Page 40 of Goodbye To Tomorrow

“Maybe.”

“How the hell did Miss Banks allow this to happen? Where is she by the way? She will be fired, you know that?” He asked, looking more than serious.

“She will not,” I stated.

“I told you that it wasn't a good idea to hire her. She doesn’t even have a degree in nursing. Plus, she is different than us,” my father said.

“Really? Is her skin color more important than who she is?” I asked, not believing that my father was still trying to rule my affairs.

“You know you aren’t supposed to drink with your medication! She knew it, too,” he shouted, seeming to lose patience.

“It wasn’t her fault. It was all my idea, everything was my idea,” I said.

“Sure, but she is here to stop your stupid ideas,” he stated, his face turning fiery red. What’s going on here Son? Are you falling for your black caregiver? I surely hope not!”

I found it difficult to deal with my father when he was in this state of mind. He always found a reason to dislike the women that I brought home, but he was not going to do the same to Karine. I did not have the strength to argue with him, so I told him no, that I wasn’t falling for the hired help, just so that he would leave me alone. I needed some quietude in my life, so I could suffer in peace.

Father left, and I finally spoke to Karine. I talked with her and hoped my words were enough to iron out the awkwardness.

“Karine, if I did anything to disrespect or hurt you, please forgive me. I honestly don’t remember what happened last night.”

“Nothing happened, Jiraiya. We are fine, but I think it would be best to avoid drinking when we are together. Your mother and father grilled me and promised me that, if anything happened to you because of my negligence, they would see to it that I’m fired. And that I would never work in this city again,” she said with her head down. She nibbled at her bottom lip with worry.

“Do you trust me, Karine?” I walked over and lifted her chin with a finger.

“Yes,” she nodded gazing up into my eyes. Her brown eyes were shimmering with tears.

“I will never let my parents fire you. They don’t have it in their power to do so. You mean too much to me, to allow you to get away.”

Karine’s mouth opened in a gasp. Maybe the alcohol helped me to see clearer; this morning when I woke up, I knew that I loved Karine Banks. It wasn’t the kind of artificial love I had for Gracen. My love for Karine grew from the inside out, like a slowly opening rosebud. For now, I will keep silent because I dare not scare her away.

I hoped that Karine felt the same way, too.

*****

Karine

“Okay, so he asked you out again after last night,” Nadia said as I reached for a French fry and dipped it in the ketchup that was on the side of my plate. We were in a small cafe eating lunch with sunlight streaming in through the big picture window. I had awoken to birds chirping and the sound was sweet to my ears. I decided that, today, I needed to meet with my friend for an hour or two.

“Yeah, he did. I’ve already told you about this, Nadia. Must I repeat myself?” I answered as I took a big bite of the cheeseburger that dripped with cheesy goodness.

“Well, I just want to make sure I heard you right. Although I can’t blame you since I would have probably said yes, too. You’re almost dating Jiraiya Sampson and I can’t lie and say I am not a little jealous. You got lucky this time, Girl.”

I almost choked on my food. “How is that being lucky?”

Nadia shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean, it’s not every day you get to work for the man of your dreams, who also happens to be Jiraiya Sampson. You must be over the moon.”

“He’s just a normal person like you are, Nadia,” I pointed out.

“I know,” my best friend nodded. “But it’s probably not a big deal to you anymore since you’ve been with him for quite some time now. I know it would not be the same if I had asked you on the first day you discovered that you were going to be working for him.”

“It’s not the same,” I said half-heartedly.

“Sure, it isn’t.”

“I have to get going,” I announced before standing up from my chair.

“Okay Girly, but I know what you’re doing.”

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