"It's best this way." I opened the door and hurried down the hallway to the elevator before the tears began to flow.
"I'll come to you," he called out. The last words we spoke echoed in the hallway as the door shut behind me.
I won't be there.
A fog followed me on the drive from Garrett's condo to O'Hare. I looked out the window, yet the hurt and sadness cloaked everything. I arrived at the airport with an hour to spare before the flight.
I returned to Atlanta at one-thirty in the morning. When the plane landed, my phone vibrated with all the missed text messages and voicemails. Each message became more frantic than the one before. I'd expected to hear from Garrett, I saw his messages when I checked into the airport, but I hadn't expected Lilah and Alexandra to reach out.
I wasn't in any shape to trust an Uber. There was only one person who would get me at such an early hour, my sister. I dialed the house number, and she answered on the first ring.
"Where the fuck are you? Garrett called, and he's upset. Mom's here, and we're worried sick. We've called all the hotels and airlines. Nobody would give us any information. Don't you ever pull a stunt like that again."
Alexandra had talked with Garrett.
"Hello? Are you there? Hello?" She asked, panic rising in her tone.
"How did he get your number?" The dam broke, and floods of tears ran down my cheeks.
"Lilah gave it to him. Where are you?" Her tone was as firm as I'd ever heard it.
"I'm at Hartsfield. I need a ride. Please come get me out of here."
"We're on the way. See you in thirty minutes."
Twenty-five minutes later, Alexandra texted me from the cell phone lot before driving to passenger pickup. My mother bounded out of the Escalade before it came to a complete stop. I groaned inwardly when she ran to me with outstretched arms, but I felt comforted by her embrace.
"My baby girl, come here." She wrapped warm motherly arms around me and guided me to the back seat. Once we were fastened in, Alex took off to I-85, speeding along the route to Brookhaven.
"First, you got fired, now this. It'll be okay." My mother stroked my arms and cooed to me like I was a baby. "Don't you worry about looking for a new job. Daddy and I will make sure you have everything you need."
My horror-filled eyes drilled holes in the back of Alex's head.
"Sorry. I told Mom and Dad about ER Wallace," she said sheepishly, lifting her shoulders while keeping her hands on the steering wheel.
We exited the highway and turned down the streets in the opposite direction of my townhome. The SUV pulled in front of Alexandra's European-style home.
"I thought we were going to my place."
"You are in no condition to be alone. The boys are asleep, but they'll be happy to see you in the morning. Don't worry about Jackson. He's in the bedroom. I'll make us some tea and we'll talk."
We entered the quiet house. Mom and I sat in the family room with a box of Kleenex by my side. Once the tea was prepared, Alex placed a tray holding three cups of tea on the coffee table.
"Sleepytime," she sang. It was our little inside joke. When we were younger, we would often drink a cup of chamomile and lavender tea as a part of our bedtime routine. “Now, tell us what happened."
"Garrett and I are no longer together. He told me that he'd fu—" I peered at my mother, "had sex with Nic Sewell. The CEO. No wonder the woman's had it out for me from day one." Alex and my mother were both quiet. I raised my hands impatiently and rapidly shook my head. "And? Don't you guys have anything to say about that?"
"My answer depends on the reason you're angry," Alex spoke up.
"He had sex with a woman that hates my guts and got me fired. That's important to know in advance."
"Jazzy, is it reasonable to expect full disclosure so early in the relationship? If I'd known Jackson's sexual history, I would have never married him." She answered the question in my mind. "He was a bit of a ladies' man in undergrad."
"Alexandra's right. Have you told him everything about your dating life? He's likely embarrassed. If the woman is as big of a bitch as you say, I can see why he wanted to keep that under wraps," my mother chimed in.
"No. I haven't shared my dating or sex life." My mother held her hands up, and I regretted that the statement came out sassier than I'd intended.
"I'm speaking from a different perspective. I love you, and I don't want your pride to keep you from a good man," she said.
"There will be other guys," I answered.
"Yeah, but not him," Alexandra said. "I'd instantly liked the guy. We'd spoken for less than ten minutes, but I felt his genuine concern. Not knowing your whereabouts had him worried sick. He drove to both airports just to make sure you weren't lying in the street somewhere. What were you thinking?"
"I was angry. And hurt." My pride caused me to walk out that door. I should have stayed and heard him out. I was afraid that my little spectacle has ruined one of the best things in my life.
"Babygirl, if you want Garrett, then use your anger to fight for him. If you don't want him, you've got to make it to the other side of that anger. Either way, if you don't make a move, then you let Nic win," my mother offered.
"Amen," Alex agreed. "Jazzy, what does he mean to you?"
Everything.
Garrett
"Good morning, Garrett. I'm so happy to see you. Welcome back."
"Good morning, Beverly."
"I asked the cleaning crew to take special care in dusting and vacuuming your office. I placed your laptop and mail on the desk and made sure that you had fresh coffee beans. Please let me know if you need anything." Beverly flashed a friendly smile.
I nodded a quick thank you and opened my office door. I stood at the threshold and looked around. Everything looked the same—the photos of my family, the bottles of water in my mini-fridge. My office no longer felt the same. I'd been out of the office for three weeks, and the place where I'd spent so many hours felt foreign.
Beverly, Hunter, Austin, and Chace made work fulfilling. They were the reason that I lasted as long as I did. I should have been happy to be absolved of any wrongdoing. Yet, I was miserable. I hated my boss and his boss. I hoped that Beverly didn't feel like I did. I turned to face her.
"Bev, would you like a cup of coffee?"
She raised her eyebrows. Then I realized that this was the first time in years I'd offered to make her coffee.
"No, thank you." She smiled appreciatively.
"No. Thank you," I answered.
I closed the door behind me and walked over to my desk. I turned on the laptop and moved to the kitchenette. While the coffee beans brewed, I reviewed the emails from my time away. There were hundreds of emails and dozens of meeting invites. On my first day back, I had several meeting invitations, including an executive meeting.
I brought out my cell and opened a text conversation with Jasmine. I've called and texted with no response.
I miss you.
My pulse raced as I pressed send and watched as the status of the text turned to delivered. I held my breath as it changed from delivered to read. I sat frozen, staring at the screen, waiting for the dots to jump around. A minute passed before I put away the cell phone.
She'd read my text and didn't bother to respond.
At ten o'clock, I entered the boardroom to a round of cheers. All of my peers crowded around, each extending a friendly welcome. I could have done without all the fucking attention, but it felt good to be missed. My happiness was short-lived at the sound of Jeff's voice. He approached with his hand extended. It was like the fucker forgot what happened three weeks ago.
"Garrett, I would like you to meet Mark Siegel. He's the new engagement leader. Mark, Garrett Hamilton is a valuable member of our team. He's the leader of Applications and Tools and sponsor of the IPO audit."
"Nice to meet you, Garrett." He held out his hand and grinned.
I scrutinized him with skepticism. He was a graduate of the Parker Wallace school of as
s-kissing. He'd glued a salesman's smile on his face and greeted me with puckered lips. I looked down at his hand, debating if I should shake it or punch him in the throat.
"Good to meet you," I mumbled through gritted teeth and extended my hand.
"I look forward to working with you. I understand that there were some missteps with previous leadership, but I assure you that I have everything under control."
I should have punched him in his face. How dare he talk shit about my Jasmine?
"I didn't have an issue with the previous leadership,” I glared. "Excuse me, but the meeting will begin shortly. I need to find a seat."
I took the seat furthest from the head of the table. My day had begun on a positive note and took a steep dive with these assholes. When Nic sauntered into the conference room, I knew it would only get worse. Her eyes searched the area before landing on mine. The corner of her mouth tilted in a sly grin. She took her seat and cleared her throat.
The room came to an abrupt silence.
She turned her gaze to me. "Happy Monday. Welcome back, Garrett. A lot is going on, and we need your leadership and tenacity."
I nodded a stiff hello.
The updated timeline was the first agenda item. Nic and Jeff pushed the audit end date to early January. This gave Nic plenty of time to perform whatever deceitful deeds she'd needed to accomplish before the IPO.
We spent the rest of the meeting talking about typical corporate drivel. I no longer cared about the budgets or staffing proposals. I pretended to take notes, but my mind was seven hundred miles away with Jasmine.
Thankfully, the meeting was over in an hour and a half. I picked up my notepad to stalk out of the room, avoiding Nic's attention. I thought my intentions were clear when she peered over.
"Garrett, do you mind sticking around for a minute?"
What now? I rolled my eyes and hovered around the conference table while Nic made rounds with my coworkers. She forced me to wait as she chatted with the Chief Marketing Officer.
Shifting from foot-to-foot, I glanced at my watch. Their conversation went on for too long. I caught her eye and pointed to my watch. She nodded and held up a finger. Eventually, the two ended their boring non-work conversation, and Nic shut the door before she stalked over to the table. She discreetly brushed against me as she passed.
"Nic, I only have a few minutes. I can't stay for much longer than that," I answered stiffly.
"This won't take long." She leaned against the table. "I hope that we can move past the last four weeks. You've left me no other choice. You've been so distracted by her that you've ignored me." She looked over my shoulder, out the glass walls before reaching out to stroke my face.
I flinched and tilted my head out of her reach. "Are we done?"
"We can still have fun. I need the old Garrett back."
"He's gone. Stay the fuck away from me." I moved her from my path and stormed out.
With a growl of anger, I marched to the Skokie conference room. The war room looked the same, but there was a sad longing surrounding the space. It was silent. There were no huddles of team members gathered around. Each person sat with their heads down in their laptops.
There was a significant change. Mark now occupied my usual seat by the window. I was seconds from walking over to him and pulling him out of it. Fuck it. I would work in my office.
They didn't even look up until I spoke. "Good morning."
All heads turned toward my voice.
"Garrett!" Lilah rushed over and wrapped her arms around me. The other members followed. I smiled graciously as the crowd circled around me.
"Hoss. Good to see you back. As usual, you arrived in time for lunch." Hunter sauntered over and patted me on the back.
"Hunter and I will eat in his office. Join us in ten minutes," said Lilah.
From Lilah's tone, I inferred this was an invitation with mandatory attendance.
After exchanging pleasantries, I returned to my office. I dropped my notepad at my desk and checked my phone for the millionth time. Jasmine ghosting me sent a roar of pure fury throughout my body. She should have returned my call to at least let me know she was okay.
I knocked on Hunter's door before entering. He and Lilah sat at the conference table with a pile of deli sandwiches, drinks, and bags of chips at its center. Lilah brushed an imaginary crumb from his mouth before turning her attention to me.
"Turkey club on whole grain, right? I snagged the last bag of low calorie, no taste chips for you," Lilah said.
"Thanks. You two are well, I see."
"And you're not," Hunter said.
I pulled the sandwich from the center of the table. I removed it from the white wax wrapper and took a big bite.
"I've made several discoveries in the last three weeks. I talked with Allyson; the analyst fired for the breach. Well, she pointed me toward some interesting findings." She bit into her sandwich and snatched a chip from the pile dumped in front of Hunter. He didn't like to share food. I winced, expecting him to lose it, but he didn't bat an eye. Instead, he stared at her as if she was the most beautiful and perfect thing on this earth.
"There were several invoices from a fictional firm. I did a little research and found no entity registered under the name Soliloquy Consulting firm. This company received over seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. They paid the decorators that modernized this building more than the contracted amount. There were no agreements to support the extra payment. I searched the building for additional furniture and decorative items. I didn't find any marble cocktail tables or abstract art pieces."
"I can ask SecOps to look on the dark web for any information on the hacker," I said.
"We already have someone looking into it." She flashed a gentle smile. "Jazzy's doing everything she can to support us. I ask that you and Hunter stay out of it. The less you know, the better."
My heart did a double beat at the mention of Jasmine's name, and I asked what had been on my mind all morning. "How is she?"
"I spoke with her last night. She's well,” said Lilah.
I wanted to seek more details. Did she ask about me? But I knew that Lilah's loyalty wouldn't allow her to say too much about her best friend. Then again, I couldn't help it.
"Let her know that I asked about her."
"Remember when I said that she respects strength? The advice still applies," Lilah said.
I clearly remembered.
"You want to explain why your ass is still here?" Hunter leveled a glare my way. "Your heart is in Atlanta. You need to go get it."
I retrieved my cell phone from my shirt pocket and navigated to a travel website. If I left now, I could make the next flight. I put down my sandwich and pushed back my chair. I balled up the wrappers with a bottle of water and dumped it in Hunter's trash can.
"I'll text the address. Good luck!" Lilah called over.
"Thanks!" I yelled back.
I rushed to the lobby and surged out of the circular doors. Hailing the first cab in sight, I slid into the back seat. "Midway, please. Delta."
The taxi driver eased us into midday traffic, and we navigated between inching vehicles. I arrived at the airport with less than fifty minutes to reach the gate. I joined the pre-screened passengers' line, but I still encountered long queues and was subjected to extra screening measures.
The agents released me in just enough time to make it to the flight if I ran to the gate. Mildly winded from exertion, I made it in time to board with the first group, and I fell back into the last seat in first-class.
Throughout the two-hour flight, I practiced what I would say to get my woman back. My leg bounced the entire way with nervous anticipation.
Walking through Hartsfield airport burned off some of my nervous energy. In the cab, my heart ran sprints across my chest as we drove down the major street leading to her community. We wound through perfectly manicured neighborhoods of nearly identical brick and stone townhomes, stopping at the driveway of an end unit. In the opened gar
age, sat a white BMW. She was home.
I paid the taxi driver and watched as he drove away. This could end horribly, Jasmine wouldn't hesitate to slam the door in my face. I could piss off Jasmine. Or she would see me as a stalker for showing up at her home unannounced and uninvited. Ringing the doorbell, I regretted not picking up a few dozen roses or a bunch of balloons.
I wasn't a fucking stalker. I was a man coming for his woman.
She peeked out of the sidelights before opening the front door. Two clicks of the locks later, and she stood before me. Fresh-faced, she was the epitome of youth. She'd styled her usually straight hair in a mass of curls that touched her shoulders. Even with the bored expression on her face, she'd never looked more beautiful.
"I had to make sure that you made it home safely. I thought you were lying in the gutter somewhere. I see you're okay. I'll go home now." I smiled a shy smile and turned to walk away.
I turned back when I heard her sigh. She opened the door wider and gestured for me to enter. "You're just in time for dinner," she said.
I stepped into the foyer, my eyes roaming the well-appointed space.
She shut the door and locked it behind her. When she turned, I moved in close, giving her no place to run. With her back pressed against the door, I placed my palms at the side of her head, caging her in. We were so close, I caught a whiff of the hint of mint on her breath. Her eyes locked onto mine as she crossed her thin arms over her chest, as if the slight gesture would force me to back down. I would never back down, not when her luscious mouth parted, and the speed of the rise and fall of her chest increased.
I came for what was mine.
"You left without so much as a goodbye. I grabbed my keys and ran down the hallway to the elevator. When I reached the lobby, you were gone. I drove to the Langham and the Sofitel, and there was no sign of you. I went to O'Hare and Midway, hoping that I would find you and talk some sense into you. I've sent dozens of text messages. Why didn't you respond?"
She avoided meeting my eyes. "You weren't honest."
"If you had stayed, I would have told you everything. Next time you're angry with me, don't walk away without talking it out."
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