AFTER THE ENGAGEMENT

Five

Janelle walked into his house again Two days later. One thing she liked about him, was that he never pushed her away for wanting to spend time with him. Since their childhood, Denzel had always been her best friend.

Even after having two girlfriends, he was still her other best friend. The one who could talk with her for as long as she wants.

He shut the door behind him and followed her to the livingroom. She turned around and sighed. He was in his sweat pants and was totally shirtless.

"I'm sorry. I know its late and I shouldn't be here but, I just needed to talk to someone."
She said.

He nodded, with his hands on his pockets. "Did you sneak out of the house again?"
He asked. Denzel knew that attitude was still there.

She shrugged. "Old habits die hard. I'm sorry, I know I'm causing an inconvenience." She sighed and sat on the sofa.

He sat beside her. "What is it?"

"Its James. He hasn't called. I'm worried, Denzel. Have you been speaking to him?"

Denzel nodded. What the hell is wrong with that cousin of mine?
Yes, I talk to him most times.

"I don't understand why he has to be too busy to talk to me. I always try to call him but I only get his voice mails. Why is it too hard to talk to me? Am I too repulsive?"

Denzel shook his head. "You know how James is. I'm sure he will call you, Jay. Calm down."

"I can't! I am 99.9% upset right now!"
She said at the top of her voice.

Denzel smiled and raised a finger to be excused. Janelle just looked at him, sighed and buried her face in her palms.

Few seconds later, he arrived with a bowl of cereal. Janelle looked up at him and scoffed, rolling her eyes.
"Seriously, Dee?"

"Come on."
He said.

"I'm not hungry."

"What are you talking about? You get hungry when you're upset. Come on."
He said.

Janelle smiled because he knew her too well. She would rather eat when she's really upset. And at midnight she gets up to take cereal. It's not healthy, but she had grown up with that habit.
And Denzel knew that too well.

"I would have killed you, but I need this food right now."
She said.

He nodded with a smile. "You're very welcome."

"And, I would have killed you but I won't. Because I need someone to talk to. You know me too well, Denzel. I don't know if to be happy or sad."
She said, digging into the cereal.

"Hmm. This is delicious. You're a life saver, Dee."
She muttered, with her mouth full.

He chuckled and watched her. She even had milk on her nose. How she manages to get that on the tip of her nose sometimes was very surprising.

He leaned forward and cleaned it off with his thumb. She looked up at him and he held their gaze for a brief second.

She cleared her throat and looked away.

"Thanks for this, Dee. Please, talk to him. When you call him, tell him I want to know of he's okay."
She said.

Denzel swallowed the lump forming in his throat. He nodded.
"Sure. I'll do that."
He said.

"I don't know why he has to act like that. He is the one who proposed to me. Even though our parents want it, I do too. And so does he. Why did he tell me he loves me, if he would treat me like this?"