"When I came into the picture?" Huey emphasized pointing at himself.
"Yes!" James said glaring at him.
"How did that make you snap?" Huey asked.
"You started being more involved," James simply answered.
"I was always involved," Huey pointed out.
"Yeah, but I was being more self-aware about it and it bothered me," James said.
"Okay, when did this start?" Huey asked.
"Do you remember the night we had that banquet to honor the nurses and doctors at the hospital?" James asked.
"Yeah, it was the first time I met you," Huey answered.
"And one of the first events I have ever seen you come to," James mumbled.
I buttoned up my iron shirt and looked in the mirror to make sure I didn't miss anything. When I was done I grabbed my tie and tried to put it on.
Of course, I was struggling and I didn't know how to tie it up. That was until Jazmine came out of the bathroom in her emerald short flared-out dress. She caught my attention because she looked so gorgeous. I couldn't help myself but smile when she touched me.
I was a lucky man!
"You need any help Hue?" she kindly asked grabbing my tie.
"Yeah," I admitted. She started to wrap the tie around me and do her magic. I kept trying to closely watch how she did it but I couldn't pick it up for the life of me.
"All done!" she said finishing.
"Thank you!" I said as she smiled at me. I looked behind me to grab the other half of my tuxedo and put it on. I started to make sure it looked good because I didn't want to go to this banquet looking foolish.
"I still can't believe you're able to go to this," Jazmine said still shocked.
"Me too...I wasn't expecting my boss to let me be off today especially since it's a Saturday," I said surprised.
I tried to get off of work a couple of times but my boss would not give me the off day because he said I was one of his best workers and a lot of people there trusted me to fix their cars. I didn't blame them because the other guys wouldn't do much when fixing their clients' cars.
They would do just enough to make it temporarily work. Then after a couple of weeks, they would have to return it back.
My coworkers have given me a warning about working hard but I didn't listen. I thought if I worked harder then I could get more money and off days, but that backfired. I don't get paid much and one of the only off days I have is Sunday or some other day of the week.
I'm usually off at least once a week. Whenever I'm off I try to be off the same day as Jazmine so I can spend time with her. But she goes to work so much I can't even keep up with how many hours she's there at the hospital.
She's better than me because I don't think I could do what she does. I at least need one day to rest.
It use to be hard to catch Jazmine on her off days but now I see her more often so it's a little easier. She seems more relaxed and not stressed.
I feel it's cause I'm more around now. There were times I wanted to spend time with her but I wasn't able to because of work. For instance, holidays, family events, our anniversary, and so on. It's always hard to get at least one of those days.
I know for a fact Jazmine was pissed off at me on Valentine's Day, our anniversary, and family events. Days like Valentine's Day and our anniversary are strictly my and Jazmine's day to spend time together.
I made up some lie that I had to work to make more money on Valentine's Day so she wouldn't see how upset I was. I like to keep my cool around her so I tried to wing it off. She told me to ask for an off day month ahead of time and I did but some of my coworkers already did that before I came to work.
So, she sadly spent Valentine's Day alone, and I spent it at work. I was a little upset that even though my coworkers had to work that day their girlfriends still came in to celebrate with them.
I was hoping Jazmine could come but I think I pissed her off so she didn't do it. Or really I don't think she knew she could do that. She doesn't like to overstep her boundary so I can understand that.
A bunch of my customers that were women kept coming in to give me a small gift but I wasn't interested. They kept trying to convince me to leave so we could go out and have sex afterward but that would be cheating. I wouldn't do Jazmine like that!
If I had told her what went on at my job she would be pissed. She would either make me quit or she would come and try to mark her territory. That means spraying her perfume on me, leaving hickeys on my neck, packing my lunch that has love notes (which I find kind of cute), putting pads or tampons in my bag, laying strings of hair in our car, putting small pictures of us in my wallet, and trying to convince me to wear her underwear.
I probably wore her underwear a couple of times but that would be because I'm low on mine. Now that I think about it I think she sometimes didn't wash mine for this exact reason.
I never felt the need to do that to Jazmine because I'm not threatened by any guy at her job. Giving from the way she talks about most of them I highly doubt she's messing around with them.
The only one who can possibly be a suspect is Dr. Anderson whom she talks about a lot, but I highly doubt she would fool around with someone she works beside. Plus, I think the guy is around her parent's age so that would be wrong.
Tonight is going to be the first time I meet her coworkers, so that way I can see how they really are.
"Me either," she said still in disbelief that I had got an off day.
Jazmine started to help me fix myself up and I couldn't help but smirk when she kept looking at me.
"You like something you see?" I asked as her face turned a little pink.
"A little," she said slightly biting her lips.
"You wanna tell me?" I asked as she shook her head.
"Come on Jazmine, you can tell me stuff now. We're engaged and I've known you for almost 9 years so I won't judge," I assured.
"Okay...the thing is I'm horny," she admitted.
"Horny?" I re-questioned as she nodded her head.
"Yeah," she nervously spoke.
"What's making you horny?" I asked. She looked me up and down and I just smirked. She notice this and looked down still nervous.
Jazmine held onto my tie and started to play around with it.
"You just look good in a suit," she simply said as I slid my hand on her ass and brought her in.
"You can take it off tonight when we get back from your banquet," I huskily spoke grabbing her ass.
"I like the idea of that," she said smiling.
"Yeah, but it's not an idea, it's a promise!" I said as her face turned a little pink.
"No wonder you guys were horny," James mumbled.
"Ok...so what's your part on why you hate me?" Huey asked.
Night time came around and the banquet had started. Most of the nurses and doctors came to the banquet while others had to work. Instead of renting out a place as we should have, we couldn't. We had to do it in one of the big empty rooms at the hospital.
I asked one of the doctors why we had to be at the hospital and they said just in case of an emergency. They wanted to keep the best doctors and nurses on standby just in case something happened. It made sense to me but at the same time, it didn't make sense.
If we already have nurses and doctors to substitute our positions for tonight then what's the reason?
I was standing on the side having a couple of drinks before Jazmine got here. I didn't get to see her today so I was waiting for her. She said she was coming!
The banquet started at 6 o'clock and it was almost about to be 7 o'clock.
People were getting their food and sitting down to eat. I only ate salad because I didn't want any other options they had to offer. For some odd reason, I wasn't in the mood to eat chicken, mac n cheese, seafood, bread, or any other options they had valuable.
Some part of me felt as if Jazmine was starting to rub off on me. Whenever she came over to my place and I wanted to cook her something or we get takeout, she always denied my offers.
Well, she was partially rejecting my offer. I would ask her if she was hungry and she would say yes, but as soon as I mentioned the place or the food options, she would immediately deny my offer.
It got to the point I had to ask her what was the problem. I knew she didn't have much to eat at home and she would only eat so much at work. So I was a little concerned for her.
You'd be surprised if someone only ate what was offered on the plates. Then on other occasions, she would only eat a slice of bread.
That was until Jazmine told me she was vegan. Everything in my head started to click because most of the stuff I mentioned on the menus was from animal products. It makes sense why she kept rejecting my offers.
I thought she just didn't want to eat at my place but turns out she didn't want to eat because she was vegan and I kept trying to give her animal product. After I went to the store and bought her foods that were non-animal products she started to eat more.
I didn't mind eating stuff that didn't come from animals because it was better for my health. I was already healthy and in shape but when I started working out I became more muscular.
On the other hand, Jazmine ate healthily but I don't think she ever worked out. Plus I feel like one of the main reasons she started gaining weight was stress and not getting enough sleep on some nights.
I noticed her gaining some weight but I didn't say anything because I didn't think it was a big deal. It's not like her health was really at risk. If she wanted to make it better she would have to work out, get 6-8 hours of sleep, and lower her stress level.
It's not hard but I don't think she has time to work out. She's always busy at the hospital or with her relationship life.
I kept staring at my empty glass until I heard: "Are you enjoying yourself, James?"
I looked up to see it was Ms. Grace who was smiling. "I guess so..." I said unsure.
"You must miss your best friend," Ms. Grace said catching me off guard.
"Who?" I asked wondering who she thought my best friend was.
"Jazmine," she answered.
"Oh right!" I said.
"Who did you think I was talking about?" she asked.
"I thought you would be talking about my actual best friend whom I met in college," I said as she giggled.
"No, I was talking about Jazmine, you two are always talking, so I assumed she was your work bestie," she said as I cringed when she said bestie. Where the hell did she get that word from?
"Yeah, but I'm waiting on her to get here. She told me yesterday she was coming," I said.
"Right, but I have to tell you something James," she said as I was a little confused. What did she have to tell me?
"Yes?" I asked.
"I want to apologize to you about what happened a couple of months ago," she said.
"What happened a couple of months ago?" I asked not remembering.
"That time I had accused you and Jazmine of having a sexual relationship," she said.
"Oh!" I said remembering that fearful moment. We weren't having sex at the time but I did like her.
"I just want to apologize for my accusation. It was wrong and I shouldn't have done that. I have to understand you and Jazmine are coworkers and friends and sometimes there can be disagreements on certain things," she apologized.
"I accept your apology, but what made you decide to come back and apologize?" I asked out of curiosity.
"Well, a couple of weeks ago I met Jazmine's boyfriend of three years and when I saw the two together they looked pretty cute. Then I realized she wasn't fooling around with you," she said as I sparked a nerve in me.
"You met her boyfriend?" I asked a little surprised.
"Yes, I met him," she said.
"When was this?" I asked.
"He came to pick her up at the hospital one day and I was able to meet him on my way out," she said.
"Oh!" I said.
"Have you met him yet?" she asked as I shook my head.
"I've heard of the guy but I haven't met him," I answered.
"Oh, well that's too bad! He's a really nice guy. I think she's bringing him to the banquet tonight," she said as my eyes widen for a second.
What?
"She is?" I said a little surprised.
"Yes, she is!" Ms. Grace smiled.
"Well, I can't wait to meet him," I said forcing a smile.
"Right on time they're here," she said looking at the entrance. I looked at the entrance to see Jazmine entering with a black guy and my whole mood just went down.
"Come on, let's go say hi," Ms. Grace said heading towards them as I followed behind her.
Oh, Lord!
As we got closer to both Jazmine and Huey I felt my knees about to give up. Huey was a lot bigger than I pictured. Not being fat but I thought he was skinny. When Jazmine kept saying he smoked I had pictured him to be a very skinny and somewhat drowsy person.
It turns out my image of him was wrong. He looked perfectly healthy!
He looked to have a muscular form, he was tall, looked as if he had gotten an 8-hour sleep, he was well dressed, and so on. The only two things that threw me off about him were his hugeous afro and Jazmine looking happy when she was standing right next to him.
"Hi, Jazmine and Huey!" Ms. Grace greeted me with excitement.
"Hi Ms. Grace and Dr. Anderson!" she greeted back as I wanted to look at her funny. I know Dr. Anderson is my professional name but it was odd hearing it coming out of Jazmine's mouth. Given how long she had known me and what we've done I thought she wouldn't mind calling me by my name which is what she has originally been doing.
"I'm glad you could make it in time," Ms. Grace said.
"Yeah, I'm sorry, we got the times mixed up," she lied still smiling.
"That's fine!" Ms. Grace said brushing it off.
"We can all go take a seat at one of the tables," she said.
"That would be nice," Jazmine said as Ms. Grace turned to go find us a table. Jazmine had dragged Huey along with her as the two followed Ms. Grace to the table. I just shook my head and tried to snap back into reality before I followed them.
Ms. Grace was able to find us a table for all four of us to sit at. Ms. Grace took her seat along with Jazmine who was being helped to her seat. Huey had pulled out the chair for her to sit in and then scooted her in.
I could have done that but it seems he beat me to it!
"Aww such a gentleman, it's good to know there is still some chivalry left in men this generation," Ms. Grace said a little proud of Huey.
It is not that big of a deal. Any guy could pull out a chair and scoot a woman in.
Huey took his seat and made sure he still looked presentable.
"He is a gentleman," Jazmine proudly spoke all lovey-dovey.
"Yeah, but Jazmine, don't you think it would be respectful to introduce Huey to Dr. Anderson," Ms. Grace pointed out reminding Jazmine.
"Oh, right...Huey this is Dr. James Anderson, the doctor who I told you I work beside= at the hospital, and Dr. Anderson, this is Huey Freeman, my boyfriend who I talk about on some occasions," Jazmine said introducing us.
"It's nice to meet you, Dr. Anderson, Jazmine has told me so much about you," Huey said holding out his hand.
"It's nice to meet you too, Huey, she tells me a lot about you," I said having the guts to shake his hand.
"I wonder what?" he said playfully looking at Jazmine.
The fact that you smoke 24/7, sleep with a bunch of women, and the two of you barely see each other due to work! Should I continue?
I looked at Huey's hand to see he had a ring on his ring finger and it looked the same as Jazmine's ring.
"Nice ring!" I said observing it.
"Oh, thanks, it's my father's ring and also my engagement ring," Huey said as my eyes widened.
"Engagement?" I questioned.
"Yeah, I'm not sure if she has told you guys but Jazmine and I are engaged," Huey revealed as my whole color just faded.
"Really, that is so beautiful, I'm happy for you guys! Jazmine, why didn't you tell us you were engaged?" Ms. Grace asked.
"I honestly didn't want any messy people to have negative comments. I don't want any negativity blocking my happiness," Jazmine answered.
"That's understandable!" Ms. Grace said.
"Yeah, but when did you two get engaged?" I asked looking specifically at Jazmine who seemed a little guilty.
"We got engaged not too long ago," Jazmine said acting unsure of the specific date.
"How long is not too long ago?" I asked once again.
"Almost two months ago," Jazmine answered, I wanted to glare at her but I didn't want Ms. Grace or Huey to notice.
"Interesting, that's nice," I sarcastically spoke seeming impressed.
"So, when are the two of you getting married?" Ms. Grace asked.
"We don't have a specific date, yet," Huey said.
"What?" Ms. Grace said a little confused.
"Oh, we don't have a specific date when we're going to have a wedding, but we are going to get our marriage licenses when we earn enough money to pay the fee," Jazmine explained in simple words.
"Okay, that's not bad," Ms. Grace said.
"Yeah, so Huey, what do you do for a living?" I asked as Huey looked at me.
"I fix up cars," he simply answered.
"Ohh, that seems beneficial," Ms. Grace said a little amazed. It's not like they get paid that much.
"Yeah, in some ways," Huey mumbled.
"Do you like fixing cars?" I asked.
"Not really but it keeps me busy," he answered.
"What do you plan on doing in the future since you don't have that much interest in cars?" I asked him.
"I plan on going to school to study being a lawyer," he answered.
"Oh, what made you want to be a lawyer, your parents?" I asked as he shook his head.
"Not exactly! I want to be a lawyer because I feel like people in my community are wrongly accused of crimes they didn't commit and they suffer unreasonable punishments. So, my plan is to get inside the system and help them from there," he explained.
"That's not bad!" Ms. Grace said.
"It isn't but it's not as easy as you would think. The system has its ways of controlling people and taking advantage of its own workers. You might be inside of the system but it's not going to be guaranteed you get the same privileges as your coworkers who'll get the cases you want. They give certain cases to certain attorneys for a reason. They either want the person in jail or out of jail. There's no in between the two. They'll even have a certain jury who'll attend," I warned.
"I'm aware of this! I know that I can possibly not get what I want, but if I make a name for myself and earn respect then maybe I can take advantage of it," Huey said. I feel this is exactly what Tom did but the only problem is he got sucked into the system.
You can tell the man wants to help his community out but then he's going to be given the most difficult cases against his own people. That's what they did to Tom and it was a bad image of him for someone who is black and going against his own people in court.
It sucks but most of the time the people he goes against need to be put in jail. People nowadays are just too stuck up to admit someone is evil or messed up in the mind.
For instance, Ted Bundy, a bunch of women liked him and didn't want him in jail because he was a handsome guy that looked innocent. He kept killing and it was getting hard for people to defend him, thankfully he was sentenced to the death penalty.
But all I'm saying is you're going to have to represent somebody and defend them at all costs. Huey's black and they're going to try and place a bad image on him by giving him the worst possible cases. No white man is going to want you to get respect in their organization.
"Okay, I'm just saying as an FYI," I said.
"Got it," Huey said a little uninterested.
"Okay, aside from that, how long have you two known each other?" Ms. Grace asked all interested in their love story.
"We've known each other since we were ten," Huey answered.
"Oh wow, ten?" Ms. Grace said amazed.
"Yes, and we've been together since we were 16," Jazmine added.
"Ohh, so you're fin to go on three years being together?" Ms. Grace asked as both Jazmine and Huey nodded.
"That's nice, how are the two of you going to celebrate?" Ms. Grace asked.
"Maybe taking off work and spending time together. My boss is being a little easy on me about me taking days off," he answered as Jazmine smiled at him.
She looked at him a certain way that just bothered me!
"That'll be good. Nowadays all people want to do is go out and spend money on unnecessary things. It's good you two aren't focused on materialistic things and are actually going to spend quality time together as a couple," Ms. Grace said admiring Jazmine and Huey.
"Yeah," I agreed moving my foot up and down.
"I need to step away for a little bit," I said getting up out of my seat.
"Okay, just make sure you're back before we start handing out awards," Ms. Grace said as I nodded.
I left the room and immediately headed to the restroom. I had to keep my composure so nobody would notice I was about to break down.
As soon as I saw the men's room I went inside and went to the nearest stall. I opened the door and leaned over the toilet to throw up my guts. I was thankful no one was in the restroom to see I was in deep agony.
How could she do this to me?
I knew she was with the guy but did she have to lie to me about the engagement ring?
She knows I love her and it's hard watching her with another man!
When I had other women on the line I was respectful enough to cut them out of my life. I even cut my parents off because they were being disrespectful to her. Then I made love to her like she asked and I felt something that night when she was in the hotel with me. I even had the courage to stand up to Sarah because I felt confident in our relationship.
And to think, this is how she repays me?
She shows up with her boyfriend who I pictured to be a fucked up individual and they're engaged!
This has to be one of the worst nights of my life!
I did not expect her to do this to me.
I wanted to ball up and cry but I didn't want to let it out. I probably let one tear slip and then I pulled myself together so I could still look presentable.
When I exited the stall I looked at myself in the mirror and just sighed. What is wrong with me? Do women not like guys like me?
I don't think I do anything bad for a woman to move on from me like this. I didn't even deserve what my wife and Sarah did to me. Sarah, I had seen from a mile away the outcome but my wife should have known better.
If she was unhappy she should have told me so we could get a divorce, then she wouldn't have to have AIDS in the first place. If Sarah was so unhappy in her marriage she should have told Tom instead of holding him accountable for a lot of shit.
She's probably sticking with him now because he finally became assertive instead of letting people walk over him. And it's not a good type of assertiveness.
The guy is literally disrespecting his daughter and is going to ruin the relationship they have. And it's sad that Sarah isn't stepping in to defend Jazmine.
Then all the other women were worthless. They don't even have enough respect for themselves to want something more than just a fling.
Is this a curse, was I not meant to love?
Being a loveless man is the worst. There's no one you can spend the rest of your life with. You'll only be stuck in loneliness. And I hate feeling that way!
I cleaned myself up before leaving and decided to go walk around the hospital. Maybe I can go back to my room and finish some paperwork. I have too much on my mind to not do anything to occupy it.
As I was walking the halls I started to hear an unpleasant noise from the nurse's and doctors' rooms. We have a space in the hospital where we take naps if we're doing a night shift. I go in there sometimes but not all the time. I just go home if that!
I heard a bed squeaking, muffled moans, breathing, and clapping noises. I slowly walked over to the door and slightly opened it to see who it was. This isn't the first time something like this has happened. There's always someone having sex in the hospital.
When I peaked to see who it was I wanted to kill myself. It was Huey and Jazmine in one of the nurse's beds fucking. He was going all out on her. He was raising her legs up, holding her arms down, saying dirty stuff to her, applying more pressure to her, and she was loving every second of it.
"Ohh Huey!" she moaned.
I looked away but I kept hearing more noises and I couldn't help but just watch the scene unfold. It hurt, it hurt too much to watch! I turned around and left! I went back to my office and as soon as I made it inside the first thing I did was throw up into a trash can.
My insides and my mind didn't feel right. My heart was rapidly beating and it wasn't the good type of beating. It was the type where it beat so fast to the point you're having an anxiety attack. And that I did!
I was starting to feel drowsy, weak, and sick! Is this how dead people feel?
Then all how I had seen was the dark!
I might as well be dead, it was better than seeing Jazmine in love with someone else. I knew she was sexually active with him but that was a little to the extreme. Why would she do this here where she knows I'm watching?
Is this on purpose? Is she trying to break me? Why fill all of this stuff in my head of starting an actual relationship and being together and then you bring your man and rub him in my face?
Why am I even putting myself through this? Why should I care that she's with some other guy? I bet he doesn't know that she comes to my place when he's not home. He thinks she's at work but she's really on her hands and knees at my place.
Why would she even say yes to him? What does he have that I don't? One thing he has that I don't is a bad job, a house in a bad neighborhood, beat-up car, and less maintenance. If he wants to look presentable for something and be worth something in the job force he needs to cut all that hair off, shave his beard that is growing in, and stand up for himself.
Just another man who doesn't have respect for himself!
I started to regain consciousness then I looked around to see I was laying on my office floor. I shook my head to wake myself up and then picked myself up off the ground. I looked at the time to see the banquet was almost about to be over and they were most likely fin to go into speeches.
I had to be present for that part because I had to award Jazmine for her ambitiousness when she came to work. She might have slept with me but I honestly think she worked harder than any nurse up there, especially for her being a beginner.
I hope that she stays here and grows more as a nurse into a doctor or whatever she might become in the future.
I make it to the room everybody was in to see some people dancing, talking, eating, and drinking. Good, I made it in time!
I looked around to see if I could find Jazmine or even Ms. Grace.
Ms. Grace was talking to other nurses and Jazmine was slow dancing with Huey. I felt my insides twist and turn once again and I couldn't help to look at them once again in love.
She was looking at him in a way I had never seen her look at me or anyone else. Jazmine was in love and she felt like Huey was her protector. The way he was holding her and how she was so comfortably relaxed in his embrace let you know that their love was no mistake.
It made me jealous to see that she loved him more than she loved me.
For a second I had caught Jazmine's eyes and she was staring at me. I couldn't tell how she was feeling but I felt a strong pull toward her. Her gaze only lasted so long before she took her eyes off me and dug her head inside Huey's chest.
She didn't look back nor feel a strange feeling. She just rested in the arms of her fiance who held on to her. I looked at Huey and I could tell he was in love with Jazmine too. As hoeish as his history is, he was going to hold on to Jazmine and never let her go.
I already knew right then and there I lost Jazmine!
"You hate me because Jazmine actually loved me and she didn't love you the same way," Huey said.
James didn't say anything and Huey knew that he was right. From the beginning of all of this, he suspected James had no real reason for actually hating him. He could see if he was aware of the situation and purposefully did something to James but he didn't which confused him.
He hated him over Jazmine's choice to go for him and not James.
Now that Huey thinks about it, why him, why would Jazmine want to settle for a guy like him? She could have easily gotten with James and left him but instead, she stayed with him and would have gone through thick and thin with him. This really let him know that Jazmine loved him but what did she see in him that she didn't see in James?
Another thing is what made James want to kill Jazmine?
Thank you for reading!