Love Again

by Christina Marie

  “I’m tired and I want to go to bed. I’ve got a busy week out of town next week, all this conversation is going to do is lead to an argument.”

  I bit my bottom lip, “I have a big showing tomorrow.” I said to change the subject.

  “Let me guess, three bed two bath house with a white picket fence out front. Their family is expanding and they just HAVE to move.” He said with a sarcastic tone.

  “You’re right.” I lied.

  The last few miles was complete silence not even the radio was loud enough to be heard.

  When we got home Justin went upstairs to shower, I laid out my clothes for the following day. Instead of waiting for him to finish up I stripped out of my clothes and decided I would join him in the shower. The glass shower walls were fogged over so I quietly opened the door and stepped in. He rinsed his hair and scrubbed the small amount of shampoo off of his face, when he opened his eyes he blinked and blinked. “What the fuck are you doing?” He asked.

  I stepped toward him, “We haven’t showered together in a while, is it a crime to want to be close to my husband?” I laid my palms flat against his chest.

  Justin grabbed my wrists and pulled my hands away from him, “This is why I don’t like you reading that shit you do. We aren’t in college anymore, grow the fuck up. It’s called personal space and I prefer to have mine—especially in here.” He pushed the shower door open and got out. I stared at his back as he dried off, there were so many things running through my mind about what to say but I chose to keep them to myself. I didn’t want to fight, I couldn’t handle another fight like we had earlier in the week.

  ~~~~~~

  “Shhh—do you hear that?” Corrina asked me.

  We had met for coffee the following morning and I had to go back to our apartment to get my purse. “Shhh…Justin’s sleeping. Do I hear what?” I whispered as I put my purse strap over my shoulder.

  “There it is again.” She swatted at the air.

  I shook my head, “A fly really?” Then I heard a buzzing sound. I cocked my head to the side and waited for it again.

  “It sounds like a phone vibrating.” Corrina said and walked toward the kitchen and I followed her.

  We quietly opened and closed a couple of drawers, when I opened one that had the coffee filters in it I found a cell phone. It vibrated again. Corrina walked up beside, “I know that’s not your phone.” She said.

  With the phone in my hand I looked at it, it was a phone I had never seen before, “I don’t know whose phone it is.” I told her.

  When I looked at the screen there were fifteen missed calls and several text messages. I swiped the screen, there was no picture on the screen. So I clicked on a text message,

  Jill- Hey baby look what I scored for next week! XOXO I miss you so much!

  Attached was a picture of a baggie that had white powder in it and money rolled up next to it. Lines of white scraped out on a mirror.

  Jill- Justin baby when you get a chance please call me, I really miss you. XOXO

  Jill- Just think, we’ll find out next week what we are having!

  Attached was a picture of a sonogram picture with the words Jill & Justin 4ever!

  “Oh my god!” Corrina said from beside me. She took the phone away from me and put it back in the drawer. “Come on!” She pulled me out of the apartment and quietly locked and shut the door behind us. Once inside the elevator she turned and looked at me. “Please tell me we didn’t not just see any of that. I’ve had my suspicions about him but…”

  “I have a multi-million dollar house I’m supposed to show today and I just read that my husband is possibly doing drugs and has another woman pregnant. Exactly what in the fuck is going on?” I couldn’t help but cry. Corrina pulled me into her arms, and we both cried.

  The doors opened, I tried to wipe my eyes but the more I wiped them the more tears spilled out. “Is something wrong Lennie?” Lyle rushed over to us.

  Corrina said something to him, I couldn’t even talk as we walked out of the building.

  “Okay--you’re okay.” Corrina’s hand wrapped around mine. “Can you cancel the showing? Why didn’t I know about that big of a sale?” she asked with a laugh.

  I sniffled, “I can’t cancel it, I won’t cancel it. I did try to tell you about it but the day I called was when you hung up on me.” I wiped my cheeks and gave small laugh.

  “Don’t cancel, definitely don’t cancel! Go to work, put some cold compresses on your eyes for a little bit. Redo your makeup, show this buyer the smart beautiful intelligent woman you are and seal the deal. Call me afterwards and we’ll go to my apartment.”

  I stopped walking, “You have an apartment and didn’t go through me?” I asked trying to sound offended.

  She held up her hands, “Boss man had it already lined up!”

  “Where’s it at?” I asked as we got in my car.

  “North Wabash Avenue!”

  “WHAT?” I yelled.

  “I know,” she sighed but smiled. “You will just die when you see this place it has EVERYTHING.” She said. Then she grabbed my hand, “Remember you call me as soon as you’re done and we’ll go to my place to talk about this. Okay?”

  I nodded, “Okay. I’m going to look like a hot mess.” I shook my head and wiped away more tears.

  “Just do what I said and you’ll look just a hot as always.”

  Luckily James and Henry were both busy when I walked in to the office, I went right for my office and closed the door. Doing what Corrina said to do I went over to the mini fridge and grabbed a couple bottles of water. I leaned back in my chair and rested the cold plastic over my eyes.

  “Uhhh…what are you doing?” Henry asked. I didn’t remove the bottles to look at him.

  “Shut the door.” I told him.

  “Do you have a migraine or something?” I heard the door click when he shut it.

  “Nope, you won’t believe what happened.” My voice cracked.

  “Oh shit—did somebody die?” He asked.

  I took the water bottles away from my eyes and put them on my desk, “I think I just found out that my husband is using drugs and cheating on me when he’s out of town on his so called business trips.”

  There was a knock on the door then James walked in, “You look like somebody killed your puppy. Don’t you have a big showing in a little bit?” He said.

  “Wait…wait! Back up, did you just say…” Henry said with big eyes.

  I nodded my head, “Yep!”

  “I’m lost, what’s wrong?” James walked over and tried to grab one of the water bottles off my desk. I quickly yanked them away and leaned back in my chair again. “So here’s what happened.”

  After I was done telling them, my office was silent. I pulled the water bottles away from my face to check and see if they had left, but they hadn’t. They were both standing there staring at me, mouths open and speechless. I twisted the cap off of one of the bottles and took a long drink of water.

  “You’re not serious are you? I mean—really?” James asked me.

  “I’ll do your showing, go home and talk to him. Or go home and pack your stuff and move the hell out from that asshole!” Henry told me.

  “I’m going to do the showing then take the rest of the day off if that’s okay with you guys.”

  “I can’t believe that son of a bitch!” Henry was furious. “How the hell do you even approach something like that? I’m sure he’ll delete the messages and try denying it or he’ll say he doesn’t have another phone.”

  I looked at my watch, “I have to get ready I’ll stop by here after the showing.”

  They both tried to get me to let one of them do the showing but there was no way I was going to pass it off.

  I arrived at the house about an hour early, I needed to keep my mind on track and get the house sold. Justin had tried to call me as I was walking inside but I ignored his call. Then he sent me a text.

  Justin- I know you just ignored my call. What the f
uck is wrong w/ you? Lyle said you were crying when you left this morning.

  Me- I didn’t know you have another cell phone.

  After a couple of minutes he text me back.

  Justin- What phone? What the fuck are you talking about?

  Me- We’ll talk later, I have a client coming shortly for a showing.

  I went into the bathroom and checked myself in the mirror, my eyes were still slightly red but at least they weren’t as swollen as they had been. I put a couple of eye drops in each eye and went back to the kitchen. Justin hadn’t called or text me anymore thankfully. I needed to be able to focus on my job and stay professional, even though my heart felt like it was shattering inside my chest.

  Standing in the kitchen I stared out at the beautiful landscaping. When I glanced at the security monitor a black SUV turned and stopped at the intercom.

  I had never met Dominique in person, so when he stepped out of the vehicle my breath caught in my throat. His massive physique and model perfect appearance took me by surprise. If Tyson Beckford had a twin, Dominique just had to be it. I watched him as he walked toward me, his eyes slowly looking me over from my feet to my face. Under his searing gaze I could feel blush spreading up my neck to my face. Once he was standing in front of me and our eyes met I was momentarily speechless, not only because he towered over me and because he was by far the most handsome African American man I had ever laid eyes on. The stunning royal blue eyes that were staring back at me combined with the dazzling smile…I knew I was staring and probably making a complete idiot of myself. I introduced myself to him and when our hands connected, my hand inside of his, I felt something I had never felt before. It was something I had only read about in books…the electrical heat that spread up my arm. I quickly pulled my hand away, I needed to get inside and show him the house before I made a complete fool of myself.

  I was ready to show him the house but he stopped me by telling me he wanted to buy the house. That took me by surprise, after all it’s not every day that somebody buys a house for fourteen million dollars and doesn’t bat an eye while doing so.

  As we walked up the stairs I could feel him staring at my backside, I wasn’t a skinny woman like the women I’m sure he was probably use to. I had curves that, according to Corrina, she would kill to have.

  Dominique explained to me that he had lived in the house when he was a child, but he didn’t elaborate much. When we got back downstairs we were standing by the pool talking when my cell phone rang. I wanted to slap myself for not setting it to vibrate. I looked at the caller ID—Justin was calling. I knew that if I didn’t take the call he would continue calling. Dominique seemed to be lost in his thoughts so I excused myself to tell Justin that I would call him back.

  “I’m with a client.” I spoke quietly and rushed into the kitchen.

  “I don’t give a fuck…we need to talk!” he growled out.

  “I’m not discussing this right now Justin.”

  “What the fuck ever, I’m going to my parents this weekend.” He hung up on me. I took a deep breath and tried to fight back tears. He was ripping my heart out and deep down I knew that there was no saving my marriage.

  Dominique walked in to the kitchen, I swallowed the lump in my throat and wiped under my eyes quickly. I was so embarrassed, if Justin only knew how much he was hurting me he would stop doing what he was doing.

  I set up a time with Dominique for Monday morning so he could sign the paperwork to the house. To embarrass myself even further I just had to tell him that I thought his eyes were amazing. He smiled that handsome smile that made butterflies flutter inside my stomach. He offered to help me lock up but I needed some time to myself, but more importantly I needed him to leave because the more I talked to him and the more I stared at him the thoughts that were starting to run through my head were highly inappropriate for a married woman to be thinking.

  After he left I locked the house up, I tried to call Justin but he ignored my call. So I called Corrina to let her know I was going to be back at the office shortly. She agreed to meet me there and asked how the showing went.

  “Really good actually. The guy is coming in Monday to sign the papers on it!” I smiled when I told her.

  “Holy shit! No counter offer?”

  “Nope, he lived there when he was a kid he said. You should see this guy, he is the most handsome man I have EVER laid eyes on.” I said with a laugh.

  “What’s his name? Is he single?” Corrina asked while laughing.

  “I’ll tell you all about it when we get back to your place.”

  “Ugg, fiiine. See you in a bit.”

  After we hung up I called Tracie, the Wilson’s attorney, to let her know that I would be contacting her on Monday after the papers were signed.

  “That’s great! Did Dominique tell you the back-story about him and his mom living there? Oh my god, I can’t believe I never thought to contact him first.”

  “Oh, I thought he meant that they lived there before the Wilson’s. No he didn’t tell me anything.”

  “I bet he will on Monday, I’d fill you in but it’s his story. Anyways dear, you have a great weekend and I’ll be in touch with you next week.”

  Back at the office James and Henry both rushed out of their offices when I walked in.

  “So? How did it go?” James waited patiently for me to answer.

  “Well…He’s coming in Monday to sign papers.” I said excitedly.

  They both stared at me, “No shit?” Henry asked.

  “Yep!”

  “Who?” They asked in unison.

  “His name is Dominique Hastings.”

  Again they both stared at me like I was crazy. “Wait,” Henry held his hand up stopping me from talking. “Like THE Dominique Hastings—The Destroyer?”

  “Uhhh…” I stared blankly at him, “I guess?”

  “Oh my god, you have no idea who he is?” James’ voice went up an octave and his eyes got big.

  I put my hands on my hips, “How would I know?” I asked in defense.

  “Jesus woman do you ever watch TV? Football on Sunday’s maybe?”

  I wrinkled my nose, “Not a big fan of contact sports really. But I guess that would kind of explain his size…huh.” I shrugged.

  Corrina breezed into the office I smiled at her. “So give me the details.” She hugged both James and Henry.

  “Your girl here lives under a rock I think.” Henry told her.

  I raised one eyebrow at him, “Just because I don’t know who he is doesn’t mean I live under a rock.”

  Corrina was looking back and forth between us, “I’m not a fan of tennis and that’s the kind of conversation you two are having. Who bought the house?”

  “Dominique Hastings. Does that ring a bell with you?” I asked.

  Corrina blinked then blinked again, “No…not at all. I mean, I wouldn’t recognize him with his clothes on. Since I always see him gracing the covers of magazine, he’s on numerous billboards and in his football gear he’s…” she fanned her face, “how can you not know who he is?”

  I rubbed my hands down my face, “Maybe because I’m married and have never watched football.” Or maybe because my husband would call me every name in the book if I stared at a guy on TV. But I had to listen to him drone on and on about how hot some of the women were on the reality shows he watched. Is what I wanted to say.

  Before any of them could say anything, my office phone rang. “Thank you for calling Sunrise Realty…”

  “I know where I fucking called,” Justin’s angry voice came over the line. I put pushed the speakerphone button and gently put the handset down. “Since you’re being a fucking bitch and don’t want to talk to me on your cell phone because you’re SO busy I decided to call your work.”

  Corrina, James and Henry all stood there in silence, “I was busy earlier, I’m sorry.”

  “Well, we need to talk about whatever has your panties fucking bunched up. I find it funny that once that bitch Corrina sho
ws up you turn into a basket case.” His voice was filled with venom.

  I looked at Corrina, she rolled her eyes then flipped her middle finger up at the phone.

  “I guess we’ll just have to talk when you get back from your parents.” I told him.

  He laughed, “We’re going to talk now!” I could hear him hit the steering wheel.

  Henry, James and Corrina all took a seat and waited for me to reply. I took a deep breath and slowly blew it out. “I want to know who Jill is, why you had to hide that cell phone and how long this has all been going on.”

  The line was silent, if his radio wasn’t playing in the background I would have thought he hung up on me—again. “Truth is, who Jill is, is really none of your fucking business. I guess that’s really all I need to say about her.”

  I wiped tears from my cheeks, “She sent you a picture of drugs, Justin! Then she sent you a sonogram picture! I think you have a lot more to say. Does this marriage mean absolutely nothing to you anymore? Am I that bad of a wife to you that you had to have an affair?” I had started to cry harder. Corrina jumped from her chair, picked the handset of the phone up and then hung it up…hanging up on Justin.

  “Come on, we are leaving.” She whispered. My body was shaking and tears continued to fall leaving hot trails down my face. I didn’t even say goodbye to Henry and James when I walked out of my office.

  Corrina drove my car while I continued to cry. The same question running over and over in my mind, “Why?” and Justin was the only one that had the answer. Horns and sirens blared as we waited in traffic. “I can’t believe this, I don’t understand why this is happening. What have I done to be treated like this?” I asked and sniffled.

  Corrina grabbed my hand but didn’t have answers for me.

  When we reached her apartment building, I had stopped crying but my body was starting to ache. We didn’t talk as the elevator glided up floor by floor. I lifted my hand and stared at the diamond wedding ring on my left hand. Memories of his proposal flashed through my mind. Was his mom partially to blame for what was going on with him? I had so many questions and nobody to answer them for me.

  The elevator eased to a stop on the tenth floor, I took a deep breath and waited for the doors to open. When they did, there was a guy waiting on the other side talking on his cell phone. He nodded his head and smiled at us then continued his conversation.