Chapter 529: Chaffeur For Life

Mari grinned at the engagement ring on her finger as Jax drove her to the office.

Even though it was a couple of days already, she was yet to get used to the sight of the ring on her.

"So, what are your plans for today apart from work?" Jax asked, turning to look at her.

"I’ll probably go over to Jamal’s office to see him since he’s not taking my calls," Mari said thoughtfully.

"If he doesn’t want to talk, doesn’t that mean he may not want to see you?"

"Maybe. But he can avoid my calls but not me. What kind of a friend would I be to just let him avoid my calls and not make any attempts to see him? Besides, he’s not just my friend. He’s family."

Jax nodded but said nothing.

"You know what?" Mari asked, glancing at her watch, "Maybe you should just drop me off at his office. I’ll just go there before going over to mine. That way I won’t miss him."

"What if he’s not at the office yet?"

"Then I’ll wait for him. But I believe he’s there by now since Stefan is absent."

"Alright. How long do you think the meeting would take? I could wait and drive you to your office when you’re done so you don’t have to take a cab."

Mari grinned. "You’d do that for me?"

"Of course. Apart from the fact that you’re the love of my life and I’m your voluntary chauffeur for life and I want to keep you safe, you don’t have your car because you’re at our place..."

"Our place?" Mari interrupted.

Jax turned to her. "You’re my fiancée, so it’s your place too, isn’t it?"

"Yes, it is," Mari said happily.

"It is settled then. I’ll wait for you. When you’re done talking with Jamal I’ll drive you to the office."

"Thanks, chauffeur," she said, blowing him a kiss.

Jax chuckled.

Mari sighed softly as her thoughts drifted to Jamal again. "I’m not sure what I’m going to say to Jamal yet."

"Maybe you don’t have to say anything. You could listen. Listening helps you know what to say," Jax advised.

"Hm. That’s true," Mari said, nodding slowly.

They were both silent for a while, then Mari exhaled deeply. "Why do people who love each other even fight? You both love each other yet you’re fighting and hurting each other. Why not just kiss and makeup or something? It’s so stupid and frustrating."

Jax chuckled. "I hope you keep this mindset so you don’t fight with me in the future."

Mari pouted. "I didn’t say I won’t fight with you. I said it’s stupid and frustrating."

Jax laughed softly. "If it’s stupid and frustrating, then don’t do it."

"Is it possible not to fight?" Mari asked, then shook her head. "I don’t think so. Let’s just make sure every time we fight we make up with terrible sex."

Jax frowned. "Terrible sex?"

"Yes. If the sex is great after each fight I might just be tempted to fight more often," she said with a teasing smile.

Jax laughed, shaking his head.

"But really, I don’t see the big deal in what Dawn did. Jamal is being overly sensitive," Mari said after a moment.

"As much as you don’t see anything wrong with what Dawn did because of your personality, don’t go defending Dawn. As a matter of fact, I think you should defend Jamal."

Mari frowned. "Defend Jamal?"

Jax smiled. "Yeah. The reverse works best. If Jamal loves Dawn as much as you all believe, then by defending him and blaming Dawn, he would become defensive of her."

Mari laughed. "That makes sense."

"I should probably talk to Dawn and find out the state of things between them now so I’ll be better armed to talk to Jamal," Mari said as she took out her phone and dialed Dawn’s line.

Away from there, Jamal and Dawn were still busy talking about Jamal’s itinerary for the day when Dawn’s phone rang.

Dawn glanced at the phone and smiled when she saw it was Mari.

She showed Jamal the screen. "It’s Mari. She’s probably calling to find out if we’ve made up."

Jamal raised a brow. "She reached out to you? I asked her not to."

"Well, she did. And we should both be grateful that she did. She’s the reason I figured out how to handle the situation," Dawn said as she received the call.

"Good morning, Mari," Dawn greeted pleasantly.

"Speaker," Jamal mouthed to her.

Dawn put the call on speaker.

Mari raised a brow. "Well, good morning to you, too. You sound more cheerful than you did the last time. Am I to assume you’ve made up with Jamal?"

Jamal quickly shook his head.

Dawn frowned and raised a brow at Jamal. "No. Not really."

"Not really?" Mari asked in confusion. "Talk to me. What’s going on? Have you been able to figure out what to do? I’m going over to Jamal’s office to see him before leaving for my office."

Dawn and Jamal exchanged a look.

"You’re going to his office?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah. He’s still not taking my calls. I wanted to find out the situation of things between you two before I talk some sense into him. I’ll slap some sense into him if I have to depending on what you tell me."

Dawn laughed, while Jamal smiled, grateful to know that Mari was so concerned about them and even supporting Dawn.

"Well, I thought about what you said and I decided not to avoid him. I moved into his apartment with Josh yesterday..."

"You did?" Mari asked excitedly. "Jamal was happy, wasn’t he?"

Jamal almost laughed but held back.

"Hm. He didn’t say much to me. He was mostly polite. But he didn’t ask me to leave. So, I guess that’s something," Dawn said, smiling.

"Jam would never ask you to leave," Mari said confidently. "He may be upset, but he loves you and I’m certain that deep down he is happy that you’re there. I think you made the right decision. Don’t worry, he will come around slowly. And I’ll try my best to talk to let him understand the situation. I have no idea why he’s being so unreasonably sensitive right now. If he was a female I’d have wondered if it was his time of the month."

Dawn laughed out loud at that, while Jamal scowled.

"Thank you so much, Mari. I actually feel better now that I’m closer to him unlike when I was away. I believe we can fix things."

"I believe so too. Alright. I just got to HAJ. By the way, he left for the office already, right?"

"Yes. He left a long time ago to drop off Josh at school."

"Great! I’ll let you know how it goes. Make sure when he gets back from work today you lie down naked on the bed. Let’s see how he resists that," Mari said, and they heard Jax chuckle in the background just before Mari ended the call.

Dawn and Jamal laughed.

"Why don’t you want to let her know we have made up? And why are you not taking her calls?" Dawn asked, looking at Jamal.

Jamal shook his head. "I wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone. And I didn’t want my mood to affect her. She just got engaged. She should be happy not worrying about me and my relationship problem."

"Well, she has shown you that she can be happy and still worry about you. I guess she will find out the truth when she comes in."

Jamal grinned. "Or we can mess with her a little."

Dawn laughed. "Mess with Mari? How?"

"You could hide somewhere so she doesn’t see you when she comes in. That way we get to hear what she has to say and surprise her when she is done."

Dawn laughed. "Do you think you can fool Mari?"

Jamal shrugged. "Why don’t we find out."

He picked up the telephone and called the reception downstairs to find out if Mari was in the building already.

When he dropped the phone he looked at Dawn. "She’s in the elevator. Go hide in the sleeping area," he said, pointing to the nearest door.

Dawn picked up her handbag and hurried off into the room.

She’d barely shut the door behind her when Mari knocked on Jamal’s office door. "Ready or not, I’m coming in."