"Stop running, Jarod and face what you feel. You prefer to do what looks like the right thing to do, instead of doing what is the right thing to do." Parker yelled.

"What?" He yelled back from behind his closed door.

"I said, you prefer to do what looks like the right thing to do, instead of doing what is the right thing to do!"

He flung the door wide open. "I heard you the first time! The whole neighborhood heard you! Get in!" Jarod hollered, pulling her into the house.

Miss Parker placed her hands on her hips. "Where have you been?"

"Excuse me?" His dark browns glared at her. "I don't answer to you! What I do in my personal life is none of your business!"

"I came by several times, but, I'm guessing you weren't home. So, what pretend are you on now?"

"No pretend. Just needed to get some things in order."

"I tried calling. I've also left messages. You seemed to have disappeared."

"I'm here. Haven't disappeared. What do you want now, Miss Parker? I thought we've settled our differences."

"Nothing was ever settled, Jarod. Where were you?"

"So many questions," he laughed. "I needed to get away from you!" He shouted.

"Why? Do I drive you crazy? Is that it?" She screamed.

"Yes! Yes, you do! Let me put it in simple words! I can't be with you!"

"Can't or won't, Jarod!"

"What difference does it make? We can't be together!" Jarod glanced at his wristwatch.

"Waiting for someone?" She sneered.

"Look, Parker. We have to move on, to step forward. Put one foot in front of the other. I thought it would be hard to let go, but, it's not. Try it."

"What, Jarod? Life goes on? And on and on? You're abandoning me? After what we've been through together! A whole lifetime together! I was mistaken! It's you I want!"

"Me? Now you want me? Where were you in that limousine? You showed your true colors. I'm trying so hard, so very hard not to yell. But, you can't seem to get it through that thick skull of yours that..."

"That what? You want nothing to do with me? Is that it? I'd be someone out of your past. To be forgotten!"

"Yes! Yes! Now you get the picture!"

"I've never given up hope for us. After Carthis," she began, but, was so rudely interrupted.

"After Carthis, after Carthis, after Carthis! I'm sick and tired of hearing about Carthis, what might have happened, what could have happened, what should have happened! Well, nothing happened! And it's never going to happen!"

Again, Jarod looked at his wristwatch.

"Why do you keep looking at your watch? Am I keeping you from something?" Miss Parker snarled, fluffing her hair away from her face.

Standing before her, Jarod kept silent.

"Or someone?" She held her breath waiting for her world to crash. "Is that it? Is there?"

"Just leave, Parker." His voice softened.

"Fuck you, Jarod!"

"There you go swearing again. You don't always get to have your way. You call this love, Parker?"

"I've got to get out of here!" She screamed at him.

"Finally! It's about time! Smartest thing you've said in a long while!" He shot out as she walked out the door. "And don't ever come back!"

No matter how strong Miss Parker had pretended to be all their lives, she couldn't fool herself regarding her feelings for him. Her game of "pretend" was just that, a pretend of not loving him on the outside. In the privacy of her own home, she was not only alone, but, also lonely for his love.

TBC - Chapter 6