Forced Out of the Darkness (23 page)

“You must be the head
honcho here or something.”

“No, that is not me. Why
do you assume that?”

“No minimum wage
brother walks around here looking as sharp as you are today. I am Harper. And
you are?” He stated as he held out his hand.

“Monti…Monti
Burroughs.” He said as they shook each other’s hand.

Harper could see that
Monti was interested. He saw how Monti looked at him a little different than
what a heterosexual man would do. He also noticed how Monti visually took in
his physique.

“I am here from out of
town visiting a friend who just had surgery, so I am looking for the
medical/surgical floor.”

“That’s easy man, go
down this hallway and take the elevators to the 6
^th
floor. Once you
get off of the elevators you will see the nurse’s station. They will help you
from there.”

“Ok. Thanks Mr.
Burroughs. I appreciate that. Because you are so helpful, what does a guy have
to do to get some more time with Mr. Burroughs before I leave town tomorrow
morning?”

“Man, I don’t know you
and I am not down like that.”

“I understand…look, I
am only here for the rest of the day and would like to get to know you better. We
might be able to hit it off well. If you want, give me a call.” With that he
reached into his suit coat and handed Monti a business card. As he walked away
he said, “hopefully you will use the number, Mr. Burroughs.”

Monti looked down at
the card to find out that Harper Williams was the CEO of the Harper &
Associates firm located in Chicago, Illinois. His company specialized in fixing
problems and crises for celebrities, public figures and those who could afford
his services. This man had it going on. Monti decided to keep the card because,
after today’s conversation with his supervisor, he did not know when he might
need a new gig. Maybe he needed to call this Harper to see what he was about.
Monti put the card in his shirt pocket and kept on making his rounds. He did
not notice that Harper stopped walking to the elevator to watch him walk all
the way down the hallway and make the turn out of his
view.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The Midnight Call

“Monti how was your
day?”

“It was cool. I had an
interesting conversation with the Director today. I tried to call you but your
phone was not on. You must have still be on the plane.”

“Yes, I probably was.
What was the conversation about?”

“His ass told me that I
needed to dress down. He said he wanted a working supervisor not a managing supervisor.
He wants me to wear khakis and polo shirts.”

“Why does he want
that?”

“He said that he wanted
his supervisors to be an employee too. He wants us to work alongside the
employees to clean up and inspect the work of the employees.”

“What are you going to
do?”

“I’m going to keep
doing what I have been doing.”

“Monti, don’t you think
that if the director is saying something that you should take his advice?”

“I did not get my
degree to be cleaning stuff with these employees. I want to be a director like
he is…he probably thinks I am trying to take his job.”

“For what it’s worth, my
advice on this situation is that you should listen to what he is a saying. I can
buy you some Khakis and Polo’s tomorrow when I get home if you like.”

“No, I am just gonna do
what I need to do.”

“Monti, if you are not
going to heed to what he is telling you then you should look for another job so
that you can get out of that situation. It is easier to get a job when you are
employed. If he is telling you this, he has noticed this for quite some time
and wants you to adhere to what he is saying.”

“I will be ok.”

“I won’t harp on that
one anymore. Anything else happen today?”

“No, just the same type
of day here.” Monti didn’t tell Cameron about Harper because he did not know
how he would take it. Though Harper came onto Monti, he did not want anything
to come up that would mess up their situation. “What about yours?”

“My day was cool. I
can’t wait to get home.”

“I want you to come by
my place when you get home ok. I want to treat you to a nice early dinner/late
lunch.”

“I can do that. I will
come over when I get in.”

“I am going to grab
something to eat and then go to sleep. I have a crazy director that is looking
at me now so I have to make sure that I am clearly early tomorrow.”

“Good night, Monti.”

“Good night, Cam. Love
you.”

Cameron sat in the bed
thinking about his relationship with Monti. He knew that it was new and he also
liked being in a relationship. He was a better man in a relationship than
outside of one. He wanted to do something to show his appreciation for Monti. He
noticed when he was over at Monti’s place that he had a pretty substantial collection
of cologne. He decided that when he got in, he would stop by the mall at Macy’s
and pick him up a bottle of cologne. He did notice that Monti didn’t have
Bvlgari Black so he would get him a bottle of it as a gift. Cameron pulled out
his laptop and went to Macy’s website to see if they had it in stock. He found
out the store close to his house had a good supply. Satisfied, he called it an
night. He realized that he wanted more of a relationship type of situation and
would use tomorrow to let Monti know.

Monti lay down to sleep
and was sleeping well until his phone rang. He looked at the time and noticed
it was about 2:00 am. He looked at his phone and the caller ID read ‘Unknown’. Monti
did not answer unknown calls so he sent it to voice mail. A few minutes later,
his phone notified him that he had a voice message. His curiosity got the best
of him so he picked up the phone and dialed his voice mail to check his
messages.

Hey Monti, when are you
going to come over and let me get some more of that stuff? You can’t be too
happy in that weak ass relationship you have with that square. Think long and
hard before you make the decision. I get what I want voluntarily or by other
means. Peace.

“Who the hell is that?”
Monti thought. He did not recognize the voice. “What did he mean, I can’t be
happy?” Monti did not know who this caller was and he definitely didn’t know
what he wanted. “How did this guy get my number?” Monti was irritated and
confused. He tried to go back to sleep but his mind was racing to fast for
sleep. He thought about calling Cameron to tell him about the call but didn’t
want to wake him because he had a few flights for tomorrow. He just simply
pondered the call. He kept pushing the button to repeat the message but still
could not identify who the caller was.

The night rolled on by
and Monti did not find much sleep. He just turned on the television and watched
televangelists and infomercials all night. He would have to be up getting ready
for work in about an hour and a half anyway. His mind continued to race
throughout the night. Once his alarm clock went off letting him know that it
was time to get up, he got up and went to his closet and pulled out another
signature Tayion suit. He went to the bathroom to shower and groom himself. After
he finished he went back to his room. When he re-emerged from his room, he
looked like he was ready to take on the world. “Let him talk about this suit…”
he thought as he went to work.

Monti was headed to
work at his normal time and thought that today was going to be a day where he
just got through the day. Once he got to work, everything seemed to be normal. His
evening counterpart briefed him on the prior shift and then he left. Nothing
was out of the ordinary. Monti knew that he was going to be able to catch a nap
because the day was slow. The thought kept running through Monti’s head…”who
was that caller.” Monti’s cell phone rang.

“Hey Monti, just giving
you a call to see how your day was going.”

“It’s is ok. I am a
little sleepy but I will make sure that I take a nap before you get to my
place.”

“I am on my way to the
airport; I am gonna be a little late coming in because they changed my flight I
have to do a different flight back home.” Cameron lied about his arrival
because he wanted to surprise Monti with the cologne.

“What flight is that
going to be?”

“The 12:15 pm from
Boston to Detroit.” Cameron pulled this out of thin air. He had to have time to
get the gift so Monti would be surprised.

“Just let me know when
you come in. I am having a good day today. Hope your flights are safe and I
will see you soon.”

“Ok, bye.”

Monti was excited to
see Cameron. He seriously enjoyed the time they spent together. He knew that he
had to address his issues but he did not know how too. How was he supposed to
get a handle on his demons when they were so deeply rooted? He didn’t have any
outlet to get help but didn’t even know where to go to seek help. He thought
that once he was in a committed relationship, he would be able to be
comfortable in the relationship. He had a gregarious past with many different
conquests. He did not realize that everyone that he had relations with were
still a part of him in a negative way. Monti had so much bad karma that he had
put out that he was destined to have to pay for his ill deeds.

Chapter Thirty

e
verything
H
appens
F
or
A R
eason

Cameron arrived back to
Detroit without incident and was at the mall. He intentionally did not turn on
his phone because he did not want Monti to know that he was there early. He
knew exactly where the cologne was. He purchased it and had it gift-wrapped. The
old lady in the gift-wrapping department was nice, but was slow as molasses in
the wintertime. After about half hour, she was done and Cameron was out of the
store. As he walked to his car, he turned on his cell phone. When he looked at
the phone he saw that he had missed some voice messages. When he checked his
voicemail, he had five messages from Monti. Cameron was concerned because he
thought something had happened.

“Hey Cameron, just
checking in with you. What flight did you say you were coming in on? What time
does it get here?”

Cameron deleted the
message.

“Hey Cam, I called you
and the phone is going right to voicemail. I guess you are still on the flight.
Call me as soon as you land and get this message.”

Delete.

“Hey man, I called the
airline and they don’t have any flights that come from Boston at the time that
you said you were coming in. What is going on? Call me.”

“Damn. Is he some
investigator.” Cameron thought. Cameron became upset that Monti was going
through such great lengths to check on him. He knew that he should not have
lied but he wanted to surprise him. Cameron had wanted to stop and pick up some
flowers for Monti but he opted not to because he was irritated. He didn’t want
to go over there now but he told himself that he should and ask Monti what was
really going on.

“Hey call me back…”

Delete.

“Hey…”

Delete.

Cameron sat in his car
for a moment to breathe and calm himself before he called Monti back. He could
not believe that Monti was so insecure that he would do this. He was getting
his thoughts together when his phone rang. He looked at the caller ID to find
that it was Monti.

“Hello.” Cameron
answered not wanting to be bothered with this right now.

“Hey Cameron, what is
going on? I have been calling you and your phone has been off.” Monti said
clearly irritated.

“I am here now…what is
up?” Cameron opted to try to not say much right now as he was at his tipping
point.

“I need you to be
straight up with me Cameron. What is going on? I called the airline and they
said there was not a flight from Boston to Detroit at the time you said it was.
Don’t lie to me man. If you are seeing someone else just let me know. I thought
we were going to be exclusive. What is the deal?”

“First of all, who do
you think you are calling me to try to check me? That is some fucked up shit,
Monti. Where do you come off checking up on my flight?”

“Don’t throw this on
me? You said they changed your flight. Were you telling me the truth?”

“No Monti, I told you
that because I wanted to stop and get you something to surprise you. But you
have taken this shit to a different level. What the hell is wrong with you and
the insecurities?”

“You wanted to get me a
surprise?” Monti felt shame come over him. “I am so sorry, Cameron. I know I
have some issues. I just need you to be straight up with me and don’t lie to
me.”