For the past few months, life has brought me nothing but smiles and beautiful memories with my significant other and my family. I'd never trade these moments for anything. We'd work on both our final projects together, while at the same time I'd accompany her to see her therapist, Doctor Allison. She's doing great, coping with everything with me by her side. I admire her strength honestly, Isabelle possess some unique strengths that help guide her in life, I'm more than honoured to have been blessed with her. She reminds me of mother most of the time, how she cheers me up when I'm tired from typing and editing my project, how she cares and clings to me, just like mom used to. Sometimes I would have this silly thought of mother's soul being reincarnated in Isabelle's body but that's completely absurd, I'm just very lucky.
Well, I no longer go by the name Jamal Russo Bentivoglio, that was mother's surname. I remember just telling people my name was Jamal Russo, unattaching the Bentivoglio, I honestly wanted nothing to do with the family that banished my mother, apparently they're a popular Italian monarchs but that's really none of my business right now. My father and I decided to change my name, I'm his only heir and he wants the public to acknowledge that. I was more than okay with it, I felt more complete having him by my side, not because of the immense wealth he has but because I'd always shut the idea of me having a father out meanwhile I'd always crave for it deep inside me. Even though I'm not a kid anymore and he won't have to attend all my basketball games, we are happily doing grown up stuff. Drinking away our thoughts, playing basketball together, he's actually very good, certainly where I got my own talent from and spending quality time together. He makes time to come to Minneapolis to spend time with us, everyone's getting along pretty well.
I go by the name Jamal Ericson Johnson now, we had tons of paperwork to do but it was worth it. Isabelle and I have decided to plan our wedding when we've finally graduated, which is happening tomorrow. We have decided to move to Chicago, after the wedding that dad had tried to convince me to let him shoulder but I and Isabelle want it to totally be on us. It's our wedding after all, I have some savings even though not much, and I could pitch in to what Isabelle's bringing too. My father's wealthy, doesn't mean I am. Yeah, he can help me in times of need of course, but I'd love to make my own wealth and fame and that could be done in Chicago, there are more opportunities for us there and besides, Isabelle applied for the FBI and the CIA as an undercover agent in Chicago so we are indeed bound to move and start a new chapter together.
Right now I'm outside my project supervisor's office, Mrs Kendall. She had called me in earlier this morning to come by 5:00pm and here I am, waiting patiently for her. I had some issues trying to finish my project, I mean it's basically about myself but the ending I gave to it wasn't precise. It's not what happened to me just hopefully what I wish would happen, maybe the final chapter didn't add up so that's probably why she called me in today to talk about it. But if she didn't approve of my project she would have called me in days ago, it's probably something else that I can't pin point.
" She'll see you now" Mrs Kendall's secretary says to me nicely and I hastily get off my seat, thanking her as I walk into Mrs Kendall's office to meet Mrs Kendall with a male companion seated on a sofa. " Good evening Ma'am" I greet as I step in with her secretary closing the door behind me. " Jamal, I'm so glad you could come today, have a seat. This is my husband, James" She introduces while they both get up to shake my hand, her husband looks oddly familiar. " Good evening sir" I respond.
" It's nice to finally meet you Jamal" he answers with a smart smile and we all take our seats. " Well Jamal I don't know how you'll take this news but.." I knew it. " I am so sorry Mrs Kendall, I know how I ended my project was not the ideal way but that's what I envision for myself, so I made it like that, even though it doesn't come to pass" I cut her off and they both pass me a questioning look. " Jamal that's not why you're here" Mrs Kendall responds with a laugh. " Your project was excellent, if it wasn't then you wouldn't have made that presentation"
" Jamal, my husband James here is the owner of New Light publishers, I'm certain you've heard about them" no wonder he looks familiar. There was one time in my second year when we are asked to do an assignment on publishing companies we would love to have our books to get published with and white, I came across New Light and admired them so much for helping many famous writers publish their books, they looked over the top for me then so I decided to aim for less. " Yes I have, it's an honour to meet you sir" my goodness, I'm more than honoured. " Well Jamal, you remember you first session project in your second year?. The one about the romance between a schizophrenic and a Bipolar patient?" I thought about that story idea in like a day. " Yeah"
" Well that sparked our interests in the talent you have" she responds and Mr Kendall continues to speak. " I saw raw creative talent in that book you wrote. What sparked my interest most was the title, love in madness" wow. " It's a very nice book, I read it while editing it. I also read the one you wrote last year. You're good with different genres and I and my wife have been talking about helping you publish your books for three years now. We have watched you grow and we would love to help you show the world your works" okay wow. " We'd be publishing in Chicago, trust me the world is going to love you. I'm really excited you know, I really hope you would accept this offer" I'm literally doing an extremely happy dance in my head right now. Who would have thought that all this while, they've been keeping good tabs on me. " And we have high hopes for All we want is to be loved. It's a life reflecting story for black people you know, I knew you were going to do an excellent job at it" Mrs Kendall says with a big smile. " Indeed but hold on, you did say you didn't give it an ideal end. How about you take your time, see how events in your life unfold and spice it up" that's the perfect thing to do.
" Yes, that would be great" I respond happily. " Well are you accepting our offer or do you need to think about it?" Do I really need to think about it?. This is what I've been waiting for all my life and It's finally here. I'm sure Mr and Mrs Kendall wouldn't want to scam me for my work and take sole ownership of it, the Mrs Kendall I know is too sweet to do that. " Ah don't worry, you'll get sole ownership of your works. We're just helping you do this because we can't let your talent just go unseen, we would love to be part of your journey to success. Your publishing fees would be under us Jamal, and you'll gain your 50% of the profit" that sounds too much. " No please, allow me pitch in"
" No Jamal. Let's do this for you, please, in the memory of our late daughter, she would be more than happy to see us do this" Mrs Kendall says, placing her hand on mine and trying so hard to hold back her tears. I had no idea she even had a child, not to talk of her being late. " Okay then, may her soul rest in peace" I respond and the smiles on their faces melts my heart. Things have been going my way lately, even with the white privilege mindset I used to have. I've finally come to realise that indeed genuine talent gets your far in life irrespective of your race, even the stereotypes are still around, it has lessened. I'm more than grateful for how my life's going now and this is the beginning of a new, beautiful journey.
Mr and Mrs Kendall had accompanied me home to meet my family to break the news of our new deal, I didn't know why they insisted earlier but they did and now, I understand why. I came to realise that ever since they lost their daughter Michelle to leukemia at the age of 16, they've been longing for that love a complete family brings. Apparently, she was planning on becoming a script writer but she couldn't fulfil her dreams because cancer shaded itself on her. They've been trying to have children of their own again but unluckily Mrs Kendall has had countless miscarriages, even before Michelle was born. Now that they've found me, I guess they feel complete helping me achieve my dreams knowing fully well they couldn't help their daughter achieve hers, so this is an opportunity for them. Mama Joyce welcomed them with open arms and dinner, she also invited them for our dinner party tomorrow in honor of our convocation. I'm more than lucky to be surrounded by extremely nice people.
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" so tell me how you feel Jamal, everything's falling into place for us, things we didn't expect are happening and miracles keep appearing. How do you feel about that?" Isabelle says as we walk hand in hand in the empty streets of Harriet Ave, enjoying the peace amidst the street lights. " Well I'm happy and thankful, you know it all started happening when you came into my life.."
" Hey don't be cheesy there" she says with an obvious blush that melts my heart over and over. She's too cute, sometimes I feel I don't deserve her but then I would rather have her to myself than to anyone else. " Well honestly Isabelle, it all happened at once. I'm certainly happy, but I'm also very content, satisfied that after all the years I'd struggled with myself, here I am, complete with the people I love by my side and my dreams coming true. I have all the love I'd ever need and I can't ask for anything more" Yeah, I didn't feel held back by anything or anyone anymore.
" I feel the same way, even though I had a major setback I'm glad that everything is clear now. I wouldn't be who I am today without those setbacks so I'm thankful they happened and taught me valuable lessons you know. I feel like a new whole being" She says and I stop in my heels and turn to my right hand side to face her, caressing her cheek and staring deeply into her eyes, not shifting my gaze for anything. I could see the happiness sparkle in her beautiful eyeballs as she parts her lips to say something to me. " I'm more than glad we were able to experience all this together Jamal. It made what we feel for each other stronger even though it hasn't entirely been long, I've never been more proud of who we are now. It all happened in a short span of time but it's going to last for eternity" She whispers to me and I slowly place a kiss on her forehead, letting her words sink in. " I love you so much Isabelle"
" I love you more Jamal" she says and accompanies it with a tickle in my armpit, making me burst into a natural laughing machine. I manage to get her tickle spot behind her knee and as she laughs, I lift her from her waist and twirl her around with a big smile on her face. These are moments I'm always going to cherish, forever and ever.
It's funny how I thought what I felt for Isabelle was going to fade away after she made that comment on my colour, but look how I fell in deep, very deep. When I broke up with Natalie, I told myself I wasn't going to fall in love again. It went so smoothly until I laid eyes on Isabelle, I'm more than glad I kept my heart intact for her. I was scared to love again after Natalie but look how happy I am now. It's true that we don't get to choose who we fall in love with, our heart just gets fond of what we truly desire in someone else without us knowing in the first place and then the magic called love happens.
Isabelle's everything that I need but I never thought I could find. She loved the things I used to hate about myself, what I feel for her is more than anything I've felt for anyone before. I'm going to make sure this feeling keeps on growing as time continues to pass us by, it's a promise I'm undoubtedly going to keep.
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The convocation for all the art and tech students luckily is being held on the same day, today. As we the graduands file into the auditorium, cheers erupt and continues as we walk up the stage individually to accept our degree certificates. I'm graduating as a first class scholarship student in creative writing, sweet right?. I honestly wish my mother was here to see my dream slowly come true, she wasn't able to make hers come true and she would have been thrilled to see me come this far. All this is for her, even though I can't hear her say I'm so proud of you Jamal, at least I know she's watching me happily wherever she is. They're all watching us with proud hearts.
But atleast we have family beside us to celebrate this day, a day where we take greater holds on our lives in this world. I'm more than proud that I, Richard and Isabelle were able to come this far. Being a first class student isn't some easy thing to do. " Come on guys, let's take a group picture. Nathan please, here take the shot" Nicole chirps and hands over her phone to her boyfriend, yes Nicole has a boyfriend we actually approve of now.
Apparently Nicole has been crushing hard on this nerd, with really nice glasses. He's new in her school and when they met at a certain school newspaper meeting, they actually clicked. I remember how months passed and she couldn't stop talking about him, they would come over to hang out at home together with our supervision of course and as I watched them, I felt bad for her bestfriend Shedrick. Shedrick didn't make his move on time, even if he did, Nicole didn't like him the way he liked her. I can imagine how sad he feels honestly, they spend less time together. But to be honest I guess they're better off as friends, as long as Nicole is happy with that, we're okay with it too. But this Nathan guy is a good kid, he's a book worm but is also good at some sports. He is a young tech guru, which made Richard love him a lot plus he won all of our hearts with his charming personality. I'm more than happy for Nicole, she says Shedrick is cool with her new relationship status and to avoid pondering on it too much, we accepted it as so.
I also forgot to mention that Abby and Richard are official too, everyone is simply happy with their significant other and I'm more than glad that we can tease each other about it without leaving anyone out. Even Mama Joyce and her boyfriend are in on our tease, we're finally going to be meeting him at our dinner today. My dad has closed his heart ever since him and mother parted ways, I'm glad about it honestly even though it might seem selfish. I guess it just makes me self assured about his genuine love for her even if she isn't alive anymore.
With cheeky smiles, Nathan clicks our group picture and as everyone leaves to take their own personal pictures, I pull Isabelle to me and crash my lips onto hers, reassuring myself that this amazing lady is still mine. " I'm proud of us love" She says as our lips part. " ready for a new beginning?" I ask, looking deeply into her eyes. " I've never been more ready for anything"
The dinner Mama Joyce, Mrs Hall and Dad prepared for us an intimate one, for close family. That's I and Isabelle, Mr and Mrs Hall alongside their kids, Richard and Abby, Miss Annie, Dad, Mama Joyce and her boyfriend Liam, Mrs Antonietta, Nicole and her boyfriend and lastly Mr and Mrs Kendall who Mama Joyce invited at the last minute. We had to clear the living room so we could have enough space for our dinner and we were all bonding, mostly welcoming Mr and Mrs Kendall to our family when we heard a gentle knock on the door. " Are we expecting anyone else?" Mama Joyce asks. " I'll go check" I respond, getting up from my seat beside Isabelle with my glass of champagne in my hands. Maybe it's Shedrick, Nicole invited him on our behalf but he had plans. He probably had a change of mind.
Opening the door, my eyes meet those of an elderly white couple with two large men behind them. They're both elegantly dressed, in a suit and a very lovely evening dress. " Sorry how may I help you?" I ask, I've never seen them before in my entire life. " Jamal?" The elderly woman asks, accent thick with that Italian note.
Italian accent. Before she spoke again, it all clicked in my head as I kept my eyes on them with my glass slipping from my hands from the shock.
" my grandson"