Authors: Skyy

Crossroads (16 page)

BOOK: Crossroads

9.11Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

ads

***

The small restaurant was crowded with dressed-to-impress black women and men. The colorful art from the connecting art gallery adorned the walls with small price tags in each corner. The aroma of waffles and chicken made Lena's stomach rumble, making her realize how hungry she was.

Lena sat at a small table for two. She ordered a pomegranate mojito while waiting on Carmen. She watched the groups of couples and friends chatting over their meals, men and women having a good time together. She rarely had that feeling when she went out with Brandon and the other basketball player couples. She didn't know why she couldn't enjoy that part of her life which was slipping away from her.

“Sorry I'm late.” Carmen sat down in the empty chair. “I couldn't find anything to wear.”

With her fingers, Lena gestured like a person talking. Carmen playfully hit her friend. They both laughed.

The waitress brought over Lena's drink. Carmen took a sip before Lena could, and then decided to order the same thing.

The band began to play. Lena and Carmen moved in their seats to the soulful cover of Jill Scott's “A Long Walk.” Others in the crowd also enjoyed the band.

“This is nice, huh?” Carmen leaned in, raising her voice so Lena could hear over the music.

“It is. I'm glad we came.” Lena smiled.

Something was telling Lena to turn around. She glanced at the door. “Oh shit, we're being hunted.” Lena laughed as two males watched them from the door.

Carmen looked at the two guys. “God, I hope they don't come over here.” She rolled her eyes.

“Too bad.” Lena said as the two men walked toward them.

“Excuse me, but my friend and I couldn't help but notice you two lovely women sitting here,” the shorter of the two said.

The men looked completely different. One was short with a small beer gut poking out from his linen. The taller of the two caught Lena's eye. His mocha skin was smooth, facial hair lined perfectly. As he smiled, he resembled Morris Chestnut.

“You couldn't, huh?” Carmen tried to hide her disgust for the short man staring at her like she was a piece of meat.

“What can I say? I saw something amazing and I had to come over. My name is Chester.” He held his hand out.

Carmen reluctantly shook his hand back.

“And”âthe taller man extended his hand to Lenaâ“I'm Kenneth.”

“Hello, Kenneth.”

“And you are?” Chester licked his semi-chapped lips.

“Carmen.” Carmen frowned.

Chester ignored her facial expression. “So, Miss Carmen, why would your man leave you alone on a Friday night?”

“He's at work.” Carmen quickly responded.

Chester's face fell like a sad boy who just learned there's no Santa Claus.

“Oh well, it was nice meeting you.” Chester's eyes began to scan the crowd for a new challenge.

“Is your man working too?” Kenneth flashed his smile again.

Lena blushed. “Actually Iâ”

“Lena. Lena Redding.”

Lena looked up to see Nicole Crescent standing with two other basketball wives. Nicole was the leader of the Memphis Grizzlies basketball wives. Married to the highest-paid athlete had its perks. Nicole's huge diamond ring sparkled in the light.

“Hello, Nicole.” Lena stood up to greet the ladies. “How are you ladies tonight?” Lena flashed her smile. They had been courting her for their group since her marriage. Nicole would like nothing more than to have the only woman who could truly compete with her in the looks department as her “frienemy.”

“We're great. About to meet the fellas at the rooftop.” Nicole's eyes darted over toward Kenneth. “Are you meeting Brandon there?” She smiled, knowing she was interrupting.

Lena knew Nicole could be ruthless. She would run to Brandon in a heartbeat. It was unacceptable for wives to flirt with other men. Nicole didn't like the fact that Lena wasn't under her wing like the other wives.

“Actually no, my friend Carmen and I were just grabbing a bite before heading home.”

“Right. OK, well it was nice seeing you, girl. We should do lunch soon.”

“Let's. Just give me a call.” Lena smiled.

“I'll have my assistant set that up. See you later, Lena.” Nicole and the other women walked off, giving one more glance at Lena as they walked to the door.

“Brandon Redding, huh?” Kenneth chimed in.

“Yes, he's my husband.” Lena sat back in her chair.

Kenneth nodded his head. “Lucky man. Well, it was nice to meet you ladies.”

Kenneth and Chester walked off. Carmen couldn't help but laugh. “Sorry, girl.” Carmen snickered. “He was a cutie.”

“I'm dammed if I do and dammed if I don't.” Lena sat back in her chair.

“Maybe you're gonna have to look outside of the city.” Carmen looked at Lena. “Or at girls.” She grinned.

Lena threw a piece of ice at Carmen. Terrin entered her mind. “Actually I did meet a woman.”

Carmen's eyes bulged. “Really now. Do tell.”

The band's cover of Maxwell's “Bad Habits” echoed through the room.

“There's not much to tell. I met her on the plane to go see”âthe thought of Denise caused Lena's stomach to knot up. “You know.”

Carmen nodded her head, knowing it was hard for Lena to think about Denise.

“Then I ran into her today. Actually, she was with me when I had my little episode.”

“Wow, girl.” Carmen sipped her drink. “That sounds a little like fate to me. To meet someone in the air then see them again.”

“Yeah, and she lives in my building.”

“Oh, hell yes, sounds like fate to me,” Carmen replied. “You should call her. See what she's about.”

“I might just do that. “Lena thought about Terrin. Maybe she would try it out.

Lena let the sweet taste of her Moscato d'Asti wine trickle down her throat. The three drinks at the restaurant didn't put her on the level she wanted to be on, so she hoped the wine would take her to that higher level, but she knew she should have gone for something stronger, like vodka.

Lena opened her small laptop and turned it on. The Apple logo flashed across the screen. The first step was done. She turned on the computer. Lena knew the only way to face her issues was to hit them head-on.

Lena opened up the browser. A beautiful
Bing.com
photo popped up of Australia.
Sydney
, Lena thought to herself. That was far enough from Denise. She could fly to Sydney and never worry about seeing Denise again.
Yeah, right. with my luck I'll get off the plane and see a big picture of her as soon as I hit the baggage claim
.

Lena let her fingers touch the letter keys. She took a deep breath and typed in JOCKU. As soon as she clicked on the official Web site she was hit. Denise in various outfits spread across the Web site.

Butterflies filled her stomach. She continued to breathe through her mouth, letting the butterflies exit one by one. Amazement set in. She never saw Denise looking the way she looked. Denise was still dressed in male clothes, but with hints of feminine attire.

Lena noticed a black halter top; she made a mental note to purchase it. This was a different side of Denise; she liked it even more than the tomboy she fell in love with.

Questions filled Lena's head.
What was Denise doing right now? Had she met a model to fall in love with? Was the new look purely for the modeling, or was she dressing more feminine now? Was she ever coming back to Memphis?

Lena picked her phone up. She wanted answers, and there was one person who could give them to her.

The phone seemed to dial more slowly than normal. All the questions she had were escaping her brain. Lena silently prayed for Denise's voice mail to pick up.

“You are gonna love this,” Mariah said as she straddled Denise's lap. She stuck her finger in the chocolate sauce. “Taste it.”

Denise laughed as Mariah's index finger entered her mouth. “That is some serious chocolate,” Denise said as the rich taste took over her taste buds.

“Wait till you try it on those.”

Mariah reached for a strawberry. She dipped the ripe fruit in the dark chocolate. She held the chocolate-dipped strawberry up. “Come and get it,” she joked as some of the chocolate fell from the strawberry to her chest and rolled down her right breast.

“I think I will.” Denise leaned in, licking the line of chocolate down until she reached Mariah's nipple.

The touch of her tongue excited Mariah's body, and her nipple instantly perked up.

Sarah Bareilles “Gravity” echoed from Denise's phone. Her body froze. She looked up confused. Only one person had that ringtone, Lena.

Mariah looked puzzled. “Do you need to get that?”

“Ummm ...” Denise looked at Mariah. She felt like a child about to get in trouble for something. Mariah's lips tightened.

“It's her, isn't it?”

“Yes.”

Mariah stood up. She smiled. “Well, go answer it.”

“I ... Are ...”

“Denise, you do not owe me an explanation for anything. You aren't my girlfriend, remember. Go answer the phone. It might be important.”

Denise realized the phone stopped ringing. She let out a sigh of relief and smiled. “See, it's not ringing anymore. No need.”

“Denise.” Mariah ran her hands through her hair and touched Denise's face. Softly she said, “Go call the girl back.”

The new-found hunter in her wanted to ignore Lena and take Mariah in that spot, but the Jacob in her got her to stand up and go the room. She pressed send on her phone.

Lena listened to Denise's voice on her voice mail. She smiled; she missed Denise's deep, smooth voice. She knew the beep was coming. She took another sip of wine.

“Denise, hey, this is umm ... Lena, but I'm sure you know that. Well, I jus ...”

Lena's phone beeped. She looked at the screen. Denise's face appeared on the screen in front of her. She froze, the green answer button flashing in front of her.

Lena took a deep breath and pressed the button. “Hello.”

Lena's voice sent chills down Denise's back. “Uh, hi, Lena, it's Dee.” Lena's body trembled. Denise felt butterflies starting to flutter. “You called me?”

Lena stood up and began to pace the floor. “Yes, I, um, I did.” BeyoncÃ©'s version of “Kissing You” by Desiree began to play from her stereo system, making the talk ten times harder. “I just, it's been a while, and I wanted to call andâ”

“Lena, can I say something first?” Denise sat on the edge of the bed. She could hear the hurt in Lena's voice as she tried to get her words together.

“Sure,” Lena stopped pacing.

“Lena, when you came here I was in a really bad place. I had just found out I wasn't going to be playing ball and I was drunk. I said some things I really regret and I am really, really so sorry for them.”

Lena smiled as tears began to form in her eyes. “Denise. . .”

“I'm so sorry, Lena. I can't believe I was so mean to you. Carmen told me about what happened. I'm so sorry. I wanted to call you, but I didn't know what to say.”

“Denise, I think it's fair to say we've both done some things that we regret. I just want us to move past them.”

Denise smiled. “Me too. I miss you as a friend.”

BOOK: Crossroads

9.11Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

Read Book Download Book

ads