Imagined Love

  “Why wouldn’t you tell me, Jade? Do you really hate me that much?” he asked, genuinely hurt. “I had a right to know because it was my baby too. And regardless of what you think, I did care about both of you. I just handled things badly and I’m so sorry, Jade. I swear I am,” Richard said, as tears streamed down his cheeks. “Just because I’m older doesn’t mean I automatically know how to handle every situation. I’m human and I make mistakes too, baby. I had the vasectomy because I didn’t want more kids and that’s all I was thinking about. I was angry, Jade. I was mad the procedure didn’t work. I was mad that you weren’t on the pill and that you actually planned to have the baby. All I thought about was me and I blamed you when it was my own fault. But I’m so sorry I treated you that way because you didn’t deserve it. And I’m sorry I made you go through this alone. I should’ve been there for you, no matter what,” Richard said.

  “But I desperately need you to know that even though I acted stupid initially, I wouldn’t have continued to be. I had every intention of being here for you and the baby.” Richard pulled a ring box out of his pocket and held it out to her. “I hope you’ll let me keep that promise to you. Please, Jade,” he said when she refused to take the box.

  Jade just stood there staring at him. “I’m not sure what you expect from me, Richard. You show up with a promise ring and all your explanations and apologies expecting what? Am I just supposed to forget that you abandoned me when I needed you most?”

  “No, Jade, I’m just trying . . .”

  “Well, I haven’t forgotten and I never will,” she said, as her tears fell. “You showed me what kind of man you really are and it’s not the kind I want in my life. So goodbye, Richard Sullivan,” Jade said then opened the door for him to leave. “I honestly hope I never see you again.”

  On May 13th, the day before Mother’s Day, Willa and Gabrielle took Jade out for a day of beauty. She had been working really hard at the gym to get rid of the ten pounds gained during her pregnancy and subsequent depression. A makeover was definitely in order. Jade had her long, thick dark brown hair trimmed and dyed chestnut with golden highlights. That only seemed to intensify her hazel eyes and for the first time in months, she felt pretty.

  Tamara joined them for manicures and pedicures before they all went to lunch. The conversation kept finding its way back to Jade dating again but she wasn’t interested. With her track record of choosing the wrong men, she was in no rush to meet any. Jade just wanted to put the past few months behind her and start over fresh. So she spent the remainder of spring and the entire summer learning to be okay on her own.

  Jade was nearing the corner of Dyer and Alvarado Boulevard when the Quik Stop sign caught her eye. Suddenly she began to crave one of infamous Icee mixtures and decided to get one. As soon as Jade pulled into the parking lot memories of Mr. Phillips and all the times they’d spent together came rushing back to her mind. She cautioned herself not to start crying before walking inside. Like she’d done a hundred times before, Jade went straight for a bag of salt and vinegar chips and an Almond Joy. Thankfully nothing much had changed about the store so she found what she wanted with no problem. She was heading towards the Icee machine when the man behind the counter stopped her dead in her tracks! Jade dropped everything in her hands and stood there staring at him.

  “Hooty who,” he mumbled then smiled at her.

  His smile was magical and it made Jade’s heart melt! What the hell is wrong with me, she thought before bending over to retrieve her things. Jade blushed once she stood up and realized the guy was still staring at her. The customer he was supposed to be waiting on had to call him a few times to get his attention.

  “Hi,” Jade said, as she placed her snacks on the counter. She was too nervous to trust herself to make an Icee. The last thing she needed was to drop it and make a mess all over the store.

  “Hey, how you doing?” he said much louder than either of them expected. Jade burst out laughing. “Sorry about that. I guess I’m gonna have to pay to get your hearing checked, huh? Geez,” he mumbled, unsure of what was wrong with him. “I don’t normally blow out people’s eardrums when I speak. Just in case you were wondering. I’m Pierce by the way,” he said, extending his hand to her.

  “Huh,” Jade yelled, acting as if she were hard of hearing.

  “Ah, that’s cold,” Pierce laughed loudly.

  She laughed too then reached out to shake his hand. “I’m Jade.” She felt like electricity was pulsing through her body when she touched Pierce and they both had wide-eyed expressions on their faces. “So, uh, what was that you said earlier?”

  Pierce gazed into her eyes as he caressed her hand in both of his. What Jade was feeling was unlike anything she’d ever felt before and it terrified her! Yet, she couldn’t seem to pull away. She was entranced by him, all 6’4” and 250 pounds of him. Pierce’s muscular body was incredible! And his skin was so smooth that it reminded Jade of creamy caramel. He had the perfect sized kissable lips. However, what she found most intriguing about Pierce was his eyes. They were the deepest, darkest shade of brown she’d ever seen. In fact, they almost looked black which only complimented his silky, jet black hair and neatly trimmed goatee. He was gorgeous and Jade felt magnetically attracted to him. And it seemed from the way Pierce refused to let go of her hand that he felt something similar.

  “Oh, you mean hooty who? That’s just something my boys and I say when we’re excited or see something that looks really good to us,” he smiled.

  Jade blushed. “So . . . uh, do you live in California? Oh, umm, no, I mean are you originally from here?” she stammered. Do you live in California, she thought then burst out laughing again. “I swear I’m not normally this stupid. I’m just really nervous around you for some reason.”

  “I know what you mean. I’m usually real cool and debonair but I laid eyes on you and now I’m in here talking all loud and fidgeting like a teenage boy. But I guess I’m jetlagged from all that commuting I have to do since I don’t live here in California,” Pierce laughed loudly.

  “Ha, ha,” Jade laughed.

  The banter between them was interrupted by a heavy steam of customers demanding Pierce’s attention. His clerk had called in sick again and forced him to cover the shift. All he wanted to do, however, was continue talking to the beautiful woman who had him mesmerized. Pierce hadn’t been able to learn much about Jade in the thirty minutes she’d been in the store and he knew he needed to do something before she left.

  “I really wanna be able to sit and talk with you but that’s obviously not gonna happen in here,” Pierce said when the crowd died down a bit. “So I was wondering if you’d go out with me. We can have dinner tomorrow night if that’s cool with you.”

  “Yeah, that’s cool with me! Let me give you my number,” Jade smiled, as she reached inside her purse for a business card. As usual she couldn’t find on and ended up writing her phone number on a scrap piece of paper. “Oh, here,” she said, handing Pierce a five dollar bill to pay for her snacks.

  “Don’t worry about that. It’s on me. I figure it’s the least I can do for causing you permanent hearing loss,” he laughed then reached for her hand again. “I look forward to tomorrow and . . .” Pierce trailed off and quickly let go of Jade’s hand. He looked wide-eyed and panicked.

  Jade was confused by the abrupt change in his attitude until the exotic looking Puerto Rican woman came into the store.

  “Hey, baby,” she said then walked behind the counter to kiss and hug Pierce. “You gone have to come up off some more money because I . . .”

  “Ooh, I’m sorry, baby,” Jade said to the little boy she accidentally bumped into. Then she ran outside and jumped into her car. Pierce kept calling her name and even ran outside to try to stop her from leaving but she sped away. Jade drove across the street to Kentucky Fried Chicken and sat in the parking lot crying. “Idiot,” she mumbled. Jade couldn’t believe she was sobbing over a man she’d known less than an hour or that she’d been dum
b enough to think she had actually met her soul mate!

  The next morning Jade made the mistake of telling Landon about the incident at Quik Stop. He instantly started fussing at her to be patient and wait for

  love instead of trying to force it. Thankfully Alejandra arrived for her appointment and granted Jade a reprieve from Landon’s onslaught of advice. Jade grabbed her purse and basically pushed the bride-to-be out the front door. She was hoping all the things they had to do that day would be enough to take her mind off things, but it didn’t work as well as she’d hoped. They were waiting for the seamstress to bring Alejandra’s wedding dress out when she reached over to touch Jade’s hand.

  “What’s wrong, chicka? You seem down today.”

  “Nothing,” she smiled, weakly.

  “Girl, please, I’ve been around you long enough to know when something’s wrong. Your face gives you away every time. So spill it.”

  “Well,” Jade sighed then started crying. “Ugh, I’m so stupid! Why am I sitting up here crying over some dude I don’t even know?” She reached inside her purse for a tissue and dabbed at her eyes. “Yesterday I met this guy and I thought we had a connection. But I guess I’m just lonely and made myself believe there was something there. He held my hand and I swear it was like electricity shooting through my body! I’ve never felt anything like that, even with men I called myself being in love with. So stupid me thought I had actually found the one but I didn’t as he made it abundantly clear.”

  “Why? What happened?” Alejandra asked.

  “He had just asked me out and was saying how excited he was about our date then all of a sudden he threw my hand down and backed away. I was standing there looking stupid wondering what was going on when his woman came in! And then this dude actually had the nerve to call after me like I really wanted to hear his excuses. I could almost hear him say it’s not what you think,” Jade said, shaking her head. “I’ve heard that line enough to last me a lifetime!”

  “No way!” Alejandra gasped. “Oh, honey, I’m so sorry,” she said, hugging her friend. “But you know what? Be thankful you found out about this bastard before you wasted a year or two of your life on him. I know it hurts, chicka, but you will find that special someone. I promise you will. You’re such a warm and generous person and any man would be lucky to have you. So don’t give up, okay? For all we know one of your friend’s brother could be the one,” Alejandra said, nudging Jade’s arm. They both laughed.

  During the first few weeks of working for Alejandra, Jade felt as if she was constantly being interviewed. Though, it had absolutely nothing to do with her experience in wedding planning. It was all personal. Was she single? What kind of men did she like? Did she want kids? Jade finally asked what was with all the questions and was informed by the fiery, Puerto Rican bombshell that she knew the perfect guy for her. Apparently Alejandra’s brother Juan was “the one” and she was relentless in trying to set them up on a date. It got to the point where Jade wanted to avoid their appointments sometimes because she knew Alejandra was

  going to keep nagging her to meet him. The only thing that kept Jade from going completely crazy was the fact that Juan didn’t seem any more interested in being set up than she was. Their meeting was inevitable since he was in the wedding party but Jade knew she’d be way too busy working to interact with Juan. It wasn’t the first time one of her brides had tried to set her up and Jade was sure it wouldn’t be the last. However, none of them had been as persistent as Alejandra.

  For the first few weeks after Labor Day Jade spent as little time in the office as possible. The tension between Landon and Gabrielle made it so uncomfortable that she preferred not to be there. And it wasn’t that she didn’t want to be supportive. Jade knew how much they wanted a baby and how hurtful it was to keep getting negative pregnancy tests results. Yet, she couldn’t take walking around on eggshells wondering when or which one of them was going to snap on her. Even though they always apologized later, it was too much to deal with and Jade began thinking more seriously about venturing out on her own. At the very least, she needed an office outside of Landon’s home. So when they had fights like the one that morning, he couldn’t yell at her to get out of his house.

  Jade was relieved that Landon and Gabrielle were not home. She had planned to finish her work at the apartment but had to get a few files out of her office in order to do so. After grabbing everything she needed, Jade was on her way out the door when the phone rang. She ran to answer it and noticed a note from Landon stuck to her desk.

  “A guy and a girl, this is Jade,” she said, scanning the note.

  “So why did you run out on me?”

  “Why did I . . .? Who is this?”

  “Ah, now that hurts. You mean after the connection we had you don’t even remember me? Now I’m heartbroken,” he sighed. “It’s Pierce. You know . . . the guy from Quik Stop.”

  Jade felt her heart drop into her stomach! And then she was puzzled. She could’ve sworn she gave him her home number. “Oh you mean the player. Mr. Don Juan. Yeah I remember you now.”

  “See that’s just wrong, Ms. Jade. You’re stereotyping me. That’s racial profiling,” he laughed. She laughed too despite trying to act angry. “I know things looked bad but I promise you it’s not what you think. I promise you it’s . . .”

  “Wait let me guess, she’s your cousin. Or no wait, she is your wife but she just doesn’t understand you the way that I do, right?”

  “Wow, that guy Levi really messed you up, huh?”

  “What?” Jade shrieked. “How do you . . .”

  “Oh, your boy Landon told me.”

  “What?” she yelled and nearly dropped the phone. “What are you talking about? How do you know Landon?”

  “Well, a few days ago he came in here to find out what my problem was. He didn’t like the idea of me playing with your heart and decided to tell me so. I think he was prepared to beat my ass!” Pierce chuckled. “But unlike you he at least gave me the benefit of the doubt and let me explain.”

  Jade’s head was swimming and she didn’t know what to think. What in the world would possess Landon to confide in a complete stranger about her humiliating personal life?

  “Look, Pierce, you don’t owe me any explanations. We don’t even know each other. And although I was slightly intrigued by you, I got over it when you threw my hand down and backed away when that woman walked in. So unless you want to hire a guy and a girl to plan a wedding, there’s really nothing else to discuss.”

  “Okay, well let’s plan our wedding then. I think it’s a little early in the relationship but if you’re in that big of a hurry to marry me I think we should go for it.” They both laughed.

  “I don’t know how my boyfriend would feel about me planning a wedding with you.”

  “Oh now you’ve got a boyfriend, huh? So you went out and got a man in the few days since I met you? Yeah right, what’s his name?”

  “Uh, why do you need to know?”

  “Umm huh, see you can’t even think one up, can you? You know you ain’t got no boyfriend,” he chuckled.

  “His name is Juan if you must know.”

  “Juan what?”

  “Juan none of your business, that’s what. So go back to your wife and let me and my boyfriend be happy, okay?”

  “Ah, that’s cold. But seriously, Jade, I’m not married. I’ve never even come close to being married. And I don’t have a girlfriend or sex buddy or anything like that. I’m not a player. I’ve got a mother and five sisters who’d beat the hell out of me if I tried to be one. In fact, that was my oldest sister Eva in the store the other day. She was waving at you from the window trying to get you to come back but you just burned rubber on me and left me standing on the curb like a chump,” he said, pretending to be mad.

  “I’m for real though, Jade. I’m a one guy, one girl type of dude. And I really wanna have that date we planned. So why don’t you dump this Juan clown, fictional or otherwise, and find out what all
that electricity between us was about. I know you felt it. That’s why you dropped all your stuff on the floor!” he laughed.

  “Shut up,” Jade blushed. She was won over by his “one guy” statement.

  “I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind.”

  “And it took you four days to call me?”

  “Well, you are kind of mean. I had to build up some courage first. So I think I should be rewarded for grabbing the bull by the horns and . . .”

  “Oh, so now I’m a bull?”

  “The prettiest one I’ve ever seen,” Pierce cooed. “So what do you say? Are you game for dinner tomorrow night? I’ll cook something special and show you my mad skills in the kitchen.”

  “Hmmm. Sounds tempting but . . .”

  “No buts. Just tell your imaginary playmate Juan that you’re going out. I’m sure he’ll get over it. So here’s my address,” he said, giving Jade time to jot it down. “I’ll see you tomorrow night at seven, okay? Don’t be late.”

  “Okay, but I need to warn you about something first.”

  “Oh yeah, what’s that?”

  “I’m not one of those shy, dainty chicks who only eat a piece of lettuce and a cracker. I eat! In fact, I’ve been known to eat grown men under the table so make sure you have enough. And I hope it’s good too because I don’t eat things I don’t like. Most people are polite enough to eat awful food to avoid hurt feelings, but not me. So I hope your culinary skills are up to par, mister.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Pierce smiled convinced he’d met the girl of his dreams.

  21

  Chapter Twenty One

  The goofy grin Jade had on her face disappeared as soon as Landon walked into the house. “I’m gonna kill you!” she yelled.

  Landon sat at his desk and began eating Chinese takeout as he waited to find out why his life was being threatened. Jade threw a fit over him telling Pierce about Levi. Though, she was curious as to why he did because it just seemed so out of character. Landon was always fussing at Jade for revealing too much, too soon about herself and yet he entrusted a complete stranger with one of the most humiliating things she had ever gone through.