Games (9 page)

Jason made eye-contact with her. “LaShay, it’s only dinner. If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll move to the other side of the booth, but don’t leave.”

The waitress waited patiently as Shay weighed her options. She was hungry and it did feel good to be out on a Friday evening. Maybe having dinner with Jason would cure his infatuation and he’d leave her alone. “I’ll have an iced tea,” she finally said then removed her jacket.

Jason smiled. “I’ll have the same.”

As soon as the waitress left Shay reminded him of his promise to move to the opposite side of the booth. He didn’t protest, but now instead of being alongside her, he was staring her in the face. Smiling like he had just won the lottery.

“LaShay Hampton, I’ve been working with you for two weeks and I still don’t know anything about you. Tell me about yourself, or shall I go first?”

“You can go first, second and third for all I care,” she retorted.

Jason ignored the sarcasm and gave her his story. She learned he was born and raised in Chicago and had attended Howard University on a full scholarship. He planned to move back to Chicago and teach high-school English. He was from a two-parent family and had an older brother and a younger sister. He was the first in his family to attend college.

“What about you?” he asked after the waitress delivered the drinks. “What’s your story?”

Shay took a sip of her drink and in an attempt at nicety, she offered him a smile. “What do want to know, Jason?”

“For starters, why do you always act so cold?”

She could tell by his tone that he’d grown tired of her attitude and fake smile. However, his assessment surprised her. “So you think I’m a cold person because I won’t go out with you?”

“That,
and every time I try to have a simple conversation with you, like now, you put up this wall of ice. I can’t even ask you a simple question, like where are you from, without getting sarcasm. It’s fine if you don’t want to date me, but at least you can be polite.”

Shay twisted her mouth; maybe she was being a little too hard on Jason. He really hadn’t done anything wrong other than show interest in her. Getting to know him didn’t mean she had to date him. “Alright, Jason. I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. I graduated Magna Cum Laude from Stanford and now I’m here. I want to teach elementary education, preferably kindergarten. Is that enough information?” Shay smirked slightly.

“It’s a start. It’s also quite impressive. What about your family?”

“I was raised by my mother. My father died in an automobile accident before I was born.”

“I bet your mother was happy when you received the scholarship to Stanford, with her being a single parent and all,” Jason clarified.

Shay pushed
her glass away. She hated when people assumed she was on a scholarship simply because she was an African-American. It especially bothered her when it came from other African Americans, like they didn’t believe there were successful people of color with enough money to pay college tuition.

She interlocked her fingers before responding to him. “Jason
, I didn’t receive a scholarship for Stanford, nor did I receive one for Harvard. My mother wrote a check. You do know African-Americans are allowed to have savings accounts with more than a fifty-dollar balance?”

After the waitress took their dinner order, Jason continued. “That explains it.”

“Explains what?”

“I was wondering how you can afford a new SUV and an apartment without a job. You’re from a wealthy family.”

“Does that bother you?” Shay hoped it did. “True, my family is well-off, but I worked hard for my degree,” Shay defended. “And I’m working hard for this Master’s and Teaching Credential.”

“I’ve seen you in action. I know you work hard. And no it doesn’t bother me at all that you’re well
-off.” He reached for her hand. “What does bother me is why you don’t like me.”

“It’s not that I don’t like you, Jason, I really don’t know you,” she answered, trying not to bruise his ego again.

“Are you seeing someone?”

Shay immediately thought of Brian. Although they weren’t on speaking terms, they still shared an unspoken commitment to one another, especially after sharing their bodies. “No, I’m not seeing anyone.”

“Let me guess, you like the tall and dark type.”

She smiled. Tall and dark; definitely Brian. “Something like that.”

“Nice”

Confusion masked her face. “What’s nice?”

“Your smile,” Jason explained. “This is the first time I’ve seen you smile. You should try it more often.”

Shay was glad the food arrived because she couldn’t get Brian out of her head. He liked her smile and her hazel eyes among other things.

They talked more over dinner and she learned a lot about him. Jason was actually quite likeable and had a wonderful sense of humor. Like her, he was an avid reader and dabbled in poetry. She still wasn’t attracted to him, but decided he would be a good person to hang out with, a way to chase the loneliness away. When he walked Shay to her car, she accepted his invitation to the movies the following Friday and finally gave him her cell phone number.

The
Mission Impossible
ringtone on his cell phone sounded just as Brian’s hand touched the doorknob. He pulled the Smartphone from his waist clip to answer the call and immediately recognized Shannon’s number. She had called him every day since he had given her his number four days ago. Talking to Shannon helped Brian realize just how much he really missed Shay. Up until the night he took Shay into his bed, a day rarely went by that he didn’t hear her soft feminine voice. But for now Shannon Yates would be his replacement for female conversation.

Each day he talked to her for at least an hour and yesterday morning Brian joined her for a jog around
Lake Merritt. Walking toward her in Lakeside Park, Brian couldn’t help but wonder why Shannon jogged in the first place. It certainly wasn’t to watch her weight. Shannon didn’t look like she had an ounce of fat on her; she barely had meat on her bones. He kept his curiosity to himself and enjoyed the fresh winter morning, not wanting Shannon to get the wrong idea that he harbored an attraction to her body.

Outside of a few clouds, the
Oakland morning was beautiful. The mid-sixty- degree weather attracted a large amount of seagulls equal to the number of runners. On the four-mile trail, Brian had to admit that he enjoyed both the jog and the conversation. Not one time did Shannon mention Shay or flirt with him. Instead, she centered the majority of the conversation on Brian and his father.

“My father is my best friend,”
was what he told her when she asked about his relationship with his father.

“Have the two of you always been close?” she asked slowing her slow jog to a brisk walk.

“Since we met five years ago.”  Brian went on to explain the events to Shannon.

“That’s amazing; no wonder you’re so close to your stepmother. Does your father pressure you into becoming a minister like him?”

Brian slowed his pace. “My dad doesn’t pressure me to become anything that I don’t want to become. He encourages me to be me, not walk in his shadows. If I do pursue the ministry, it’ll be because I hear a call from God in my heart; not pressure from my father.”

“I’m going to block that call,”
Shannon teased. They made more small talk about him, but she didn’t talk about herself. Brian noticed, but didn’t press the issue.

Drawing his attention back to the ringing in his hand, Brian pressed the green answer key button. “Good morning,
Shannon,” he answered while locking his front door.

“Good morning, Brian. I hope you slept well. I didn’t. I was lonely,”
Shannon whined.

“I’m on my way to church
. Is there something you want?”

She cleared her throat. “I was wondering if you could pick me up for church this morning.”

Her request surprised Brian. During their previous conversations Shannon hadn’t mentioned a desire to attend today’s worship service. “I’m glad you want to come to church, Shannon, but it’s a little late for me to pick you up. Why don’t you just meet me there?”

“That’s too bad
, Brian, I really wanted to see you today.” She pouted.

“Sorry, but I don’t like being late for service. If you’re sure you’re coming, I’ll have the usher save you a seat,” Brian offered as he started his RAV4.

Shannon wasn’t happy and said as much. “It’s too early for me to throw a temper tantrum, so I’ll drop it for now. Will I be sitting next to you?” She sounded like a wounded puppy.

“No, but you’ll have a good seat.” Brian didn’t tell her that as his father’s personal adjutant, he sat on the dais with the ministers.

“I guess this is the only way I’ll get to see you today?” she conceded.

“It sure is. I’ll see you later.” He ended the call and turned his attention to the road.

As always, Brian knocked on Reggie’s office door before turning the knob and entering. “Do you need anything, Dad?” he asked, leaning his head inside.

Reggie sat in his chair holding Josiah. Brian stepped inside and immediately Josiah threw his hands up and called out, “Brian!” He took his little brother from his father and tickled him.

“Julia is preaching this at morning’s service,” Reggie answered with an expression that conveyed how much he cherished the opportunity to watch his children play.

Reggie studied his eldest son’s face. Brian worked very hard to keep up in law school, but Reggie suspected there was more on his son’s mind than just school
. “What’s going on with you and Shay? I’m not one to pry into your personal business with Shay, but I don’t want you to make a huge mistake either.”

Brian turned so he couldn’t face his father and focused on Josiah. “Nothing.”

“Nothing?” Reggie asked incredulously

“We’re just friends, like always.”

Before he asked, Reggie guessed the answer to his next question by Brian’s mannerisms. “You haven’t told her how you really feel about her and that you want to build a relationship with her?  She doesn’t know that you’re in love with her?”

“Kind of, but the feeling isn’t mutual. We’re just friends.”

Reggie rested his elbows on his desk and lowered his head. What Brian said didn’t make sense. Reggie knew for a fact that Shay was in love with Brian; she’d told him so before leaving for Cambridge, but that was something Brian should hear directly from Shay.

“Is that what she told you? Did she actually say she didn’t love you?” Reggie wanted clarification.

“No she didn’t actually say that, but she implied it.”

“I see
. I remember how hard it was for me to communicate my true feelings to Julia at age forty-one. Brian, I really feel, no, I know, you and Shay need to sit down and have an honest heart-to-heart talk, before one of you takes a wrong turn.”

Brian listened to his father’s words, his dad was probably right. “Maybe next week at Thanksgiving, I’ll try talking to her again.”

“I’m sorry, Brian. I guess I forgot to tell you. Shay’s not coming home for Thanksgiving. She said she needed to spend that time studying.”

“Oh.” Brian tried to conceal his hurt, but wasn’t too successful.  He felt like his heart had been pulled from his chest and stomped on. He knew without a doubt the only reason Shay wasn’t coming home for her favorite holiday, was to keep from seeing him. He moaned and asked himself,
Does she hate me that much
?

“You don’t have to wait until she returns home, you can give her a call or better yet, you can go to
Massachusetts,” Reggie suggested.

“Yeah, right.” Brian sat Josiah down and left the office.

Halfway through Praise & Worship, Brian spotted Shannon walking down the far right aisle.  He couldn’t believe what she’d worn to church. He never understood why some women liked to wear skimpy clothing in the wintertime and then try to keep warm with an oversized winter coat. 

Shannon
looked like she was headed to a nightclub instead of Sunday church service. The black V-neck tank dress barely came halfway to her thighs. Even from where he sat, Brian could tell she wasn’t wearing a bra by the deep cut down the front of her dress. The black straps from her shoes wrapped around her bare ankles added to the nightlife look. She must have gotten a new weave, because instead of black, her hair was golden which Brian considered too light for her dark-brown complexion. Brian watched, embarrassed, as Shannon argued with an usher about finding her a seat up close. When Brian finally made eye contact with her, Shannon folded her arms and glared at him.  With Shay’s latest rejection of him still fresh, Brian didn’t have the energy to worry about Shannon’s attitude. He ignored her for the rest of the service.

***

“I’m a guest of Brian Pennington and I’m supposed to be seated up front,”
Shannon barked at the usher.

“Miss, I would seat you closer, but you are inappropriately dressed. If you would like to wear your overcoat for the duration of service,
I’d be happy to seat you up front,” the female usher responded firmly.