Choices and Sacrifices Ch. 13

"Do you remember how much you hate Keegan?" Sabrina started. She asked the question with a bit of wondrous disbelief in her voice. "You wouldn't even speak to him. You treated him like he was nothing." She remembered the day her mother refused to even spare him a glance. Keegan had offered her his kindness and she turned her back with her nose held high.

And now she wanted to pretend everything was fine.

She was silent as Sabrina reminded her of her tasteless behavior. "And now that he has money," She started on a laugh. "You think it'll all be forgotten?" Erica's nostril flared-nosed breathing could be heard on the other end. She had no words to justify her behavior then and even fewer now that she was backtracking. She was revolting. "Maybe," Sabrina hissed. "You should think twice about how you treat people—and that goes for a lot outside of this situation, too."

"I didn't think he was good enough for you!" Erica's blood had boiled over and she was shouting. Sabrina flexed her jaw when her shrill scream met her ears. It was terrifying to hear and she didn't think she'd heard it since she was a young child. Her mother's abuse and cruelty came as silent, lethal small wounds. She never worked herself up. "You bring some damn minimum wage vagrant man to * my * church and claim you love him! Absolutely not—and I don't have any regrets. I have seen woman after woman put her eggs in a basket with a damn hole in the bottom, hoping that one day it'll magically start to fill up. But every time she only ended up with egg-soaked shoes."

"You are one of few women who it worked out for. But I just wanted something more certain for you—like Quincy." Sabrina groaned. "You met him when he had promise. He didn't need work because he had already * been * working." She couldn't believe this was the justification her mother had in her heart for treating Keegan the way she had.

"I loved him, ma." Sabrina said sternly, trying to get it through to her that love was the only thing that mattered. "I believed in Keegan because I knew he was talented and I loved him because he was a great man." Sabrina could feel a tear welling up in her eyes. "I wanted you to accept him—us. I wanted you to be happy for me." She whispered.

"I accepted you. You are my daughter; I have no choice but to accept you. But the choices you make, I sometimes cannot accept." Sabrina put her tongue in her cheek.

"Well, accept my choice to never speak to you again." And with that, Sabrina hung up her phone. She was just about to take a sigh of relief before her phone rang again.

"Ivy, why are you calling me?" Sabrina asked. Their mother was always very sure to make sure Ivy and Sabrina never formed the relationship that normal sisters should have. Sabrina was the bad influence and Ivy had always showed signs of following Sabrina's footsteps. She was opinionated, charismatic and self-assured. She knew what was best for herself. Every year that she got older, Erica found it harder to keep a leash on her. She didn't absorb her mother's opinion on everything and take them as fact. She didn't hate Rochelle and she loved her sister Sabrina. Sabrina sometimes felt as if she hated Quincy too. Now that she was 17, Ivy was showing signs of wanting to be her own freethinking adult.

"I wanted to congratulate you on your engagement. I just heard you and Ma on the phone and I wanted you to know I'm happy for you. I've always been." Sabrina smiled to herself. That meant a lot especially after the conversation she'd just had.

"Thank you." She said gently. "But be careful, okay? Don't get yourself in trouble." They both knew what she meant. Erica would make her life a living hell if she had any reason to think Ivy didn't side with her on this situation. Sabrina knew Ivy was very dependent on Erica to live and didn't want to sabotage her life at home.

"I am. I'll talk to you later—please invite me to the wedding." She whispered.

"Okay, I'll try." Sabrina laughed. "You okay though? You need anything?" She asked. Sabrina was her go-to when she was in trouble. She'd sent her money plenty of times and even picked her up from a few places she wasn't supposed to be. But she was young, beautiful and had a great handle over herself so Sabrina had never felt bad helping her out.

"Yes, I'm fine. I'll text you though." She rushed. Sabrina hung up, somehow feeling more at peace with her decision knowing that her favorite little sister supported her.

*

"Oh, Keegan..." Cindy cooed. "I wish you would have told me you wanted to propose. I would have told you this would happen." She tried to sound empathetic as she said that sentence but it didn't work. It fell on Keegan like a pound of bricks. Keegan groaned and rolled his eyes—his temper flaring.

"I don't want to hear that." He snarled. His attitude dripped for his lips.

He'd been running through his emotions the past day and a half. He'd been sad, optimistic, frustrated and plain angry. Each wave of feeling was just as powerful as the last and his most prevalent wave had been anger. He was full of resentment and everyone around him had seemed like an opportunity to get some release. Including his parents.

"I know you don't." She rubbed his back tenderly, despite his evident feelings toward her. She and her husband had been in their hotel rooms when he called them to say he wouldn't be stopping by because he wasn't feeling well. Cindy knew better and took it upon herself to visit him instead.

"You just need to be more cautious with your heart until you know for sure she wants to commit." His mother suggested. Keegan sighed and realized that she was giving halfway decent advice. At this point, he couldn't keep sticking his heart out for her to decided it wasn't enough. He was only torturing himself. Keegan

"She is beautiful though." Cindy said. Keegan sighed and smiled lightly to himself.

"Isn't she?" He asked more to himself than anyone else. He sighed, remembering her face and feeling that familiar surge of warmth in his core.

*

Keegan's intercom system rang. He turned off the faucet where he was rinsing off a bowl of raw strawberries in preparation for cooking breakfast. He padded over to the system and paged the front desk in.

"Yeah?" He asked half bothered and half intrigued.

"Mr. Luther, sorry to disturb you but I have a woman—"

"Keegan! He won't let me up can you please come down here before I curse him the fu—" The call silenced and Keegan urgently paged back.

"I'm coming."

He ran out of the apartment barefoot and without a shirt. Sabrina's voice had been electricity in his veins and he was suddenly full of energy. He jumped nervously around the elevator while it took its sweet time getting from the 10th floor to the 1st. When the bell signaled that he had arrived, he couldn't believe the sight he saw at the desk.

Sabrina had Venice wrapped up in a blanket in her arms—it had been raining and she liked to keep her warm since she was thin and short coated. Venice's frightened face and shaking body contrasted sharply to Sabrina. Sabrina was absolutely pissed off. He could see it in her eyes while she spoke to the man at the desk. He almost felt sorry for the poor man.

"You need to learn how to speak to people—" She was in the midst of a nasty chastising when he approached. He grabbed Venice from both of her hands with only one of his and grabbed the handle of her suitcase with his other. Venice immediately greeted him with kisses on his cheek. He was firm when he turned to the man at the desk.

"Mr. Luther, I'm sorry—" Sabrina sucked her teeth.

"Now you want to apologize—right." Sabrina said from behind Keegan's body.

"Put her on my frequent list and I want a parking space in the garage for her car when she comes by." The man's mouth fell open and closed about four sets of times. He was not expecting this. He'd just seen a poorly dressed woman with a suitcase and a wet dog and assumed she had no place in the luxury lobby. Now, he'd just been told that not only did she have a permanent place, but that place was the most expensive unit in the building.

"Absolutely sir but there are no dogs—"

"Let Bob know I'll pay whatever he wants but she stays." He was solid in his answer and he knew there was very little left for him to say. "Or I'll go." He paid the most rent of anyone else in the building. He wouldn't be evicted over a ten pound dog. They both knew that.

Sabrina gave him a jaunty look from behind Keegan's frame and smirked when she walked by to head to the elevators. Keegan and Sabrina waited silently for the elevator to arrive. She wondered if he was upset with her for not contacting him for a little over an entire day. They stepped onto the elevator and stood beside one another with their eyes straight ahead.

She opened her mouth to say something—anything— but the bell overhead signaled that they were on his floor. Keegan placed Venice on the leather sofa and she instantly curled into herself to nap. Sabrina turned to Keegan but he had already pivoted back into the kitchen.

She slowly followed him and leaned against the island counter nearby. He glanced up at her for just a second and then returned to slicing fruit.

"So... what does this mean?" He asked nonchalantly. He popped his thumb in his mouth to taste some of the strawberry juice left on it. He kept his eyes fixed on what he was doing. Sabrina tried to throw off his attitude but it rubbed her the wrong way. She swallowed.

"What do you mean?" She whispered gently.

"I mean," He put down the knife and grabbed a paper towel to wipe his hands. He shrugged his shoulders lightly and crossed his arms over his flexing chest. Sabrina wrung her hands in front of her while she waited for him to reply. She tried to remember that he was the one who put her on his frequent visitors list and requested a space for her car. That had to mean something.

Or it could mean that she had somewhere to park when he got lonely at night.

The ring on her finger suddenly felt like one thousand pounds. "I haven't spoken to you in like... two days?" He halfheartedly asked. "What are you doing here?"

He looked up at her for the first time in a few minutes and he'd be damned if her expression didn't rip him to pieces. He couldn't believe how easy it was to treat her so terribly but he knew it was only to protect himself. She'd keep toying with him for as long as he'd allow her to. But it had to come to an end because he wouldn't spend any more months—or years in turmoil with himself. He'd messed up and he understood that completely but he didn't deserve this endless torture.

"You—" She started. She looked back at Venice and her suitcase. She gazed down on her adorned finger and slowly slid the engagement ring down its length. "You don't want to marry me anymore." She whispered. Keegan clenched his eyes shut for a moment.

Sabrina had no other intentions but to profess her love for Keegan and spend the next few days tousling in his sheets until they forgot about the world outside his apartment. But the coldness in his voice had convinced her that it was all a mistake. Maybe he'd waited too long.

"You know I do." Keegan grew frustrated with this situation. The level of miscommunication between them was reaching an immature level. He was only adding to it by trying to be an asshole. That wasn't like him and he wouldn't start today. Especially not with Sabrina.

"Baby," He groaned and officially signaled the let-down of his façade. "Come sit." Sabrina slowly made her way over to the island counter's stool. Keegan sat beside her. "I will never stop wanting to marry you. Ever." Sabrina looked up at him with big doe eyes and waited for him to continue talking. "But I don't want you to feel like you're making a mistake by marrying me. I also don't want you to keep being indecisive about it either." He chastised a bit.

"We can get married tonight." Keegan's gave her an incredulous look and he was shocked to see she was serious. "I came here to marry you as soon as I could."

"Sabrina, I think you'd want your family—"

"All I need is you." She whispered. "I don't need anyone else to be there but you. I have nothing to prove." Keegan took a sigh that was supposed to calm his heart and clear his mind. But it only put a pull at the corners of his lips. Sabrina smiled too. "I've thought about you every day since the day I met you. I have loved you every day since then and I will never stop."

*Check Bio For Updates*

Her shoulders hunched a bit. "I decided that the opportunity is worth more than the risk of being hurt by you again." Keegan grabbed her head with both of his hands. He pulled her face close to his and forced her to look into his eyes.

"I plan on making you the happiest woman in the world until my last breath. Do you understand?" She nodded. He pulled her in for a peck against her lips. "Now can we go get married?"

"Yes."