His Betrayal Her Lies (11 page)

When the women left, they had to walk past
Kalon’s table. Pam led the way, smiling and bobbing her from head
side to side. Libby followed closely behind.

Taylor was last to leave. As she reached the
table, Kalon grabbed her hand. She looked down at the hand that
held hers. “Excuse me,” she said. When she tried to resist, he drew
her down to ear level. “I’m looking forward to hearing from you.”
Taylor snatched her hand back, straightened up, and strutted
out.

* * *

Maci ran around her condo preparing for Ari’s
arrival. He was about to drop off Adrianne. In the master bathroom,
Maci freshened up her lipstick, then put her face right up to the
mirror to apply her mascara. She opened up her black robe and
smiled in the mirror at the sight of the lacy teddy underneath. The
timer on her stove sounded. Lasagna and garlic bread, Ari’s
favorite meal, would be steaming hot when he arrived. She pulled
the dish out the oven and opened a bottle of wine. Pouring two
glasses, she set them on the table to breathe.

Then she waited.

The love she felt for Ari, she had never felt
for any other man. She knew the type of cologne he wore,
Unbreakable by Lamar and Khloe Odom. She knew his favorite music
artist was Kanye West. There was nothing about Ari that she didn’t
know. No other woman would ever be good enough for him.

The chiming doorbell roused her out of her
daydream.
It’s on and poppin’.
She ran into the foyer and
looked into the mirror on the wall, fluffing her curls. Adrianne’s
little sleeping body thrown across her father’s shoulders was the
first thing she saw when she threw the door open.

Ari looked at Maci’s attire and shook his
head. He walked past her wordlessly and went up the stairs. She
followed him to Adrianne’s room without a sound. He had once joked
that his baby girl must have had a lot of say-so when it came to
decorating her bedroom. There was no theme, just some Dora the
Explorer items clashing with Barbie Doll stuff. Dora and her
friends were pictured on the comforter and pillow cases. Barbie’s
face graced the curtains and a throw rug.

Ari pulled the bedcovers back and gently laid
Adrianne down. He took off her shoes and clothes, and even changed
her into her pajamas without waking her up. He tucked the covers
under her chin and kissed her forehead.

Shoulder against the door jamb, Maci stood
marveling at the love Ari displayed for his daughter.
If only I
could get him to show me that type of affection.
She moved
closer to the bed and put her hands on Ari’s shoulders.

He stood and turned toward her.

She posed for a kiss.

He walked out the room.

Maci followed him, closing Adrianne’s door.
She hurried down the stairs. He was at the front door. Maci ran and
put herself between him and the door. “Please don’t leave,” she
begged, hands folded as if she were in prayer. Ari reached beside
her to open the door. “Wait, Ari. Can we talk?”

“Talk about what, Maci?” Anger boiled in his
eyes. She had to find a way to calm him down and get him to at
least sit. If her plan to get him in bed was going to work, she
needed to think fast.

Spitting out the first thing that came to
mind, she said, “I need to talk to you about the new private school
I want to put Adrianne into.”

Ari looked at his watch. “It’s late, Maci. We
can talk about this another time.” He reached for the door
handle.

“Wait, Ari, damn. You can’t give the mother
of your child five minutes of your time to talk about your child’s
education?” She tried not to look like the liar she was and hoped
the guilt trip about his concern for his child’s education was
working.

Relenting, he said, “Okay, you have five
minutes and you’re on four now.”

Rushing into action, Maci ushered Ari to the
couch. “You want something to drink?”

“No, and you’re running out of time.” Ari sat
on the very edge of the cushion, like he was ready to leap up and
run out the door at a moment’s notice.

“Well, I’m going to get myself something to
drink.” Maci looked poised as she excused herself but when she went
into the kitchen; she slammed her fist on the counter. This is not
what she expected. Ari was being so difficult. Getting him to eat
was definitely out of the question. She had done all this
preparation and he was not cooperating. Desperation made Maci open
up the kitchen cabinet and take out some of the pills she took when
she couldn’t sleep. She crushed two of them up and poured them into
Ari’s glass of wine, stirring them around with her finger.

Entering the living room, she handed Ari the
drink.

“I told you I didn’t want anything to drink.
And now you have two minutes.”

There was a clinking sound as Maci placed the
drink on the glass coffee table in front of Ari. “I know what you
said but you look like you could use a drink.”

“What is this all about, Maci?”

She took a sip of her wine. She had to think
of some way to keep his attention off the time. “Well, I spoke to
Adrianne’s teacher the other day and she thinks Adrianne is really
gifted. According to her, we should put her in this accelerated
program.”

“What kind of accelerated program?”

It was hard to tell if she had really reeled
Ari into the conversation. She took another sip and just started
winging it. “She thinks Adrianne should be in this program where
kids take these tests, and if they score high enough they skip a
grade.”

Ari perked up.

I’ve got him now.

“Wow, I didn’t know she was that smart. I
mean, I knew she was smart because she is my daughter but I didn’t
know all that.”

Maci saw Ari opening up and relaxing, so she
kept going. “Yeah, so what do you think we should do?”

Picking up the glass in front of him, Ari
took a sip. He was obviously weighing the options. He took a couple
more sips, then turned the glass up and gulped the whole contents.
Maci almost jumped up from the couch in excitement, but she played
it cool.

“I think we should go ahead and get her
enrolled,” he finally said.

Maci clapped her hands together. “Great. I
knew you wanted the best for her. But this is going to cost.”

Ari sat his glass down. “Money is no object
for my baby’s education.”

Maci started talking about other schools in
the area. Some of what she said was true; some was made up as she
went along. It wasn’t long before she could see Ari’s head falling
down and jerking back up.

Slurred speech confirmed that the pills were
taking effect. He asked sleepily, “What did you put in my
drink?”

Maci stood over him, waiting for the pills to
kick in totally.

He tried to stand but fell back down on the
couch. “I can’t believe you did this, Maci. Your head is fucked
up.” He started waving his hands in the air to push Maci away.

“Don’t fight it, Ari. Just let it happen,”
she breathed into his ear.

Ari fell over on the couch, eyes closed and
mouth open.

Maci smacked his arm. He was out cold. This
was going to ruin her plans. She wanted to seduce him and get him
to sleep with her so she could videotape it and send it to Taylor.
Carrying Ari’s dead weight up to her bedroom would be like carrying
bricks. She was finished unless she could come up with a Plan
B.

A few minutes of thinking, and Maci snapped
her fingers and sprinted up the stairs. Her camcorder was stashed
on the side of the flat screen TV in her bedroom. She unplugged it
and ran back down to Ari. The coffee table was just the right
height. She placed the camcorder on the table and hit record.

It wasn’t easy, but she finally got all of
Ari’s clothes off and had him stretched across the couch. Then she
removed her robe and teddy. She hadn’t slept with him since that
last trip to San Francisco, when he told her she couldn’t go on any
more trips with him. That’s also when he informed her that he would
not have sex with her again.

Expectancy made her hands shake as she
reached out to rub his chest. She ran her hands up and down his
muscular, smooth body. His limp dick lay across his thigh. Knowing
what his body responded to, she started jerking her hands up and
down it to make it firm. After two minutes and no response, she put
it in her mouth and turned toward the camera, sucking and licking
it up and down. It was so limp it was falling out her mouth. She
did that for ten minutes and then got on top of him, trying to
insert his member inside of her. With a couple more attempts, she
got it to stay in and she made small bouncing movements to keep it
in. She put her finger inside his mouth and started yelling his
name.

“Yes, yes, Ari. Right there. Ah. You’re
hitting my spot.”

Maci released her juices all over Ari’s
stomach and thighs. She got up and cut the camcorder off. In the
kitchen, she poured herself another glass of wine and smiled. She
started fantasizing about the wedding that was sure to happen after
this.

* * *

Kalon found himself standing outside of the
Dynasty Magazine suite. Two weeks flew by, and he still hadn’t
heard anything from Taylor since he saw her at the restaurant. He
had noticed Taylor as soon as he entered Ohio Street that night.
His first thought had been to ignore her. After all, he had been
persistent in trying to take her out and she had been giving him
the cold shoulder. As the waiter was showing him to his table, his
legs took on a mission of their own. He had just wanted to know why
she wouldn’t call him or at least say she wasn’t interested.

She still left him hanging. He intended for
that to end today. He was going to go right in and confront her,
letting her know he was really interested in her and not give her a
chance to run away from him.

The receptionist seemed to be talking to
herself when Kalon walked up to her. As he got closer, he noticed
the headset she wore. The young woman’s gold hoop earrings were
enormous and they jingled with the slightest move of her head. He
wondered how callers could hear her voice with all that metal
clanking in their ears. She held up one finger to him. More
clanking, this time from the multiple bracelets on her wrist.

He looked around the suite. He expected that
a woman like Taylor would have a well-decorated space; he wasn’t
disappointed. He particularly liked some of the wall pieces she
had.

“Thanks for waiting. How can I help you,
sir?” the receptionist asked.

Kalon stood motionless. “I’m here to see
Taylor Gallagher.”

He noticed that she didn’t reach for the
phone to announce his arrival. “Do you have an appointment?”

Putting his hands in his pockets, he tried a
little charm. “No, I’m sorry I don’t. But I was hoping that you’d
be able to get me a few minutes with her. I’d really appreciate if
you could do that for me, Ms. …” He waited for her to fill in
the blank.

“Just call me Jennifer,” she said, intrigued
by this sweet talker. She smiled up at him. He smiled back,
wondering why such a young woman would cake on so much makeup. That
didn’t matter at all once she picked up the phone and dialed a few
numbers. “Hi, Mrs. Tab. Is Mrs. Gallagher available? Okay, she has
a …” She put her hand over the receiver and asked Kalon, “You
are?”

“Kalon Knight from Angel Kids.”

She relayed the name to Taylor’s secretary
and waited. “Okay, thank you.”

Kalon’s heart dropped at the look on the
receptionist’s face. Maybe Taylor told them to call security. “Ms.
Gallagher will see you now.”

He couldn’t believe Taylor had agreed to see
him. He had to make this visit count and lay it all out because it
might be his last.

Chapter 10

Taylor stood up from her swivel office chair,
then sat back down. She stood again and finally decided it would
look better if she was seated when Kalon walked in. She was so
nervous but she didn’t want it to appear like her world revolved
around seeing him. She started going through some papers on her
desk to make it look like she was busy.

For two weeks, she had obsessed about the
card on her desk containing Kalon’s number, moving to call him one
minute and changing her mind the next. She just didn’t know what to
say. In the end, she had determined that it was for the best not to
talk to him. She had shredded the card just yesterday. And now she
was seconds away from having to explain why she hadn’t called.

Mrs. Tab knocked and poked her head in the
door at the same time. “Mr. Knight is here.”

Taylor looked up from her stack of papers.
“Send him in.” She heard the click of his shoes before she looked
up into his deep dark brown eyes. He had on a black suit with a
white button-down dress shirt. Because he wore no tie and had the
first three buttons of his shirt undone, her eyes trailed down his
smooth neck to the bit of chest that was showing. Her breathing
shortened.

With something close to arrogance, he stood
before her desk with his hands in his pockets, rearing back on his
heels. He had a smooth grin across his face.

“How can I help you, Mr. Knight?” she asked,
trying to sound aloof.

“I prefer Kalon.”

She could hear the mischief in his tone.
“Okay, Kalon, how can I help you?” Leaning back in her seat, Taylor
crossed her arms over her chest.

Kalon took a seat and crossed his legs. “I
was hoping you would have dinner with me tonight. I want to take
you out.”

“I’m married” should have automatically come
out of Taylor’s mouth. Instead, she asked, “Why do you want to take
me out?”

He had a hearty laugh. “Where should I start?
First, you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. You’re
intelligent, smart, and witty. I like the way you carry yourself.
You don’t try to be seen by others; you just let your soft beauty
illuminate a room. And I like your smile, not to mention your
body.”