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Chapter 13
Saturday
The following afternoon, I stepped off the van that transported me back to the airport and noticed a striking black couple waiting for their own transportation into the city nearby. He was dark-skinned, tall, with a head of thick black hair. The reddish-brown-skinned woman had her arms folded, watching her man, who was on his phone. She had naturally curly and wavy hair that flowed underneath her wide-brimmed summer hat. I don’t know why they captured my attention, but I found myself drawn to them. Maybe it was the melancholy I sensed in the woman from a distance and that her husband seemed oblivious based on his easy smile and his occasional reassuring pat on her arm as he continued his call. I wondered what could make her sad. Maybe I was projecting, knowing I was returning home alone after being so entrenched with a man whose heart belonged to someone else. Thinking of Bakari, I chuckled. He would argue my heart also belonged to someone else. And it really did.
My cell buzzed.
I hope you made it to the airport on time. I’m leaving later today myself. Sorry, I decided not to see them. Not ready yet.
I read the text and then looked back at the couple. The man had finally ended his call, had his arm slung around her neck, and must have told her a joke because she grinned at him. Maybe I’d misjudged the couple. They seemed perfectly happy now.
Did your brother make it to Jamaica yet?
Yes. They should be at the airport by now. Told my brother I had to leave early. Will visit him soon in DC.
I think I see them.
Bakari immediately called. “How do you know that?”
I turned my back to them as if they could hear my conversation or knew I was talking about them. “Call it intuition. Is your brother dark-skinned, with a gap in between his front teeth? His wife... curly hair?”
Bakari cursed, and my stomach contracted painfully for him.
“It’s not too late, Bakari.”
“It is. Flying out of Jamaica in a couple of hours. About to catch my shuttle.” He sighed, “Feels weird knowing that they’re near you, and they have no idea who you are and that we’ve been together. Wish you didn’t tell me you saw them.”
“I had to see if my hunch was correct. As soon as I stepped off the shuttle, they caught my attention. Attractive couple.” I glanced over my shoulder at them. The woman’s head rested against his shoulder while he was on another call. She was a gorgeous woman. Understandable why Bakari was so caught up. Also understood after seeing them in person why he didn’t want to be around them as a couple. They seemed perfect for each other. “Why does love have to be so complicated?”
“It’s really not. This experience has taught me that you and I chose complicated paths. Hope we’re both on the road to choosing a different path.”
“Yeah,” I replied softly, wishing somehow I could change his mind about giving us a real chance. But loving Bakari wouldn’t be easy. He would only share so much of himself with me. Despite his transparency about loving his brother’s wife, I sensed there was so much more. Layers of him that I would never know.
“Nikki, cuffing season is in a few months.” He chuckled. “Call me if you’re still single and want complicated.” Then the phone disconnected.
I stared at the phone, longing to call him back, knowing he probably wouldn’t answer. When I turned back around, the couple was gone. I looked around, and they were nowhere in sight. It was almost as if they were a figment of my imagination. Maybe this whole experience was only my imagination. Being alone at the airport the way I entered it made me feel like the past week had been one long-drawn-out dream. Time to wake up and go back to reality.
***
ONCE THE PLANE LANDEDin Cincinnati, I turned on my phone, and it immediately buzzed with missed calls and texts. The first one was from Bakari.
Choose a different path. Be brave, unlike me, and call him. Be happy. Take care, Nikki, “not short for Nicole” Wade.
I smiled. Bakari was indeed real.
As soon as I departed the plane, I found a seat in the almost empty waiting area. I took a deep breath and dialed his number.
“Pleasant surprise.” My heart soared at the warmth in his rich baritone voice, the voice that used to lull me into a deep slumber on my insomniac nights.
“Um...” I couldn’t seem to clear my thoughts, words refusing to pass over my tongue.
“What’s going on? Everything okay?” His voice now sounded worried.
“Yes...well, no.” I inhaled and exhaled.
“What is it? You’re scaring me?”
“Not trying to scare you. Trying to get my nerve up, Nico.”
