Love Is Overdue by Natalie Myrie Page A

that’s when I
noticed what I had missed this whole time. Guilt. Her eyes. Her
face. She was swimming in it.
    I took a deep breath, trying
to figure out what to do. “I...” I was stumbling again. “I
understand what you’re saying but...I really don’t know what you
want from me, to be honest...I mean, I just met Ben and I certainly
don’t know anything about his history with you or with his
brother.”
    She sighed, looking somewhat
disappointed. “I guess that’s true.”
    I watched her for another
moment, unable to help wondering what it was like to be the woman
that had that kind of effect over a man like Ben. What did she have
that could cause him to disown his own brother because of her? I
desperately wanted to know what she was like, how she thought, how
she acted, how she fucked, how she could make him fall in love with
her... I wanted to know absolutely everything about this
woman.
    But then my rational senses
took over again and I snapped myself right out of all my ridiculous
thoughts. I definitely wasn’t crazy enough to have coffee with this
woman, no matter how curious I was about her.
    “ Sorry.” I found
my voice again. I took a deep breath. “I think we’d all agree that
to forgive and forget is a great motto to live by, but
unfortunately it’s not a decision you can make for someone
else...at least...in my opinion.”
    She shook her head. “It’s
not right. I mean, those two...they’re not really the same without
each other. I can’t imagine them taking this shit to their
graves...it’s not worth it.”
    I
thought about that. Then maybe
you need to back the fuck off and get out of both of their
lives. My evil little
subconscious was attempting to put in her two cents.
    I needed to get out of
there. And then, like magic, my cell phone rang.
    “ Where the hell
are you, Gabby?” Tony sounded frantic, but then he was always
worked up about something.
    It was all the excuse I
needed, though, and I bolted my ass straight out of there,
promising Tony I was only minutes away.
    I decided to text Ben the
minute I got out onto the street.
    < I’m sorry and you were
right. I should have copped a feel in the car the other day, I was
just afraid I’d get too carried away and you know how easy it is to
get busted on public lewdness in broad daylight – especially in my
ghetto hood.>
    His reply came about ten
minutes, just before I got to the tapas bar to meet Tony and the
rest of his crew.
    < Funny. You drunk
already? Make sure you tell ya boy Tony to take care of my girl
tonight.>
    I smiled to myself and lit a
cigarette, enjoying the cool breeze that seemed to soothe me all
over. Tony could wait a few minutes.
     
    Ω
     
    The
address Ben had given me didn’t really mean much to me until I
realized that a place on Spruce and West 6 th Avenue
meant that he lived in a semi-detached condo overlooking False
Creek. Obviously, I knew that owning a restaurant as popular
as The Rock meant that he had to be somewhat financially stable,
but I still didn’t seem prepared for exactly how comfortable he
must have been.
    Because the condo was
situated on a hill, the front door opened to the second level. Lena
opened the door for me a few moments after I rung the
buzzer.
    “ Hey, what’s up,
come on in...” She greeted me and stepped aside for me to enter.
“Ben told me you were on your way, he just had to step out for a
minute.”
    I smiled and then glanced
around, taking in my surroundings. The upper level of the condo
consisted of a foyer and a couple bedrooms and a bathroom, but the
doors to the rooms were closed. I noticed right away a few more of
his mother’s black and white photographs framed on the walls in the
foyer along with a picture of Ben and his daughter on the beach.
The lower level of the condo was visible over a railing from the
foyer, as the whole place had an open concept that overlooked huge
windows with a magnificent view of the harbour.
    Lena led me down the stairs
to the large