Chapter 17
A week had passed since Jabari and I had made things official.
I hadn’t shared the news with Danita yet.
I’d been avoiding her and Gio’s calls. I wanted to live in the moment before they began asking questions.
Since quitting my job, I’d spent the majority of my day at Jabari’s or with him preparing for the opening of his restaurant.
I was on a high and avoided anything that could knock me off the high.
Jabari had wrapped early at the restaurant and wanted to run to the mall to look for potential outfits for the grand opening happening in two months.
He wanted himself, JaBria, and Gloria to match.
I was excited about going to the mall. I needed more clothes because I had gained weight in my hip area, thanks to Jabari spoiling me by constantly feeding me his delicious meals.
We walked in the mall hand in hand, smiling and laughing, enjoying each other’s company. We passed the store that mainly sold women’s clothes.
“Hey, go ahead. I’m going to head over there and see if I can find some new jeans.”
“For what?”
“You don’t see how I’m damn near bussing out of them. You keep feeding me nonstop.”
“Good. I like the way they hugging them sweet thighs. Your ass is getting fatter and fatter too. Nah. Go buy a shirt or something. Don’t size up.”
I laughed and slapped his chest. “Boy, I like to be comfortable. I’ll keep my old ones, but I’m getting new ones.”
“Yeah? Well, I’m going to run up here and see if I can cop these shoes. Here.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet.
Jabari handed me a silver card that was heavier than a lot of the cards I owned.
“Get what you want. I’ll meet you in a second.”
“Jabari... seriously.”
“I’m your man, ain’t I?” he asked, walking up on me.
I nodded.
“Then let me be. Go do your thing, baby.” He kissed my forehead and slapped my butt.
I giggled but did as I was told, strutting over to the store. I internally squealed like a kid, jumping up and down excitedly. I’d never experienced a man handing me his credit card and telling me to do my thing.
I rummaged through the racks in the store before requesting a fitting room.
I hummed to the music overhead but stopped when I heard a familiar voice.
An uneasy chill shot up my spine. I stuck my finger in my ear to make sure it wasn’t full of wax, but I heard it again.
I scanned the store, and my eyes landed on him.
There was my ex, Jakeem, with his new fiancée.
Right after Jakeem broke up with me, six months later, he was engaged.
I couldn’t help but think that the woman had been in the picture prior to our officially ending things.
However, thinking that way made me even sadder, so I placed it in the back of my mind.
I dropped the clothes that I had and made a straight shot to the door. I tried my best to dodge them, but the universe did not see fit to help me out.
“Amina?” he called out.
I froze in place. My back was to them, so I was thankful he didn’t see the panic on my face. I took two deep breaths before turning to face them.
“Jakeem? Oh my goodness. I didn’t even see you. What are you doing here?”
“My fiancée swears she needed more clothes, so I decided to bring her here and let her get a few options.” He looked over at her, causing me to do the same, and she had a mug on her face.
“Hi,” I softly stated. “I’m Amina.”
“Moriah,” she sassed.
I turned back to face Jakeem, and he had a stupid smirk on his face.
“What?”
“I’m just shocked to see you out and about. You’re usually cooped up in the house or at work.”
“I know how to live life, Jakeem,” I snapped.
“I’m not saying you don’t, but compared to others, you ain’t out here in the streets.”
To me, that felt like a jab. Jakeem always complained about how I didn’t go out as much or how most of my life revolved around work and my mom.
That was the reason for our separation. He felt I wasn’t living enough, and I always placed him on the back burner.
However, that wasn’t the case. During that time, I had a lot going on.
It broke me knowing he used my current situation against me.
I begged him to give me another chance and work things out, but he wasn’t hearing me.
He packed up his belongings and left me grieving my mother and hating my job.
“Damn, I should’ve met you then, because now, you’re all in the streets,” Jabari interjected, coming up behind me, wrapping his arm around my shoulder.
Naturally, I curled up under him, and he kissed my forehead. I looked back at Jakeem, and the smirk he had on his face was replaced with a smug look. However, Jabari didn’t lose his cadence.
“What’s up, my man? I’m Amina’s man, Jabari.” He stuck his hand out.
I could see the hesitation on Jakeem’s face, but he still offered him his hand. “This is my fiancée, Moriah.”
“Nice to meet y’all. My baby never mentioned y’all before. Y’all work together or something?”
“She ain’t mention me?”
“Is she supposed to?” Jabari’s tone had shifted, and it was no longer friendly.
“Nah, she ain’t.”
I could tell Jakeem was embarrassed.
“Bet,” Jabari said. He looked over at me. “Baby, I haven’t gotten a credit card alert yet. You ain’t get your stuff?”
I shook my head, not even sure how to speak anymore.
Jabari looked at Jakeem and Moriah and laughed. “Amina’s so damn bashful. I told her to shop ’til she drops, but she ain’t shopped yet.”
Moriah looked at Jakeem and rolled her eyes.
“If y’all don’t mind, I’m going to take her and show her how to spoil herself... on my dime. You know, when you have a woman who puts others before herself, she deserves that. Don’t you think?”
I sensed the shade, and I was sure Jakeem did too.
“Ye-yeah, I’ll let y’all gone ’head. I’ll holla at you later, Amina.”
I didn’t reply. I rushed past them toward the back of the store.
I was trying to process everything that had happened.
My feelings were all over the place. I always thought about how I would react if I ever saw Jakeem again, yet here I was, freezing at his words and beginning to feel bad again about how I’d handled things.
Jabari walked up behind me and reached for my hand. “You good?”
I nodded.
“That was your ex, huh?”
“It was. I’m sorry about that. I?—”
Jabari held his hand up. “Don’t apologize. Are you good?”
I thought about it. I was no longer good.
I felt uneasy. Jakeem had caused me to lose all the confidence I ever had in myself.
I felt that everything I did in life was not good enough or too much.
I ruined my last relationship due to issues in my personal life, and it’s possible that I could repeat the same mistake with Jabari.
Jabari may say he didn’t care about everything I had going on, but Jakeem said the same thing, and look how it ended for me.
I couldn’t help but feel uneasy now. Instead, I told Jabari I was good.
“I’m fine. Let me go find some more clothes, and then we can get out of here.”
He looked me up and down. “Are you sure?”
I kissed his lips instead of replying because I didn’t want to lie to him. I reached for a shirt behind him and held it up.
“Do you like this?”