Come To Me (5 page)

What
had she done? Thankfully she’d decided to wear jeans that day, so she sat on
the commode holding her head in her hands as the tears silently fell on the
tiled floor. Why didn't she just go with him? Why couldn’t he move here to be
with her instead? All he’d offered her was for them to live together. But she
didn’t need to live with him to know she loved him.

She
loved him as she’d love no other, but he had to want her the same way. She
yearned for today as well as all of their tomorrows, but he never offered her
that. Not once. Her friend Karen had ended up in San Diego because she'd
followed her boyfriend out here. They'd lasted a couple of months before he
left her. At least Karen had a happy ending and met the man she was supposed to
marry. Still, it took five years.

How
long must she wait only for Baron to leave?

Jasmine
couldn't take the chance. She stepped out of the stall and approached the sink,
making it a point not to look at her face in the mirror, already knowing she’d
be horrified by what she saw.

She
washed her face and dried it with one of the paper towels. Once she finished,
she left the bathroom and turned right to go back to her parked car. Alone. Her
head down, she walked in a bit of a daze, her thoughts internal, already
desperately missing Baron. What had she done letting him get on that plane?

She
bumped into someone. The contact startled her and she tightened the grip on her
purse.

“Excuse
me,” she mumbled, not looking up. She tried to go around the obstacle in her
path. Familiar warm hands settled on her arms. She looked up, and her cry of
delight drowned in mid-squeal by the mouth covering hers. The tears, already on
the verge of erupting, fell full force as she grabbed unto his shirt and held
on like a lifeline. But these were tears of joy.

“I’m
sorry,” he managed to say between kisses. “I’m sorry. Please don’t cry.”

Like
a lifeline, she covered his hands with hers, needing to feel him in every way,
unable to believe what she saw right in front of her. “Why? Why are you sorry?”

“Because
I just demanded you give up your life here and move clear across country to be
with me. That was a selfish thing to ask you to do. But more importantly, I
never told you why I need you with me.”

She
hiccupped and draped her arms around his waist. “Why…do you need me?”

“I
love you. Because I love you. You keep the loneliness out of my life. But if
you really don’t want to move to D.C. I’ll move here.”

She
hung on to him tighter and bawled harder.

Baron
froze, he laid his soul in her hands and his heart rate increased at her
continued tears. He couldn’t be wrong. “Oh, God. Don’t tell me you don’t feel
the same way about me.” For the first time in his life he knew uncertainty. She
held his soul and could crush him.

Jasmine
shook her head and sniffed. “No, no.”

Her
words had his stomach and heart cramping. A punch to his gut and a knife in his
chest would have hurt less.

Tears
still pooled in her beautiful eyes when she looked into his. She must have seen
the misery in them because she smiled through her tears. “I love you, too. I
just wanted to hear you say you’d be willing to do the same thing for me, that
you were asking that I do for you.”

At
those words, the colors around him grew brighter. The pain in his stomach and
around his heart disappeared. “Let’s go back to your place, and I’ll get online
and look into the possibilities for me out here. I’ll take—”

She placed her finger over his lips, and he kissed it. “No. I believe you’ve
missed your flight so let’s see if there’s a later one.

“I
don’t understand,” he said.

“All
I wanted to know was that you were willing.”

He
shook his head. “I'm more than willing.” And he was. He’d do anything.

“I
know,” she replied, “but we’ll both think about it during the next couple of
weeks. We’ll do a little research first and see which would be the best move.”

“Are
you sure?”

“More
sure than anything in my life.”

God
he loved this woman. And he’d make damn sure he did whatever he must to keep
her.

Two
weeks later, Baron waited for Jasmine at Ronald Regan Airport. They’d spoken or
video-chatted a few times a day, and texted every day, too, for the last couple
of weeks. This time they wouldn’t have to worry about recognizing each other.
She was imprinted on his heart. He carried a bouquet of a couple dozen purple
roses, which were her favorites. But he had something else, which caused him to
quiver. This woman instilled emotions in him he’d never thought to experience.
And with a hope and a prayer, he wanted to continue those experiences with her
for the rest of their lives.

The
way he saw it, they’d already been apart for way too long. He’d found what he’d
been searching for and wasn’t giving it up. He anxiously awaited the sight of
her.

As
Jas came through the doorway, Baron’s happiness welled up even more. She was
dressed as she had been the first time they met. Was it just two weeks? His
life had changed so much and all for the better. She had decided to join him
here in D.C. The larger buildings she managed were located here, so her company
had no problem setting her up locally. He watched her approach, putting his
love in his eyes and offering her his heart until the day he took his last
breath. And not giving her up even then.

Jasmine
saw him the moment she came through the door. She couldn’t miss him. He held
the most beautiful roses in his hands, and love glittered in his eyes at the
sight of her. She walked toward him, and he met her halfway. He handed her the
bouquet and dropped to his knees.

Her
heart began beating faster, and her chest heaved like she had run a long way to
reach this moment in time. But her senses were fully alive as she listened to
the man she loved propose to her on his knees before one and all.

“We
first met in an airport, but I feel like we’ve known each other before we were
ever born. As I see it, we’ve wasted enough time already. I want to spend the
rest of my life with you, even if it’s just a lifetime of airports, as long as
it’s with you. But before we leave this terminal, I want my ring on your finger
for all time. Will you marry me?” He pulled out a blue box from his jacket
pocket and offered it up to her.

Tears
rolled down her face and landed on the sapphire stone surrounded by diamonds
that he presented her. Dropping to her knees, she clasped her hand over his. “I
love you and I will.”

With
steady hands, he placed the ring on her finger, and they sealed their pledge
with a kiss. Lost in their love, she heard the whistles and applause around
them.

Chapter
Seven

Jasmine
looked at the date on her electronic tablet screen. She couldn’t believe she’d
been living with Baron for the last three months. Much less engaged. There were
times she’d still get up in the middle of the night thinking she was living a
dream. Some nights Baron was there to hold her close and love her back to
sleep. Things were good between them, when he was around. That was the problem
he wasn’t.

Even
though they’d gotten engaged they decided to get married in less than six
months to give themselves a chance to get to know each other in this new
relationship. In truth, when they were together it was good, oh so very good.
In the months since she’d moved in with him, changed her entire life for him,
she’d spent a total of fourteen days, not consecutively with him. He’d been
traveling all over the country all this time. Sometimes he’d be gone a week.
Other times there was a day here or two there, but back-to-back trips. She
hated being left to her own devices in a strange city without her family or
best friend. Worst of all, she missed the water. She kept telling herself being
together was more important. He was worth it. They were worth these little
bumps in the road. Besides it wouldn’t be like this all the time, just another
couple of months and these projects would be done with. She just needed him
with her.

Most
days her pep talks worked, up until she found out he didn’t always take those
trips alone. His executive assistant sometimes went with him. His young,
blonde, and beautiful female assistant. At least she was married. She trusted
Baron. Believed he loved her, but there were times the phone would ring and it
would be a female from his past, reminding her that he had one hell of a life
before her. Even while he’d flirted with her on the phone, before they’d ever
meet he was screwing other women.

The
house phone rang interrupting her thoughts. She picked it up to the sound of a
husky voice. Betsy. Today would not be one of those good days. It was not the
first time this bitch had called and she’d answered. She thought before she’d
made it perfectly clear that Baron was off the market. And she knew damn well
he had told her that himself. He’d answered the phone when she’d moved in with
him, and spoke to her while Jasmine stood there. For this woman to call now yet
a third time pissed Jasmine off to no end. She slammed the phone down in the
woman’s ear, then took a deep breath. Betsy was not the only one who still
called, though. Those first few days were a nightmare, it got to the point she
wouldn’t answer the phone. Thankfully, a month later, things had calmed down
more but there were still one or two who didn’t take ‘fuck off’ for an answer
to ‘Is Baron There’. Once a woman even showed up at his condo. She was tired of
it. Baron needed to change his number. Frankly, they should just move.

Her
cell rang, and she saw it was Tony’s number. This time she smiled as she
answered the phone.

“Hey,
what’s up?”

“Hey,
Sexy. Got tickets to see the Nat’s. Wanna go?”

She
loved baseball, and although she wasn’t a Nat’s fan, if she was living in D.C.
she better learn to embrace them. And they were playing well, so it was all
good.

“Sure.”

“Pick
you up in an hour.”

Tony
had been her lifesaver. While Baron traveled to meet with their growing list of
nationwide clients, Tony took care of things locally. He was Baron’s partner
and had recently broken up with his fiancé. Baron’s other friends were all
married, they were very nice, but in a totally different world. She didn’t want
to feel like a third wheel going out with them without Baron. She’d tried
having girls’ night out with some of the women, but two were pregnant and one
had a kid, so the conversation eventually treaded into diapers and daycare, the
not-ready-for-that-yet category for her. But she and Tony had been going to
dinner or just a movie a lot lately since Baron wasn’t around as much. In
truth, she was lonely and she missed Baron.

The
Nat’s lost and Tony was depressed, so when he asked her to dinner she went to
try to cheer him up. But he had a little too much to drink. All he could do was
talk about his ex-fiancé. Baron never said why they’d broken up and she didn’t
want to pry, but she felt they’d known each other long enough she could ask.
And it might do him some good to talk about it.