Page 18 of Kisses Behind the Spotlight

“Awwwww man! You had me scared the way you sweating and shit,” James laughed before pulling me in for a hug. “Of course you have my blessing. I couldn’t see Jameera with anybody else.”

“Thanks,” I grinned, the jitters slowly leaving my body.

Asking James was the hard part; I knew Jameera loved me unconditionally and was ready to be my wife. I pulled the velvet box from my pocket and handed it to James. It was a custom heart-shaped dark emerald velvet ring box with J & Q stitched in gold cursive.

“I know you got my baby girl what she likes,” he smirked, flipping the box open to find the beautiful emerald stone.

Jameera was always my little hippie. Growing flowers, donating large sums of money to the USDA’s Plant-A-Tree program, and going vegan were just where she started. My baby went as far as refusing to ride on private jets unless absolutely necessary because she felt like it was wasteful. Jameera took it so far that she refused to fly private unless I was traveling with her. Throwing a can, bottle, or anything recyclable in the trash was a cardinal sin if Jameera was around, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Jameera refused all forms of diamonds because she didn’t believe that there was any way possible for them to be ethically sourced. Anybody close to Jameera had sat through one of her lectures about something concerning the environment or humanity.

James took a moment to admire the stone and looked up at me. “Lab-grown?”

“She would turn my ass down if it wasn’t,” I laughed.

“My wife always had a soft spot for you. Rachel would be so proud of the man that you have become, and above all else, she would’ve also given you her blessing.” James closed his eyes and leaned up against his truck while glancing up at the clear blue sky.

His late wife was a sore spot for both James and Jameera. They didn’t speak on Rachel often, but when they did, you could still see the pain behind their eyes.

“Rachel would be proud of you for holding on. Thriving, and seeing Jameera through adulthood.” I gently squeezed his shoulder.

“She would, wouldn’t she?” James nodded, wiping away his tears. “Jameera has a thriving career and is about to get married; Rachel would be jumping up and down, all loud and dramatic right now.”

“Definitely,” I nodded.

“So what do you have planned? How are you going to pop the question?” He quizzed.

“I’m going to pop the question on Valentine’s Day,” I informed him. “Lowkey, and intimate. Play this song that I made for her ears only, that I want you to hear. I was so nervous I almost forgot.”

“She’ll love that,” James commented, wiping a lone tear that slipped from his eyes. “Let me hear it.”

I nodded, unlocking my phone to play the song.

James stood next to me, listening intently with his hand resting beneath his chin. I took the piano and a few other elements from ‘I Want You Around’ by Snoh Aalegra and chopped them up to build the beat around them. That was Jameera’s favorite song when we met. Every time it came on, we both felt a bout of nostalgia. Which was exactly what I was going for. We remained solid through all the highs and lows life dealt us. Jameera lost her mother. I got shot and fell into a major depression amidst all of my health issues. We went through some of the hardest moments of our lives, and loved each other through them all. I poured all of that and my love for Jameera into that song.

“You planning to keep that to yourself?” James inquired, shaking his head. “Nah, you have to release that! It’s soft, for the ladies, some shit niggas will rap on their wedding day.”

“Shit, I ain’t even think about that. I guess I leave it up to Jameera because it’s one of my Valentine’s Day gifts to her,” I pointed out.

James’ phone rang, and he lifted it and read the screen.

“Fuck. I gotta slide. You got me out here being emotional and shit when I need to be catching a flight,” James cleared his throat, texting away on his phone.

“I apologize. I’ll give you a tour the next time you’re back home,” I assured James, dapping him up.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

James pulled me into a brief hug before slipping back into his truck. I exhaled deeply as James backed out of the parking spot, relieved to have completed the mission.

When I hopped in my car, I headed towards my parents’ house in Davis Island. I was too afraid to hide the ring at our place, so I was going to stash it in Yaseer’s safe for the time being. It took close to thirty minutes to get there with all of that traffic. After knocking twice with no response, I used my key to let myself in.

“Ma! Yaseer! Where y’all at?” I hollered

The silent home made me yell louder; the last thing I wanted to do was walk in on them fucking. I loved them dearly, but those two overly freaked out motha fuckas scarred me for life. I couldn’t stomach cheesecake thanks to an incident with a cheesecake with a dick print that visited me in my nightmares on a few occasions. Neither of them answered their phones, but the cars they drove daily were in the driveway, and their locations pinged at their crib.

“Aye! Ma and Yaseer, I need to talk to Yaseer!” I shouted again.

I slowly trekked through the short foyer, where I was greeted by the first-floor open floor plan that overlooked the water.

“Aye, y’all younger son is here!” I announced before reaching the end of the foyer.