Chapter 17

“Baby, you here?” Robin called out as she walked through the front door.

When the car service dropped her off, she didn’t see Jeremy’s car in the driveway. She figured maybe he parked in the garage, but after checking there, she still didn’t see it.

Robin walked to her bedroom and hung up her hanging clothes case in the closet. She would send the clothes to the dry cleaners later.

She walked to the bathroom and started the water in the shower. She had to rinse off as much of Greg as she could before Jeremy came home.

Where was Jeremy, she thought. He knew she was coming in on the first flight home. It’s 7 o’clock in the morning and he’s no where to be found.

She went back and grabbed a pair of underwear and made sure her bathrobe was on the back of the door before she pushed it partway closed and stepped into the shower.

She had set the water as hot as she could stand it so that she could scrub all the cheating away with her loofa brush. Anything she could think of to get what she had done with Greg all these years off her body would never be enough. She was determined to be the good wife that she hoped was inside of her.

She ran her loofa over her stomach and cringed. She had a whole 4 days ahead of her before she could actually see the doctor. The thought of waiting that long was going to kill her. She made it up in her mind that she would go get a couple of more tests, making sure to check the expiration dates first, and try to satisfy her curiosity. She would tell Jeremy right away if she was pregnant.

She finished up in the shower and got out. She could hear moving around in the other room and it scared her. She quickly dressed and then grabbed a hair brush. Looking in the mirror at her self holding the brush over her head and seeing how ridiculous she looked, as well as wondering what she was going to do with the brush, she put it down and picked up the plunger. At least that way, if she had to swing it, she would be able to put some space between herself and the perp.

She made sure her grip was tight and pushed slowly pushed the door open with her foot. When she rounded the corner to enter her bedroom, she was met face-to-face with Jeremy.

“Babe, what are you doing?” he asked, seeing her with the plunger positioned over her head.

He laughed as he took a step back. There she was standing in her lace and silk robe, hair done up in a towel with a plunger poised over her head.

“I didn’t know that was you. You weren’t hear when I got in the shower. Where were you?”

She eyed him suspiciously. This was the first time that he’d ever given her the impression that he might be cheating also.

He didn’t say a word but reached up and took the plunger from her right hand and guided her down the hall to the kitchen with her left. She stopped him once they got halfway down the hallway.

“Jeremy, I asked you a question, where were you?” she demanded. She was getting frustrated now because this was so unlike him to not answer her when she asked him something.

“Baby, trust me. Just… just come with me,” he answered.

Once again, he took her hand and led her down the hallway. As they rounded the corner, she could see that the table was set for two and there was a bouquet of daisies in a vase in the center. Her favorite breakfast foods were strategically placed around the table.

“When I talked to you yesterday, you sounded so tired, so I wanted to do something nice and romantic for you. You’ve been working so hard lately and I know we haven’t taken a vacation together in a while. I was hoping that this could be the start of us trying to do more things together, more romantic and loving things together,” he told her.

He pulled out her chair and helped her sit down.

“Robin, lately, I don’t know for how long, but I’ve been feeling like the spark is gone, something’s been missing. I can’t put my finger on it, but whatever it is, I want to try to make this work. But only if you’re willing.”

She looked at him, amazed. She had no idea what to say to him. Then she started to panic. Maybe he knew what was going on and this was his way of telling her and that he was ready to start over. Whatever it was he was trying to say, she was willing to do it, for him.

“I am,” she told him.

Then she pulled him close and kissed him to seal the deal.
________________________________________________________________________

After breakfast, Robin went and put on some clothes to lounge around the house in.

Jeremy had mentioned to her that they would spend the day together and get to know each other again, to be like they used to. She wanted to do what she could and he was trying to see if they could.

They sat around all day, just talking about everything. He told her about the jobs his company was working on and what they had lined up in the coming months and she filled him in on her jobs and deals she had lined up.

Eventually, he got around to asking about her parents and how they were. He then remembered something about an emergency with her mom the other day.

Robin told him about how her mom was supposed to go down the bank and deposit money for their anniversary party but got sidetracked and lost it in the store she wasn’t supposed to be in. She explained how some woman helped her mom find the money. She expressed how shocked she was that this woman, who was probably about her age, would turn the money back in, whereas she couldn’t be sure that she would. She also filled him on how the woman didn’t want a reward or anything like that, but asked instead for them to help her promote her business.

Robin, then, went to her purse and pulled out the business card the woman had given her. She told Jeremy how she instantly got good vibes from the woman, especially since the woman was willing to take on the task of dealing with her parents and their anniversary party.

Robin handed Jeremy the card and all the color drained from his face.

Of course, Robin didn’t notice at all. She told him that she needed to remind her mom to call the woman if she hadn’t already. She reached for the phone and mentioned to him that she needed to do it while it was still on her mind, because she was forgetful, too.

Jeremy took that opportunity to excuse himself to the bathroom.

When he got in there, he closed and locked the door. He immediately turned on the cold water and splashed his face.

“They’ve met already,” he whispered softly.

He was freaking out. If Charlotte planned this party, there was no way he could hide their friendship.

He hadn’t really wanted them to meet because he knew how he felt just talking to Charlotte on the phone, but to have to be around her, in person, with his wife? A blind man could see how in love with her he was.

And that, Jeremy was sure, would be the one thing that Robin would notice.

Chapter 3

By the time Jeremy got Mikey home, he was dead to the world. He’d fallen asleep pretty much mid-sentence in the car. All the excitement probably wore him out.

Jeremy took Mikey to his bedroom upstairs and down the hall from his bedroom. As he passed by his bedroom door, he noticed the light was on. Robin was home.

He went ahead and dropped Mikey off in his bed, then quietly made his way back to his room and peeked through the crack in the door. He could see Robin sitting on the bed reading a book her cousin bought her. He hated that book. Every time she read it, she compared Jeremy to the guy in the book.

When he pushed the door open, she immediately gave him that “he’s a man and they’re all the same but he better think twice before playing me” look she did so well. He gave her a weak smile, walked over to his side of the bed and sat down on the very edge.

“Hey bae, your god-son is in there,” he told her, trying to lighten the mood. He knew it was a long shot.

“Mm-hmm…” was her only response.

“Rhonda and David said to tell you hello,” he tried again with friendly, light conversation. “Rhonda was asking how we were doing.”

“Humph. And what did you tell her nosy behind? Why is she always in OUR business? Always asking about “us” and how “we” are doing. She need to pay attention to her own relationship and keep her own man from wandering to every single girl. She needs to mind her own business!”

Jeremy looked at her dumbstruck. He had absolutely no idea what to make of that.

“Baby, now what would make you say that?” he asked calmly, even though it was making him mad that she reacted that way. “That girl has done nothing but be nice to you. Why are you acting like this?”

“See, I knew you would take her side. I knew the two of you had something going on,” she said.

Next thing Jeremy knew, Robin was up and pacing the floor and mumbling to herself. Jeremy listened to try to make out what she was saying, but there was really nothing else he could say. Robin seemed to be playing out the role of one of the characters she was reading about in that book. That was the only explanation for what he was watching her go through at that moment.

After watching her for another half a minute or so, he walked to her side of the bed and stood in her path. She stopped walking and looked at him intently.

“Whatever you have to say, I don’t want to hear it,” she scolded him. “I knew something was going on with you and her for the longest time. The way she would always laugh at your corny jokes, the way she would always joke and play with you when she thought I wasn’t looking. It all makes sense now.”

Jeremy put his head in his hands and tried to shake away her words. He couldn’t believe that she was being serious right then. He peeked at her through his fingers, hoping that she would say “aw, babe, you know I’m just playing”. But instead she just fumed more.

“Baby,” he started, “I can guarantee you that there is nothing going on with Rho and I. I have absolutely no interest in that girl. She’s like a little sister to me, period and point blank.” He stared at her hard to see is his words were getting through to her. She just looked at him blankly.

He was becoming frustrated with her now. He couldn’t help it, but he started to raise his voice at her.

“I don’t know what is going on with you tonight, but I am NOT that man in that story. All this animosity you’re feeling right now, either YOU are feeling guilty about something or you are stressing over something else and taking it out on me. You know damn well that Rhonda, nor I have EVER given you a reason to doubt our platonic relationship. Direct your insecurities somewhere else because I’m not in the mood to deal with your made up drama tonight!”

He then went over to his dresser, grabbed some clothes, walked in the bathroom and slammed the door. Robin jumped at that. She hadn’t seen him that mad in a long time.

She knew, though, that every word he spoke was the truth. She knew in her heart that Jeremy and Rhonda were only as close as a sister and brother could be. And Rhonda, who had never been anything but nice and kind to her, would never do that. Although they weren’t best friends, Robin did think of Rhonda as someone she could turn to in a time of need.

It only took her a quick second to realize that he was right and that she needed to make it up to him.

She walked over to the bathroom door and listened. She could only hear the water in the shower running. She pushed the door open and walked in. She tripped naked and then climbed into the shower from the back. Jeremy never acknowledged her, but kept his head placed against the wall directly underneath the showerhead.

Robin walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around him. He tensed up at first but when she started softly stroking his chest, he let his body relax.

She reached over on the wall mount and grabbed the soap. She lather it up in her hands and began to rub her hands all over him, working and kneading out the tenseness she felt in his muscles, knowing that some it was there because of her.

“I’m so sorry, J. I don’t know what got into me. Do you forgive me?” she asked in a quiet tone.

Jerome turned his entire body around in her arms. When he did, she felt his manhood against her leg. She knew then that she was forgiven.

“I guess I’m forgiv…”

Before she could finish her sentence, Jeremy was already showing her just how much he forgave her.