He Loves Her, She Loves Him Not

4th Installment: Jasmine and Dereck

“Yo! Cindy! We’ve to talk. Something’s happened. Meet me at the Center of the Universe tonight. Don’t make me wait. I won’t be there 5 minutes after midnight. Got that, babe? Midnight.”

Jasmine understands Cindy’s concern for Marty a little too well after hearing his cryptic messaged on the answering machine.
“See what I’m saying?” Cindy begins to regurgitate the same monologue to her audience of one. “He wants to break-up. If he was hurt he would need me to meet him at the hospital or some clinic. Why the Center of the Universe? I’ll tell you, because it is the only place we could be where one can watch me cry.”
“I think you should look at it from a broader perspective. He may want to take the relationship to the next level.”
“There is no next anything with us. We’ve already gone all the way. I thought I told you that ages ago.”
“Well there is always exclusivity …”
“Ha! Yeah, in your world of magazine articles and columns and such but not for the rest of us, Jazz.”

Jasmine slightly raises her hands to signal surrender then sits back, resolved to just listen to Cindy babble on about her insecurities. If she only knew what Marty had told Jasmine between the sheets. He is in deep with some heavy hitters and from what Jasmine hears his batting average has plummeted in recent weeks. Things have gone bad alright but not the way Cindy thinks.

Marty was a talker while he and Jasmine were lovers in what seemed like another life with a different set of rules governing her reality. That was before Dereck. Ah … Dereck.

Jasmine answers the obnoxious knocking on her door. Dereck is standing there looking just as handsome as ever.
“What are you doing here?”
“What do you mean? I live here.”
“If you lived here, Dereck, you wouldn’t be knocking on the door because you would have your key.”
“It’s not my fault you don’t have a spare set.” Dereck pushes past her without an invite.
Jasmine slams the door.

“So you live here. After everything that’s what you came here to say to me.”
Dereck turns to face Jasmine. She is struck by the sincerity and almost desperation on his face. She looks away.
“I’ve never left you, Jazz.” Dereck reaches for her hand but she retracts it out of his reach. He knits his brow with determination. He knows this won’t be easy. “What I mean is, I’ve stayed faithful to you. No other women have been in my bed or even in my thoughts. None.”
“Frankly Dereck, if I wanted to know what you did when you’re alone with yourself, I would have called. As we both know, I didn’t.”
“Jazz, what I’m trying to say is that I think this thing between us has a life of its own and it will live on forever.”
Jasmine had not imagined that Dereck would say the very thought she had had all this time without him.
They both walk over to look out the window to be in their favorite place in the world – together.
“It’s been nine months …” Jasmine starts.
“And two days …” Dereck continues.
“Fifteen hours,” they say together.

Jasmine walks away from the beautiful view the couple would stare at together for many minutes when everything was perfect.
Dereck catches Jasmine’s arm and pulls her close to him. He wraps his arms around her to make her feel safe. She feels his warmth, the heat that pulled her to him their first night they desperately searched for her condoms.
Jasmine tilts her head back to interrupt her reminiscing, “There is something you should know about me and my situation.”
“What situation is that?”
There it is; the pain was back. Jasmine uncurls herself from Dereck so she can get through this. “I tried to make this right in Jamaica by making you a part of the family so our methods of protection would be afforded you.”
“Sorry, I don’t follow.”
“You know that my father died but in actuality, he was killed. At the funeral I was approached by an individual to repay the murder in a much better way than courtroom justice. If you repeat this to anyone else, Dereck, I will call you a liar to your face and you will never see me again.”
“Jazz, do I want to know this?”
“You have to know because it now your reality as well. I am, what is commonly called in Jamaica, an informer. I get in good with the bad guys and then squeal. I have put everyone involved with my father’s demise in prison except for the trigger man himself. He is just going to have to suffer while I decide whether or not to kill him myself.”
Jasmine walks to the door and puts on her jacket.
“Where are you going?”
“Don’t worry, you are safe here. Dereck, you did the best thing, all those months ago by leaving me in Jamaica without ever contacting me again till today. I’m sorry Dereck but I can’t ensure your safety. Remember, just watch yourself. I’ll be back. I’m out of condoms.”