A Fight For Love

“You heard me. He slipped his arm around me and pulled me to him and planted a great big smacker full on my lips on me,” Desiree said.

“Holy shizzle!,” Rochelle said as she looked at her sister. “That guy is one daring playa. I can tell you that,” she said, grinning.

“Stop speaking like that. I cannot tell you how pissed I am,” Desiree said. “I don’t know what the Hell is wrong with him, Roch. It’s like in his own twisted mind he actually believes that there is a future for us. Apparently that is why he is in the ‘penthouse’,” she added.

“So, what? Is he getting a divorce or something?” Rochelle asked.

“That’s what he said. And, as much as he hurt me when he lied to me, a part of me still feels really bad or the pain he’s in,” Desiree said as she looked at Rochelle.

“So, what are you going to do?” Rochelle asked.

“I told the delusional wacko I would get a restraining order if he didn’t back off,” Desiree said.

“And will you? Or were you just telling him that to freak him out?” Rochelle asked. Desiree shook her head and shrugged.

“I really wish it was just a threat but it’s not. I have to. It’s the only way to ensure that my relationship with Ericson is secure,” she said. Rochelle smiled at her.

“You know I have not seen you like this since…Leon, and particularly not over a man who sounds like a brand of headphones” she added with a grin.

“Yes, but it was all a sham, just a fantasy concocted in his mind, I will never be that woman’ Desiree said assertively.

“I know sis. I remember how much you pretended that you were fine, even though I knew you were dying a little every day,” Rochelle said. Desiree smiled fondly at her. She knew exactly what Rochelle was talking about. She had sworn to herself that she would never let her sister see her weakness. That was the only way she could protect her. After all, she owed her sister that much, given their childhood experiences.

“I had to be strong for you,” Desiree said.

“I know,” Rochelle said smiling. The two sat there in comfortable silence for a while before Rochelle looked at her. “Can I ask you something?” she asked.

“Sure,” Desiree said.

“If Taylor wasn’t a factor. If you had never met him, would you go back to Leon?” Rochelle asked. Desiree shook her head.

“No, that sick, sc*m-sucking son of a bi*ch lied to me. And I could never trust someone like that,” Desiree said. She had asked herself the same question a million times, however, and there were moments she thought that she might go back to Leon because she knew, more than anything, that she once loved that man. And there were days she woke up missing him, but these were intimate secrets, things she could never reveal, particularly not to a gauche young woman who tended to see things in the moral terms of the young. She looked at Rochelle and shrugged. “That’s a part of me that I regret and wish it had never happened, but I have to learn from my mistakes. And the best way to do that is not to think of it, but no, even if Leon and I were the last people on earth and the human race depended on us, I would rather the human race became extinct,” she said. Rochelle smiled.

“Good for you,” she said, pretending to believe her for the sake of sisterly harmony. “So if you are serious about that restraining order, I know a guy down at the precinct who owes me a favor or two,” she added as she scrolled her phone.

“A cop? What the hell kind of trouble have you been getting yourself into?” Desiree asked worriedly.

“Did you think that maybe I might have dated a cop and that is how…no, wait, that doesn’t sound right. Just know this; I was not in any kind of trouble. The guy just owes me a favor,” Rochelle said as she gave Desiree her phone. “That’s his number. His name is Jesse. Just tell him I sent you,” she said. Desiree raised one eyebrow.

“Do I even want to know?” she asked.

“Well, depends. How much time do you have on your hands?” Rochelle asked.

“So, one of those ‘long story’ situations?” Desiree asked as she copied the number onto her own phone.

“Definitely one of those. And now, if you will excuse me, Olivia Pope is about to find out that Millie Grant is keeping a grave secret from the president. She has a thing for Andrew, the future vice president,” Rochelle said as she fixed her attention to the TV.

“Wow, you have been glued to scandal for almost a week now. Aren’t you tired with that crap yet?” Desiree asked as she made the call to the cop.

“Hey, I had two seasons to catch up on,” Rochelle said sulkily. Desiree smiled and got up from the couch and then walked to her room. When the guy picked up, she said exactly what Rochelle had told her and, in polite terms, mentioned the favor. Normally, Desiree was sure that the process would have taken at least a week or two, but Jesse told her to drop by that evening and he would have the order ready. Leon, he promised, would be served in forty eight hours. When she hung up, she lay on her bed and closed her eyes. She was still a little sore from the rough fu*k Taylor had given her earlier. She looked at her phone and sighed. It was only half past three and she knew it would be a while before Taylor came for her. She didn’t have anything to do, and she most definitely could not go to work seeing as they had practically forced the leave down her throat. She did not know when she drifted off to sleep.

The next thing she saw was Leon’s penthouse at the Royale. She looked around and there was Leon, right in front of her.

“What am I doing here?” she asked him.

“I don’t know. You tell me. This is your dream after all,” Leon said. “Why are you here Dee? Did you maybe have a change of heart?” he smirked. She shook her head and shrugged before she turned away from him.

“I need to get out of here,” she said as she looked around.

“Really Dee? Because I think you are here because, deep down, you still have feelings for me. Because every so often you wake up wishing things had been different with us,” he said as he walked towards her. By this time, she could feel his breath on her neck. “I know that you miss me as much as I miss you, babe,” he said in a low voice. She turned around and looked at him.

“I do, Leon but you lied to me. You destroyed the single most important thing for us, our trust,” she said as she looked into his eyes.

“I know and I am willing to turn over a new leaf, babe. I am willing to make that change,” he said.