Jacob smoothed out his beard. “Let’s start the conversation with this; you called his name in your sleep last night.”
“I was having a bad dream,” I admitted.
“So Montie was a part of a bad dream?”
“Yeah, now you have to take responsibility for your part in all of this.”
“That’s just it! I do take responsibility for my part. It’s the part about you getting in bed with Montie that’s fucked up. Would you care to enlighten me on that?”
“Not until you enlighten me as to why you’ve been a ghost for three weeks!”
Jacob stood up and sighed. He walked over to me and touched my arm.
“I was betrayed. I should’ve never left your side.” His hands trailed down my arms and landed on my hands. “I put your ring back on last night. Where is it?”
“Back in the box where it will stay until we work on getting things back to where they were. Everything that happened last night was in the heat of the moment,” I said.
“I meant every moment of it,” Jacob said.
“But today, it’s back to reality.”
“I tried to come by the hospital, you know?” He looked at me to gauge my response. “I called. I sent flowers. I did everything in my power to see you, but Montie and your mother did everything in their power to keep me away,” he said defensively.
“They were just trying to protect me,” I said, understanding how they must have felt.
“Well, when I came up there repeatedly and they didn’t let me come in to see you, I didn’t know what to do, Destiny.”
“Mama said you only came once.”
“That’s not true. I came up there five times in three days and they kept refusing to let me see you. Then, my father called and told me someone had embezzled millions of dollars from Turner Enterprises. I went to Miami, only because there was no way for me to get through to visit you.”
“So you chose work?”
“No, I chose my sanity. I would be in jail right now if I kept going up there fighting with Montie.”
“Jacob, I’m just going to be honest. I know you are a good man. I know you were trying to be there for a friend and then be there for your company. I just don’t like the fact that you stayed away so long. I’ve been home for over a week and nothing.”
He nodded. “I understand your pain. It’s the same pain I had when I found out you slept with Montie.”
“Don’t throw Montie in my face. Montie would have never gotten back in here if you had not abandoned me.”
“I’ve always been open about the fact that Justine was my best friend who was dealing with suicidal issues and you knew I was a CEO of a major company when you met me. But I guess you don’t know me at all. I would never abandon you,” Jacob said with contempt.
“You woke up from a dead sleep calling her name on a whim, but when you know for a fact that I need you, you’re a ghost. The first face I wanted to see when I woke up was yours. I wanted you to be there to make me feel safe,” I said, shifting in my seat. “But you were nowhere to be found. You want to know who was there though.” Hot tears splashed against my cheeks and I didn't do anything to stop it as the flood gates opened to lay bare my hurt and pain.
“Montie,” he said on a laugh. He began pacing the room. “If it wasn’t for Montie and your mother, I would have been at that hospital. Hell, I would have been here sooner.”
“I can’t imagine anyone getting in between me and you,” I told him frankly.
“Not even butt naked sex with Montie?” Jacob said, boring holes through me.
“If I didn’t have doubts, Montie never would’ve gotten close to my bed. You left the door wide open in a time when I needed someone to be there for me.”
He glared at me. “Hell, I needed someone over the past two weeks, but I didn’t take anyone to bed, Destiny. That is no excuse! It’s fucked up all the way around!”
“Yeah… it is,” I admitted.
“I kept arguing with him every time I came to the hospital. Your mother kept defending him. The doctors kept listening to him. I told them I was your fiancé and they still listened to Montie, so when my father called me and told me he needed me, I left.”