The next morning at the airport, I paid for a ticket just to accompany Destiny to her gate. I strained to say goodbye to her. I kissed her as many times as I could, wanting to kiss away any doubts about Justine from her mind. Given time, I would prove to her that she was my top priority.
"Are you sure you don't want to fly back on my jet?" I asked, wanting to do anything possible to make her comfortable. "It’ll be less stressful for you than riding with all of these people, going through baggage claim and all of that," I said, gesturing to the busy airport.
"Awe, that was sweet when you asked me the first five times, but I'll be fine," she said, still in my arms. A beautiful smile flashed across her face. "Do you remember when we first met?" she asked.
"Of course, I do." I remembered every moment exactly the way it was. Meeting women and having sex on the same day wasn’t the way I approached relationships, meaningful ones, anyway. However, there was something very different about Destiny and I knew this the moment I laid my eyes on her.
"What do you remember, Jacob?"
"I remember you walking out of Tazi's and bumping into me. Then you looked at me as if I were some kind of god."
She blushed and playfully hit my arm. "Oh, is that how you remember it?"
"Something like that," I said, kissing her again. "You made me feel visible and important, and it wasn’t because of my money. Being treated like that was a breath of fresh air. People always treat me nice, but it's hard to tell if it's genuine. Once you get on the plane headed back to Atlanta, I will be missing that in my life."
"I’m going to miss you, too, Jacob. I really enjoyed our time together after I got past everything else." Her eyes wandered away from mine briefly. "I can’t wait until we can see each other again."
"I’ll be in Atlanta next week. You’re not going to make me wait this long to see you again."
"Okay," Destiny submitted. "Jacob, I just want to say that I…" a screeching voice yelling my name cut her off.
"Jacobbbb!" the voice called out again.
I jumped away from Destiny and on guard to protect her. I was pissed when I found the source of the noise.
"Oh, hell! It’s Justine," I warned Destiny, while keeping her behind me.
"Excuse me?" she said and stepped around me.
"It's Justine. I don't know why she's here. This is insane." I placed an arm protectively around Destiny's waist. She was my main concern.
"Jacob, I don't want this lady killing herself because of me." Destiny stepped away from me and out of my grasp. "Just tell her we're business associates and you gave me a ride to the airport and that we were sitting here discussing business."
"I’m not lying about who you are to me. Besides, we were hugging," I said, watching Justine walk as fast as she could in her heels trying to reach us.
"Just tell her something that won’t have her overdosing by midnight, but please handle her once and for all, Jacob, or I’m out!" Destiny picked up her bags and walked toward her terminal.
"Destiny, wait…"
The shock of Justine rushing toward me stopped me from chasing after Destiny. Justine’s ass was bat-shit crazy for following us there.
"What?" Destiny answered, curtly. Her soft facial features were stern.
I went to her. "I want you to listen to this so you will not have mixed feelings about us."
"I had to buy a damn plane ticket to get back here and find out you're cheat
ing on me with…with her, Jacob? I thought you said you were going to your mother’s church this morning. What the hell are you doing here in the airport, all hugged up with this black…bitch?" Justine spat out when she reached me.
After she insulted my woman, all of that protect her feelings shit was out. Destiny's face was full of hurt, and I wasn’t having any of it.
"Justine, we’ve been friends for a long time, and we shared a lot, but you are crossing a very serious line by insulting my woman. If you ever find it necessary to address her, it’s beautiful black queen to you," I said, stepping close to her, pissed the hell off. "You need to calm your stupid-acting spoiled ass down," I added.
"You're defending her, Jacob?" Justine asked, incredulous.
"She is my girlfriend; of course, I'm defending her. You just watch what you say about her," I said with Destiny standing close by.
A vacant look entered Justine's eyes. Her voice flattened as she said, "Jacob, why are you doing this to me?”