The moment the words left Kimberly's lips, Melvin, who had been about to walk away, paused, and his brows drew together as he took a second look at her.
Was she crazy? She had to be out of her mind to say something like that to him. How could she propose something so ridiculous to someone who wouldn't even talk to her? Melvin asked himself as he looked at Kimberly, whose heart was beating rapidly.
"I will pretend I didn't hear that. Get lost," Melvin said, and instead of going to join his friends, he turned around and stormed out of the club, and Kimberly hurried after him.
She knew he was mad at her, but she also believed that this was her only opportunity to talk to him since he had made every effort to avoid her for the past three weeks.
"Melvin, can you just hear me out?" she asked as she followed him, and Melvin turned to face her angrily.
"Or what? You will throw your shoe at me to make me listen to your bullshit?" Melvin asked harshly.
He had come to the club as usual, hoping to relax since he had been upset a lot lately, and she just had to be here to ruin it. Why couldn't she just leave him alone?
"Only if it will work this time," Kimberly joked and then sighed when Melvin glared at her.
"I'm just kidding. Listen, I know you are still mad at me...."
"Yet you had the guts to ask me to marry you? Marry you?" Melvin asked incredulously, and when Kimberly nodded, he burst into a humorless laughter.
"Listen, it's not going to be a real marriage. It will be a contract marriage....."
"And what made you think I would want to go into a contract marriage with you? I believe I made my feelings clear to you and my mom six months ago. I don't want to marry you. I don't want to have anything to do with..."
"I know this is about what happened before, but please, I really need your help. And if you ask me, this marriage deal isn't bad for you either. I'm proposing it since this is the only way...."
"I am not interested. I won't be used by you twice. Use me once. Shame on you. Use me twice...."
"For Christ's sake, Melvin...."
"For Christ's sake, Kimberly! Leave me the fuck alone!" Melvin cut her off angrily.
"I'm sorry, but I can't do that. Do you think I would come to you if I had a choice? I don't have a choice, okay? You are my only hope…."
"Too bad for you, then. Too bad because I don't intend to help you in any way," Melvin said coldly.
"Will you at least just hear me out? You need a wife. I need money. I will be your wife…."
"No! Even if you were the last woman alive, I wouldn't marry you," Melvin said irritably.
"Don't you think you are being too harsh? You, of all people, know very well why I did what I did three years ago. Even your mom understood and didn't hold it against me, so I can't get why you won't just forget about it," Kimberly said, beginning to lose her temper.
"I am not my mom. It is easy for her to understand you only because she wasn't the one you approached and tried to seduce…."
"Seduce?" Kimberly asked in disbelief.
"You used me. No matter what you say, I won't get past the fact that you used me. So, it's best you stop thinking of marriage to me as your last resort. I suggest you find another way to fix your problem 'cause I will NEVER get married to you," Melvin promised before walking away to his car.
Even though Kimberly wanted to go after him and try harder to convince him, she didn't. She took a deep breath to calm herself as she watched him leave.
Perhaps she needed to give him time to think it over. She shook her head almost immediately. With Melvin, time obviously did not resolve things, seeing how he was still very much stuck on the past.
She really couldn't understand why he was still so mad despite all the time that had passed. It wasn't like she stole from him or did anything bad to him, so why was he still so upset?
Maybe Star was right, and it was pointless to ask Melvin for help this way. Maybe she should just forget about it and find other ways to solve her problem, Kimberly thought as she walked away.
Melvin, on the other hand, muttered to himself angrily as he approached his car.
The more he thought about her ridiculous and out-of-the-blue proposition, the angrier he became.
He couldn't believe that she had the audacity to come to this club again and ask for him to do something like this after what she had done in the past.
Was she out of her mind? She had to be, as that was the only thing that explained her irrational request.
Did she really even need his help, or was there something else she needed like before? He asked himself.
Whatever it was, he wasn't going to fall for this shit again. She was going to have to deal with her problem herself.
She had fooled him once before, and it had worked for her. Too bad his mother wasn't alive now to go along with her crazy plan like she had done three years ago.
It still hurt his feelings each time he remembered how she had approached him at this same club three years ago, pretending to be naive and innocent when her agenda had actually been to get into his family.
Just as he got to his car and was about to open his car door, he hesitated a bit, and he looked back to see if she had followed him. Immediately he did that, the memory of their first meeting at this same parking lot three years ago came rushing back at him.