Diva Diaries (13 page)

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Authors: Janine A. Morris

BOOK: Diva Diaries
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21
Femme Fatale
R
oosevelt Field mall was packed, and the girls had spent almost two hours there already. Dakota, Jordan, and Chrasey had met up to have lunch and decided to go to the mall. Dakota was the shopaholic of the group, and had picked up a new Movado watch, three pairs of shoes from Steve Madden, and three shirts and some jeans from Armani Exchange. Jordan had bought Omar two polo shirts from Macy's, Jason a cute Gap outfit, and herself an outfit from Ann Taylor. Chrasey was ready to wrap it up and go home. She was always the one who hated shopping, because she always complained she couldn't find her size, and although she was a size or two smaller on occasion, she had never become addicted to the thrill of splurging yet. So, all she had picked up was clothes for her kids, and one pair of shoes for herself.
They walked out of Coach, where Jordan purchased a new briefcase, and headed straight toward Bloomingdale's. After reaching the women's department, Dakota sifted through a clothes rack. After a few moments a handsome young gentleman approached her.
“Do you need help with anything?”
Tempted to say
you can help me with everything
, she controlled herself and replied, “I'm just looking to see what you have.”
Realizing she was still being an obvious flirt, she looked over at Jordan, who had already recognized Dakota's mischief and was shaking her head.
“Well, all of our cashmere sweaters are twenty percent off today,” the sales guy replied.
“OK, thanks. What if what I want in the store isn't for sale?” she asked. He instantly picked up on her discreet pickup line.
“As you know, everything is for sale—it's all about the price.”
“Well, can you give me your number so I can discuss this transaction further with you?”
As the gentleman walked off to write his number down, Jordan and Chrasey just watched in awe as their girlfriend worked her magic. A few moments later, he returned with his number on a piece of paper and handed it to her with a smile. She assured him he would be hearing from her, waved good-bye, and walked out of the department with Chrasey and Jordan behind her.
“You are terrible. I thought you would get better with age. Picking up men in clothing stores—you just don't stop,” Jordan said to Dakota.
“I was just having fun. It's OK to have a little fun ... right, Chrasey?”
“Don't put me in this,” Chrasey replied quickly, not wanting Jordan to shift the guilt trip to her.
“Yeah, well I guess not. You're not married,” Jordan said in a sarcastic tone.
For some reason, Chrasey wasn't in the mood for criticism, and before Jordan could get the last word out of her mouth, Chrasey shouted, “Why are you always judging me? Your honesty-best-policy theory doesn't work for everyone!”
Dakota and Jordan, both stunned at Chrasey's outburst, just looked at each other.
“Chrasey, I'm not judging you. As your friend, I'm just telling you my advice. You're going to be asking me for it when you need my services as your divorce attorney,” Jordan said with a little giggle.
Dakota's laugh broke the tension.
“Jordan, I'm going through a lot right now. I just need you to be my friend and not make me feel worse for every mistake I make.”
Jordan stopped, crossed in front of Dakota, and gave Chrasey a hug. “OK, I'm sorry, Chrase. I won't say anything. All I will say is you are married, and marriages go through problems. Don't throw it away chasing some young guy and listening to this scandalous heifer,” Jordan said, giving Dakota a nudge. “If it's that bad at home, at least try counseling,” she continued.
“Yeah, we are going to have to do something because God knows
problems
don't even begin to describe ...” As Chrasey was mid-sentence, she felt a nudge in her side.
“Look, there goes Lexia,” Dakota said.
“Who is that she is with?” Jordan asked in a low tone.
Coming straight toward them was Lexia, walking with someone who appeared to be a girl but it was hard to tell. Lexia had her arm around the girl, but when she saw the girls she removed it, or at least that's what it looked like to Dakota.
“Hey there, ladies,” Lexia said as she approached.
Noticing how uncomfortable their presence had made Lexia, they all hesitated before they spoke with a phony “hello.”
After a moment of silence, Jordan finally said, “What're you doing out here?”
“Oh, just picking up some things. I have my last few interviews this week.”
“Oh, OK,” Jordan replied.
“Will you be coming to my house tonight?” Dakota finally said.
“Ummm, I'm not sure. I may be staying out again. But I will surely call and let you know.”
Noticing an apparent attitude from Lexia's little girlfriend, the girls couldn't tell if it was because she hadn't been introduced or some other reason. It did seem to escalate when Dakota asked if Lexia was coming back to her house. The girl had been looking away most of the time that the girls were conversing, making it very obvious that she wasn't attempting to be social. When the comment about Dakota's house was made, she sucked her teeth some and turned away even further. Once she did that, Dakota gave her a look as if to say,
what the hell is your problem
?
“This is my friend Monique—Monique, these are my home girls from college, and this is the one I'm staying with,” Lexia finally said.
After an exchange of phony “hellos,” with lingering attitude, Lexia ended the little gathering before it became any more uncomfortable.
“OK, ladies, I will see you guys later.”
Dakota, Jordan, and Chrasey headed off to their original destination, and Lexia and Monique went in another direction. After they had all walked far enough away and the coast was clear, of course all three of them looked at each other.
“What in the hell is that about?” Chrasey asked.
“I have no idea,” Dakota replied.
“That girl looked like a man,” Chrasey said.
“Yeah, or she is definitely trying to be one,” Jordan said, looking at Dakota as if she had some answers.
“Look, she is only at my house like maybe three nights a week. Other nights she says she stays out with friends or stays in hotels. I ask no questions.”
“We were worried about her with our men—we need to watch ourselves,” Jordan said, laughing.
They all joined in the laughter, before Chrasey said, “I would find that hard to believe—that girl loved herself some penis in her bed regardless of whose it was. I would have thought she would be strictly dickly.”
“Yeah, me, too, but you never know,” Jordan replied.
22
This Can't Be Wife
“
A
m I too tired and lazy, too nice, or just too stupid to get my butt up?”
It was a Saturday night, and Dakota was sitting in Tony's house waiting for him to come back home from a night at the club.
She had wanted to go out in the first place, and not be sitting home like a lame duck while he went out spending time with a bunch of dressed-to-undress women. She would have felt much better if he knew that she was out on the scene, too, so he would also have something to worry about. Why is it that women have to feel the need to go out when the person they are dealing with is out? It's like a game played in almost every relationship. It doesn't matter how old the relationship is, how serious it is or it isn't, how good, how much trust is in it, or how happy they are. When one person goes out, the other person feels almost obligated to go out as well. Dakota wasn't in the mood this night, though. She'd much rather stay in and chill, and as submissive as it may be, wait for Tony to arrive.
It was all good until she started to get tired and was afraid that she couldn't wait up for him. Then she started realizing that he could at least have the decency to come home at a decent time. She started trying to convince herself to remain calm by looking at the bright side of her being there, there were a couple of reasons that she was able to come up with. One of the bright sides was that if she remained calm, she would be the cool, understanding chick, and every girl wants to be that cool, understanding, secure girl. Another is that he will get all wound up from bumping and grinding, dancing at the club and drinking, just to work it all off with her. She figured that's her job, that's what she was there for, and she was happy to be of service.
It was her pleasure until she glanced over at his alarm clock and it said it was already three-something in the morning and there was still no sign of Tony. She called his cell phone and there was no answer—that's what pissed her off the most. She was so tempted to put her clothes on and leave. If she wasn't so tired, and if it wasn't raining, she really would have. She kept thinking to herself,
let's try not to make a big deal out of this
.
Dakota had to wonder if she was playing herself, and it was too late in the morning to call any of her friends to ask. She wanted to know what did she look like, just sitting there waiting on him? He told her that he wouldn't stay out too late. At first she stayed because it felt like a wifey privilege to be at his house while he was away. It wasn't like she was staying at his house because she couldn't be at her own. Initially, they were supposed to be spending time together. She understood enough to let him go out with his friends on her time; it was one of his old teammate's birthdays, and they wanted to go out and celebrate. She didn't get upset that he didn't invite her, because she would've been the only female coming along. As much sense as it made when he was leaving, now she was wondering if she was being naive and if he was just taking advantage of her.
Out of anger and spite, she wanted to call David. In her mind it meant she was still in the game. Whenever she started to give a guy too much of herself or she thought she was getting played, it was a remedy to call or go out with another guy so that she could be clear from feeling or getting played. As long as she was doing her thing as well, it was all fair in love and war. So, the more minutes that went by, the more stupid and slutty she began to feel by sitting in Tony's bed all alone, and the more she decided what she was going to do. Minutes were feeling like forever, just watching the time go by. She was going to call David and she could only hope that Tony came home and found her on the phone, so she could be just as rude as he had been.
She didn't care that it was damn near 4:00 in the morning. She reached for Tony's cordless phone, dialed *67 to make Tony's number private, and then dialed David's number. He didn't answer the phone and his voice mail picked up.
“Hey, Dave. It's Dakota—just wanted to say hello and see how you were doing. I missed your last few calls, but I have been so busy with work and I haven't had a moment. I know it's late, but I'm up and I can't sleep, so I was seeing if you were up to keep me company. Call me when you get this so we can make a plan to hook up.”
She knew damn well she wasn't going to hook up with David any time soon. Not unless Tony messed up again. She tried not to get David too open while she was on a run with Tony, because it just became too much work to balance. It was much easier dealing with David when Tony was on time-out, which felt like too often. Still, she didn't like not reaching out at all, because she wanted him to know he was still on her “to-do list.” This time, though, it was also her way not to make herself feel so stupid for sitting in Tony's house. As long as she was still keeping her player status on point, she couldn't be too upset with Tony. She wouldn't feel like one of his dumb girls he was keeping. Although being left in his apartment made her feel like she was at the top of his list, she knew this was just his condo that he was staying in for the summer. It wasn't his real home—he had two beautiful homes, one in Atlanta and one in New Jersey. She thought he had the mother of his son living in the one in New Jersey; he wouldn't admit that, but that's what she heard. She was waiting in his plush condo that he kept in the city, which served the purpose of easy stays there, entertaining guests and fancying his female counterparts. Still, to leave a woman access to any of your stuff stands for something.
She almost knew in detail what she could and couldn't expect from Tony. He was an ex-professional athlete who was currently the head of an up-and-coming record label, for crying out loud. She knew that when she met him he was enjoying being a rich, handsome black male that most women would plot to trap. If she didn't have some class,
about herself,
she would have poked a condom or two herself. She would've settled down with Tony if she could, but she had become used to just being a side chick and a piece of sexual fun for most men she dated. So, even when she did catch feelings for someone she was seeing, she tried to accept whatever it was for the moment. It was no different with Tony. She didn't know if it would ever be different between them, but she decided to just take what she was getting and be happy. Life is too short.
Within the next half an hour, she was sleeping like a baby. She did imagine as she dozed off, how sweet it would be when he did come home to her in his bed asleep. Maybe he would like it, and get some ideas about making that a more regular thing.
Tony didn't get home until 5:34 in the morning. Dakota was still asleep, didn't even hear him crawl in the bed.

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