C20

Jamal smiled and nodded his head while looking back into Maya's beautiful dark brown eyes, saying tenderly, "Of course you're still important to me...and I promise that I'll make sure of that for the rest of my life. But I also understand how difficult it is going to be for you to watch me date other women...especially given what we've shared together and what that implies."

"Why are you telling me all of this?"

Jamal shrugged helplessly before replying honestly, "We shouldn't lie to each other...even though I think we both know that neither of us can tell each other everything yet. At least not right now...we need some time to figure things out between us first. So maybe if we start off with honesty and try to build trust between ourselves in the process, that's when things might change."