For the Sake of Love by Dwan Abrams Read Free Book Online

felt hurt, betrayed, angry, and confused. She thought she had done everything right when it came to her relationship with Spade. She was a virgin. And most important, she prayed about her relationship with him. She believed in her heart of hearts that he was The One! This was not supposed to happen.
    So many questions resonated in her mind, and she wondered if he ever loved her at all. No, she refused to go there. Of course he loved her. Had he not he wouldn’t have put a ring on her finger. And as Steve Harvey had often stated, “If a man loves you, he’ll give you a title.” Well, Spade had claimed her as his girlfriend, and then his fiancée. He made his intentions known that he planned for her to be his wife. His actions had always been consistent with his words . . . at least until now.
    How could he be so insensitive? she wondered. Why did he tell her that the wedding was off the day before the grand opening of her day spa? Did he have such little regard for her that he didn’t care about ruining her celebration? She didn’t want to believe that, but thinking about his timing made her more furious. No, she couldn’t in good conscience call Spade insensitive. Through the years he demonstrated to her on more occasions than she could count how in touch with her feelings he really was. Therefore, whatever “it” was that he was going through had to be of huge, gigantic—no—enormous proportions.
    What if she were off base altogether? What if he had changed now that he was about to blow up? Was that possible? She thought about the young girls at Six Flags. What if he didn’t want to get married because it didn’t go with that whole rapper lifestyle? Everyone knows rappers are known to be promiscuous. Was she in denial?
    She tried hard to silence the questions that plagued her mind as exasperation engulfed her. The insanity of it all! she fumed. She hated having more questions than answers. It made her feel vulnerable, which was something she tried not to do.
    She wiped away her tears and continued to try to quell the questions that gnawed at her psyche. Spade’s behavior today was totally inconsistent with the man she thought she knew and loved.
    â€œSnap out of it,” she said aloud. So many memories. She had to force herself to stop thinking about Spade, because she was making herself more depressed by the second.
    Even though she felt like crawling into bed and never getting out, she knew that she couldn’t do that. She needed a pep talk, and Nya was just the person to do it.
    Without so much as a “hello” or “how are you doing?” as soon as she heard Nya’s voice on the other end of the phone she blurted out, “The wedding is off.”
    â€œWhat? What happened?” Her voice went up an octave.
    Bria could not even get the words out without bursting into tears.
    â€œI’m on my way,” Nya assured her before hanging up the phone.
    Less than thirty minutes later, she was knocking on Bria’s door with a bag filled with Butter Pecan ice cream and a box of Kleenex.
    Bria looked at her five foot two inch, twenty pounds overweight friend through rheumy eyes. Nya seemed to carry most of her extra pounds in her butt. She brushed past Bria, and her scent could only be compared to the yellow puff flower balls on an acacia tree.
    Bria put the ice cream in the freezer and carried the box of Kleenex into the living room where she cried and recapped her conversation with Spade.
    â€œI’m in shock right now,” Nya said. “In all the years I’ve known Spade, one thing I was always convinced of is that not only does he love himself some Bria, he really likes you. I don’t know what’s going on, but this is way out of character for Spade.” She paused. “If you ask me, Spade’s acting like a punk and a coward. What’s his number? I’m about to call him!”
    â€œDon’t do