LOVELESS

Chapter 42

The Lyft driver pulls up behind a car entering the gate of the apartment complex. Yemi's driver is about to follow the car in, but Yemi stops him. "You can just let me out right here," she tells him in a sulky mood. The driver nods, and then presses his foot on the brake before Yemi opens her door. "Thanks," she says quietly as she disembarks the car.

She pulls out her keys as she scurries through the open gate, ignoring her phone ringing in her purse. She makes it to her apartment, and immediately after closing the door behind her, she throws her purse across the room, yelling away her suppressed anger.

___

Back at Dave & Buster's, Stevie and Max are scarfing their food down while Veronica's food is getting cold in front of her. She is in the middle of calling Sam for the third time, and decides to go ahead and leave him a voicemail.

"I know you see me calling, you fucker," she whisper-shouts.

"Oouuuu," the boys react to her words, briefly coming up for air. At this point Veronica doesn't even care.

"Not only are you fucking up your shit with Yemi, but you're also fucking up my fuckin' sanity. You're fucking delusional if you think you still have feelings for that cheating ass, conniving ass, lying ass bitch. Get your shit together Samuel. If I have to fly down there, I will fuckin' flip the fuck out," she continues, slamming the phone down on the table a couple of times before pressing the end button.

She looks up and finds the boys gazing at her wide-eyed.

___

Yemi is undressing in her bathroom. After she takes her bra off, she glances in the mirror and does a double take at her reflection. She turns her body around to get a better look at her back. She squints and gasps sharply at the sight of her bruise. Her eyes start to get watery as she thinks back to this morning when Sam threw her against the table. For the life of her, she can't figure out why Sam would still have feelings for his cheating ex, especially after how the scandal affected him. It's bad enough he's emotionally unavailable to Yemi, but to finally, for the first time, hear him express his feelings and only for it to be about his ex... it's like a double slap to their relationship.

Yemi's thoughts are cut off when she hears pounding at her front door. She hesitates before turning to exit the bathroom. Sam's voice faintly comes through the walls as he calls out her name, causing Yemi to stop in her tracks. She goes back into the bathroom, and approaches the bathtub. She turns the shower on and ignores Sam as she steps into the tub.

___

NEXT MORNING

Yemi is on her way to the front door, wearing her old work attire, including her old Timberland boots from the Goodwill store. She's about to turn the knob when she thinks about Sam. She removes her hand, and steps backwards, thinking for a moment before walking to her window. She looks through the blinds, scanning the area in case Sam is still parked outside. One thing she is certain about is that even though he doesn't have the same strong feelings she has for him, she is confident that he cares enough about her that he would probably sit in his car all night, even after she ignored his knocks last night.

His truck is nowhere in sight, so she proceeds to the front door and opens it. She walks out slowly, surveying the area. She runs down the stairs and into her 2004 Sedan. She quickly straps her seat belt in before starting the engine, and then puts the gear in Reverse. She checks her rear view mirrors, and sees that it's clear to step on the gas. The car starts to move back only for Yemi to have to quickly press on the break. She turns her whole body around to see Sam's truck blocking her car in.

She throws her head back in frustration, and sighs before hearing a tap at her window. She reluctantly turns to see Sam's tall figure leaning on her door. She cracks her window open, just enough to hear him. "I can't be late to work again. Please let me out," she says, trying to be patient and empathetic with him.