All I Want Is Forever (5 page)

“Do you think it’s a good idea?”

“He’s overly excited about working with us on it.  He wants to meet and share some ideas he came up with.  I don’t think it’ll hurt to see what he has.”

“Well, I’m okay with that.  I trust you.”

“No, we’ll have to come into agreement.  This is a partnership, Denise.  We don’t make decisions alone.”

She shook her head.  “Understood.”

“How’s your salad?”  DJ asked.

“It’s refreshing,” she smiled.  “And your soup?”

“It’s…hot,” he chuckled.  “But it’s good.”

“And it stinks,” Denise added.  “Who eats French Onion soup in 80 degree weather?”

“This guy!”  He stated pointed to himself.

“Right.”

They continued conversing while finishing their lunch. 

As they walked out of Panera, DJ grabbed Denise by the hand.

“Denise, you and I are finally one.  There is no ‘I’ in this team.  I needed you and now that we have each other, we will reach for the moon…together.  Even if we only make it to the stars, I will be totally satisfied with you and the fulfillment of making this journey together.  I love you.”

He rubbed the back of her hand softly.

“Umm, I didn’t prepare a speech.  This was so unexpected,” she said jokingly.  “No, but seriously, you are the best man I’ve ever known and there is no greater joy than knowing that I have you as my coveted and lifelong partner.  Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your team and giving me the opportunity to love you.”

DJ placed his hand on the car door.  He bent over and kissed Denise on the forehead.

“You are my MVP.  You’re my only team member, with God being our coach, and I’m more than alright with that, my lady.”

He opened the passenger side door
and Denise sat down on the butter soft leather seat; smiling at her hearts only desire.  He was her ultimate blessing from God.

CHAPTER SIX

“Camille Lawson,” the fair
skin-colored woman said as she extended her hand.  Her long black hair held the perfect curls and was tinted with blonde streaks, which swayed every time she moved.  Her legs were long, flawless and complimented her frame.

“Have a seat, Ms. Lawson,” Denise said pointing to the chair in front of her desk.

“Will that be all, Mrs. Chatman?”

“Yes, Keisha.  Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she said closing the door behind her.

“Ms. Lawson, I’d like to thank you for
taking the time to meet with me.  I like to personally interview the models for my book covers and fashion shows.”

“It’s not a problem.  I understand and I truly appreciate you considering me.”

“So, tell me a little bit about yourself.”

“Well, I’m twenty-three years old and I live
here in Miami.  I love modeling, acting, and my desire is to make a career out of them both.”

“Do you have any degrees or certifications?”

“No, ma’am.  I attended UM for a little while, but was unable to finish.”

“Do you have any experience with modeling or acting?”

“I do.  I’ve appeared in several movies that were aired on BET in addition to some modeling for
Teen Magazine
.  I have my portfolio if you’d like to take a look at it,” Camille offered.

Denise nodded. 

Camille pulled a folder out of her bag and passed it across the desk.

“Well, Ms. Lawson, let me tell you a little bit about myself and my company.  T.I.A.
Enterprises is my third love; my first being God and my second being my husband,” she smiled.  “Our business has been in operation for four years now and is quickly growing.  Our vision is simple.  We built the company so that it would be an outlet for people who don’t necessarily have the means, the ‘know how’ to step outside the box.”

“
Our company gives them a presence or a voice to get them into places and through doors where they would otherwise be overlooked and unheard.  We wanted to be that voice and media outlet for people with passion, love, and an honest and true desire to do this from their gifting and not necessarily for a hustle.  We’ve created a successful company that can stand behind the artists we cosign for.  I am not a college graduate, I do not have a college degree, but I have the passion, desire and the determination to succeed in whatever I place my hands on.  Be it the will of God, we will make it work.  So, with that being said, do you have any questions?”

Camille smiled then shook her head.  “No ma’am.”

“Well, I have one more question for you, but I want you to take your time, think about it and email me your answer by end of business tomorrow,” Denise said handing Camille her business card.  “The question is this.  “Is what you do out of motivation or inspiration?”

“Well…”

“No.  Don’t answer right now.  This question requires some thought and I want you to really think about it.  Email me your answer and thank you for your time, Ms. Lawson.”

Denise smiled, stood and shook Camille’s hand
and then escorted her to the receptionist desk near the exit.

“Thank you again, Mrs. Chatman for your consideration.  I will email you my answer tomorrow.”

“You’re more than welcome,” she paused.  “Ms. Lawson, there is no right or wrong answer to this question.”

“I understand.  Thank you again.” 

“So, how’d it go?”  Keisha asked once Camille was gone.

“It was simple.  I asked her a few questions, told her about myself and the
company, asked her a question, and the rest you witnessed.”

“Quick and painless,
” Keisha stated.

“Mrs. Chatman!”

“Jonas!  What have I told you about yelling my name like that?”

“I’m sorry.  I wanted to give you these drafts for those book covers.”

“You finished them already?”

“Yes, ma’am I did.  I sent them to you via email, but wanted to give you the original as well.”

“Don’t you want to keep the originals?”

“Nope.  Even if you don’t use them for the covers I
believe you’ll like them.  Besides, I want you to have them.  Think of them as an early Christmas present.”

“When’d you start giving out Christmas presents?”
Keisha questioned sarcastically.

“Whatever,” he replied.

“Well, I’ll take a look, Jonas.  If they flow with the storyline I’ll compensate you, aside of your regular earnings, for your work.”

“You don’t have to pay me anything.”

“Yes, I do.  This is business.  Nothing you do that is work related is free.  So, again, I’ll look at them and I’ll let you know something tomorrow.  Good job.”

Denise turned and went back to her office.

“What are you trying to do get us both fired?”

“No, I asked a question that I wanted to know the answer to.”

“First and foremost, let’s not start with the Christmas presents or the lack thereof.  You’re the one who said ‘don’t get me anything’ and I didn’t.”

“Jonas, get away from my desk.”

“Relationships would be a whole lot easier to have if women would just tell men what they really wanted instead of trying to turn us into mind readers.  See you later.”

“Maybe.”

“Whatever.”

***

“Mrs. Chatman speaking.”

“Hey Denise, are you busy?”

“Not at this moment.  What’s up?”

“You were right.”

“I was right about what, Aprile?”

“You were right about Alex.”

“Aprile, I’m so sorry.”

“Shoot, I’m the one who should be sorry.  All the signs were there.  I ignored them as usual.”

“So, let me ask you a question.  Why do you keep doing this to yourself?  Do you understand that you’re self-inflicting pain?  Unnecessary pain.”

“I wanted it to work out and he promised me that
it would.  I believed him because I’m tired of being alone.  I wanted to be with Alex.”

“Aprile, honey
, sometimes you have to stop pursuing what you want so God can send you what you need.   You keep looking for love in a man who doesn’t even love himself.  You are searching for happiness in a place where happiness doesn’t reside.  I know you’re comfortable with Alex and the thought of starting over, or not starting at all, is frightening, but the more you give of yourself the more he’s going to take.”

“Why do men cheat?”

“Well, surely somebody has written a book about it, but the million dollar question is why do we let them?”

“Really, Denise?”

“Yes, really.  Okay, he cheats the first time and you, and not you personally, but you let him back because you love him.  He cheats the second time and you let him back.  Why?”

“
Because I love him.”

“
Maybe.  And maybe you let him come back because he shifted the blame on you and made you feel accountable for
his
cheating.  What’d he say this time?”

Aprile sat quietly.

“Hello?”

“He said…he said that he couldn’t stand the thought of another man being with me.”

“He couldn’t stand the thought of another man being with you how?”

“
Sexually,” Aprile replied.

“Well, isn’t that interesting.  He couldn’t stand the thought of another man being with
you
, but you have to think about and even be confronted by the women that have been
with
him.  Very interesting.”

“I don’t care about him sleeping with those women, Denise.  I have his heart and his wallet.”

“Do you know how ignorant that sounds?  I pray that you never have little girls because if you pass this nonsense down to them, whew!  God help us all,” Denise said placing her hand on top of her head.

“It’s better to know the truth.”

“Get the hell out of here!  You can’t be serious, are you?”

“Yes, actually I am.  Before I was speculating and didn’t know for sure if he was cheating or not.  I was going half-crazy thinking that he was, but not being able to prove it.  Then when he came home the other night, drunk out of his mind, I went through his cellphone and found naked pictures of the girl, explicit text messages, and I even listened to a few voice mails.”

“That would’ve done it for me.”

“
I was so damn mad!  Then he had the nerve to tell me that he wasn’t cheating and I was crazy.”

“Did you tell him the proof was in his
Android?”

“
Of course.”

“Men always try to
downgrade our emotions by insinuating we’re being ‘over dramatic.’  No stupid!  We know you’re a liar and we
hate
being lied to.”

“Well, to make a long story short.  I felt better knowing the truth.”

“You’ve known the truth.”

“
Maybe I did, but then I had proof.  So, he packed his stuff and left again.”

“Aprile, please don’t let him come back.  The number one reason for the revolving door relationships is
that most women leave the window cracked.  Nail it shut and post a sign stating: 
The woman you’re looking for no longer lives here
.  Stop making yourself available.”

***

“I don’t understand it.  I know every woman is different, but when a woman gets that feeling deep in her stomach that tells her something isn’t right with
her
man, there’s no need to go searching for proof.  Her spirit has already confirmed it.”

Denise laid her head on DJ’s chest as he wrapped his arms around her.

“Well, you said it.  Every woman is different and every woman has their own reasons for allowing these men to come back.  For men the reason they keep going back is pretty much the same.”

“Do tell.”

He inhaled.  “A few reasons men go back, the top one being, is because women keep the door open.  Then there are other reasons: it’s easy, convenient, familiar, something to do, they don’t want to be lonely, it’s passion without compassion, because the women call, oh and…drugs, alcohol
or
just plain ole being horny.”

“Interesting.”

“Is it the same reasons for women?”

“I guess it is for the most part.”

“And for the rest?”

“If I had to take an educated guess or answer from experience and what I’ve witnessed I would have to say emotional attachment.”

“Do you think it’s possible to detach?”

“
Yes, I do.  However, I believe it’s much easier for some than others.  It makes me mad to see her do this to herself.  It’s somewhat heart-wrenching.”

“That’s just the way
lust is.”

“But it doesn’
t have to be that way, DJ.  Women can put an end to this revolving door pandemic.  I swear it makes me sick to hear women say those two words.”

“What two words?”

“He’s back.”

He laughed. 

“It’s not funny, baby.  I’m serious.”

“I know you are, but you can’t help people who don’t want to be helped
or even help themselves.  Also, you have to remember what it was like.  It may have been easy for you, but you can’t expect people to do what you’d do in that situation.  Another thing you can’t do is take everything to heart.  What you can do for Aprile is, after listening, offer to pray with her.  Even if you believe he’s the worse thing for her, she won’t leave until she’s ready.”

“I know.  It scares me to think that she may never be ready.”

DJ rubbed Denise’s head.  “Hey,” he whispered.  “Have I ever told you how much I love our pillow talks?”

“You are so silly.”

“I’m so serious.  I love our communication.  Whether we’re talking about Doritos Loco’s Tacos, Aprile, work, or our love.  I absolutely love that we’re able to communicate so effectively.”

“You know what I love?”

“What’s that?”

“I love the w
ay you hold me in your arms.  I’ve never felt so safe.”

“Will you stay?”

“Stay where?”

“In my arms.”

She smiled. 

“Is that a
yes
?”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“I have a confession.”

“
Right now?”

“Yes, right now,” DJ
insisted.

“
I’m listening.”

“I’m so in love with you, Mrs. Chatman.  I want you and me to grow
together and last forever – sharing, loving, and building both in love and in spirit.  Thank you for being my virtuous woman.”