Page 14 of Their End Game

Baby mother?I thought. Technically, I was Ja’vari’s baby mother, but to be referred to as one was insane to hear. Forcing a smile, I nodded. “I understand completely, and I do appreciate your apology. With me being the mother of Ja’vari’s child and you two in connection somehow, I do hope you and I could be cordial.” My tone was different as hearing who I really was out loud stung a bit, so I was wearing my feelings on my shoulder.

The twitch in Vanessa’s eyes didn’t go unnoticed, and I almost apologized for how I had responded, but my ego had been slightly bruised. Vanessa had the love of my life, who I’d let go, at her disposal, and I was simply his baby mother.

“I get it. Plus, if things go right, you never know. I may be your child’s stepmother.” Her words, paired with the raggedy ass giggle and body language, pissed me off even more. I wasn’t even sure if she was genuinely being nice or patronizing me. “But I am glad we cleared this up. I am going to head out since I told Ja’vari I’d be right back, and it seems you’re having a nice time by yourself.” She smirked, gesturing to the TV and me being alone.

This bitch, I thought. Yeah, she, for sure, was no longer being genuine. She was being petty, but I could be pettier. “Yeah, yeah, have a good night.” I turned, opening the door. “Could you let Ja’vari know I’ll be droppingourdaughter off in the morning, and I can pick her up at the time we discussed earlier at breakfast?” I smirked, watching the expression on her beautiful face change.Check-fucking-mate, I thought. “Have a good night,” I added again after she stepped over the threshold before closing the door after her.

“What the hell?” I whispered out loud. I may have been confused at first about Vanessa’s genuineness, but it was clear it was fake. I didn’t know how to process all that had happened insuch a short time, but I did know it was affecting me something bad, and I had to find a solution. Neither my life nor Ja’Lani’s could be this way forever.

13

Ja’vari:

“What’s up with you?” I looked over at Vanessa as she slammed another glass on the nearby wet bar. It was a little before seven, and she’d been up since around five. She’d been slamming shit around since, and I had ignored her up until now.

“Nothing.” Her response was dry and sharp.

She said nothing was wrong, so I wasn’t about to keep pressing her like she was an incompetent child who didn’t know how to communicate. “A’ight.” I relaxed back on the couch, continuing to wait for Radiance to bring Ja’Lani to me. At breakfast yesterday, she mentioned Santia having a brunch party bus for her and all the ladies, and Ja’Lani would be with her father. Since I was free and I wanted the time with my daughter, I offered to take her. At first, Radiance was hesitant, but after a bit, she agreed. I was like a little kid in a candy store, excited that I’d get to spend time with my daughter.

“Pathetic,” she mumbled under her breath. The word wasn’t directed directly to me, so I acted as though I hadn’t heard her. After a few seconds of me not responding, Vanessa’s movements stopped, and I could feel her eyes fixated on me. “You waswith her yesterday when you were gone all that time before the meeting?” she asked when I still hadn’t reacted.

“Whatchu mean?” I knew exactly who she was referring to, and it wasn’t that I was sneaking around, since I was a grown man, but I wanted to know how she knew.

Vanessa let out a deep air of frustration. “Really, Ja’vari? You going to play stupid?”

Until this trip, I didn’t realize how insulting Vanessa could be, and it seemed like with each passing conversation, she was getting more and more disrespectful. “Stupid?”

“You really left me up in this room to go sit with ya baby mother and then have the nerve to bring her daughter up in here without even talking to me?”

The hearty laughter that rose from the pits of my guts couldn’t be prevented, even if I wanted to. It was funny she called Radiance my baby mother one minute and then called Ja’Lani only her daughter. She was on some weird shit. “Don’t you have a conference to head to?” She wasn’t about to get a rise from me. This space was clear, and I wanted to try to keep it as best I could with Ja’Lani coming. Since Vanessa and I were offered jobs at two different locations in different parts of the world, though she had a conference today, I did not.

Huffing loudly, Vanessa grabbed up her things. “You know what, Ja’vari? It doesn’t even matter. I don’t even know who you are anymore, and it’s a little sad, to be honest.” She headed for the door. “I am going to see about another room because this obviously isn’t working out how we expected.”

Vanessa roughly snatched the door open, allowing it to slam after her. The many emotions she ran through in seconds was mind-blowing and hard to keep up with. I guessed Vanessa thought her mentioning getting another room would affect me, and that was wild when she was the reason we were room sharing now. I’d suggested we get rooms close by, to still bearound each other but still have our own privacy, but she insisted us being together would be easier, so I eventually gave in.

Knock, knock, knock, knock.

Hearing the taps on the door, I ran my hand down my face. I knew it was Vanessa coming back, and she wasn’t done with her antics. Not in any hurry, I dragged my feet slowly to the door. Reaching it, I answered, not even looking. “Forg…” I started but stopped, noticing it was Radiance standing there, holding Ja’Lani in her arms.

“Uh, everything cool? Your girlf… I mean, Vanessa just hopped on that elevator, pushing the hell out of the buttons like somebody was after her.” Radiance pointed over her shoulder.

“Yeah, umm, everything cool.” I’d barely completed my sentence before Ja’Lani was smiling and reaching for me to take her.

“Well, alright then.” Radiance had little control as Ja’Lani damn near leaped from her arms into mine.

I chuckled, taking her. “What’s up, princess?”

Ja’Lani giggled as I kissed her chubby cheeks. I couldn’t believe I’d missed the announcement of Radiance’s pregnancy, doctor’s appointments, the birth, first smile, crawling, steps, even her first birthday. None of that mattered now, though, because the moments we were sharing filled the holes I didn’t know were empty.

“You coming in?” I pulled my attention from Ja’Lani as I stepped back.

“No, it’s okay. I have to get going. They’re waiting for me in the lobby.”

“A’ight. You look nice.”

She bashfully smiled. “Thank you.”

Radiance stood there. I could see she really didn’t want to leave, but she was trying her best to seem okay. “Okay, um, here.”

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