Cougars (14 page)

“If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were following me.” Travis slowly craned his head to the right to see if the voice was speaking to him.

“Ms. Sallie, wow, this is a surprise. How are you doing?” Travis stood with a more erect posture.

“Oh, come on now. You don't have to be so formal. The interview is over. You can call me Jasmine,” she said as she took a small sip of her wine.

“Okay.” Travis smiled.

“I saw you when you walked in,” Jasmine said, glancing at his fit body. “That's a very nice suit.”

Travis tugged at his jacket. “Thanks, I'm a sucker for tailored suits.”

“You don't remember me, do you?” Jasmine leaned her hip against the concrete banister.

“You know, I was trying hard to place where we'd met, but I still haven't figured it out.”

“For a man who makes a living doing research, I would have never thought that trying to recall where we'd met would be such a puzzle to you.” Jasmine took another sip of her wine.

“You know this is killing me, right?” Travis said.

“I'll let you off the hook this time since we've only really met once and rather briefly at that. We met in New York a few months ago.”

Travis snapped his fingers. “That's right! You were there celebrating your girlfriend's birthday.”

“Yes I was, but I had no idea that I was engaged in a conversation with such an intelligent young man. I thought you and your friend were playing some childish game.”

“My friend Alex was drunk. He has the hots for you, to put it frankly. Whatever you said to him during your flight to New York has piqued his curiosity about you,” Travis said, taking a gulp of his beer.

“I was only flirting with him a little. He really isn't my type,” Jasmine admitted.

“So I guess that means you're not married,” Travis concluded.

“No. I've never been married.”

“Kids?” Travis asked.

“No children either. I was engaged once to a wonderful man. I loved him dearly, but sadly he passed away.”

“Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.”

“Shit happens, you know. Some things that take place are just beyond our control.”

“Isn't that the truth,” Travis agreed. “So, how do you think I did? Will I get the job?”

Jasmine smiled, then handed her empty wineglass to one of the waiters who was passing by. “I can't discuss that with you, Mr. Adams,” she said firmly.

“Hey, I had to ask.” Travis shrugged.

“I understand.” Jasmine paused for a long moment. “So tell me about you.”

“You already know everything about me,” Travis said.

“That's the professional side of you. I'm talking about the personal side. Any children?”

“God no. I'm not the fatherly type,” Travis admitted.

“Oh, I'm sure you'd make a great father. You just have to find the right young woman.”

“That probably won't happen anytime soon.” Travis waved his hands totally discounting Jasmine's theory.

“You don't have to be modest. You're a handsome young man. I'm sure that you have plenty of young ladies stalking you.”

“You see, that's the thing. I've never really dated women my age. I prefer to date women who are older.”

“Is that a fact?” Jasmine raised her eyebrow.

“A fact that can be scientifically proven.” Travis smirked.

“You are a witty one.” Jasmine liked his easygoing manner. Jasmine looked him up and down, then said, “This may sound a
little bold, but are you seeing anyone in particular at this time?”

“Why do you want to know?” Travis asked.

“It's just a question.”

“Let me ask you a question. Have you ever dated anyone as young as me?” Travis looked directly into her eyes. He was once again enjoying a flirtatious conversation with her.

“I prefer dating men your age,” Jasmine said.

Travis turned and rested his elbows on the concrete banister. “Can I get you another drink?” he asked, thinking that he was going to have Jasmine tonight.

“No. In fact, I'm about to go home,” she said.

“But you just got here.”

“I was here before you, remember?”

“Yeah, but I was enjoying your company. You just can't walk away and leave me like this.”

“Sure I can. I'm positive your friend, Alex is lurking around somewhere.”

“He's not here. He's out of town,” Travis said.

“Well, tell him I said hello the next time you see him.” Jasmine smiled pleasantly at him once more, then walked away.

“Wait a minute.” Travis trailed behind her. “Will you at least let me walk you to your car?”

“Sure, if you'd like to, but it's not necessary,” Jasmine assured him.

“No, I really want to. So where do you live?” he asked.

“Not too far from here. It should only take me about thirty minutes to get home. Especially now that traffic has died down some.”

“This may sound a little off the wall, but I'd like to see you again. Even if I don't land the position, I wouldn't mind having lunch or dinner or even just a cup of coffee with you,” Travis said as he walked down the stairs of the museum.

“Why?” Jasmine asked, deciding that she'd allow him to chase her for the moment.

“Well, for starters, I think you're hot. You look fantastic.”

“So you only want me for my hot body?”

Travis smiled. “No, no. I want to get to know you better as well.” Travis cleared up his intentions.

“Shit, I was hoping you only wanted to have kinky sex,” Jasmine said. They had finally reached her vehicle. She opened her car door and got inside. She fired up the ignition, and then rolled down her window.

“You don't know the things that I could do to you, Jasmine,” Travis said, glancing at her lustfully.

“Oh, no, my dear. You have no idea how I'd rock your world.” Jasmine winked at Travis and then began to pull off.

“So you're going to just leave me like this? Standing in the middle of a parking lot?”

“Go back inside and have a good time. I'm sure there are plenty of Cougars in there who'd love to play with you tonight.” Jasmine pressed the accelerator and zoomed off.

On Saturday morning, Jasmine awoke to the sound of her cell phone ringing. She turned over in bed, placed a pillow over her head and tried to get more sleep. The phone stopped ringing, but then started right back up. Annoyed, Jasmine reached over to turn the phone off, but saw that Harrison was once again calling her.

“Oh Jesus, Harrison. Grow the fuck up and leave me alone!” Jasmine uttered as the phone once again stopped. A few seconds later, it began ringing again.

“I see right now that I'm going to have to change my damn phone number.” Jasmine debated whether or not to answer the phone. She thought she'd made herself perfectly clear, but Harrison was obviously having trouble moving on. Jasmine decided that she needed to be a little more forceful with him, so he'd understand that she wanted all of the phone calls and text messages to stop.

“Hello,” she answered.

“Hey!” Harrison sounded excited.

“What do you want, Harrison? You woke me up,” Jasmine said curtly.

“You haven't been coming to yoga class. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I'm fine,” Jasmine said.

“Will you be coming back?” he asked.

“I don't think that's a good idea, Harrison. At least not right now.”

“Why not?” he asked innocently.

“Look. We had fun and now it's over. It's time for you to get on with your life and stop worrying about me.”

“How can you switch from hot to cold like that?”

“Harrison, you're making this more complicated than it has to be. I wanted to fuck you, so I did. Now I'm done fucking you. Just forget about me.” Jasmine was trying her best to let him down easy.

“It's so hard though. I still want to be with you,” Harrison whined like a snotty-nosed boy.

“Harrison, this is going to sound really mean, and you'll probably think I'm a real bitch afterwards, but I'm doing it for your own good. Stop fucking calling me!”

Jasmine hung up the phone. She placed her forearm on her forehead and exhaled, fully anticipating a return phone call, but to her delight he didn't call back.

“Thank goodness. Maybe he's finally gotten the message through his thick head.” Jasmine hated to let go of the comfort of her bed, but now she was wide awake and thirsting for a cup of coffee.

After freshening up in the bathroom, she walked downstairs to her kitchen and cooked breakfast. She went into her office, sat at her desk and began going through all of her mail which had piled up. She paid her bills, did some filing and then checked her Facebook page. She was surprised to see a friend request from Travis Adams. Jasmine smirked, then denied his request. She knew that he'd be receiving an offer for the position on Monday and didn't want to start a relationship with him, especially since they'd be working together. That was one of her rules. She didn't date guys she worked with. Although she had to admit that she was very attracted to him.

Just as Jasmine was about to move on and check her e-mail account, she heard her doorbell chime.

“That ain't nobody but Lauren. She's the only person who comes over totally unannounced.” Jasmine got up from her seat and went to answer the door. Sure enough her sister was standing there wearing her DEA jacket, bulletproof vest and gun belt. She was also driving a blue Crown Victoria squad car. Jasmine opened the door.

“What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at work?” Jasmine asked.

“Yeah, but I don't have to report in for another two hours. I have a task force meeting later on today. We're raiding a medical marijuana dispensary.”

“Oh, one of those places that administers marijuana legally to patients, right?” Jasmine had a very clear idea of what Lauren was talking about but wanted to confirm it.

“Yes. It appears as if there have been violations of federal and state laws. Girl, it's rough out there. Just two days ago we raided a home that was turned into a crystal meth factory, right in the middle of suburbia. It's a damn shame.”

“Who was making it? The homeowners?” Jasmine asked as she led Lauren into the family room.

“No. The house was a foreclosure. The suspects took over the house, but we believe that there are also either bank employees or real estate agents involved. Someone had to provide these criminals with a list of addresses as potential sites to set up their operation.”

“Wow,” Jasmine said as she sat down.

“It's getting worse and worse out there. People who've lost their jobs, livelihood, and hope are turning to either using drugs or selling them. It's a real mess.”

“It sounds like it,” Jasmine agreed.

“I didn't stop by to talk about my job though. I came by to ask your thoughts about what happened with Millie,” Lauren said.

“What do you mean what happened with Millie?” Jasmine was confused.

“You didn't hear? Millie didn't call you to talk about it?” Lauren was truly surprised.

“No. I haven't heard from Millie. I did talk to Tiffany and she was trying to tell me something, but I had to run off to a meeting.”

“Well, listen to this mess.”

“I'm all ears.” Jasmine leaned in toward Lauren.

“Millie's lover came to her house to confront her husband.”

“What!” Jasmine shouted.

“You heard me. The young lawyer she was messing with called out her husband and they got into a fistfight on the front lawn of Millie's house.”

“You've got to be fucking kidding me.”

“I'm not lying.”

“Well, who won the fight?” Jasmine asked out of curiosity.

“Millie's husband got his ass kicked from what I understand, and the police arrested Millie's lover.”

“Oh shit. Why did the lover go to Millie's house in the first place? How did he even know where she lived?”

“Sounds like Millie had brought that man to her house before. Anyway, Millie's husband found out about the affair she was having and he lost it.”

“What do you mean, ‘he lost it'?”

“He hit Millie,” Lauren explained.

“Oh, that fool has really lost his mind! It sounds like we need to catch a flight out there to help Millie deal with this. He shouldn't be putting his damned hands on her.”

“I know that's how I feel as well but there is more. You're not going to believe this part.”

“Oh Lord.” Jasmine paused, then waited for Lauren to give her the final detail.

“Millie's husband was also having an affair with the young intern's mother.” Jasmine's mouth opened as wide as the sky. She was completely speechless, blown away by this news.

“How in the hell did that happen?” Jasmine asked.

“Girl, your guess is as good as mine, but Millie and her husband were screwing two different members of the same damn family.”

“Ooo, that sounds messy as hell. No wonder I haven't heard from Millie. She's got a big pot of shit stirring.” Jasmine tried to imagine what her girlfriend must have been going through. “Have you talked with Millie at all?”

“I called and left a message. I told her that you and I were ready, willing and able to come out there and see about her. She shot me a text message back saying that she had him locked up for hitting her and that she was fine.”

“Has the media gotten wind of all of that? You know she was under investigation,” Jasmine reminded her.

“I don't know. That's a good question. I do know that Millie's husband is also pressing assault charges against the lover in addition to having to defend his own case.”

“Damn!” Jasmine said as she and Lauren moved over to a nearby sofa and sat. “I'm going to give her a call today to find out how she's doing. It sounds as if her life is in a chaotic tailspin.”