Until I figured out what I wanted to do, I planned to stay at the hotel in Florida and chill. It seemed like the logical thing to do, so once I checked into the room, I put my suitcase on the floor, stripped down to my jockey shorts and got in the bed. For a while, I just lay there. Then, I thought about it. My name is Jaylin Jerome Rogers. This was my world and so many women lived in it! I searched through my wallet and pulled out Mia’s business card that I’d found in Nokea’s drawer. I fumbled through several other phone numbers I’d picked up from time to time, totaling sixteen different phone numbers. I visualized these ladies in my mind and thought about my next move. Definitely, the numbers had come in handy, but the big question was . . . what was I going to do with them?
Chapter 27
Nokea
Something with Jaylin wasn’t right and I knew it. I didn’t think Scorpio had called him that fast, but maybe she did. If she had, I was 100 percent sure he would have said something to me. Just to be sure nothing was up, I called Frick and he confirmed Jaylin’s appointment. Still feeling uneasy, I called Shane and he told me to calm down.
“If Scorpio had called Jaylin, he would have called me or said something to you,” he said.
“But Shane, you should have seen the look on his face. He looked worried. I’d never seen him get out of this house so fast. I . . . I need to talk to Scorpio. Would you please contact her and ask her to call me? That’s the only way I’ll feel at ease with this.”
“If it upsets you that much, then tell him the truth. He’ll forgive you, but you know him and me might have some challenges. I’m game, though, and whatever happens, it just happens.”
“No, I don’t want your and Jaylin’s friendship to end. You mean a lot to him, and for those months you all didn’t speak, I could tell it bothered him. We have to keep this a secret. As long as we continue to deny it, everything will be fine.”
“However you want to handle this, I’m with you. Now, I will contact Scorpio and ask her to call you, but I don’t know if she’ll do it.”
“Just see for me, okay? I want to find out if she’s spoken to Jaylin.”
Shane hung up. Almost fifteen minutes later, Scorpio called. When I answered the phone, she responded, “What do you want?”
“Scorpio, I talked to Shane. He mentioned to me that you intended to contact Jaylin about some serious accusations. I truly wish you wouldn’t do that. Haven’t we all been through enough? Can you find it in your heart to move on and leave my husband and me in peace? You shouldn’t live your life this way. I can’t believe you have wasted so much time on a man who clearly doesn’t want you.”
“Oh, I doubt that, but to hell with you and Jaylin. I haven’t spoken to him, nor do I intend to reveal your sneaky ways. I truly believe that you had sex with Shane, because history always repeats itself. Just like you used Stephon, you also used Shane. Someday, Jaylin will see you for what you really are. Where in the hell does anybody get off by thinking you’re so much better than me? If and when Jaylin learns of your infidelities, it won’t come from me. If I had the facts, surely, I’d present them to him. Since I don’t have much to go on, for now, you’re good. Just for the record, if he ever needs me, I will always be there for him. You hear me . . . Always, Nokea so, enjoy your fame and fortune while it lasts.”
Scorpio hung up and I held the phone in my hand. I realized there was no way Jaylin knew anything so I waited to hear from him.
Finally, that night, Jaylin called around midnight. I was worried about him, but glad that he called.
“I had a delay at the airport,” he said. “Because of the weather, there are a lot of power outages in St. Louis. If you need me, call me on my cell phone, okay?”
“Okay, but how much longer will you be?”
“Hopefully, Frick and I will be able to wrap up things in a day or two. I will let you know, soon.”
“Okay. Hurry home. I love you.”
He hesitated. “Me too.”
Jaylin hung up and I felt relieved. Not only that, but I felt sick. I covered my mouth and rushed to the bathroom.
Chapter 28
Jaylin
After two nights at the hotel, I was ready to go home. I had been in touch with Frick and was waiting for the paperwork to be delivered to me at the hotel. As soon as Fed Ex delivered the papers, I read over everything, nodded my head with acceptance, and without any hesitation, I signed.
My decision had been made. Knowing what kind of man I was, there was no way I could deal with Nokea having sex with Shane. Realistically speaking, I’d make her pay for it through my own infidelities. If I did step out on the marriage, I’d lose everything. I wasn’t prepared to do that. A couple of things that saved me in those contracts were clauses that stated, if I filed for a divorce from Nokea, and no infidelities had been committed on my behalf, then the contracts were void. Her name would be removed from everything. In addition to that, if Nokea had ever been unfaithful to me, she was subject to whatever financial offer I made to her. By signing her name on the dotted line, she agreed to it, and assured me that no infidelities had been committed on her part. How could she keep lying to me? The thoughts of what she’d done made me furious. It was time to get this show on the road.
Feeling as if I didn’t have much of a choice, I was satisfied with everything. I left the hotel to present her with our divorce papers. I knew this wasn’t going to be easy, but this was about nobody but me. I felt hurt, betrayed, and numb at the same time. I didn’t intend to leave Nokea with nothing. By all means, she deserved part of what I had. The house was hers and I was prepared to offer her one fourth of my money. At this point, all that really mattered were the kids. I wanted custody of them, but I knew she’d want it too. Joint custody would give me limited time with my kids. The thought of it devastated me.
As I drove back to our house, I couldn’t stop visualizing Shane making love to my wife. I was full of emotions. As I waited at the light, I rubbed my eyes with my fingertips. Soon, my cell phone rang. When I looked to see who it was, it was Nokea.
“Yes,” I answered.
“I know I’ve been bugging you, but the kids and I miss you. Will you be home soon?”
“I’m on my way. I’ll be there shortly.”
“Okay. You sound tired, are you?”
“Very. I’m feeling a bit sick too.”
“I’ll have Nanny B whip up some chicken noodle soup for you. You know I can’t make it like she does.” Nokea laughed.
“Yeah, that might help. I’ll see you in a minute.”
I hung up. Driving home seemed like the longest drive of my life.
When I got there, I pulled into the driveway and turned off the lights. It was dark outside, but I stayed in my truck for fifteen more minutes. I gazed over the divorce papers again and folded them in my hand. I was sure about what I needed to do, but paced back and forth before going to the door. Once inside, nothing could have prepared me for this moment. I already knew how I felt, and I didn’t expect Nokea to take the news well.
The entire house was dark. I didn’t hear Nanny B or the kids, but I saw flickering lights coming from the kitchen. When I got there, Nokea was sitting at the kitchen table with her legs crossed. She wore a gray silk negligee and candles were all over the room. The table was set for two, with crystal glasses and a bottle of wine on display. Our expensive china was covered with a top and Nokea lifted it to show me the food.
“Welcome home. I thought you’d be hungry so I cooked you a steak, some potatoes and string beans. The chicken noodle soup didn’t turn out too well, but I have dessert too. If you’re not too sick, you can have your dessert later,” she smiled.
I moseyed over to my chair to take a seat and Nokea stopped me. “Can I at least have a kiss? I know you didn’t walk up in here without giving me a kiss.”
I walked over to Nokea and bent down. My eyes looked into hers. I knew she saw my pain. She touched the side of my face and rubbed it. “Baby, are you okay? You’re kind of warm. Do
you think you might be running a fever? I hope I didn’t give you the flu.”
I shook my head implying no, and then leaned in to kiss her. We kissed for a very long time, before I made my way back to my chair. With the folded papers still in my hand, I lay them next to me on the table. I gazed at Nokea through the flickering candles on the table and spoke up.
“Baby, this is real nice and everything, but, uh, we need to have a serious talk.”
“Jaylin, if it’s about that contract you and Frick have been working on, I’ve had enough of that, okay? Let’s just eat our dinner and talk about that later. Please?”
My head was banging. Since I hadn’t eaten anything in a couple of days, I was hungry. I lifted the top, removing the crisp napkin that covered my food. I stared down at the food, but no food was there. Instead, there were several pictures of a beautiful little girl lying on the plates. Of course, I recognized the girl in the pictures as being my oldest child and long lost daughter, Jasmine. Her mother, Simone, had jetted with Jasmine when she was three. I hadn’t seen her since. Over the years, I’d hired several private detectives to find her, but had no luck. I thought this day would never, ever come. All I could do was sit speechless while holding the pictures of my now ten year old daughter in my hands.
“In case you don’t recognize her, that’s Jasmine,” Nokea said. “Since the possibilities of me giving you another child are slim, I’ve been working hard with another private detective to find your daughter. I know how much your children make you happy. That’s all I ever want is for you to be happy. Of course, that makes me happy too. The private detective told me where she was, and yesterday, I met with her and Simone at their home in Tampa Florida. We all had a wonderful time together and I took those pictures. She is just as beautiful as she was when you last saw her, and baby, she’s excited about meeting you. After so many years, you’ll be able to be with your daughter again.”
Not saying a word, I dropped my forehead into my hand and rubbed my temple. I continued to look through the pictures. The previous harsh feelings inside of me quickly went away. I smiled and looked up at Nokea. “She lives right here in Tampa?”
“Yes. You once said that they’d moved to Florida, but you didn’t know where. Well, baby, they’re right here. Once they get back from their family reunion in Dallas, she’s coming here to see you.”
I was overwhelmed with joy I was almost speechless. “This . . . That’s very good news. Did Simone give you a number where I can call them?”
“Yes, and earlier, Jasmine already called to see if you made it back from St. Louis. She’s anxious to talk to you.”
“Does she even remember me? When Simone moved away, you know that Jasmine was just three. I doubt that she remembers me.”
“She said that she didn’t, but when I showed her your pictures, she smiled and talked about how handsome you are. She said that she couldn’t wait to meet her handsome daddy and for him to meet her friends. She’s a bright girl, Jaylin, and she can play the hell out of a piano. I can tell that Simone raised her well.”
“How long have you been at this? I mean, I’ve dished out so much money trying to find her. Every private detective I hired came up empty. I guess I gave up too soon, huh?”
“Maybe, but I’d been at it since I had my accident on the stairs. I noticed this sadness about you. Even though we’re going to keep on trying, I knew that finding Jasmine would give you peace. As for the private detectives you’ve hired, all it took was the right one to find her. He’s been at it for quite a while too. When he called, I couldn’t believe it.”
Nokea walked over to me and kneeled down. “I know you’re stunned, but say something, would you?”
I set the pictures on the plate and held Nokea’s hands together with mine. “Yes, I’m happy, Nokea. I’ll be even happier when you give me the biggest kiss and hug you’ve ever given me.”
Nokea leaned in and gave me a kiss. I held her waist, stood up and lifted her in my arms.
“You know what?” I said. “I was really feeling ill, but I’m feeling so much better now. What would I do without you in my life, huh?”
“I don’t know—you tell me. What would you do without me in your life?”
“Lose my motherfucking mind.”
Nokea smiled, and once we kissed again, I lowered her to the ground. She reached for her plate and forked up some potatoes.
“I’m sorry, baby, but I have starved myself all day. I had to taste the potatoes,” she laughed.
I helped her tear into the food as well. “I’m hungry too. Come on, though, let’s take that plate to the bedroom. I got a phone call to make then we got to get down to some serious and enjoyable business.”
Nokea laughed and picked up the plate. Before we left the kitchen, she stopped by the table and reached for the papers.
“Here, baby, you left these on the table.”
She was getting ready to unfold the papers, but I took them from her hands. I tucked the papers underneath my arm. “We’ll talk about that mess some other time.”
Nokea walked in front of me.
“A boy or girl?” I asked. “Which one?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m preparing myself for the festivities, after I make my phone call. Are we going to make another girl or shoot for a boy?”
“Well, since you have three girls . . . Jaylene, Jasmine and Mackenzie, I’d say we shoot for another boy. LJ needs a little brother.”
“To make a boy, it takes hours and hours of work. Are you up for it?”
“Maybe tomorrow. Tonight, I just want to celebrate finding Jasmine, okay?”
“Okay, but since we’re on the subject, what do you suggest that I do about Mackenzie? I know I don’t talk much about her, but that’s because I know how you feel about Scorpio. If you want me to forget about Mackenzie, I can’t make you any promises that . . .”
Nokea poked at my chest. “Not right now, okay? First, let’s deal with what’s in front of us. Allow me some time to deal with the situation with Mackenzie, and I will take into consideration how much she means to you.”
“That’s all I can ask for,” I said, reaching for the phone to call Simone’s cell phone to speak to Jasmine.
Chapter 29
Jaylin
I was in a deep sleep. When I woke up, sweat dripped from my forehead. I wiped it and slowly widened my eyes, only to see a blurred vision of Nokea coming toward me. She had an aspirin bottle in one hand and a glass of water in the other hand. I didn’t know what the hell was going on, so I quickly sat up to gather myself.
“Wha . . . Where are we?” I asked while looking around.
“Promise me you’ll never drink like that again,” she said, sitting next to me. She gave me the glass, along with two aspirin. “Here, take these. You have been out for almost twenty-four hours. I thought I’d lost you. Your snoring told me you were alive, but you gave me quite a scare. This is one anniversary you’ll have to work hard at making up to me.”
I puzzlingly looked around at my surroundings. We were still on our yacht. I popped the aspirin in my mouth and guzzled down the glass of water. Nokea wiped the sweat from my forehead with a cold towel.
“Wha . . . what day is it?” I asked.
“It’s Saturday. Late Saturday. Like I said, you’ve been out since yesterday afternoon.”
In disbelief, I lowered my head and rubbed my temples. “Baby, I am so, so sorry. I did not think drinking that much Remy would have this kind of an effect on me. I . . . I had the most awkward-ass dream. It seemed so damn real. Please pinch me, slap me or do something to let me know I’m awake and that dream did not happen.”
“How about I just give you a hug,” Nokea said. She reached over to squeeze me in her arms. She gave me a kiss too and her lips were very real. I touched the sides of her pretty face, rubbing it with the back of my hand.
“Damn, I’m glad that was just a dream. Baby, it . . . the dream was so—”
“J
ust relax. Why don’t you go take a shower, calm yourself down and meet me upstairs in the stateroom, okay?”
Nokea gathered some towels for me. Since I still seemed to be so out of it, she washed me up in the shower. Once finished, we lay snuggled up in the comfortable queen-sized bed with the lights down low.
“Okay, now, tell me about this dream that seems to have you so shaken up.”
“It started with you going to St. Louis, which by the way, when you leave next weekend, I’m going with you.”
“That’s fine. I’m glad you changed your mind. Anyway, continue.”
I told Nokea about everything, except for my encounters with Scorpio and the exact amount of millions I’d turned over to her. She couldn’t believe that I’d dreamed about her and Shane hooking up.
“Now, that was ridiculous. I couldn’t even see myself getting down with Shane like that, and if you would have divorced me for something that seemed to be beyond my control, I would’ve killed you.”
“Baby, I was so fucking hurt. I wanted to just die. All I can remember is Shane touching you and . . . and you liked it. The only thing I wish was real was finding my daughter. That’s where the dream ended.”
Nokea chuckled and rubbed my chest. “No, I wouldn’t enjoy Shane touching me. And, pertaining to your daughter, some things are meant to be, and some things aren’t. I wish you’d find her too, but it’s been so long. For the sake of your happiness, maybe you should just . . .”
“Never. She gotta be out there somewhere. First thing Monday, I’m going to hire one of the best detectives out there to find her. I think the other detective gave up on me.”
“Whatever you want to do is fine with me. You know I hope you find her.”
Nokea and I continued to discuss my dream. Once we started to make love, I was so glad that my dream was over! I would’ve never been able to forgive myself for causing her so much drama. I doubt that I would’ve forgiven her so easily for sleeping with Shane.
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