AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He was definitely the problem.
“I don’t want your apologies. I want you to change your behavior. You’re not going to keep treating me like the people you employ. ‘Here’s some money, go do what the fuck I told you to do.’ That’s not love, Dre.”
“Know your place, Jhorie. Love is me providing you with a life most women can only dream of. Don’t think for one minute I can’t replace you. Stop fucking pressuring me. When I’m ready, you’ll be the first to know.”
“Well if he asks about me again, tell him to sub in one of those women he kept throwing in my face who couldreplaceme.”
“I’m not doing anything that will make him come after you, forcing me to come after him. You know I’ll take a charge, right?”
I smiled, forking a piece of pineapple and shoving it into my mouth. “I know you will because you have a family of very powerful lawyers who will make sure you never get that charge.”
Malin was from money. Her family was fairly wealthy, owning law firms on the West Coast that handled criminal defense and entertainment. She and I had met in undergrad and became close friends. I continued to get my Master’s in Community Development while she bailed on a law degree after she met her current boyfriend. He was inpharmaceuticals. It was how I’d met Dre’thon. The two were business partners which I didn’t know for the first year we’d dated. He’d told me he was in commercial real estate, which he was, but it was funded by his drug sales.
“You are correct. But seriously Jhor, are you good? A lot has changed. Dre told Jessup you walked away from everything. He also thinks you’ll be back because you need him.”
“I don’t need him…” I defended.
“No, you don’t. You’re one of the smartest, most resilient women I know. But he doesn’t understand that side of you which is why he believes this is temporary.”
“It’s not.”
“When he realizes it’s not, he’s going to lose his shit. He’s busy right now. He and Jessup are in the middle of something which is why he’s not really pushing. I also think he wants you to be the one to fold. He thinks you’ll come back so he doesn’t have to chase you.”
“Why can’t he just leave me the hell alone?” I mumbled.
“Because you’reyou, Jhor. Men might not appreciate what they have or want to do right but they’re not stupid. He knows the woman you are and doesn’t want to let you go.”
“He has plenty of women who would love to fill the spot I walked away from. He told me that more times than I could count.”
And so had they. Several made a point of reaching out to let me know they would fuck my man, spend his money, and shut the fuck up when he wanted them to.
“They’re not you.”
“Well he better figure it out. I’m not coming back. I need to matter. I refuse to be an accessory to a man whose only interest in being with me is so no one else can be.”
“Jhorie…”
“No, it’s fine. What’s between me and Dre’thon or what used to be between us has nothing to do with you.”
“You met because of me.”
“Did you know he only wanted to fuck me and lock me down because I was a challenge he wanted to conquer and he never truly planned on being the man he initially presented? No marriage, no kids, no real future?”
“Of course not.”
“Then don’t blame yourself. None of what I’m dealing with is your fault. I love you, Mal. I have to go; I’ll call you soon.”
“Will you?”
She was truly my friend and I wouldn’t punish her for being attached to a life I wanted nothing to do with.
“I will.”
“Love you, Jhor.”
“Love you too.”
After I ended the call I was seconds away from opening a bottle of wine to disassociate from my feelings. Before I made it to the kitchen another call came through.
