Laid 2 Rest Two Halves of a Whole (26 page)

Jay had retired from professional basketball a year ago and took the position of head basketball coach at the local University after I somehow convinced him that moving to New Mexico would be a great change for us, even though I had never been here before. I claimed the climate was nicer, the schools were better and in my heart, I felt if I were to open up my own spa out here, it would really take off. We had made the move on a whim of mine and today, I was the proud owner of the successful spa and salon that I had always wanted.

When I didn’t take that job at the jail, I had continued going to graphic design school for a few more weeks, but it didn’t feel right anymore. I had made the switch to massage school on a gut feeling and have been massaging ever since. I can only assume that it must have been a part of my core… just like Jay and the twins were.

Heading over to my office later that morning, I couldn’t help but detour to my old neighborhood first. For some odd reason, I wanted to see my old house... the one that Diego and I had bought together.

I just wanted to see if I felt any connection to it. Turning the corner onto my old street, I cringed when I found myself feeling slightly disappointed. Not about my old life, but for the structure itself.

There in place of my beautiful 2-story, sat a plain single story home. The grass that I had replaced with gravel was growing unevenly and patchy in the front yard. My beautiful oak tree that had once provided my driveway with much-needed shade drooped unhappily, in desperate need of some love and attention.

This was not my home anymore; I thought when I realized there was absolutely nothing keeping me there. It had no pull, effect, or hold on me that I could sense. Everything about this house felt distant and out-of-place. It carried a certain sadness to it. With one final glance over my shoulder, I drove away… never to return.

The spa on the other hand was elegant and sophisticated. The feel of the lobby when you first entered the building reeked of calm. From the soft sounds of a trickling waterfall, to the subtle scent of the flickering eucalyptus candles burning away in the fireplace, even the warm and friendly earth-tone paint on the walls invited you to relax and stay a while. I soaked it all up, as I headed to the reception desk to greet my staff as the girl’s names popped into my head one by one. “Hello, ladies. How is everyone this morning?”

“Great, good, or fine,” they all respond at the same time. “Jasmine, these came for you this morning,” one of the girls said, pointing to a large stunning bouquet of flowers. Stargazers and white roses (my favorite) filled the vase.

Reaching over and grabbing the card out carefully so I didn’t prick myself, I grinned as I read, “
Can’t wait to get home”.
Red-faced, I giggled a little after noticing all the girls smiling up at me. Hope it wasn’t
that obvious
what the card had meant. Yikes.

I proceeded to walk the floor for a while. This place was huge and we provided everything here. I employed half a dozen massage therapists along with several estheticians, hair stylists/barbers, a chiropractor, a physical therapist, and an acupuncturist. I had it all; you didn’t need to seek treatment anywhere else. I gave each employee 5% of the company, making them all part owner. I preferred it that way. My staff was more driven and that made the business that much more successful, because they all had a say so. It was their company too. If the spa did well, then we all reaped the rewards. I wasn’t the one getting rich from someone else’s hard labor. We were one tight bunch, like family, we had each other’s backs so the company ran smoother than most. I have to say, I am quite impressed with what we have managed to accomplish in only a years time.

When Jay got home from work that night, he found me sitting on the couch with the twins watching cartoons. He kissed the top of each of their little heads, kissed my belly bump, and then finally my lips.

“I have to talk mommy for a sec about something very important guys. We’ll be right back, okay,” he said to the kids, pulling me to my feet.

“Alright, daddy,” they answered together like always.

Jay had me in tow all the way down the hall to our bedroom and into the bathroom for some odd reason.
Why did he need to talk to me in here?

He answered my thoughts by picking me up and setting me down on the cold marble sink counter… his mouth coming down hungrily on mines. Turned out that he did not need to talk to me at all. He just couldn’t stand to wait until after the kids went to bed to be inside of me again, which lead to our little
quickie
in the bathroom.

Throughout dinner, we sat and stared at each other A LOT with goofy smiles plastered on our faces. Neither one of us could wait to sneak away to do it again. This time we ended up in the laundry room and then again in the garage. We felt like teenagers trying not to be caught by our parents and were exhausted by the time the kids were finally in bed for the night, but that didn’t stop us.

We still made love on every single piece of furniture in our bedroom that evening and in the morning; we both had to call into work sick because our legs were so weak. We lay naked in each other’s arms all day, trying to rebuild our strength after the twins had left for school. We slept most of the morning, but one of us had to surrender and get up to go find food.

Jay grumpily slid off the bed and wondered off naked to the kitchen as I buried my head deeper into my pillow…

That did it!

I suddenly found myself sitting with Maya in her living room back in California. She was crying on my shoulder, so I patted her lightly on the back like an idiot until I could figure out what was wrong with her.

However, this wasn’t a scene from my past. This was the present! She had just moved into this place a couple of weeks ago. I started stroking her hair and telling her that everything would be alright, but I had no idea what she was even crying about and by the looks of it… she’d been sobbing for a while. There were wadded up used tissues everywhere.

“Why do I always attract such losers? Why can’t I have a good man like you? I’m tired, Jazz. I’m so tired of having to deal with the same old shit all the damn time! When will it be my turn? I just don’t know what to do anymore,” she said through her tears, making it difficult for me to understand her.

Man
… Maya is a freakin’ mess, while I’m being sexed up like crazy, I thought guiltily. What the hell could I say to make her feel better? “Maya, he’s out there somewhere. Out there just waiting for you. You’ll see… you’ll find the…
perfect… guy… for… you
,” I answered her robotically, but as I spoke, a plan started forming in my brain. I actually had a real solution for her problem this time. I already knew the perfect guy for her and so did she…
she just couldn’t remember him
. Guess I’m gonna have to fix that, now aren’t I?

I returned to the present right as Jay came back into the room. “Wake up sleepy head. I found sustenance.”

“Yumm. This looks great,” I said, marveling at the tray of food he had prepared for us.

“Nothing but the best for my little mommy to be.”

I blushed and shook my head. “You’re spoiling me and I
like
it!” Stuffing a bite of the bacon, tomato and cheese omelet into my mouth, I chewed happily. “I think that we should have breakfast in bed more often. What do you think?”

“I’ll give you anything you want.”

“
Really?
” I paused. “I was hoping you’d say something like that,” I told him, trying to look super innocent.

“Anything. Just ask,” he said with one eyebrow raised. He knew I already wanted something.

I had to help Maya and I knew just how to do it, but I needed Jay’s help to actually pull it off. As luck would have it, I already knew the man of her dreams. She had spent two weeks traveling around Europe with him a few weeks back. The only problem was, I’m the only person that remembers taking that cruise oversees.

So what!
They were great together then… maybe, they could be great together now too. “Jay, do you know what Bobby’s up to these days?”

“Am I not enough man for you, beautiful?” he teased me, showing off his naked body like a show model.

“Stop that! You know you’re enough man for me
and then some
.” I said looking right between his legs and shuddering. “I was just wondering if you knew if Bobby was seeing anyone right now is all,
Big Boy
.”

“I see. I don’t think so, but I haven’t spoken to him in a while. Let me guess… you need me to check on that for some reason, right?”

“Handsome and smart too. How did I get to be so lucky? I think that he might like Maya. I have a good feeling that they’ll like each other, in fact.”

“Women intuition,” he said, raising his eyebrow at me again.

“You could call it that. I just know certain things. Just like I know how you’ll respond as soon as I do this.” I took his middle finger and slid it down my tongue, wrapping my lips firmly around its tip, only to apply deeper suction as I pushed and pulled it out of my mouth slowly. I watched him swallow hard as his excitement built. Looking up at him through my long lashes with my sexy eyes, he pounced on me like a dang jungle cat.

“You are such a cheater, Mrs. Bishop. I’m going to have to spank you for that!” He informed me, wrapping my leg around his waist.

“I was counting on it, babe.”

We fell onto the bed by each other’s side, breathing hard… panting. “I need water,” I huffed between breaths, sending us both into a fit of laughter. I loved his hearty laugh. I adored everything about him. Was he really mine to keep forever? I sure hope so; I really, really hope so. I was so happy now that I couldn’t imagine ever being without him again.

I sat up and drank from the glass of water he had brought us along with breakfast, but never got around to drinking, then offered it to him, which he killed off in one big swallow. He curled up next to me with his head on my breast and started rubbing my belly. “You don’t think we’re hurting the baby, do you?” he asked me thoughtfully.

“No, not at all, babe. They’re in there all warm and surrounded by our love. How could anything possibly be wrong with them?”

“You know there’s more than one in there, don’t you?”

“It’s a surprise.” Was all I whispered as I fall fast asleep.

Later that afternoon after helping the kids with their homework, Jay made a call to Bobby for me. He had to leave the room because I was practically breathing down his neck, but when he returned, he verified for me that Bobby was in fact still single and that he would be joining us in Vegas in a few months.

My birthday was coming up, so we were going to drop the kids off with his parents (since they lived there) and have some grownup fun by ourselves for a few days.

“I think I’ll invite Maya to tag along then, so the two of them can get acquainted. Can you make sure he spends a lot of time around her for me please?”

“Already ahead of you. We’re all set to have dinner together the night we arrive. Did I do good or what?” he said all proud of himself.

“You did your part perfectly, babe. I really, really hope this plan works for Maya’s sake.”

“With you steering the ship… that really shouldn’t be a problem, love.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

W
ITH THE TWINS SAFELY TUCKED
away at their grandparent’s house in Vegas for the next few days, Jay and I headed back to the airport to retrieve Maya. I had a really good feeling about this weekend. Even my younger brother Joel was supposed to drive up to celebrate my 36th birthday with us. Maya ran up to me in the baggage claim terminal and engulfed me in a warm hug the moment she found me in the crowd. She had absolutely no idea what I was scheming and with any luck, I will not make things any worse for her by interfering in her love life.

Jay had reserved us a huge 4-bedroom penthouse suite to share at a fabulous casino off the Vegas Strip that was tucked away amongst the city’s outer red rocks so we could all be in close proximity to one another. With that grand of a space, our entire party would be more than comfortable. With three extra rooms and two pullout beds in the living room, no one would have to concern themselves about sleeping on the hard floor or on a roll-away bed like in
the good old days
. Besides, I needed Maya around Bobby as much as possible and this was the ideal way of doing it without being extremely obvious. At least with Joel here, it would not appear as if I had set them up on a double date.