Breathless 4: Loving Montie

by Shani Greene-Dowdell

  “I can’t live without you either, Lissa.”

  ***

  The next few hours, I explained Lissa and Shayla that Lissa was the only woman I cared for romantically. I told them about Justine attacking Destiny and that she was a treacherous witch who sought to destroy anyone in her path to Jacob. Shayla came around to my understanding and gave me her blessings with her best friend. Lissa forgave me and asked me to spend the night. She said she didn’t want to be alone.

  “Stay with me tonight,” were four words just above a whisper drew us back together.

  We dressed for bed and just laid together. I fell asleep with her in my arms and it was hard as hell to put on my shoes and walk out her door the next morning. I desired to stay for fear that leaving would erase our reconnection

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Montie

  Win. Lose. Draw.

  Destiny called me a couple times during the night but didn’t leave a message. She hung up each time before I could answer and did not answer my return calls the next morning. I somehow managed to sleep a few hours despite the stinging in my heart alerting that trouble was looming. I called Destiny once again on my drive home. Still, no answer. I got dressed for work and headed in. I used my key to open my office door and was shocked when three figures arose from my leather sofa.

  “Surprise. Surprise daddy, surprise!” Junior was the first to run over to me with his trophy in hand. “Look daddy, I won. Daddy, daddy, my team won the all-state trophy and we all got one to take home.”

  “I know you won, son. Your mother sent me the awesome video of you scoring the game point,” Destiny had sent the video right after Justine’s call. I sat lonely in my hotel room and watched it with hurt and pride flowing through me at once. “Give me a pound,” I touched knuckles with my son. He jumped up in my arms and hugged tight. “I’m so, so proud of you, son. I’m glad that you won but very sorry I couldn’t be there. I’ll be there next time and that’s a promise.”

  “It’s okay, dad.”

  Destiny stood there gushing as Junior and I reunited. “Thanks for coming,” I mouthed to her. She mouthed “you’re welcome” back.

  “Well, had I known you guys were coming, I would have planned for a breakfast date,” I said, scooping my daughter up and nuzzling up to her cheek. “I miss you so much, sweetheart.”

  “Miss you too, daddy,” said Montana in her tiny raspy, toddler voice.

  “Montie, I planned everything with Shalonda. We’re your first meeting for today and she gave us a two-hour slot, so we can still go for breakfast. You know how much the kids love IHOP,” she said and giggled.

  “Oh, so I see now that Shalonda is just as sneaky as you are,” I teased Destiny. I caught up with my kids for a bit. Destiny sat on the sofa and gave us time to bond. “Who wants to go for some IHOP?” I asked them thirty minutes later.

  “Ouuwee, IHOP!” Junior said and pumped his fist in the air. “Yes!”

  “IHOP, yes!” Montana repeated.

  “Come on, I’ll drive,” I said.

  ***

  Conversation was light over breakfast. Destiny wasn’t as talkative or nearly as cheerful as she normally was. Something was bothering her. “Are you okay, Destiny? You hardly said anything when we were at breakfast,” I asked, when we were back in my office lounging around.

  “I’m fine,” was her curt answer.

  “The honeymoon must be over,” I asked, knowing perfectly well that if Jacob cheated with Justine, he probably had changed into a jerk in other ways.

  “No, everything is great, really,” Destiny assured.

  “Well, what’s bothering you?” I prodded.

  “It’s just that Justine stuff with her ex being found murdered. That has been worrying me a lot. Along with one more thing that I haven’t expressed to a soul, not even my mother. She’s been traveling the world with John and I have hardly seen her since the wedding.”

  “Oh yeah. Your moms finally dug the right mine for gold.”

  “You just wait until I tell her that you said that about her. She’s going to get you.”

  “Tell her. She’ll probably admit that it’s partially true.”

  She chuckled.

  I gave myself a pat on the back for being able to bring a smile to her face.

  “Can the kids go sit with Shalonda while we talk?” she asked.

  “Hold on.” I picked up my phone and buzzed Shalonda’s line.

  “Hey boss man.”

  “Got a request. Can Junior and Montana sit with you while?”

  “You better stop playing and bring my babies on up here,” Shalonda said.

  “Okay, thanks.” I watched as Junior and Montana ambled up the hall and into Shalonda’s waiting arms. I then turned to Destiny whose usual soft skin was wrinkled into a million worry lines. “Tell me what’s on your mind, Destiny.”

  “Given our history, you may not be the ideal person to talk to about my problems, but you are still a good friend to me.”

  “We’ll always be great friends,” I agreed.

  “So, tell me…what made you fall in love with me, Montie?”

  I sat down on the sofa beside her. “Shit, that’s a loaded question.”

  “What’s your simple answer?” she asked, looking at me with the softest eyes and oozing of the tender aura that kept me entrapped in the prospect of us getting back together for so far too long.

  “Everything about you, Destiny. From the way you smile to the way you rub your hair when you get nervous, like you’re doing now, to the way you looked at me so innocent and caring. Everything. I loved everything.” I spoke my fire-burning truth. I had loved that woman so long and so deeply I thought I would never be able to rightfully love another.

  She looked into my eyes and quickly looked away. If hadn’t seen it for myself, I wouldn’t believe the burning passion emanating from her.

  “Montie, I guess I’m having second thoughts about the way we ended things. With the kids being in Miami, I just wish that maybe Jacob and I would have stayed in Atlanta,” she said, her words hitting me in the gut.

  “It would have been nice if you guys stayed in Atlanta,” I said with the straightest face that I could muster. It also would have been ideal if we had stayed married, but we’re beyond that.

  “If we would have stayed here,” she continued, “then I wouldn’t be in the same city as his ex who is always comes up in discussion when his mother is around. Jacob makes it clear that he doesn’t want her around us, but his mother has an attachment to her and it’s excruciating for me to be around her. I’m getting to the point where I just want to move back. I’m tired of the entire charade of looking over my shoulder for the woman that has an invite to my in-law’s home. I told Jacob that I’m uncomfortable. He’s been more subdued about her, like there is something more to them than before. He told me you ended up going out with her. How did that happen?” she rambled through a slew of thoughts, the final one I could have done without delving into.

  “Oh, Jacob told you that?” I asked as my chest tightened into a huge knot over Jacob’s audacity to put my business on front street without telling his own.

  “Yeah, he said you guys hooked up when you were in Miami. Is she the reason you didn’t come to the wedding?” she asked.

  “No, I just didn’t want to attend. Did Jacob also tell you that he slept with Justine in your new house?” It flew out in retaliation of Jacob’s partial revelation of my truth. I clenched my jaw tight in attempt to suck the words back in. I didn’t mean to spill the beans like that. I truly didn’t.

  Destiny leapt from the sofa, doubling over and holding her belly. Tears sprang from her eyes and a loud moan followed by a wail escaped her throat. “I knew it. I knew it,” she repeated.

  Montana rushed into the room and ran over to her mother. She rubbed Destiny’s leg profusely as she tried to figure out what was wrong with her mother. “Mama, why crying?” Montana asked. “Why crying?”

  “Mama, is something
wrong with the baby?” Junior added.

  My eyes nearly bucked out of their sockets. Baby. She’s pregnant too?

  “Are you pregnant, Destiny?” I asked.

  She nodded her head and another cry sat repressed in her soul. I could see the pain bursting from her eyes, but she held it back. She didn’t want to let go again in front of our children.

  “Say goodbye to your father, kids. We’re leaving,” Destiny said refusing to look at me.

  I grabbed some Kleenex off my desk and wiped away her tears. “I’m sorry for blurting it out like that. I should’ve had more tact. I just don’t understand why Jacob would tell you about me and Justine as if I would knowingly sleep with the woman that attacked you. I didn’t even know it was her because she told me her name was Tracye.”

  More tears sprang a leak from her eyes. “I know you wouldn’t hurt me, Montie. That’s why I wanted to ask you face to face.” She paused and the sting of my admission gamboled slowly over her features again. “He slept with her. The last time she was at his mother’s house I left early. I didn’t know what it was then, but now I know it was the vibes from her. Damn it, Montie! I left my life behind and moved into his world and he cheated on me. Got damn it!”

  “Dammit,” Montana innocently repeated her mother.

  “Jacob cheated on Mama,” Junior said, working himself up so much that his tiny shoulders were heaving up and down.

  Dang Montie. Great job, I thought as I scanned the room looking at my distraught family.

  As if things couldn’t get any worse, Lissa walked through the door carrying a large bag of take out and wearing a huge smile that instantly faded. “Hey ba—by…” she sang as she stepped into the solemn room.

  Destiny’s eyes crashed into hers and flew to mine for understanding.

  “Hey honey,” I held my hand out and pulled Lissa to my side. “Lissa, this is my ex-wife, Destiny. Destiny, Lissa is my girlfriend that I wanted to bring to Miami for everyone to meet.”

  Destiny’s voice crackled as she greeted Lissa. “Nice to meet you.”

  I kissed Lissa’s cheek after introducing her and walked over to introduce her to my children.

  “Kids, I have someone special that I want you to meet.”

  “I stopped by to surprise you with lunch. I didn’t know your kids would be here. I will leave if you want me to,” she said in response to the stunned faces of everyone in the room, including mine.

  “No, baby, I want you to stay. You’re not intruding,” I said in a tone of assurance. I gripped her hand into mine, unwilling to let her leave with any type of uncertainty of my alliance. I also needed her for strength to deal with the hurtful look in Destiny’s red, puffy eyes. Her hand covering her stomach protectively didn’t go unnoticed.

  “I’ll wait in the lobby,” Destiny said. I raised a hand to halt her, but she bolted from the room and I heard a series of whimpers as she trailed up the hallway.

  “Look Montie, I can leave. It won’t be a problem, honey,” Lissa said.

  “It’ll be a problem for me. I don’t want you to leave, Lissa,” I said. Destiny’s reaction rattled me, but I pulled Lissa into my arms. “You’re my woman now and I’m ready for you to be a part of my life and here it is. If I have to hold you like this until you stop saying that you’re leaving, I will.”

  Cradled in my arms, she relented. “I’ll stay. You can let me go now. The kids are watching,” she said. “Hello beautiful,” she said to Montana who looked up at her with her big brown eyes.

  “What’s the matter my mommy?” she asked, looking to Lissa for answers.

  “Your mommy just needs a moment alone. She will be fine,” I answered for her.

  “Who are you?” Montana asked Lissa.

  “I’m your dad’s friend. What’s your name?” asked Lissa.

  “I Tana,” she replied.

  “Well, hello Tana.”

  “I don’t know you,” she said with her little fingers twiddling together.

  “No, you don’t know her sweetheart, but I know you’re going to love her as much as your daddy does once you get to know her,” I said.

  “I lub daddy,” Montana melted my heart as she jumped in my arms.

  “I love you too, Montana,” I said and a hearty smile spread across my face.

  Junior stood watching the interaction between Lissa, Montana and me. My mini-sized twin remained distant and uninterested in engaging us. “I’m going to the front with Mama,” he said, grabbing his trophy and running to join his mother in the lobby.

  “Junior, come back in here,” I started after him, but Lissa stopped me.

  “Montie, let him go. You have to give him time to take this all in,” she said.

  “Yeah, you may be right. There’s a lot for everyone to take in today,” I said and shifted Montana to my side. “Have a seat and I’ll be right back.”

  I went into the lobby. Destiny was on her cell arguing on her phone. “I’m moving back to Atlanta!” she screamed as she took Montana from my arms. “Come on Junior. We’re about to leave.”

  “Wait, wait a minute. So, you’re just going to leave without talking to me?”

  “What more is there to say, Montie? You just sprung the fact that my husband slept with his ex a few weeks before we got married on me. The rest should be self-explanatory.”

  “She could have been lying to me, so make sure you talk to Jacob and give him a chance to explain himself,” I said.

  “Oh, I just got off the phone with him. He admitted to everything.” She began pacing the length of the carpet. “He called me to tell me that she’d been arrested for Rick’s murder. When I told him that I knew he slept with her, he came clean saying it was the night the power was out and that he thought she was me.”

  “I’m sorry it had to come out this way. It would have been better if Jacob had talked to you first. Getting duped by Justine and getting in the middle of you and Jacob’s relationship isn’t what I wanted. I apologize for blurting his indiscretions out.”

  “I thought you would look out for me and tell me something like this before I married the man, not afterwards. But hell, it doesn’t matter, Montie. Pretty soon, the tabloids will have a good story for all to laugh about!”

  “Calm down, Destiny. Don’t upset the kids any more than they already are,” I said of a confused looking Montana and an incensed Montie Jr.

  “I’ll see you later, Montie. Go back in there and talk to your girlfriend.” Destiny picked up her purse and stormed out with my children in her hands.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Lissa

  The Burn in My Soul

  Montie was knocking on my door an hour after I left his office. Many thoughts swirled in my mind about Destiny’s revelation that she was moving back to Atlanta. Would Montie be sucked back into her whirlwind of emotions and situations? He stood behind me holding me in his embrace. I was a bundle of nerves as I spun around and placed a hand on his broad shoulder. “Do you think we’ll make it?” I asked.

  “I’m sure we can and will make it,” he said confidently.

  How could I tell him I was scared to death of letting him go, but equally as terrified of holding on and being hurt by him. “What happened today with Destiny has me feeling uneasy,” I said truthfully as he stroked my back.

  He eased his hands to the sides of my face and pulled me to him until our lips met. I stood on my toes and tried buried my anxiety into his bated breath. “Kiss me like that again, and I’ll forget all my worries,” I admitted.

  “You don’t have a damn thing to worry about where I’m concerned, woman.”

  My heart fluttered as I walked away from him. I had some things to get clear. Being subjected to his kisses wouldn’t help. Montie was the real deal. He told me that Destiny was emotional about finding out her husband’s alleged affair. But the look on her face still troubled me. She was going through it, but when Montie introduced me as his girlfriend, she crumpled right before my eyes.

  “Lissa, yo
u’ve been pulling away from me ever since you meet my family today,” Montie said.

  “Your family? No, I had no problem meeting your children. It was your ex-wife that gave me bad vibes.” I wasn’t going to say anything about it to Montie about it, but I just put it out there. If we were going to have anything meaningful, I had to be honest with him and with myself about how I was feeling.

  “I told you she was upset because she found out about me and Justine and then I told her about Jacob sleeping with Justine,” he reiterated.

  “I get that, but when you introduced me as your girlfriend instant devastation overtook her. It didn’t appear that she was already upset about something and it was continuing. She got hurt deeply upon hearing your acknowledgement of me.”

  “I can’t imagine that upsetting her, given that she’s already married another man.” Montie shook his head. “Even if I agree that your assessment is spot on, it doesn’t matter to me if Destiny is hurt over me finding everything I could ever want and need in a woman. I thank the heavens every day that I found you, girl,” he touched my hair then face sending warmth traveling through my body.

  Montie placed loose hair strands behind my ear that had been in my face hiding the anxiety in my eyes. He pulled me into a warm hug, clutching me close to his chest. I sucked in everything Montie. He always smelled so good. The peace I found in his capable arms circumvented the uncertainty that shook me to the core earlier with Destiny.

  “I love you, Lissa,” he said as he continued to hold me in his arms.

  “That’s the part that hurts, knowing that I love you too and thinking that another woman has the power to end us.”

  He held my face so that I was looking him dead in the eye. “I want you to know that no one has the power to end us, but us,” he pointed between us. “I hate that our beginning has been rapt with drama. I can promise you that you are the one and only woman that has my heart.”