“Enough already. Could you please stop looking at me like that. You’re going to make a brotha nervous.”
They played footsie under the table for a couple of minutes and then the conversation took a turn. Kennedy took advantage of Jared’s welcoming ear and trusting mouth. She knew that she could confide in him and he would never tell. They talked about Michael and Tasha, taking turns looking solemn as the other talked about the their new love. Jared admitted that it hurt him that Kennedy had moved on and was loving someone besides him and he understood her feelings toward Tasha.
Kennedy asked if he loved Tasha, and he acknowledged that he did.
Kennedy sucked her teeth, “Well, why did you sleep with me then?”
“Because I love you too. I love her, Ken, I do. But my love for you is different.”
“Different how, Jared?”
“Well, before I answer, let me ask you something first. Do you believe that a person can love more than one person at a time?” Jared’s eyes sparkled like an eager child’s on Christmas morning.
Kennedy nodded.
“Now answer me this, do you believe that a person can be in love with more than one person?” Jared asked and mimicked Kennedy by resting his strong chin in his hand.
Kennedy shook her head.
“Okay, last question. Do you think it’s possible for a person to love one person and be in love with another person at the same time?”
Kennedy chewed on her bottom lip. “I think it’s possible. Because I think that it’s possible to love more than one person at a time. There are many types of love and several different levels of love. But, and I said but, I think a person can only be in love with one person. In love is for life, love isn’t necessarily for life and even if it lasts that long, it isn’t on the same level and doesn’t possess as much depth as being in love,” Kennedy answered and sat back, folding her arms.
Jared nodded. “I couldn’t have said it better myself. So you understand then.”
“Understand what?” Kennedy asked, frowning.
“How I can love you both.”
“I guess.” Kennedy shrugged and took a sip of her drink.
“But I don’t exactly love both of you—”
“Make up your mind, Jared—”
“I will if you give me a minute. I was trying to say that I love her, but ever since I was twenty-one years old, I’ve been in love with you. You don’t know how hard it was for me to lose you. I didn’t only lose my woman, Kennedy, I lost my best friend. I lost the one person who understood me, or at least I thought you did . . .” Jared stared into his coffee cup.
“Me, Jared,” Kennedy said, pointing at herself. “I’m the one who lost. I left and I lost.”
“No, Kennedy. We both lost. We lost each other and our family.” Jared grabbed both of Kennedy’s hands.
Kennedy sat in Starbucks with tears streaming down her face. She made no attempt to hide or dry them. She had waited forever for Jared to open up and tell her how he felt about her. She knew he cared, but she wanted to hear it from him—had to hear it from him to let go of the anger. She had forced herself to dislike him because she was hurt. But she couldn’t force herself to stop loving him.
“Why didn’t you say this before . . . before Michael and her? Why now, Jared? Is it because I’m not seeing him anymore? Because you could’ve said something a while ago. We broke up almost two years ago. I’ve only been seeing him for six months.” Kennedy palmed her forehead and rubbed her temples.
“I just wanted to be able to tell you without us ending up in an argument. I don’t like to fight with you, Ken, because we end up hurting each other. We were together long enough to know how to really hurt each other. It’s like over the years we programmed the words into our minds that we knew would hurt the other. Can you understand me not wanting that?”
Kennedy nodded, once again at a loss for words.
“But as much as it hurts me to say this, I think that you should at least hear him out. From what you tell me he seems like an okay guy, not the psychopath that I envisioned. And you still speak of him in present tense—you said we’ve been seeing each other for six months, and that says something right there. You still love him, don’t you?” Jared said as reached across the table and gently turned Kennedy’s face toward him, and then grabbed her hands again.
“I don’t know, Jared. He hurt me. But I guess I’d have to be honest and say that I do love him. I just don’t know if I can trust him. Anyway, how can you tell me that you’re in love with me in one breath and then turn around and tell me to hear him out in another? That doesn’t make sense to me.” Kennedy stared at Jared.
“I just want you to be happy. I am in love with you, but then . . . there’s Tasha and our situation.”
“What situation?”
Jared’s eyes widened. He rubbed his face with his palms and looked out the window.
“I asked what situation?” Kennedy repeated.
“Tasha’s pregnant.” Jared hung his bald head.
“That’s nice.” Kennedy smiled and nodded. “I wish you two the best of luck.”
“You’re not mad?” Jared’s eyebrows shot up.
“Uh-uh, baby.” Kennedy shook her head and continued. “But I’ll tell you what, you’re not as smart as I thought you were. We broke up what . . . only two years ago? And you’ve been with her for how long, six months? Hell, you don’t even know her. She caught you, Dr. Reid. Just remember, when it was me . . . at least you knew I wanted you for you. It wasn’t any doctor business back then. Hell, at first you didn’t even know what you wanted to do with your life. I took you in baggy jeans, decorated shirts, and Timberland boots, not suits.” Kennedy politely pulled her hands from his, walked outside, and jumped in the first available cab.
* * *
Kennedy thought about what Jared said during her cab ride home, and although she would never admit it to him, maybe he was right about her hearing Michael out. And that was exactly what she planned to do when she walked through the door.
She was glad Miranda was gone. She would’ve had to go through one of Miranda’s interrogations about why she looked so terrible. She looked that way because she felt horrible. Jared had definitely caught her off guard with the new “situation,” as he called it.
Shrugging off thoughts of Jared, Kennedy reached for the phone. She dialed Michael’s office number and then hung up when it started to ring. She knew that he’d be gone since it was after six. Probably still in his car stuck in traffic. Traffic was always horrible on Fridays. So Kennedy did something that she never did—she called his cell phone.
“Hello? Hello?” Michael answered.
“Michael, this is Kennedy.”
“Kennedy! I’m so glad you finally returned my call. I never thought I’d hear from you again. Kennedy, you don’t know how much I miss you. I wish you would hear me out.”
“That’s why I’m calling,” Kennedy said dryly. “I’m listening.”
“Not over the phone, please. I want you to see me when I explain. I want you to see that I’m telling the truth. Just look into my eyes and you’ll know.”
“I guess I can do that. When and where?”
“How about I come and pick you up. What’s your address?” Michael asked.
“Nope. I don’t think so. I’m not so sure that I want you to know where I live.”
“Okay. Fair is fair. You don’t know if you can trust me, right? I understand. So do you mind meeting me at the town house?”
“Okay. But you have to leave the front door wide open. I’ll stand there and listen. Twenty minutes, that’s all you get.”
“Twenty minutes? Come on, Kennedy, don’t do me like that,” Michael pleaded.
“Michael, do you realize that a person is capable of saying more than a thousand words in a couple of minutes? Now I’m giving you twenty minutes. Can you calculate how many words you can say in that amount of time? Anyway, if you tell the truth, it shouldn’t take any more than a minu
te. When people make up things or beat around the bush, that’s what takes so long.”
When Kennedy rung Michael’s bell an hour later, she wanted to change her mind about the whole situation. She didn’t know if she wanted to hear Michael out or not, but Jared had been right about her giving Michael a chance to explain. Besides, Jared had hurt her and she didn’t want to be alone while his life seemed so full.
Michael opened the door and smiled. Kennedy stepped into the opening so Michael wouldn’t try to close it. The town house had changed since the last time she had been there, or at least what she could see from the foyer. The white walls had been repainted a smoky gray color, and were trimmed in off-white. The natural wood floors were replaced with a rich ivory-and-gray marble. Burgundy-framed paintings adorned the walls. Someone had decorated. A mix of flour, cooking oil, and seasonings drifted through the air. Fried chicken. Kennedy’s stomach started to growl. She prayed that Michael couldn’t hear it too. She hadn’t eaten all day, having only coffee with Jared earlier.
Kennedy looked good and she knew it. She put on one of her best knock’em-out dresses to make Michael suffer even more. Michael just stood there and looked her up and down, licking his lips. Damn, she had missed him. Why did he have to go and mess things up? He was so handsome. He and Jared were total opposites, but both could make a nun’s head spin like in The Exorcist.
“Michael, your time is running out,” Kennedy said, pointing to the Cartier on her wrist.
“I see you still have the watch. Thank you for wearing it. It suits you. So . . . are you ready?” Michael said as he rubbed his hands together.
“No, are you ready? I’m not the one with the explaining to do. Fifteen more minutes,” she reminded him.
Michael put his hands up in defense. “Okay. But it’s going to hurt a little bit.”
“Not as much as you hurt me, I guarantee. Just go ahead, I’m listening.”
Michael looked Kennedy directly in her eyes. He told her how much he loved her and that he never wanted to hurt her. He explained that he tried to call her back but she didn’t answer.
Michael paced and eventually went in another room and grabbed a chair. After Kennedy declined his offer to sit down, he sat and continued. He told her that he didn’t make it to China for the seminar but instead wound up in Brazil and stayed there with his brother, who was ill. It turned out that Michael’s brother, James, was gay and the family had disowned him, even in his time of need. Michael was the only one still proud of him who still claimed him as family.
The day that Michael was supposed to leave for China, he received a telephone call at his office from a hospital in Brazil, saying that James had passed out and Michael’s business card was found in James’s wallet. Michael was called because they had the same last name. James had passed out because he was weak from some sort of cancer that Michael didn’t even know he had. So Michael decided to intervene with James and their mother and took her on a surprise vacation to Brazil. Michael’s mother had been the woman in the background who was flipping out because James was knocking on her hotel room door.
“Michael, if that’s true, I’m sorry to hear that. I don’t know if it’s just me, but it sounds a little melodramatic,” Kennedy confessed.
“Kennedy—”
“Michael,” a woman’s voice called from somewhere in the house. Kennedy knew the voice, she just couldn’t put a face to it. She thought about it and then knew where she had heard it before.
Just then an older attractive gray-haired woman walked into the foyer. “Kennedy, I presume,” the woman said and hugged Kennedy as if they were old friends.
“Hello,” a startled Kennedy managed to say.
“I’m Mrs. Montgomery, Michael’s mother. You can just call me Ma like everybody else,” she said and turned toward Michael and smiled.
“Nice to meet you, Mrs. . . . I mean, Ma,” Kennedy said and swallowed.
“Kennedy, my, you are a beautiful young lady. Michael sure struck gold with you. I wish my other son would do the same but he’s funny, if you know what I mean.”
“Ma, don’t start.” Michael pulled her arm.
“Well he is, Michael, and you know it. Fruitier than a Christmas fruitcake, that Jimmy is. And don’t you try to hush me. You don’t want to get embarrassed in front of this nice young lady, now do you?” Ms. Montgomery glared and turned back to Kennedy and said, “Now you and Michael cut this mess out. Michael is something else I know, that’s my son and I raised him but I didn’t raise him to be a fool and that’s why he’s in love with you. Now you two go on and make up. Cause y’all just fighting over James. Michael had that fool brother of his knock on my hotel door. This just doesn’t make sense to me. Now Kennedy, you go on over there and get your man. Oh yes, sweetheart, thank you for the compliment.”
“Compliment?” Kennedy said with a smile. Michael’s mother was a trip. Sweet, but a trip.
“Well, sure. You thought that I was some other woman, right? Well, that’s a compliment. I knew that I sounded young but not that young.” Mrs. Montgomery playfully hit Kennedy on the arm with the kitchen towel and chuckled.
Michael whispered, “See, Kennedy. I told you. Now will you forgive me?”
Kennedy stood with tears in her eyes. She had been rash in her assumptions and almost lost Michael because she thought he cheated. How could she have been so stupid? She rested her head on his chest as the tears ran down her cheeks. She never should’ve slept with Jared.
“Well . . . there’s one more thing. We didn’t celebrate your birthday—”
Kennedy closed her eyes and swallowed hard. Michael hadn’t forgotten her birthday. She turned to hug Michael, but before she could, he dropped to his knee.
“Ms. Kennedy Jacobs, I love you with all that I am and I’d never known love until I met you. I almost lost you once, and I refuse to let that happen again. Will you make me the proudest man on earth by becoming my wife?” Michael held out a black velvet box that housed the most beautiful engagement ring Kennedy had ever seen.
~ 10 ~
Simone sat on the edge of the tub and looked at her watch’s second hand as she tapped her right foot in unison with the clock ticking on the wall. Nigel was due home from work any moment, and she was pressed for time. She needed to hurry up and get herself together but she had a slight headache, which was slowing her down. Simone kept looking down at the tiled floor then up at the wooden medicine cabinet, like a spectator at a tennis match. Finally she got up and riffled through the medicine cabinet until she found a bottle of Tylenol.
Holding the bottle, she thought for a second, read the label, and took two pills with the water from the faucet. Again she stared down at the floor. Something couldn’t be right. As she stood silently, lost in her own disbelief, the bathroom door swung open and Nigel walked in, smiling.
“Why aren’t you dressed yet, baby?” he asked as he grabbed the back of her head and kissed her forehead.
“Hello Nigel, and how was your day? I’m not dressed because I’m not feeling particularly well. I have a terrible headache,” Simone answered.
“Oh, I’m sorry, baby. Hi, and how was your day? You have to excuse me because the guys at work weren’t . . . wait a minute, what are those on the floor?” Nigel asked as he pulled back and looked into Simone’s face.
“Pregnancy tests,” Simone answered as she backed up in front of the tests scattered on the floor to block Nigel’s view.
A smile spread across Nigel’s face, “How many tests did you take, Simone?”
“Ten, because I knew that the first one couldn’t be right, and then it was the second one and so on and so forth.”
“Well?” Nigel’s eyes lit up.
“According to those,” Simone said, pointing to the floor, “we’re having a baby.”
Nigel picked up Simone and spun her around, careful not to bump into anything in the fairly small bathroom. He stopped and held her in the air and stared into her eyes and kissed each one of them as a tear s
treamed from one of his eyes.
“You have just made me the happiest man alive. And I’m going to give you two the world, just wait and see,” Nigel said as he smiled.
“You’ve already done that, Nigel,” Simone said as she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck and attempted to hug him, but he pushed her back.
“What were you doing with these?” Nigel asked, picking up the bottle of Tylenol.
“I told you that I had a headache.”
Nigel growled, “Did you take these before or after you knew that you were carrying my baby?”
“After, why? The label says that it’s—”
Nigel slapped Simone so hard that she saw white spots. She stood dazed for a moment and started to swing back at him, but Nigel was too strong and he grabbed her arms and pinned her up against the wall.
“What are you trying to do . . . kill the baby? If you ever take another aspirin or have a drink or do anything that might harm the baby, I’ll kill you. You hear me, Ms. High-and-Mighty? I’ll beat the living shit out of you.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you? Are you crazy? It wasn’t aspirin, it’s okay to take Tylenol. Call any doctor and he’ll tell you. You just pack up your shit and get the fuck out of my house. Get out!” Simone screamed at the top of her lungs as Nigel walked out of the front door.
* * *
Derrick pulled up in front of Simone’s house and saw Nigel closing the front door. Derrick blew his horn but Nigel didn’t look, so Derrick blew again and rolled the passenger side window down.
“What’s going on, Nigel? How ya been, man?” Derrick yelled from the open window as Nigel came over to the jeep.
“Hey, man, nothing much. How about you?” Nigel answered as they slapped hands and gave each other a brotherly handshake.
“Not much here, either. Same ol’, same ol’. Just working. So how’s living with my sister?” Derrick joked.
“Aw, man, I can’t complain. She’s just moody, but I’m used to it. You know you’re gonna be an uncle, right?”
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