Page 9 of Inadmissible

Taj

One Year Later

“ I don’t know why I let you talk me into coming to this,” I muttered, linking my arm around my best friend’s arm.

I’d allowed Emilia to convince me to attend a New Year’s Eve gala that was being hosted by Montgomery, Pierce, Walker, and Gough.

We worked at Adams and Co. Law Firm, and a lot of our business had been shared for the past year.

I hadn’t worked with any of the attorneys at MPWG, but Emilia worked cases with them at least once a quarter, which was why she insisted we come to their gala at the Rose Valley Hotel.

Emilia and I had been cool since I first started working at Adams and Co., but I didn’t upgrade her to best friend status until shortly after my breakup with Destin. It took me a month to even desire to go back to work.

During my hiatus, she was the only one who checked on me.

When I shared with her what was going on, she prayed for me, sent me flowers, and texted me every day.

I appreciated gaining a real friend, and I also appreciated seeing how little the partners at my firm actually cared about me.

I was only supposed to be gone for two weeks, and they didn’t bother to even reach out to make sure I was alive.

That was the reason I had no desire to advance in the company.

The way Emilia gushed about MPWG, maybe I’d look into working there.

She was considering leaving and going there too, and if she did, I certainly would.

“Because your social life has been nonexistent for the last year and you were bored.”

I couldn’t deny that, so I laughed. My eyes scanned the room, and I was surprised by the beauty of the event.

The ballroom was decorated in crystal, silver, and gold.

I shouldn’t have expected anything less than a perfect event from the most successful law firm in The Hills, but as I watched servers swirl around the room while a live band played, I was truly in awe.

Anyone who was anyone in Rose Valley Hills appeared to be at the gala tonight, and as exciting as it was to get dressed up and go out, I was also a little overwhelmed.

I’d been isolating for so long it felt uncomfortable being in a room full of people.

My family respected my wishes about wanting space, but they checked on me every day.

It took about three months before I felt comfortable going around anyone again outside of work.

Going through the stages of grief temporarily put me in a dark place.

I got super depressed and felt responsible for being with a man who could treat me so horribly.

During that time, I lost thirty pounds. It took a hell of a lot of therapy to separate what I was responsible for, which was choosing to entertain a man and how I responded to what he did, from what he was responsible for.

When the depression lifted, I was able to be around my family again.

Tyler and I were still just as close, even though we didn’t move back in together.

He offered me his spare room, but I declined.

I really just wanted my own space, so I moved into a cute little three bedroom home.

The most unexpected change over the past year was my mother filing for divorce.

She said watching me struggle in relationships showed her just how traumatizing her marriage with my father was.

I knew that had never been their intention, so I didn’t hold my wrong choices against them, but I also couldn’t deny they were the reason I dealt with a lot of the things I did with men.

My father was never a bad father . . . he was just a horrible husband.

When I was a kid, I didn’t really process and care about how he treated my mother.

I was able to separate the father from the cheating husband.

It wasn’t until I was a teenager and really understood what was going on that my respect and admiration of him changed.

He was fighting the divorce like crazy, but Ma seemed to be set on getting it.

She’d moved in with Tyler, and he was taking care of her just as well as he’d taken care of me.

I didn’t think my brother would ever get married unfortunately.

He didn’t want to fail at it like our parents did.

Even though I understood that, I prayed every day that he’d open his heart to love, because he had so much of it to give, and he truly deserved to receive it.

He may have been aggressive toward other men, but he was always gentle toward women.

Tyler shared with me that he’d learned during therapy that was his way of protecting women because he felt like he failed to protect Mama.

His therapist stressed to him that wasn’t his responsibility, but some truths were easier to hear than they were to believe.

For a while, I thought something would bloom between Tyler and Emilia, but he said he didn’t want a failed relationship with her to mess up our friendship, and I respected him even more for that.

It was crazy how much I wanted love for my brother but not myself.

For the last year, I’d had absolutely no desire to date.

Destin felt like a final straw of sorts.

He was the third man to cheat on me. Those relationships hardened me and robbed me of my desire for love. For now, at least.

“Ah.” Emilia’s nails gently dug into my arm as she whispered, “No need to panic, but Destin is here.”

“What!” I shrieked, trying to keep myself from jerking my head to the left where she was looking. “Why is he here?”

“I don’t know, but he’s here. With a woman. And he’s looking right at you.”

My heart hammered against my rib cage. I’d finally found my joy and peace, and a lot of that had to do with cutting his access off to me.

Blocked on social media, new number, new home, and he was off my approved visitor’s list at the office.

He popped up at my office once while I was on leave, and they threatened to sue him for harassment if he came back again.

That was all it took for him to stay away.

I didn’t allow myself to consume it, but I heard his ego had him acting a fool on social media.

Me not taking him back had him playing the victim and talking shit about me.

It didn’t matter because Trenae made it clear she was pregnant with his child, but still.

I couldn’t believe he had the audacity to play the victim over the money he lost on the wedding that never happened because I left him.

Never mind the fact that I left him because he cheated on me.

“I can’t be here,” I decided. “I don’t want to see him. I don’t want to talk to him. I can’t be here.”

“Wait,” Emilia urged, grabbing my hand before I could sprint out of the ballroom.

“If you want to leave, I’ll let you leave, but are you really going to let him run you out of this room?

You belong here far more than he does. Don’t give him that power over you, Taj.

How are you going to know how truly healed you are and that you’ve really moved on if you spend the rest of your life avoiding him? ”

“Ugh. I hate it when you’re right.”

We mirrored each other’s smiles as my heart slowed down. “I know, but you love it just as much. I’m gonna get you something stronger than this champagne from the bar. Yell if you need me.”

I nodded and released a shaky breath as she walked away.

Only a minute or so passed before the atmosphere around me shifted.

I didn’t have to lay eyes on him to know he was close.

My heart squeezed, arms covered in chills, and armpits covered with sweat.

The scent of his signature cologne filled my nostrils.

Closing my eyes, I inhaled a deep breath and tilted my head slightly.

Regardless of how anxious I was to be in the same room as Destin, he certainly wouldn’t know that.

“Surprise, surprise.”

My eyes snapped shut at the sound of his voice. There was once a time I loved to hear its crisp, deepness in my ear as he fucked me. Now, it was just as annoying as his presence. Slowly, I turned to face him. A bark of laughter immediately escaped me at the sight of Trenae standing next to him.

“Hello, Taj. It’s good to see you again,” he continued.

“I wish I could say the pleasure is mine, but I actually wouldn’t mind going the rest of my life never seeing you again.”

He laughed, and Trenae rolled her arms and crossed her arms over her chest. My eyes caught the flicker of a ring when she did the gesture, and I refused to believe this man had proposed to her—with my fucking ring. My hands had a mind of their own, and I grabbed her hand to look.

“Are you serious, Destin?” I scoffed as she snatched her hand away from me. “You gave her my ring?”

“Her ring?” she repeated. “This is the ring you proposed to her with?” she asked, lifting her hand to his face—as if he didn’t know what it looked like.

Normally, anytime I was around an ex, I always wanted to make sure they knew I was better off without them.

This time, I felt panic setting in. I felt hurt returning to the pit of my stomach.

I felt rage bubbling up and challenging me to beat both of their asses.

Before any of those feelings could consume me completely, a strong arm wrapped around my waist.

As someone pulled me close, I looked up and into eyes I thought I’d only dreamed of for quite some time. Eyes that belonged to my angel. For some reason, my body relaxed against him immediately. Actually, I knew the reason. My body relaxed against him because he’d proven it, I, was safe with him.

“Hey, sweetheart. You good?”