“I think he was trying to kill me.”
I closed my eyes and remembered it all. That awful night.
Chapter 25
Jada
Eleven years ago …
Homewrecking bitch. I know you went to see my husband. I told you to leave him alone.
That was Monique’s latest message.
Her constant messages drained my soul, and it wasn’t just the messages either. The woman took it to the next level and got people to follow me around and scare me with threats.
Last week there was a guy who’d waited for me in the parking lot. He just started on me as I was getting in my car. He called me a homewrecking bitch too. Days before him were a group of women who’d followed me into the salon screaming at me and calling me all sorts of names. That was supposed to be a trip for me to unwind from the situation. It turned into a nightmare and I ran out crying. After that it got worse. There were notes left on my car, horrible messages from unknown numbers and more people watching me in that obvious way that told me they sent from Monique.
I shoved my phone back in my pocket and kept my tears at bay. I needed to be strong. Some things in this world took strength, and you had to push back against people who were fighting against you.
Sometimes the thing you were fighting for was the wrong thing, but it was part of the mission. Part of the goal you had to achieve.
I went home that day after I first met Monique.
The way what happened next played out in my mind was this. She’d called Brian and told him she spoke to me, just like she said she would. Then Brian did the thing I never actually expected from someone who’d been declaring their undying love to another.
He ignored me and acted pretty much like I didn’t exist. That was two weeks ago.
I allowed a week because I felt I was allowed to be upset and have some space to deal with what happened. I thought he’d be calling me or trying to see me, but there was none of that. The man did nothing.
The week went by, and after some serious thought, I decided that he had to know about the baby.
I’d always been of the belief that fathers needed to know they had children in this world. Better to be told they didn’t want anything to do with the child than assume.
I started with a phone call and that was when Monique started sending her people after me. Despite all of that I kept going.
Two days ago, I tried to see him. It was the first time. I knocked on the door to his apartment, rang the bell, knocked again and again, and again like some crazy person, and stayed for longer than I should have because I knew he was inside. I knew he was home.
Clearly, he and his wife had some weird relationship where he must have told her details like that, but she hadn’t stopped messaging me since.
The bitch was out to get me. And who gave her my number?
This was one of the many times when I wished Olivia and I had gone to college together. I really needed her right now.
God, even Joe would help right now because he wouldn’t have allowed anyone to hurt me. My parents were out of the question because I knew Dad would lose it and kill someone.
Here I was again, outside Brian’s door. I knew he was there, and tonight, I didn’t care who thought I was insane. I wasn’t leaving until I saw him.
I rang the bell, waited, waited two minutes, then rang it again. Instead of knocking, I took out my phone and brought up his number. Not to call him, no. I’d done that, and it always went to his voicemail.
I was sending a text. In haste I wrote:
Brian, I’m outside. If you don’t open the door, I’ll leave the message with your wife that I’m six weeks pregnant.
Regards,
Jada
Within two seconds, the door flung open and Brian stood in front of me, looking like he could breathe fire. His eyes were red, and he looked like he hadn’t shaved since the last time I saw him.
“It’s not true. It can’t be.” He shook his head.
All I could do was stare at him.
It was like I was seeing him for the first time. Seeing his true self.
“I’m pregnant,” I said out loud, and that was the first time I’d actually said the words other than at the doctor’s office.
He growled and grabbed me by my arm, dragging me inside the apartment and closing the door. The grip he had on my arm told me I was about to see more of him. Another side of him I wouldn’t like.
“Let go of me,” I cried, and he shoved me hard, making me stumble into the wall. “What is wrong with you?”
“Get rid of it,” he demanded.
I was so stunned by what he said that I didn’t quite catch on to the meaning until a few seconds later.
“What the fuck did you just say to me?” I shot back.
“I said get rid of it. You know what an abortion is, don’t you?”
I shook my head at him. “This isn’t you. What happened to you? What … where did you go? Two weeks ago, you were asking me to move in with you at the end of the semester, and now this. You told me you love me. Was it really a lie? You’re married, you have a child, and your wife is heavily pregnant. How could you do that? How could you turn me into a homewrecker?”
So many questions, too many questions.
I couldn’t believe it wasn’t real. Part of me even refused to believe it. It was like that part of me couldn’t imagine that anything dark or ugly could exist inside this man.
“Jada, you are a fling. Of course I was lying. I have a family, and I can’t fucking afford to lose them over a…” He glared at me.
“A piece of ass? Is that what you do? Sleep with your students?”
The darkness in his eyes told me I was right. I wasn’t the first one, and I was certain I wouldn’t be the last.
I was also certain that I was a complete fool to have believed him.
“Jada, you can’t keep that baby. I’ll pay for you to get rid of it.”
“You asshole. You think I want to do that? I have no reason to. I don’t care what you want. I’m keeping my baby.” I’d already decided that.
It was clear from his absence and lack of contact over the past two weeks that he wanted nothing to do with me. Even if he’d chased me, I wouldn’t have wanted to be with him because now I knew he was married. This visit was purely about telling him I was pregnant.
I didn’t expect anything from him. Not a damn thing.
“No, you aren’t. You think it’s as simple as you deciding?”
“It’s my body. I decide what I want to do with it.”
“Jada, I’m not having you do this to me and later try to milk me dry for child support.”
“We’re done here,” I informed him. I had nothing more to say. My broken heart was something I’d have to push to the back of the shelf because I had so much to think about.
My life was about to change in a dramatic way, and I didn’t know what I was really going to do.
I moved to go, but he grabbed me and backhanded me so hard I fell to the ground.
“Stupid bitch! You aren’t doing this to me. You aren’t. Fucking whore. You tricked me.” He grabbed my hair and shoved my face hard into the wall.
I screamed and cried out from the sharp pain that rocked my body, but a kick in my side rocked my soul.
“Brian, stop it!” I screamed. “Stop it, please.”
He bent down and grabbed my face. “You are a whore. You came on to me. You did this. You told me you were on birth control, and now you come to me with this shit.”
The river of tears pouring out of my eyes came so fast I could barely see him, and I thought they would never stop.
When he slapped me again, something snapped in my mind. I knew I had to get out of here, get away from him, because he’d hurt me so bad I could lose the baby.
He moved to hit me again, and I took advantage of the moment to kick him straight in his balls. Hard.
He stumbled, which gave me a window of a chance to escape. I ran out of the apar
tment so fast I didn’t know my legs could carry me that fast. I guess running for your life took you above the ordinary levels of everything.
I ran for all I was worth, but he was behind me. Faster than me. Much faster than me.
He caught me at the stairs just as I was about to go down them.
He grabbed me, and like some wild animal, shook me and screamed in my face.
“This is what you get for playing tricks on people!” He released me, and before I knew it, I was falling, falling down the stairs.
I screamed from the pit of my soul, knowing I was going to die, but it must have been maternal instincts that kicked in because I reached out to try and catch the rail.
All I could think of was the tiny baby inside me. The life growing inside me that I loved. Six weeks…
I hit my head and stumbled right down the rest of the flight. My body bounced against the concrete steps, my arm cracked, and another blow on my head brought the darkness.
My last thought was… my baby…
* * *
Present day…
Tears were pouring down Olivia’s cheeks by the time I’d finished telling her what happened.
“Jada…” She dried her tears, but more came, and she moved her chair to sit next to me.
I wiped my own and pulled in a deep breath to keep the rest away.
I didn’t want to cry anymore.
It was like the saying went. Crying over spilt milk was never good. You couldn’t do anything about it; you just had to do your best with the situation you found yourself in.
Right now, that best for me was telling my friend what had happened to me.
I wasn’t done yet though.
I had to finish properly.
“I woke up in hospital, and they told me I’d lost the baby. I was so distraught that I couldn’t even tell them how it happened. When I did, and the police went looking for Brian, they found he’d cleared out. Apparently he was some high level con artist. Fooled the university with his fake Id’s and references, and fooled me right alongside them. His name wasn’t even Brian Cordon. It was an alias he made up, and to this day, that man has never been found.”
There. The end.
That’s what happened to me.
I had an affair with my college professor who turned out to be married and a psychotic animal who tried to kill me when he was told I was carrying his child.
Telling the story now, I didn’t see how I could be blamed for seeing most men as animals. But my intentions on guiding people on the path to love were definitely based on one experience. One very bad experience that affected me in a way I couldn’t express to anyone.
“Jada, I can’t believe that happened to you and nobody was there to help you. I wasn’t there. I should have been there.” Olivia continued to cry. “There was no justice. This man was never found, and he just got away with doing all of that to you.”
I nodded.
“Yeah, he did.” I sighed and tried to smile. “I guess that’s why I never get too close to anyone. I can’t do it, Olivia. I can’t. Being with a guy is exciting and nice in the beginning. Then something happens, and it goes to hell. One of you does something that hurts the other, and it won’t matter how sorry you are. That damage is done.”
Like Bob and Cynthia. Just like them.
“Jada, I refuse to have you believe that. Even after what you told me. I refuse to have you believe that.”
“I believe that it will be like that for some people. Not you. I’m glad it didn’t happen that way with you because you and Sam were made for each other. But I just need to get my head around stuff. Telling you the thing that’s been on my mind for years was the first step.”
It freed me from the captivity of my mind. It took me from that place where I stored that secret and kept it bottled up inside.
“I’m proud of you.” She nodded. “I’m very proud of you, and I’m honored to be your friend. I’ve admired you for never giving up, and for your outlandish ways of doing things. Please don’t forget who you are. Now that I know what happened to you, I get the book. I understand it, and I see the elements of truth that you tried to put across in it. I’ll borrow your words. Words you just used. Your methods are successful because they apply to some people. Probably at different points in their lives. I love that you say to keep an open mind. That is golden because that can apply to anyone. It means giving things a chance. I think you like Ivan more than you want to, and you should keep that open mind.”
I lifted my shoulders into a shrug. “That was the same thing I promised him.”
She smiled at that. “Great minds think alike.”
“They do.”
“Open mind?”
“Open mind,” I agreed.
Maybe I could really do it. It would be nice to try and not just open my mind, but my heart too.
It would be nice to be with someone who told me they wanted me, someone who’d made it his mission to make me fall for him.
Ivan.
It would be nice to push aside my fears and be his.
I’d try.
Chapter 26
Ivan
* * *
“Ivan, don’t you dare order snails. I’m running down that path if you order that. I promise you.” Jada giggled.
I held up the menu and showed her the delicious-looking escargots covered in garlic and basil sauce.
We were sitting together in one of my favorite French restaurants. The food here reminded me of my mother’s cooking. It wasn’t the real thing, but it was pretty darn close.
“They are the tastiest things ever. Besides, the idea of you running away from me in heels is kind of sexy. I could chase you.” I laughed. “Actually, that does sound like it would be a good idea.”
“Ivan, get cheese. Don’t French people like cheese or ratatouille?”
I gasped and pretended to be offended. “Excuse me, where did you hear that? That’s not all French people eat.”
“It’s like that film with the rat that cooked.”
“You’re basing my people’s cooking on a film with a rat that can cook?”
She started laughing.
“I’m sorry. Okay, let’s just get something else. Something we can both like.”
“Jada, the things we’ve agreed on since meeting each other are so few and far in between that I can count them on one hand.”
“No,” she protested.
“Pizza, do you like that?” Everyone loved a pizza.
I knew a lot about her, but I was enjoying learning more. I wanted to know everything.
“I love pizza. One of my favorite foods.” She nodded.
“He scores.” I signaled the waiter over and ordered two cheese pizzas. I spoke French like I usually did when I came here, and Jada gave me this look of fascination the whole time.
“I don’t know what you said, but it sounded sexy.” She giggled. The tiny diamonds in her ear sparkled in the bright sunlight.
“I said, two cheese pizzas with extra basil,” I told her.
“Why don’t you speak French more?”
“Because the people I’m with won’t understand me.”
“If you teach me, I’ll understand.”
That was nice to hear. It showed interest. “Je parle francais.”
“Je parle francais,” she repeated. “What did I say? Ivan, you better not teach me to say something ridiculous like ‘I love shit’ or ‘A monkey’s ass’ and laugh at me after.”
I chuckled at that. “That does sound like something I would do. I wouldn’t do that to you though. Not necessarily. You said: I speak French.”
“Oh, cool. I like that.”
“So, I saw the show yesterday.” I watched it when I got back last night. The show was one hour long and showed half an hour each of what happened on the first day of us meeting our couples. My session went great; hers not so much. “Did you watch it?”
“I didn’t watch it, Ivan. I had to meet with Olivia, and time got away from
me. Let me guess, you did great, didn’t you?”
“I did okay. I think my couple just want different things and they need to find a way to accommodate what they need. Jane wants to live in Australia for five years to start her software company, and Peter’s business is kicking off to a great start. Jane thinks he cares about the business more than her.”
“What did you advise?”
“It’s simple. If Peter’s doing so well, he should hire someone to take care of his business and set things up so he can make room for Jane. I left them with that idea. I figured if they want to stay together, they’ll consider it, but Peter’s worried that he won’t be able to find anyone who can take care of his business the way he can.”
“Do you think they’ll consider it?”
“Not sure, but I’m positive. They seemed like they want to stay together. So does yours.”
She smirked and shook her head. “I didn’t know what to tell them.”
I looked at her and saw how worried she was. “Jada, you know what to tell them.”
“No. I honestly don’t. She cheated, and she admitted to cheating and lying. I couldn’t move past that. How am I supposed to advise them on something I wouldn’t even accept myself?” She shrugged.
“Because it’s not about you, baby. There are many things that aren’t about you. It’s about them right now. I know you know what to do. You’re just scared to work with it.”
The cameras had zoomed in on her when Cynthia told her she still loved Bob. I’d seen her face. She knew full well she’d found something she could work with. But it was the very thing she was scared of.
Love.
“They both said they loved each other.” She pursed her pretty lips together.
I grinned. “Yeah, so it should be a piece of cake. They don’t want to get divorced. I’ll bet tonight will be terrible. It’ll be bad for a few weeks, but something will snap, and it will be make or break.”
“Ivan, it sounds like a disaster.”
Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw a man looking over and whispering about us to his lady friend.
The Love Doctors Page 19