Turning Tables: The Final Instalment

Chapter 5: Love & Sacrifices

Jhene:
Present

I remember being young and daydreaming about what my life would be like once I was an official "adult" I'd think about who I'd marry, what would he look like, would we have kids? Would I have my own house, what kind of car would I be driving, everything that solidified myself as an adult, I'd wonder about. I never expected by 29 I'd have all my questions answered.

On December 31st, just a day before we brought the new year in, Marcus proposed after 3 years of being together. Our relationship moved pretty quickly in the beginning, it felt like after the night of that party, we were pretty much together. Neither one of us ever officially said it, but it was just something that overtime became clear to the both of us.

Going into the relationship I realised that I had a lot of growing that I needed to do If I wanted to make it work. I guess I'd become so used to being in toxic situations with guys who didn't really know how to love, that I didn't even understand what being in a healthy, respectful relationship was like. I was accustomed to drama. But being with Marcus was different, it was easy, it was calm, it was drama less. I never had to question my position in his life or question if he actually loved me because he always made it clear from the start.

I was fire and Marcus was water, that was the best way I could describe what we had. I wasn't the easiest person to deal with, especially not in the beginning, I was guarded and I came with excess baggage, but he was patient, gentle and consistent with me, that's what truly made me fall in love with him. He consistently showed up for not only me, but my daughter also. He loved and treated Asia as if she was his own child and he showed me what loving a woman flaws and all, truly felt like.

Our relationship wasn't perfect by any means, like every other couple we had our ups and downs, but we brought out the best in one another, and that was all I could ask for. Becoming his wife was just the icing on the cake, but regardless I knew that our bond was sealed forever.

***

The sun was beaming down on us with a heat that surely felt illegal in the middle of March. Finally, after an hour drive, we pulled up in the U-Haul truck to the brand-new place that we were calling home. The part of California that we'd moved too was much quieter than the city life of Los Angeles that I'd become accustomed to. Ridden were the sounds of traffic speeding down the avenue at 4 in the morning, the pit-bulls barking in the far distant or the club goers ending their night out in search of their next coke induced high. Instead, we'd awaken to opening garage doors and husbands taking off to work at 7am and housewives chittering on their porch steps over a cup of coffee before their morning run, and the horn of the district school bus.

Moving out of my apartment and away from the city really wasn't a choice, I loved my apartment and I loved being close to my family and friends. If it was up to me, I would've stayed, but it had to be done since it had become a hotspot for paparazzi. With Marcus being at the height of his boxing career, I'd been thrusted into a spotlight that I still wasn't 100% used to. It had gotten so bad that sometimes I couldn't even empty the trash without some creep jumping from behind a car to snap a photo of me. I'd gone from being a regular girl from Brooklyn, to being forced into a limelight that came with an unhealthy amount of pressure. It was a lifestyle that if I had the choice I would stay far away from, but it was a sacrifice I had to make if I wanted to be with the person that I loved.

The movers had already begun emptying the truck to my old apartment by the time we'd arrived. I stood in the middle of the resin driveway and just looked around, simply taking it all in. The view was breath-taking, our new home was positioned on the top of a hill so we overlooked the city of LA. In the near distant the birds were singing, and the air was tinged with the pleasant aroma of freshly lawn grass mingling in pleasantly in the air. "You happy babe?" I heard Marcus' voice suddenly appear from behind me. I turned around to face him just as he pulled me in by the small of my waist.