Miscarriage and Depression Pt. 04

All characters engaging in sexual activities are 18 years of age or older.

Any spelling or grammar mistakes are my own.

"Do you think this is something that we should talk about together?" Sofia asked Jackson.

Jackson sat there and looked at Sofia. He could see that she was wanting to talk about it. He hadn't even thought about her when he read the letter. He didn't think that she even had a dog in this internal fight of his. It was his feelings about what he should do.

"To be honest Sofia, I never even thought about you when I read the letter." Jackson replied honestly.

"OK. What about after you read the letter?"

"Well, I never really got the chance to think about it. I came home to you, naked on my bed. It was a bit distracting." he replied smiling.

Sofia smiled and giggled.

"Well that was the point."

Jackson reached over and took Sofia's hand into his.

"Look Sofia. I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm happy that the doctors have given her a clean bill of health. I don't hate her. I've forgiven her. Do I think having a simple dinner with her to celebrate is a good idea, yes and no."

"I'm not trying to tell you what do to Jackson." Sofia said, as she put her other hand on top of his.

"I know what you she did to you. I'm happy that you've always been honest with me about everything. But don't.....", was all she got out before he cut her off.

"This has nothing to do with whatever you and I are doing, or will do Sofia. Tara has no impact, input, or say in my life, in any way, shape or form."

Sofia got up and sat on Jackson's lap. She clasped her hands together around the back of his neck. She leaned down and kissed him softly yet firmly on the lips.

"All I'm asking for Jackson, is simply to have a seat at the table, whenever you decide to start seriously looking for something."

Jackson could feel his cock coming back to life. Sofia felt it too, how could she not. She smiled and wiggled her butt.

"As much as I love the way you fuck me big boy, you need to eat, and I need to shower." Sofia said and kissed him.

The timer dinged and Sofia got up from his lap. She grabbed the oven mitts and bent over to get supper out of the oven. Jackson whistled and asked if she was sure she didn't want another round. She sat the glass dish on the counter and turned around. She was smiling.

"Your second rounds always last well over an hour and I gotta be able to walk into work tomorrow." she said as she turned around and took a plate out of the cabinet.

"So, you are going to eat this Honey Glazed Chicken with Rice and Broccoli, while I take my shower."

Sofia walked over and set the plate down in front of Jackson. She bent down and kissed him again.

"Do not join me in the shower either. If I go into work walking bowlegged, I'll never hear the end of it."

Jackson slapped her ass as she walked by.

"Yes dear." was his reply.

Jackson ate his plate in five minutes. One of the many things that had stuck with him after leaving the Navy, was to eat fast. He got up, cleaned his fork and plate and soaked the glass dish. Jackson decided to check out the apartment security footage from the day on his laptop, so he sat down on the sectional. He put his laptop on the coffee table and started reviewing. He saw himself throughout the house getting ready and leaving and then nothing, until twelve-thirty.

Jackson saw Sasha come in. He watched her plug her phone into the USB cable on the counter and start dancing around to music. Jackson watched her precook the meal that he'd eaten. She put it in the glass dish and then put a sticky note with directions on the refrigerator door. She turned off her phone and then she went into the living room. She sat down in the same spot that he was in, and she pulled out her own laptop.

Jackson put the video playback at normal speed as he watched and listen for a few minutes.

"Jesus Christ, another fucking test again, ugh!" she said out loud in frustration.

He watched her get up and grab one of his IBC Crème Sodas and then start taking the test. He put the playback, back on fast forward. She finished the test, put her stuff away and then she walked down the hall and into the bathroom. He didn't have a camera in there, but she came out less than a minute later with his clothes from the previous day. She threw everything but his workout shirt in the washer.

Jackson slowed down to normal speed again. Sasha was leaning against the washer and had her face buried in his shirt.

"What the hell is it with women and my shirts!" Jackson said aloud.

"You have a wonderful natural scent."

Jackson jumped in startled surprise. Sofia was now fully dressed and standing next to him.

"Jesus, I didn't even hear you come out."

She laughed and sat down next to him.

"I know that you're quite an observant man Jackson, but you can't possibly be that blind."

"What are you talking about?" Jackson asked, as he closed out the program and shut down his laptop.

"You don't notice how women stand really close, when they're talking to you?"

Jackson thought for a few seconds.

"No, I don't. Why, what did I do?"

"You do nothing wrong at all. You are constantly eating fruit in your office, you slather yourself in shea butter body wash every shower, and you wear Creed Aventus cologne. You're a walking, talking, pheromone oozing, panty dropping, tree of desire."

"I just like the way they smell is all."

"That's what I'm talking about." Sofia said, as she put her arms around Jackson's shoulder.

"You're sexy without even trying." she said, kissing him on the lips.

"Should I stop? I don't want to be a distraction."

"Hell no don't stop. You want a bunch of unhappy female workers?" Sofia said chuckling.

"OK. I guess."

"We all talk about it. I don't think there's a woman at work, married or not, that wouldn't like a shot at you."

"I don't wanna hear this. Lalalalalalalalalala" Jackson replied sticking his fingers in his ears chuckling.

Sofia smiled and pulled his hands down.

"I'll see you at the office tomorrow." she said and walked out the door.

Jackson sat there for a few minutes to gather his thoughts on the conversation he just had with her. He decided she was right. No reason to change anything. He'd just be more careful and put more distance between himself and any female that talks to him. With that settled in his mind, he put his laptop back in his briefcase and turned on the TV. He flipped it to the NHL Network, then went and finished washing the rest of the dishes.

He had just finished when the game started. He grabbed a bottle of water and sat down to watch. It took ten minutes before he regretted it. The good guys were down three to nothing already. The only bright spot was that Marchand got hammered against the boards and was out for the game. Jackson watched until the end of the first and then went to bed. He couldn't stand to watch anymore. It just wasn't their night.

Jackson got up the next morning, did his morning routine and went to work an hour earlier than usual. The third shift leader told him that everything went well during the shift. Everyone showed up and that no major problems occurred. Jackson popped around to say hello to everyone and to be safe on the drive home at the end of the shift. He got up to his office and started his day. Running system tests, checking and replying to emails, phone calls to current and prospective clients, all the usual daily things that come with running a business.

It was just before eleven when his in-house red phone rang.

"Oh fuck." Jackson said out loud before picking it up.

"What's wrong?" he said into the phone.

"Boss, this is Ashley from the front desk lobby."

"OK Ashley, what's wrong."

"Ummmmmm, your ex-wife is here and wants to see you."

Jackson closed his eyes and took a big deep breath in.

"I can send her away if you want me to."

"No, it's OK, send her back, and Ashley."

"Yes sir."

"Please call me Jackson. You don't have to call me boss or sir. It's OK to use first names here."

"OK Jackson. I'll send her back."

Jackson hung up the phone and took another deep breath. He told himself to talk to Ashley and remind her that she is only to use the red phone, in case of emergency. He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes and rubbed his hands over his face. He wasn't expecting her to show up again so soon. He had been sitting back for maybe a minute when all of a sudden, he heard a bunch of yelling going on. He couldn't make out what was being said, so he got up and opened the door.

"YOU BROKE MY BEST FRIEND'S HEART; YOU GOD DAMN CHEATING....."

Joseph was standing at the top of the stairs yelling at Tara, who was halfway to the bottom of the stairs and leaning against the wall completely shell shocked. Jackson started jogging towards Joseph.

"HEY, HEY, HEY JOE, JOE, JOE!"

Joseph stopped yelling and turned towards Jackson as he was jogging towards him.

"It's OK bro. It's fine. I wanna see her."

Jackson was close enough now that he could see tears on Joseph's face, which was red from his yelling. He felt good to have a best friend that cared that much, but at the same time he knew he needed to get Joseph into his own office and calmed down.

"Are you sure?" Joseph asked with a surprised look on his face.

Jackson had his arm over Joseph's shoulder and turned him towards his own office.

"Yes, I'm sure. Everything is OK. Nothing is wrong, I promise." Jackson said as he steered Joseph around and had him walking away.

"Go have a drink in your office and I'll fill you in after she leaves."

Joseph was breathing heavily. The weight of his emotions that had exploded out, were now calming down.

"OK, but you call me if something happens, and I'll have her thrown out on her ass."

Jackson smiled at him and gave him a hug.

"Thank you for having my back Joe."

They disengaged and Jackson watched him close his office door. He turned around and was surprised to see that Sofia was helping Tara walk up the stairs. He walked towards the top of the stairs to help, when Sofia shot him a look.

"I didn't know he was even here yet." Jackson replied.

"Help her to your office, while I go kick Joseph in his baby carrot." Sofia softly growled so that only Jackson and Tara could hear her.

Jackson grabbed Tara's hand and she looked up at him.

"I'm sorry Jackson. I didn't mean to start any trouble."

"It's OK, you didn't do anything wrong Tara. You're fine."

They saw Sofia walking towards Joseph's office like she was on a mission.

"Kick his ass Sofia!" came a voice from downstairs.

That remark made everyone start laughing, including Jackson and Tara.

"Will she really do it?" Tara asked, still giggling a bit.

"She definitely has the balls to." Jackson replied.

They had just about gotten to the door of Jackson's office when they heard laughing again. Jackson and Tara turned around and saw Sofia walking down the hallway with Joseph hunched over beside her. She had him by the ear and he was limping a little bit. Jackson groaned and chuckled a bit.

"Let him go Sofia."

"Everyone inside right now." Sofia said with authority.

Jackson smiled at Sofia, and she let go of his ear. Joseph stood up and walked into the office. Sofia followed him, then Tara. Jackson turned around and walked to the banister.

"Alright everyone back to work now."

"We love you boss!" came that same voice from below.

Jackson smiled and replied,

"Shut up Brian and get back to work." which caused everyone to laugh again.

Jackson walked into his office and shut the door. Sofia opened her mouth, but Jackson cut her off.

"Sit down and shut up Sofia or your fired."

She sat down between Tara and Joseph. Tara was on the end closest to his desk while Joseph was on the other end and could see the room.

"You two are going to apologize to everyone for your unprofessional behavior before the end of the day." Jackson said pointing at Joseph and Sofia.

"You're right bro. I let my emotions get the better of me. I'm sorry Jackson."

"Apology accepted. I understand you were defending me, and I love you for it. But you are co-owner of this company. We cannot have outbursts like that, even if they were of good intentions."

"You're right, I know."

"Sofia, you cannot physically assault anybody let alone one of your bosses."

"It was kinda hot the way she handled me." Joseph quipped, rubbing his ear.

"I'll rip it off right here in the office."

"Sofia Valentia Hernandez." Jackson said aloud.

The room went silent, as all three of them looked up at Jackson. Joseph was trying not to laugh at hearing her being middle named. Sofia was biting her lower lip while looking up at him. Tara was just sitting there with a surprised look on her face.

"Apologize to Joseph right now."

"I'm sorry Joseph."

"Joe, apologize to Tara."

Joseph cleared his throat. "Tara, I'm sorry for yelling at you in front of everyone. This wasn't the time or place for it."

"Thank you Joseph." Tara answered.

"Now Joe, go around and apologize to everyone. Make sure they understand that this will not happen again and make sure morale stays high."

Joseph got up and smiled at Jackson.

"See, I told you. You're the actual boss around here." he said with a laugh.

Jackson watched him walk out and close the door. When he turned back towards the couch, Tara and Sofia were giggling.

"What has you two giggling?" Jackson asked, while pulling his chair over.

"Nothing Jackson, just girl talk." Sofia replied.

"There's no girl talk here. You're lucky I don't suspend you Sofia.

A knock on the door got everyone's attention.

"Come on in." Jackson said.

It was Brian and he was carrying a brown paper sack, that had the top folded down and rolled. He walked over to Tara and handed her the paper bag.

"You dropped this and forgot to pick it up."

"Oh my god, I'd forgotten about that. Thank you." Tara replied.

Brian stared at her for a moment then smiled and left.

Tara had opened the bag and was pulling out food.

"I decided that we'd have lunch to celebrate instead of having a dinner somewhere. This is a much lighter atmosphere, and I didn't want to convey the wrong message either." she said.

"Let me guess, turkey on wheat bread with colby-jack cheese on each slice of bread, a single piece of lettuce in the middle and ketchup layered throughout?" Sofia asked.

Tara had a look of surprise on her face as she looked back and forth between Sofia and Jackson.

"Why yes, and who are you exactly?"

"I'm Sofia Hernandez. I'm the Executive Staff Accountant." she responded reaching out her hand.

"I don't remember seeing you before, what happened to Denise?" Tara replied shaking her hand.

"She's now retired sipping drinks on a beach with her family in Cape Coral, and I didn't work here when you were married to Jackson." Sofia answered with a smile.

Tara and Sofia were looking at one another. Jackson could tell that they were sizing each other up.

"Ladies......ladies......ladies." Jackson tried to interject.

He got no response from either of them. They just continued to look at one another with a smile on their face. Almost like who was going to blink first. Finally, Jackson had had enough, and he kicked the coffee table. It worked because both ladies jumped a little with the startle.

"Sofia, you have work to do and apologies to make." he stated firmly.

"Yes Jackson, I'll get right on that. I have a big date tonight so I'll knock all that out here quickly so I can get ready." she replied standing up and winking at him.

"It was nice to finally met you Tara. I hope everything works out for you in the end."

Jackson and Tara watched Sofia walk out and close the door behind her. They both looked at each other not saying anything for a few seconds.

"Can I have my sandwich now?" Jackson asked, breaking the silence.

"Of course." Tara replied tossing it to him.

Jackson started unwrapping his sandwich when he noticed that Tara had pulled out two mini bottles of champagne. He was surprised that they didn't break, when she dropped the bag. She opened both of them, then reached over and handed him one. Jackson raised his bottle up.

"Tara, to a clean bill of health and a lifetime of new and happy memories." he said as he leaned over towards her.

Tara leaned over and they clicked the bottles together. Both took big drinks as they sat back down. They both ate their food as they talked about her health, their work, and her family. It was light and easy. Jackson was having a nice time. He was happy that she decided to do this instead of a dinner. He had finished his sandwich and was sitting back eating his bag of chips.

"I'm selling the house." Tara said suddenly.

"Why? That house was completely tailored to you except for the gym."

"That house was supposed to be our home, for us to spend our lives in. It's a reminder that we aren't together anymore." she replied.

"I understand."

"I already have a few interested buyers too."

"It's a nice house with a big yard, so I'm not surprised. I'll bet you get a great price for it."

"I'm telling you because I want to know if you are interested in buying it and moving back in."

Jackson finished his chips and put his foot on the table.

"I gave that house to you Tara. I didn't want anything to do with it then and I don't want anything to do with it now."

Jackson saw a flicker of pain in Tara's face and leaned forward with his arms on his knees and hands together.

"I didn't say that to make you feel bad Tara. That place has bad memories for the both of us. As far as I'm concerned, we can burn it to ground and have a weenie roast tonight."

Tara chuckled and smiled.

"What about your date with Sofia?"

"I don't have a date with Sofia." Jackson replied.

"She a very beautiful young woman." Tara stated looking at him.

"And very smart as well. She graduated Cum laude from NYU."

"She's got her eyes on you Jackson." Tara said smiling at him.

"Apparently at lot of people do." Jackson replied offhand.

"Oh really now. I take it you've been dating a lot then." Tara stated and asked at the same time.

"Nope."

"You just said a lot of people do. That implies you're dating Jackson."

"No it does not. It implies that other people, have their eyes on me. I'm not dating." Jackson replied, as he walked over and got himself an IBC Crème Soda.

"Soooooo, you're not dating anyone?" Tara asked casually.

"Nope. I haven't been on a date since before we were married or since." Jackson replied, taking a drink.

"Oh. Well I have to say that I am a bit surprised Jackson."

"Why?"

"Jackson, I know you hate hearing things like this but you're a smart and handsome man. Don't let my affair, turn you into a hermit."

"I'm not a hermit Tara. I come to work. I go to lunches with clients or potential clients now. As for your affair, I forgave you long ago. I did everything short of felony kidnapping to get you to get help, but you refused any help I offered. I'm at peace knowing that I did everything right and it still wasn't enough. That's just the way the world works sometimes. I'm happy that you're better and I hope that you continue to take your meds and that you understand it's OK to seek help if you need it."

Tara smiled at him. She remembered the last time she saw him. It was at her sister and brother-in-law's anniversary party. Jackson was polite to her, but it seemed like he was keeping himself on a short leash, so he didn't lose control. She leaned back into his office couch and crossed her legs.

"That was an incredible gift you gave Pat and Bill. She still hasn't shut up about it."

Jackson smiled. He remembered the bottle of bourbon that he had shared with Bill, a week after they'd gotten back. The cruise had reignited their sex life and he was a very happy and appreciative man.