healing-hearts (22 page)

“And all of her arrivals will be done by appointment, correct?”

“Some of them and occasionally, she will just drop by. Catching the prospective family unawares is one of the most important points to see how the family is truly getting along.”

Yasmine’s heart did a summersault.
Como manipularei este?
Yasmine whispered to herself.

“But, I’m not worried, I know you and have no fear about you keeping any secrets that the social worker will find out about that will disqualify you and your husband from adoption. So, sleep well, this is just a formality.”

That comment just made her feel even worse. Everyone at Angelic Refuge had become a trusting acquaintance to her and how had she repaid their friendship by lying to them in the biggest way.

~ML~

“Hello, you must be Yasmine.” A smiling woman, appearing to be of Mexican descent, said to her when she walked up to the desk located outside of Jason’s office.

She had dark brown, thick wavy hair that cascaded past her shoulders and framed her face like a halo. The curls looked so natural Yasmine was convinced they didn’t come out of a box, unless the other woman had paid in blood to an expensive stylist to have it done. Yasmine liked her smile; it was warm, open, and friendly.

“Yes, I am. How did you know that?” Yasmine asked curiously.

“Well, even if Mr. Richardson didn’t have a picture of the two of you on his desk, Mr. Coleman described you as the prettiest, petite thing he had ever seen.”

Yasmine was shocked to hear that Jason had placed a picture of them up in his office. His sister had brought a camera and had taken several pictures of the two of them and other people that were at her house for the reception. Then a few weeks after the wedding a package had come to her with a photo album enclosed that contained the snapshots.

Wow, he was really playing this thing to the hilt.

“Well, I’ll have to remember to thank Mr. Coleman for the compliment.”

They both laughed.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, I’m Jeannie.” She stood up and held her hand out to Yasmine.

“It’s good to meet the lady who takes care of my husband at work.” Yasmine smiled at her and thought to herself,
Isn’t that what wives of a business exec were suppose to say?

“I try, but I’m hoping now that he has a lovely wife at home, he won’t be staying at the office so late.”

“Let’s hope not.”

“You can go on in. Mr. Richardson will be back in a moment.” Jeannie opened the door to his office so Yasmine could enter.

“Thank you.”

“Is there anything I can get you? Something to drink maybe?”

“No, I’m fine.” She watched Jeannie close the door. Feeling edgy, Yasmine opted not to sit. She walked over to the window beside his desk and looked out.

“Amazing, you’re standing in the exact spot that lead up to our meeting.”

Yasmine turned at the sound of Jason’s sexy voice. He was in the process of closing his office door.

“People always say that everything happens for a reason.” Yasmine expressed, offhandedly, because she didn’t know how else to respond. His tone of voice was making her even more nervous—it always seemed to hold an intimate sound to it.

“By the time all of this is over, I’m sure the reason will definitely work out to my liking.” He moved forward to where she was standing. “I’m glad to see you here. I thought maybe you’d forgotten where my office was located.”

Yasmine chose to leave that alone. She also tried to ignore how his nearness was affecting her—but was less successful with it.

“I’m resourceful at times.” She gave him a small grin. “Jason, the reason I stopped by is because we have a problem.”

“What’s up?” Jason asked, still not moving from the position he held less than two feet in front of her.

“First the good news. We got the twins and we can pick them up next week.”

“Great. Now we can go and pick up all those things we saw at the mall. I also found the beds you wanted to order online for them at a store in Chesapeake.”

Yasmine was once again shocked by how seriously he was taking his involvement in the children’s lives.

“That’s great because otherwise I would have had to buy roll-a-way beds until their beds were delivered.”

“So, are you available Saturday to go shopping? I have some meetings to handle the rest of this week and can’t get away,” he announced.

“Yeah, I’m available.” Yasmine was becoming more dumbfounded by the minute.

“So, what’s the bad news?” Jason asked as he moved away from her and walked the few feet over to sit behind his desk.

She faced him. “Our first social worker visit is scheduled for Friday.”

“Okay. Andrea already told us about that at the interview.” His face held a perplexed look. “You and I decided from the beginning I would come by on those days, to be there for the meetings.”

“Here’s the thing, Jason, Andrea forgot to tell us that the home-study social worker will also be making unannounced visits.”

Yasmine watched as Jason lifted a single eyebrow, but didn’t make a comment.

The longer he sat silent, the more nervous Yasmine became about how they were going to get themselves around the situation.

She tried to keep herself calm and think rationally. “You know maybe this isn’t a problem at all. Most of the time she comes will probably be during a weekday and I’ll just say you’re at work.”

“I don’t think that’s going to be the case since the children will be at the daycare center during the day and with the part-time nanny in the early evening until you get off.”

“That’s true, but it’s not uncommon for people to be working late, particularly in your line of work.” Smiling, Yasmine finished with, “You know, I may have overreacted. If I’d thought it through more clearly, I wouldn’t have needed to come here. Sorry to disrupt your day, Jason.” Yasmine headed toward the door.

“What if she comes by on the weekend, like Saturday? Remember I’m only supposed to spend Sunday after church with you guys and Wednesday evenings.”

Yasmine turned at his question; she was kind of burned to see that he was still sitting calmly behind his desk in one of his nonchalant postures. “Well, we’ll just pray it’s one of those days. Otherwise, like I said, you’ll be at work.”

“Yasmine...”

It was something about the way he called her name, it always seemed unhurried and familiar, like he had grown accustomed to whispering her name softly in her ear. The tone he used was like a lover’s kiss, while you were being loved, slowly and gently.

Yasmine shook herself, soon she would become a single mother of twins without Jason being around, and thoughts like those would not help.

“It will make all of this easier if I just move in.”

“Move in?” That statement was enough to shake her. “
São
louco
?” Then she repeated it in English saying, “Are you crazy, Jason? That was not part of the deal.”

“I know it wasn’t, but it’s the only possibility that makes any sense.”

“I don’t think it does.” Yasmine could hear herself becoming defensive, but she didn’t care. It was her peace of mind that she was trying to save. They needed to remain distant and apart so she could protect herself from becoming even more entangled with him.

“Yes it does, Yasmine and if you stop for a second you’ll realize it.”

“Jason, look, there’s no need for us to overreact. We probably just need to sit back and ride this out until there’s a true need to take this step.”

“There is a true need. You want these kids and I want to give them to you.”

Yasmine paused.
How was she going to fight against a statement like that one?

“Jason, there isn’t enough room for you,” she countered.

“Of course there is. You have a three bedroom house.”

“Exactly. Three—one for Joshua, Jessica and one for me.”

“And now me.”

Throwing her hands in front of her body, she waved them as if warding off an attack. “Oh no, Jason. I cannot share my bedroom with you.” Just the thought of it was making her nipples tighten and frisson of desire to roll down her spine.

“Yasmine, where else would I sleep? What if the social worker asks the children about how the house is set up? I’m sure she has to do that and if one of the kids says ‘Dad sleeps on the couch or on the floor outside of Mommy’s bedroom door’, you don’t think she’s going to see that as strange?”

Yasmine would have loved to tell him no, or even tell him off, but his arguments were so compelling, it almost made her believe that he had rehearsed it a few times.

Buzz
.

Jason reached over and picked up the phone on his desk.

“Richardson here.” He was all business now.

“Yes, sir, I have them right here...Okay, give me a minute and I’ll have Jeannie run them down to you.” He hung up the phone and grabbed a folder off his desk. “One moment, let me give this to Jeannie.” He glanced down at his watch. “She’s already gone for the night. She usually tells me when she goes, but with you here she most likely didn’t want to disturb us.”

“That’s all right, Jason, we both need time to think this through so why don’t we—”

“Yasmine, don’t run away from me. Just give me two seconds and I’ll be right back...please.”

It was the sincerity in his voice that wouldn’t allow her to say no.

“Fine.”

Jason smiled at her, then left his office.

He had been gone only a few minutes when she heard from behind her, “So, you’re Jason’s little Yasmine now?”

Yasmine turned at the sound of the sultry voice and saw a woman who could only be described as tall, thin, and beautiful. Yasmine watched her as she strutted further into the office, her every movement seemed to hold the power, grace and viciousness of a tigress.

She remembered Raquel from the promotion party Jason had thrown at the beach. She hadn’t been blown over by the woman then for some reason, and now the way she came sashaying into the room she surely wasn’t going to care much for her when this farce was over.

“
Hi, it’s Raquel, right?” Yasmine queried.

“Yes, good memory.” Raquel eyed her from face to shoes slowly and then met her eyes again with what only could be described as a fake smile. “When I heard Jason had gotten married, I was flabbergasted.”

Big word
. “Were you?” It was a statement. Yasmine wasn’t trying to say anything that would encourage the other woman to stay.

“I would have never guessed it would have been you, though.” Raquel folded her arms under her ample bosom, lifting them higher as she gave Yasmine a direct, almost challenging look.

“Why is that?” A definite question as Yasmine arched a single eyebrow.

Raquel began strolling around Jason’s office like it was hers. Going to the desk, she picked up their wedding portrait. “You aren’t his type.”

She wasn’t sure until now, but all the signs and signals seemed to be leading up to it—Jason and Raquel were lovers. That was the whole reason behind the little territorial dance.

“Let me guess, and you are?” Yasmine figured she would take the direct route.

“Oh, no...I’m not the marrying type at all. But, usually Jason’s type has normally been women of his, and my...caliber.” The slight was as clear as the smirk on Raquel’s face.

“All business you mean?” Yasmine gave Raquel the same perusal she subjected her to earlier.

“Don’t take offense. I know you own you’re own
little
business and all, but let’s be real. Jason is in a different arena all together. I don’t see how anything other than
business
could fit into his life.”

That hit a little too close to home. But, Yasmine wasn’t going to give this Raquel the opportunity to think she had gotten the best of her. “Well, maybe he
desired
a change in his life.”

“Maybe...” Heading back out of the office with the same walk in which she came in, Raquel turned at the door. “I guess everyone’s entitled to go slumming every now and then, but sooner or later they return to that which consumed them completely.”

Then she was gone before Yasmine could comment, but what could she have said to Raquel’s final statement anyway? The other woman had just versed the reality of Yasmine and Jason’s life together.

It would have been easier for her to feel more confident after the other woman’s remarks, if Jason and she had gotten married because of love; instead of it having been agreed upon as any of his business arrangements.

Walking over to Jason’s desk and picking up the picture, for the first time Yasmine could see her and Jason smiling like a “happy couple” next to the fireplace mantel in her house. That day in front of everyone, they had played that role to the hilt. If she were looking at a picture of some other set of newlyweds she would have believed that they made a striking couple. The image seemed to portray that they fit well together, even with their significant difference in height. It was a nice picture, Yasmine thought to herself, but it wasn’t real.