Free Private Dancer by Nevea Lane

It was December 24th. I lost my baby on Christmas Eve.”
    “Your baby? It was our baby.” Darryl said, getting defensive. Why was she ragging on him? It wasn’t his fault she became attached to the fetus and gave it a name.
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    Nevea Lane
    Private Dancer
    “No, not it, he, Carter was mine. I carried him, I cared for him, I grieved for him and I mourn for him every single Christmas Eve.” Marise’s eyes misted over as she stared Darryl down. She’d never told him any of this. It felt good to finally get these things off of her chest.
    “Babe, I’m sorry you went through that, but that was years ago. Why can’t we start over?”
    “Because Darryl, that is where our marriage really ended. We’re really doing ourselves a favor by getting out now.” Marise truly believed that.
    “What if I don’t want to? I’m used to you, and…” Marise held up her hand in his face and shook her head.
    “Darryl, being used to someone is not love. It takes love to sustain a marriage. Can you honestly say that you love me?” Marise wasn’t in suspense. She already knew the answer.
    Darryl didn’t believe in love.
    “No, but what does that got to do with us? We made it work.”
    “It was work. It was not the blissful times I had imagined. Sooner or later Darryl you will wake up and see that you want more out of life. I just happened to discover that before you.” Darryl sat back and looked at his soon-to-be-ex. Where had this woman come from? She was not the meek little mouse he was used to. His Marise never looked him in the eyes. This woman sitting across from him had nerves of steel. No, she was right; he couldn’t be married to her.
    She was too strong now. Sighing he picked up the pen and began to sign the papers.
    Marise’s heart almost burst when he finished signing them and slid them back to her. He actually had a contented smile on his face. It was contagious. She smiled back. For the first time, she felt like she’d a life of her own.
    “So I guess this means I can’t get a quickie?” Darryl said, trying to break some of the tension.
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    Nevea Lane
    Private Dancer
    “No, but I know some girls at the Harem that would probably love to give you one. For a fifty.” Marise laughed. At least now she could laugh at her being a stripper. She felt like a huge burden had been lifted off her shoulders.
    Darryl titled his head back and let out a good bark. As his head leaned back, that is when Marise saw two cold blue eyes shooting daggers at her. Kasen was back and Marise’s heart sank. Oh shit.

    * * *
What can I do but be happy for her ? Kasen thought as he rode the elevator up to his office.
    He’d not contacted her for two weeks, didn’t answer her emails and always had his partner relay his messages to her. But, Kasen thought with a sigh, that is that, and Marise James was no longer his concern.
    He felt as though he could finally be free of the nagging thoughts he has had of her in the past two weeks. He wished that he could’ve handled it better, but now it is out of his hands. And he felt partially relieved. Or, perhaps it was more anger than relief that had him storm away from the deli. He’d known that the man occupying the table was the infamous Darryl from the pictures on Marise’s desk.
    Marise was a burden that Kasen believed he was more than ready to be relieved from. He would be much more content living with his previous shallow existence. The women that he normally associated himself with were too self-absorbed to care if he honestly cared about them or not.
    Who did Marise think she was? She’d laid her burdens on me and made me care about her .
    Kasen gave pause and chuckled to himself. That was the biggest lie he’d ever told himself. He knew he was trying to make himself feel better about the mess as a whole, but lying to himself was going a bit too far. If there was one thing that Kasen had learned in his life, it was to always be honest, no matter the pain that it