Blossom

Chapter 18

Amaya POV

It’s been a couple of days since the dinner and I hadn’t been able to talk to Collin at all. For the first 3 or 4 days after, I tried my hardest to reach out to Collin, calling and texting him basically on every platform. I even went to his job but I was rudely told by his assistant that he was not trying to see me.

I decided not to waste any more time on him, focusing on my last semester of University and the two jobs I still held. In about 2 weeks, we were having a fancy dinner for the community center and I was automatically in charge of planning the whole event from the beginning to the end. It was being sponsored by Brown Incorporation and they gave us a huge budget to work with.

Getting to spend an obscene amount of money that wasn’t mine made my heart swell lol. I had already picked out the venue at a hotel, as well as planning the three-course meals and finding objects to be used for the biding session to raise money.

I also decided to use some money to buy a more than elaborate gift basket and raffle it out. I had the guest list and their work addresses so I already sent out the invitation to buy the tickets online. 

It was currently 5:50 pm, 10 minutes before I was done with my shift at the community center. We were currently all outside, allowing the kids to run around and interact as they waited to be picked up by their guardians. Feeling my phone vibrate in my back pocket, I pulled it out, shocked at who had hit me up.

Collin: Hi baby, I miss you. I’m picking you up in about 15 minutes and taking you out.

Me: Ohh well hi. It’s been a while plus I’m kinda tired. Not sure I want to be going all out today

Collin: Baby please, I know what I’ve done and I’m trying to make it up to you. I promise we won’t be out for long, only about an hour or two.

Me: Fine. Text me when you get here.

I can’t lie and say I’m not feeling annoyed. At this point, I was doing fine without Collin and I had gotten used to the radio silence but now he’s back and for some reason, my spirit isn’t jumping for joy as it should be. 

Saying goodbye to all the kids, I noticed that Abigail was still outside playing in the sandbox. Her mom was usually here a couple of minutes early so I was shocked that she was here after all the kids had left out. 

“Hey honey, let’s go in and get you something to eat. You must be hungry,” I told her as I helped her out of the sandbox and dusted her off. Picking her up, I noticed the tears that were threatening to fall out of her eyes and I immediately felt my heart grow softer than it already was.

“Baby girl, what’s wrong?” I asked, whipping her tears as we entered the building and walked over to the classroom. 

“My m-mommy where?” She asked dramatically throwing her hands up. Feeling a smile trying to come up, I put her down and tried to console her even more. 

“Mommy’s coming baby, she is just running behind a little bit,” I let her know as I pulled my laptop out and set up a cartoon for her on one of the cushions.

“I’m going to go get you a snack and a juice box then call your mommy okay? I’ll be back in about five minutes,” I let her know, watching as she didn’t acknowledge me, totally engrossed in Doc Mcstuffins. 

Walking to the office, I checked her health chart to see if she was allergic to any food before getting her something. I decided to call her mom as well just to make sure everything was okay. 

“Hi Miss Jordan, this is Amaya from the community center reminding you about Abigail,” I let her know hearing her soft voice through the phone.

“Ohh my gosh Miss A, I’m so sorry, I had a super important meeting run late. I’ll be over in about 15 minutes. I hope A is okay,” 

“She is, just really sad that all the other children left but she is watching doc mcstuffins now and I’m about to give her a small snack. Also, she is asking for ice-cream,” I said with a slight chuckle.

“Ohh I’m sure she is,” She said with a laugh. “I’ll have to treat her today. See you soon and thank you so much,” 

“You’re welcome. Drive safe,” I said as I hung up, walking over to the kitchen and greeting everyone before walking back to class.

Walking in, I set the snacks next to Abigail and helped her with the juice box. “Okay love, mommy is going to be here in about 15 minutes okay, she didn’t forget about you at all.” I let her know as I soothed her hair. “Okay,” She simply responded, looking up at me with a huge smile on her face before taking a sip from her juice box. 

A couple of minutes later, a satisfied Abigail was picked up by her mom who let her know she was taking her to an ice-cream shop for a treat before dinner. Grabbing my bags and saying bye to Miss Kay, I walked outside and headed towards Collin’s Benz. Opening the back door, I set my bags down before proceeding to get in the front seat.

Leaning over and placing a kiss on my cheek, he spoke up. “Hey, baby.” Still harboring the same feelings, I responded with a dry response “Hi. How was your day?” 

“It was great, I closed a huge deal for the bank. How was your day?” He asked, starting up the car and pulling out of the parking lot. 

“It was great actually. I can’t complain,” I let him know, feeling a smile threatening to show on my face when I saw him pull up to a soul food restaurant. 

“Alright let’s go in, have something to eat and then talk about everything.” He said, proceeding to open my door and help me out of the car.

*1 hour later*

“Let’s talk then,” I said. We had finished eating and I was full and ready to hash everything out. “Umm, so you didn’t feel the need to check up on me for a whole week or bother to respond to any of the messages I sent you?” I asked him, looking right in his eyes.

“Amaya, no lie I wasn’t happy with how the dinner went with your folks. I was trying to leave the best impression but that didn’t happen, and all they did was try to mock me throughout” He spoke as he took a sip of his tequila.

“So what though? Does that mean you ghost me for that long? We might as well not be in a relationship then. You showed up late for a dinner that you planned. It wasn’t anyone’s fault but yours,” I let him know with a soft voice. 

Before I could open my mouth to say another word, he had gripped my wrist so tightly and pulled me forward a little bit. “Don’t ever try to blame anything on me. Especially with everything I do for you,”

Feeling fear rise in my heart as well as pain in my wrist, I sat back in the chair and snatched my hand out of his grip. I was ready to go and thankful when he paid for the bill. Walking behind him, I sat in the car and held onto myself, shocked at how he was acting. We had been in a relationship for about 4 months and I didn’t know he could get like this. 

Pulling up to my house, I quickly got out, grabbed my bags, and ran upstairs, not trying to hear the apologies that were spewing from his mouth. Opening my door before proceeding to lock it properly, just in case he tried to come into my house.

Peeling my clothes off, I saw the bruise that had formed on my chocolate skin, letting me know that he had grabbed me a lot tighter than I thought. Hopping into the shower, I all of a sudden felt exhausted and hurried to get out, drying off and jumping into bed.