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Authors: Shana Burton

BOOK: Catt Chasing
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“We have tea right here.”
“I don't want that kind of tea. I'm thinking the Long Island variety.”
“Sister Cason, I don't know if that's such a good idea,” voiced Eldon, reverting back to his ministerial mode. “In fact, I didn't even know you drank.”
She raised a finger to summon their waiter's attention. “I usually don't, but tonight, I don't feel like doing the usual.”
“I think it's important we keep a clear head. You never know when we may be called upon to minister for the Lord.”
“Fine, you can be the designated witness. I'm having a drink!”
Three Long Island Iced Teas later, Catt's head was spinning and she was drunk.
“Catt, we should really get out of here. You need to sleep this off. Your father would kill me if he knew I watched you sit here and down three drinks.”
It was becoming difficult for her to fully process what Eldon was saying, partially from the alcohol but mostly from being bombarded with thoughts of Oni and Jamal.
“Maybe you're right, Eldon,” she agreed, then belched loudly. “I've been a very, very bad girl. Daddy wouldn't like that.”
“No, he wouldn't!” Eldon was tense and nervous as he signed the receipt for their dinner bill. He slipped his credit card back into his wallet.
She giggled. “But I bet I know who does like bad girls.”
Eldon shook his head and helped her out of her chair and out of the restaurant.
“Hey, wake up,” said Eldon, rousing Catt from a near-stupor as the cab dropped them off in front of Catt's hotel.
Catt slumped down in the seat. “Just let me rest five more minutes.”
“Here, lean on my arm,” instructed Eldon as she staggered out of the car. He dragged her to the elevator and onto the floor of her hotel room, as she was too inebriated to walk unassisted.
“Eldon, you're such a great guy, you know that?” she slurred, rubbing his face.
“And you're a very drunk girl, did you know that?” Eldon was right: she was drunk but not drunk enough to erase the memory of her body clinging to Jamal's or the thrill of having his lips, soft and moist, brushing across her skin that day in the lab.
Eldon finagled the key card out of her hand and unlocked the door. “Watch your step.” He flipped the light switch and ushered her inside.
Catt smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Let's do something crazy! Let's make love right here, right now.”
He disengaged himself from her. “Catt, you're drunk. Once I get you settled in, I'm going back to my parents' house alone.”
“But why?” she whined, nearly toppling over.
Eldon sighed. “Catt, this isn't like you. You're one of the most levelheaded and responsible women I know. What's gotten into you?”
“I want
you
to get into me,” she purred, seizing him by the waist. “Come on, Eldon. I know I'm a big girl, but don't you think I'm sexy?”
He rebuffed her again. “I think you're very sexy . . . when you're sober!”
She pulled out her cell phone. “You wanna see sexy? Let me show you some of my pictures . . .”
Eldon snatched the phone out of her hand and set it down. “Catt, you don't know what you're saying. No doubt you're going to burst an appendix when you wake up in the morning and realize that you were in this hotel room, drunk and making a fool of yourself.”
She stumbled back a few steps. “Making a fool of myself,” she echoed bitterly. “What you mean by that?”
“The woman you are right now is not the kind of woman I need at my side, helping me build our ministry and the Faith Temple name. I thought that we were two-of-a-kind, you know—driven, ambitious, passionate about the Lord's work. That's what attracted me to you. But this isn't you, not the
you
I thought I knew anyway.”
She kicked off her shoes. “Yeah, you like boring me. Boring scripture-quoting, Sunday dinner-eating, always-doing-the-right-thing me. That's the only Catt you and my father want me to be.”
Eldon sat her down on the bed. “We want you to be the virtuous woman of God that you are, not . . .
this
. I can't help but think that it's Jamal Ford's negative influence that's got you acting this way.”
“Jamal's been showing me how to live. There's more to life than Faith Temple, you know.”
“Yeah, I know.” Eldon pulled back the duvet for Catt to crawl underneath. “You're going to be my first lady one day. I can't have you getting drunk and taking phone pictures when that time comes, you got it?”
Catt nodded and lay down, already half asleep. “I got it—no drinking, no pictures.”
“And no Jamal Ford either!” stipulated Eldon and switched off her light. He waited for Catt to reply, but she had drifted off to sleep.
Eldon hadn't anticipated opposition from another man in his quest to win Catt's affections and his rightful place as Faith Temple's senior pastor, but Jamal Ford was proving to be someone to be watched and, if necessary, eliminated.
Chapter 18
“Hold up—I'm coming!” called Jamal, racing to catch the elevator. Catt begrudgingly held the door open for him. She studied his face, searching for something that would give her a clue as to what happened between him and Oni the night before.
“Did you get Oni's text about meeting her across the street for breakfast this morning?” she asked him.
“She told me about it last night.”
“I bet she did,” mumbled Catt.
“Why do you look so mad this morning?”
“Who said anything about being mad?”
Jamal smiled. “Cheer up. The birds are singing, it's a beautiful day . . .”
“I guess I don't have to ask what
you
did last night,” she grumbled as they entered the hotel's lobby.
“No thanks to you. Oni told me about your little outburst in the ladies' room yesterday.”
“I just thought she should know what she was getting into.”
“Funny—I kind of thought you were blocking.”
“Why would I need to do that? Didn't you notice that I had a date too?”
He chuckled. “You mean that simp you were with last night?”
“Watch it—that
simp
is an anointed man of God.”
Jamal moved in closer. “Yeah, I watched you last night. You seemed to have a great time watching him yapping on the phone all night.”
“You mean you stopped drooling over Oni long enough to look at me?”
A smile creased his face. “So,
that's
what this is about? You're jealous.”
“No, I'm not!” she insisted. “I just think that it's in very poor taste to be hitting on your boss. We're supposed to be professionals.”
“It drives you crazy, doesn't it? You probably spent the whole night visualizing me kissing her, putting that tingle in her spine.”
“You're a pig,” she shot back. “I really thought Oni had better taste than this.”
“Will you chill out? The only ride I gave Oni last night was the one back to her hotel room after dinner, so you can put your claws back in.”
“What you and Oni do or don't do is of no interest to me.”
“I'm glad to hear it because we're going out again next time she meets up with us.”
Catt was stunned. “Oni agreed to a go out with you again? I suppose we're all entitled to mistakes every now and then.”
“Obviously, I'm one mistake she doesn't mind repeating.”
“Are the two of you an official couple now?”
“No.” He grazed her with his eyes. “I'm interested in someone else.”
“How
do
you keep track of them all?” She shook her head. “I suppose that little things like AIDS and unwanted pregnancies mean absolutely nothing to you.”
“I always handle my business when it comes to that.”
“Says you!” challenged Catt. “You probably have babies and baby mamas running all over the country and don't even know it.”
He was quiet for a moment, almost somber. “I don't have any children in the United States or anywhere else in the world.”
“How can you be so sure with the way you slide in and out of anything in a skirt?”
“I don't have any children,” he repeated. “Life is precious to me, especially a child's life. Don't ever say that again.” He charged ahead of her, letting the hotel's front door close behind him and in her face.
“What was that about?” she demanded, following closely behind him.
“You talk too much, and most of the time, you don't have a clue about what you're talking about,” barked Jamal.
“Since when have you been unable to take a joke?”
“Just drop it, Catt.”
“Jamal, if I struck a nerve with something I said, I'm sorry,” she added with sincerity.
“I thought I told you to drop it.”
“I didn't mean to say anything to hurt you.”
He stopped and turned around. “You didn't hurt me, Catt. In order to hurt me, I'd have to care about you, and, frankly, you're just not that important to me.” Jamal darted across the street without so much as looking back to see her reaction.
Catt didn't have any delusions about his feelings for her, nor did she take his flirting as anything more than just his way with women. But having it confirmed hurt Catt more than she ever expected it would.
Chapter 19
As Catt was setting up her workstation following their meeting with Oni, Jamal sneaked up from behind her, grabbing her at the waist, and kissed her on the cheek.
She didn't return his playful mood. “Jamal, don't . . .”
“Why not?”
She pushed him away. “Because you were very mean to me earlier today.”
“I was having a bad day. Are you going to hold that against me?”
“Yes. Having a bad day is no excuse to terrorize other people.”
“You're too anal, Catt. I was upset at the time. You know I didn't mean all that crap about not caring about you.”
“How am I supposed to know that?” she demanded.
“Because you know me. Anyway, you're gonna want to forgive me when you find out what I just copped . . .”
“You bought me diamonds?” joked Catt. “You really know how to get back into a girl's good graces!”
“Yeah, there's a diamond involved, but not the kind you mean,” he hedged. “I got us tickets for the baseball game tonight. You haven't seen a game until you've seen one in Wrigley Field.”
“Sounds like fun. You know, I think I actually have tickets to that game already.”
“How did you get tickets? It's sold out.”
She brushed him off. “It's a long story.”
“So does this mean I'm forgiven,” ventured Jamal.
She smacked her lips. “Only because I like baseball.”
After giving Telegenic a full day's work and then some, Catt and Jamal were ready to kick back and enjoy the game.
“So much for eating healthy,” replied Jamal as they walked back from the concession stand cradling an armload of drinks, hot dogs, and popcorn.
“It's a game!” argued Catt. “You're allowed to pig out and have fun.”
“I didn't think you knew how to do that.”
“What, pig out? Have you seen these hips?”
“No, I didn't think you knew how to have fun.”
“Keep on and I'll leave you in the nosebleed section,” threatened Catt.
“Oh, my seats ain't good enough?” chided Jamal.
She led him down near the front. “I didn't say that. I just think we might be able to see better from
my
seats.”
“Catt, where exactly are your seats?” Jamal asked cautiously as they made their way past the cheap seats into the pricier ones.
“Right down here—excuse me,” she said scooting past other spectators to make her way to the front rows where the players' families and guests sat.
Jamal refused to budge. “Catt, we can't sit here! You're gonna get us thrown out!”
She pulled him along. “Will you relax—sheesh! Do you think I'm crazy enough to sit down in someone else's seats?”
“Catt, are these
seriously
your seats?” asked a bewildered Jamal, reluctant to sit down.
“Of course, they are,” she answered casually, digging into the popcorn.
“How? Why?”
“Suffice it to say, I'm cool with one of the players.”
“You know one of the players?” asked Jamal in awe. “Which one?”
She leaned over and pointed. “You see the cutie playing shortstop? His family is from Charlotte. He grew up in the church. He's a real good friend of the family, sends us tickets all the time.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Friend of the family, huh? How
good
of a friend is he to you?”
She blushed. “What do you mean?”
Jamal pointed at her. “Yeah, I know that look. Baseballs aren't the only thing that number ten's been hittin'!”
“It's nothing like that,” denied Catt, laughing.
“Don't play innocent with me, Catt. I'm sure you took your nose out of the Bible long enough to notice a fairly decent-looking guy with a lot of money and ‘pro ball player' on his résumé. What went on between the two of y'all?”
Catt yielded. “Okay, I admit we hung out a couple of times, but it was nothing serious, just a high school thing.”
“And
that's
it?” pushed Jamal.
“What's up with all the questions, Jamal? Are you jealous?”
“Go on somewhere with that, girl,” Jamal sneered, brushing off her question. He paused for a moment, then continued his line of questioning. “So, what—he used to be your man or something?”
“No.” Catt tuned back into the game. “That was too high! Can you believe he swung at that? What are you thinking?” she heckled to the player at bat.
“But I bet he's the one who took you to Belize, right?”
“What?” She diverted her attention from the game to him. “And why am I being interrogated?”
“I'm just saying, if a man is taking you on trips—”
“
He was safe!
” yelled Catt along with the rest of the crowd over the bad call by the referees.
“Catt, are you listening to me?”
“Did you see that?” she ranted. “He touched the base right before that guy tagged him. He was safe!”
“Catt, can you focus for five minutes?”
“I
am
focused! I saw him touch the base. He was safe.”
“I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about this friend of yours.”
“Number ten? What about him?”
“Do you like him?”
She shrugged. “Sure, we're friends.”
“Well, are you friends with him like you're friends with me?”
“Yes.”
“Have you ever slept with him?” pried Jamal.
“Now who's being nosey?”
Jamal continued to sulk as Catt enjoyed the game. At one point when the White Sox were in the field, Catt smiled and waved as number ten darted onto the outfield.
“You know he can't see you,” needled Jamal.
“Give it a rest, Jamal.”
“Is he going to come charging up here if he sees me with his woman?”
She taunted him. “You scared?”
“Scared of what?”
Catt looked at Jamal and shook her head.
During the seventh inning, a home-run ball careened into the stands near where they were sitting. After a mad scramble by other fans to secure the ball, Catt leapt with the grace and precision of a ballerina and caught the ball in midair. The crowd went into a frenzied cheer for both the home run and the catch, which was caught by the JumboTron.
“Where did you learn to do that?” asked Jamal stunned.
“Are you kidding? I was the best first-base player my softball team in high school ever had!” Jamal was still floored. “You thought a big girl couldn't jump?”
“I don't know what to think anymore when it comes to you,” he admitted.
“You can never assume, Jamal. You know what they say about people who do that.”
He shook his head and laughed. “You're just full of surprises, aren't you, girl? I can't wait to see your next trick.”
Catt winked an eye. “Watch, wait, and be amazed!”

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