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Montie and I agreed that he would sleep on the sofa and that he would not come into my room…ever. Not only was I was on high alert and cautious about Justine striking again, I also had to be on high alert when dealing with Montie. I had to be careful not to put myself in an intimate position with him, because he had no problem seizing the opportunity to get inside my bed and in my heart. I didn’t drink anymore wine while taking my pain medicine, and my bedroom door was always locked when I was showering or getting ready for bed.
It was Wednesday evening. The kids had been busy doing inside activities like board games, coloring and watching TV most of the day. Montie had taken them outside to play for a few hours and they were worn out when they came into the house just before six o’clock p.m.
“I wanna watch Do You Wanna Build a Snowman,” Montana said in a sing-song voice.
“Are you talking about Frozen, honey?” Montie asked, trying to figure out which movie our daughter was talking about as she danced about the room singing.
“Yeah, she means Frozen,” Junior said as he ran over to the DVD holder, took out the movie and handed it to his father. Montie took the movie from Junior and put it into the DVD player. “Can we have some popcorn too?” Junior asked.
“Sure,” Montie said, looking at me and shaking his head.
“I’ll get it,” I said, as the kids settled in front of the television and instantly became engrossed in the movie.
“Thanks Destiny,” Montie said when I came back with the popcorn. He had taken a seat at my computer desk and was doing some work for his business, which was
the first time I’d seen him open his laptop all week. I was impressed.
“No problem. I made you a bowl too,” I said as I placed a medium-sized bowl of popcorn on the desk beside his papers.
“Thanks. Are you ready for the court hearing tomorrow?” Montie asked, referring to Justine’s hearing. She’d already been a free woman for weeks, but her family was pushing for all the charges to be dropped on the account that she was mentally incompetent.
“As ready as I will ever be,” I said, getting settled on the sofa. I picked up my Kindle reader off the coffee table. Reading was the only thing that would keep my mind off the impending court date and seeing Jacob and Justine. That was if Jacob even showed up.
I pulled up the latest issue of Essence magazine, which had an interesting article about the marketing business. I was anxious to read about new tactics to employ in my business, since I didn’t have as many clients as I would have liked over the past year. Thinking about ways to increase my business was another way to keep my mind free of my personal problems.
We were all engrossed in our favorite activities when the doorbell rang. Montana jumped to her feet and started to race toward the door.
“Gammy!” she exclaimed, anticipating that the visitor was Mama. Mama had been gone for a few days, so I guessed Montana missed her.
“Come back here and sit down, Montana!” Montie said as I went to answer the door. “You don’t run to the door ever. Do you hear me, sweetheart?” he gently scolded.
“Yes Daddy,” Montana said sounding sad.
That didn’t stop her from peeking her neck around the corner to see who was at the door. I smiled at her inherent cuteness. My smile immediately vanished and I stood frozen looking at Jacob standing there in a three-piece designer suit with a bouquet of roses in his hand.
He flung his free arm around me and held me tight. His green eyes looked weary with concern when I pulled away. “How are you?” he asked.
“I’m fine,” I said, glancing at the flowers in his hand. The entire scene was reminiscent of the first time he gave me flowers. Both times, the flowers had come as a result of him choosing Justine over me.
“I’m so glad you are fine,” he said, stepping onto the threshold and handing the flowers to me. When I didn’t budge to take the flowers or let him in, he asked, “Can I come in?”
I thought Jacob had better sense than to show back up and act like nothing was wrong. Like he could just walk in with a bouquet of flowers and charm his way back through my doors…into my spirit…and into my heart.
I knew what I needed to do. The hurt was still fresh in my mind, so it made it easier. “Stay right here,” I said, leaving him standing in the doorway.
“Where you going, baby?” he asked behind me.
I was seething after hearing him call me baby. “You just wait right there! You’ll see,” I called from the hallway.
I grabbed his ring from my dresser and came back up the hall passing the living room. I saw Montie standing by my desk holding Montana in his arms. I knew he felt some type of way about Jacob returning; I could see the disappointment in his eyes. I kept walking past him into the foyer where Jacob had placed the flowers on the table.
“Given what’s transpired, I don’t feel it’s right for me to accept this." I opened up Jacob’s palm and put the box in it.
His eyes got big as he stared at the ring. “I am not taking this ring back, Destiny! You can’t be serious.”
“You gave me a lot of time to think, so I thought about it all week and I am dead serious!” I said with my hand on the door, prepared to close it behind him. “You can take your ring and leave now.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think it’s the right thing to do, until we have a chance to talk." He tried to force the box back into my hand, but I pulled away. “Destiny, listen to me.”
