In Between Lies (2 page)

His voice was deep and smooth, flowing like a harmonious baritone, baring his soul, waiting for her to join him. Sending chills down her spine, thoughts of Kevin Styles danced through her mind for the second time this morning. Heartbroken and not wanting to listen to yet more explanations, she deleted the call as he spoke. Brushing off the remnants of his all too unforgettable touch, feel and smell,
Savannah
commenced to boot her computer.

Meeting behind meeting,
Savannah
found it hard to keep her mind from wondering if she had been too hasty to cut their relationship the way she did. Even knowing full well that she did the right thing, and even though she’d said she didn’t want to see him again, secretly she missed him but was too hurt to openly admit it. She felt her throat tighten and eyes threaten to sting every time his name was mentioned. Jasmine had hit a nerve by bringing him up knowing full well that her wounds were still wide open. Their split had only been just a few months ago but it seemed like yesterday.

“Excuse me, Ms. Summers but I have a delivery of a beautiful bouquet of flowers for you,”
Lydia
, her secretary advised her. At fifty-four, the air of elegance coupled with smooth agile strides, Lydia Thompson epitomized style. Curly braided tendrils framed her high cheekbones allowing her light brown eyes to capture the center of attention. She inquisitively eyed the card wanting to tear it open and see who the mysterious sender was. Her full frame sat in the recliner that faced the window overlooking a generous green turf golf course.

“May I do the honors and open the card?”
Lydia
asked. Her fingers smoothed over the corners of the small red envelope. “Looks like cupid shot his arrow your way today. Isn’t that special?”

Startled,
Savannah
shook her head and looked up to find a huge bouquet of fresh red roses in her face. “It looks like someone has a special admirer,”
Lydia
stated as she placed the impressive arrangement on
Savannah
’s desk.

             
             
“No, I’ll take it from here.” 
Savannah
answered with a look of shock and uncertainty. The undeniable delicate scent danced at her nose as her mind raced in turmoil.  Hesitant to open the card,
Savannah
excused herself and all but ran to the bathroom, hopeful of snatching a trace of privacy. Taking a deep breath, she steadied her trembling hands.
I know this has to be from Kevin,
she thought.
He will not give up!
Upon opening the card, a small folded piece of rose scented crepe paper fell to the floor, exposing a phone number, address, and a keycard. Inside the envelope remained a note that read: Babe, just meet me tonight.

A small tear escaped her eye.
A hopeless romantic....what does this man want from me?…I know what he wants but can I give it to him after our jacked up breakup?
Can I allow myself to really open up to this man; any man again?
Steadying her heartbeat, she made her way to her purse on the counter and pulled out a small bottle of eye drops. In no way wanting anyone to know she had been crying because an emotional rug had been snatched from under her feet, she stayed in the bathroom until she was satisfied she looked normal again.

Wandering back to her seat, she reminisced their short but highly intense time together. Kevin filled her mind and there was no denying that she still had feelings for this man and probably always would.
             

Chapter 1

The sun had barely began to peek over the horizon as Savannah stepped from her car and headed for her usual starting point at the mouth of the trail that was the opening to the park track. Squatting and stretching her legs on the way to her starting point, she realized her early morning routine jogs had become her mantra. She felt her day would not be as productive if she did not jog. Orange, red and brown and semi-green fall foliage that dotted the mass of trees along with the crisp September air was a constant reminder of the winter weather that was just around the corner.

Every day counted since running in the dead winter weather was not an option. Pushing her bangs to the side, she adjusted the rest of her hair that was neatly gathered into a single French braid down her nape and placed her black knit headband around her head.

Jasmine, yet again found another excuse to not jog. She was always talking about staying in shape, but rarely did anything about it. Of course, seeing as though she already had a perfect hour- glass shape, there really was no need.
Savannah
on the other hand, had to work at keeping her shape. Her five foot eight inch, athletic frame was not easy for her to come by. Coming from a family that had a huge potential of being overweight in the worse way made her paranoid about the slightest weight gain. Especially since she was very well endowed as was every other female in the family with a plentiful rear end, running had become a religion to her.

Stretching, she glanced at the small sign at the beginning of the huge abnormal sized track that circled the park area. One time around equaled one half a mile. Her goal was to do at least two and a half miles easily and then head to the office to catch up on some work.

Swearing beneath her breath,
Savannah
saw the woman, yet again, coming her way and realized she’d acquired a new unwanted jogging partner. For the third day this week, the older woman had took it upon herself to join her, invading her privacy. Not feeling too threatened nor intimidated by the invasion; she decided to keep her somewhat rude thoughts to herself. The park is open to the public, so what could she do? Besides the obvious reasons for jogging and exercise,
Savannah
found that the fresh air helped clear her mind before her day began.

It also gave her the opportunity to continue her self-therapy. Dre had broken down her self esteem and self image and no one was there to help her pick up the pieces. She chided and scorned herself for ever giving him that much power over her. At that enlightened instant, she vowed that no man would dictate to her about what she should or should not be, and she made it a point to remember that. The love of her life, or so she thought, had taken her heart and twisted every ounce of love she had in it for him and spit it back in her face. However glad she was to find out about his “other woman” before she married him, the pain still cut her deep to know that he’d found comfort in another woman’s arms…on a regular basis. Knowing this fact at times made her feel she’d done something wrong. Her mother, Rosalyn, didn’t make it any better by telling her that she’d put her career first, which drove Dre away. Also the consolation of knowing that every other black woman had experienced her pain did not make the pain lessen any. She was yet another casualty in the constant seemingly uphill battle of love. She’d lost the final round and did not want to face it then nor now.  

Recalling it all like it was yesterday, when in fact more than a couple of years had past, the festering wound still oozed through her from time to time, like a recurring wound that refused to heal. Depending on her mood, the sore seemed to open and close like a novel that was too good to resist.

“Hey there young lady,” the woman hissed between breaths. “Today is Saturday. Didn’t expect to see you here today. How many times are you going to run around the track today?” Her gray straggly hair peeked from beneath her multi-colored hand knitted hat. Her dark brown eyes smiled at
Savannah
making it hard for her, yet again, to run her away with long strings of curses.

Savannah
sighed. Actually she admired the woman for trying to stay ahead of the fitness game. Even though the gray hair could be an indicator of her age, she had a hard time guessing what her age was.

The woman’s face was a rich cocoa brown in complexion and flawless. One gold- rimmed tooth sparkled, demanding attention when she smiled and her dark brown eyes danced with life. She seemed to be happy and had a lot of conversation all the time. Considering the fact that she was running side by side with
Savannah
and talking the whole time let her know that she was not just in shape, but that she was in excellent shape.

“Yeah, I know, but I needed to run this morning since I skipped a couple days this week.” She checked her wristwatch and continued her jog.
“Do you live around here or something? I see you here all the time.” She couldn’t resist the temptation to ask.

“You could say that.” She coughed but maintained her stride. “I really just like to come here to clear my head and jog before I go to work. I assume you like to do the same?” She questioned and smiled.

“Sure, you’re right,”
Savannah
replied and looked at her stopwatch. They had only been running for twenty -five minutes at a slow pace but she was short winded and thirsty already. Reaching for her water bottle, she then realized she had forgotten it. “Damn,” she threw her hands in the air.
Her early morning two and a half mile jog had come to an abrupt stop one mile into it.
“I forgot my water.”

“That’s okay, I have one we can split.” The old woman pulled a bottle of spring water from under her jacket. “What’s your name sweety?”

             
“
Savannah
. Yours?”

             
“Theresa,” the old woman replied. “Theresa Styles…but you can call me T. All my children and grandchildren do,” she added.

             
“Thanks for the offer but I can get some water on the way home. I think I am going to call it quits here.” She stopped, wiping the small beads of sweat that had formed on the bridge of her nose and upper lip. “Maybe I’ll see you around sometime later…Have a good one.”
Savannah
smiled and turned to walk back to the track entrance.

“I’ll walk back with you,” T said. “I only planned on running a short run this morning anyway.”

             
Kevin Styles watched T as she headed towards the car. It had become routine for him to drop her off and pick her up about an hour or so later at the same spot. T was one who liked to keep in shape. Her fifty five year old frame, however hard for one to detect, was in excellent shape. “Get a good workout in?” he yelled as she approached the passenger side. “Who was that woman you were talking to?” He reached over and opened the car door from the inside.

             
“Nice, wasn’t she?” T asked.

             
Very nice,
he thought. “Don’t start. I don’t want to get into it with you right now about women. Okay?” Kevin huffed, started the car and drove off. Before driving off from the park exit, Kevin glanced in the rearview mirror and watched
Savannah
make her way in the opposite direction. “Did you get her name, Mom?”

*****************************

As she looked up at the window of her best friends house, the candlelit semi darkened room was the first sign that
Savannah
had popped up yet again at an inappropriate moment.

“Richard!” She yelled through the screen door as his plodding footsteps got louder and louder with each step towards her. Covered in only a large, white terry towel and still wet from just stepping out of the shower, he snatched the door open.
Savannah
absently walked right in. “Im so sorry to burst in on you like this but I just wasn’t feeling going home right now.. but it looks like you are about to be busy. “

“How’d you guess?” he questioned, motioning for her to follow him up the steps. “What’s the matter…and make it quick because I have company on the way right now.”

Savannah
quickly soaked in his tall, wet, muscular frame while he retreated into his bedroom to finish dressing. Richard Caldwell had been one of her best friends for as long as she could remember, but the way he looked in the towel, made her quickly forget that he was just that…a friend. On a couple of occasions they’d both questioned or played with the thought of possibly getting together but the timing was always off. Just like now. Yet and still they remained close throughout each others relationships.

“Look, I can come back,”
Savannah
said pushing in the chair that she’d pulled out to sit in. “I don’t want to be the third wheel. And actually, I am just a tad bit jealous. Who is the lucky lady this time?” She smiled as she headed toward his lounge chair in the front room.

On the coffee table beside the chair, sat a thick, black case that she leisurely thumbed through, admiring his photography skills. His portfolio was spectacular. There were a number of collaged arrangements throughout his house of pictures or objects that he’d photographed and framed. 

“You wouldn’t know her if I told you,” he shot back. “Jealous, huh? This coulda been yours,” he laughed and twisted his hips in a tugging manner.

Quickly setting her eyesight on the lamp behind him as a diversion, she said, “Yeah, whatever, man.” She wondered again, for the second time since she’d entered his home about the possibilities that were available to them both together, then pushed the thought aside.