by Meisha Camm
“Alex, there’s more,” someone shouted.
“Yes, of course, there’s more.”
The door on the left-hand side of the room opened. Everyone turned around as the DJ played Stevie Wonder’s song, “Isn’t She Lovely,” and Lola and Xavier’s other sister, Sophia, were walking hand in hand with another special guest of the evening.
Xavier moved closer to discover Guadeloupe, his long-lost mother. “Mama?” he called out.
“Xavier?”
“This can’t be.”
“Yes, it’s me, hijo,” she replied, her arms wide open. I was afraid his mother wouldn’t make it here on time, so I had her come four days prior to the party to ensure her attendance.
Xavier wept tears of joy as he hugged his mother for the first time in twenty years. Each person in the room was either crying or on the verge. I couldn’t think of a better gift to give him than reuniting his family together. After college, I’d maintained contact with Samuel, who worked in foreign affairs. He pulled some strings and found Xavier’s mother for me. It turns out, after the fire she developed amnesia after a tree fell down on her and knocked her unconscious. After gaining her memory back, she was given the terrible news that her family was one of the many who died in the fire.
I’d been planning this party for three months. It was so hard not to spill the beans to him.
Xavier ran back over to me, picked me up, and swung me around. “Alex, the moment is right. I love you. You love me. Please say yes.” After he put me down, he then reached in his pocket to pull out a box. Inside was a three-carat cut diamond ring.
“Yes,” I shouted at the top of my lungs.
The crowd began cheering and clapping for us.
I had one more surprise for my husband-to-be. For the past eight weeks, I had been taking salsa lessons.
Xavier and I danced into the wee hours of the morning.
After the party was over, I told Xavier to go home with his mother. They had a lot of catching up to do. He needed to spend all the time with his mother so they can rekindle their precious bond. Plus, I didn’t want to make him feel as if he had to be with me every night.
Chapter 49
After a beat down day at the hospital delivering triplets, I was rewarded with going to see Xavier at his modeling shoot for the magazine MOTR (Men on the Rise) with a takeout order of his favorite, beef enchiladas from Speedy’s Mexican Restaurant. I hadn’t seen much of him lately since he was spending most of his time catching up with his mother. The camera crew, photographers, fashion designers, makeup artists and assistants were scattered everywhere. Men were walking around practically naked, trying to get into the next outfit to be modeled in. I finally spotted my baby frantically changing into a Sean John suit.
“Hey, señorita, I’m so glad you came. I’ve got six more outfits to get into before I can collect a paycheck,” Xavier said, giving me a hug.
I handed him the bag of food. “I came as soon as I could without having time to change.”
“That’s all right. I love to see you in your white coat. I find it sexy, Dr. Gibbs.” He gently kissed my cheek.
A woman darted past us with a clipboard in her hand and blared out, “Xavier, you’re up in fifteen minutes.”
“Alex, help me get dressed.” He grabbed my hand and led the way. “I have my own dressing room down the hall.” Xavier informed me that out of eighty models, he was chosen to do this particular shoot.
“All right, I won’t keep you long. I don’t want to be in the way.” I was proud of him. Modeling is hard work and long hours. Last week, my baby had a shoot down at the beach in forty-degree weather. You could never tell he was freezing his behind off.
Xavier sighed as he closed the door behind us. “Whoa, these enchiladas are just what I needed.”
“Let’s get to it so you can bring your butt home at a decent hour.”
“In due time. I have fifteen minutes.” Xavier looked down at his watch. “Let me see your breast. I promise I won’t touch it, but you may see me salivating.”
“Xavier, no, we’re at your job, and all these people are around. Besides, you only have eleven minutes now.” I looked at his watch.
“I’ve got to see it. Just one please.”
“Let me see your dick then.”
“All right.” He pulled his pants and boxer shorts down as I popped out my right breast out of my shirt.
“Eight minutes,” the woman blared again, knocking on the door.
“Tasting it would be even better,” he pleaded, caressing my breast.
“You’re crazy.”
“Crazy about your gushy stuff.” He had me pinned up against the wall as he suckled my nipple and flicked my clitoris with his finger.
I kicked my shoes off, lifted my skirt, and shifted my thong to the side as Xavier thrusted himself deep inside me.
The woman knocked on the door once again.
“Four more minutes.”
“I’m coming,” Xavier responded, almost out of breath. He meant it literally.
Chapter 50
I was ready and able to burn up all my Wedding magazines. There was no doubt in my mind that I needed to hire a wedding planner to deal with the families of both parties, invitations, travel accommodations, and other little things which I didn’t want to and didn’t have time to deal with. Spending the last six Saturdays on deciding on which color napkins to use, food, alcohol, and bridesmaid dresses and flower girl dresses was working my last nerve. Matter of fact, all I wanted was for Xavier and me to have a quick simple ceremony, eat a plate of food, have a glass of champagne, and be off to enjoy the rest of our lives together. I was ready to have a little one, and I was staring down thirty.
Today, he and I were going to decide on the cake. Our final choices were almond, chocolate, vanilla, and marble.
Traffic was chaotic. It took me thirty minutes to drive over to Xavier’s house. Usually it took only fifteen minutes. After we come back from Custom Cakes, I’m going to slither in a hot bubble bath and soak all my frustrations away.
As I got to the door, I noticed it was cracked open. I pulled out Pocketknife Pete and burn-the-hell-out-your-eye mace from my handbag as I entered through the door. I could hear voices coming from his office upstairs. A room that he and I had sex in plenty of times. I played the overworked secretary, and he was the mean overbearing boss.
As I crept up the stairway, I tried hard not to make a sound. I didn’t think it mattered though, because of all the shouting. Stopping at the fourth stair from the top, I froze as I heard none other than Jarrad Simmons’ voice. Many questions ran through my mind. What is he doing here? Maybe he might be offering Xavier an acting job. Acting is a profession he always wanted to get into. Did he just meet Jarrad? Did he know him before he met me? I never really told Xavier anything about Jarrad, who was nothing more than a lost memory. I’d stopped loving him a long time ago.
A year ago, Jarrad had finally stopped sending the bears and the chocolate. I have to admit, I couldn’t help wondering, Did he get the divorce from Tina? Is she here too with the kids?
I tiptoed up the stairs to see what was going on. I had a strong feeling all my questions would be answered.
“I’ve been paying you four thousand a month for a year now,” Jarrad yelled. “I can’t understand why there hasn’t been any more progress. Alex should have been running in my arms six months ago. My patience is running thin, and so is my wallet.”
“You never listen. I told you this will take time. Plus, you’re not helping matters by bringing your ass here of all places,” Xavier shouted back. “Alex can show up anytime.”
“Your ass will turn up dead if you don’t continue on with the plan.”
“There has been a change,” Xavier said.
“What kind of change? This isn’t bioengineering. You were hired to specifically make Alex fall for you, then break her heart, and I come in and pick up the pieces with her new house in the Caribbean. This past year, I’ve realized
my life isn’t the same without her. I need her and I want her back. Going forward, I want you to stop sleeping with her. She’s very fertile, and I don’t want you of all people getting my baby knocked up.”
“I never meant to fall for her, but I did. Man, she found my mother for me. I love her with all my heart. We’re getting married. I’ll pay you back your money as soon as I can.”
“It would take you two lifetimes for you to pimp-pay me back my money. By the time I cross the front door, you better put the original plan back in motion. I don’t give a fuck about you falling in love with her. Besides, you don’t got shit to offer her anyway. You’re barely making it modeling. I even paid for where you rest your head. If you want to see daylight tomorrow, then you will break her heart. I would hate to see anything happen to your mother, Loupe, especially after your newfound relationship.”
“This is between you and me. My mother stays out of it. Your empty threats don’t put an ounce of fear in my heart. All you do is floss your money around. I know you got a family as well, especially a wife who wouldn’t be too happy of your activities lately. She’s draining your pockets more than me. Besides, you and I both know Alex really wants me. She told me you couldn’t fuck anyway.”
I had two choices here—Face these monsters, or leave and never utter a word to Xavier again. I continued to walk up the stairs and make my way to the office. I stopped and stood in the doorway.
Xavier and Jarrad turned to face me. Both looked as they had seen a ghost.
I had an even tighter grip on my knife and mace. “Xavier, did you forget we were supposed to pick out the cake today?”
Xavier and Jarrad talked over each other, trying to explain their cases, and both reaching out their hand to me.
“Alex.”
“Alex.”
“Shut up. Stop calling my name. You’re going to give me a headache. My head is starting to throb now. Stay right where you are, both of you. I heard everything. Jarrad, I knew you were capable of despicable acts, but this is even low for the devil. I hate you, and I will never ever love you again. Vultures picking at your flesh is a death too good for you.”
“I love you. We’ve been away from each other far too long. I’ve got plenty of goodies, your Valentine’s Day, Christmas, and birthday presents at my house. Let’s go and talk this over.” Jarrad inched closer to me.
“Alex, I didn’t realize how special you are until I got to know you. At first, you were just a job. After a while, I fell hard for you. Yes, Jarrad is right about one thing. I don’t have much, but I love you with all my heart, plain and simple. We can make it, Alex, together. Let’s put this behind us and get on with our lives. I’m ready to go to the Custom Cake store right now,” Xavier explained, inching even closer.
“Shut up with your lies, both of you. I’m only going to say this once—Stay away from me. Xavier, I hate you even more than I hate Jarrad. You broke my heart. I will never ever forgive you for this. I regret ever giving you a chance to enter into my heart. You make your living breaking up my life.” I walked backward, slowly heading toward the staircase. “Tell me this . . . have you ever done something like this to another woman?”
“Alex, it doesn’t matter. All I care about is right now is you. Put the knife down and let’s talk about this.”
“Answer the question!”
“Yes, I have done this before at least eight times, but I never fell in love with any of those women. You were different. You are special. I love you. Please give me another chance.” Xavier got down on one knee.
“I found your mother for you and you repay me like this. I put you first before myself. That’s what you do, Xavier, when you truly care about someone. All you cared about was getting your bills paid. You’ve just been Jarrad’s mere puppet.” I pointed the knife at Jarrad. “That’s all you’ll ever be to me. You want to move on from this and actually get married? Yeah, right. Are you joking with me? How can we go on from this moment? You lied to me. You deceived me. When you were taking me on dates and paying, that was Jarrad’s money, not yours. The trips to Italy and Tahiti, did he pay for those as well? Answer me, damn it.”
“Yes, he did,” Xavier remarked, not even looking me straight in the eye.
“I want the truth. Did Jarrad’s money pay for the ring?”
“Okay, the truth. Six months of modeling jobs could only pay for half, and that ring and the rest came from the money Jarrad was giving me.”
I punched Xavier in the face, and blood dripped from his lip. Sweat was pouring down the side of my face. “Maybe, I should have been fucking Jarrad instead of you, Xavier. I mean that’s why he’s been paying you four thousand a month tax-free for the past two and a half years. You get the money, and Jarrad gets me. That was the original deal, right? Xavier, you did your job well. Jarrad, he was worth every penny.”
I headed toward Jarrad. I started rubbing on his dick and kissing him. I could see the fury in Xavier’s eyes.
Finally, after five minutes of tongue-playing with Jarrad, I kicked him in the dick. He fell to the carpet floor. “Jarrad, I’m not for sale. If you ever do this again to me, I will kill you. Because of you, I may not fully be able to trust another man ever again because I’ll be too worried about, Is he part of one of your big schemes? Keep this kind of drama on your damn television show. I hate you. Don’t you ever forget that. Burn in hell, Jarrad Simmons!”
My hands were shaking. Tears streamed down my face as I went down the stairs with the two of them hot on my trail still trying to plead their cases. Once I got downstairs, Jarrad was pulling my arm, while Xavier was pulling my waist in the opposite direction, closer toward him.
Knowing this fiasco could go on for hours, I slashed Jarrad and Xavier with my knife on the top of their foreheads. Blood was gushing down their faces, making it hard for each of them to see. I emptied my can of mace, rotating the burning spray on their eyes.
I darted to the kitchen and picked up a cutting board. Gripping it hard, I slowly walked back over to the wounded monsters. For a good fifteen minutes, I hit both of them in the head, arms, legs, back, shoulders, and dick with the wooded weapon. It felt good.
“Don’t ever try to contact me again,” I said, out of breath, “or I will kill both of you with a shot to the heart.” I turned the lock on the front door and ran to my car as fast as I could.
I had to make two very important phone calls on my cell phone.
“Nine-one-one, how can I help you?” the woman asked.
“There’s seem to be a big commotion at the home of 944 Providence Road. My neighbor has been struck with a blunt object. Can you come right away? He may need an ambulance as well.”
“We’re sending help right now.”
“Thank you.”
Next call was to the local news station. One reporter in particular, Krystal Fernell, loved gossip. Not to mention, four years ago, she tried out in an audition for Jarrad’s television show and didn’t make it. With no compassion, he simply told her she couldn’t act, leaving Krystal in tears.
I called the number, blocking anyone from tracing my cell number.
“News Channel eleven, how may I help you?” the receptionist answered.
“Yes, hello, may I please speak to Ms. Krystal Fernell?”
“Let me see if she is still here. I’ll transfer you.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
“Krystal Fernell, how may I help you?”
“Ms. Fernell, you don’t need to know my name. All I want to do is give some information. The executive producer Jarrad Simmons has seemed to get into a brawl with another man. Find out what the commotion is. I think it will be a big scoop for you.”
“Thanks. I’ll get right on it.”
Chapter 51
After slamming the front door behind me, I slid down to the ground of my foyer and cried. “How could he do this?” I shouted. The tears came pouring down even more.
The clock read 4:00 p.m. The house phone was ringing and ringing.
After crying for hours, exhausted from the whoop-ass beating I gave Xavier and Jarrad, I crawled over to the living room rug and fell asleep.
Later that night, on the eleven o’clock news, famed executive producer Jarrad Simmons was charged with assault on Xavier Sanchez. The reason is unknown, but I was sure Ms. Fernell was digging deep to find some answers. Now Jarrad was going to have to hire a lawyer and possibly dish out even more money to pay Xavier off.
A painful breakup is a slow death within itself. My heart felt so irreparably damaged that it was hard to even breathe. Getting over someone you truly love is going to take time. I couldn’t eat, and sleep was my only escape.
On Sunday night, I managed to get into my bed with the same clothes I had on from the previous day.
Monday morning quickly crept up on me. I called Dr. Norris and told her that I had a crisis going on and to take over my patients for now. We had more patients than we could handle. To my surprise, she was very understanding. To be honest, right then, I didn’t know or care when I was going to leave the house, let alone go back to work.
The phone continued to ring off the damn hook. I decided to answer it to curse out asshole A or B. I pressed TALK on the cordless, not even paying attention to the caller ID. “You sick bastard,” I screamed. “Stop calling my phone, or I will fuck your ass up even more.”
“Alex?”
“Ms. Loupe, is that you?”
“Yes, it’s me. I want to talk to you. May I please come see you?”
“I apologize for the language. I thought you were—”
“You thought I was Xavier or Jarrad.”
“Well, I’m not really feeling up to a visit.”
“Please . . . just for a few minutes. I won’t waste your time.”
“All right.”
“I’ll be in there in fifteen minutes.”
I ran to the bathroom to wash my face. I was trying to look halfway decent in front of this woman. As I looked into the bathroom mirror, the redness in my eyes was still bulging out.