“But watching the two of you together…” Mommy Jess continued, “I haven’t seen him this happy in months and I don’t just owe you an apology. I owe you my gratitude as well.” She sighed and shook her head. “Ever since he was a little kid, he’s always had his guard up. I think it started because he was bullied and I was so overbearing, I only made it worse. He stopped talking about the things that hurt him and no matter how bad it got, he refused to cry. He just kept it in and tried to deal with it himself because he hates feeling helpless and weak. It has to come out somehow, though…hence the logs in the backyard. Perry was the only one who understood him and after he died, I thought he’d never be the same again. But he came back from that road trip completely different. He’s still hurting, but he doesn’t snap at me anymore. He’s trying so hard to get his life back on track. Just this morning he was talking to me about going back to college and I think a lot of these changes are because of you. I don’t know what it was, but you gave him something we couldn’t.”
Momma B leaned over and placed her arm around Jasmin’s shoulder. “You brought him back to us.”
Mommy Jess came around the counter and gave her a quick hug as well. “Those nails in your log tell me that he probably said some awful things to you. I don’t know what happened, I just hope you can find a way to forgive him.”
“I forgive him,” Jasmin said. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t. I’m just…wary. I don’t know if I can trust him.”
“Just take each day as it comes. If it’s meant to be, it will be.”
Jasmin smiled at the sentiment. She still didn’t believe in the hogwash, and she wasn’t going to leave this in the hands of destiny; instead, she was going to leave it in the hands of time. Her entire relationship with Kevin had been a push and pull struggle and she was scared that he’d hurt her again. She’d come here for closure and now she had opened herself up to him again. But it was evident that he was willing to make some drastic changes. He’d made amends with Clayton and Momma B. He wanted to go back to college.
But when it came to her personal relationship with Kevin, the most notable change was the fact that he apologized. It was something he’d never done before. And it wasn’t the apology itself that made her forgive him, it was because of what it meant. He’d told her before that sorry implied that he wouldn’t do it again. She didn’t know if she could trust those words, but she was willing to start at the beginning and see what their friendship evolved into. It was risky. She could end up heartbroken again, but she’d seen glimpses of what they could be like together and he was definitely worth the risk.
*****
Kevin stopped outside the departures terminal and stuffed his hands in his pockets as he turned to face her. “So?”
“So…”
“I hope they went easy on you.”
“They’re great. You are so lucky to have both of them in your life.”
“It’s weird how it took meeting you to make me fully understand that. I won’t take them for granted again,” he said with a somewhat sheepish smile. Silence lingered after that and it was one of those awkward goodbye moments where both of them were stalling to delay the inevitable. “So?”
“So…” She smiled. “You’ll call me tonight?”
“I’ll call you every night.” He looked down for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts. “Hey, Jazz…we can make this work, right? I mean…I keep thinking that I destroyed everything and—”
“You did.” She lifted her hand and gently stroked the stubble on his face. “But I think you needed to destroy everything…Now it gives us a chance to rebuild.”
Her positivity had always been the quality he admired most about her. He exhaled a deep breath, a mixture of relief and new hope, and pulled her into his arms. He’d never been a fan of talking and he didn’t know when he would see her again, so he held her silently, choosing not to fill their last moments with tedious words.
After a few minutes, she reluctantly pulled away. “I have to go. Let’s not say goodbye.”
“It isn’t goodbye.”
She nodded and with a heavy heart, he watched her lift her bags and walk towards the terminal. She’d only taken a few steps before she stopped and turned to face him.
“Hey, Kevin.”
“Yeah.”
“We can befriendsfrom tomorrow.”
“I agree.”
She dropped her bags and ran towards him, throwing herself at him with enough force to make him take a few steps back. Shewrapped her arms and legs around him and then those fleshy lips were on his. Sweet and reassuring. Firm yet still seductive, making him forget they were in the middle of an airport. That kiss encompassed everything Jasmin. She gave him a taste of his future and he savored every second.
She was his polar opposite, different in every way. He pushed and she constantly pulled him back to her.
Newton’s Third Law of Motion: For every action, there is an equal but opposite reaction.
When he showed her the ugliness that tragedy can leave behind, she showed him the beauty in life to help him move past it. When he showed her anger and malice, she showed him kindness and compassion. When he showed her cowardice and weakness, she showed him strength and heart to forgive.
Same magnitude. Same intensity. Different response. Equal but opposite.
If there was one thing he’d learned from Newton’s Laws of Motion, it was that he needed to stay in motion. Keep moving on. Keep moving forward. That’s what he needed to do. He was going to push himself to do better, be better…until he became the man she deserved.
