Playthang (14 page)
Authors: Janine A. Morris
26
J
ordan had no intention of making evenings with Marcus a habit, but this wasn't the first time she was home alone and looking forward to his company. Earlier he had called and said he was going to stop by on his way home from a meeting. The last time he came by, they didn't do anything but watch television,so Jordan didn't interpret his visit as a booty call. Still, when she got out of the shower, she prepared to do the do just in case. She put on, of course, a matching bra and panty set, Victoria's Secret, and she lotioned up to everywhere, including her nooks and crannies with her smell-good stuff.Then, to disguisethe effort, she put on a white and pink T-shirt with some pink boy shorts.
ordan had no intention of making evenings with Marcus a habit, but this wasn't the first time she was home alone and looking forward to his company. Earlier he had called and said he was going to stop by on his way home from a meeting. The last time he came by, they didn't do anything but watch television,so Jordan didn't interpret his visit as a booty call. Still, when she got out of the shower, she prepared to do the do just in case. She put on, of course, a matching bra and panty set, Victoria's Secret, and she lotioned up to everywhere, including her nooks and crannies with her smell-good stuff.Then, to disguisethe effort, she put on a white and pink T-shirt with some pink boy shorts.
It was a Wednesday night and Jordan had only been home for about two hours herself, but she had some time to kill beforebedtime and she didn't mind the company. She contemplatedmaking dinner but quickly decided against it. She wasn't doing anything special for no man, because it wasn't worth it. She didn't want to take her anger toward Jayon out on Marcus, but she couldn't help the way she felt. Jordan was lying on the couch cuddled up with a throw pillow, watching the late episodeof
Oprah
. She thought Marcus would be there by now, but he never did give an exact time, and she damn sure wasn't calling him to see where he was. He was not her man and she was not his girl. Where he was was none of her business, and she wanted to keep it that way. It was a lot less stressful not having to worry about somebody and what they were doing and if they were being faithful. At least this way she just assumedthe worst.
Oprah
. She thought Marcus would be there by now, but he never did give an exact time, and she damn sure wasn't calling him to see where he was. He was not her man and she was not his girl. Where he was was none of her business, and she wanted to keep it that way. It was a lot less stressful not having to worry about somebody and what they were doing and if they were being faithful. At least this way she just assumedthe worst.
It was about nine thirty when the bell finally rang. Jordan got up and walked toward the door, then shouted “Who is it?” as she got closer. Without waiting for a response, she pulled the door open. Jordan's mouth instantly went dry, and her eyes opened wide at the sight of Jayon standing on her front steps. The left part of her brain said slam the door, but she was still frozen from the shock and was speechless. Before she could finally react, Jayon walked past her and started talking.
“Jordan, I know you are mad at me, and I don't blame you,” Jayon began.
“Get the hell out of my house,” Jordan said as soon as she heard him start his speech. She was still standing with the door open and her hand on the knob. It didn't take much to snap her out of her shock and bring her back to reality. Not only did she have absolutely nothing to say to Jayon, she was expectingMarcus at any minute. Not that either one of them meant a great deal to her, but she didn't feel like the awkward moment or having to spend any time with Marcus answering questions about Jayon.
“No, Jordan, hear me out. I'm not leaving until you at least listen to me.”
“You don't call the shots, Jayon. You're leaving now. I don't want to hear shit you have to say,” Jordan said as she pointed through her open doorway.
“No, I'm not. This is getting ridiculous. We at least owe each other to sit down and talk this through. Even if you don't forgive me, we need to talk.”
Jordan started laughing. “Owe each other? Are you kidding me?”
From the look on Jayon's face, you could tell he knew he used the wrong choice of words.
“I don't owe you shit,” Jordan said.
“Listen, I get your point. I know that I fucked up.”
“Jayon, what do you want?”
“I just want us to sit down and talk about this, clear some stuff up and just ... just ... talk for two seconds.”
Jayon's stuttering let Jordan know that he had a lot on his mind and it was taking a lot for him to come over and make this bold move. Jordan felt herself getting slightly weak and tempted to hear what he actually had to say, but before she could respond, a noise from behind startled her. When she looked back, it was Marcus coming up to the doorway.
“Damn,” Jordan said aloud, even though she meant to keep that to herself.
“Is everything OK?” Marcus asked.
Before Jordan could respond, Marcus had stepped through the doorway and seen Jayon standing a few feet away.
“Everything is fine,” Jordan responded. “Jayon was just leaving,”she said.
It killed Jordan inside to make Jayon feel the way he must have felt at that very moment, but she knew that he deserved it. Besides, it didn't compare to how she felt when she found out about Randi or when she read that damn e-mail she wrote her. Jordan expected prideful Jayon to just walk out on that note and give up before things got any more discouraging, but it seemed Jayon felt he'd come too far to leave now.
“How you doing?” Jayon said to Marcus as he reached out to shake his hand.
As they shook hands, Jayon introduced himself by giving his name.
“Marcus,” Marcus replied.
“Listen, Marcus, I'm sorry to interrupt y'all evening, and I mean no disrespect by being here, but I really need to talk to Jordan, and it technically can't wait.”
“No problem, brother, I can respect that.”
“Nuh-uh: What the hell do you think this is?” Jordan said, looking at Jayon in disbelief that he was really trying to dismiss her company.
Then she looked at Marcus with the same disbelief for gracefully bowing out so easily.
“Marcus, pay this no mind. Like I said, Jayon was just leaving.”
Marcus looked like he didn't want to get involved with what was going on. He could tell that Jordan was not in any danger, but that there was something pretty deep or emotional at hand, and he didn't want to get in the middle of it.
“Jordan, I need to talk to you.”
“There is nothing to talkâ” Jordan started before she was interrupted by Marcus.
“How about I will just wait in the living room until you guys are through?” Marcus suggested.
“That's cool,” Jayon said, answering before Jordan could.
Marcus began heading toward the living room, and Jayon waited for him to be out of hearing range. Jordan was fuming mad at this point. She didn't want Marcus all up in the mix of this drama, and she didn't want to talk to Jayon, especially not with Marcus in the next room. She couldn't expect Marcus to kick Jayon's butt or anythingâbesides she wouldn't let it get to that anywayâbut she still wasn't feeling how he was respectingJayon's feelings more than hers.
“Jayon, I'm going to ask you one more time to please leave my house,” Jordan said in a calm manner.
“Jordan, I'm going to ask you one more time to please listento me.”
Jordan closed the door and stepped back inside and sat on the chaise on her porch. She didn't know what else to do. She knew that she could make a scene and yell and scream and kick Jayon out, but she really didn't want Marcus to see all of that.
“Jordan, I know you are justified to be mad at me and never want to speak to me again, but there is a lot that you have mistaken and a lot that you don't understand.”
At first, Jordan was subdued and was just listening to what he said. He was talking in a low tone, to keep from being heard by the man in the living room.
“It is killing me right now to see another man in your livingroom, and I am doing everything inside of me to try to overlook that.”
Why did Jayon say that? Why did he remind Jordan that she had yet another man in her living room that wasn't her husband? Why did he remind her that it was supposed to be him in her living room, but he ruined all that? Why did he have to act as if he had a right to be upset about Marcus being in her living room? Why did he ruin his shot at talking to her, because now she no longer wanted to hear it?
“It is killing you?” Jordan asked. “Let me share with you my slow death, then,” Jordan continued without an answer. Her voice got louder as she continued on. “Imagine how I felt going out with a friend one night to a work event and meetinga young lady who kept giving me dirty looks, and then slowly gave me hints that we had something in common. Then I come home and find out that you, who was supposed to be my man and best friend, had just spent the evening hanging out with her. Then later come to find out that you had been fucking her behind my back for who knows how long. Imaginethat. Then imagine having the bold bitch send me an e-mail weeks later telling me how easy you were to take from me, and how eager you were to disrespect me. Killing you? You don't know how that shit feels, so please.”
Jordan stood up, walked straight through the living room, passed Marcus, who made it quite obvious he heard every word of what she said, and headed upstairs. She couldn't take it anymore,and she didn't want Jayon or Marcus to see her breakdown.As soon as she reached the top of the stairs, she burst out in tears as she rushed to her bathroom.
Jayon stepped inside the living room, unsure if Marcus was going to go up to console her, and he knew he didn't want that, but he was hesitant to go himself. It was as if Jayon was just realizing how real this whole thing really was. He just assumedthat some time and talking would mend things back, but he was realizing that he had done some permanent damageto Jordan. Damage that he didn't seem to have the touch to repairânot anymore at least.
Jayon looked at Marcus; he just looked at him and shrugged his shoulders. Marcus wasn't going to leave, at least not yet, not without making sure Jordan wanted him to. Jayon didn't know what to do. All he wanted was to have Jordan hear him out, but it seemed no matter what he said he dragged up some feelings inside her and he couldn't get a word in edgewise.
“We were real good friends before we started messing around,” Jayon said.
Marcus looked up at him, shocked that he was actually talking to him.
“For like fifteen years or something like that. She is real good peoples.”
“Yeah,” Marcus said, not knowing what to say back.
“Shit happens sometimes, things get messed up, and it all happens so fast,” Jayon said.
“Yeah, life happens.Ya know?” Marcus said as he stood up. He wasn't about to sit there and be this dude's counselor.
“Let me go check on her,” Marcus said as he was about to head toward the staircase.
“Nah, let me. I got to handle this,” Jayon said as he walked toward the staircase, which he was already closer to.
Marcus was tempted to put an end to this charade. He was way more muscular than Jayon and knew that he could help Jordan gain control of this situation, but he didn't want any problems up in Jordan's house, and he figured if they had fifteenyears of friendship, Jordan would prefer that he not do anything to him. So Marcus sat back down.
Jayon walked up the stairs slowly. He really didn't want to face it, but he damn sure couldn't sit downstairs while some dude he didn't know was upstairs consoling Jordan in her bedroom.He glanced in Jason's bedroom as he passed by and walked through Jordan's doorway across the hall. The bathroomdoor was locked inside her bedroom, and he knew she was in there. Jayon thought to call her name, but he didn't. Instead,he just sat on the bed outside the bathroom door. He saw her lotion on the nightstand with the cap on and her towel thrown on the seat by the bathroom door. He figured she had just taken a shower and gotten ready for her guest that was downstairs. He knew because that's what she usually left behindwhen she was getting ready for him to come by at night. The sight of it and the thought of what they may have been doing if he wasn't there just made him feel even worse inside. He knew that Jordan didn't take sex lightly, and if she was sleepingwith this dude, either she really liked him or she was really trying to forget about him. Either way, Jayon wished that he could change the way things were. The sight of Jordan's face when she saw him sitting on the bed let him know that wasn't possible.
She had come out of the bathroom with a tissue in her hand, drying her face, and seen Jayon sitting on her bed. She immediately rolled her eyes and went to turn back around.
“Jordan,” Jayon said as he jumped up before she could lock herself back in the bathroom.
“Did I come over and sit on your bed when you were spending time with Randi?” Jordan said as she turned back around to head through her bedroom.
“Can you please stop this, Jordan? Your stabs aren't getting us anywhere.”
Jordan stopped. “You talking to me isn't getting us anywhere,either.Where we were going you messed up a long time ago. Technically, you messed it up the first time you cheated on me, but according to you, we weren't officially a couple then. So this time, you nailed it. It's done, Jayon, and there's nothing to talk about.”
When she was done, she turned around to get some lounge pants from her drawer. She didn't feel comfortable in her short shorts in front of both her ex-boyfriend and her new friend downstairs.Before she could pull her pink-and-white-striped Victoria'sSecret pants out of the drawer, Jayon walked up behind her and put his arms around her. She tried to wiggle free, but he was holding on tight.
“I'm so sorry, Jordan. I am truly so sorry.”
Jordan stopped moving. She just sat there, remembering what it felt like for him to hold her. She closed her eyes and felt the moment, felt him, felt his apology, felt her love for him all over again. She dropped her head in disgust that this was even happening.
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