Anniversary

Chapter Two

It didn't take long for Bettie to find her. "Minnie? Is that you?" Bettie fell to her knees behind where Jasmine lay and touched her friend gently on the arm. "Oh, god, you're freezing." she placed something on Jasmine's torso, but Jasmine was so numb she could barely tell it was there.

"What's going on? Terry said you've been missing for hours. Have you been out here the whole time?"

Jasmine couldn't move or speak. Jazz had lost all urge even to cry once Bettie showed up. How could she tell her best friend that her brother had been having an affair and wanted a divorce? Jazz thought that they were happy. Was she so blind that she overlooked how miserable he was? Was she somehow neglecting him and therefore drove him away? "Minnie? You're scaring me. What happened?"

"How did you find me?" tears were dripping down the point of her nose now.

"We used 'find my iPhone' and found your car at the edge of this field with the door open and the engine still running. I thought something terrible had happened to you. I thought maybe...you were kidnapped or murdered or something." Bettie's voice began to crack.

"No, nothing like that. Your brother has been having an affair and wants a divorce." Jasmine was so drained that she felt she was reciting a line from a play.

"What?" Bettie's voice rose indignantly. "He what?" She repeated louder." I'm gonna kill him. I think I am going to prison for murder tonight, and the judge won't blame me one bit."

"The judge would put you in jail without batting an eyelash." Bettie was caught off guard by the monotone way Jazz was speaking.

"Minnie...are you okay?"

That was the final straw. Jasmine burst into laughter, "What a ridiculous question to ask. How stupid was I to ask him that? Oh, maybe if I had kept my stupid mouth shut, he wouldn't have told me anything! Maybe I would still have a husband right now!"

"Minnie, why don't you calm down."

"Calm down?" She sat up and turned on her friend. "Calm down?! Why on earth should I calm down. My life partner of six years just told me he is having an affair and wants a divorce. What did I do wrong, Bettie?!" Jasmine grabbed Bettie and dropped her head on her shoulder, sobbing louder. "What did I do wrong."

Bettie wrapped her arms around Jazz and tried calming her. "Ssshhh.....it will all be alright...There, there. Take some deep breaths, or you're going to hyperventilate.

"Bettie! How is she?" Damon, Bettie's fiance, strolled onto the scene with concern on his face.

"She is freezing. We need to get her inside and warm before she gets sick."

Before Jasmine could protest, Damon scooped her up in his arms and started walking towards their Chevy parked next to her Jeep. She felt exhaustion take over, her eyes beginning to droop.

"I'm going to call my idiot brother and drive her car home. You take her to our place and put her up in the guest bedroom."

Jasmine could feel the words vibrating in Damon's chest. "What happened?"

"He has been having an affair and wants a divorce." Damon froze mid-stride.

"He what?" He lowered his voice, but his heartbeat picked up rapidly.

"Yeah, I know. I'll take care of it. Just make sure she's safe and warm okay?"

"Okay. but tell Terry if I see him anytime soon, he is getting the ass beating of a lifetime."

"Oh, trust me, that isn't the half of it."

The drive back to Damon's was quiet. That was one of the nice things about him. He didn't ask many questions or try to fill the silence with awkward babble. He made it comfortable and allowed Jasmine to reflect on her thoughts. Truthfully he wouldn't know what to say in this situation except for some big brotherly type threats, and he figured that wasn't what Jasmine wanted to hear right now. His knuckles turned white with how tightly he was gripping the steering wheel. Terry was an idiot to throw his life with Jasmine away. She was always so kind and thoughtful and made Damon feel like family the moment they met. He remembered being the new kid at their high school; he was sitting alone at lunch drawing a girl in Kawaii, an anime style, and heard a squeak of excitement come from behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see this young girl with dark black hair and big green eyes staring at his picture with awe.

"What's her name?" She asked, jumping on her toes.

"Rio."

"Oh, I like that very much." She giggled and sat next to him. "What about you?"

"Me?" he asked; he felt his cheeks flush with embarrassment.

"Yeah, you. You do have a name, Dontcha?" She smiled a crooked smile in his direction and popped a straw into her juice box.

"It's Damon."

"Right on. Well, you know what, Damon?"

"What?"

"I like you. I think I'm going to keep you." Just then, a group of four walked into the lunchroom, and she waved them down.

"Guys, this is Damon. We've adopted him."

A chorus of "hellos" and "righteous" came from the new people at the table, and he gulped nervously. The most beautiful girl he had ever seen just happened to sit across from him. They introduced themselves, and she said her name was Bettie. From then on, he felt like he had a family that could be counted on whenever he needed it and owed a huge debt to Jasmine. He picked her up out of the car and carried her upstairs into the guest bedroom. She must have been exhausted because she was fast asleep when he laid her down. He couldn't imagine why this was happening. Jasmine and Terry were inseparable from the moment they started dating.

He thought their love would never end; it was something he looked up to and measured his love up to with Bettie. How could Terry betray Jasmine like this? He closed the door as silently as he could and walked downstairs. He could never imagine doing that to Beatrice. He choked up just thinking about Jasmine's face when he found the two girls embracing. Twisted in anguish, and to top it all off...She was having a baby. Did Terry even know that part yet? What would he do when he found out? Would that change anything for him?

Damon started a pot of coffee, knowing he and Bettie would be up late talking everything over...How did things get so messed up? Bettie didn't get home for an hour and a half. She walked into the kitchen and smiled weakly at Damon. Taking the cup of coffee gratefully, she sat down across from him at the table and sighed.

"Before you ask, he doesn't know about the baby yet. She was planning on telling him today, I know that for sure, but I guess it didn't get that far. He feels terrible and wants her to know how sorry he is."

"Right. Like that fixes everything. Hey, I've been screwing someone else for a little while, but I feel so terrible about it. I'm sorry." Damon retorted. "How could he be so stupid?"

"I don't know. Terry says he swears this is true love. That he would never stray for any other reason."

"He said what?!?" Damon stood up, outraged

"Keep your voice down. I don't want you waking up, Jasmine." Bettie scolded Damon and glared. "This will be hard enough on her. We have to make sure that she at least gets some sleep."

"Sorry. I just want to punch Terry in the face."

"Hey, I know we are all upset here, but he is still my brother. No punching." she crossed her arms.

"Fine. but how will you tell Jasmine that he is in love with someone else?"

"He claims he already told her. Which I'm sure is what made her take off in the first place."

"I can't believe this is happening. What are we going to do?" Damon walked around the table and placed his hands on Bettie's shoulders. She grabbed hold of one of his hands and put her head on it.

"I don't know...." She replied softly. "Let's try to get some sleep. You thought today was bad...Just wait to see what tomorrow brings."

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