7
What a Celebration
A
bout three hours after Jordan had hung up with Chrasey and Dakota, she was all dressed and ready for her and Omar's anniversary lunch at Jezebel's. As she slipped her foot into her dark-brown Italian leather pumps, Omar yelled down the hall.
“Jordan, phone.”
“Who is it?”
“Jayon,” Omar yelled back with a little attitude in his voice.
Jordan took a deep breath before picking up the receiver that was lying on the table.
“Hello,” she said.
“Hi, Jordan. I'm sorry to call you at home on a Saturday but I couldn't sleep last night, “ Jayon said, all in one breath.
With Omar in the room getting some things together, Jordan felt under pressure.
“It's OK, Jayon. We can handle this on Monday.”
“I just want you to know that I am very sorry. I have been going through a lot since the whole thing with Dawn and me. I had no right to do what I did, though, Jordan. I had too much to drink yesterday when I stepped out of the officeâI know that was dumb of me. I don't know if I told you, but yesterday I found out Dawn called our engagement off because of some guy she was cheating on me with and I was really feeling it. I guess I just wasn't thinking straightâI just wanted someoneâ”
“Jayon, I understand. Truly, it's OK.”
“You promise, Jordan? Can we put this behind us?” Jayon asked.
“Yes, we will.”
“Are you going to say something to Omar?”
“Jayon, I will see you in court Monday morning.”
“All right, Jordan,” he said, quickly catching the hint.
“And don't forget all the files,” she said. “And Jayon, don't be so hard on yourself. I understandâwe all do things without thinking first sometimes.”
Jordan threw that last comment in to ensure it would sound like they were discussing business. It must have worked, because Omar left the room moments later instead of waiting to hear the whole conversation out.
“Thanks for being so understanding.”
“OK, I'm on my way out with Omar, so I have to go.”
After Jayon apologized once again for calling her on a Saturday, they both hung up.
Jordan walked down the hall and grabbed her dark-brown leather purse and headed toward the living room. As she sat down and began to place the belongings from the bag from the day before into the brown leather bag, which matched her outfit for the day, Omar walked in.
“Can I at least have you to myself on weekends?” Omar said in a sarcastic tone.
“Omar, don't go there. It was a two-minute call.”
“OK, but I'm just saying, you're with him every day, all day. What he had to say couldn't wait? I mean, damn, when we do have our time, Jayon and your work is going to start invading that, too.”
“Omar, let's not ruin our day. He just wanted to make sure I was clear on some things before we met on Monday, that's all. Now can we go?”
As she finished her sentence, Omar was already walking out of the room.
About ten minutes later, no words had yet been exchanged, and they headed out for their lunch date.
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Once they were seated at Jezebel's, they were both pros at making the waiter think things were just fine, smiling and saying thank-you through the whole ordering session. However, the moment he turned away, back to complete silence. Jordan and Omar were pros at this. They had mastered the art of going out, even when they were mad at each other. Quite pathetic but trueâit came with being in a relationship for fourteen years. Fights and attitudes were a given, so like most aspects of it, you just learn how to live with it. But this was their anniversaryâa line had to be crossed.
“C'mon, Omar, are we gonna sit here and not talk through the whole lunch?” she said, finally deciding to be the bigger person.
“Talk,” he said, obviously deciding not to join her. How typical of him, she thought to herself. She wanted to strangle him.
“Talk? Fine,” she said. “Jason has his exam for kindergarten next week. I wanted to plan a trip to take him to Disney World when he passes.”
“And what if he doesn't pass?” he replied.
“How dare you say that. Of course he will pass,” she said.
“I'm just realistic. Just because you think you're the smartest woman on the planet doesn't mean your son can't fail some silly test,” he said.
“What is all of that for, Omar? Is there something you want to talk about?”
“Nope, nothing at all,” he replied, clearly hiding his real thoughts.
The waiter approached the table. “Salmon?”
“Right here,” Jordan said.
The food was a good reason to be quiet for a while, but after the first few bites she started back up. “Omar, are you upset about last night or about me getting that phone call earlier?”
“I am upset because you put our relationship second to your career and I'm tired of it.”
“Omar, that is far from the truth. Everything I do is to produce money. I am not at all the industry parties or social events. Every time I'm not at home, I'm producing a dollar. And I don't see you complaining when I have to pay your half of the bills.”
It just slipped out. She knew once the words were leaving her mouth it wasn't the thing to say. At the same time, she was tired of having this conversation with Omar.
I would love not to have to work and be able to stay home and take care of my son, but he doesn't have it like that. So I do my partâand I do it quite well, I might add
, Jordan was thinking to herself.
Before she could try to fix it, he put his fork down and gave her a look of death.
“Well, maybe if you did stay your ass home, I could work more and I could handle things. But you want to be the damn man in the relationshipâyou wouldn't know what it's like to stay home. You wouldn't even know how to be a kept womanâyou're too damned âeducated.'”
Wanting to defuse the situation, since they were at their anniversary lunch, she just remained calm. Besides, she knew not to mess with a man and his pride, and practically saying he couldn't head his household was pretty damn risky.
“Whatever, Omar. Let's just eat. I promise you I will do whatever I can to be home as much as I can. And if you want, I will give up my whole career to take care of you, your child, and your home. You just let me know.” Her slight sarcasm was evident, but she took a bite of her food and thought that was the end of it.
“I want you to give up Jayon,” he said.
She almost choked. “What?” she said.
“You heard me,” he replied.
“Where did that come from?”
“I'm tired of sharing you with him. You guys have been best friends for all these years and he gets to spend more time with you than me. You guys work together, you're on the phone all the time. When you and I fight, you go out with himâI feel like he is my fill-in.”
“Omar. I only see him when we are at workâand then we are working. We may be friends, but I rarely see him unless it's work-related. The whole best-friend thing kind of went out the window when we grew up. We are not nearly as close as we used to be,” Jordan explained.
“You guys are still a lot closer than we are.”
Hearing him say that almost broke her heart. But deep down she knew it was true. Still, she made an attempt. “Baby, don't say that. You have been my best friend for fourteen years and still are.”
He didn't say anything. She took that as a sign, so she said nothing more. They just sat there and finished their meals.
8
Surprise Visit
“
W
ait up, guys ...” Chrasey said through her gasps of breath.
She was walking fast down the street, trying to keep up with her kidsâher son Quinton and daughter Kelsey. Chrasey was just returning home from taking her kids to the park. Her inability to keep up with them was just a reminder of how badly she had to lose some weight. She hated that feeling of gasping for air.
As she rattled through her keys for the key to get into her house, she heard a car coming down the street. When she looked over her shoulder, she noticed a black BMW. She thought nothing of it, but as she unlocked the door, she noticed it slowed down a few houses away. She opened the door, and the kids took off running. She stepped in after them, leaving the door open. Kelsey ran into the living room and turned the television on, and Quinton ran to the refrigerator to grab a Capri Sun. Once Chrasey saw they were jumping right into things, she stepped back and took a peek out of the door. The car gradually pulled up in front of her house. Her heart was beating fast. Through the tinted windows she couldn't see who it was. Of course, her mind had already taken in the possibility that it could be Trevor, thus the fast heartbeat. Keith was out taking his mother to run her errands and shouldn't be back anytime soon. Still, Chrasey was afraid that he could pull up any minute. She was even more nervous thinking to herself that Trevor could be so boldâshe was worried she had started something with a crazy man.
To act as if there was a reason for being outside other than to see who was in the car, she pulled her mail out of the mailbox. As she shuffled through the envelopes, the window on the driver's side started to lower. As she looked up, Trevor's face appeared with a sweet and sexy smile.
“Trevor? What are you doing at my house?” Chrasey asked as she approached the car.
“I was just in the neighborhood. I had to come by here on my way home,” Trevor said. After Chrasey gave him a look of doubt, he continued, “And I saw you out here. I wouldn't just pop up like this, ChraseyâI am not crazy.”
“Well, you are here in front of my house ... and you did drop me off yesterday. It could almost look as though you were looking for my house.”
“Chrasey, I have been driving through this neighborhood for years. It just so happens that I am driving through and you were outside. Besides, how would I even know what block you lived onâyou had me drop you off around the corner. You could have lived on any one of these streets.”
After Chrasey took a moment to realize the logic of what Trevor said, she said, “So what is in this neighborhood that brings you through it so much?”
“My daughter. She and her mom live on Brinkerhoff Road.”
“I didn't know you had kids.”
“Not kids, just a daughter. She is 3.”
“Oh, that's nice. Look, I am sorry I accused you of stalking me,” Chrasey said with a giggle.
“That's OK. I can completely understand how it seemed.”
“So I guess we both spent our Saturdays doing parenting stuffâI just came back from the park with my kids.”
“How many do you have?”
“Just two. One boy, one girl.”
“That's cool. Aren't you lucky! I hope my next one is a boy.”
“Hey, you never know.”
“Yeah, well, after I dropped you off yesterday, I went by to see my daughter. I realized as I was on my way that there's a lot of great things for me in this neighborhood.”
“Oh, really ...” she said with a smile, knowing exactly what he was hinting at. “Well, listen, my husband will be home any minute, and I was going to start dinner.”
“Oh, so I see you're just going to ignore my flirtatious comments ... so am I at least invited to dinner?” Trevor said, obviously playing around.
“Yeah, right. Speaking of, I better not see you back by my house again ... coincidence or not. My husband is the very jealous type.”
Chrasey said this, but the sad truth is she knew Keith wouldn't care one bit. He was too busy doing his dirt to even notice Chrasey.
“OK. I'm not trying to start nothing. But maybe I can have you for dinner one night ... I mean
take
you to dinner one night,” Trevor said with a smirk.
“We can talk about that later ... maybe we can go to a
friendly
dinner,” Chrasey said, returning a smirk to let him know she recognized his devilish slipup.
“OK, I will call you later,” Trevor said.
Trevor watched as Chrasey walked toward the house. As every woman does when she knows a man is watching her walk away, she added a little bit to her strut. She put a little extra swivel in her sway and made sure her posture and pace were sexy to go with itâyou know, just to give him something nice to look at. Once she reached her doorway, she turned around and waved good-bye, and then she stepped inside. As he pulled off, she watched him through her window. Even though she was nervous about the risk of seeing Trevor, she had to admit to herself she liked the thrill ... and something about him.