Page 43 of Passion

I lowered my head and took another deep breath. When I closed my eyes, I felt her hand on my cheek, gently stroking it. “I can see your hurt although you’re trying to mask it. You love her so much. Don’t let go of that. Fight for her. She needs to know that you haven’t given up on her. Okay?”

I opened my eyes and stared into her green ones. I swore this honey complexioned woman with these beautiful brown locs was showing me the shit I wanted from Giselle… the shit I was getting from Giselle in the beginning. Maybe she was right. We both jumped the gun. I would have met Shakira, and who knew? I could have been embarking on something with her. She seemed to have her shit together.

My head lowered toward her, and she put her fingers over my lips. “You belong to her, Doctor Fleming. Tell me her name.”

I closed my eyes again, and Giselle’s face appeared. “Giselle King.”

“Hmph. Is she a dental hygienist?”

My eyes popped open, and I backed away. “Yeah.”

“She’s a beautiful woman. How ironic is it that she cleans my teeth? She has been just as bothered, because the dentist had to come through and go over what she’d done. Here I thought she just wasn’t efficient. She’s in love and is in turmoil too.”

I licked my lips and took a deep breath. Shakira didn’t know the situation, and it wasn’t for her to know. Maybe this was some divine intervention to get Giselle and I back together. I didn’t know, but I supposed I had better wait around to find out. There was no way I could move on like this anyway.

“Thank you, Shakira. I appreciate your words of comfort and for stopping me from acting out my vulnerability.” I turned to Sasha to see her eyes were open. “She’s awake. I gave her Tramadol for pain, and I’ll also give you a small script for it along with one for the antibiotics. I believe she’ll be fine, but if you notice anything unusual, bring her in.”

“Thank you. I appreciate you for coming in afterhours to see about my baby.”

“No problem. Handle her tenderly. That suture is going to be sensitive, and she will bite to keep your hands off it. The stitches are under the skin and should dissolve completely in a couple of months. That’s the max time. They should dissolve sooner though. There will be some typical bruising and redness, as in she just had surgery. There may even be a little blood. Don’t be alarmed. If you have any questions, just call.”

She nodded and gently scooped up Sasha from the operating table. Typically, I didn’t allow clients back here while I was operating, but since no one else was here, if I needed something, she would have been able to assist me. I followed her to the door to let her out. Before walking out, she turned back to me, her green eyes boring into me.

“Thanks again. Remember what I said.”

I nodded as I pulled my bottom lip into my mouth, trying to calm the desire to kiss her pretty lips. She turned and walked out, and I made my way back inside to clean my mess. The minute I did, Elle’s face popped into my head. If what Shakira said was true, things would eventually work out. I just hoped I could keep my heart open and soft to accept her and her flaws in this situation and eventually move on from it like it never happened.

“He don’t need to know that you and Gentry aren’t together anymore. That ain’t his fucking business. That’s only gon’ make him think you’ll do whatever he wants you to do. Fuck him,” Shy said.

I nodded in response as Vegas added, “Plus, I feel like y’all gon’ work this shit out.”

I took a deep breath, hoping he was right. I missed Gentry, but I knew this was what was best. Until I could get my shit in order, I couldn’t effectively be who he needed me to be. The kids and I had been staying with my parents for the past week. I didn’t have the energy to even try to move back to my place, along with work all week.

My mama had been talking to me every day, helping me through the pain and stress I was feeling. It was helping tremendously. She helped me to talk through everything, including how wrong I was for how I treated Gentry. He was desperately trying to understand me, begging me for my attention, and I pushed him away by ignoring him. He didn’t deserve that.

I had to be better for myself and my children before I could be better for him, and I could only hope that I was on the right track. “Will it look weird that Gentry isn’t here to defend himself?” I asked Shy.

“Not weird but questionable, since legally, he’s still your husband.”

“He hadn’t filed papers that maybe I haven’t received yet?”

“Nope.”

“That’s why I said what I said, sis. That man loves you,” Vegas said.

I was pretty sure they’d been talking. Choosing not to respond, I kept walking, following Shy into the building. Skyler was working on another case and couldn’t be here. She was pissed about it too. We’d talked for over an hour the other night. My mama wanted to come, but I told her that I would be okay since Shy and Vegas would be with me.

Vegas had only been introduced to Clayton once, and Shy had never met him. So there was no relationship to try to preserve. Besides, their relationship with me would trump all that anyway. When we stepped inside the building, I could feel the nerves course through me. Vegas slid his arm around me and said, “No fear. Show that nigga that he ain’t doing nothing but wasting his fucking time.”

I nodded and lifted my head as we continued to the elevator. With Shy and Vegas at my sides, I felt like I could conquer the world. The minute we got off the elevator, I saw Clayton standing outside of the office we were about to enter. While I wanted to roll my eyes, I didn’t even want to give him the satisfaction of knowing I was acknowledging his presence.

I walked right by his ass like he wasn’t standing there, but I didn’t miss the mean mug Vegas gave him. Shy caught it too, because he did the same. I didn’t know why I expected that nigga to show up with his grill in, but when he smiled and revealed white teeth, I was shocked. He could only chuckle and say that he knew how to look the part.

Once the receptionist brought us to the conference room, Clayton and his attorney entered not long after us. Shy stood and shook hands with the attorney but just stared at Clayton’s outstretched hand.

“Well, I can see we’re getting off to a great start,” his attorney said. “I’m Finley Oxford. Nice to meet you, Mister Berotte and Missus Fleming. And you are, sir?”

“Joel Knight, her brother.”