Free Second Time Around by Darrin Lowery Page B

She didn’t understand why it had to be a five-year-plan as opposed to a ten or twelve-year plan, as long as they were together.
    Back then sewing was her side hustle. Sewing was her hobby; that and helping her girlfriends decorate and rearrange their houses. She had a skill for both and made money on the side helping people from the church or friends of friends.
    There was a time when she loved prom season because of all the extra money that she would bring in. It was when she was making dresses for young high school girls that he would try to persuade her to go back to school or at the very least take a few business classes so she could hone her skills or perhaps open up her own business, either sewing or decorating.
    He saw the talent she had. He saw the potential. The thing was she saw what she did as a hobby or a side hustle. He saw it as an opportunity.
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    When Korie was younger she had two dreams: Being a seamstress and decorating homes. They were dreams that he always encouraged her to pursue. He even went as far as putting a marketing plan together for her in his spare time.
    That upset her as well because that spare time could have been her time.
    When they were together they ate at all the finest restaurants in Chicago. They stayed at Chicago’s finest hotels for weekend getaways. They had a good time in the Windy City, and as previously mentioned, the good times were really good.

    Korie wanted more.
    She wanted more of his time.
    It was time he refused to give her.

    They argued a lot. He would always tell her that he had a five-year plan and she needed to simply be patient. She hated the five-year plan. She hated hearing those words. When their sex life began to decline, she took drastic measures to slow him down. Taking time away from her was one thing. Not making time to make love to her was something altogether different. You make time for that. If nothing else, no man should neglect a woman in the bedroom.
    There were times that he would work, go to school, and do the internship. He would come home dead tired . . . exhausted.
    Korie thought to herself, not my problem.
    She didn’t tell him to go back to school.
    She didn’t tell him to work these insane hours.
    They were doing fine. They were getting by. She felt he needed to make her his priority.
    He explained that he was exhausted. It was an excuse she heard way too many times. He explained that he was working hard today to make a better tomorrow for them both. She explained that if he didn’t make the time, her time would belong to someone else. Tomorrow would come, but the question was always if she would still be there. She didn’t care that he was tired. She didn’t care how his day went. She wanted quality time with her man. She wanted to be desired. She wanted happily-ever-after, and she didn’t want to wait an eternity for happily-ever-after to come. She needed to give him a moment of pause. She needed to shift his focus to more important things, things that couldn’t be so casually dismissed.
    She became pregnant.
    She became pregnant on purpose.
    She stopped taking her pills.
    He never stopped using condoms.
    She sometimes put pin-size holes in the condoms.
    Still, she never became pregnant.
    Either the condoms held, or he was shooting blanks.
    She then lubed herself one day with baby oil before making love to him.
    She knew that baby oil practically destroyed condoms.
    One day the condom broke.
    Six weeks later she was pregnant.
    Pregnancy put a smile on her face.
    It put a look of despair on his.
    Shortly after that the arguments started. The word sabotage was used. It had already been on his mind, but one day he had the audacity to say it. It was one of the most heated arguments they ever had. At the high point of the argument, she confessed her transgression. It was a confession that she now knew should have never left her lips. That was a secret that she should’ve taken with her to the grave.