Alicia tossed her shoulder bag over to the passenger seat, quickly sat in her car, and slammed the door. She was beyond livid, but she couldn’t stop herself from crying. What was wrong with Melanie? And why was she being so mean to Alicia? It was true that Melanie was dealing with a lot, what with this latest news about Brad’s affair and his baby, but Alicia still didn’t deserve the way Melanie was treating her. She’d thrown Alicia out of two separate places, and only a few minutes ago she’d glared at Alicia like she hated her. And this was all because Alicia had mentioned food too many times? Come to think of it, Melanie had also turned salty when Alicia had suggested that she talk to Brad about what was going on.
Alicia leaned her head back and wiped her face. She’d been trying her best to be patient with Melanie, trying to understand all that she was enduring, but Alicia flat-out wouldn’t keep taking this kind of abuse from her. She loved Melanie, and there was no friend she cared about more, but Alicia was tired of getting her feelings hurt.
She looked toward Melanie’s house and saw her peeping out the window, obviously checking to see if she was gone. But Alicia ignored her, and instead, she pulled her phone from her bag and called Phillip.
“Hey,” he said. “How’s Melanie?”
“She’s upstairs lying down,” Alicia lied. “Have you talked to Brad?”
“Yeah, he called me not long ago.”
“What did he say?”
“That he’d tell me everything when I got to the hospital.”
“Mel says she’s filing for divorce.”
“Oh no. I really hate to hear that. Maybe she’ll feel differently once she settles down.”
“I hope so, but I don’t know. She’s really upset.”
“I can understand why, but I still don’t want to see them break up.”
Alicia looked at her watch. “Neither do I. Anyway, I’m gonna stay here with Mel for as long as she needs me. Is that okay?”
“Absolutely.”
“I’ll call you later, though,” she said.
“Sounds good, and please tell Melanie I’m praying for her.”
“I will.”
“Talk to you later, baby. Love you.”
“I love you, too,” she said.
Alicia pulled out her pressed powder compact, touched up her face, and slipped on her sunglasses. She prayed that Phillip wouldn’t have a reason to call Melanie directly, because if he did, he’d discover Alicia wasn’t there. Phillip rarely called Melanie for much of anything, though, so Alicia wasn’t that worried about it.
She picked up her phone again and dialed Levi, but he still didn’t answer. She debated leaving a message, but instead, she backed out of Melanie’s driveway, left the subdivision, and headed toward I-90. If traffic was good, she’d be at Levi’s in an hour.
Alicia pulled into Levi’s driveway and shut off her vehicle. He always parked his car in the garage and kept the door down, so she couldn’t tell if he was home or not. She hoped he was, because she wasn’t sure how much longer she could go without seeing him. She also needed to know he was okay.
She got out of her car, locked it, and strolled up the brick sidewalk that led to the front door. Levi’s house was a brick two-story, and since he wasn’t buying it, Alicia could only imagine how high his rent must be. This of course, confirmed that he’d stashed away quite a bit of money the way he’d claimed.
When she stepped closer to the front door, she rang the bell. Interestingly enough, Levi opened it immediately.
“Hey, how’s it goin’,” he said with no particular expression on his face.
Alicia frowned. “How do you think it’s going, Levi?”
He moved to the side so she could walk in.
“I’ve been calling and texting you like crazy!” she shouted.
He shut the door. “I realize that.”
“You realize that? Is that all you have to say? What’s wrong with you?”
“I needed you to see that I was serious about what I said.”
Alicia leaned against the wall of his entryway and folded her arms. “This from the man who claims he never plays games?”
Levi folded his arms, too. “It wasn’t a game. I wanted you to see what it would feel like.”
“What?”
“Not being able to hear my voice, let alone see me. I wanted you to know how it would feel, having no contact at all.”
“Like I said, this from the man who claims he doesn’t play games.”
“Not a game. More like a dose of reality.”
“I can’t believe you made me drive all the way over here.”
“You came because you wanted to.”
“I came because I had to. For all I knew you were dead.”
“Well, as you can see I’m totally fine.”
“I didn’t deserve this.”
“You don’t think so?”
“I really don’t.”
“Well, I did what I needed to do to get your attention. And there’s something else, too.”
Alicia rolled her eyes toward the ceiling.
Levi continued. “You know how I always do what I say I’m gonna do?”
“Yeah, whatever.”
“Well, not this time.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I told you that you had thirty days to make a decision, but I need you to decide now. Either you’re going to stay married to Phillip or you’re not.”
“What’s the hurry?”
“I thought about you a lot over the last couple of days, and I know how you operate. You’ll ride out the thirty days and then make up some excuse for not being able to choose. And I’m not doing that with you. It may sound harsh, but baby, this is the way it has to be. I’m too caught up with all of this. I can’t focus on my business or anything else, and I need to make changes. More than anything, my conscience won’t allow me to keep being with you. Not when I know you’re married to someone else.”
Alicia hated that he was giving her yet another ultimatum, but as she watched him, she knew he was serious.
Levi wrapped his arm around her neck, towering over her and pulling her close. He gazed into her eyes and caressed the side of her face. “Baby, do you understand what I’m saying? I love you from deep within my soul. I would die for you. But either we do this the right way or not all.”
Alicia didn’t say anything, but soon she dropped her purse from her shoulder. She was exhausted. So tired of all the back-and-forth, all the deception, all the ways she’d been hurting Phillip. Right or wrong, she was tired of running from true happiness and the man she was meant to be with. Alicia also thought about her dad and how he’d talked about someone getting hurt, and she didn’t want that. Not when she could prevent it.
She and Levi stood there, still staring at each other. But finally, Alicia spoke.
“Okay.”
“Okay what?” he said.
“I’ll tell Phillip today. I’ll tell him I want a divorce.”