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“I’m going to enjoy this drink with my favorite person in the world, fix us dinner, and talk to you about anything other than work. Then I’ll make up my mind in the morning.”
The smile he gave me was filled with pride, and I couldn’t help but mirror it.
“That sounds good to me. I’m here for you forever, however. Whatever you want to do, I got you.”
Every time Jeremiah said that, it made me feel invincible. The past year of my life was filled with suffering—much of which was my own doing. A quote that changed my perspective was, we suffer far more in our heads than we do in our realities. Even with my fight-or-flight response being to run, I could never run away from my thoughts.
I turned my back on God, seeing no reason for my suffering. Because there had to be a grand reason or lesson for it, right? No way would I have gone through what I went through just for the hell of it. In my quest for a why, I found none. In its place, I gave birth to a need for revenge. If I didn’t understand the problem from my Savior, how could I trust Him with the solution? So, I took matters into my own hands, and they smeared the stain that was already on my spirit even more.
This was the first time, maybe in my adult life, that I wasn’t filled with haste to run or control a situation. No overthinking or moving swiftly off imbalanced emotions. Releasing the desire to control made me feel more in control of things than I have in a while. And if this shift in my character was the only positive thing that came out of this outside of my deepened union with my Jerry, God had truly blessed His child.
25
Exactly One Week After the Meltdown
Except,things didn’t immediately get better.
They got a whole lot worse. Black to Back loved Tiffany’s personality and commentary. They said she was controversial and added excitement to their show. Listeners, via radio, live stream, and podcast, loved the drama that unfolded during her episode. They loved it so much that Tandy, the host, brought Tiffany back on for three days. For three days straight, Tiffany dragged me, Nova, Allegra, and WCSF as a whole.
The great thing about that was slander went against her employment contract. Because she hadn’t signed her severance contract, she was still technically an employee of WCSF while she was ranting about us on the radio. Her actions allowed me to not only terminate her immediately without pay and recommendation, but I also had the opportunity to sue her. While I wouldn’t take it that far, it did make me happy to be able to fire her because of her own actions.
Since it was my first day back, I wanted to look and feel my best. I looked myself over in my full-length mirror, pleased with what I saw. The tan pantsuit I’d chosen accentuated my curves perfectly. My hair was in its signature bombshell curl style, and I’d done the trending latte makeup look. As I sprayed my perfume, my phone rang. I wondered if it was Tierney, so I headed to it with urgency. She was going to start spending the weekends here with me in Rose Valley Hills instead of me going back to Memphis. I loved that for us. It would give us time to bond as sisters without our parents, and we needed this.
At the sight of Jeremiah’s Facetime request, I shimmied with excitement. As excited as I was, one would think I hadn’t talked to him already this morning, but I did. We talked as soon as we woke up. He prayed for me, which I appreciated, and I laced him with a few affirmations. It didn’t matter how often we spoke, though, because I could never get enough of him.
Sitting on the edge of my bed, I accepted the request.
“Hey, pooh.”
“I got some news for you, baby.”
He was driving, and I wondered what he had to tell me that was so important it couldn’t wait until we both made it to work.
“What is it?”
“I was tired of Tandy and Tiffany talking shit, so I bought our franchise of Black to Back. Tandy is officially off the air, and she will no longer use her platforms to drag you or WCSF with Tiffany or anyone else for that matter.”
I was glad I was seated because his statement caused my body to feel like it was floating.
“You did what?” I asked quietly. Even though I heard his words, I couldn’t believe what he’d said—what he’d done. “Jeremiah.” Chuckling, I rested my hand on my cheek, hoping my tears wouldn’t fall. “You bought Rose Valley Hills’ biggest Black-owned radio station?”
“Yeah, I did. She was bullying you for better ratings and I will not tolerate anyone disrespecting you.” His tone was just as nonchalant as his expression.
“Jerry…”
“I gave her time to apologize and stop but she didn’t.” He shrugged and looked at me briefly before returning his attention to the road. “So now she has to find another job.”
I was speechless. What words could I have used to express my gratitude anyway? Thank you didn’t seem good enough. Still, I thanked him before laughing in disbelief. This man. My man. My partner.
“I don’t know what to say besides thank you, Jerry. No one’s ever stood up for me this way. Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me for protecting you. It’s my job.”
“I don’t deserve you.”
“You deserve me and so much more.” My head shook as I continued to fight back my tears. “You’ve been the best thing that ever happened to me. At the lowest points in my life, you were there. I am who I am today because of you. Do you think there’s anything I won’t do for you?”
Jeremiah was loyal, that I knew. He was a man of honor and integrity. Our values and beliefs had always aligned. That’s what made him so good for me, to me. I knew all these things in my mind, but when he actually showed me, those actions used to go straight to my heart. Now, they were going to my pussy too. Sex wasn’t a proper thank you for all things, but in that moment, I wanted to suck his soul out of his dick.
