Chapter 38
Chapter Thirty-Eight
“Have a good weekend!”
“You too. See you all next week.” Maxwell waved to the rest of the doctors heading to their cars as he walked across the almost empty parking lot, backpack thrown over his shoulder.
He had a half-mile walk to the West End station, and from there it was a straight shot to Midtown where he would pick up his car and drive home.
He had been back at the Morehouse clinic since he left Bright Futures Pediatrics almost two weeks ago.
Fortunately, he had already contacted the administration about volunteering for their mobile clinic, doing health screenings and performing other services in underserved areas.
When he told them he had more time available, they were appreciative and brought him on immediately.
The work was as fulfilling as the six-month stint he had done before joining the staff at Bright Futures, but it couldn’t fill the emptiness inside him.
An emptiness he couldn’t escape, no matter how hard he tried.
Most nights he lay in bed in the dark, staring up at the ceiling, unable to sleep.
Sometimes, he stretched his hand across the cool sheets, as if she would magically appear and all would be well.
He also missed his friends. Lincoln had sent a text about a double date, but he’d given a lame excuse about why he couldn’t do it. If Lincoln had talked to Jayson recently, by now he probably knew the real reason why.
He missed Jayson, though he was still angry at him.
The day after the incident, he had asked him to come over, and at first Jayson had insisted he hadn’t known Maxwell was so serious about Jasmine.
But the picture became clearer when Jayson pointed out that Maxwell had brought Jasmine to the last party.
He’d been annoyed by all of the time they had been spending together and had wanted Maxwell to come alone, without her, so they could party ‘like old times.’
“So what you’re saying is, you were jealous. You were fucking jealous!”
“She was monopolizing all your time, and you changed,” Jayson accused.
“For the better! We can’t keep doing the same stuff. Do you want to be like those guys we laugh at in the club, who chase women way past the time they should be? It’s not fun anymore.”
“It was fun until she came along!”
“Same thing! It’s. Not. Fun. Any. More.”
They continued arguing, and Maxwell did something completely out of character. He grabbed Jayson by the collar and slammed him against the wall. Twice.
Maxwell wasn’t a fighter. That was Thiago’s domain, who boxed and practiced martial arts.
Jayson was several inches taller than Maxwell. He didn’t have to take that, but he didn’t fight back. Without saying a word, they both knew their relationship had forever changed.
“You need to leave,” Maxwell said, pointing at the door.
“Come on, man.”
“Your shenanigans caused me to lose the woman I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with. The mother of my children.”
“It’s that serious?” Jayson asked, sounding incredulous. He still didn’t get it.
“Yes, it’s that serious!”
“There are plenty of other women out there.”
“You’re not listening, and that’s the problem. I don’t want anyone else. She’s the one I want, and for some reason you can’t understand such a simple concept. Get out, man.”
“Come on, Max. We’ve been friends since—”
“Too long. I’m done.”
The finality of his words silenced the room. Jayson’s shocked eyes stared back at him.
“You don’t mean that.”
“I do. Give me my key.” Maxwell marched over to the side table where he dropped his keys when he came in at the end of each day. He twisted the key to Jayson’s townhouse off the keychain and extended it to his friend.
Jayson looked at his hand and then back up at his face. “You don’t mean that,” he repeated.
Maxwell didn’t flinch, continuing to hold his hand out.
Finally, Jayson walked over and took the key. Maxwell opened his palm to receive the copy of his that Jayson had on his keychain. Jayson didn’t move, and for a moment he wondered if he would have to wrestle the key away from him.
Then Jayson wiggled it free and handed it over to Maxwell, who averted his eyes from the hurt in his friend’s face. This was for the best, and he refused to feel guilty about it. Jayson had caused the rift in their relationship. Not him.
He marched over to the door and flung it open. Slowly, Jayson walked across the floor and out of the condo.
Maxwell slammed the door shut.
As he was waiting for the train to arrive, Maxwell’s phone rang. The call was from Ethan, and he almost didn’t answer. He hadn’t spoken much to anyone in his family in the past couple of weeks. He simply wanted to be alone but answered anyway.
“Hello?”
“Mom told me to call you,” Ethan said without preamble. “She’s worried. She said you haven’t talked much to her, and she invited you over for Sunday dinner, which you declined. You never pass up a free meal.”
“I wasn’t hungry.”
“You missed Tracy’s piano recital and the Memorial Day cookout. What’s your excuse for that?”
He could hear the condemnation in Ethan’s voice and wasn’t in the mood. “What do you want?” he asked irritably.
“Monica told Skye you and Jasmine broke up.”
Maxwell’s head fell back in exasperation. He should have known better than to tell Monica anything. “Monica has a big mouth.”
“Are you done at the clinic?”
“Yes.”
“Perfect. Come over to my house so we can talk.”
“I don’t have time.”
“Based on everything I know, you have plenty of time. I’ll see you in an hour.”
“Who the hell do you think you are? I’m not a kid.”
“Then stop acting like one. See you in an hour,” Ethan said again. Then he hung up.
Asshole, Maxwell thought, blowing out a frustrated breath.
The train rolled toward him, rattling on the tracks. He didn’t want to go to Ethan’s, but he needed to be shaken out of his funk. There were only two people who could do it effectively, he figured. Thiago was out of town, so that left Ethan. He wasn’t sure which one of them was worse.
When he arrived at his brother’s, Mona, the housekeeper who lived on the property, opened the front door.
“Hi, Mona,” he greeted her.
“Good evening, Maxwell. How are you?”
“All right. Where is...” Skye, Ethan’s wife, appeared in the foyer holding their one-year-old, Angel, who was sucking on a pacifier.
Mona quietly walked away, leaving them alone.
“Hi, Maxwell,” Skye said. She was a full-figured, very curvy woman with tawny-gold skin and dark eyes.
“Hey, Skye. Hey there, Angel.” He reached for the little girl, who was the same complexion as her mother. She pressed her face into Skye’s neck.
“She just woke up from a nap, and she’s cranky.” Skye gently rubbed her daughter’s back.
“I can see the sleepiness in her eyes,” Maxwell said, stroking his niece’s curls.
“How have you been?” Sympathy filled Skye’s eyes.
“I’ve been better,” he admitted.
“I’m sorry. You probably don’t want to hear this now, but it will get easier. Ethan’s waiting for you in the study.”
“Thanks.”
As she walked away, he went in the opposite direction to Ethan’s home office, knocking first before he entered.
“Glad you could make it.” Ethan was seated behind his desk.
“Did I have a choice?”
His brother’s skin was a dark shade of mahogany and, like all his brothers, he was tall. He stood, looking relaxed in a polo shirt and slacks. “Can I get you a drink?”
Maxwell sat on the sofa. “I’ll take a Macallan if you have it.”
Ethan raised an eyebrow in surprise. “You’re really in bad shape.” After he’d poured two glasses, he handed one to Maxwell and sat across from him.
Maxwell took a moment to enjoy a generous sip of the whiskey before meeting Ethan’s direct gaze.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Ethan asked.
“Not really.”
“Of course you do, otherwise you wouldn’t be here.”
He sighed. “Shit hit the fan, but it wasn’t my shit.”
Talking about his problem might be exactly what he needed. While he had told Monica what happened, talking to another man could give him a different perspective, especially someone like Ethan, who had almost lost Skye for good during a period in their relationship.
Ethan crossed his ankle over his knee and took a sip of whiskey. “You can’t give up.”
“There’s nothing else for me to do. Jasmine doesn’t want to talk to me.”
“That’s a temporary situation because she’s upset.”
“She should have believed me.”
“From what I understand, she found a woman in your bed,” Ethan said dryly.
“Circumstantial.” Maxwell drank some of the liquor. He might need a refill before this conversation was over.
“That’s hard circumstantial evidence to get over. What exactly did she see?”
“A friend named Jenny in my bed, wearing my shirt. I know how bad that sounds, but nothing happened. I wasn’t even at home at the time.”
“You have a history, Maxwell. A well-documented one.”
“I know, but I swear to you, I wasn’t cheating on Jasmine.
I haven’t touched another woman since she and I got together, and I didn’t invite Jenny into my home.
Jayson had a key to the condo, and he let her in, as a surprise to me.
I didn’t know this then, but apparently she’s always had a crush on me or something and wanted to hook up now that she’s divorced.
Jayson thought he was doing her—and me, I guess—a favor.
” Maxwell scrubbed a hand down his face.
“I’ve sent Jasmine a bunch of texts, but they’re no longer showing as delivered. I’m pretty sure she’s blocked me.”
Ethan placed his glass on the side table with a decisive click. “Do you remember how Damon kept after Audra when they first met? He sent gifts and flowers to her job for weeks. He showed up outside her building.”
“That’s stalker energy.”
“The point is, he kept showing up and kept proving he wasn’t going anywhere.”
“That worked because Audra actually cared about him.”
“Are you saying Jasmine doesn’t care about you?”
“I’m saying roses won’t fix this.”
“Not by themselves. Grand gestures get her attention but won’t win you her trust.” Ethan considered his brother.
“That’s a completely different task, and it involves being consistent and showing her your character hasn’t changed, and you’re the same man she fell for.
Consistency is the boring part. Consistency matters, even when there’s no audience to perform for—probably even more so.
She doesn’t need charming right now. She needs to know the man she fell in love with truly exists, and you need to make your presence known, day after day, whether she acknowledges you or not. ”
“She won’t even respond to my texts, Ethan!” Maxwell exclaimed.
“Then stop texting and show up.” Ethan spoke in a flat, unbothered tone.
“No. I need to respect her feelings. I’m not like you.”
He saw the faint smile that lifted the corner of Ethan’s mouth. He didn’t give a damn. He probably took the comment as a compliment.
“I’m not telling you to be like me. Be yourself, and show up in your own way.
Be consistent in your own way. You’re a smart man.
Figure out how to get her attention. Flowers, gifts—that’s easy.
Every man does those things when he messes up.
All it costs is money. Make better use of your time.
I know you have plenty since you’re not attending family events.
” He paused to make sure the jab landed.
“You don’t get to quit because this is hard or because she’s not making it easy for you.
If you walk away from this relationship, you’re not just giving up on getting her back.
You’re giving up on your future—yours and hers. ”
“I hear what you’re saying, but...” Maxwell shook his head.
“You’re not being selfish by trying to return to your spot in her life.
Walking away and calling it respecting her wishes—that’s the selfish move.
You’re protecting yourself from the pain of failure and dressing it up as being noble.
Right now, Jasmine is too hurt and emotional to make good decisions.
You’ll have to think straight for the two of you, and you have to decide if you’re going to let the two of you go through life without each other.
She’s the woman who’s supposed to make you happy.
You’re the man who’s supposed to make her happy.
Giving up robs her of the one thing she needs and deserves—your love—and leaves you both worse off. ”
Maxwell said nothing as he ruminated on Ethan’s words, turning the whiskey glass around and around in his hand.
“Let’s cut to the chase.”
Maxwell looked up.
Ethan leaned forward, elbows to knees. “I have three questions for you. Do you love her?”
“Yes, of course.”
“You’re not just interested because she’s someone you can’t have?”
“No! I love her. I really love her.” Maxwell’s voice vibrated with emotion.
“You didn’t cheat on her?”
“I swear to you, I didn’t.”
Ethan sat back with a nod, as if satisfied with what he had seen and heard.
“Then go get your woman.”