Soulmates Dissipate (22 page)

Jada’s ear was stuck to the phone from perspiration. She hurried to dry it off.” So what about Melanie’s mom?”

“Well, let’s hope for the kid’s sake that Wellington and Melanie are not related. My mom said Susan swore she didn’t marry her husband because he had the
same
last name. Each of the women desperately wanted Wellington’s dad. So he played them to his advantage. Eventually, Katherine and Keith moved to Oakland. Cyn Baby followed them. Susan moved to D.C. because she wanted to get as far away from them as she could. Wellington’s father lives right here in Oakland. Just think, Uncle Wellington is truly Uncle Wellington,” said Jazzmyne.

“Are you going to tell the kids?”

“I don’t know. I just needed to tell somebody.”

Jada empathized with Jazzmyne before she told her the news.” I want to tell you
before
you hear it from Mama. I quit my job today, and I’m moving to Los Angeles with Candice.”

“Oh, no! How am I going to sort through this mess? Even though Mother told me, I never planned to search for my brother. Now, that I’ve found him—”

“I’m just not happy here.” After she’d listened to Jazzmyne, Jada was convinced relocating was in her best interest.” And since I’m responsible for my own happiness, I’m taking control of my life and moving on. But I’ll
always
be there for you.”

Jazzmyne heaved.” I’m happy if you’re happy. Is Candice still sending for Leslie when she gets out?”

“Definitely.”

“Well, tell her if she needs me to pick up Leslie or let her stay with me for a while, just let me know.”

“What are you going to do about Wellington?” Jada asked for her own selfish reasons.” Will you tell him?”

“I’m not sure. I’ll have to pray on this one.”

“I’m sure you’ll make the right decision. I’ll see you at church Sunday?”

“Yes, you will,” Jazzmyne said.

“If you need someone to listen, call me. We can get together. I have
lots
of time.”

“Can you afford to take two months off?”

“I can afford to take two years off,” Jada responded.” My daddy took excellent care of us before and after he passed away. Two weeks after the funeral, we met with our financial advisor and diversified our financial resources. Daddy would say a girl named Diamond and a woman named Ruby should never be broke. But he would have done the same if our names were Stella and Ella,” Jada said and laughed.

“Does Wellington know you’re investment literate?” asked Jazzmyne.

“No. I didn’t ask him about his money and he never questioned me about mine. Daddy said a woman should always have enough money to leave a relationship that’s not working. There’s enough miserable people living together because they cannot afford to live apart and he never wanted me to live in a situation where I was unhappy.”

“Your father was a wise man. I could have benefited from his advice. Maybe it would have saved me from years of Franklin’s abuse. I’m going to let you go and we’ll
definitely
get together and talk soon. Jada, do
not
mention a single word of this to Wellington.”

M
elanie was excited about the wedding and the honeymoon. She had a captivated audience of employees in her office during lunchtime soaking up the intimate details.” I really wish I could have invited all of you to the wedding, but there were so many people I had to limit our number of guests,” Melanie explained.” I did bring each of you a personalized gift bag with party favors and a CD with our wedding photo on the cover. The CD has all of our wedding songs and a special intro of Wellington and me exchanging our wedding vows.”

As the women opened their gift bags, Melanie continued.” I brought the wedding pictures and some of the photos from our honeymoon in Paris. Everything was so perfect. I really don’t know where to begin …”

Wellington was at home engaged in a telephone conversation with his fraternity brother, Deon.

“Man, I apologize for not being able to make it to the wedding but Gina
and
the baby both had the flu. That’s why we had to cancel at the last minute. I hope you received our gift before the wedding. I shipped it overnight.”

“Man, we had presents everywhere,” Wellington said as he stretched across his chaise longue.” I’m sure we received it. Melanie’s already planned a gift opening celebration over the Christmas holiday, so we can show everyone the pictures from the wedding and the honeymoon. She’s going to show the wedding video on the big screen TV and play the special CD she had made. The exchange of our wedding vows is the intro and we’ve selected songs from the reception like the one played during the bride and groom dance. To tell the truth, I can’t remember any of the songs. Our wedding photo is on the front and a photo of the bridal party with our parents is on the back cover.” Wellington paused. His hand grazed over his chest hairs.” Melanie reminds me too much of my mother. She plans everything we do down to the smallest detail and I just do the same thing my father does with my mom. I just show up present and accounted for.”

“Man, I’ve listened to you ramble, but you haven’t mentioned how
it feels
to be a married man,” Deon said.

‘That’s because I’m not sure.” Wellington clicked channels constantly, but didn’t pay much atten
tion to what was on.” Everything is like a blur to me. It seems like one day I was engaged to Jada and the next day I was married to Melanie.”

“Yeah. What happened between you and Jada? You always had excitement in your voice when you spoke about her. What’s up?”

Wellington rubbed his head.” It’s hard to explain and even harder for me to understand when I reflect back. It seems like it all started with the ménage à trois. Actually, it started before that. It was one of those situations where the little head dominated. Sex with Melanie was better than I had expected. So we did it a few times.” Wellington walked to the kitchen and grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator and returned to his chaise.

“Wait a minute. You mean to tell me that the three of you did the wild thang?” Deon’s voice escalated so high, Wellington moved the phone away from his ear.

“Yeah, but everything seemed all right. No one was uptight about it afterwards,” said Wellington.” Next thing I knew Melanie was pregnant. Then Jada started acting different and I saw a side of her that I’d
never
seen before. Then our boy Walter called and said he saw Jada at the bar with this man. That made me question whether or not
she
was being faithful. I didn’t say anything to her, but I’m not stupid. I know Jada still talks with Mr. NBA. Melanie said they went out a few weeks ago. At the same time, I had Melanie here cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We started bonding, and before I knew it, everyone was encouraging me to marry her. Man, does any of this shit make sense to you?”

“Man, hell no! That shit doesn’t make any sense. What kind of question is that?” Deon asked.

Wellington hoped someone would understand his position.” How do you feel about Gina?”

“Gina is the only woman for me, man. I love that woman so much. When I think about straying, I think about life without Gina. The choice is simple. She’s my lover, my wife, and my best friend rolled into one. Gina is my soulmate. I can’t imagine what life would be like without her.”

“I knew Wellington was the man for me the first time I laid eyes on him,” Melanie said.” I just had to show him how to consider his options. Look at this picture.” Melanie pointed. “This is my maid of honor, who also happens to be my twin sister Stephanie. This is my mother and these are Wellington’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jones. These are the snapshots of our suite in Paris where our first child was conceived.” Melanie posed and smiled.

‘You’re pregnant already?” Karen asked. Everyone looked at Melanie and waited for a response.

“Sure. I didn’t see any point in waiting.”

“So how do you know you conceived in Paris?” asked Karen.

“It really doesn’t matter
where
it happened,” said Melanie. She gave Karen a sharp look.” It makes for a more interesting story to say
I conceived
my firstborn child on my honeymoon in the City of Love. Actually, I hope we have twins.”

“Doesn’t it skip a generation?” Karen questioned.

Melanie closed the album.” Usually, but I’ve also
been taking a fertility drug so we’ll be fortunate if it is only two. I don’t plan to be pregnant again so I thought I’d get it all over with the first time around. Wellington has lots of money so we can afford to pay someone to stay home with the children. I have no intentions on being a full-time mother. I have too many other obligations. My career and organizational involvements alone keep me busy enough. I just want to love and mother my children. Someone else can change diapers, feed them, and take them to the park during the day. I could actually be the poster mom for the new millennium.” Melanie laughed and ran her fingers through her hair.

“It’s great to see someone happy and in love,” said Wellington.” I have to go, man. Someone is ringing my doorbell.”

“I wish you the best always, man. Bye,” said Deon.

“Yeah, thanks,” said Wellington.” Tell Gina I said hello.” Wellington placed the cordless on the charger and headed toward the door.

“What took you so long to open the door?” Chris asked.

“Oh, I was talking on the phone with Deon,” Wellington responded.

“The dynamic Deon! How’s he doing?”

“He’s doing great, still in love with Gina. Gina
and
the baby had the flu. That’s why they couldn’t make it to the wedding.”

“The flu is going around. I hope you got your flu shot,” said Chris.

“You know I don’t get flu shots, Pop,” said Wellington.

“You will when you get older,” said Chris.” It’s wonderful that Deon is still in love with Gina. What about you, son?” Chris followed Wellington to the living room.” Are you in love with Melanie?”

Instead of sitting, Wellington went to the kitchen and grabbed two beers. He handed one to his dad.” What if I were to tell you no? What would you think?” Chris sat on the couch so Wellington decided to sit on the chaise.

“I’d think you were telling me the truth,” responded Chris.” That’s one of the reasons I came by to see you, son. I know you’re confused. This whole marriage arrangement was never what
you
wanted. You and I both know that Jada is your soulmate. But Melanie is the one who fits into the picture. Not to mention the pregnancy.”

“Wait a minute, Pops. What do you mean
arrangement? “Wellington
moved over to the couch.

“Your mother will kill me for this but I guess it’s time you knew. After you announced your engagement, your mother arranged to have Melanie live with you. You know everyone is indebted to Cynthia. So, she insisted Terrance give Melanie a position over Jada. And I guess you’ve heard the news. Jada quit the company and she’s moving to Los Angeles to start her own business. Terrance called and told Cynthia that Jada turned in her resignation unexpectedly.”

“What? I can’t believe this!” Wellington paced back and forth.” Why now? Why are you telling me this now?” Wellington stared down at his dad.” Why didn’t you tell me this before I married Melanie?” He paced again.

“I’m telling you now, son, because I, too, made the same mistake. I lost my soulmate to your
mother. There’s not a day in my life that goes by when I don’t think about Sarah. She’s the one that got away. And if I could do it all over again, I’d beg Sarah to take me back. I wouldn’t care about my pride. Pride doesn’t love anybody, son,” said Chris as he braced his hands on the sides of his partially bald head.

“I can’t believe this. This was planned?” Wellington’s eyebrows met. Then he threw his hands in the air and laughed.” I guess she planned for the three of us to have sex together too.”

Chris stuck out his chest.” I knew you were a chip off the old block, but I didn’t know you had it in you. You always act so conservative.”

“Yeah, I’m just like you, Pops. A real chip.” Wellington walked over to the patio door and opened the blinds.” Well,
I’m
not going to make the same mistake you made. Melanie and I are getting an annulment first thing tomorrow morning. I’m not going to stay married to some conniving tramp.”

“You can’t divorce her. She’s pregnant. Your mother and I worked hard to become successful and we made sure you were successful too. You’re obligated to honor the family name and do right by your wife.” Wellington’s dad walked over to him.

Wellington looked his father in the eyes.” Let me ask
you
a question, Dad. Are you happy with Mother?”

“Son, you can learn to love anybody. I love your mother and I’ve learned to adjust.” Chris’s eyes frantically roamed the room.” I still wonder about Sarah, but I know for a fact that I’ll never divorce your mother. Jones men don’t divorce their women.”

“Well, maybe I’m not really a Jones man anyway. So that doesn’t apply to me!” Wellington sat on the couch.

“You know what I’m saying,” Chris said calmly. He followed Wellington and sat beside him.” Don’t go down the road of asking about your real parents again. I told you we don’t know who they are. We decided to give you the picture of your mother because she mailed it to us. We’re not sure how she got our address. She mailed the picture along with a letter saying she would keep her promise. We don’t know your father. I’ve explained this to you before, son.”

Wellington started to tell Chris he had an idea where he could find out.” Well, right now, I don’t know who I am. I need to be alone. I think you and Mom have done more than enough for me. I love you guys but I can’t understand why you’re ruining my life!” Wellington decided he would invite Jazzmyne back to the house.

Chris walked toward the door.” I’ll let myself out. I’ll come back after you’ve calmed down. I do understand. I love you, son.”

Wellington went into his office, pulled out the letter Jada sent him, and read it aloud.” How could I have been so blind?”

“Well, ladies, this reflection on my wedding has me missing my man, so I’m going to call it a day,” Melanie said.” It’s been my pleasure and thanks so much for sharing. Ms. Livingston, if I get any calls this afternoon, put them through to my voice mail. Don’t tell anyone I’ve left for the day.”