Authors: Jessica Gray
Ivy arrived in New York later that day, feeling lonely and depressed. She was still feeling lonely when she visited her family to celebrate her father’s birthday.
Everyone was there, her two sisters Sequoia and Thalia, and her two brothers Corbin and Barrett with their wives and kids. At least playing Aunt Ivy for a while would distract her from constantly thinking of Ter.
She loved kids and realized that she’d never discussed kids, and whether or not Ter wanted any, with him. The answer to his mother’s teasing had her believe he wasn’t totally opposed to kids, but it was one of the points on her checklist, and one she still needed to research.
Ivy was quieter than usual, and thought maybe she’d gotten by without her mother catching on, but that hope was dashed when she made to follow everyone as they left for the evening.
“Hold up there, Ivy.”
Ivy turned to see her mom standing in the hallway. “Yes?”
“You’ve been awfully quiet today. What’s going on with you?”
Before she could respond, her father stepped into the hallway. She looked at them both and then said, “I’ve fallen in love.”
Her mother hugged her. “I’m so happy for you. What’s his name?”
This was the part Ivy dreaded sharing with her parents. “Well, his name is Terrence Paxton and he’s the lead singer for a band I work with called Electric Flow.”
“A rock star?” her father exclaimed, clearly not happy with her news.
“Yvonne! You can do much better than a rock star. We’ve heard so many bad things about them. The drugs and the parties. That is not what we want for you,” her mother said, shock lacing her voice.
“You haven’t even met him. Terrence isn’t like other guys. He’s different…”
“And what about the groupies? There’s a reason so many musicians have broken marriages. Women throwing themselves at the men constantly; it makes keeping one’s marriage vows too hard. And what about a family? He probably doesn’t even want one.”
“You should meet him before you—”
Her father made a silencing motion with his hand. “Yvonne, you did not study and get a suma cum laude degree from Columbia Law School so you could end up with an uneducated rock star.”
“But he’s—”
“Is he white?” he asked her and lifted her chin.
“Yes.”
He groaned. “He’ll never understand your culture or your history.”
Ivy could have held her cool until her father made those last comments. For the first time in her life, she raised her voice against her father. “I’ve lived in New York City since I was six years old. This is my culture. Not Africa. I mean, I’ve been there what – five times in the last twenty years. I can’t even speak the language anymore.”
Her mother stepped forward, trying to shush her and calm things down because she knew how angry her husband could get. “Ivy, what your father was trying to point out was that he only wants what’s best for you and you’re still so young.”
Her mother turned, speaking directly to her father. “She’s just confused. Infatuation can do that to a young girl, but it will pass soon and she will see that you were right. One day in the future, she will thank us for not letting her make such a big mis—”
Ivy interrupted her “I won’t. It’s not a mistake. I love Terrence and it’s a lot more than infatuation.”
“Do not take that tone of voice with us,” her father warned her.
She took a breath, striving for a calm she wasn’t feeling. “Father, let me ask you a question. Why didn’t you oppose my brothers’ choice of wives? They both married women without college degrees.”
The moment she’d spoken those words, she wished she hadn’t. Her father’s face took on a threatening expression and his voice was sharp-edged as he approached her. “Who are you to question my decisions? You overstep yourself.”
“No, you’re overstepping yourself. I’m an adult and at least in this country, I’m allowed to choose who I want to love.” She bit her lower lip, trembling inside.
Her father uttered a curse word in his native tongue and Ivy took a step back. She’d seen her father angry before, but never this angry. He took a step towards her and stated, “You will not see this man again. I forbid it.”
“I don’t live here anymore. You can’t tell me who I can see.”
Her father straightened to his full height and said in a cold voice, “If you choose to continue seeing this man, you are no longer my daughter. You are not welcome in this home.”
Ivy looked between her mother and father, seeing her mother’s tears, but no action on her part. Her father was dead serious and Ivy could only stand there and look at him. Finally, she nodded and turned to leave. “Fine.”
She walked out, slamming the door behind her and returned to the small apartment she shared with Bella. Bella was equally shocked when Ivy told her the news. “I can’t believe it.”
Sitting on the couch, Ivy cried her eyes out. “Believe it.”
Bella sat down next to her, wrapping an arm around her friend’s shoulder. “Your father has always been so kind and modern. I just can’t see him opposing your choice of a life partner.”
Ivy continued to cry while Bella held her. She was in love with Ter, but her father had made it clear. If she chose him, she would have to say goodbye to her family.
She cried the whole night through, not falling asleep until the wee hours of the morning. Heartsick and with no idea of what to do.
Ter was out of his mind with worry. Ivy hadn’t answered any of his texts and all of the calls he’d placed to her cell phone were going straight to voicemail. Then, late Sunday night, he received a text from her that made absolutely no sense.
I’m sorry, but we cannot see each other again.
What the…? Given how they’d said goodbye just that morning, that didn’t make any sense at all. He was so worried, he finally called Reese.
“Hi Ter, I hadn’t expected to hear from you so soon,” she gushed and bulldozed over him with questions. “How’s Ivy? I like her. She’s perfect for you. I’m so glad for you. I–”
“Something’s wrong,” he said, interrupting his sister.
“What?” The word was barely a whisper.
“I don’t know. Everything was fine, but now she doesn’t answer her phone and sent me a text saying that we can’t see each other again.”
“Oh, Ter, I don’t know what to tell you. If she won’t answer her cell phone, you can always call her office Monday morning. She must at least take your call then. Maybe there’s an explanation to this?”
“Thanks, Ree. Sorry to call this late.”
“Ter, you know you can call me at any hour. I love you. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you. Night.”
“Night.”
First thing Monday morning, he called the record label and asked to speak to her.
“Terrence,” she answered his call with trepidation and something else in her voice he couldn’t place. She sounded so sad, and almost as if she’d been crying for a long time. It broke his heart.
“Ivy, what’s going on? I tried to call you yesterday after you sent that text. Speaking of which, what do you mean we can’t see each other again?”
He heard her sniff into the phone and knew she was crying. “Ivy, please tell me what’s going on. Whatever it is, we can fix it.”
“We can’t. I went to see my father for his birthday last night. I told him about you and he’s forbidden me from seeing you again.”
“What? He can’t do that. I mean this is the twenty-first century. You can make up your own mind.”
She sniffed again. “When I said the same thing, he got furious and told me if I continue to see you, I’m no longer his daughter or a part of his family.”
“Lovey, I’m sure this is just a temporary thing. He’ll change his mind once he gets to know me.”
“No. Not my father. And…God, this is so hard.” She inhaled. “Ter, we’ve only known each other for a short time. How do we even know what we have is long term? I can’t risk losing my family and then wind up with nothing.”
The way her mind was processing everything shocked him right down to his soul. “Ivy, of course we’re long term. I can feel it and I know you can too. Things will calm down–”
“You don’t know my father.”
“That’s true, but–”
“No buts. I can’t see you again. Goodbye.”
He heard her hang up the phone and sat there, absolutely shattered. Tears stung his eyes, but he forced them back. She was only doing what she had to do, and as much as he wanted to force the issue, he also knew this was killing her.
And he wouldn’t intentionally cause her more pain. He couldn’t force her to choose him and lose her family in the process. How would he react if he had to choose between his family and her? Honestly, he had no idea.
For hours, questions stabbed at him, not giving his mind any rest. She was right. They barely knew each other. They didn’t know each others faults yet. They hadn’t been through a crisis together. Or separation. Or conflicts. As hard as it was, he decided to try and forget her.
But he couldn’t.
Two weeks later, when he moved to New York City, she was still his first thought in the morning and his last one at night. And things worsened with every passing day.
Electric Flow was in the recording studio immediately upon arriving in the city, but the record label had chosen his newest song to become the first single they recorded. The love song he’d written for her.
He just couldn’t bring himself to sing it. Every single note tore his heart into pieces and more than once, he stopped in the middle of a verse. On the third day of recording, they still hadn’t made much progress with this particular song. Even his band members were getting worried.
Jason must have drawn the short straw because he cornered Terrence in the hallway. “Ter, what’s up with you, man?”
He looked at his drummer and shrugged. “Nothing.”
“Come on. You might pull that crap with others, but not with me. It’s that chick, right?”
“Why would you think that?” Ter asked, popping the top on the soda he’d just snagged from the fridge to keep his hands busy.
“How about the fact you can’t get through the song you wrote and dedicated to her?”
“It needs some more work–”
“Bullshit. It needs a singer with his head screwed on straight. What’s wrong? You two have a fight?”
“I’m fine.” Ter finished the soda and tossed the can in the trash. “Let’s go finish this so I can get back to writing.”
Jason relented and they headed back into the studio. Under the threatening stares of his band members, Ter took a deep breath and pushed images of Ivy aside long enough to finish recording
he
r song – “You’re All I Ever Want.”
The only good thing to come from his breakup with Ivy was that his creativity was through the roof. He was full of sorrow and a broken heart always made for great songs. Emotional and captivating songs his fans loved.
Within three months, Electric Flow had written and recorded an entire full length album. The reviews were fantastic and the album was a raving success, breaking the charts in the first two weeks after its release. A fact that should have sent Terrence over the moon.
But he wasn’t happy. The long awaited success hadn’t brought him even a fraction of the happiness he’d had with Ivy. Something had to give. He couldn’t keep going on this way, knowing she was living in the same city and not seeing her.
No matter what happened, he had to see her again. He just had to.
Three months, four days, and sixteen hours. That’s how long it had been since Ivy had talked to Ter. That’s how long it had been since she’d broken up with the only man she’d ever truly loved.
She’d stopped feeling. Her insides had gone numb and she went through life like a zombie. Every time she met her parents, she despised them more and it was all she could do to not scream at them for ruining her life.
But she said nothing.
She’d been raised to obey her parents and as an obedient daughter, there was no way she would ever go against the explicit orders of her father.
Maybe, she tried to convince herself, they were right and Ter hadn’t been the one for her. But her heart wasn’t buying it. It knew the truth and while her mind might buy a lie for a short time, her heart couldn’t be budged.
At work, everything was moving along smoothly and she was finally climbing the corporate ladder. Her boss had been impressed with her handling of the Electric Flow account, and she’d taken his advice to ask for what she wanted, resulting in some bigger and more popular artists’ contracts.
Bella had tried to shake her out of her depression, insisting she start dressing like a woman. They’d gone shopping together, Bella’s remedy for all kinds of sadness, and she’d all but forced Ivy to buy some feminine yet businesslike skirt suits and even high heels.
Ivy had dressed in the new clothing with trepidation that first day, but as people at work suddenly took notice of her, she realized they weren’t looking down on her for being herself. She’d become the rising star of the legal department, received a huge pay raise, and she’d even been offered a junior partner position in the coming year. But it didn’t bring her the joy she’d expected.
She should have been the happiest woman in the world, but she wasn’t. Things weren’t the same with no one special to share them with, and the only one her heart wanted to share her success with was Ter.
When Electric Flow’s album hit the charts, everyone at the company congratulated her for having secured the band for the record label. Sure, she was happy for Ter and his band members and even felt a small measure of pride in helping them get to this point, but at the same time she feared to die of a broken heart. She couldn’t keep on this way. Something had to give.
A soft tap on Ivy’s office door cut through her morbid thoughts and had her calling out, “Enter.”
Her youngest sister Sequoia stood in the door. “Sequi. What a pleasant surprise.” Ivy came out from behind her desk and hugged her sister. “What brings you down here?”
Sequoia tightened her embrace before she took a step back and said, “I’ve seen how unhappy you’ve been.”
“You shouldn’t be worrying about me, Sequi.” Ivy squared her shoulders to fend off the turbulent emotions attacking her.
“Why not? Someone has to worry about you. Look, Ivy. All my life, I’ve looked up to you. I admire how strong and independent you are, and I would totally understand if you went against father’s wishes. I wanted you to know that I will support you in whatever you decide.”
Ivy was so overcome with emotion, she burst into tears. “Why now?”
Sequoia looked at her and blushed. “It’s not entirely unselfish. I just turned twenty-two and thought about my own future. I don’t want to face the same fate if I met and fell in love with a guy father didn’t approve of. By helping you, you’ll actually be blazing a trail for both of us.”
Ivy couldn’t help but giggle under her tears and pulled her sister into a hug.
“I overheard Mother trying to change Father’s decision,” Sequoia said.
“You did?” This was the first glimmer of hope since her father had issued his ultimatum.
“Mother is very concerned about you. She said you’re a mere shadow of yourself. Mother even mentioned she’d never forgive herself if you were never happy again.”