settled me, yet I’ve never felt more unsettled with your return to my life.

See, I have the same fears as you, but I’m still in love with you, Zia.

I’m willing to risk it all again like a weak nigga.

I don’t know that you won't take the word of some other bitch and walk out on me again. Shit, what if we have kids by then, and you take my child with you?”

Her eyes bugged out at the mention of a child. And though she quickly recovered, she wondered if that shit was a coincidence or if somehow he knew she was carrying his child. “Saadiq, I would never?—”

“I don’t know what you would do anymore, Zia,” He pinned her with a seriousness she’d never seen before. “But I love you enough to take a chance. And as much as I’m not too happy to admit this shit, I’ll probably always love you.”

“I love you too, Saadiq, but?—”

“I’m not finished, Zia,” He interrupted before locking eyes with her over the rim of his glass.

“I-I just—never mind,” She reached for her drink. “My apologies.”

The muscles in his jaws flexed in irritation as he met her stare. He always let her have her say, now it was his turn to speak and nip all this shit in the bud.

“As for all this cheating shit you think I did, I’m ‘bout to clear this shit up for the last time. The very last gotdamn time, Zia. Now, even though I know what the fuck I did and didn’t do, I went looking for proof for you, and I found it.

” Saadiq waited for her to interrupt, but this time she didn’t.

He smiled inwardly because something told him that she wasn’t ready for the bomb he was about to drop.

She was ready to actually believe that he’d been innocent all this time.

“Who is the only other nigga in my life that could pass for being my brother or even my twin if the lighting is just right?”

Zia pondered on the question for a few minutes, then, like a ton of bricks, reality hit her smack in the middle of her head. “Jabari!” She mumbled as her new reality sank in. Suddenly, a lot more shit leading up to the day she got the visit and the few calls to her after the breakup all made sense.

Saadiq nodded, then quickly ran down the story that was told to him. Repeating the shit hurt just as much as it did the first time he heard it.

“I should’ve known,” She shook her head.

“I should’ve fucking known. I can see the shit clear as day now.

But back then, I was so fucking livid and hurt that I didn’t even realize I was being played.

How could he do that shit to us? To you, after all the love you had for that nigga.

You were the only support he had back then.

You paid for him to go to school, and it wasn’t a day you didn’t show up for him. ”

Saadiq shrugged as their waiter approached. All blood ain’t blood. Sometimes we have to learn the hard way that the people we love and call family may not feel the same way.

“Will you all be ordering dessert tonight?” Their waiter, Greg, inquired with a warm smile.

“Yes, I’ll have the strawberry crunch cake cheesecake, and may I please get another ice water?” Zia asked as she pulled her napkin up on her lap.

“Sure,” Greg then turned to Saadiq. “And you, sir?”

“I'll have the fried brownie ice cream bowl.”

“All right, coming right up.”

“You said you should’ve known when you were referring to Jabari. What was it that you should’ve known?”

“The chick that came by the house and dropped the bomb on me that ended our relationship. I’d seen that girl with Jabari a few weeks before everything went down.

They were at Donnie’s Donuts around the corner from the apartment at the time.

I only saw them because I was running late for work and got stuck at a red light in front of the shop.

It was just for a quick second, though. But I was so angry you hurt me that it never crossed my mind that we were being set up when all the shit hit the fan.

In the picture she showed me, you were wearing a necklace with these big ass diamond earrings I’d never seen on you before.

When Jabari saw me a month later at a bar in East Lake, and I told him I broke up with you, he seemed overly shocked.

Before I left, he asked me out. When I told him I wasn’t interested, he apologized and blamed it on the alcohol, but then asked me out a few nights later over Facebook.

Between that time, Jabari started commenting on and liking a lot of my old posts and everything.

I declined again, and I went on to try to gently explain why to spare his feelings, but he’d blocked me.

I haven’t spoken to him since. Damn, so Jabari set you up because he saw me first and thought that you took me from him.

That’s crazy. He’s not even my type, and I never looked his way that night, other than to say excuse me to smile at you. ”

“Yeah, it’s fucked up. And his ass been plotting to do some fuck shit for a long ass time. I hate that I ain’t see that shit coming.” He explained just as the waiter approached with their dessert.

“Something had to have triggered him, or maybe he was pissed that he still didn’t have a chance after all these years. Have you talked to him?” Zia asked as she slid the fork through her cheesecake and eased it between her lips.