Entry# 3: The Beginning of the End.....

Dear Diary - 

Weeks had gone by and things were cool.  Jason was on the road a lot due to his job and would spend his free time with me when he could.  Considering that my work schedule was just as hectic, it seemed to work out well.  We really enjoyed each others company and talked a lot about what we wanted in life.  I was very appreciative of the little things that Jason would do for me, like always checking to see if I needed anything before he came to see me.  Or like the time I had injured myself and he left work to take care of me.  I liked his attentiveness.  He would call or text me every morning and every night before he went to bed.  We communicated throughout the day and it felt so good to have someone putting a smile on my face.  

On a whim, I decided to pick up a card to express my gratitude and I called him and asked him for his address.  He asked me what did I need it for and I simply said that it was surprise.  I jotted down the address and made a mental note that I needed to check the address out because I had yet to have been to his house.  He said that he lived in a house four times the size as mine and that his brother lived with him.  I told him that I needed to come to his house soon.  He said he wasn't sure how he felt about that because his brother always had chicks running in and out of the house and he didn't want me around that kind of environment.  I told him I could care less and that I needed to see his house and that he had a  month to make that happen.  When I got home, I searched for  the address on the internet and I couldn't find it.  I called Jason back and asked him to give me the address again and he asked me what I was doing with it. I made up some story about how  I was creating a stamp on line and the address that he gave me came up invalid.  He gave me the address again and apparently I had missed a digit.  I checked the address again and I still couldn't find it.  So I called a friend of mine who had access to a private investigation database and asked her to look the address up.  She couldn't find it either but she said if Jason lived in a new subdivision, the address was not going to show up in her system or on an online map and told me that I shouldn't make anything much of it at the time.  What she said did make sense so I left it alone and decided to give Jason the card the next time that I saw him.

One day, he was complaining about having stomach pains and he wasn't sure if he would be able to come and see me before he left town.  He said he was having this issue for some time and stated that he might have an ulcer or worse.  He half cracked a joke and said he hoped it wasn't cancer.  I told him to shut up and stop thinking that way.  It was probably stress from dealing with his mother's death and his hectic work schedule.  The next evening he came to see me before he left town  and I had cooked some Asian stir fry but made it very bland and used no oil due to his stomach issues.  I bought tons of cranberry juice because I had read somewhere that it was good for ulcers.  Apparently he was gravely disappointed and almost seemed unappreciative to a degree for my efforts.  He fussed and complained about how he hated cranberry juice and wished the food was spicier.  I shot him a dirty look and then he apologized and said no worries.  I couldn't help but acknowledge the feeling I had during that moment, however, I dismissed it rather quickly and just chalked it up to him not feeling well.  After dinner, he played one of his personal tracks that he had done some work on.  I was really surprised at his level of talent and at his rhyming abilities.  I really didn't think he had it in him.  According to him the song was about me but in the back of my mind, I found it hard to believe.  I simply smiled and said that I liked the beat.  

That evening, I was in the kitchen washing the dishes when I heard Jason go upstairs.  After a few minutes, I was wondering what he was doing up there.  I slowly crept upstairs and when I got to my bedroom door, I heard Jason's hurried footsteps approach the bathroom door in my bedroom.  We both looked at each other and asked at the same time, "What are you doing?"  Jason turned around and went back into my bathroom and into my closet.  I followed him and saw that he was looking at my shoe collection  He asked me what was my favorite shoe store and I told him that it was Bakers.  He then asked me what size I wore and I told him that it depended on the style of the shoe.  I made a mental note that my birthday was coming up in a few weeks and that he probably was trying to figure out what to get me as a gift.  Suddenly he turned to me and suggested that we go on a weekend get away.  I asked him if he was serious.  He said that he was and that he actually had done some research and told me what the the total cost of the trip would be.  He said all that I needed was to pay for my plane ticket and he would take care of the rest.  He was working with a travel agent and said that I could either pay the agent directly or give him the money and he would do it.  I told him that it would be easier for me to just give him the money.  So we left and went to the bank to get the money from the ATM machine and returned back to my place.  

When we got back home, I handed Jason an envelope.  I went into the bathroom while he read the card.  When he was done, he looked at me and told me that it felt nice to be appreciated.  We then fooled around a bit and then Jason decided to stay the night and he would leave from my place straight to the airport.  He asked me to set the alarm clock for 4 in the morning so that he would not miss his flight.

The next morning when the alarm went off, I insisted that he used the guest bathroom down the hall.  I had a thing about guests using  the shower in my bathroom.  He insisted on using my bathroom and we argued back and forth about it until I was exasperated and gave in.  It was too early and I wanted him to leave so I could go back to sleep. While he was in the shower, I looked at the tags on his clothes so that I could get his clothing sizes.  He seemed to be a lover of Coogi apparel.  Now that I think about it, I wish I had checked his pockets.  I jotted down the sizes and crept back into the bed.  Jason then got dressed and I walked him to the door and kissed him good-bye.  I went back to sleep and woke up about an hour later.  As I was making up the bed, I saw that he left his flash drive that he used for work. He also had left some of his clothes and the remote for his laptop.  I called him and told him about the drive and he asked me to put it away in a safe place and he would get it from me the next time he saw me.  A few minutes later, my cousin Tammy called me and I was telling her about Jason and the flash drive.  She said if she were me, she would look at it.  I told her it was his stuff for work and there was no need to look at it.  Looking back now, I wish I had listened to her that night......

©All original content copyright Kim M. Washington, 2012-2013.

Entry #2 - How We Met

Dear Diary -

I was sitting home on a Saturday night bored out of my mind.  I had reached the point where the clubs were getting played out and drinking until I was numb was no longer feeling cute.  Yeah, I've been on a few dates here and there but nothing serious.  I wanted to meet someone new but I kept seeing the same people over and over again no matter where I went.  So I decided to try something different.  I flipped open my laptop and logged onto the internet.  I surfed until I came across a free online dating website.  I clicked on the search link and filled out my criteria for what I was looking for in a potential mate and the results were overwhelming.  I decided that it probably would be best if I let the men find me as opposed to me finding them.

As the days went by, I received a ridiculous amount of emails on the dating website.  Some of these dudes were dumb enough to put photos of themselves with other women on their profile.  Now granted, some of them said that the woman was a sister or a cousin.  But I thought that it was best to keep it moving.  I eventually came across an email from a guy named Jason.  He said that he had recently relocated from California and was looking to make new friends.  I checked out his profile and it said he had a masters degree in computer engineering; he was a sound engineer and was originally from Miami.  No kids, single, tall and was nice looking.  I figured what the heck, I have nothing to lose, so I wrote him back.  We exchanged a few emails and eventually exchanged phone numbers.  The day after we exchanged numbers, Jason gave me a call.  He told me that his job transferred him to Atlanta and he was working on the renovation of a studio for the record company.  He also mentioned that he was traveling  back and forth to Houston to work on an a variety for albums for a new and upcoming artists.  Jason failed to realize that I could care less about the fact that he worked in the music business so I switched up the conversation to what he liked to do during his free time.  He said he didn't have much of that which is why his last relationship didn't work.  The woman he was dating couldn't handle his hectic schedule and he was hoping that he could meet someone as busy as he was.  I told him that I fit that profile.  We ended the conversation by making plans to meet for dinner on Friday night.

When Friday arrived, I slowly started getting antsy, almost nervous about my date with Jason.  I called him to confirm and when he answered he sounded like he was sleeping.  He said he would see me later that night and was looking forward to it.  As the time drew closer, I got dressed and headed out of the door.  It took me about 45 minutes to get to the restaurant.  I decided that it would be best to wait by the bar.  I looked at my cell phone and saw that I was five minutes early.  The bartender asked me if I wanted to order a drink and I told him no and that I was waiting for someone.  Ten minutes went by and there was no sign of Jason.  I pulled out my cell phone and dialed his number.  No answer.  I decided not to stick around because I felt that if he was running late or couldn't make it, he should have at least had the decency to call.

A few hours later, I received a text message from Jason informing me that he had an emergency with his mom.  Apparently she had been sick and was in the hospital.  She was asking for him so he was en route to Miami to go see her and he would make it up to me when he got back to town.  Not sure what to believe at the time, I simply said, okay and that I would keep her in my prayers and then took my butt to bed.  The next morning around six, Jason called and told me that his mother had passed away.  I told him that I was sorry to hear and asked if there was anything that I could do.  He said that he had to come back to town to get some things in order and asked if we could meet even if it was just for a little while before he went back to Miami.  I told him sure and he said that his flight was coming in later that afternoon.  I told him that I could meet him by the Starbucks near the airport and he said that was cool.

At about 2 o'clock that day, I pulled into the parking lot of Starbucks.  I surveyed the parking lot to see if I saw Jason.  Then a gold SUV pulled into the parking lot and I saw a man who looked like the photo on the website.  When the door opened, Jason stepped out.  I got out of my car and called over to him.  He looked over at me and smiled.  He had a slight gap in between his two front teeth that I found kind of cute.  He gave me a hug and said that he was happy to finally meet me.  He also revealed that he was nervous that I may not look like the photo on my profile and that he was relieved.   We went inside and ordered some coffee and sat down in the corner of the coffee shop.  I asked him how he was holding up and he said that he was stressed.  His brother had taken some money from his mother before she was admitted into the hospital and he and his sisters couldn't find him.  The funeral would be the following Friday and he was not sure when he would be returning to Atlanta.  I told him that I understood and that if he needed anything to just let me know.  We switched up the conversation to the basic getting to know you questions and chatted for about an hour.  I then told him that I had some errands to run and had to go.  

As I was getting out of my seat, I saw another woman in the coffee shop looking at Jason but she didn't say anything.  I made nothing of it and grabbed my purse and car keys.  Jason walked me to my car and he said he couldn't wait to see me again and that he would be in touch.  He then gave me a hug and told me good-bye.  As I was driving away, I looked into my rearview mirror and saw the same woman from earlier standing in the parking lot looking at Jason again.  If I knew then what I know now, I probably wouldn't have a story to tell and I would have just kept driving and never looked back.   All of this will be relevant soon enough.  It's getting late so my story stops here for now.  'Til next time.....

©All original content copyright Kim M. Washington, 2012-2013.

Diary Entry #1

Dear Diary  -

I was sitting in my car sunken down in the driver seat with large shades and an oversized hat on.  I suppose that sounds a little stalkerish, but it really is not the case.  I was waiting for a special delivery to arrive.  When the delivery truck pulled up, I grabbed my binoculars and slid my shades off and adjusted the lens zoomed in.  Just like I ordered, two dozen long stemmed black and red roses in a crystal vase.  The delivery man rang the doorbell of the townhouse and patiently waited for someone to answer.  I glanced at the clock on the dashboard, "It's 3 p.m", I thought, "the wife should be home by now."  The door swung open and a woman opened the door and was squealing with delight.  She signed for the flowers and the set the vase down by the door and went inside leaving the door open.  She reappeared at the door and handed the delivery man a tip.  Hell, if I had known, I wouldn't have included the tip in my payment.  The delivery man left and the woman was about to close the door and just as I hoped, she remembered the mail and headed to the mailbox.  She opened the mailbox and sorted  through the mail.  A large red envelope caught her attention.  She eagerly opened the envelope and pulled out a beautiful card with an embossed red, black and white velvet design.  She ran her fingers over the raised artwork and then opened the card only for an enclosed letter to fall out.  She bent over and picked up the letter and continued reading the card.  The blood drained from her face when she read the hand written portion below the pre-printed greeting.   The blood drained from her face.... below the pre-printed greeting I had written a note.  It was a beautiful happy anniversary card.  At the bottom, I added a lovely little message for the blushing wife:

"Congratulations on making it to your second anniversary with your cheating, lying, thieving dog of a husband.  The letter inside will explain it all."

Just then, another delivery truck pulled up.  I couldn't have planned this any better.  Another delivery man approached the woman with a box wrapped up in red metallic wrapping paper with a huge black bow.  The woman was not smiling this time as though she feared what may be inside of the box.  She needs to be afraid.  Inside of the box were some of her husband's belongings that were left at my house.  She signed for the box and hurried inside and shut the door.

I sat up straight and debated if I should stick around or if I should leave and come back.  I decided to leave.  I wanted to come home and finally tell my story of how I finally have been pushed to the edge........

©All original content copyright Kim M. Washington, 2012-2013.