Chapter 5
The word son was on repeat in my head. I couldn’t believe the man I was checking out in the lobby was Gloria’s son.
Gloria would always throw in how handsome her son was, but I figured she only said that because no parent would call their child ugly.
In my opinion, she’d sold him short because he was beyond handsome.
Jabari was breathtaking. To avoid drooling over him, I maintained eye contact to remain professional in my work environment.
“I actually ran into them in the elevator,” I disclosed.
I glanced over at Jabari, and, to my surprise, he was staring at me. I watched as he scanned me from head to toe. A chill shot up my spine when he winked at me. I quickly diverted my attention back to Gloria.
“It’s nice of you to have company today. I’m just going to start on your vitals, and then we’ll go from there.”
Gloria smiled and nodded. Gloria rambled as I got the blood pressure cuff out of the drawer.
“Amina, did I tell you Jabari is my only child? He’s always so busy, especially now since he is opening his restaurant.
He’s an amazing cook! He didn’t get that from me.
He got that from his grandma, my mama. He would stay home with her while I worked.
She taught him everything he knows. I tell people all the time, he could season chicken before he could walk. ”
“Mama,” Jabari interjected. “Please don’t start.”
I tried to avoid the tingle that ran through my back from his vibrato.
“What, son? I can’t brag on you?” Gloria asked.
“Mama, let her take your blood pressure, please.”
Gloria huffed and rolled her eyes. “He tries to be so humble, but he knows he’s successful, and his food is delicious. He needs to act like it,” she whispered.
I continued to take her blood pressure, and once I was done, I removed the cuff and placed it on the table. I returned to check her heart rate when she placed her hand on mine, causing me to stop. She leaned in, whispering in my ear. “He’s handsome, ain’t he?”
“Gloria, he’s right there.”
“Even better. Ask him for his number.”
“I’m not about to ask him for his number. It’s not the time nor the place.”
“Why ain’t it?” she asked.
“Because I’m working, and it’s not professional of me to ask for my patient’s son’s number.”
Before Gloria could respond, Jabari came up behind us.
“Excuse me?”
“Yes?”
“Can I speak with you for a second in the hallway?”
I looked back at Gloria, and she had a silly grin on her face. I shook my head at her antics but agreed.
“Sure.”
“Mama, I’m stepping out for a second. JaBria, listen to your granny.”
We stepped outside, and he closed the door behind us. I tried my best to hide the anxious feeling I had. I needed to make sure I played it cool, so he didn’t notice how he had made me feel just from being in his presence.
“Is there something I can help you with?”
He scratched the back of his head and fumbled with his words.
“Yeah, I just wanted to thank you for earlier on the elevator. I really appreciate your fixing JaBria’s hair bow.”
I smiled, thinking about how bright her eyes lit up when I fixed her bow. “You’re welcome.”
“I also want to thank you for helping my mom out. She speaks highly of you.”
“Your mama’s a wonderful lady. I enjoy being her nurse.”
We stood there in awkward silence. I looked everywhere but at him, but I could feel his eyes on me. I felt myself cracking under his stare, so I needed to get out of his space quickly before I folded.
“Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“Oh, nah. I’m good. Thank you, I’ll let you get back to work.”
“You’re welcome.”
I turned on my heels and headed to my next patient.
I turned around and saw Jabari was still standing outside the room watching me.
Another chill shot through my body, hitting every part, muscle, and organ.
With every step I made, I encouraged myself to remain professional.
It made little sense that Jabari had me feeling all the tingles, and we hadn’t even had a five- minute conversation.
I had two more patients to visit before returning to Gloria, so I took that as an opportunity to regain control of the situation before I ended up throwing everything to the wind and getting Jabari’s number.
By the time I returned to check on Gloria, my thoughts had settled.
I felt a lot better than I did prior. However, when I opened the door, my eyes ballooned.
JaBria was climbing on the doctor’s stool with wheels.
Gloria was trying her hardest to tell her to get down, but she wasn’t listening.
Jabari was back on his phone with his back turned to them.
Whoever was on the phone had him ignoring everything around him.
Before I could intervene to ask her to get down, the stool went one way, and she went the other way, falling flat onto the floor.
She let out a loud scream, and Jabari finally turned around.
“Jesus!” Gloria shouted.
I immediately sprang into action, getting on the floor, checking her for any broken bones.
“Are you okay? Does this hurt?” I asked as I gently touched her arm and legs.
She shook her head but continued to scream and cry.
She had a small cut on her knee. I ran to the cabinets to grab bandages and wipes and got back on the floor with her.
Jabari’s facial expression showed fear and embarrassment as he squatted beside her.
I rolled my eyes at him because if he had been paying his daughter or his mother any attention, this all could’ve been avoided.
“JaBria, you have to be careful,” Jabari instructed from behind me.
I stopped in the middle of placing the bandage on her knee. My head shot up and looked at him. I shot him a death glare. I continued to clean her bruises and kept my thoughts to myself. By the time I finished, she had stopped crying.
“All done, pretty girl. Do you feel better?”
She nodded and sniffed.
“How about I go get you a cookie and juice? Will that make you one million times better?”
“Yes, please,” her little voice replied.
She pulled at my heartstrings without even knowing. I stood on my feet.
“Amina, thank you so much. That could’ve been worse.”
“No problem, Gloria.”
I looked back at Jabari and shook my head before I walked out of the room. Before I reached the nurses’ station to grab the cookie and juice, I heard my name being called. It was Jabari.
“Amina! Amina!”
I slowly spun around, trying my best to control my irritation. “Yes?”
“About that back there, I’m not an irresponsible parent.”
“I never said you were.”
He rubbed his hand down his face. “It’s just that I’m juggling multiple things at once, and I can be a little neglectful at times, but I do love and care deeply for JaBria.”
I could see how sorry he was, and I understood parents made mistakes.
“Parents are known for mistakes. When I was seven, my mama left the front door unlocked, and I went wandering around the neighborhood. I was lost for hours. My mom and siblings cried, and the police were involved. She was so preoccupied with getting the groceries inside and signing papers that she forgot to lock the door. Still, if it’s things we can avoid, we need to make sure we’re doing just that. ”
“Yeah, you’re right. Again, I appreciate you, and I’m sorry.”
“It’s good. She’s all bandaged up and feeling better. She’ll be even better once I get her these cookies and juice,” I assured him, smiling.
No matter how upset I wanted to be with Jabari, it was something about him that made all that go away.
“Yeah, baby girl has a big, sweet tooth. I don’t make it any better because I’m always feeding into it. Anything she dreams up, I try my best to replicate it.”
I smiled. It warmed my heart to hear that. “That’s really sweet. I love that experience for her.”
“Um... I was thinking that maybe I could do the same for you? You know, to make up for taking care of my mom as well as you do and for helping with JaBria.”
My mind ran crazy, and before I knew it, I’d passed him my phone.
“Yeah, sure. I have a big, sweet tooth too!”
He smiled. “Bet.”
He passed me his phone.
“I hope to hear from you soon.”
“Don’t worry. You will. My craving for desserts is intense.”
He looked me up and down, then back into my eyes. “Mine too.”
Jabari’s tone shook my body. I wasn’t sure if he was talking about sweets or my sweets. I cleared my voice to stop from showing in my tone how he made me feel.
“Let me go get the cookies for Jabria,” I rushed out.
He nodded. “Oh, yeah. I’ll go back and let her know you’re on the way back.”
I nodded, and we stared at each other until I lost the contest and spun on my heels to get JaBria her treats and a cold, wet paper towel to place on my neck to control the heat flushing through my body.