48

Ansley could not believe that it was a new year.

Christmas with her family had been memorable. Simeon and her brother Richard joined them on Christmas Eve. It was the happiest Ansley had seen Simeon in a while. She was not anticipating her brother being there, it was a surprise and what a beautiful surprise it was.

She was in a good place in her career and she would be graduating in the summer, she was excited for this year. Ansley was in route to Washington, D.C. to interview a couple of faculty members from the Division of Infectious Diseases and Travel Medicine for her column. Ansley parked her car at the Park and Ride Marta station and boarded the train to head to the airport.

Finally arriving at Hartsfield-Jackson International, Ansley walked over to the counter to check her bags, and then prepped her carry-on bag to be screened by the TSA.

She walked through the metal detector.

Received an all clear…and hustled to her terminal.

Ansley arrived just as they were calling her zone to board the plane.

She readjusted her carry-on bag and proceeded down the walkway.

Once seated after placing her bag in the overhead compartment, Ansley pulled out her Kindle Fire and placed it on her lap. It had been a while since she had a chance to read for leisure.

Her phone rang with a number that she didn’t recognize. She thought it might be for work and answered.

“This is Ansley,” she answered.

“Hello, this is Ruth, Dr. Fadoju’s nurse. We are calling with your test results from your most recent pap smear and blood work. You listed on your forms that you were fine with receiving updates over the phone. Is now a good time?” she asked.

“Sure. I’m on a plane and we haven’t taken off yet. Please go ahead,” she replied, moving the phone from one ear to the other while she fastened her seatbelt. This must be something new they were doing. Normally they sent her results via snail mail.

“We have the results from your labs. Your glucose looks good, cholesterol is down from last year, LDL, HDL, and triglycerides all look great. Dr. Fadoju would like you to come by the office to go over your pap results and she orders some additional testing. Would you be able to come in on Monday?”

“Wait, what? I’m not understanding. Why are there additional test?” she asked.

“You tested positive for HSV-2…”

She knew what that was. Genital herpes.

Ansley felt numb. “I’ll be home on Sunday evening. I can be there by nine a.m.”

The nurse was talking to her, confirming Monday’s appointment and going over more details, but all Ansley could hear was positive. Her heart began to pound and she couldn’t breathe. She felt her world stop and her tears start to flow. Ansley looked around the plane, she felt confined as she tried to pull it together.

Disconnecting the call, she stared out the window, looking at nothing in particular. It had taken her months to finally get pass the fear that Davis had given her herpes. Ansley had just gotten to the point where she could move forward in her life without thinking about him period. Now this.

She tested positive.

Davis Montclair… Montgomery Davis.

Ansley hated him with a passion. She regretted that she ever met him. If only she had listened to Simeon and stayed away from him. None of this would be happening. Her head began to ache. She would be considered damaged goods. Who would want her now?

“Can I get you anything?” the flight attendant asked interrupting her thoughts.

Wiping away her tears, she answered, “Yes, could you bring some Kleenex and wine? Lots of wine.”

The attendant gave her a sympathetic look and went off to retrieve what she requested.

Ansley couldn’t believe this was her life.

The plane landed two hours later.

She departed with the rest of the passengers, marching in a single file line.

Ansley walked to baggage claim in a zombie-like state, thoughts and questions running through her head.

Who would ever take her as a wife?

What would her friends and family think of her?

Her mind was a cloud of confusion.

She had just made it to baggage claim when she heard someone yelling her name in the distance.

Ansley turned around.

“Wait up!” Ryan called out to her.

He was even more handsome than the last time she saw him. Ryan wasted no time embracing her in one of his familiar bear hugs. In his arms, Ansley felt safe, secure and vulnerable. She unloaded all of the hurt on his shoulder.

“Whoa… why are you crying?” he asked, pulling back from her and peering into her eyes.

Ryan comforted her, by rubbing her shoulders. When she didn’t respond he placed her head on his chest and allowed her to continue to cry right there in the middle of airport.

She cried for what felt like an eternity.

“Listen Ansley, why don’t we split a cab and you can tell me everything. What hotel are you staying at?”

Through her tears, she was able to whisper, “The Madison Hotel at 1177 15th St. NW.”

He looked at her with a warm smile and raised his hand to wipe away her tears. Cupping her face in his hands, Ryan told her, “I’m actually staying there, too. Let me grab our bags, and then I’ll get us a cab. Whatever is going on with you… we’ll get through it together. Okay?”

Ansley nodded. She sniffled, her bottom lip quivering, as she tried to control the tears that would not stop falling.

As Ryan approached with their bags, she shook her head as another dose of reality hit her. He would have never put her in this situation. He was the one that just wanted to love her and give her the world. Even now, he was willing to help her in her weakest moment, willing to stand by her regardless of what she might be facing—she wondered would he still be there once she told him everything.

After getting checked in, Ryan helped Ansley with taking her bags to her room. Once she was settled in, he told her that he would meet her back in her room in an hour so that they could talk. He was staying on the second floor of the hotel and Ansley was up on the third level.

She hadn’t spoken the entire cab ride over and Ryan didn’t push her to talk. He remained quiet as well, holding her hand the entire ride to the hotel.

Ansley took a warm shower and slipped on a pair of sweat pants and a tee shirt.

Twenty minutes later, she heard a knock at the door, and walked over to let Ryan inside.

“Hey Ryan, come on in,” she advised, moving back to allow him to come inside.

It was funny how life turned out. This man wanted to marry her and she turned him down, leaving herself accessible to the ‘Davis Montclairs’ of the world. Just thinking about it made her want to cry all over again.

He walked past her and into the suite’s living room. “Wow, your room is much nicer than mine,” he said. He was staying in the Madison Suite and Ansley was staying in the Hamilton Suite. “Grind House must be doing very well.”

She looked at him with a raised brow. “How did you know I was at Grind House?”

“You know I had to follow your career and see how you were doing since you don’t keep in touch. Lanae and I keep in contact on Facebook and via email. She keeps me in the loop.”

Thank God for friends like Lanae.

“It’s really good to see you, Ryan.” She looked down at her feet. “Thank you for umm, taking care of me at the airport. I appreciate you being there.”

Ryan shrugged. “It’s you Ansley. I’ll always have your back. No matter what.” She could see the love in his eyes. That was a twinkle that she knew quite well.

Feeling her face flush, Ansley sighed. “So are you up here for work or is this a personal trip?” she asked. The last she heard, Ryan was still working as a Financial Analyst for American Express. She never asked about him, or tried to look him up on Facebook because she thought it would be too heartbreaking to find out that he had gotten married or moved on with someone else.

He smiled. “This trip is purely personal for me. My friend and his wife just had a baby, so I’ll be visiting them and then I’m touring the White House, the Holocaust museum and Frederick Douglas’s house. I’m trying to see all of the sites. I’m on my tourist grind.”

“Sounds like fun.” Ansley sat down on the sofa, motioning for him to join her. “I know you’ve always wanted to do all those things. If you’re lucky, you might get a glimpse of President Obama.”

He sat down next to her, and clasped her hands between his. He looked deep into her eyes before responding, “Aww man. That would be cool.”

She bowed her head, trying to avoid his eyes. “So how have you been?” She hoped to distract Ryan from the question she knew he would ask.

He reached across the seat and grabbed her hands. “I’ve been doing fine, Ansley, but how are you? I can tell that you’re hiding something, so tell me, what were all of those tears were about?”

She took a deep breath and moved from the sofa to the large window overlooking the city.

“The short of it is…I was dating an imposter and he stole from me, lied about his identity, and I just found out that he gave me herpes.” She turned to face Ryan with tears in her eyes. “I’m damaged goods.”

The room fell silent.

Ansley didn’t want to look at him anymore—she couldn’t. She believed that he wouldn’t judge her, but she judged herself and part of her believed she deserved to be in this situation. She lost Ryan because she was selfish. Interrupted her friendship with Simeon because she was selfish. And now she was left to carry karma with her for the rest of her life, because she messed with a man who was selfish.

Ryan rose and walked up behind Ansley. She could feel his breath on her neck as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into him.

Ansley was humiliated and couldn’t face him.

He put his head on her shoulder and she could feel the moisture from his tears. She slowly turned to face him, realizing that he needed to be comforted, too. He shared in her pain, crying his own tears.

They stood there together crying… crying for the damage done, and crying for what should have been.