Loving Jacob

by Shani Greene-Dowdell

  “It is now that I have talked to you. As far as work, I just have to cover some ground with the Atlanta team since I’m here. Nothing to worry about, beautiful. Enjoy your morning, and I know the kids will enjoy visiting Montie. I’ll see you very soon. I still plan to be out of here by noon.”

  “Okay, have a good meeting, Jacob.”

  “Thanks, beautiful.”

  I hung up and an eerie feeling that something bad was going to happen washed over me. I shook those negative thoughts and stepped into the piping hot shower. After a relaxing shower and a quick pampering, I dressed in a pink romper and matching pink heels with a pink bow. I wore my hair in an array of natural curls. I applied a coat of natural tone makeup and soft pink gloss. Not long after I put on my earrings, there was a knock at the door.

  “Just a second,” I said as I came out of the bathroom and into the hall leading to the doorway.

  “Hey Mama!” Junior said running into the room as soon as the door opened. He rushed past me and into the suite. “Where’s Pops?” he said, when he didn’t find Jacob.

  “Mama!” Montana’s tiny voice echoed as she stood at my knee tugging on my pants to be picked up.

  Hoisting Montana on my hip, I picked up my purse. “Jacob had to go to work this morning, Junior.”

  “Awe man! I thought we were on a vacation,” said Junior.

  “Well, this is kind of a mini vacation. Do you guys want to see your father?” I asked.

  “Yeah! Yay!” they both yelled in excitement.

  “This morning, they asked me what city we were in. When I told them we were in Atlanta, they started talking about going to see their father,” Lynetta said with a smile, as she clasped her hands together joining Junior and Montana’s excitement.

  “And Montie will be equally excited when we surprise him,” I said.

  “Mrs. Destiny, I packed some necessities they might need while we’re out, and the car is waiting for us in the loop.”

  “Well, let’s get going then,” I said, happy to be reuniting my children with their father. Montie deserved all the time he could spend with them. He had always been an excellent father, and I couldn’t imagine how he felt with them living so far away.

  When we walked out into the hallway, a security guard stood by the elevator and rode down with us to the car. Henry hopped out of a black Lincoln and opened the door for us to enter his vehicle. Our motorcade drove away consisting of a black Denali in the back of us and another Denali in the front.

  Chapter Six

  Destiny

  Never Can Say Goodbye

  “Heeyy, Destiny!” Montie’s long-time dedicated secretary and friend, Shalanda, jumped from her chair and ran around her desk to hug my neck.

  She had been a loyal worker for Montie since he began his firm. Shalanda was always polite and respectful toward me, and had long ago adopted our children as her own. She hugged Junior and Montana so tight before letting them go.

  “Oh, my god. You guys are growing up to fast. I need you both to stop it right now, so Auntie Shalanda can have time to spend with you while you’re still babies,” she said.

  Montana looked at Junior with a wide-eyed ‘what did we do wrong’ look, and he giggled at her. “We can’t stop growing up. I’m going to turn seven soon, and I can’t wait,” said Junior.

  “I’m three.” Montana added.

  “Oh, my, my, my. Well, if you can’t stop getting older, I guess that’s too bad. I won’t be able to give you suckers once you get too old,” she said reaching into the bowl on her desk and pulling out two suckers.

  “I can stay six a little while longer,” Junior said, seriously.

  “And I can be three,” Montana chimed in credibly.

  “Okay, if you will stay six and three, I’ll give these to your mother and you can eat them after breakfast with your dad.”

  “Thank you!” they said in unison with huge grins. Junior hugged her again and Montana followed suit.

  “Thanks Shalanda,” I said taking the candy. “Is it okay if we wait in his office to surprise him?”

  “Yes, that’ll be fine. I’ll open it for you,” Shalanda said as she walked ahead of us down the hall. She stopped in front of Montie’s office door and opened it.

  The kids and I went in and sat down on his sofa to wait. About thirty minutes later, the door knob turned and Montie entered the room. He strode in with his eyes trained on his computer. Our children sprang alive from his leather sofa.

  “Surprise. Surprise daddy, surprise!” Junior ran over to Montie, holding his trophy out ahead of him. Lynetta had been thoughtful enough to pack it in his bag when she found out we were coming to Atlanta. “Look daddy, look what I won.”

  “I see it son, and I’m so proud of you.”

  “Daddy, daddy, but my team won the all-state trophy and we all got one to take home.” Junior had talked to his father on the phone, but he still talked to his father like he was breaking the news about his win.

  “I know you won, Son. And, your mother sent me the awesome video of you scoring the game point. It was remarkable,” Montie said, peering at me with mixed emotions that I understood so well. It was amazing that we weren’t married, but still spoke without speaking. I understood the hurt and pride flowing through him at once. “Give me a pound,” Montie touched knuckles with Junior.

  Junior jumped into Montie’s arms and hugged him tight. Euphoria filled every corner of my body as I watched them interact.

  That is why I fell in love with Montie in the first place. He is so compassionate.

  “I’m so, so proud of you, son. I’m glad that you won, but very sorry I couldn’t be there. I’ll be there next time and that’s a promise.” Montie shot me a look that said, ‘because your mother is going to make sure that I’m there,’ and I silently concurred.

  “It’s okay, dad.” Junior hugged his father again, and my heart swelled with as much love as I thought it could take. Watching my children interact with their father, after such a long hiatus, had tears leaking my eyes and down my cheek. Montie bestowed a fatherly love on our two babies that could be unmatched by any man other than their biological father.

  “Thanks for coming,” he mouthed to me.

  “You’re welcome,” I replied, when it should have been me thanking him for allowing the rift that he suffered from us moving to Miami.

  “Had I known you guys were coming, I would have planned for a breakfast date,” Montie said, breaking into my thoughts. “I need to check my calendar right quick and make sure I’m free,” he said and began smooching Montana’s cheek and telling her how much he missed her.

  “Montie, that won’t be necessary. I planned everything with Shalanda like you told me to do when we talked. We’re your first meeting for today and she gave us a two-hour slot, so we can still go for breakfast,” I said.

  “Oh, so I see now that Shalanda is just as sneaky as you are,” Montie said, grinning. He sat down on his sofa with his children for a while before we headed out to IHOP for a late breakfast.

  Over breakfast, Montie didn’t mention any of his frustrations, the driving distance between us, or how Jacob and I were raising our children. That gave me comfort enough to let my guard down with him. It felt like I had my old friend back before we got married. I relaxed and just enjoyed spending time with him and our children, because the children were what it was all about.

  However, once we arrived back to his office, security detail and Lynetta in tow (waiting in the car), he slammed me.

  “It would’ve been nice if you guys stayed in Atlanta, Destiny.”

  “Yeah, that would have been nice. If we would have stayed here, you would be in our children’s lives more, and I wouldn’t be in the same city as his ex.” I looked away from him and sighed.

  “Justine is like this ever-present figure that I can’t get rid of,” I continued. “She comes up in discussion when his mother is around. Jacob makes it clear that he doesn’t want her around us, but his mother has an attachm
ent to her and it’s excruciating for me to be around her. I’m getting to the point where I just want to move back to Atlanta, Montie.”

  Montie had a gleam of hope in his eyes.

  I smiled and continued, “I’m tired of the entire charade of looking over my shoulder for the woman that has an invite to my in-law’s home. I told Jacob that I’m uncomfortable. He’s been more subdued about her, like there is something more to them than before. He told me you ended up going out with her. How did that happen?”

  I spouted off more information than I planned too. The mind is a mysterious organ because I had no intention of bringing my personal life up to Montie, much less tout on and on about how I feel like there’s something going on with her and Jacob, but there I was divulging too much and asking too much of Montie…again.

  “Oh, Jacob told you that?” he asked, and sucked in a deep breath of air as he stared straight through me as if he had seen a ghost standing behind me.

  “Yeah, Jacob said you and Justine hooked up when you were in Miami. Is she the reason you didn’t come to the wedding?” I asked.

  The furrowing lines on his forehead forewarned me that Montie was about to go completely T-Rex in here, but I didn’t cross any lines with him. He was the one that slept with the very woman who attacked me. All I did was ask him about it, so why did he look like he was about to rip paint off the walls?

  “No, I just didn’t want to be at your wedding, Destiny,” he said with a look in his eyes that told me the reason he didn’t want to be there was because he was still in love with me at the time. “But, did Jacob also tell you that he slept with Justine in your new house?” he added through tightened lips. “Damn,” weakly dripped from the depths of his throat and he stared at me in horror.

  I leapt from the sofa. He extended his arm for me and I jerked out of his reach. A deafening pain shot through my stomach causing me to double over. Tears sprang from my eyes like a waterfall. All that could escape my lips from that point on was, “I knew it…I knew it…I knew…it.” Any other thoughts were frozen with the news that my loving, caring, devoted husband was an all-out fraud.

  Montana ran to my side.

  I picked up my daughter and stormed toward the door.

  “Mama, is something wrong with the baby?” she asked. Montana shared the news she overheard me telling my mother on the ride over to Montie’s office. I was pregnant with the new heir to the Turner Enterprise. An enterprise I didn’t want one red cent, or even acknowledgement from now.

  “Are you pregnant, Destiny?” Montie asked.

  Another cry squealed from me, stopping me in my tracks as I reached the door. At that very spot in Montie’s office, Jacob’s betrayal sank into my soul and took me to an all-time low.

  I swiped away my tears and held back the emotions building behind my lids, for my children’s sake.

  “Say goodbye to your father,” I whispered to Junior and Montana.

  Montie apologized to me profusely and held me in his arms, friend-to-friend. I held onto his familiar caress. I needed it.

  A woman walked through the door carrying a large bag of take out and wearing a huge smile that instantly faded when she saw me.

  “Hey ba—bee…” she sang, her words waning as she stepped into the solemn room.

  My eyes crashed into hers and flew to Montie’s.

  He stepped back from me, held my hand, and gave it a light squeeze. He went over to greet the woman with a kiss.

  I understood the loving look he bestowed upon her. I’d lost Montie completely, after choosing Jacob who cheated on me and tried to hide it. This lady had filled the void that I left wide open. She was someone special to Montie. I could tell by he way he kept her protectively at his side that he had no intention of ever letting her go. He once felt that way about me and I let him go. What a dirty brush with karma.

  “I’ll wait in the lobby,” I said, and bolted from the room whimpering as I trailed up the hallway. An emotional wrecking ball, I frantically dialed Jacob to hear his side of the story.

  “I thought she was you, Destiny,” was his sorry excuse. “I knew she was ruthless, but this is horrible. She played a dirty trick on me. I have had to live with my actions since that horrible day. I would have told you before now, but I couldn’t find it in myself to tell you that I could be so stupid to make a mistake like that. But we don’t have to worry about her anymore, Destiny.”

  I lit into him when he admitted to sleeping with Justine. “I’m not worried about her anymore, or you. You let her win, Jacob. How could you sleep with her of all fucking people?”

  “I never would have touched her in my right mind. Listen, I don’t think we should talk about this over the phone. I’m in the car now. I’m coming over to get you,” he said.

  “Just let me go, Jacob. This has caused too much damage already.”

  “Baby, we don’t have to worry about her playing anymore horrible tricks on us. My father just told me that she’s been locked up for Rick’s, murder,” Jacob said, adding the reason he brought me to Atlanta. “That’s why I wanted to come here, back to where we started, because I knew once I told you the truth you would be upset with me. My dream is to never see a frown on your face. I couldn’t bear the thought of me being the reason for you being hurt.”

  “Well, you have failed, Jacob,” I said ending our call.

  Montie approached me trying to apologize.

  I couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. I stormed out of his office onto the curb where I stood crying senselessly.

  Seeing my distress, Lynetta got out of the back of the second car and ran over to be by my side. “Mrs. Destiny, what is the matter?” she asked.

  “Just take Montana and Junior with you.”

  “No Mama, I want to stay with you,” Junior said.

  “Me stay too,” Montana added. “Gotta be with you, mommy.”

  “No, I’m fine.” I faked a smile. “Go ahead with Lynetta and she’ll take you for ice cream,” I said.

  Lynetta got into one of the unmarked Lincolns parked by the door and I got into the other. I told Henty to take me to back to the airport.

  “Mrs. Turner, should I call Mr. Turner and let him know you’ll be departing Atlanta.”

  “No, that won’t be necessary. Just take me to the airport, please!”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said and tilted his hat.

  My cell phone rang and it was Jacob.

  “Listen Jacob, just give me some time to process that you slept with the same bitch that’s tried to kill me, disrespected me many times, and killed her ex boyfriend,” I yelled as soon as I answered.

  Henry’s eyes turned the size of quarters as he looked through the rear-view mirror after hearing the bombshells dropping.

  Jacob’s unusual silence in response to such a damning statement demoralized me. “It happened, but I can’t express enough to you that it’s not what you think, Destiny. I never would knowingly betray you for her. I’m on my way back to the hotel and we can talk when I get there,” he said.

  “You want to know the funny thing, Jacob? I knew in my heart she wasn’t spewing lies this time. The way she described every detail of our home, and then Montie confirming that you slept with her—”

  “I thought she was you, baby.”

  “The nerve of you to tell me that you don’t know her pussy from mine! Fuck you forever, Jacob. And, it’s a good thing we haven’t been married that long, because I want out.”

  “You don’t mean any of what you said,” Jacob said in a deflated tone.

  “Oh, but I do. I mean it, and I mean it more than I’ve ever meant anything in my life. Montie was right about you. I never should have married you.”

  “That right there is our problem. Too many people have been involved in our relationship. Montie and Justine have been thorns in our side the whole time. We were never in this relationship alone. We’ve had too many influences and that’s why we haven’t been able to have an authentic relationship.”

&nb
sp; “Montie is not involved in our relationship. He’s my children’s father who just so happened to advise me on something he saw in you when he met you, which obviously turned out to be true.”

  “He did more than fucking advise you, if you need to be reminded Destiny.”

  “Funny that I told you about me and Montie getting together that night, because I thought you left me, Jacob. It wasn’t because I just wanted a quick lay.”

  “It still happened, and you weren’t confused about what was going on. You knew you were letting him have something that belonged to me while holding my heart in the palm of your hand,” Jacob said, his voice rapt with hurtful undertones.

  “I explained my moment of weakness with Montie in as much detail as you wanted me to, and you forgave me. But you just skimmed over the detail you screwed Justine in the house you bought me as a wedding gift; the house you had to announce to the whole city through the press that you had built for our life together. What a gift?! Ha!”

  “Destiny, I know how this looks, but you’re jumping to conclusions that you shouldn’t be. Since I didn’t tell you about the Justine incident upfront, like I should have, I’m going to let that part go.”

  “You have no choice but to let it, and me, go.”

  “Under no circumstance am I letting you go. You are my wife and I would never knowingly do anything to jeopardize that. I will spend every day of the rest of my life proving to you that I fucked up, but I’m not fucked up. I thought I was making love to my wife. I nearly choked the life out of Justine when the lights came on and I realized that she wasn’t you.”

  “Well, it’s just pretty disappointing to know that you don’t know my body from the next woman. That says a lot about where we are.”

  “Destiny, I’m not letting you go.”

  “When I married you, I said I didn’t want to have to go through another divorce, and now that’s exactly where I’m headed. I can’t believe this shit,” I yelled.

  Henry pulled into the loop of the hotel where Jacob was pacing along the path of the front door.

  I glared at Henry and he hunched his shoulders. “Mr. Turner texted me and asked me to bring you here,” he said over his shoulder. He didn’t have the nerve to look at me when he made that announcement.