Heart to Heart

As Adele listened to the words that Rod and Danielle spoke to one another during their wedding ceremony, she was impressed with how open and honest they were about their feelings, and in front of all of those people! Again, she thought about her relationship with Darius and wondered if it would have made a difference if she had been more open with him about her feelings.  What was it that he'd said to her in the limo - something about her caring more about outward appearances than what was really going on between them?  Well, it wasn't true.  She cared a lot about what was going on between them.  It's funny, she thought, how she could speak her mind on any subject, and she was known for being somewhat opinionated, but when it came to matters of the heart, she was quite guarded.  If she were to speak to Darius about how she still cared about him, she would feel extremely vulnerable, and that was a feeling that made her uncomfortable.  She was seen as such as strong woman, and she wanted that reputation to remain intact.  And that's when it struck her like a ton of bricks that Darius had a point.  During their relationship, she had been too worried about her reputation to show her vulnerability to her partner, the one person who was supposed to know her and love her, the good and the bad.  As she watched Rod and Danielle walk down the aisle together as man and wife, she made up her mind that she would let her guard down and talk with Darius.

After the ceremony, many of the guests remained inside the church chatting with one another while the wedding party took photos.  Darius and his date were chatting when they were approached by an old acquaintance of Darius'.  "Oh wow!" said Darius, "Man, how many years has it been?"  He turned to his date "This is an old friend of mine, Ken.  Ken this is... my date."  Darius' date shot Darius an irritated look, and turned to Ken and shook his hand and introduced herself properly.  After a few moments, Ken moved on to speak to other guests.  Darius' date turned to him and said "You forgot my name."  Darius said "No, no I didn't, your name is..." she interrupted him "In that moment when you were introducing me, you forgot my name."  Darius apologized, stating that with all of the excitement of the day, he had simply had a momentary memory lapse.  At that moment, they saw Adele approaching.  Adele said to Darius' date "Excuse me Miss, do you mind if I speak with Darius for a moment?  Alone."  Darius' date let out an exasperated sigh and walked away.  She wandered through the church and met many of the guests, who were very friendly and welcoming.  She saw Palmer standing alone and walked over to speak with him.  He smiled as she approached and said "Hey, Zalika!  How did you enjoy the ceremony?"  She smiled and said "You remember my name."  Palmer said "Of course I do."  They smiled at each other and began chatting away in a very friendly manner.

Meanwhile, Darius and Adele had found and empty office where they could be alone to talk.  Once inside, Darius leaned against a desk and Adele stood near the door, staring at him.  Darius glanced at his watch and looked back at Adele, who was still staring and trying to find the right words to say.

Darius:  You wanted to speak with me?
Adele:  I saw you looking at me, in the church, during the ceremony.
Darius:  Adele, what's this about?
Adele:  I... I was thinking about you during the ceremony.  About us, really.  And I saw you looking at me, and I wondered if you were thinking about me, too.
Darius:  Actually, I was.
Adele:  You were?  Of course.  Well, I was thinking about some of the things that you said to me in the limo.  And I'm not saying that you were right, but I can see how you came to certain conclusions about me.
Darius:  What are you saying?
Adele:  I'm saying that I could have done better.  In our relationship, when it came to expressing my feelings about you, I could have done better.  I know that I certainly didn't do a good job of expressing those feelings if you honestly think that I didn't care about you, because I did... I do care about you.
Darius:  I know that you care.  No one argues like we do unless they care.
Adele:  So what I am saying to you is that I can do better.  We can do better.  I can focus more on what's really going on between us, and you can stop being such a pain in the butt...

They both laughed.

Adele:  We can do better.  We can resolve whatever issues that we had, and we can be better than we were.
Darius:  Wow.  I'm really shocked to hear this coming from you.  Yes, I was thinking about you, about us, during the ceremony, and I thought about mistakes that we've both made.  And watching Rod and Danielle up there - you know loving each other just seems to come so easily and so naturally for them.  With us, it was a struggle.  The truth is, I want what they have.  I want true love, and someone who brings out the best in me.  As much as I care about you Adele, I think that we bring out the worst in each other.  If today is any indication, then we certainly do.  We need to just move forward from here.  We've both met nice people, and who knows what might happen.

Adele felt humiliated, and then enraged.  She wanted to lash out a Darius once again.  She wanted to hurt him more than he'd just hurt her.  But she didn't.  She took it all in, and she told herself that she would just take her time and process the things that he was telling her.

Darius:  I think that you deserve to have someone who you can easily express yourself to and who loves you unconditionally.
Adele:  Ok.

Adele reached for the door but Darius quickly stepped in front of it and blocked her departure.

Darius:  I think that we should talk.
Adele:  I don't think that there's really anything left to say.
Darius:  Don't just shut me out now.  That's what you always used to do when things didn't go your way.  You would just shut down and shut me out.  You say that you can do better, so show me.

Adele felt a wave of emotion and turned away from Darius.  She didn't want him to see.  She quickly contained herself, and turned back around and agreed to talk.  They had the most open and honest conversation that they'd ever had.  They came away feeling that even though they would not be a couple, they could at least be friends.

When they emerged from the office, the church was nearly deserted.  The reception would have already started by now.  Darius glanced at his watch again and was shocked by how much time had gone by.  They walked outside, and did not see their limo.  When the couples had arrived at the wedding, the driver had dropped them off near the church, but had to park a couple of blocks away.  Adele told Darius to call the driver.  Darius said that he thought that the driver had parked just down the street, and that they could walk.  "In these shoes?!" Adele asked incredulously.  Darius smiled at her, and she said "Ok, let's walk then."

If only Palmer and Zalika had not been so preoccupied.  If only they had seen Darius and Adele approaching, then a most unfortunate situation could have been avoided.