Fiery Vengeance

Seriously?!?! Why do I even do this to myself?

Kara thought to herself as she looked at the message that her flavor-of-the-week had sent to her in her inbox. Her and Malcolm had been going "steady" for seven months and Kara was ready to move the relationship to the next level.

I mean, Why not?

Kara moved to city from the suburbs for a better paying job. She had been working for a promising Public Relations firm. Her boss had noticed her incredible talent, particularly to detail when it comes to representation of her company. Young and extreme ambitious, Kara decided to take the job in the city and for the last few months; she had hated her decision. She was further away from her family but even further way from anything she could relate to. People... Food... Atmosphere, everything looked foreign until she met Malcolm.

Malcolm was an assistant contractor, which had caused him to constantly be on the go. Kara met him on a day in which he happened to be in the city. Tall, muscular-build, it was hard for Kara not to have noticed him walk into Starbucks. In a very fit and tailored suit, He had saw Kara sitting by the window enjoying her coffee. She had been deeply immersed into her latest book but her favorite author, Amanda Seales, that his voice broke her concentration.

May I join you?

She looked up and saw his eyes, softly glaring at her. Whether it was a deepness of his brown eyes or the silkiness of his voice, she felt the heat rise to her face. She accepted his invite to her solitary time and ever since that day, they had been inseparable... so she had thought.

When Malcolm would head out of the state for his contracting job, Kara was left to her own devices in order to deal with the separation. Throwing herself into work, nights spent in her office with Chinese food and reruns of The Blacklist, Kara did whatever she needed to get him off her mind. They were not in a relationship, they were cordial. They were intimate but they were NOT in a relationship, a fact that Kara had been bothered by recently.

Kara had a complex when approaching relationships; keep it seamless. As emotionless as she had been, Malcolm has somehow infiltrated her hard interior with the sweetest words and even sweeter touches. The energy between them had been there since the initial met, however, the outcome for those emotions would only lead to one of two places. Arguments or Sex. The arguments were intense but the sex was much more. It was rough, animalistic, yet Kara felt fiery passion with every grunt and moan that would escape her lips. Yet, the fact this remained. THEY WERE NOT IN A RELATIONSHIP. Kara wanted to know... why?

Promises had been shared between them, in and out of the bedroom yet she was still... single. Still aching to be claimed. Still wanting a title from Malcolm, hell, just for him to say, "I want you to be mine." She wanted that. She deserved that. Yet... here she was, staring at at his latest message, reaffirming where she was placed in his life. Where this relationship was going and as the time went, Kara started to see where... nowhere.

The last visit that they had together, she had mustered the courage to tell him what she had wanted from him. Naked and embarrassed, Kara had put her heart on the table in hopes that Malcolm would pick it up.

I told you, I don't want to be in the relationship.

But we've been doing this for months, where do you think this is going?

But I told you, I don't want a relationship.

Her frustration started to rise, which had caused her voice to pick up a few octaves.

Watch your mouth, my mom is still upstairs.

Kara, looking around feeling more angry, wanted to tell him that she didn't give a fuck about his mom or her feelings. She didn't care that she was downstairs, in her most vulnerable state just to get shut down and disciplined like a child... over the volume of her voice? Kara clenched her teeth and stayed silent, while allowing the imagines of her killing Malcolm continue to play. Malcolm continued to talk about the "terms and conditions" of their agreement. Fuck the agreement, it's a load of shit.

They had parted ways, Kara as far as possible. Feeling the familiar feeling of hurt, she sprinted to her car and drove as fast as she could away from him. She couldn't believe that he felt that way about her, after showing him that she wasn't like the other women that he had dealt with or ran across. Kara was a solid, loyal woman, one could say too loyal. Yet, Malcolm had kept Kara close with every cute nickname or romantic gesture. Unsure as to what he wanted from Kara, he just knew he couldn't let her go.

Text messages became sparse and the wellness check-ins had stopped. Kara's heart was broken and she couldn't believe that it was so. She had cried when he told her the cruel truth but brushed it off, wiping her tears while she rolled her joint. Marijuana did only so much for Kara's pain however; the more she milled over what he said, the more she was hurt. She had allowed her vulnerability overshadow her logic. By lowering her wall, Malcolm's army had come in and caused havoc, leaving rubble and smoke in her spirit.

Malcolm saw the hurt in Kara's eyes, the same hurt he had dealt with months prior to meeting her. He had been on the end of Kara's while his ex was his. While talking to Kara, he had noticed her voice cracked when she argued the fact that they were both beginning to fall for each other.

I want this. I want us to keep growing. I mean, don't I make you happy?

You do, but I just don't want a relationship.

It didn't make sense to Kara, it was a safe decision for Malcolm. He was not ready for Kara. Kara was too invested. Looking into the rearview mirror, warm tears drying on her face, Kara drove staring down the road to her home. Another man she had wasted her time on. Another man she had allowed to come into her life and turn it upside down. The humming of the car was the only sound that Kara focused on, meanwhile, contemplated on how she was going to make him hurt the very same way she did.

This is war!