by Tina Martin
Donovan grabbed her this time, pushing her back against the door, staring at her lips. “I miss you, Kamila,” he said again. He intended on getting the same response back from her one way or another. With their faces touching and his lips brushing up against her ear, he said, “Don’t you miss me?”
“Donovan...”
“Don’t you miss me, Kamila?” he asked.
His warm breath and lips against her body made her skin crawl. When she felt her legs go wobbly, that’s when she knew she was succumbing to his advances, helplessly surrendering to him. “Yes. I miss you, Donovan, but there are some things I don’t understand.”
“What don’t you understand, baby?”
“If you missed me so much, why didn’t you call me? You know where I work.”
“Kamila, don’t ruin this, okay.”
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“Okay, you wanna do this now?” Donovan asked, annoyed. “I didn’t call you because I didn’t want you to think that this was more than what it is.”
Kamila looked at him like he was a stranger. “Wow. I should’ve known what kind of man you were when you left without even saying goodbye to me on the last day of the cruise. I’m sorry I got the wrong idea.”
“I was upfront with you, Kamila. I told you I wasn’t interested in a relationship. And you told me that you wouldn’t fall in love with me.”
“I know. This is all my fault. But no worries. It will never happen again.”
“Kamila.”
Kamila grabbed her purse from the couch.
“Kamila, wait. Let me explain.”
“No need. I’m done being used by men. You’re all the same. I’m the idiot for thinking you were different. My first opinion of you was the correct one. You are a jerk!” She slammed the door behind her and wiped tears from her eyes.
Donovan sighed and rubbed his head. What did he want with Kamila? He loved being with her and it wasn’t just physical. She was smart, beautiful and fun to be around. She was young, but not young enough that he couldn’t relate to her and vice versa. But would he be investing his time in a woman who would die, fall ill or be the victim of some other tragedy, leaving him alone yet again?
For years he managed not to get too attached to a woman, to remain a single bachelor but there was a reason he married Teresa. He was tired of the single life. At thirty-six, growing old with someone was a lot more appealing than dating woman after woman, only to end up back at square one – single and lonely, chasing a married woman who didn’t want him. Those days were over. He needed the normality of a relationship, but to commit himself to a woman again was frightening. When he did it with Teresa, he didn’t know he would be put in a position where he would have to do it all over again.
~ Chapter Thirteen ~
Kamila had signed up about forty employees before noon. She took an hour lunch break, alone, using the time alone to reflect on her life, on her goals and what she wanted. If a man didn’t come with the plan, then so be it. She wouldn’t let Donovan walk all over her, allowing herself to turn into mush whenever he came around. Why should she be so taken by a man who only wanted to enjoy her at his own leisure?
After lunch, she was back at Zenadel to finish out the day. When she opened the door to the conference room, she saw Donovan sitting there in a black suit and red tie, leaned back in a black office chair, his arms propped up on the armrest.
Great. Now I gotta deal with this. “What are you doing here?” Kamila asked.
“Signing up for the insurance,” he said all smug, knowing that wasn’t the reason he was there. And he knew that she knew it as well.
“Okay,” Kamila said, determined not to let him get under her skin. She took a seat, set her purse on the floor and asked, “Will that be health, dental, vision or life?”
“Health and life. Can I ask you something, Kamila?”
“Sure you can if it’s something related to your new insurance policies.” She gathered the necessary forms together to avoid making eye contact with him.
“It’s not.”
“Well, in that case, no. Now getting back to business, for the health insurance, you need to fill out this form, for the life, this one and I will need your beneficiary information as well, Mr. Sharper.”
Donovan glared at her. Did she really think she would out-talk and ignore his request? “You told me you wouldn’t fall in love with me, Kamila, so why did you?”
“I didn’t.”
“You did. Why?”
Dismissing his question, she said, “Can you complete these forms in your office? There are other people waiting. Oh, and before you go, I have another set of forms for you.” Kamila dug a letter size envelope from her purse and said, “Here are the annulment papers. I would appreciate it if you would get those back to me as soon as possible, Mr. Sharper.”
With challenging eyes, he said, “Mr. Sharper...we’re being formal now?”
Donovan stood up, snatched the papers and the envelope off the table and headed for the door. Before he touched the knob, he turned around to look at her again. “You got some nerve.”
Kamila rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, roll your eyes. That’s real mature of you.”
“Why don’t you just leave?” she told him, raising her tone a bit. “You’re good at that.”
He glared at her again, not saying a word. Once he gathered himself and his thoughts, he said, “This whole marriage nonsense was your idea and now you want to make me out to be the bad guy.”
“You are the bad guy. You’re a man, aren’t you?”
“Here we go,” Donovan drawled out. “Now I get grouped with the rest of the men who supposedly done you wrong...”
“Skip other men...I’m talking about you! It was so easy for you to leave me laying in bed alone on the ship, wasn’t it, without even saying goodbye to me? Or maybe you spent the morning with some other woman...or two. Or three.”
“Wow. You have some imagination.”
“Do I?”
“Yeah, you do.”
“Ah’ight,” he said in a low, calm, eerie tone. “But just for the record, the morning of debarkation, I came back to your room to see you off and you were already gone.”
“Yeah...whatever.”
“No, it’s not whatever, Kamila. It’s the truth. And for what it’s worth to you, you’re the only woman I’ve been with since Teresa.”
Kamila frowned. “I would have to be a fool to believe that I’m the only woman you’ve been with in five years.”
“Then you’re a fool. Goodbye, Kamila.” Donovan opened the door and slammed it behind him.
Kamila dropped her head in frustration. Was he telling the truth? And did he really come back to her room that morning to say goodbye? At any rate, I didn’t seem to matter now. He was gone and from the looks of it, gone for good.
~ Chapter Fourteen ~
A week later, Kamila had Lori over for a girl’s night with fruit, snacks and drinks. She’d brought her up-to-date on her weekend run-in with Donovan, how she regretted sleeping with him yet again and how Donovan claimed to have came to her room the last day of the cruise to say his goodbyes, but she was gone.
“So what? You don’t believe he actually came to say goodbye?”
Kamila shrugged. “I don’t know what to believe.”
“I don’t see why he would lie about it.”
Kamila took a sip of pomegranate tea and readjusted her position on the couch. “He told me I was the only woman he’d been intimate with in five years.”
“Okay, now that’s a tad bit farfetched,” Lori said, then grinned.
“That’s what I thought too, but he was so serious about it and—”
A knock at the door interrupted her.
“You expecting somebody, girl?” Lori asked her.
“Nope,” Kamila said, getting up from the couch. She peeped out of the blinds and saw Tony standing there, wearing a baseball cap, a loose-fitted T-shirt and some saggy jeans. �
�Oh my goodness. It’s Tony.”
“Tony?”
“Yeah. He must be lonely...”
Kamila swung the door open with force. “What do you want, Tony?”
“I wanna holla at you, baby,” he said with a sly smile.
“Baby?” Kamila frowned. She stepped outside, closed the door behind her and said, “You need to leave.”
“Baby, don’t be like that,” he said, reaching to hold her hand.
Kamila snatched it away. “Why are you here?”
“I was hoping we could talk through some things.”
“No. We can’t.”
Tony wrapped his arms around her tight and said, “Don’t be like that, girl.”
“Tony, get your hands off of me.” Kamila struggled to get free of him but was no match for his strength. “Tony, get off of me!”
“Just listen to me, man...let me talk to you for a minute!”
“No. I don’t need an explanation. You go back with that skank that you left me for.”
“Nah...I don’t want her. You know you my boo, now stop playing.”
“Tony, let me go.” She tried to push him away but was unsuccessful.
Then out of nowhere she heard a deep, demanding voice say with authority, “Take your hands off of my wife.”
She looked out into the yard and saw Donovan quickly approaching them, walking up the sidewalk leading to the front door of her apartment where Tony had her locked in his arms.
“What?” Tony said, looking completely confused.
“You heard what I said,” Donovan said, fearlessly walking up to Tony with anger in his eyes, looking like he was ready for battle, nostrils flaring. “Take your hands off of my wife. If I have to say it again, we gon’ have a problem out here, playa.”
Tony let her go, looked at Donovan then looked back at Kamila with his mouth open, not able to say a word.
Donovan moved closer to Kamila and put his arms around her. “You okay, sweetie?”
Kamila didn’t say a word. She walked back into her apartment.
Donovan followed, but only after first, making sure Tony had left.
Lori frowned when she saw Donovan walk in. She could’ve sworn Kamila told her Tony was outside. Where did Donovan come from?
“Hi, Lori,” Donovan said.
“Hi,” Lori said standing. “Um, Kamila, I’m going to get going. I’ll talk to you later, girl.”
“All right, Lori.”
Once Lori closed the door, Donovan didn’t let Kamila get a word out before he took her into his arms, kissing her and caressing her like a woman he loved. He couldn’t wait to kiss her lips and wrap his arms around her small waist while listening to her moan.
“Donovan, I told you I was done,” she said, nudging him away. “I can’t do this anymore.”
“I heard what you said,” he told her, steadily kissing her. “But what does your heart say, Kamila?”
Kamila helplessly surrendered to Donovan even though her mind told her not to – that he would sleep with her again and run. That he didn’t want anything lasting with her. Still, she couldn’t resist his charm.
~ Chapter Fifteen~
Kamila woke up groggy in the morning, remembering the workout Donovan gave her body last night. She stretched her arms up in the air and twisted her body to see if Donovan was awake.
He wasn’t there...
She frowned. Her bedroom door was closed and there was no sign of Donovan ever being in her bedroom. Where was he?
Her heart sank deep into her chest, beating swiftly. Did he sleep with her and leave yet again? After the passion they shared last night, would he do that to her?
She sat up further in the bed and saw the envelope she’d given him when she visited Zenadel Electronics – the envelope containing their annulment papers. Her eyes widened and teared up when she saw it there, on the bed, with an ink pen next to it. She shook her head wordlessly with tears streaming down her face. She’d been his fool again and he left her with the annulment papers. The love she thought she felt last night was nothing more than disguised lust.
She sniffled, laid face up with her head resting on her pillow now, tears rolling down into her ears. Once she gathered herself, she somehow found the strength to get out of bed and slide into her robe. She took the envelope and her cell phone to the kitchen. She didn’t want to call Lori because she already knew what she would say. Lori had told her so many times to stop allowing herself to be fooled by men, but Kamila wanted so badly to believe that Donovan was different.
She swallowed her pride and dialed Lori’s number.
“Hey, girl. How’d it go after I left?”
“Um...” Kamila’s lips quivered. “He left again, Lori. I’m so stupid,” she cried.
“Wait...calm down and tell me what’s going on.”
Kamila took a few breaths. “Donovan spent the night and I knew I shouldn’t have given in to him, but I wanted to believe that he wanted me, but I woke up this morning and he was gone.”
“Kamila—”
“And he left the annulment papers on the bed.”
“Oh my gosh...I’m so sorry, girl,” Lori told her friend. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll come over there.”
“No. I just want to be alone,” she said, sadly.
“All right. I’ll check on you later.”
Kamila wiped her eyes, rested her elbows on the table then covered her eyes with her hands, thinking about the way Donovan made love to her last night. He was so passionate, so caring that she was certain he wanted more than just a physical relationship. She wiped her eyes again, but felt her heart almost jump out of her chest when she heard the click of the lock on the front door.
She scrambled to get to the living room, to see who was fiddling with her door when she saw Donovan standing there with a drink tray and a Chik-fil-A food bag.
“What are you doing here, and how did you get the keys to my place?” she asked, wiping her eyes.
Donovan frowned. “Kamila, baby, why are you crying?”
“Why are you here?” she asked him again with her hand on her hips. “And where did you get my keys?”
Donovan set the drinks and the food on the living room table. “Kamila,” he said trying to pull her into his arms but she pushed him away. Donovan frowned again and said, “Okay, I don’t know why you’re trippin’, but I took your keys from your purse....didn’t want to disturb you in case you were sleeping when I returned.”
“When you returned? So you’re trying to tell me that you planned on coming back?”
“Of course I did.”
“Liar.”
“I’m not lying to you, Kamila. I bought us breakfast, as you can see.”
“Yeah, I can see...I also saw the annulment papers on the bed when I woke up.”
Donovan smiled and mumbled, “Okay, that didn’t go as I planned it.”
“What are you talking about?”
Donovan laughed. “Are you always this disoriented in the morning, because I’m starting to see a pattern?”
“I’m not disoriented.”
“Okay, so did you look at the papers?”
“No.”
“Maybe you should.”
She glared at him for a moment, then walked to the kitchen with Donovan close on her heels.
She removed the papers from the envelope and found the signature line, flipping to each piece of paper. Tears rolled down her face when she looked up at him. Then she looked down at the papers again. Instead of signing his name on the signature lines, he’d written ‘I LOVE YOU’ on every single line – in all caps.
“You love me?” she asked, looking confused. If it was really true, she needed to hear it from him.
“Yes, Kamila.” He sauntered over to her, touching her face. “I love you. I thought you knew that after last night.”
Kamila smiled. “I didn’t know what to think when I woke up and you were gone.”
“Baby girl,” Donovan said, wiping tears from her eyes
. “You never have to wake up to an empty bed again because I intend on spending the rest of my life with you.”
Kamila looked at him in shock.
He continued, “And I don’t want an annulment, divorce or whatever you want to call it. I want you.” He kissed her lips.
“And what about the woman you told me about? The one who didn’t love you back? The one you were infatuated with?”
“That’s all it was...infatuation.”
“And how do I know it’s not the same with me?”
Donovan smiled. “Because I gave you my name, Kamila Sharper.”
Kamila was all smiles as she wrapped her arms tight around him.
“Oh...and you need to start packing,” he told her, “Because I’m not leaving here without you.”
“Donovan, I can’t leave right away. I have a job. I have a lease and—”
“You have a husband who loves you and who will take care of everything.”
Kamila’s head began spinning out of control. This all seemed surreal, but as she buried her face in his chest, she knew this was real. She had her man and from the looks of things, he had his woman.
~ Epilogue ~
Donovan watched as Kamila seemingly floated across the sand, barefoot in a bright, ruffled white gown near the shoreline of Virginia Beach. It was a gorgeous eighty-five degree day with blue skies as far as the eyes could see. Today was the perfect day to have a wedding reception – a ceremony that their family and friends could attend to celebrate their union.
His mother was in tears as she saw him dressed in a tan suit, dancing hand-in-hand with Kamila. For the first time in years, he was genuinely happy and in love.
D.J. was also dressed in a tan suit, looking just like his father. He danced too, then played in the sand with a few other kids.
Towards nightfall, Donovan took Kamila by the hand and walked along the shore.
“You are an amazing woman,” he said, stopping now so he could stare into her eyes.
“You are an amazing man, Donovan.”