The Christmas Promise

by Sean D. Young

  Simeon believed that they’d had a strong connection, something special, but surely she’d moved on and even had a daughter to prove it. Maybe she and her guy got back together.

  Even though she didn’t seem to remember him, Simeon wanted her to know that he remembered her. If he approached her, it might jog her memory and they could at least have coffee and catch up with the happenings in each other’s lives. Just as friends, nothing more, since it looked like she already had a man in her life. He just wanted to make sure she was happy.

  He followed her through the throng of people, but didn’t call out her name and cause a scene. He wanted her to turn around and see him, but she didn’t. She kept walking. Pretty soon, she disappeared from his sight, so he gave up, hoping he would run into her again.

  Anger, fear and nervous knots punched Jennifer in the stomach. Her heartbeat roared in her ears when she saw Simeon. Of all the people in the world her daughter Mariah had to run into, she never would have guessed it would be him. Seeing him holding her made her cringe, but she had to keep it together, get her baby and run far away from him.

  Leaving Micah at her cousin Pamela’s house was the best decision she’d made all day. Since it was bad enough that she had to struggle to get Mariah’s coat back on, maneuver through the crowd, and hurry to the car all by herself. But if she’d had both kids with her it would have been next to impossible to get away from Simeon as fast as she did.

  Over the past three years, Jennifer had practiced in great detail what she would say if she ever ran into him on the street, but today, the words died on her lips. Having no other choice but to move on with her life, she tried to overcome the difficult task of raising her children without their father. They were healthy and happy two-and-a-half-year-olds and that was all that mattered to her.

  It was strange that after all that time she’d come face to face with him now. She wondered if he realized that Mariah was his daughter. He had to know she was his and yet he didn’t care enough to contact her to at least let her know that he got the message. Tears formed in her eyes and her lip quivered as she secured Mariah in her safety seat in the back of her minivan. She was supposed to go to the grand opening of Faith’s new boutique Made to Order by Faith, but she was too rattled. The best thing she could do now was go home and rest. Seeing Simeon again brought back too much pain for her and she didn’t want to spoil her sister’s happy occasion.

  The next morning, Jennifer parked her car across the street from Faith’s shop. She’d waited too late to call her the night before, so she came to talk in person. She needed to explain to her why she was a no show for the grand opening of her store. She spotted Faith pulling up in front of the store and Jennifer got out of her van at the same time and walked across the street.

  The two women embraced each other.

  “What happened to you yesterday?” Faith asked.

  “I was on my way, but decided to stop at Macy’s to pick up something for Mariah,” Jennifer explained.

  The wind had picked up with the sudden drop in temperature. Jennifer pulled her hood over her head and pushed her hands down in her pockets.

  “Why didn’t you come afterwards?”

  Jennifer looped an arm through Faith’s. “You’re not going to believe who I ran into.”

  Reaching into the pocket of her jacket, Faith took out her keys to the boutique. “Let’s go inside and then you can tell me everything.”

  Once inside, Faith deactivated the security alarm, locked the door again and flicked on several lights at the rear of the shop before turning on the computerized cash register. Faith hadn’t bothered to turn on the open sign.

  “Let’s sit back here,” Faith said, pointing to the loveseat in a corner. They both sat. “So who did you run into?”

  Jennifer stared at her hands sandwiched between her knees. “My children’s father.”

  She knew she had shocked her sister because Faith went completely still. In all this time, Jennifer hadn’t mentioned Micah and Mariah’s dad because she didn’t want to focus on him but the children.

  “That must have been awkward,” Faith said, once she recovered her voice.

  Jennifer’s head popped up. “I couldn’t believe he was standing there in front of me holding our daughter.”

  Faith covered her mouth with her hand as she reached out with the free one to thread her fingers through Jennifer’s. “Oh my God! Do you think he realized it?”

  A wry smile flitted over Jennifer’s mouth. “I have no idea. I took my baby from him, turned and hightailed it out of the store as fast as my feet would take me.”

  “Talk about a blast from the past,” Faith whispered.

  Jennifer could tell Faith wanted to say something else. “Are you okay? Did he at least try to stop you?”

  Jennifer expelled an audible breath. “I don’t even know. I think I heard him calling my name, but I just kept walking until I got to the parking lot. I didn’t bother to look back even once.”

  Jennifer wrapped both arms around her sister’s shoulders as Faith reciprocated; they sat in silence offering and accepting comfort. Jennifer knew that if anyone would understood how difficult that situation must have been for her it would be Faith. She had gone through a horrible divorce prior to coming back to Chicago with her now jail bird ex-husband Kevin.

  Faith dropped her arms. “What happened next?”

  Jennifer stared at Faith, then her gaze went to her left hand. “Is this what I think it is?”

  Jennifer saw the sparkling diamond ring. She also noticed that her sister couldn’t stop blushing, smiling brightly. “Yes. Michael and I are engaged.”

  “It’s about time,” Jennifer said, reaching for Faith’s hand as she admired the glittering piece of jewelry. She really liked Michael Montgomery because he was a good person and had genuinely loved her sister since they were teens.

  Michael and Faith had been best friends until she went off to New York and got married. It was only after her divorce from her devious ex-husband and her return to Chicago that she and Michael finally got together. Their union was the perfect match.

  Letting go of Faith’s hand, Jennifer pushed to her feet and walked around the shop. “The boutique looks fabulous.” She paused to look at the tabletop jewelry display next to the register. She didn’t know what else to say to her sister, but there were a lot of thoughts roaming around and she didn’t want to get ahead of herself. She might get lucky and never see Simeon again. It could happen; her children had been on the earth for almost three years and today was the first time at least one of them had laid eyes on their father. The sad thing was Mariah didn’t know it and neither did he.

  Chapter Nine

  The image of Jennifer walking toward him was very vivid in Simeon’s mind. Because their encounter had been so brief, his eyes were only fixed on her face. He wanted her to look into his eyes so badly, but she didn’t.

  His shopping trip aborted, he needed to find her contact information. He had it saved in his cell phone, but it along with his briefcase, laptop and other personal items were destroyed in the accident.

  Driving through the wrought iron gates of the new subdivision on the outskirts of the city, Simeon pulled into the first bay of the three-car garage at his sprawling brand new four-bedroom, five-bathroom home. Even though he was still waiting on the settlement from the accident, he decided that life was too short to wait on the things he wanted. He purchased a parcel of land in an upcoming gated community and had an architect draw up the designs to his specifications. The house was only completed three months ago.

  He’d always wanted to share a beautiful home with a special woman, but with the cards that he’d been dealt it didn’t turn out that way. He would still make wise financial decisions, but he also wanted to enjoy some of the fruits of his labor now instead of later because later may not come.

  He dashed into the hou
se and inside his office. He needed to talk to Jennifer desperately since she was so heavily on his mind. Just for fun, he looked through everything in hopes that he might find that piece of notebook paper that she scribbled her information on. Of course, he had no luck.

  Simeon had to go into the office on Monday for a board meeting for his company. While he was convalescing, Quincy, his now-partner in the data mining business, continued to work on negotiations of their software program deal. They’d reached an agreement with the buyers and now neither he nor Quincy would ever have to worry about money again.

  When Simeon walked into his office after recovering from the accident, it had been furnished and decorated to his taste with the help of his family. They did a great job in choosing the Oriental rug, supple leather couch, built-in bookcases and mahogany wood office furniture. Simeon felt so good about the accomplishments he’d made in making his dream come true.

  It was a great feeling to know that he didn’t have to come to work, but he was there because he wanted to be. They were in the midst of staffing the office and he wanted to be sure they hired only first-class talent to work for Dynamic Data.

  The next day, after his meeting, Simeon sat in front of his computer and opened up the email software program. He typed in Jennifer’s name in the search bar, hoping that she’d sent him an email previously. When the search came back empty, he soon realized that they had never gotten the chance to interact via email before he had the accident. He worked for a different company then, so she wouldn’t have his new email address anyway.

  Simeon really needed to see her, talk to her because his gut feeling told him that there was more to her walking away from him so quickly than him not keeping in touch. For a fleeting moment the thought that the beautiful little girl with the chocolate-colored skin might be his crossed his mind, then disappeared because she’d told him she wasn’t pregnant.

  Closing the search feature, he got up to take a break. He didn’t want to bother his assistant since she wasn’t at her desk and he didn’t want to wait for her return. He wandered to the food room. He’d only been back to work a few weeks, so he was getting used to the new amenities Quincy had added since his absence.

  This new food room had two full-sized state of the art refrigerators, industrial microwaves, an icemaker, an automatic Starbucks coffee machine, a cappuccino machine, sink, garbage disposal and shelving for the condiments, eating utensils and paper supplies. There were several round tables that could seat up to four people to eat their lunch or take a break. The employees spent so much time at work, he wasn’t at all surprised they’d added the eating facility.

  Vickie Cooper, Simeon’s administrative assistant, and another woman were standing over at the cappuccino machine having a conversation when Simeon walked up.

  “Ladies,” he said, nodding a greeting.

  Vickie smiled at him. “How are you feeling, Mr. Baker? Is there anything I can help you with?”

  Simeon waved his hand. “Oh no, Vickie, I’m fine. Just taking a much-needed break.”

  Vickie touched his elbow. “Okay, just let me know if you need my help,” she said before turning back to her partner to continue her conversation.

  Opening a packet of honey, Simeon let it trickle into his cup of tea while he watched Vickie. She’d worked with them at the other company and could always be trusted, so when Quincy told him that he’d hired Vickie to be their Office Administrator, he was pleased with the choice. Simeon knew that Quincy secretly had had a crush on Vickie for a long time. He wondered if anything came of it, but never thought to ask his friend.

  Vickie’s animated gestures when she told stories always made him smile. She was a good-hearted, fun-loving young woman who was obsessed with the way she looked. She was telling her friend a story about her new stylist when Simeon overheard Vickie mention Jennifer’s name and he immediately interrupted them.

  “I’m sorry to interfere, but my sister has just moved back to the area and is looking for a new stylist.” Simeon knew that his sister Samantha wasn’t moving back to Chicago from Cincinnati where her husband was a trial attorney, but he needed the information.

  Waving excitedly, Vickie said, “Simeon, she would love, love, love Jennifer. She is so beautiful and is the bomb stylist who is into healthy hair. My hair had been falling out and I didn’t know why. So after a friend recommended her, I went in for a consultation and have been going to her faithfully for the last two months.”

  Simeon had forgotten how much of a talker Vickie could be, but this time he didn’t mind.

  “Well, if it’s not a bother, will you email me the phone number so that she can reach her?” he asked.

  “Of course, I’ll do one better, I’ll even give you the address of the salon.”

  Simeon wanted to hug Vickie, but was careful not to seem too overly excited. “Well, thank you so much.”

  Vickie picked up her cup and took a sip from it. “I’ll email you as soon as I get back to my station.” She and her friend headed for the door.

  Lifting his cup from the counter, Simeon followed behind them. “Thanks again,” he said as they turned the corner and he went in the opposite direction.

  Five minutes later, Vickie’s name appeared in his inbox. Clicking it, he read the contents of the email. “Jennifer McClendon, Stylist, Lavish Locks 18485 Broadway, Chicago, Illinois, 773-555-7986.” Simeon was relieved that he could get in touch her.

  Scooting his chair under his desk, he reached to pick up his telephone, but placed it back on the cradle. Instead of calling, he decided to pay her a visit at the shop. There, she wouldn’t be able to walk away, so she might agree to at least talk with him. But Simeon had to acknowledge to himself that after their encounter on Friday, he really didn’t know what to expect. Either way, he was going to pay Jennifer McClendon a visit.

  Mondays were always a blessing for Jennifer since the shop was closed. But she still kept her regular schedule by taking the kids to the pre-school academy, so that she could be free to get things done at home. She’d been working as a professional hair stylist at Lavish Locks for five years and had been managing it for three. Straight out of beauty school and obtaining her cosmetology license, she joined the team there, building her clientele and learning new techniques from seasoned stylists.

  The urban-meets-chic salon catered to men and women of all walks of life for all their hair care needs. It wasn’t always the easiest job managing grown-ups, but she loved transforming women into the beautiful people they were born to be.

  Mondays were usually spent at home doing laundry and because she had been so busy lately, she had more than the normal amount. So far she’d completed two loads and had just removed another one from the dryer when her cell phone rang.

  Dropping the large blue plastic basket on the floor in front of her sofa, she grabbed her phone from the coffee table before plopping down on the couch.

  “What’s up, Faith? I’m surprised you’re not busy,” she said to her sister. Faith’s boutique had only been open a week or two but she had been flooded with custom dress orders for the local high school’s winter formal.

  “No, it’s pretty quiet around here today, thank God,” Faith said in response.

  “Well, I wish you could come over here and help me. I’m up to my eyeballs in laundry.”

  “You know I would, but I can’t leave the store.”

  Not one for small talk, Jennifer knew Faith called for a reason, so it didn’t make sense to prolong the conversation. “Well, let’s get to the real reason for your call.” Jennifer chuckled and heard Faith giggling as well.

  “You know me so well, Jenn,” Faith said with humor.

  “Out with it,” Jennifer said anxiously.

  “What are your plans now that Simeon is back in Chicago?” Faith wanted to know.

  “Who said that he’d gone anywhere?” Jennifer asked, not believing tha
t Simeon had just gotten back in town when she ran into him. “He was only supposed to be in Brazil for four months. I’m sure he’s been back in the States for a while. We just hadn’t run into each other until the other day.”

  “Still, what are you going to do?” Faith asked her again.

  There’d been no doubt in her mind when she answered the phone that Simeon was going to be the topic of conversation. She just didn’t want to go there because the situation was complicated after Jennifer spent all that time trying to get him out of her mind. There’d already been plenty of tears and lots of lonely nights spent, even before her children were born, knowing that she was carrying babies who wouldn’t have a father.

  “What am I supposed to do, Faith? Welcome him with open arms and pretend that nothing happened?”

  “Jenn, don’t get mad about it,” Faith said.

  “Don’t get mad?” She was frustrated and having this conversation was only making it worse. She had a right to her feelings and wasn’t about to allow her sister to make her think otherwise.

  “Faith, as far as I’m concerned Simeon still doesn’t exist to me or my babies.”

  “Have you ever thought about how this will affect your children when they get older? Do you really want to keep them from their father?”

  Jennifer jerked the phone away from her ear, staring at the name on the display. Full of pain and depression, Jennifer didn’t want to hear another word. She’d already felt like she’d been hit in the center of her chest, so she didn’t want to continue to talk about a dead subject. Simeon was dead to her.

  “Listen, Faith. I’m only going to say this to you once. Simeon has been doing the same thing he’s done before the twins were born…nothing. So, what am I going to do? Leave Mr. Baker to himself.”

  Before Faith could utter another word, Jennifer pressed the button to end the call, threw the phone on the sofa, and picked up a pink fluffy towel lying on the top of her clothes pile. She didn’t have time for nonsense and talking about Simeon Baker was just that.