A South Carolina Love Affair: Resisting Temptation

Prologue

Push, push, push! the nurse screamed at me, but I couldn’t go any further. My body was tired, and the epidural was wearing off, so now I could feel every part of my vagina ripping in half. Okay, Jasmine, all I am asking you to do is give me one big push. Can you do that for me? Can you? I knew I didn’t have a choice, so I pushed as hard as I could and screamed as loud as I could, and just like that, she was out.

It’s a girl! the doctor stated.

She was screaming at the top of her lungs, and she was beautiful with a headful of hair. I guess that explained all the heartburn I’d been having. They took her to the other side of the room and wiped her up, weighed her, and checked how long she was. After they finished, they came over and placed her right in my gown for skin-to-skin contact.

I am here! Damn, I missed it! My husband, Lamar, came rushing in. Lamar and I had been married for two years after dating for four. Our friends Tony and Tonya set us up on a blind date.

As he walked over to me, he gave me a kiss on the forehead and touched our baby girl’s head and gave her a slight kiss on top of her head. You want to hold her? I asked him.

Now you know I want to hold my precious daughter, he stated.

As I watched him hold his daughter, all of a sudden, everything went black, and all I could hear was my husband yelling my name. I tried to say something, but I couldn’t, and that was all I could remember.

1

Lamar Williams

Six Years Ago…

Come on, Mar. You need to get over Trina’s ugly ass anyways. It has been over a year, and you still haven’t gotten over her, my best friend, Tony, said.

Trina was my ex, and we dated for two years. She was the only girl I took seriously, so when I found out that she had cheated on me—with a girl—I was heartbroken. Then, come to find out, she had been cheating for a year. Trina was just my type—slim and fit. She stood five feet eight with smooth, chocolate skin. She was natural, but she would wear sew-ins most of the time, and she loved going to the gym. One of the things I loved about her was she stayed working on her physique. Maybe I should have been going to the gym with her, because that was where she met her girlfriend, Simone.

I hear you man, and I’ve been on a few dates, but I just cannot seem to connect with anyone. I want to settle down, I’m twenty-seven years old, and shoot, I would love to have little ones running around one day.

Look, I hear you, she will come, but how are you going to meet her if you stop looking? Right now, you just need to get out and have some fun. Just find someone to have fun with, he said while getting up from the couch and getting another beer out the fridge.

We were at his and his girl’s house, watching college football when his fiancée, Tonya, walked through the door. Tonya was mad cool, but she was a little dingy for me. Tonya had a caramel complexion, and she stood about five feet six and was on the slim-thick side. You know, small breast, small waist, and big butt. She had sandy-red hair, and she always wore her hair down. You could tell she wrapped her hair every night before she went to bed. Tonya had perfect white teeth and a smile that could light up a room. Don’t get me wrong, Tony was my brother, and I would never cross that line, but dang, Tonya was bad.

Just the person I was looking for. I was just out with my coworker Jasmine, and I think you and her need to meet. She just moved out here a year ago, and before she moved, her boyfriend was killed by a drunk driver. She’s cute, funny, sweet, and she doesn’t have any kids. What do you think? Tonya asked while taking off her shoes and rubbing her feet.

You have already said two wrong things—funny and sweet. Everyone knows that’s code for ugly. I know I need to go out, but don’t be trying to hook me up with any booger bears, I said, making her laugh.

A what? A booger bear? I am not fooling with you tonight. She is a really pretty girl, but I will let her Facebook pictures do the talking, she said while laughing and pulling her phone out.

She was dark skinned with light brown eyes and shoulder-length hair. She wasn’t a slim girl, but she was very curvy. I wasn’t used to curvy women; I was more into tall, slim women. Jasmine, on the other hand, was short at about five feet three and had curves in all the right places.

Okay, okay. She is okay, I said, trying not to seem like I was all into her because I didn’t want to get my hopes up.

Whatever, Mar. You know my girl is fine. So, when you want to take her out? I showed her your picture, and she is willing to go out with you, Tonya said while walking to the kitchen.

Tell Jasmine that he is free tomorrow night and to meet him at Rick Erwin’s at 6 p.m., Tony said while coming out the kitchen and eating a chicken leg, smacking like he hadn’t eaten in two days.

Say no more. I have already sent her a text, and she just said that was cool, Tonya stated with a grin on her face as she stood in the kitchen doorway and ate too.

Dang, can a brother get something to eat? Both of y’all standing there eating and haven’t offered me anything, I said while my stomach started growling.

Don’t change the subject. Any other time, you would have already helped yourself to something to eat, but you need to go home and figure out what you are going to wear, you’re always on CP time because you claim you couldn’t find an outfit, Tonya said, making me laugh.

I got up and walked over to the door because she was telling the truth. Plus, I wanted to go on Facebook and look at some more of Jasmine’s pictures. Alright, I get the point. Y’all just don’t want to feed me. It’s cool. I didn’t want none of that dry leftover chicken anyways, I said while closing the door fast behind me.

The Next Day…

I had been sitting at my desk doing some paperwork, when all of a sudden, my phone started vibrating. It was Facebook letting me know that I had a notification, and it was Jasmine accepting my friend request. When I went home last night, I tried to look at her pictures, but her page was private, so I decided to send her a friend request. Now that I was actually able to see her page, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to look through some more of her pictures.

I found out that she had an English bulldog named Chewy. She loved to paint, loved to drink wine, and liked to do yoga. I always thought skinny white girls did yoga, but baby girl was very flexible. She seemed like she liked to have fun. The only thing I’d seen so far that I didn’t like was the fact that she went to the University of South Carolina. I myself went to the best school in the south—Clemson University. I could see now that we were going to have some problems.

I got to Rick Erwin’s around 5:45 p.m. I wanted to get there early so that I could have a few minutes to drink a little bit and calm my nerves.

When she first walked into the restaurant at 6:02 p.m., she was wearing a mid-length burnt-orange, curve-hugging sweater dress with a high neck and long sleeves with matching Tom Ford strap heels, and her hair was curly, hanging a little bit down her back. When the waiter walked her over to the table, I noticed she had this big smile on her face that showed her gap, and I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She was gorgeous, and when we were finally face to face, she smelled so good and sweet.

Hi, Lamar. Nice to finally meet you. Tonya has told me so much about you. When she said my name, I felt as if she were singing to me. Her voice was soft and pleasant.

Well, I guess we will be talking about you tonight because I just heard of you yesterday, I said, making her smile, and I noticed she had a dimple in her left cheek.

Once she was seated, the waitress came over, and we ordered. I had the lobster and shrimp, and she had the steak with red wine.

So where are you from? Honestly, I didn’t know where to start. I already knew that she was from Charleston, but she didn’t have that Gullah accent, so I wasn’t sure.

I’m originally from Florida but moved to Charleston when I was thirteen. My daddy went back to school to become an Occupational Therapist, and we moved there because the Medical University of South Carolina has a great Occupational Therapist program. So, were you born and raised in the upstate?

Yes, born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina, I said proudly.

Great, that means you can show me around the area. I have been here a year, and this is my first time in downtown Greenville, she said, showing off her pretty gap.

What? You mean to tell me that you haven’t been downtown? Girl, you need to get out the house more. Downtown is where it’s at.

Our food came, and I watched as she said a quick prayer before she went to town on that steak. Dang, girl, slow down. There are plenty of cows in the upstate, I said, making her laugh.

She giggled and wiped her mouth. Stop! I haven’t eaten since lunch, which was just a turkey sandwich, so I am starving.

We ended up taking a walk downtown after dinner and talked for hours and hours in Cleveland Park. She looked at her phone and realized it was 3 a.m. I had never talked to anyone that long before. I walked her to her car, and we said our goodbyes. Around about noon that morning, I sent her a text.

Lamar: Good morning, or should I say good evening, lol. I know you are probably tired, but I really enjoyed talking to you last night. I was so tired, I called out of work and I just wanted to know if you wanted to go out again tonight.

Jasmine: I called out too, lol. I was thinking about fixing buffalo nachos later on today, would you like to join me instead?

Lamar: I don't know, you might try to poison a brother. Ha

Jasmine: Now why would I do such a thing, but the choice is yours.

Lamar: Alright, I will come, just give your address and do you need me to bring anything.

Jasmine: Moscato would be nice!!!

2

Jasmine Miller

So, you mean to tell me you haven’t been on a date in over a year, Tonya stated, being overdramatic as usual.

I had been working at GHS Medical Office for a little over a year. I moved here right after my boyfriend was killed by a drunk driver. I was living in Columbia at the time, and I just needed to get away. I didn’t want to move back to Charleston, because the cost of living was too high. I was just a Medical Assistant. The money was good, but not Charleston good. Tonya was one of the girls that I worked with, and we hit it off on my first day.

"Stop being overdramatic. I just haven’t tried.