The Jinx of J

Chapter 2

The past five days had been too much to bear for Kerwin. He would not have mind if it was just a hectic five days at work, or a suffocating five days with his family. No, he would not mind if those were the case. He would welcome any of the two scenarios if it meant escaping the hell-hole he was stuck.

The hell-hole of not being with Jewel for five fucking long days.

It's been five days since she left leaving behind nothing more than a pot of chicken alfredo and a note than informed him nothing about her whereabouts. A few days of not being able to check on whether he was eating or not, that was all he got. A few days.

How far along was it before those few days were through?

He tried dropping by her apartment, dropping by the hospital where she worked, dropping by her favorite restaurant, dropping by every place he thought she'd be. But her apartment was quiet, her car not parked in there, and she was on an indefinite leave from work. She didn't show up in any of their favorite places either.

He couldn't find her. Even his calls went straight to voice mail, his messages not responded to.

The past five days had been hellish for him, and he made sure everyone around him felt it.

"Trina! I said I want black coffee! You're fired!" he yelled for the third time that day. Fortunately, Trina was his friend and knew what had been eating him. He could fire her all he wanted and she wouldn't even budge.

But his entire staff couldn't react the same way. They'd been walking on eggs around him, careful not to piss him off. And yet at the end of the day, he would still find something to yell about.

All because he fucking missed Jewel so much.

"You, fucker, need to cool down a little." Marcus barged into his office. "You're scaring our clients away."

"Go back to your office, Marcus. I'm not paying you to tell me what to do."

"Jesus, Leroy. You're fucking touchy. And I'm your legal adviser, so basically you pay me to tell you what to do."

He ran his fingers through his hair, yet what he wanted to do was pull the roots out just to vent out his frustration. "I'm working. You should too. Just go."

"Is this about Jewel?"

His silence was his answer.

"What the fuck did you do? Send her away? Is it because of Judith's engagement with your douche of a cousin?"

"None of your business, Marcus."

His best friend scoffed in exasperation. "The fuck it is. You're being an ass at work, driving your staff crazy. It's up to me to set you straight."

He leaned back against his chair and blew out a deep breath. "She left, okay? She fucking left. She wanted to give me time and space, even after I told her that I don't need any of those. She left, even after I told her that I need her."

"Have you tried looking for her?"

"What do you think? Of course I looked for her."

"Then maybe she doesn't want to be found."

"I already figured that out myself, fucker."

"Have you told her you love her?"

That made him sit straight and looked at his friend. He struggled for words, but he couldn't come up with the right ones.

"What the hell, Kerwin? For three months you've been steady with this girl, been intimate with her. You even gave her a key to your place, something you never did with any of the girls you've been with before. You brought her to our group dates, introduced her to us your friends. Your every day had been all about her for the past three months, and you never told her how you feel towards her?"