In Between Lies (21 page)

             
Dressed in a black, soft, velvet sweat suit,
Savannah
pulled her hair back into a loose pony tail then threw a couple of mushroom and onion smothered steaks in the broiler. She prepared a couple of baked potatoes and waited for Kevin to arrive. She decided to put on some smooth jazz to lighten the mood and sat on the sofa in front of the fire place while the food cooked.

             
Like clockwork, he pulled up at what had been his usual time and used his spare key to enter her house. The aroma tickled his nose and he was hungry.  Now that he’d walked in and saw that the mood was set just right, he knew that he was back in the clear. He let out a deep breath, joyous that she’d wanted to really trust in him, though he hadn’t been completely honest with her. He intended on being honest from that point on, however and also to protect her from that crazed Naomi.
             

             
He’d seen Naomi sitting outside of his house a couple of times after he’d returned home from work. She hadn’t bothered calling, nor called or bothered with
Savannah
. He figured that since he was home and not with
Savannah
, Naomi probably felt that she’d broken them up for good. And he thought that as well, until he received
Savannah
’s call to come to her house. He wasn’t sure what made her change her mind, but he was glad she did.

             
“So, am I forgiven, baby?” he asked as he came from behind her and circled his arms about her waist. Her scent intoxicated him. Her beautiful bronze face illuminated the room when she turned to look him in the eyes.

             
“Forgiven, but not quite forgotten. But we do need to talk.”
Savannah
pulled away from him and placed the food in the plates on the table. “Let’s eat.”

             
“Looks good too,” he added.

             
“Yeah, you’ll find that I am an excellent cook too if we can make it past this dilemma.”

             
“There’s no dilemma,
Savannah
. You know how I feel about you.”

             
“Do I? Why don’t you tell me? I mean what is really going in here. Before I can take another step forward, I need to know what I am dealing with and getting myself in to. At least, I can make an informed decision as to if I want to deal with you or not.”

             
“Oh, that hurt, but I guess I had it coming. But I really didn’t see a reason to tell you about her. I had no idea that she was even around you…for that matter even auditioning for the commercial at all. Had I known, I would have said something then.”

             
“Ok, I will give you that much. But starting here and now…what’s up?”
Savannah
took a bite of her steak and waited for Kevin to talk.

             
“Well, now that you are not upset, I think we can really talk.”

             
“I’m all ears.”

             
She brought her car to a quiet, but abrupt stop right outside of
Savannah
house. Naomi had sat outside of Kevin’s house for the past three nights waiting to see if
Savannah
would show up. She hadn’t and that made her happy. It didn’t take too much to run her away, she thought. No real amount of stress, or hassle to give the impression that she meant business about keeping Kevin to herself was needed.
Savannah
, she thought, was gone for good. Until now. Here she sat in front of her home with Kevin’s car in the driveway. 

Anger coursed through her veins as she now thought of herself as discarded goods. Just like before, he just dropped off and started another relationship with another woman. No regards to how she felt about it whatsoever. There had to be something that she could do that would distract
Savannah
long enough to get her away from Kevin. She just needed a little time with him to make him understand that he needed and wanted her. She was better for him. She knew his body, what turned him off and on, knew how he liked to be sexed up and down. She was a bona fide freak for him. After all of these years of thinking of him, thinking of getting him back, no other woman was going to prevent that from happening.

Naomi drove off, determined to complete her mission and get her man back for good…whether he wanted to be there or not. He’d learn to love her, she’d convinced herself. As a matter of fact, he already loved her, only he wasn’t aware of it yet. He just needed a little reminding.

Chapter 16

             
“So after all of that, you are telling me that there is or was never really anything with you two?”
Savannah
asked once again.

             
“I’m telling you that I love you and want to be with you. Not her…you.” Kevin re-iterated.

             
“But did you sleep with her?”

             
“Yes, but it meant nothing… we were young and adventurous.”

             
“I meant recently,”  she said.

             
“Uh, I can’t lie…I did…but that was before I knew I wanted to be with you.”

             
Savannah
didn’t like what she heard…and didn’t want to ask, but knew she needed to ask and know. She didn’t want to know the last time he did…

             
“So is there a possibility that she could be pregnant?”

             
“Not by me. I used protection. So I know she was lying when she said that. If she is it’s  by someone else.”

             
“So, now where do we go from here? I really have no right to be upset, but I am. We are not a couple, so you could and can do what you want. I just wish you would have been honest with me from the beginning…especially after I told you what I had been through.”

             
“I know, and that is exactly why I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want you to run away from me. But I’m telling you now that I want to be with just you, only you. So that does make us a couple.”

             
Savannah
smiled, but was still hurt because she had been faithful in a relationship that really wasn’t.  He grabbed her hand from across the table. “
Savannah
, I don’t know how to tell you how sorry I am that this happened. I didn’t mean for it to. I won’t let it happen again, if you will just give me a chance. You will see.”

             
Kevin’s phone rang he looked at it and ignored it. It rang again.
Savannah
picked it up from the coffee table and answered.

             
“Hello?”

             
“Who is this?” a deep male voice said.

             
“Who do you want to speak to?”
Savannah
asked.

             
“Kevin… this is Gio.”

             
“Oh, hey, Gio. He’s right here.. hold on.”

             
Savannah
handed him the phone and went to clear the table while he talked. All of a sudden she heard him scream, “WHAT!” Then silence.

             
Kevin ran into the kitchen. “I have to go, babe. Emergency.”

             
“What’s the matter?”

             
“My house is on fire!”

             
Kevin sped out of the house and drove home. When he arrived, there were at least five fire trucks, an ambulance, a couple of police cars and a slew of neighbors standing on the sides of the streets.

             
“How did it start,” Kevin asked a fireman that was standing by the fire hydrant.

             
“No sure, but I tell you it’s on hell of a fire.”

             
He watched them as his house burned, in agony he retreated to his car to call
Savannah
, but was stopped mid-stride.

             
“Excuse me, uh sir,” a small man that looked like he was the head of the things said. “Can you tell me if you have any idea who may have started this?”

             
“Started it? No. Are you saying that it’s arson?” Kevin asked. The first person that came to mind was Naomi. He pushed that thought away. She couldn’t have been that low to do that to him…could she?

             
“Well, it’s looking like it may be a case of arson. You see,” he gestured for Kevin to follow him around the side of the house. “It started here. You can tell that by how badly burned this area is compared to the rest of the house. Like someone pored gasoline or something like it.”

             
It was his study. Everything of importance was in that room. His self archived tapes, a lot of memorabilia, personal belongs that had sentimental value…all in that room. It was almost like who ever set it was trying to make a point. Almost like trying to take away things that meant a lot to him, trying to erase him completely.

             
Kevin stood in complete awe and thought of the magnitude of what stood before him. The fact that he had a good insurance policy on the house wasn’t the issue. Those objects that had been destroyed were irreplaceable.  Reaching for his phone, he dialed
Savannah
’s number.

             
“It’s bad,” he said. “My house is ruined… at least half of it. I will give you a call back as soon as I see this fire out.”

             
Savannah
felt for him. He’d worked hard and loved that home. Though there was really nothing she could say, she wanted to comfort him, but couldn’t. She would have offered him a place to lay his head that night had he not gotten off the phone so quickly. She thought about her own safety and checked the house once over before she decided to go to bed. Even though it would be hard for her to sleep knowing that her man was out there watching his house burn, she turned in.

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

             
Naomi had rushed home so quickly that it took her a moment to realize that she had left a couple of important tell tale items behind in Kevin’s house. In a rush to get out of his study so fast, she’d left a pair of leather gloves on his desk and lost her left shoe trying to crawl out of the study window. She’d stood at his desk and fingered his pictures, his tapes, and other personal items before deciding to douse the place with gasoline. 

Her heart burned with pain and fury as she skillfully poured the gas in the corners of the room, the desk, and made sure to completely cover his blessed videos of himself. “That’ll teach him to not be so into himself,” she’d said as she tossed one last splash at them.

She’d hoped and prayed that he didn’t set his alarm. He was so happy that
Savannah
had called that he dashed out of the house without thinking about setting it. That was the opportunity she was hoping for.  Since she had been watching for the past few nights, she knew he mostly hung out in the study. She’d figured that particular  room was the heart and life source of the house. She was right. Now it’s gone and it was his entire fault. He has no one to blame but himself.

She cleaned her gas drenched hands and tried to rid herself of the smell that lingered in the air. Since that wasn’t a sufficient cleaning, she decided to take a quick shower.  Long streams of hot water cleansed her. She felt somewhat relieved, now that she’d set the house on fire, but that wasn’t enough. He’d hurt her one time too many and she was sorry that
Savannah
had to be the brunt of her anger. No, she wasn’t sorry.
Savannah
was the one that had gotten his interest. If it wasn’t for her, she would have had him all to herself.

Judging from the time Kevin had spent in the house, Naomi was sure that they had made up and he’d smoothed things over with her…the same way he’d done with her many times in the past. Back then, he really did want to keep her but her jealous ways were too much for him to  handle, so he’d given her the boot. Naomi figured that she was over him when she first returned to
Chicago
. Then she’d seen him. All of the old feelings returned as if they were never gone. And now, he was pushing her away again. After using her, making love to her, getting his fill of her. He’d tossed her to the side. She’d wanted to give so much…to show him that she’d changed. She wasn’t that same insecure person anymore. But he never gave her the chance. Yes, she’d changed, but he hadn’t. He was the same old Kevin. What he wanted and got was all that mattered. She prayed that his house burnt to the ground and everything in it, leaving him empty like he’d left her.