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(Jeff)

"Dates over." Jeff and I heard from behind us.

I turned towards the voice, my heart pounding. Jeff looked confused, his eyes darting between me and the figure approaching us. My breath caught in my throat as I realized it wasn't just in my head. Standing there, with a stern expression, was the one person I didn't expect to see tonight.

Jeff glanced at me, seeking an explanation, but I was just as stunned as he was. I took a step forward, trying to make sense of the situation.

"Jey, what are you doing here?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

His eyes softened for a moment as they met mine, but his posture remained rigid. "In Atlanta? I live here, did you forget?" He smiles at me.

"I actually did forget that. But what are you doing at Danielle's house? How did you know where she lived?" I think about it for a second and I forget that he had so many stalker tendencies. "You don't have to answer that."

"We need to talk." he said, his tone leaving no room for argument.

"Not going to introduce me?" Jeff finally speaks up.

Jey's eyes flicked to Jeff, sizing him up. Key completely ignored him, looking back at me.

"I'm Jeff..." he said, voice steady but cautious.

I interjected, hoping to defuse the tension. Jeff held out his hand for Jey to shake, but Jey just looked at it.

Jey looked Jeff up and down, then pulled up his shirt, revealing a gun tucked into his waistband. "I said the date is over." Jey repeated, his voice cold and menacing.

"Oh my God!" I said, instantly terrified, my heart racing. "Jey, stop! What are you doing?" Panic surged through me, disbelief and fear colliding in a whirlwind of emotion. I couldn't believe he was pulling this crazy stunt right now. My hands trembled as I instinctively moved closer to Jeff, almost trying to shield him.

Jeff drops his hand and looks at me as if this doesn't even phase him. "What do you want me to do?" He pulls his shirt up revealing his gun as well.

"What the fuck!" I said, surprised. Jeff had a gun on him?

"Oh, now we talkin!" Jey said, amusement filling his tone, a huge smile plastered across his face.

We all know that Jey is a little off and he likes this type of shit but I'm not about to have either one of them shoot the other one dead in front of my face.

"Put the gun away, Jey!" I shouted, my voice breaking. "This isn't helping anything! You're scaring me!"

"What you want me to do?" Jeff asks me again.

"She wants you to leave." Josh answers for me.

I can't have this going on outside of Danielle's house. Jey is fucking crazy and he will shoot Jeff in the head without thinking twice about it.

"I didn't ask you." Jeff says to Josh. Jey was about to respond to him but I interjected.

I turn to Josh. "Okay, Josh. Just calm down. Can I please have one minute with him? Just one." I asked, trying not to panic.

Josh doesn't say anything, but he takes a step back and turns around and walks over to his car. He just stood there watching us.

"That's the ex you were talking about?" Jeff laughs. "I know him."

"Jeff, you don't want those problems. Please don't engage with him and don't try to fight him. He's crazy."  I plead

"I understand you don't know me that well, but that motherfucker don't scare me."

"Wait, you know him?" I asked

"Not personally, but yeah. I used to see him at KOD and Magic City all the time."

"I'm not surprised. Well, you know him how I do." I said. "I think you should go."

Jeff hesitated. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Of course, I'm gonna be fine. He's not going to do anything to me. I'm more concerned for your safety." I said

"Aight." Jeff steps towards me, trying to hug me but I step back. "Nope, don't do that."

I look at Jey and see he's not leaning on the car anymore; he's about to attack Jeff.

Jeff gave me one last concerned look before backing away, his jaw tight with frustration. "Aight. Call me if you need anything."

"Have a good night." I said to Jeff.

He shot Jey a final glare before turning and walking to his car.

I stand there watching Josh watch Jeff leave. That could've gone WAY left and I pray to God that Josh just leaves it alone and doesn't harm him in any way.

As Jeff drove away, I turned back to Jey, my emotions a chaotic storm. "What the hell, Jey?"

He finally walks back over to me, smiling like all of that didn't just happen. 

"You happy to see Daddy?" He smiled.

After he scared the shit out of me, I don't know how to feel. All of that was so unnecessary. I didn't know what to say to him. I was still a little shaken up.

"Joshua, what are you doing here?" I act as if I'm irritated by him.

"Are you happy to see Daddy?" He asks again.

If I'm being honest, I've missed the smile he's giving me right now so much. Of course I'm happy to see him but I didn't plan on seeing him ever again. This is a nice but slightly unwanted surprise that I'm kinda happy happened but why did it have to happen? He showed up and threatened Jeff's life.

I just looked at him. I didn't know how to answer his question, so I'm not. We can stay here and have a staring contest for as long as he wants. 

He laughed. "Aight, I see that you are. No need to answer." He says. "I let you finish the date, but I wasn't about to let him kiss you, cheek or not." He says

"Let me?" I said. Who the hell does he think he is talking about? He let me do something. "You let me finish the date."

"Yeah. It was cute. I'm happy you had fun. It seems like you needed it...but he wasn't about to kiss you."

"Okay, with the kiss. It didn't happen." I said. I was now fully irritated. "Josh, what are you doing here?" I ask again.

"Did you give him my pussy?" He asks

"Joshua, we've been on one date. ONE DATE" I reiterate. "And I'm not yours anymore. I gave you three solid months and you couldn't even divorce your wife." I kinda snapped.

"I didn't ask about that. Did you give him my pussy?" He asks again.

"What does it matter to you?"

"Because I told you not to give it up." he says.

"Okay and? You don't make decisions when it comes to me. We are NOT together and when we broke up, this pussy didn't belong to you anymore."

"I told you it was mine in Chicago and I meant that shit. For real. It's still mine. Now answer my question." He says with a serious face.

I just stare at him. I knew how serious he was and although I haven't had sex with anyone, it's not his business. He lost all privileges when he couldn't fulfill his end of the bargain.

"That's not important Josh." I said, trying to avoid answering the question. He just stared at me.

I honestly think he already knows the answer to this, but he just wants me to say it. He's not even mad.

I just shake my head at him, looking him up and down talking him in. He wore an all black Nike tech suit, zipped halfway down, exposing his chest, and it looked like he had a fresh haircut. I'm sure he decided to slip the grill in his mouth because he knows how much I like it. He never went anywhere without his chains, earrings and rings. He just looked good as hell. Fuck, I don't know if I can keep this up for much longer. Him being all dominant and shit is turning me on a bit. I think it was a mixture between not seeing him and having thoughts about how he used to fuck me. Now here he is in front of me, looking all good, talking bout I'm still his. It was a little bit of a turn on. I hate feeling like this because I need to stand my ground.

I held eye contact for what seemed like forever. I didn't want to answer but his eyes demanded an answer and he didn't budge. He stared through my soul as he waited for me to answer. I sighed, I'm really no match for him.

"I haven't let anyone touch me." I admit. "But that doesn't mean—."

He cuts me off. "Good fucking girl!" He says happily.

I'm really not the type to just have sex with anybody in the first place. I need more than a month and a half to get down and dirty with somebody new. Jey got lucky because I was pissed off with my ex at the time and I needed a good fucking. I'm happy I did though because he delivered.

"How long have you been seeing him?" He asked

"We're not seeing each other. I met him through Danielle a couple years ago. We've never talked or anything like that. Danielle just set this up for us. Which you ruined."

"It was the end of the date. I didn't ruin anything." He waved it off like it was nothing.

"Why are you here?" I asked. We need to get back to the real issue.

"Can we go in and talk?" He asked.

"I don't know how good of an idea that is. Danielle is here with the baby and..."

"It's all good. I want to finally meet in person." He said

"Let me shoot her a quick text. I don't want you to just walk into her house." He nods.

I pull my phone out and text I'm bringing company in and a few seconds later she says okay and so we go into the house.

Danielle was sitting in the living room on the couch with the baby,   watching TV. When Josh stepped into the house, she had a surprise look on her face.

"Is this airport guy? She asked

"Damn, that's my name?" Josh said amused.

"Yes, Danielle. Jey is here." I try to say excitedly, hoping she won't go off on him.

"How was that possible because you left with Jeff?" She asked

"When we got back, Jey was waiting for me." I smiled.

She looked from me to him. "So what are you here for?" She asked, straight faced.

"I need to talk to her because we have some things we need to discuss." He responded.

"Are you divorced yet? Because I don't want my best friend involved with a married man. She gave you three months and you couldn't do what you were supposed to do. So if you're here to try to get her back, you can just walk right back out of the door cuz she ain't taking you back."

Jey just looked at her.

"You don't have to be the overprotective best friend." He said. "I'm fully aware of everything that I've done, and what I couldn't control. She is too. I don't want any animosity because of what happened a couple months ago."

"Yeah, whatever. If you're gonna be here, you need to get your shit together. So I don't wanna hear anything less than you saying that you're divorced because if it's anything else, why the fuck are you here? You shouldn't have anything to say to her. And she made that clear."

I could've stepped in and said something but everything Danielle was saying was everything I was probably gonna say to him anyway, so I just let it happen.

"I respect everything you're saying, and I respect you as her best friend, but I need to talk to her. I'm not with you." He said

"You ain't with her either." She corrects him.

"You know what I mean. Damn—."

I see Josh was getting frustrated so I finally piped up.

"Danielle, let me just see what he has to say. I'm gonna take him into my room and we're going to chat. Okay?"

"Yeah, just scream if you need anything." She said, then she mumbled. "I know he's bat shit crazy."

We both heard her and you could tell she didn't even care.

I start walking off with Josh, thinking he's following me, but he doesn't but he just stands there looking at Danielle for a couple seconds.

"It was nice to officially meet you, Danielle." He said, calmly with a smile on his face.

"It was nice the three months yall were together, now, overkill." She shoots back.

He smiles again then follows me up to the guest bedroom.

We get into my room and I close the door behind him. I sit on the bed and take my shoes off. He stands on the door watching me.

"So what's going on? Where are you here?" I asked.

"Well, I went by the house I bought for you and you weren't there. So I went to your parents house to see if you were there and your mom told me you were out here helping Danielle with the baby." He said. "So here I am." He shrugged.

"Why were you looking for me?"

"Because your mother told me you needed me."

"My mother?" I said, shocked. What the hell is he talking about?

"Yeah, when I went by there, she told me you weren't there and I was gonna leave, but she actually invited me in and we had a really good conversation."

My mouth hit the floor. What? Jey and my mom had a talk? Huh?

"Conversation about what?"

"You."

"What did she say?" I asked.

"She told me about the day you moved out and how much of a bad place you were in. She said she's never seen you that upset and she felt bad there was nothing she could do to help or fix it. She said you came back to their house and you stayed up in your room for a few days. She was just telling me how bad you took the break up and I felt horrible for making you feel that way. Then, your dad came in, and the three of us got into a really deep conversation about everything. I came clean to them about why we broke up, because you never told them the real reason. Your mother had a clue, but she didn't know the whole story."

"You told my dad?" I asked. I was sho led as hell. Jey actually told my dad what was going on after my dad threatened him. That was exactly what my dad warned Jey about.

"I did." He confirmed.

"What did he say?"

"He appreciated me for being honest with him, but of course, I had to really explain to him that I didn't want that relationship anymore." He said. "He gave me some good advice on how to maneuver things, which was something I was really needing because I don't have my dad on my side. I appreciate your dad, but he also told me that our circumstances were different. He was actually very understanding of everything."

"What do you mean?"

"He said it wasn't like we were faced with infidelity, or fell out of love, or any actual relationship issues. Our breakup was based on a technicality. It was based on something neither one of us could really control, and he said when he saw how down you were about it, that he was able to see things a different way. He only wanted you to be happy and he said shit was different with us. I told them how much I miss you and they told me I should come check on you."

"Wow. I didn't think they would say that based on the facts. I actually thought they would hate you." I laughed to myself. 

"I didn't think they would either but they're very understanding."

"So tell me exactly while you're here." I asked

"Number one, I wanted to see you. I hate that I wasn't there when you left, but I was being 100% truthful when I said I wouldn't let you leave. I knew I had to be gone when you left because I would've done everything in my power to keep you there with me. That was the best decision I could've made, but I just regret not being able to see your face that day. I've missed you so much." He admitted. I feel the same.

"It was extremely hard for me too, having to deal with all of that myself. But thank you for sending your brother over to help me. He was very helpful."

"Yeah..." he said. 

"We've kinda been in contact, like he texts me to check on me to make sure I'm good."

"I'm sure he does." He laughs. "He's in love with you, you know that?"

I laugh. "I didn't think Jon and I would've been close at all because of what you had him do but...and speaking of that—."

"You don't have to say it, I already know."

"I need you to know I was in a bad place. It was a mistake. I regret it terribly."

"As long as you didn't have sex, it's okay, babe. I understand. I promise I do. I'm not mad."

"Yeah but he said—."

"I did. It's cool, babe." He said, looking down at me with a small smile on his face.

That's somewhat of a relief.

"Thank you for coming to see me. You don't know how much this means to me. My parents were right. I really have been struggling and tonight was an attempt to get me out and have some fun but I just wanted to be in bed. I'm not focused on any man. I think Jeff is cool. He's liked me for a while, but it really was just getting out and getting some air. Don't hurt him, please."

He laughs. "It's all good, baby. I won't."

"Give me your word." I said. "He doesn't have anything to do with this."

"You have my word." He said with a nod and a smirk on his face. "I promise."

That's a huge relief because I've seen Jey slit someone's throat with no remorse. I can't let him hurt Jeff. But if he gave me his word, I can relax.

"So, the big question of the night, what's going on with that situation?" I asked, patting the bed.

He sits down next to me. "So my second reason for being here is because I got to go away."

"What do you mean you have to go away?"

He hesitates for a few seconds before he speaks again. "These last two months have been me against my family. Day in and day out they've been trying to push my buttons, giving me shit jobs, making me the errand boy, and just giving me a hard time. All  because I still want out of the business. They thought it was all because of you but they see I still want out and they're doing all they can to prevent it." He explained.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"My focus is still you. I still want this divorce, I still want to be with you, and I still love you." He said. "She's not going to sign the papers. You know what all I've tried to do to make it happen, but I'm tired of trying and she's forced my hand. I don't wanna tell you any details but I'm just letting you know that I gotta go away for a little bit."

"What are you trying to tell me, Jey?" I'm so confused. What the hell has been going on since I've left?

"I've prepared for this, you have all the information that you need. Everything is in the house. As far as everyone is concerned, we've been broken up for two months and nothing will come back to you, so you don't have to worry about that. The only thing I ask is that you move into the house."

"This is a lot of information. I have so many questions."

"I know you have a lot of questions, but just trust me. I'm not gonna answer your questions. Just go with it." He said.

"So how long are you gonna be gone? Can you answer that?"

"I don't know exactly how long I'm gonna be gone, but I will call you when I can, if I can. If plans change, I will find a way to get in contact with you if my brother can't."

"What do you mean if he can't? Is he in trouble?" I asked, feeling concerned. I know I've been avoiding him but I don't want anything to happen to him.

"No, he's not in trouble, but I wouldn't want anything to fall on him either. I will find a way to get in contact with you regardless of the situation."

"This scares me."

"This isn't meant to scare you. None of this is meant to scare you. I'm sorry you feel that way but I love you and I just got to get away from my family for a while."

"So what am I supposed to do if Joe pops up again?"

"I don't think you have to worry about any of that. They know you're gone. They know you've been gone for months. Joe thinks it has something to do with him that you left so that's pretty much out of his mind at this point. Just know, Jon will be around if you need him, but on top of that, most importantly, you are protected."

"What do you mean?" I said, confused.

"I've had somebody on you since you left. You don't have to worry about anything. I mean that."

"You've had someone following me again?" I said shocked. "Again, Jey? After we broke up?"

"I needed to make sure you were safe. I didn't want to take any chances." He explained. "After the Joe situation, I just couldn't be sure."

"I can't believe you did that."

"You're welcome." He said.

I guess I'll let it go. I understand why he did it and I had no clue I was being followed. That explains how he knew where I was now. Whatever, there's nothing I can do about it now.

"You know, the conversation I had with Danielle is really bothering me. Why is she so upset with me?"

"What do you think? Josh, you dragged me along for basically four months talking about you were gonna get divorced."

"I didn't drag you along, I was trying to do it "

"All she knows is it didn't happen."

"I get that but why you let her talk to me that way?" He asked. "I would never let anyone talk to you the way she spoke to me."

"I was going to say the exact same thing."

"That makes it okay?"

"No. You're right. I should've said something but she's just speaking up for me."

"You know I don't do that talking crazy shit. I handle shit like that."

"I'm sorry. I'll ask her to apologize."

"Why don't I go talk to her." He said. Not gonna lie, I was nervous because Jey didn't like to be disrespected and Danielle definitely disrespected him with all she was saying. She was sticking up from me and I don't see anything wrong with it, but it's scary because of his temper towards things like that. I should've stepped in.

"Again, I should've said something. Please don't do anything to her."

He laughed. "I'm not going to touch her. What kinda person do you think I am? That's your best friend. I would never hurt her." He smiled. "Everything is going to be fine. I'm gonna go talk to Danielle, smooth things over." He walks out and closes the door.

Jey walked out of the room, leaving me sitting on the bed with my heart pounding. I didn't trust what he might do, despite his reassurance. I slipped off the bed and tiptoed to the door, opening it just a crack to listen in on the conversation.

I heard the low murmur of voices from the living room, and though I couldn't make out every word, the tone was clear—Jey was trying to smooth things over, but Danielle wasn't making it easy for him. I couldn't blame her. She was right to be protective of me, especially after everything that had happened.

I strained to hear what was being said.

"Listen, I get it," Jey's voice was calm, but there was an underlying tension. "But I'm trying to make things right."

"And what, you think showing up here like this is making things right?" Danielle's voice was sharp, cutting through the air like a knife. "You had your chance, Jey. She's been through hell because of you, and I'm not going to let you continue to hurt her."

"I'm not here to hurt her or anyone else," Jey said, his voice softening. "I just want to talk to her, to explain things."

"And what makes you think she wants to hear it?" Danielle shot back. "You've done enough damage."

There was a pause, and I could picture Jey standing there, trying to keep his temper in check. He had a way of getting what he wanted, and it usually involved intimidation.

"Danielle," he finally said, his tone more measured, "I understand why you're upset. I do. But I care about her. More than you know..."

They'll figure it out. I said to myself. Things still seemed heated but not that much. They can work it out.

I went back into my bedroom and closed the door behind me. While he's doing that, I thought it would be a good time to jump into the shower because one was much needed. I didn't do anything, but after the night, I had a huge surprise Josh showing up here, I thought it would be nice.

I took about a 10 minute shower. I felt like that was enough time for them to hash things out, but of course if it lasts longer, that's always good too.

After getting out, I wrapped a towel around me and opened the door to the bedroom and I saw Josh sitting on the bed. He was playing with his hands, clearly waiting on me to come out.

"Shit! Josh, you scared the shit out of me." I said, grabbing my towel harder. I step out of the bathroom.

He didn't respond to me but he looked up and just stared at me for a second.

"You got something you wanna tell me?"

*

To be continued...

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