Usually, it was Bailee who relocated to the spare bedroom after an argument. She couldn’t recall Trent ever willingly separating from her. She ran a hand through her hair, trying to figure out what she could say to persuade him to stop being silly and join her in bed.
But she was keenly aware that the only thing he wanted to hear were the words, “I’ll stop taking the pill.”
And she couldn’t agree to that. In all actuality, she was the one who should have been upset. She’d stuck to their life’s plan while Trent had gone off script. A part of her suspected that Trent didn’t actually want children, but he believed being a parent would make him seem more well-rounded. Better suited for the position he coveted at his law firm. He wanted to fit in with his male counterparts at the office and have a good little wife at home, dutifully taking care of the kids.
Throwing back the comforter, she slid into the king-size bed, which seemed as wide as the Pacific Ocean without Trent lying beside her. She slept fitfully, waking every hour, reaching out and patting the empty space beside her. A few times, jolted by his absence, she pushed herself up on an elbow and gazed around in bafflement.
It wasn’t like Trent to hold on to resentment. It was his motto to never go to bed angry, and whenever she had camped out in the spare bedroom, at some point in the night, Trent would join her, taking full responsibility for whatever had pissed her off.
Did he want her to initiate their make-up? Should she creep into the guest room and tell him that she’d had a change of heart and was willing to have his baby?
But it wasn’t true and she couldn’t lie to him.
Resolute, she plumped her pillow, burrowed beneath the comforter, and willed herself to go back to sleep.
In the morning, Trent came into their bedroom to get dressed. He moved back and forth from the en suite bathroom to his closet in utter silence, and with his face tightened in a scowl.
Attempting to brighten the dreary atmosphere, Bailee got out of bed and pushed her lips into an apologetic smile. But Trent maneuvered around her, refusing to accept her goodwill gesture.
A morning person, Trent was typically chipper and talkative when he got ready for work. He had never given her the silent treatment before and she wondered how long he could hold out.
When she heard the alarm indicating the front door had opened and closed, a knot formed in the pit of her stomach and hurt throbbed in her chest. Throughout all the years of their marriage, Trent had never left the house without giving her a kiss and telling her to have a good day.
He was really going out of his way to make a point and it wasn’t fair.
She decided that two could play his game. She could be as unyielding as him. Trent had a lot of nerve, acting as if she’d misled and betrayed him when he was the one attempting to alter the course of their shared journey.
If he wanted to sleep in the guest room, then it was fine with her. In fact, she’d help him out by transferring his clothes from their closet into the one in the guest room.
Infused with energy, Bailee began picking up stacks of folded sweaters from the shelf and moving them to the closet in the guest room across the hall. Next, she grabbed suits, shirts, and pants that were held up by hangers. Growing tired, she didn’t bother to neatly arrange his sneakers and dress shoes; she dumped them in the middle of the floor. Items from his drawers were moved last, and when she checked the time, she realized she was already an hour late for work.
But, evicting Trent from their bedroom was an hour of well-spent time.
Drenched with perspiration, she felt a sense of accomplishment.
Tonight, instead of wondering if Trent was coming to bed, she’d lock the door to make sure he realized she wasn’t pressed to have his warm body next to hers.
Two could definitely play the same game, but she could play it better.
Chapter 8
Sadeeq’s pay day came and went without any communication from him.
Jayla texted, emailed, and went as far as ringing his phone from early morning until she cried herself to sleep that night.
She loathed herself for being such a dumb bitch. She deserved everything that had happened to her. Signs that Sadeeq was using her had always been there. But she’d been so needy and desperate, she bought into every lie, clinging to the hope that his feelings for her were sincere.
Now, it was Saturday night, snowing outside—practically a blizzard and she was stranded in the house. No one was making deliveries and with her car buried beneath the snow, there was no way to get around. All she could do was warm up leftovers and watch movies on Netflix. Too bad she didn’t have any devoted side dudes that were so sprung they’d come out in inclement weather and rescue her from hunger and the devastating loneliness that engulfed her.
There was no one who cared enough to come through with some grub. And she was too spooked from Niles to risk using a dating app to set up another encounter with a stranger.
Her heart had been set on attending Bailee’s anniversary party with Sadeeq, but it looked like she was going to end up going alone. There was something sad and tragic about going solo to her best friend’s ten-year anniversary celebration. Maybe she’d ask Bailee to fix her up with someone from the bank where she worked. Or maybe Trent could introduce her to one of his colleagues.
Oh, that’s right, Trent thinks of me as a ratchet ho, too unscrupulous to introduce to any of his distinguished colleagues.
Beneath her living room window, she heard the familiar sound of a shovel scraping concrete. It had finally stopped snowing and apparently one of her neighbors was eager to clear the sidewalk of snow. It annoyed Jayla when people chose to shovel snow at night. The sound was loud, intrusive, and annoying.
Out of sheer nosiness, she paused the movie and drifted to the window and peered out. As she suspected, Mr. Murphy, who lived in the green house directly across the street from her building, was responsible for the racket. The old buzzard had better watch it before he had a heart attack.
She was about to turn away from the window when she noticed another, much younger man joining Mr. Murphy, helping him clear his steps and porch. It was a nice and neighborly thing to do, but it was too late at night for all that noise.
The two men talked loud, cracked jokes, and laughed heartily while their shovels hitting the pavement added to the commotion.
Mr. Murphy thought of himself as the mayor of Mount Airy and prided himself on being personally responsible for the pleasant appearance of their street. Jayla wouldn’t be surprised if he roused all the neighbors and guilt-tripped them into coming outside and shoveling snow at night.
Damned big mouth, self-important, meddling busybody!
Giving up on watching the movie in peace, Jayla decided to discard the funky pajamas she’d had on since yesterday and take a long, hot bath. Maybe when she got out of the tub, the racket from across the street would have stopped and she’d be able to enjoy the movie peaceably.
Luxuriating in the tub wasn’t the best idea. Too much time to think, and of course, her thoughts all focused on Sadeeq and the horrible predicament he’d left her in. There was no doubt in her mind that in order to get the creditors off her ass, she’d have to file for bankruptcy.
Live and learn, she told herself as she stared into space. She’d been kind, loving, and generous toward Sadeeq, but he’d ruined her for the next man. If a muthafucka ever had the audacity to ask her for any type of financial assistance, she’d laugh spitefully and swiftly escort his bitch-ass to the door. She wasn’t giving up one fuckin’ penny to anyone, ever again!
For a few fleeting moments, she’d felt empowered and ready to take on the world, but the reality of her financial troubles slumped her shoulders. She pressed her palms against her forehead and groaned.
Obviously, Sadeeq had considered her as a trick-ass bitch, and had treated her like she was nothing more than a human ATM. Accepting that she’d been used hurt to the core. Lips trembling, she allowed herself another long cry and by the
time she heaved herself out of the soapy water, the skin on her palms and the soles of her feet were shriveled up.
A glance in the bathroom mirror revealed red, puffy eyes. Hers was the face of someone who had suffered sorrow and humiliation. She was the picture of despair.
The sudden sound of her doorbell caused her to nearly jump out of her skin. She pulled a robe from a hook and threw it on. As she padded out of the bathroom, she couldn’t imagine who was at her door late at night, right after a snowstorm. Probably one of her stupid neighbors who felt the urge to shovel and wanted to borrow some rock salt.
I’m not loaning out shit. I need my damn rock salt for myself. What the hell do I look like, Home Depot or something?
Grumbling in her mind, she trudged to the front door. Closing one eye, she spied through the peephole and nearly toppled over from shock. Trying to get her bearings, she took a deep breath, exhaled and took in another burst of air before opening the door.
“I shoveled your car out of the snow,” Sadeeq said, speaking in low decibels as he gazed at her appreciatively.
For the longest moment, Jayla was speechless. A thousand emotions coursed through her. As her heartbeat thudded out of control, she silently pleaded for it to settle down. She wanted to slap him. Shout at him and call him a string of vile names with the word, pimp, at the top of the list.
But she remained silent.
She studied him with an intense gaze as he stood there, filling the doorway. Despite the extra layers of winter clothing he wore, discernible musculature bulged beneath the sleeves of his jacket. Sadeeq with his big, rugged, fine-ass self was built like a tank, and no amount of clothing could disguise the fact that he put in lots of work at the gym. His emerald-gray eyes flashed with genuine contrition, and the tip of his tongue flicked against pouty lips that looked more kissable than ever.
He held her in a tender gaze that weakened her resolve. She collapsed into him and he wrapped his arms tightly around her, and his lips brushed the crown of her head.
“I’m so sorry, baby,” he murmured, his soft words breezing warmly through her hair. “I never meant to hurt you. Things got out of hand on the home front. But it’s all good now.”
She untangled herself and pulled away. “Okay,” she said with a question mark in her voice and dragging out the word, prompting him to explain further.
“Radiance been trippin’, lately, but she’s under control. Aye?”
Jayla nodded uncertainly, wondering what he meant exactly by having his wife under control.
“Oh, yeah,” he added. “I brought the money you loaned me for the phone.” He pulled a wad of bills from his pocket and stuffed them in the deep pocket of Jayla’s robe. “I’m gonna need a little more time to pay off those credit cards.”
She nodded somberly. The balances on the credit cards were ridiculous and there was no way he could pay them off anytime soon, not on a cable technician’s salary. Bankruptcy was unavoidable unless they pooled their incomes immediately, and that wasn’t likely.
“Another thing, I want to apologize for ignoring your texts and calls. I hated knowing that I was causing you pain, but there was nothing I could do about it.”
“I don’t understand why you couldn’t communicate. All you had to do to put my mind at ease was send a quick text,” she said, feeling hurt and exasperated all over again.
“I know. But shit got real a few days ago.”
“What happened?”
“Radiance went through my phone. She found our texts and all hell broke loose.” He closed his eyes as he shook his head unhappily.
Jayla did her best impression of looking concerned, but on the inside, she felt a secret little thrill. She had to hold herself back from dancing and cheering in triumph. It was about time that bitch realized that her marriage had been on life support for far too long and it was time to pull the plug.
“Did you tell her that you want a divorce?” Jayla asked hopefully.
He took a seat on the couch. Bent over at the waist, he massaged his forehead. When he looked up, he heaved a sigh. “Yeah, I told her, but it didn’t do any good.”
Jayla sat next to Sadeeq. “I don’t understand.”
“She started acting the fool, crying and breaking shit. She even involved my daughter in the bullshit.”
“In what way?”
“She told Luxurious that—”
Jayla uttered a soft groan. That name, Luxurious, was too much.
“She tried to turn Lux against me,” he explained, switching to his daughter’s nickname as if he’d read Jayla’s mind. “She had my baby girl upset and crying, telling her that Daddy was leaving them for a new family.”
“But that’s not true. We don’t have a family.” At least not yet.
“Radiance doesn’t care about the truth. She don’t play fair. She says what she thinks will get the results she wants. And she got what she wanted by getting Lux all worked up and upset, and the next thing I know, my baby girl’s wheezing and choking and she’s in the midst of an asthma attack.”
Jayla reared back in surprise. “Are you serious?”
He heaved a heavy sigh. “We had to rush her to Children’s Hospital. It was touch and go the whole ride. She stopped breathing a couple times while I was driving through the streets and running red lights like a madman. It didn’t help that Radiance was cussing my ass out for driving instead of waiting for an ambulance with medics that could administer CPR. She was screaming that if her baby died, she’d never forgive me. Man, it was like being in the middle of a nightmare that you can’t wake up from.”
Jayla pressed a hand against her chest. “Oh, my God. So, how is Lux doing? Is she still in the hospital?”
“Nah, they kept her for two-and-a-half days before they kicked her out.”
“What? Why’d they kick her out?”
“As soon as Lux started feeling a little better, she started getting into feuds with the nurses.”
Jayla tilted her head to the side. “How does a child get into feuds with nurses?”
Sadeeq smiled and puffed up with pride. “You don’t know Luxurious. That girl has a mouth on her…gets it from her mother. Anyway, Lux said the nurses were picking on her because she was blasting music from her phone and they were upset because she kept having pizzas delivered. She said the hospital food sucked,” Sadeeq explained with an amused smile.
Jayla doubted if she would get along with Lux’s little grown ass, and she was in no hurry to get to know her bratty stepchild. “So, what about you and your wife? Did you at least set a date to be legally separated?”
“Nah, man, she’s not letting me go.”
“She doesn’t own you, Sadeeq! When you’re ready to leave, pack your shit and go.”
“I wish it was that simple.”
“Why isn’t it?”
“Because she uses my kids to keep me in line. I can’t tell you how many times I tried to bounce before I even met you.”
“This is starting to sound ridiculous. How can she hold you hostage in a marriage if you want to leave?”
He shifted his eyes away from Jayla. “You don’t understand,” he mumbled, looking down at his boots.
“I’m listening…make me understand.”
“Radiance constantly threatens to put my kids in the system, to keep her hooks in me.”
“Put them in the system?” Jayla screeched, confused. “What the hell kind of sense does that make?”
“It don’t make a damn bit of sense,” he agreed. “But Radiance claims if I leave, she’s going to kill herself and then she’s going to leave a note claiming she took her life after discovering that I was molesting both our kids. The way she has it planned, neither one of us would have the children. She’d let them go into foster care to spite me.”
“Oh, Lord, she’s crazy.”
“Who you telling?” he said grimly. “That’s the kind of bullshit I’ve been dealing with for the sake of my kids.” He turned toward Jayla. “But that’s enough t
alk about my problems. I slid through so I could gaze at your pretty face and hold you in my arms all night.”
“All night?” Jayla repeated.
Sadeeq nodded and then flashed a smile so brilliant and beautiful, it was blinding, and Jayla melted into his arms.
* * *
Waking up with Sadeeq lying next to her was a rare experience and a sneak preview of what it would feel like when she eventually became Mrs. Sadeeq Samuelson.
He’d told her that Radiance had taken the kids to visit her sister out of town in some rural part of Pennsylvania where the roads were really bad and they’d gotten stuck in the snowstorm.
Jayla was ecstatic that she would have Sadeeq to herself all day Sunday.
Wanting to give him a taste of how sweet their life together would be, she slipped out of bed and drove to the market while he slept. The plan was to give her man a breakfast fit for a king.
When she got back, she whipped up breakfast with a smile on her face.
Aroused by the aroma of cheese eggs, waffles, potato hash, sausage, and croissants, Sadeeq stumbled into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes. Even while groggy, his ass was fine as fuck. Absolutely adorable.
Sitting at the island in her kitchen, sharing a leisurely breakfast with her gorgeous man, was a dream come true and Jayla thoroughly enjoyed playing wifey.
“This grub tastes better than IHOP,” Sadeeq complimented, chomping on a piece of crisp bacon. “I already know that when we live together, you gon’ have me husky as shit.”
“Hell, yeah, I’m gonna keep you well-fed.” Jayla bestowed a big, loving smile on him.
“Why don’t you sit on my lap and feed me some of you?” he asked in a sultry tone.
“I’ll be your dessert after you finish all that food on your plate.” She puckered her lips at him, assuring him that after breakfast, she was going to let him smash her to smithereens.
She hadn’t prepared the hearty breakfast simply to satisfy his appetite, however. She also wanted to butter Sadeeq up before she asked him if it would be possible for him to accompany her to Bailee’s anniversary party.
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