Page 4 of Jade: Chance Are

If only you knew, there wouldn’t be a third time of you leaving me.

"Thank you," she responds, smiling to everyone and continuing to avoid looking at me, I would like to get my answers now, but I sit back. As my grandfather used to say, never let them know what you are thinking. Josh continues to talk about the expectations of the teams and marketing team. He then calls Mariam to discuss more. I certainly wasn't listening to Josh.

"Get me an office. I'm going to be here daily, don't ask questions, just do it," I state, ignoring the flabbergasted look on Josh's face. I turn my attention to my wife, Mariam Jadesola Raimlat. No clue where the name Diaz came from, but she won’t be using it for long.

four

Jade

I explained what my team was going to bring to the table. I didn’t go into details on the how, but I did give some information. I stay focused on my work, which is my preferred position. I now know why my gut would not check.

He's here! How could this have happened? I did my homework. I crossed all the Ts and dotted all the I, just how’s it possible that he’s here? The one person I must avoid is here. Taimani assured me that he'd been out of Rhanaz for a while. Even if he returned to Rhanaz, he was going to be busy with the king. But he's here–how-the-hell did this happen? Focus, Jade. He's nothing to you, anymore. I took the money; I signed the NDA. Focus, Jade, focus.

"How long do you expect before the app is up and running," Josh asks, bringing my mind back to the present.

"Presently, we can't give an exact time, but we have already begun work. Once we have it all mapped out, we’ll have a concrete timeline, please expect about a month for us to have the mapping,” I answer Josh, making effort to avoid the man next to him.

"Any other question for us," I ask, avoiding any glance at him. I nervously rub my engagement ring. I keep my eyes laser-focused on Josh.

"I have a question. How long is your contract?" I managed to take a deep breath, he just had to ask or say something to me. Doesn’t matter that I’m freaking out.

“Six months, but we hope to be done sooner than six months," I respond, still looking at Josh.

“Good, any other questions?” Josh asked the room and got no response.

“We are adjourned,” says Ken. I swiftly pack up and move close to Orion.

"We need to get started ASAP.” He nods.

"Sure, I'll be in your office shortly." I brisked out of the meeting like a rocket is up my ass without a word to Lucy. As soon as I’m in my office, I lock the door. I need a moment. I've breached the first portion of the contract; I exhaled the minute I drop my laptop. I will my mind to relax but it seems impossible that he's here. I fan my hands because they feel sweaty. My heart races like I was on a raging bull ride, and quite frankly I am about to face a raging bull. Luckily, I didn’t wear red. Relax, Jade. I take a deep breath, and I exhale.

I cannot be flustered in my professional element, though I heard him ask for an office. I need to handle this.

I'm a grown-ass woman,

I'm a mom and a leader of my team,

I’m a boss lady.

I can certainly handle him. I exhale, inhale, exhale again. I know handling him is not possible, I can hype my mind as much as possible, and skyrocket my willpower. Mantra all day non-stop. Deep within me, I know that handling him is me wishing I had a wand to rewind my past, but even a magic wand can’t rewind him. He’s too much of a force, a constant, that cannot be erased. No matter how I slice, dice, chop, shake, rattle. He can’t be erased. I’m pacing in my office. My mind is spiraling. I feel the beads of sweat seeping through my blouse.

I'm still pacing when I hear the pounding on the door and the rattling of the door handle. My heart races like it's about to burst out of my chest. My feet feel like they are stuck in a block of concrete with each movement to the door. I let out a heavy sigh.

Time to face Grumpy’s evil twin. I open the door.

Naseer barges in wearing anger like a well-tailored bespoke suit. Lucy is right on his tail as he owns the room, looking dapper in his perfect-fit black suit, and a sage color shirt, the color I always thought made him look debonair.

My body reacts to his proximity, my female parts awakening from years of slumber; now is certainly not the time to wake up my lady parts. Lie back and be a dessert lady again. I mentally chastise my body. Now is the time to face the beast, not crave kisses from the beast.

We stare at each other; though scowling, his eyes still cocoon me. The air is equal part sizzling and stifling as we stare. I whiff his natural scent and the Pavlovian response is immediate. Be still, girl.

"Mariam, the twins are on the phone, they want to talk to Mommy. I'm sorry, I couldn’t resist them," Lucy says. Bringing me out of reverie, just as my mind mentally implodes at her words.

"I'll take it, transfer to my line," I respond, avoiding that bewildered look on his face. My mind is chanting bad timing! Holy fuck!

I ignore him as I take my children’s call, "Hi, my darlings."

“Hi, Mommy, we miss you," they echo.