"And how exactly do you propose to do…"
I cut her off expectantly. "First, I have studied your target audience to see what kinds of things they like to read, eat, and watch on TV, all the way down to the types of underwear they purchase."
"Oh…" she said, sounding impressed.
"I intimately know your customers so well that I can tell you who they are by name. Knowing who they are, what they like, and when they like it, I am able to pitch a message to them that says MOCA is the missing piece to your life’s puzzle. I will show them how consistently supporting MOCA’s functions will enhance their lives."
I opened up my laptop, turned on my sales presentation and went over all of the key products I would put into place for her company, including text messaging for museum lovers, calendar mailings, and trade shows. Once the final slide was up, Susie was ready to sign on the dotted line.
"Where do I sign, and when can we get started?" she asked, sounding enthusiastic about a partnership.
"Right on the dotted line and we can get started as soon as Monday," I responded, whipping out my PR contract.
I loved my career. I was such a natural at convincing people to let me help them be great. We talked a little while longer about payment schedules and promotional ideas before wrapping up. "It’s going to be great working with you, Ms. Alexander," I said, closing my briefcase and standing.
"I’m looking forward to it. Thanks again for traveling so far. I know our partnership will be worth every bit of the trouble. And, tell Jacob I said hello."
“The pleasure is all mine with coming to meet you.” I tried not to pay too much attention to the way her eyes fluttered when she spoke his name. I shrugged it off. I must’ve been paranoid after seeing him at the club the night before. "I’ll most definitely tell him. Is it Ms., or Mrs.?"
"You had it right the first time. I’m single and on the prowl, honey," she said, smiling mischievously. "Ain’t none of these men safe around here," Susie said becoming looser than she had been the entire meeting. She winked, running her pale fingers through her curly brown hair as she laughed.
Jacob introduced me to Susie via email as a potential client, so her business referral had come to me through him.
"I hear you. I'll be in touch with you very soon with the final PR plans. Right now, I’d better get going. Thanks again for the business. Have a great day," I said, attempting to keep our relationship all business. I walked to the elevator, wondering if Jacob was banging Susie, too.
When I made it downstairs, Jacob was standing by the exit. Fury raged inside my heart, yet it still skipped a beat upon seeing him. He had this apologetic look on his face, while holding a bouquet of pink roses in his hands.
“Hey Destiny,” he said with a smile and enclosed me in his arms. He leaned down, captured my lips, and kissed me without any care that passersby saw us.
His kiss almost made me forget about last night. Almost.
I pulled away from him. "We need to talk," I said, walking over to the nearest bench to sit down.
He walked behind me and slowly sat down. He looked leery of what I was about to say. "Sounds serious, especially when I thought you would be more enthused to see me."
"Oh, I would’ve been tickled pink to see you last night," I said bluntly. “But that was then. This is now.”
"I apologized for that. Why are you so upset?" he said, touching my hand.
I studied every line and contour of the face of the man who sat in my face and pretended I was the one with the issue.
"I saw you," I spat.
“What do you mean?”
"I. Saw. You," I said through clenched teeth.
"Okay, you saw me, but where? And, what about you seeing me is pissing you off," he asked the questions, but his paling complexion showed me that he knew what I was talking about.
"Last night.
“At the lounge?”
“Yes! Who was the girl that was sucking your face?"
Anxiety ran across his face. Hurt entered his eyes. "Her name is Justine," he said as if that was supposed to mean something to me.
"Go on!" I said.
"She’s my girlfriend. I mean ex-girlfriend," he continued. “We’re just friends, Destiny.”
I struggled to process his revelation. Part of me reeled from the news. I half expected him to say she was some girl he met up with and it meant nothing. Or, maybe he got drunk and found himself caught up kissing some random woman. But no. She was his woman.
"Girlfriend?" I growled out, as my right hand itched to slap the taste out of his gorgeous mouth.
He nodded. "She’s my ex, and we used to live together."
My jaw dropped open.
“She’s not just a girlfriend. You lived with her, too. You have got to be kidding me," I hollered as I looked down at the flowers clutched in my hand. I threw them at him and jumped to my feet. "You are a cheater, and that’s lower than the lowest piece of shit."
I stomped out the building towards my car. Just as I reached my car, two strong arms encircled me.
"Let me go!" I reached for my door handle and struggled to open it.
"Wait Destiny, listen! Just hear me out, at least.” He held one hand on my door and one on my waist.
"Hear you say what? What exactly could you say to me, when I saw the chemistry you have with another woman who you say is your ex? You still love her. She’s your…your… girlfriend!" My heart broke all over again.
It felt like I was experiencing my divorce again, but only through Jacob. It was wrong to persecute him with my past with Montie, but that was how I felt as I admitted to myself that Jacob had another woman.
"It's over between us, Destiny," he said, his eyes boring holes into me. "I broke up with her for good last night."
"Really, so after sucking each other’s tongues, you took her home and told her it’s over? You must really think I’m a fool. It didn’t appear that things were ending last night. Next, you’ll be telling me that you called an overnight U-Haul." I rolled my eyes, and threw my hands up. “Now, move your hand, so I can get in my car and leave.”
"No. Not until you stop resisting me and fucking listen.”
"What I saw spoke volumes, Jacob. I don’t need to hear anything else."
“She was my best friend before we became lovers. I have known for a while now that we were not going to last, but she was too unstable to just dump and move on."
I laughed until I doubled over.
"Unstable? Is that really what you are going to tell me about that girl? She didn’t look too unstable to me. Did you have sex with her last night?"
"No, I didn’t, and it’s true," he replied, running his hand through his close cropped, dark hair. "She has tried committing suicide a couple times. When I broke up with her a month ago and moved back into my own house, she began seeing her psychologist again. But last night, she threatened to kill herself again. I was afraid she was going to do it, so I took her out to cheer her up and slept on the sofa. This morning, I told her that I can’t keep doing this. I'm not in love with her. I don't think I ever was, but I don’t want her suicide on my conscience."
I took a long look at him. Our relationship began on lies, and my heart was starting to wonder if trying to sort out truth from fiction was worth it. My mind was screaming, “Move on.” But, he sounded genuine. What if everything he said was correct? How would I handle a suicidal boyfriend with whom I wanted to break up? I wouldn’t want a man's death on my conscious either. Yet, I didn’t know if I could just get past the way they kissed. There was a fire burning in their union.
"Jacob, I just don’t think…" I began.
“Don’t think about it anymore. You obviously didn’t stick around to see that I pushed her off of me and we left shortly afterwards.”
He was right. I didn’t stay to watch the freak show.
"Jacob…I…" His strong tongue caressing mine cut off my words. I melted into his embrace, for a moment fo
rgetting why I was even upset. The same feelings I had when we first met came rushing back as he brushed a hand across my cheek.
"Make love to me and you will know it is real," he whispered against our deep and passionate kiss.
"No. I won’t be doing that. That’s what I won’t do, ever again," I whispered the words that he urgently caught between his lips.
"Don’t deny me this. I need you. What you saw meant nothing. This means something,”" he urged as he latched his lips onto mine and pulled me closer to him.
“Stop it, Jacob! Just don’t…” I held my hand up and pushed him away as hard as I could.
He barely moved an inch. But, he let me go.
“Destiny, you're in here, and no other woman can say that," he pat his shirt over his heart. "Jacob's Destiny…"
“If you feel that way about me, then why did you spend the night with her, instead of me?” I fought hard to walk the fine line between a woman in charge of her feelings and giving in to the moment.
“That’s a fair question. And, you deserved better than that. The only reason I can give is that I owed her the proper ending to our once romantic relationship. She was in a very vulnerable place last night and I tried to let her down as easily as I could. However, if you give me another chance, I promise never to put her before you ever again. That’s on everything I have in my heart.”
My mood softened.
Erratic breaths and pounding heartbeats returned to normal, after he kissed me again. Short of saying that I forgave him, I nodded and climbed into my car. Jacob tapped on the window.
“Where are we headed?” he asked.
“The Embassy,” I answered, allowing him back in despite all rationale.
******
One Hour Later
We fell down on my bed, our lips taking over, as his hands caressed my breasts. I moaned, wrapping my arms around him and massaging the nape of his neck. For a brief moment, I knew this was a mistake. It’s hard to fight what’s wrong in the heat of the moment. Our naked bodies pressed against each other, as we continued the dance between our tongues. His tongue would slide against mine and I would sigh, with a certain urgency filling the room. As the kiss deepened, I felt his hips gyrate sensuously against mine.
"Condom…" he softly murmured, breaking from the kiss.
I pulled him back against me.
"I started the pill," I murmured, ready to get on with the reason we were there.
Again, all rationale was out the window, as he slid inside me bare. I ached for the moment our bodies became one.
He plied into my tender flesh, seemingly more excited about our union than I anticipated. I wondered if it was because the truth was finally out that he had a girlfriend and I was okay with it.
"You feel so good, Destiny," he said, grazing his lips across mine.
"You feel good, too," I moaned, biting his lower lip.
Our bodies continuously glided against one another, as his groans intensified.
"Ahhh…" I screamed, when a violent orgasm rippled through my body. My lower lips gripped his shaft like a vice as he entered and exited.
"Fuck..." he blurted out and crashed down on top of me. Within seconds, his hot seed gushed against my vaginal walls, as if he had been holding out for this moment. He slipped his hands underneath my ass and gripped tight, his lips trailing to my chin, neck, and shoulder. His tongue encased my skin, eager to explore more as he thrust his cock into my tight cunt. “You’re so wet. I don’t want to stop.”
His lips trailed to my breast, circling my nipple and sucking it like he was thirsty for its taste. He bucked as cum seeped from his long shaft into my soft, pink love tunnel. Nothing mattered except the way he dug deeper. I arched my back to allow him even deeper access.
Captivated by the moment, I groaned, while he growled out his satisfaction. "You are so sexy," he whispered in my ear. "I love the way you look naked. Don’t you ever deny me the sight."
When he pulled out of me, our bodies remained connected, letting our lips do the talking. I relaxed against his warm breath, as he lowered his mouth to my love canal. He sucked with passion, running his tongue over my clit. I opened my mouth, begging for a breath to escape, but it was as if I had no air left in my lungs.
"Wow..." I sighed, when he dipped his tongue further, moaning against my sensitive flesh.
Somewhere between the depth of his stroke and warmth of his tongue, all worries had vanished.
CHAPTER EIGHT
JACOB
I Love Her, Too
The next morning at the airport, I paid for a ticket just to accompany Destiny to her gate. I strained to say goodbye to her. I kissed her as many times as I could, wanting to kiss away any doubts about Justine from her mind. Given time, I would prove to her that she was my top priority.
"Are you sure you don't want to fly back on my jet?" I asked, wanting to do anything possible to make her comfortable. "It’ll be less stressful for you than riding with all of these people, going through baggage claim and all of that," I said, gesturing to the busy airport.
"Awe, that was sweet when you asked me the first five times, but I'll be fine," she said, still in my arms. A beautiful smile flashed across her face. "Do you remember when we first met?" she asked.
"Of course, I do." I remembered every moment exactly the way it was. Meeting women and having sex on the same day wasn’t the way I approached relationships, meaningful ones, anyway. However, there was something very different about Destiny and I knew this the moment I laid my eyes on her.
"What do you remember, Jacob?"
"I remember you walking out of Tazi's and bumping into me. Then you looked at me as if I were some kind of god."
She blushed and playfully hit my arm. "Oh, is that how you remember it?"
"Something like that," I said, kissing her again. "You made me feel visible and important, and it wasn’t because of my money. Being treated like that was a breath of fresh air. People always treat me nice, but it's hard to tell if it's genuine. Once you get on the plane headed back to Atlanta, I will be missing that in my life."
"I’m going to miss you, too, Jacob. I really enjoyed our time together after I got past everything else." Her eyes wandered away from mine briefly. "I can’t wait until we can see each other again."
"I’ll be in Atlanta next week. You’re not going to make me wait this long to see you again."
"Okay," Destiny submitted. "Jacob, I just want to say that I…" a screeching voice yelling my name cut her off.
"Jacobbbb!" the voice called out again.
I jumped away from Destiny and on guard to protect her. I was pissed when I found the source of the noise.
"Oh, hell! It’s Justine," I warned Destiny, while keeping her behind me.
"Excuse me?" she said and stepped around me.
"It's Justine. I don't know why she's here. This is insane." I placed an arm protectively around Destiny's waist. She was my main concern.
"Jacob, I don't want this lady killing herself because of me." Destiny stepped away from me and out of my grasp. "Just tell her we're business associates and you gave me a ride to the airport and that we were sitting here discussing business."
"I’m not lying about who you are to me. Besides, we were hugging," I said, watching Justine walk as fast as she could in her heels trying to reach us.
"Just tell her something that won’t have her overdosing by midnight, but please handle her once and for all, Jacob, or I’m out!" Destiny picked up her bags and walked toward her terminal.
"Destiny, wait…"
The shock of Justine rushing toward me stopped me from chasing after Destiny. Justine’s ass was bat-shit crazy for following us there.
"What?" Destiny answered, curtly. Her soft facial features were stern.
I went to her. "I want you to listen to this so you will not have mixed feelings about us."
"I had to buy a damn plane ticket to get back here and find out you're cheat
ing on me with…with her, Jacob? I thought you said you were going to your mother’s church this morning. What the hell are you doing here in the airport, all hugged up with this black…bitch?" Justine spat out when she reached me.
After she insulted my woman, all of that protect her feelings shit was out. Destiny's face was full of hurt, and I wasn’t having any of it.
"Justine, we’ve been friends for a long time, and we shared a lot, but you are crossing a very serious line by insulting my woman. If you ever find it necessary to address her, it’s beautiful black queen to you," I said, stepping close to her, pissed the hell off. "You need to calm your stupid-acting spoiled ass down," I added.
"You're defending her, Jacob?" Justine asked, incredulous.
"She is my girlfriend; of course, I'm defending her. You just watch what you say about her," I said with Destiny standing close by.
A vacant look entered Justine's eyes. Her voice flattened as she said, "Jacob, why are you doing this to me?”
“Justine, we talked about this just this morning.”
“I know what we talked about, but you’re all I have. I can’t handle losing you. If you don't want me, I have no reason to live," she said.
Justine removed a bottle of pills from her pocket. She opened it and began pouring the contents down her throat.
"Justine, don’t swallow those pills," I said rushing to put my hand out in front of her mouth. "Spit them out now.”
Her eyes were defiant. She shook her head vigorously, and a pained look entered her eyes as tears flowed down her cheeks.
“I'm here for you, Justine. You have to know that I'm not ever leaving your side. Now, spit those pills out," I said for the sake of her life.
"But you have left my side," Justine cried as she spat the pills onto the floor. Her voice went from calm to yelling within seconds.
“I’ll always be your friend. We just can’t be more than that.” I didn’t know what else I could do to help her. I wasn’t going to lead her on by telling her what she wanted to hear, though.
"No, because you've been fucking around with Destiny since you went to Atlanta last month. That’s why you’re not into me anymore. I went through your phone and read the sweet messages you send to her. You never sent things like that to me. She's the reason you think you want to leave me. She’s taking you away!”