Color Me Blind (A Divine Love Story Book 1) (19 page)

“Yeah
, but you love me and you know you’re my slave.” 

“Is that a racist joke there buddy?” 

He laughed, “Ha, no actually it wasn’t.”

She scrambled the eggs and added
feta cheese just the way they both liked them. She put them over the heat as he was cooking the pancakes.  They were moving as a unit and didn’t even notice it.  But they had an audience.  Amber had gotten up to pee and realized Blake was gone.  She heard voices downstairs.  What do you know? Blake and Jasmine were in the kitchen flirting away like they didn’t have a care in the world. How dare he?  She was lying in his bed covered in his scent and he was downstairs with
her
cooking and flirting like she didn’t even exist.

She watched
him put the plates on the table.  Jasmine was getting milk out of the refrigerator.  They sat down to eat.  Jasmine blessed the food.  Amber rolled her eyes,
yeah pray for your food while you’re screwing my man ten feet away from my sleeping body
. 

She continued to watch them as they laughed and picked off each
other’s plates.  It was something they always did that Amber could not stand, especially when they were eating the same thing.  She’d had enough. She descended the stairs and headed into the dining room.  They didn’t even notice her so she cleared her throat. 

Blake
’s head turned in her direction.

“Hey Amber
. I’m sorry, did we wake you?” 

She was
stunned.  He was caught red handed and acted as if this was completely acceptable. 

She said, “No
, the empty bed woke me.” 

Jasmine could t
ell this was a pissed off woman.  By the way she was glaring at her she was partly the cause of it, once again.  She was over Amber and her tantrums. 

Jasmine
said, “Hey Amber.  You want some pancakes?” 

“No
, you back stabbing wench, I don’t.” 

Blake’s head shot up, “Whoa, now that was uncalled for.” 

He immediately reached to keep Jasmine in her seat because her temper was not to be underestimated. 

J
asmine said, “Excuse you, what is your problem?” 

“My problem is it’s four in the morning an
d my man is with you and not me. Now if you don’t back off we are going to have some problems.” 

Jas
mine was literally speechless.  As of that day, yeah, she had a couple of unexpected reactions to Blake’s body but that was it.  She was not now or never would be the other woman. 

Blake stood up.

“Ok
ay, we all need to just calm down.” 

Doors started to open
because of the raised voices. Carmen said in a whiny sleepy voice, “Really guys?” 

She looked
down from the stairs and assessed the situation.  She thought to herself,
Oh
.

Damon
came out.  He had a better view since he was on the bottom floor.  When he saw the situation he shot Blake a sympathetic look.  They both went back to their respective rooms. 

Blake
asked, “Jasmine, can you clean this for me while I go talk to Amber?” 

She glared at Amber and said, “Yeah sure,” without taking her eyes off Amber. 

He said, “Thanks.”

A
s an automatic reflex he kissed her on her nose. 

Amber lunged for her but Blake was faster.  His instincts had him putting his body in front of Jasmine and man handling Amber.  Jasmine had had enough. 

She stood up and said, “Lil girl, I don’t know who you think you dealing with, but I will wipe the floor wit’ yo scrawny behind. Now you better back the hell up before I act my color.” 

Blake dropped his head.

“Jasmine please?” 

“Well then you better get her before I do.  I don’t have to apologize for hanging out with my best friend. If she had done a better job you woulda still been sleep.”  She pointed at Amber, “If you were up to par he wouldn’t need me for additional entertainment.  So don’t blame me for your shortcomings.” 

Blake literally had to drag Amber s
creaming out of the dining room.  Lucy and Ahmed came out this time, assessed the situation and went back to bed. 

He looked back at Jasmine and mouthed, “Really Jaz?” 

Jasmine shrugged, she was fuming.  She was sick of everybody and their mama telling her she couldn’t be friends with Blake.  This was all a bunch of bull.  How little was Amber’s opinion of her to think she would sleep with Blake after she did? 
Nasty heifa
, she thought.  She began to clean up the kitchen and tried to calm herself down so she wouldn’t go into Blake’s room and show Amber a beat down she would not soon forget.

∞∞∞

Blake slammed the door behind him.  The anger that was on his face frightened Amber.  She had never seen him so mad.  He was walking toward her so she backed up.

H
e said, “Don’t you ever threaten to hurt my friend because you can’t control your emotions.  You will not disrespect her in her own house.  You are a guest and you don’t have to be here.” 

That’s it.
She was officially passed her limit.

“How dare
you defend her to me when you left me naked in your bed to go and be with her?” 

“Go and
be with her?  What the hell do you think we did?  Do you really think that low of both of us that she would sleep with me knowing I had just slept with you and you were still in my bed?  She is my friend, nothing more.  I couldn’t sleep.” 

“Well why didn’t you wake me?” 

“Because I chose to wake her.” 

She wanted to slap him with all her might. 

“I am so sick of you and your
best
friend.  That is such a load of crap.  There is obviously something going on.” 

He felt a slight twinge of guilt simply because recently h
e had wanted something to go on.  The fact still remained nothing had and nothing probably ever would. 

“You
are starting to sound redundant.  I won’t tell you again we are just friends.” 

“Oh yeah just friends.  Whatever Blake.  When you can’t sleep you wake her not me.  When you need something I am not the first
person you call, it’s her.  Why do you need me, you have her?” 

“I am not
in a relationship with Jasmine. I am in a relationship with you?” 

“Ha.  Is that what you call this?  Well obviously I’m just h
ere for sex because she sure has your heart.” 

He was tired of defending his friendship to Amber and everybody else.  How many ways could he say we are just friends?  Tonight he would not be saying it again. 

He said, “I will not have this conversation with you again.  If you don’t like it you can leave.”

She gave into her urge and slapped him as hard as she could.  It stunned him as his head whipped around.  It made him flash back to his dad’s hand slapping him across the face.  Would she slap their children because she couldn’t control her anger?  Blake didn’t hit and he would never allow anybody else to hit him either.  He grabbed his jaw and gave her a cold steely stare. 

His voice was dripping with ice.

“Get out of my house.  Text me to let me know you made it home safely and then don’t ever speak to me again.”

She was taken aback by the sheer frost and finality in his tone.

“But Blake I’m sorry.
I didn’t mean that.  I don’t know what’s gotten into me.  Can’t you understand why I feel threatened?” 

He said one more time for good measure, “Get out now!  When I come out of the bathroom, you better not be on my property.”

He slammed the bathroom door and looked in the mirror. 

“
Blake, what the heck is going on in your life these days?”  He washed his face and screamed into the towel as he dried it.  He stood there for five minutes.  He swore if this woman was not out of his house he would let Jasmine loose on her.

He walked
into his room and she was gone.  As he went to his bedroom door he heard the front door closing.  He went down and locked the door behind her.  He headed back up the stairs about to go to his room when he realized it wasn’t where he wanted to be. 

He turned and looked at
Jasmine’s closed room door.  He tried to resist but there was such a pull, just to be near her.  He didn’t really have the energy to fight it.  He didn’t bother knocking just walked in and shut the door behind him. 

She was sitting on the bed with her arms folded
across her chest looking mad as a snake.

H
e said, “It’s over.” 

She replied, “I know.  Are you okay?” 

“I will be.” 

She pulled back the covers and scooted over.  He climbed in
and turned his back to her. 

“I
don’t want to talk about it.” 

“That’s cool. T
urn off the light.” 

He obliged.  W
hen he lay back down he shifted further to his own side away from her.  It was beyond tormenting to need to be near her but want to be anywhere else.  Jasmine couldn’t remember a time when she was a million miles away from him, even though they were in the same bed. 

It didn’t bother her one bit that his back was to her because she wanted hers to him as well.  She was scared by the relief she felt th
at Amber was out of the picture.  That was something she didn’t really know how to cope with.

It was
early on a Friday morning.  Jasmine was in a much better mood than she had been in for weeks.  She was coping well over her break up with Derrick.  Each day she was getting a little piece of her heart back.  The thing that made her life difficult was this attraction she seemed to have to Blake.  It was driving her crazy.  For the life of her she couldn’t understand where it came from all of a sudden. 

Wherever it came from it must have been there for a long time because it hi
t her like a Mack Truck head on.  She found herself avoiding him every chance she could manage unless there were other people around. 

The fear she felt about her feelings for Blake was almost paralyzing.  She only saw it ending badly.  She couldn’t see what so many other people saw.  She didn’t know why
, but she was beyond afraid to act on what she was feeling.

As soon as she sorted through all of this and figured out what she was going to do about her
attraction to Blake she would write Derrick a nice long letter filled with I-am-so-sorry, apparently-you-were-right anecdotes.  As she stood in the bathroom mirror she shook her head at herself. 

She ran her han
ds through her still short hair. Even though she loved her new look she really did miss her curls.  She knew Blake missed them too.  The thought of him playing in her curls made her smile and gave her butterflies. 

“Jasmine
, what is wrong with you?  Get it together,” she chastised herself. 

Even though it was a Friday she didn’t have any clients until noon so she wanted to just hang out and relax with whoever was at the house until it was time to go into the shop.  She threw on Blake’s sweat pants
that were lying across her bed, his favorite t-shirt and headed out to the living room.

She walked out to find all of her roommates standing
and sitting around the TV looking shocked.  Lucy was crying.  Jasmine got scared because she didn’t know what was going on? 

“Guys, what happened?  What’s wrong?” 

When no one answered her she ran into the living room and stared at the TV.  There was a breaking news report on. 

A
s Jasmine tuned in she heard, “The gunman shot himself after he unleashed his rage on the college campus.  His shooting spree lasted for twenty-two minutes before he killed himself.” 

They were showing shots of their college alma mater and the chaos that was left in the wake of the deranged gunman. 

Jasmine gasped, “Lord, have mercy!” 

The pain, agony, shock and fear on the faces
of the people on the campus was heart wrenching.  She couldn’t believe this was happening and at their school none the less.  She obviously missed the part about why this gunman killed all these people. 

They were reporting
the death of 35 people, including faculty and students.  Even a child had been gunned down with countless wounded.  If that wasn’t bad enough the next thing shown on the screen put Jasmine on red alert.  The panic that hit her was severe when they displayed a picture of the assailant who cowardly took his own life. 

His handsome face showed dark olive skin that was flawless
.  His eyes were black and cold. His curly black hair was cut as neatly as his goatee.  Jasmine’s heart sank.  She looked around for Ahmed and made eye contact with Damon.  She knew he was thinking the same thing. 

Ahmed
was sitting on the sofa. Jasmine sat next to him as she picked up the remote and turned off the TV.  She got protests from everyone except for Damon. 

S
he said, “Guys listen, this is serious.  What good is it going to do for us to keep watching this?” 

Ahmed
looked at her strangely.

“What is it Jasmine?” 

She looked down and grabbed his hand. She noticed their skin was so similar yet so different.  Even though some people looked at her with hate, she knew more people would look at him with hate, especially after today. 

She swallowed hard.

“
Ahmed, listen to me sweetie, you need to be careful when you go out today.  If it’s possible maybe you could call into work and not go anywhere on your own for at least a week.” 

He stared at her
doubtfully, so did Blake, Carmen and Lucy. 

Damon
had her back though.

“You guys Jaz
zy is right.  As wrong as it is, when people see you they don’t know you’re not a religious nut.  They don’t know that you’re not some whacked terrorist trying to punish America.  People’s emotions are probably going to be out of control for the next few weeks.  What Jasmine is saying is she doesn’t want you to be caught in the crossfire of someone’s misplaced anger.”

Ahmed
just stared at both of them for a moment. 

Blake said, “I understand what you guys are saying
, but I think you’re being a little bit ridiculous.” 

Lucy
nodded in agreement. 

Damon
spoke, “No disrespect guys but I believe Jasmine and I have a more intimate knowledge of racial profiling than any of you guys.” 

Ahmed
said, “Damon, you’re mixed, you’re not the quintessential minority.” 

“Whatever man.
You know I’m not fully black because you’re my friend, but if you saw me in the street what would you assume?” 

Ahmed
didn’t respond. Damon looked at Lucy, Carmen then Blake.  Neither of them wanted to admit they would assume he was Black. 

Smugly
Damon said, “Exactly, that’s my point.  People assume and don’t ask questions until after someone is hurt.  Dawg, I know you’re a grown man, but I really would feel better if you kinda kept it low key for a little while until this settles down.”

Ahmed
stood up.

“Look
, I appreciate what you guys are trying to do.  I am just as hurt as every other American to know that some psycho killed all those innocent people, but I can’t stop living my life because people make bad decisions based on their skewed understanding of their religion.” 

Jasmine stood as well
.

“
Ahmed, please don’t be so quick to think it can’t happen to you.  I’m telling you I just feel very strongly that you need to be careful.  At least take one of Damon’s or Blake’s guns and keep it in your car.” 

Damon
was so on Jasmine’s side with this one.

Carmen spoke, “Okay guys let’s everyone just chill out.
  Look guys, I remember how people profiled people who were or looked Arab after 9/11.  It wasn’t cool, but it was understandable.  I think we are making too much of a big deal out of this. So let’s everybody just calm down.” 

Lucy hadn’t said a word.  She couldn’t stand to see that much pain and suffering and for no reason whatsoever. 

She cleared her throat and spoke.

“Guys this house is a place
where race isn’t an issue. We all get along because we love each other for who we are not what we are.  However, I think our acceptance of each other can blind us sometimes to what the world is really like outside of these walls.” 

She moved her arms in a sweeping gesture to encompass the idea of their home. 

Lucy continued, “While some of us may think it’s extreme and some of us think it’s smart Ahmed just be extra careful and pay attention to your surroundings.” 

He started to say something.
She put her hand up to stop him.

“That’s something all of us should do anyways
, so don’t get your boxers in a bunch okay.” 

Ahmed
smirked, “Speaking of boxers, I have a hot date tonight.  I don’t plan on cancelling it so everybody just relax.  I’m going to be late for work.” 

With that he left for his room.  Lucy and Carmen followed suit. 
Damon gave Jasmine’s hand a squeeze before he headed to his room.  Left alone with no adult supervision Jasmine and Blake stared at each other.  His first instinct was to comfort her.  Even though he didn’t agree, he could tell she was shaken and she was truly concerned for Ahmed. 

Blake found a way to cope with his
feelings for Jasmine.  He wanted her but he didn’t want to lose her as a friend so he decided to just continue being who he’d always been to her.  He would deny himself what he truly wanted until he was ready to know if she felt the same way. 

He
walked around to where she stood in front of the couch.  When he reached for her she took a step back. 

His eyebrow shot up and he asked, “
What’s wrong?” 

Jasmine couldn’t believe she had just done that
, but her fears made her avoid him at all costs.  So she got defensive. 

“No
thing Blake, I’m not a child. I don’t need you to hold me every time I get upset.” 

This time he took a step back and stared at
her like she had lost her mind.

“
Is there something I’ve done that you need to tell me about?” 

She saw
the hurt in his eyes that she caused but there was no way she was about to let him touch her.  She didn’t trust herself to keep her true feelings to herself.               

“What do you
want me to say Blake, I’m fine. Can you just back off?” 

He moved closer to her but there wasn’t affection in his eyes this time, it
was anger. 

“I have backed off.
Jasmine I’m so freakin’ far from you these days I’m practically on another planet.  So I’m asking you what the deal is.  What have I done to you?  You would think that with Amber and Derrick gone our friendship could go back to what it was, so what exactly am I missing here?” 

“Nothing Blake, could you please just not make a big deal out of this. 
I don’t need you to kiss my nose or play in my hair or hold me.  I’m a big girl.  You know I can handle my own emotions.  I don’t want you to touch me. I’m sorry I just don’t.” 

Her mind was in self-preservation mode and she couldn’t believe what she was willing to do to keep her feelings to herself. 

Blake was heated.

“Well excuse me for trying to comfort a friend.  I haven’t
touched
you in weeks.  You’ve been walking around here for weeks with this attitude and avoiding me like the plague. I’m sick of it.” 

She let her temper match his.  T
hey were unaware that because of all their yelling they now had an audience of four. 

“Blake
, we have been in each other’s face since we were two. I’m sorry, but I need a break.  Everywhere I turn you’re in my face and I feel like I’m suffocating. I just need some space okay. You know since you’re all done with your daddy issues I think I can have some time to myself now.” 

The moment the words left her mouth she regretted them
, but what could she do? Words were one of those things you couldn’t take back.  He looked at her like she was a complete stranger.  Even though it hurt her to see him look at her with such disdain the damage was already done.  The pain of being rejected by the woman who meant everything to him almost made him lose it in front of her but his pride fought hard and long to keep that from happening. 

The
ache she caused him was ten times the ache he felt when Melissa and Amber made their exits from his life.  He thought she was the one person in the world who would never hurt him.  The realization that he couldn’t have been more wrong crushed him.  The agony he felt allowed some words to slip out that he regretted before they even left his lips, but misery loved company. 

“Well I tell you what, since
I’m suffocating you and you can handle your emotions all by your lonesome, how about you handle them all by yourself on June 8th.” 

His words sliced through her like a hot knife through butter. 
Her face cringed like she had just been given a swift kick in the stomach.  She didn’t have his control.  A tear slipped out and ran down her cheek.  For the first time since they were little her tears didn’t move him. 

She felt like she was going to be sick
but her anger was quick and paramount.  Before she could stop herself she slapped him as hard as she could.  He knew it was coming and willingly took the slap.  It didn’t shock him because he knew her better than he knew himself.  Somewhere deep inside he felt like he may have deserved it. 

He got in her face looking her square in the eyes and said
with barely controlled rage, “Go to hell Jasmine.  That should give you all the space you need.” 

He sidestepped her and
headed upstairs to his room.

She stood there in momentary shock.  She’d hurt h
im and she did it on purpose.  Was it really so shocking he would try to hurt her back?  She couldn’t believe she hit him.  She knew how he felt about hitting.  Who was this person she was becoming?