Free Denouement by M. O. Kenyan

lawyer’s
number. It was time to start letting go of the past and she had to start with
the dreaded house, then Tobias Harden. “Sell it. Let them tear down the bloody
place I don’t care.” After barking her orders she tossed the phone on the bed.
She thought about crawling into bed and just letting the tears run out of her.
But she couldn’t. She was sure that the pillows still smelt like Tobias. Plus
she had become so accustomed to crushing into his hard muscular body when she
turned in her sleep that the bed seemed too big. Marietta eased into a
comfortable position in her chair and prayed that sleep would wash over her
soon.

 
    *
* * *

 
    Marietta groaned as she tried to turn her head. Her
neck was stiff, no doubt from the very uncomfortable position she had slept in.
The chair didn’t have much room and didn’t offer much head support. She hated
herself for letting herself beso affectedby Tobias Harden that she couldn’t sleep in her own bed.
    “What’s wrong Mattie?” Jessie asked as she watched
Marietta’s face morph into different forms of distress.
    “Don’t call me that.” Tobias had called her that, and
it never sounded right when anyone else said it.
    “Fine, what’s wrong with your neck Ms. Parks?” Jessie
asked once more, a hint of sarcasm in her tone.
    “I didn’t sleep well. My neck is knotted up.” Marietta
pressed her fingers into her neck trying to massage herself.
    “What, Toby’s muscles are getting too hard for you to
sleep on?” Jessie teased.
    “That’s over,” she shot out. It had been the first
time she had said it out loud. It seemed so real, although for it to be, she
had to validate the existence of a relationship. “We were never together in the
first place.”
    “That’s why you are in knots. No one loosened you up
this morning.” Jessie chuckled. But when she saw a note of despair in Marietta’s
eyes she changed her tune going for comfort and truth instead of jests. “You
had to know that you guys weren’t going anywhere. Is that why you are wearing
the shades? You want to hide the fact that you were crying over him?”
    “I have my pride.” Marietta groaned when the pain in
her neck seemed to shoot into her head. A wave of dizziness washed through her.
She grabbed at the table in front of her to steady herself.
    “Are you okay!” Jessie’s
panicked tone caught the attention of everyone in the room.

 
    *
* * *

 
    Tobias looked in the direction of where the panic-stricken
voice seemed to emanate from. He watched as Jessie gently eased Marietta into a
sit and handed her a bottle of water. He wanted to go to her and find out what
was wrong, but he stopped himself. It didn’t matter what he felt for her or
vice versa, he wasn’t good for her. Tobias knew his wandering eye would prove
to be too much of a burden for Marietta to bear. Although in the last few weeks
he had managed to relegate himself to Marietta’s bed alone. But stuff always
happened and he had a gift for shooting all his relationship to hell in an
emotionally broken basket.
    He held himself back as he watched the people around
Marietta fuss over her. He would only see if she was feeling better, he
convinced himself. He moved towards her and mixed in with the little crowd.
Tobias watched her as she shrugged off the millions of hands that were being
put on her shoulders in support. He chuckled, he had always known that she was
strong but he was more intrigued by how stubborn she was. Marietta was her own
person, her own source of strength and comfort. She didn’t need anyone to make
her complete and neither did he.Their similarity was
the one thing that kept them apart. How would two totally independent people
learn how to rely and lean on each other?
    He noticed her kneading her fingers into her neck.
Instinctively he brushed her fingers aside and took over massaging her. He felt
her muscles submit under the pressure of his fingers. That single and
unintentional reaction got him