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"Jacob…I saw him in the lounge." I closed my eyes as the words tumbled out into reality. "He was with another woman. She was all over him."
Tasha stared at me until she had to turn away from my miserable, teary face. "First of all, you’re going to put your chin up and realize that what you saw is for the best," she fussed. “And, I know that’s not what you want to hear, but it’s what you need to hear.”
"You don’t get it. I don’t know why I thought you would. No one will understand how I feel," I argued.
"You have known him, what…all of five minutes?" I rolled my eyes, but allowed her to continue. "He leads another life, and you were blessed enough to find out early. You should rejoice in that. If you thought you were the only person in his life, then you were naïve. And now you know the truth."
My mind wasn’t ready to accept that. I wondered if there was a logical excuse for him to be hanging out with a woman comfortably in his lap, kissing him. I cursed myself for even going there for him, when there was no excuse. I didn’t care if we had been together only five minutes, I didn’t deserve the lies.
"But, I have strong feelings for Jacob. I told you that."
She nodded. "Oh, I know you did have strong feelings for him, but now that you know the real him, things change. Isn’t it better to see this now?"
Tasha was right. I was relieved to know I hadn’t spent years wrapped up in his lies. But, I was far from feeling better. "I don’t want to be alone tonight," I confessed, getting up to go sit on the bed. I kicked off my shoes and lay on the bed on top of the covers. “Stay here tonight, Tasha.”
Tasha smiled. "I wasn’t going anywhere, anyway."
"Thanks bestie," was the last thing I said before remembering the look on Jacob and his lover's faces as they passionately embraced one another. The pain in my heart caused my lids to close and flutter until I slowly drifted off into a sorrowful slumber.
CHAPTER SEVEN
DESTINY
Against All Rationale
I woke up at eight in the morning. I opened my eyes to see Tasha sleeping across from me on the couch. I went into the bathroom to freshen up. I needed to make my ten o'clock appointment and there wasn’t much time left.
After stepping out of the shower and getting dressed, I walked into the room. Tasha was up stirring around.
"Good morning," I spoke, brushing out my hair. "Thank you for staying last night."
She smiled, shrugging, "Hush chile. It’s no biggie. Do you feel better?"
I hesitated for a moment, and then went back to brushing my hair. "I’m not completely over it, but in time I’ll be fine." I spoke the words, hoping I would soon believe them.
“You sure will be fine. Granny didn’t make us out of straw. She built some strong, brick house women and we will not let her down.”
“You’re right about that, Tasha.” She had our grandmother’s smile, and seeing it made me smile. I stepped into my stockings, and said, "I hate to jet off, but I have this meeting."
Jacob was still going to stop by and see me after the meeting. I didn’t know how I felt about that, but I would figure it out once I saw him.
Tasha stretched and popped her muscles in her arms and back, after scrunching on the sofa all night. She walked over to me and pulled me into a hug. "I have a few errands to run today, anyway. I’ll call you later," she said.
"Okay." I pulled from the hug and slid on my black pencil skirt. "Talk to you soon."
She left the hotel, and I finished dressing in a ruffled shirt, pulled my hair back into a long ponytail, and put on my glasses. I glanced in the mirror. Minus my weary eyes, I looked professional; I just hoped my best foot would move forward for the meeting.
I hurried out of my room and down the elevator, heading out to my car. Driving to MOCA, my heart beat fast as I thought about what I was going to say to seal the deal. I wasn’t usually nervous when it came to meeting potential clients, but this was a big deal. I had to make a good impression. A victory in business would counterbalance what was going on in my personal life.
"Arriving at address 125th Street on the right," the GPS voice said.
I saw the huge building and smiled. I parked and walked inside MOCA with confidence in my stride. Susie was at the door waiting for me, when I arrived on her floor.
"Ms. Baker, I’m glad to finally meet you.”
"I really appreciate you taking the time to meet with me on a Saturday. You must be very busy, Ms. Alexander."
"No problem. I’ve heard good things about your firm. So tell me about all of this good press you plan to use to take MOCA to the next level," she stated, once we were past the pleasantries.
