As he made his way to the waterside of the property, he was impressed by how neat, and tidy everything was and did his best to ignore the dogs that jumped at his legs. Jasmin had never mentioned anything about anyone bringing dogs.
It wasn't that he didn't like dogs; he absolutely loved them, but this was a rental property. He needed to be sure they were well behaved enough to not break or destroy anything.
"Hello." He unlocked the sliding glass doors and let himself out to find a woman sleeping in a patio chair.
Her hair was flaming red, exotic, and alluring. Wayne knew she couldn’t be one of the younger girls, so now he only needed to determine if she was Jasmin or Miranda. Smiling to himself, he already knew the answer to that. Miranda would never have hair like that, nor would she wear such a crazy bathing suit and wild sunglasses. This most definitely was Jasmin.
“Jasmin.” He made himself comfortable in the chair beside her and prepared for some sassy remark. "Jasmin."
Her eyes opened slightly at the sound of his voice, and the hand that held her phone lifted somewhat. "Wayne." He couldn’t help but smile as her eyes popped open completely in full recognition. “Oh my goodness, Wayne.”
The frown she displayed reminded him that some sarcastic retort was sure to follow. “Yes, darling, it's the one and only Wayne."
"One and only my backside, how did you get in here anyway?" She eyed him levelly, reminding him how head muscular a woman she was.
“The front door.”
She didn’t even blink. "You do know you're supposed to knock or call, or something right?"
Wayne just laughed, Jasmin had always been a beautiful woman, too lovely in fact. The kind of woman that a man always needed to keep an eye on. Not because she might be unfaithful but because she had a natural way of catching a man's eye. He had been thankful to never fall prey to her wills.
“You missed me then?”
“Not on your life.” She sat up straighter now in her seat next to him and tossed the phone on the table. “In fact, I was thinking of terminating our online friendship because I am so tired of all your messages." She smiled sweetly. He could always count on her spunkiness.
"Well, I do have your address, so if I want to see you, I can always come to Colorado."
“I’m moving.”
"Interesting. So, where is the rest of the family?"
"Darby and her husband Bradley are sleeping, and Miranda and Alyssa are out shopping.”
Shaking his head, he glanced around to find the dogs pushing at the screen to have out. "Whose dogs?"
Her smile gave him all the answers he needed. He sighed, he wasn’t about to mince words when the property was up for sale anyway. “Poodles?”
“Yes, they are my babies.”
After they talked a while, his mind wandered back to Miranda, he longed to see her, catch up on life with her. However, Jasmin mentioned she was dating some Chicago businessman and still, after all these years, wasn't interested in him.
He hadn’t known why he asked since so many years had gone by, perhaps it was just him trying to relive old times. He shrugged his shoulders at his own frivolity. He now had bonnie to keep him company and care for.
Over coffee and donuts, Jasmin told him all he wanted to know about her sister and nieces, oddly not a stitch about her life. As he watched her, he couldn't help but notice the sadness behind her glittery eyes.
How could one woman be filled with so much life feel sad? He knew not to ask her about it, for she would shrug it off in a blink of an eye and move onto the next topic. It did trouble him, though.
3
Jasmin
Having Wayne sit in the kitchen with her and share coffee made her feel weak-kneed and tongue-tied. How could one man continue to have such an effect on her in this way? Of all the men she had ever dated, loved, and shared time with, he was always the one she wanted.
From an early age, she had fallen in love with him. As years went by, she had chopped it up to puppy love for a friend. Sitting here now, she knew this wasn’t the case.
Over the years, he had clearly aged as everyone did. His hair had gone from sandy blonde to striking silver. His eyes were still smolderingly gorgeous green, and his smile was still dazzling. Everything about him always made her tingle, she often wondered if he noticed.
As she sipped her coffee, she felt a sick feeling in her stomach. Wayne was here on business only, taking care of the air conditioning unit.
"I should introduce you to bonnie." When he smiled, the big dimple in his chin formed telling her whoever this Bonnie woman as she was his life.
"Alright. You could bring Bonnie by tonight."
“She absolutely loves dogs.”
Jasmin wanted to groan, well if nothing else, she would make yet another female friend that loved dogs. It wasn’t this woman’s fault if she was still in love with Wayne. “Does she have any?”
“We are thinking of getting one this fall to celebrate our first meeting.”
Jasmin wouldn’t be so rude as to roll her eyes at the man's life. Still, his happiness at finding love made her sick, especially since the only thing she had on her mind was how much she always felt for him after all these years.
They chatted a while longer with her dogs conveniently sitting at his feet. He told her about his financial troubles and wishes to sell the home they were staying it and a few others in the area.
By the time he left, she had texted her sister for supplies for a late dinner that night for him and his family. Rick was coming too, of course, since things were getting cozy between him and Alyssa.
That night came around quickly, and Jasmin tried to ignore the ache in her chest and annoyance herself for still feeling something Wayne. It had been years since they saw each other in person, and he was in a happy relationship. She needed to figure out what was going to make her happy in life and pursue it.
By the time Wayne was due to arrive, Fajitas was made along with some other finger foods. Her phone was blaring out soulful music through a speaker in the living room, and the poker chips were ready if anyone wanted to partake in some games.
“What’s eating you Jas, you don’t look happy?”
Her sister could read her sometimes; she opted to paste a smile on her face to ease her sisters' worry.
“Nothing, just hope they like the food.”
"Wayne used to eat fajitas all the time; they were his favorite food as a teenager."
Jasmin knew this, that was why she made them. Miranda's sort-of boyfriend was coming too, it would be a full house.
When the knock sounded on the door, Jasmin swallowed her apprehension. She floated over to answer it in her flowing, whimsical dress with zigzag patterns on it. She had tied her hair up in a loose ponytail and took time to ensure her makeup was perfect, as always.
Opening the door, her jaw dropped open. Wayne stood beside the most delightful looking little girl of no more than five. "Jasmin, I want you to meet Bonnie, my daughter."
Bubbling giggles escaped her lips as she recovered from her shock, he had a daughter too. "Well, hello, Bonnie, don’t you look so pretty in your dress. We will have to make sure the dogs don’t jump all over you.”
“No, I like doggies.”