Page 71 of The Phyre that Burns
I could’ve handled the situation much better, but the thought of Ginae aborting our child had my emotions all over the place. I’d prayed so hard to get her back, only to fuck it up by allowing an outsider to plant seeds of suspicion and doubt in my head.
Phoenix was right. I made assumptions based on Kavia’s words, and the crazy part was that she didn’t say much. When I began questioning Ginae and she didn’t give me the quick, straightforward answers I wanted, I took what Kavia had said and came to my own conclusion, and I couldn’t have been more wrong.
After Ginae dropped that bomb and left my house, it took me a minute to process what she’d said. I went after her, but she was driving away. I came back inside to get my phone and call her, but she had already blocked me.
I still thought there was a chance for me to talk to her last night, assuming she’d gone to the condo. On my way to the garage, I grabbed my keys from the key holder and noticed there was another set of keys there. Upon closer examination, I realized they were the keys to the condo and Ginae’s truck.
It didn’t dawn on me when I saw her drive away in the back of someone else’s car that she’d not only opted to leave the truck behind, but she had no plans of going to the condo. Needless to say, I was stuck because I had no idea where to look for her.
There I was, less than twenty-four hours later, still clueless about the whereabouts of the woman I loved. Phoenix was pissed at me, but she was the only person who could help me. I called her and prayed she would answer.
“What?”
“Where is she?”
“Where is who?”
“Phoenix, please. Let’s not do this. How am I supposed to apologize if I can’t contact her and I don’t know where she is?”
“You should’ve thought about that before you told her to leave.”
“I need your help, Phee.”
“Nah, you need to sit with this for a minute. The ball is in Ginae’s court now, so you have to wait until she’s ready to talk to you.”
“You really?—”
“Gotta go. Bye!”
My sister ended the call before I could get another word in, and I almost threw my phone across the room. I had no choice but to wait until I saw Ginae in the office tomorrow . . . if she bothered to show up.
Ginae was a no-call, no-show for the past week of work, and I didn’t know how I felt about it. When I told her to leave my house, I assumed she’d go to the condo and give me time to cool off. I didn’t expect her to vanish into thin air.
By Friday, I was at my wits’ end. I’d probably called Ginae over a hundred times, with the same result each time. If she checked the voicemail for blocked callers, she could probably have me arrested for stalking.
“Are you ready to tell us what happened, Dr. J?” Lauren asked.
We were about to have lunch and our weekly staff meeting, so I guessed Lauryn thought it was a good time to get in my business.
“What are you talking about?”
“Ginae hasn’t been here all week, and you’re back to acting like you did before she took you back. What’s the deal?”
“She had an emergency at home and?—”
“You would’ve told us at the beginning of the week if that were the case,” Waylen stated.
“True.” Tania agreed. “What’s the tea? I know it’s your fault.”
“I probably have the nosiest staff in the world, but since I know you’ll bother me until I tell you, I might as well get it over with. I fucked up.”
“You need to apologize,” Lauryn said.
“I would, but she blocked my number.”
“Damn. I was rooting for you,” Waylen teased.
“What can we do to help?” Tania offered.
