Wednesday Writing Prompt #4

I can’t believe that May is almost over and that we are now on our last prompt. This was a good experience and at times challenging when the prompts stumped me. I hope you enjoyed reading our various takes on the prompts as much as we enjoyed writing them! All of my prompts will eventually be stories…

“Can you picture it? You and I together?”

I remained coldly silent in the twenty-minute drive to our hotel in Vegas. I didn’t acknowledge all the wonderful sights of the world-famous strip as we drove past. I’d been so excited about our first major trip together and even more proud that I’d managed to fly without freaking out. And then he had to be stupid and forget his so-called ex’s picture was in his messenger bag. How can he really be over her if he still carries her picture?

Breaking the silence, he uttered, “Look, we came here to have fun and not argue.”

I glared at him before returning to my blind stare out the window. “I have no intention of arguing or doing anything else with you. In fact, I’m trying to decide if it makes sense to even be here. The practical side of me is warring with the pissed side.”

He sighed heavily. “I’m sorry. I already explained at the airport that I didn’t even remember that the picture was there. She put the pic in my bag after we’d just gotten into our millionth fight. I hadn’t used that bag to travel in years.”

“The sofa in the picture looks like the same sofa you have now and she’s wearing one of your shirts.”

“A sofa and a shirt I’ve had for years. If you didn’t tear up the photo, I would tell you to look in the background and see that it’s not my current apartment.” He tugged on his goatee. “It was an old photo and it means nothing.”

I hit the armrest nearest to him. “Are you sure that picture means nothing? Are you hurt you don’t have a picture to remember her by?”

He glanced at me. “Fuck no. I wanted you to tear it up. I left her because I was tired of her shit. She may still want me, but I don’t give a fuck. I’m with you now and I love you, and only you.”

Crossing my arms, I hissed, “You only left because she wouldn’t change. Maybe you’re trying to make her suffer now that she’s ready to get her act together.”

Chris bellowed, “You think I’m trying to make her suffer by being here with you? She doesn’t know shit about my life anymore and she sure doesn’t know anything about you except that you’re my woman now.” He inhaled deeply before speaking in a gentler tone, “Simone, we both have pasts.”

I snapped, “I didn’t lie about mine.”

“You never told me about Akil and you only broke up with him because you thought he wasn’t ready for marriage. You still get calls from him and even Derek still calls you.”

“They both know about you now and neither has called since. Besides, I didn’t expect our relationship to get so serious so fast.”

He pulled up in front of the hotel. “I didn’t either.” Chris suddenly entwined our hands and placed it against his fast beating heart. “Give us a real chance. I love you.”

I tried to pull away, but he held stronger.  I shook my head. “Do you know the pain I still feel when I think about that awful day I stopped by your place and she was there? And then two months later, to find that…that picture you took of her only wearing your shirt looking at the camera like she just fucked you, bothers the hell out of me.”

Chris closed his eyes for a second. “I know, baby and if I could take that hurtful moment away or remembered I had that stupid photo I would, but I can’t. Please tell me you still believe that nothing happened when she stopped by my place unannounced and that nothing ever will.”

“I believe in signs and maybe everything is telling me to leave you alone. You still have unfinished business.”

At the moment the hotel staff walked up to the car and as Chris prepared to open the door, I tugged my hand again. “No. I don’t want to be here with you anymore. We shouldn’t even check in. I know you spent a lot on this trip, I can pay you back for my half.”

He gestured to the valet to give him a minute and then looked back at me. “Don’t do this. We’ve both wanted this trip. I believe in signs too.  You stopping by my place as hurtful as it was for the both of us, put me directly in the middle of my past and present. And it confirmed for me that she pales in comparison to you.  Yes, she hurt me, and I left. But when you left me, I was destroyed.”

“I don…” He cut off my protest with his tongue, kissing me deeply. Damn, his delicious kisses.  His hand drifted to my breast and I grabbed his head to me, the negative energy changing into a sexually charged one.

He pulled back enough to stare at my lips. “Let’s go upstairs. If you still want to leave after I prove to you that you’re the only woman in my heart and mind, we’ll leave.”

Still undecided, he took my silence as consent.

Chris held my hand tight while we checked in the hotel and in the elevator. I hadn’t said another word to him, though he’d attempted light conversation.  He expected that our chemistry and insatiable desire for one another would resolve whatever issue we had. Sex would only quench our bodies’ thirst but the need to trust him could never be satisfied by our amazing physical connection. And that hurt to the core because I did love him madly.

I pressed my head against his strong back and circled my arms around his waist as he tried to get the key to work, thinking that maybe I would stay this weekend and let this be our last one. That I would give him all my love while we were here and end things once we returned home. I reasoned we were here now and that kiss in the car had only enflamed my desire for him.  

Once he opened the door into our suite, I covered my mouth in surprise at the most romantic scene I’d ever seen in my life. The entire room had been lit by candles and red, white, and pink rose petals led to a large white bed covered with only red and pink petals. I walked ahead of him, amazed that he’d been so thoughtful to have arranged all of this for me. “Wow…”

Chris embraced me from the back, and I kissed the space between the side of his face and his neck. “Everything happens for a reason. I didn’t remember that picture was in my bag and you found it looking for something else I’d asked you to get. I wanted to use this weekend to show you how much you mean to me.” He chuckled. “I was going to ask ‘if you can picture it, you and I together forever’, when I first opened this door. I had no idea that we would be talking about another picture.”

I hugged him closer to me. “I can’t believe you did this.”

Chris turned me in his arms and looked down at me with his beautiful eyes. “I want to give you the world. This is just a taste. You’re it for me and I’ll keep doing whatever it takes for you to fully trust me. I’m not mad you found that picture, your hurt just tells me that I still have more work to do. And I’m willing to put in the work for us…for our future. I just need to know if you’re willing, too?”

I smiled brighter than the flickering candles surrounding  us.   

**Simone and Chris first appeared in Chemistry and will again appear in the sequel tentatively titled, Chem Love. **

https://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Tiye-Love-ebook/dp/B07MZ788VR

1. Would you give Chris a honest chance or continue to give him the side eye?
2. What would you do if you found a photo of an ex in your partner’s bag?

Now continue your reading journey and see what each of my writer friends wrote with the same prompt.

Delaney Diamond delaneydiamond.com

J.L. Campbell joylcampbell.com

Nyora René nyorarene.com

S. Taylor staylorromance.com