Jace and Taylor

Corbin

I arrived early, the funeral home was waiting on her dress, and here I was. Delivering a dress for a woman who wouldn't allow me into her home. It's crazy what love makes you do. As much as I loved Jace I thought of all the pain he brought as well. It kept me focused on not wanting him for anything physical, I learned my lesson on that. Jace was untrustworthy in every since of the way.

I walked into the lobby and a tightlipped woman stared at me as she put on her glasses.

"JACE!" I shouted. I hated discrimination and she was not going to pull any stunts on me.

His wide eyed ass came from the back and I smiled. He was still fine, but I couldn't trust him.

"Where's my baby?" he asked.

"At home with her other grandmother. I'm going now." I said shoving the dress at him and walking away. He grabbed my arm.

"You drove an hour for me and you don't wanna stay. I'm happy to see you." He said nicely.

"Well your mother told me you have company." I said reminding him of his whore.

"We can't be friends. I have done so much to you, and you've been really good to me. I do not want you to walk away. I need a good person in my corner. You're an angel." He said. The old me would have melted and ran away with him into a closet or something, but the new me. The new me remembered that line from the last time, and that was how we got Raina.

"No. We can't be friends, we are going to co parent peacefully. I did this as a favor to Regina. Thank you for the compliment, you've taught me well." I said rubbing his handsome face. He nodded his head and I walked out of the funeral home.

I sat in my car and I wanted to cry, but deep down inside I knew I didn't need to. We had a rocky yet satisfying and passionate relationship. I worked entirely too much to have to come home and shout at some man to respect me, especially one that claimed to love me. I drove home with Guy's "Goodbye Luv" on repeat. I had matured past this phase of love and I knew I didn't need Jace any longer.

The next day started suddenly for me. My supervisor was on vacation, so they needed me to supervise today's shift. I was nervous about it, but I am positive I can do it. I came into work at 4 AM just to make sure I had read all the patients reports, and I would assign my staff appropriately. Dr. Exner was happy to see me, he had a patient coming in on a life flight and I was here, to make sure their lungs were supported. My day flowed perfectly despite it being my first day. I was completely fulfilled as my second shift ended.

As I entered the parking garage, Dr. West stepped off the elevator. I was pleasantly surprised to see him. I thought he was in Denver. I was happy to see his beautiful smile against his beautiful chocolate complexion. He always had a deep voice, that Jace joked sounded like God.

"Hello Corbin." He said cooly.

"Oh my God." I said truly happy. "Are you here permanently?" I asked hopefully.

"I am." He said holding up his bag.

"You're going in for surgery, I don't wanna hold you up. Can I hit you up online?" I asked.

"No." He said slightly devastating me. "No because I'm not sure when I get out of surgery. But is your number still the same?" he asked.

"Yes." I said sweetly.

I drove home happy as hell, for the first time in a very long time. I walked into my apartment and scooped up my sleeping baby girl just to kiss her, I didn't wanna wake her. I napped and woke early for work. As I brushed my teeth Dr. West called.

"Hey John." I said.

"Hello Corbin, I just left surgery."

"Wow, what kind was it?" I asked super impressed.

"A triple bypass." He and I had always been close from the time we started working at the hospital. I never talked to him about Jace, we would talk about life. I had never met someone who wanted the exact same things as me. We had the same love of nature and science. Even our spiritual views were the same. I had been so focused on Jace that I never saw him as an option. I was a faithful girlfriend the entire time we were together. I do not regret it, being faithful. I did not like the idea of more than one dick at a time.

He told me his mother was coming to town and that he was going to take her to the opera, while on call. He and I laughed about that. His mother would have a fit if her son got called to surgery while out with her.

"Or maybe it would a super prideful moment for her." I said making fun of his super stuck up mother. That was another thing he and I had in common. We both grew up black and privileged. His parents even voted for Bush and they were not Democrats. My mom and dad worked in corporate America. I do not know what they did. They dressed in suits for work every day. Dad at Delta and mom at Coca Cola. They hated Jace, not because he was white, but because he was a cheating ass boyfriend.

But John and I were in Jack and Jill, he was about 8 years older than me, but we experienced the same uptight upbringing. He made me laugh so hard when we he told me about learning to Waltz before the debutante ball. Some sort of way his tuxedo pants and shoes got switched. His shoes were a size too small and his pants were huge. He did the dance in front of everyone praying his pants did not fall off.

"I told my dad what happened, and he let me go home" he said as I giggled in the phone.