Chapter 15 I Been That Girl - Tara
Across Town
“Hey,” I groggily greeted as I pulled my phone off of the charger, accidentally utilizing too much force and snatching the entire cord out of the wall.
“It sounds like I woke you,” his voice sounded from the other end of my phone, and I could hear the remorse and sadness in his tone. “Go back to sleep. I’ll talk to you later.”
“No, Zane. No, you’re fine.”
“Are you trying to say I didn’t wake you?” he asked with hints of humor in his voice as if he was attempting to call my bluff.
“No, I’m not saying you didn’t wake me, but now that I’m up, I’m all yours.”
“I like the sound of that,” he added, making us both laugh.
“What’s on your mind?” I asked, repositioning myself in my king-sized bed, getting as comfortable as I could with my phone tucked in between my ear and my shoulder.
“I’m having a hard time processing she’s really gone.”
The silence on the other end of the phone was enough to prompt me to toss my concern for comfort out of the window and slide my feet in my shoes.
“Are you at home or are you still at your mom’s house?”
“No, the kids are with you, and I don’t want you out at this time of night… Well technically this time of morning.”
“Jaedan and Raegan are old enough to be home for a few hours by themselves, and you need me.”
“Do me a favor,” he requested.
“Anything.”
“Come outside in fifteen minutes.”
“Okay, I can do that,” I agreed, walking in the direction of my bathroom.
After saying goodbye, I began brushing my teeth and washing the sleep from my face, doing my best to look alive.
In being there for Zane, while being a mother, and maintaining my full-time job, I felt like I had been running on a little less than fumes.
However, it was in my heart to be what the people in my life needed me to be, even if it meant me getting little to no sleep night after night.
Gently using my pinky fingers, I attempted to rub away the bags and dark circles under my eyes to no avail. A few minutes passed before I finally accepted that I looked as good as I was going to look and as I processed my truth, my phone vibrated across my bathroom’s granite countertop.
Reading the text message, it was a text from Zane letting me know he was outside. Hurriedly, I untied my hair scarf, straightened up the ponytail my hair was in, and headed out of my room, down the stairs, and out of the door.
When I made it out of the front door, I spotted Zane’s car parked in front of my house. Just as quickly as I smiled at his presence, the joy dissipated, taking notice of the car casually pulling into my driveway, I found myself stopping dead in my tracks.
What in the hell is he doing here?
In his naturally arrogant fashion, Jason jumped out of the car, making brief eye contact with me while a smirk graced his face. Much to my dismay, instead of heading in my direction, he headed in the direction of Zane’s car.
Holding my breath, I was attempting to wish the situation away. Of course, it was to no avail.
Making eye contact with me, Zane nonchalantly got out of his running car to meet the man who couldn’t seem to take a hint. It was like my past and future were walking toward each other, and my feet weren’t moving fast enough to keep it from happening.
“Jason, what are you doing here?” I harshly whispered, aggressively walking across my front yard.
“I have a better question to ask,” he stated, dismissively waving me off. “What are you doing outside of my house, Zane?”
“Jason, this is no longer your house. In case you have a terrible case of amnesia, I was awarded this home in the divorce.” I fussed, stepping in between the two of them facing Jason. “You should be at your home with your wife.”
“Which is exactly what I’m trying to do, Tara,” Jason foolishly declared, reaching for my hand.
Before he had the chance to grab a hold of me, Zane stepped in and pulled me to him.
“It seems like you have the wrong address, Jason. It was good seeing you though,” he stated, pulling me behind him, allowing himself the opportunity to be face to face with Jason.
My ex-husband could try to stand tall all he wanted, but he lacked in stature compared to the man in front of me. From Jason’s physical appearance and the obvious foot of difference in height, to the traits he possessed as a man, or a lack thereof in his case, he failed in comparison to Zane.
Even with Jason doing his best to square his shoulders and stand tall, he still came off as a coward in my eyes.
“I know you’ve wanted my sloppy seconds since high school, but she’ll always be mine.”
The level of audacity he possessed had me seeing red.
“Sloppy seconds!” I aggressively yelled, attempting to step around Zane’s tall frame.
In all the years of knowing Jason, even with his infidelities, I’d never felt so disrespected by him. I had tolerated far too much from him, given him too much of my life, love, and energy for him to be as comfortable as he was in referring to me as his sloppy seconds.
“Did she tell you that we are still sleeping together?” Jason had the nerve to ask with a condescending smile.
“Are you referring to the lapse of judgment she had once in the time since you threw away your family?” Zane asked, deflating his ego. “Because if you are referring to that, she told me about the mistake and her remorse behind it, so there isn’t a need for you to bring it up to me.”
“She wants to be with, me and whether she entertains you or not, I’ll always be her first. If I wanted my family back, then I could have them with little to no effort.”
How I could have ever given my heart, body, and mind to someone as repulsively into himself as Jason was, was beyond comprehensive.
To think there was a time after I caught him with Amber, that I would have gladly taken him back had me doubting my own sanity because what did that possibly say about me.
“If that was the case, I wouldn’t be here,” Zane stated, taking a step in Jason’s direction. “You’re right about being her first, and unfortunately for her, it’s something that can’t be changed, but as for me, I’ll be her last, and unfortunately for you, it’s something that can’t be changed.”
“Tara, come in the house so we can talk,” Jason attempted to forcefully order.
“Most men don’t care to have conversations with their sloppy seconds.
Isn’t talking to your scraps something most people don’t want to do?
” I questioned, attempting to step around Zane.
Thankfully, my second attempt was successful, and he let me proceed without interruption.
“Jason, I want absolutely nothing to do with you, and if you weren’t the father of my children, I wouldn’t have a word to say to you. ”
“You don’t mean that,” Jason countered, looking from me and then up to Zane and then back. “Let’s go in the house so we can talk privately, now!”
Swiftly Jason grabbed my arm and attempted to pull me in the direction of the house we once shared. Before I could blink to process how much force Jason was applying to my arm, Zane was reaching over my head, forcefully sending a closed fists and connecting it to his face.
I felt a gush of wind above me before I heard the cracking, and more than likely the shattering of Jason’s jaw.
“Oh my God!” I called out, covering my mouth because of the shock his reaction caused me. I can’t say Zane wasn’t warranted with his reaction, but I can confirm it caught me off guard.
“Are you okay?” he asked, pulling me into him while eyeing Jason with a death stare as he laid out on the ground, holding his leaking jaw.
“Yes, I’m fine,” I answered with a shaking voice.
“Has he ever put his hands on you before?” Zane quizzed, his eyes searching mine and bouncing around my face as if he was searching my soul for the truth.
“No, never,” I answered honestly.
Over the course of the relationship I had with Jason, we got into verbal disagreements just like any other couple, but it never got close to being physical.
If anything, during our marriage, I was the one who would start our disagreements while he would opt to walk out of whatever room we were arguing in, and if it became too heated, he would leave the house altogether.
In one night, Jason had somehow stooped below a level of disrespect I thought he was ever capable of directing toward me.
Gently placing a kiss on my lips, Zane managed to take away some of the panic and rage I was feeling in the moment.
“Unlike you, I have too much to lose by dealing with you the way I should for putting your hand on her, but let that act as your first and only warning. If you ever think about putting a hand on her again, it won’t fare well for you,” Zane assured, physically stooping down to his level.
“If I’m nothing else, I’m a man who protects the people he loves, and I happen to love the woman you were lucky enough to marry.
I let her out of my grasp once, but it won’t happen again.
I’ll protect her with everything in me. Your best move would be to take everything I said and use it to save yourself. ”
Giving his best attempt at mimicking the scene of a cat giving its all to survive in water, Jason fought to get off the ground using the one hand which wasn’t cradling his face.
Much like the coward he had proven himself to be, he took steps backward in the direction of his car, never taking his eyes off Zane who was slowly standing up from his kneeling stance.
Slamming his car door shut, I jumped from the brashness and the drama surrounding the interaction. He utilized more force to close the door than necessary, and I was sure the sound echoed up and down the street.
“I had no idea he was going to come by here, Zane,” I stated as Jason reversed out of my driveway and sped down my otherwise quiet residential street.