"Please tell me it’s not Ryan or Genevieve," Abigail said with a frown, hating the interruption.
"No. It’s not," he assured her.
"One of your girlfriends, then?" She asked spying the name on his screen.
Jamal laughed, "Em is more of a sister than a friend. Give me a minute," he told her before receiving the call, "Em, I’m in the middle of something right now. I’ll call you when I’m less busy."
"Oh. Sure," Emily said and hung up quickly.
"Who is Brenda?" Abigail blurted out before she could stop herself.
"Brenda?" Jamal asked with a frown, "The only Brenda I know is Lucy’s daughter. How do you know Brenda?" Jamal asked, wondering how she could know someone she had never met but couldn’t remember him.
"She’s like a sister, too?" Abigail asked, ignoring his question.
Jamal grinned. "She is my cousin. Lucy and my mom are cousins. Why do you ask?" Jamal asked curiously.
Cousin? So she wasn’t his girlfriend, Abigail mused, feeling very relieved.
Abigail shrugged, "On the plane you said you have a lot of ladies in your life. So, I assumed you meant you were a womanizer. Did you mean Em and Brenda?" Abigail asked, ignoring his question.
Jamal grinned, "Are you asking if I’m single?"
Abigail scowled at Jamal, "Just answer the question."
"Which? Yours or the one I deduced from your question?" He asked, his tone light and teasing.
He knew they had other more pressing and serious things to talk about, but for now he just wanted to keep it light with her. There will always be time to thrash out everything. But this moment, the very moment when he found out he still had a chance with the love of his life? He wanted to treasure it and keep it as a special memory. After now they would face all the unpleasantness of her life.
"Never mind," Abigail said with a shake of her head.
"Well, I am not a womanizer. I have Brenda, Bella, Mari, and Emily, and I have my other direct cousins and little siblings. So, that’s what I meant when I said I have lots of ladies in my life," he explained.
"I see," Abigail said, intrigued by the idea of having so many people in his life. She couldn’t imagine living like that.
"And just so you know, I’m single. I’ve never dated anyone before you and I’ve not been with anyone after you. You are my first and my only," he assured her.
Abigail eyed him with skepticism, "How is that possible?"
Jamal shrugged, "It is possible because my love for you is true. You’re special to me. I’m a one woman man. And thankfully, you’re that one woman for me."
Abigail’s heart skipped a beat, "Stop saying nonsense. There’s no such thing," she muttered with a roll of her eyes even though his words made her feel warm inside.
"We are proof of it. How else do you explain us? This moment? The universe knew that my feelings for you is true and so it conspired to make my desire a reality. You might not remember, but I told you I was going to marry you the last time we saw twenty years ago. That still stands. You’re going to be my wife whether or not you remember the promise."
Abigail blinked, taken aback by his bold declaration, "We have so much we should be talking about not this," she said, ignoring the racing of her heart.
As much as she was interested in him, she wanted to focus on getting the information she needed to get herself and Josh away from Ryan. That was priority to her.
"Talking about this won’t stop us from talking about that. I’ve wanted to be able to say this to you all these years. Everything else can wait until I make my intentions clear to you," Jamal said, and Abigail shook her head.
"I loved you as Dawn all through my childhood. And I fell in love with you again when I met you as Abigail. Whether you are Dawn or you’re Abigail, I want you to know that not once did I forget you, and I love you," he said before she could speak.
"I traveled down to Blue York because Genevieve posted on her TikTok that she was going to school there. I went there so I could see Dawn now that she was eighteen. I couldn’t approach before then because of the age difference. When I got to Blue York I saw the news of the sex tapes and I was broken. I was hurt because I kept myself this whole time to be with you. And then the universe rewarded me by making me meet with you at the club. When I saw you, I thought you looked very familiar..."
"Hold on. How did you ever mistake Genevieve for Dawn if you truly knew Dawn?" Abigail cut in, since it was something that still puzzled her. "Even my mom’s brother accepted Genevieve as Dawn. I don’t understand why."
"Ryan made everyone believe that you had severe injuries from the accident and needed a face surgery. So Genevieve was the new you after the surgery," Jamal explained and Dawn scoffed.
"The new me? That bastard gave his daughter my identity. He gave her life, and then he made me serve his daughter. He had the nerves to tell me I was responsible for the accident, and then he tried to have a quack therapist feed me with drugs to suppress my memory!" Dawn said, her body vibrating with the force of her anger.
"I’m sorry you went through that," Jamal said calmly, holding her gaze. "But do not worry. You are not alone anymore. We will make him pay. He’s going to prefer death to whatever is coming for him," Jamal promised.
The way he said it, looking into her eyes, Abigail felt a calmness wash over her. She could tell that despite his tone and calm exterior he was very upset.
"Tell me everything, Jamal. From the beginning. This time no interruptions. I want to know every single detail you know about me. I want to know all that has happened and how you ended up as Genevieve’s driver," Abigail said, and Jamal nodded.
"Alright. I will tell you everything," he said, deciding to start fro the beginning.