Playthang (17 page)

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Authors: Janine A. Morris

BOOK: Playthang
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“Come on, ladies, let's be nice.”
“Whatever,” Jordan said as she dropped her eyes to check her BlackBerry.
Next thing, out of nowhere, Jordan's head was jerking backward. The lady in gray had grabbed a handful of Jordan's hair and pulled her head backward. The sudden move startled Donovan and surprised Jordan. Jordan quickly wiggled and turned her body around and off the chair, while both ladies began shouting obscenities. As Donovan tried to pry the woman's hands off Jordan's hair, Jordan reached her long fingers around Donovan, grabbed the chick by the neck, yanked her backward,and began swinging with the other arm. Donovan was trying to create room between the two, but with their grips on one another, it wasn't working. Both women were trying to swing for the other, making a few light connections here and there. By this point, another gentleman stepped in and helped Donovanseparate the two ladies. He was trying to take a hold of Jordan'sarms and loosen her grip, but Jordan's fists were swinging so rapidly he was struggling to get a hold of her. The two of them were both infuriated and cursing at one another, swingingfor each other, and creating a very unladylike scene. The second guy that was helping out finally managed to get Jordan'sgrip from around the girl's neck, moments after Jordan's hair was freed.
The lounge's patrons that were sitting nearby had moved out of the way and were watching in disbelief as these two grown women, who appeared to be quite classy, were acting like ghetto-class teenagers. Jordan finger combed her hair as she tried to regain her composure. She was still in defense mode and pissed off that this woman had the nerve to not only start trouble with her but put her hands on her. Jordan hadn't fought in ages, and never would she think as a grown professional she would be engaging in a bar fight. She was both pissed at the woman and herself, but she was still too angry to stop her madness.
“What a punk ass, grabbing my hair from behind,” Jordan said as she fixed her clothing.
“Whatever, bitch, you said people have issues. I was giving you an issue.”
“I don't have the issue. I'm good.You just better be glad I was too busy whopping your face up and didn't grab that weave from out of your head, you bootleg bitch,” Jordan said.
“Whatever,” the lady said, repeating herself over Jordan numeroustimes.
The security guard from the front door came walking up to where the ladies were as if he was actually making a record-breakingreaction time. Overhearing the ladies' exchange of words and seeing the looks on their faces and their displacement,he could tell that their was tension. The onlookers gave it away even more with the stares that were waiting for round two of the thirtysomething-year-old tackle.
“I'm going to have to ask you ladies to leave,” the security officer said.
“We have a room here,” Donovan interjected as he stepped beside Jordan.
Jordan looked up at him. He looked back at her to confirm his statement visually.
“Well, ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to go,” the securityofficer said, speaking to the lady in gray.
“Whatever. She's probably a high-class prostitute, and becauseshe has a room she can stay. Whatever,” the lady said as she gathered the things that had fallen out of her purse.
“Prostitute?” Jordan laughed. “I'm an attorney, bitch, and you better be happy that I don't press charges.You're wearing all you're worth, anyway, so I won't bother ... but you got one part right: high class. As long as you know.”
“Whatever. I know you ain't talking. That Gucci bag is so last season.”
Jordan burst out laughing.
“Actually, this one just came out two months ago, but of course you are going by what the bootleggers are selling you,” Jordan said, laughing at her own joke.
The woman repeated her safe response of “whatever.”
“The simple fact that you analyzed my entire wardrobe and broke it down into seasons just explains why you came over here in the first place. Hate is an ugly color on you. Sad thing is when you get escorted out of the hotel, I will still always look this good. What a waste of hate,” Jordan added.
Donovan looked amused at Jordan's slick comebacks, but he seemed more annoyed with the delay of removing this woman. The security guard inched closer to the woman every time she stood up from picking up one of her belongings. Finally,she was done and began to walk away, mumbling more junk as she went.
“Let's go upstairs and get you cooled off,” Donovan said.
“Oh, you really do have a room?” Jordan asked.
“Yes, I do,” he replied as he placed his hand behind her arm and walked her toward the elevator.
Jordan was so eager to get away from the scene and get all the eyes off of her that she was easily convinced to change locations.They stepped inside the elevator and there was no one in it but the two of them.
“I'm so sorry about that,” Donovan said.
“You? I'm sorry about my behavior and temper getting the best of me like that. I'm supposed to be a professional. I'm actually quite embarrassed.”
“You did kind of take it to the street, Jordan. I was surprised.”
Trying to release a laugh, Jordan just dropped her head.
“What are you sorry for?” Jordan asked.
“For causing such a terrible night for you. I called you back; you had to deal with my uninvited company at first and then the psycho chick. I just feel bad. You would've been in your bed already if it wasn't for me.”
Jordan laughed at him taking the blame.
“You are right. You did put me in this situation,” Jordan said, laughing his comment off. “But how do you assume I would have been in the bed by now? You just assume that I have no life at home.”
Donovan made a face. He realized Jordan was right, that was an assumption. The elevator door opened, and ahead of them was the view of the shiny marble floors.The two of them stepped off the elevator and headed down the hall. They stopped in front of room 7614, and Donovan pulled out his key card. Jordan looked down the hall to see if anyone else was on the floor or could see her entering a hotel room with this man, but she didn't see anyone.
She stepped inside the room and the scent of vanilla-cinnamonfilled her nose. She walked in and turned the corner that separated the bed area from the corridor. Across the way was the bathroom, and she looked at Donovan and gestured to him that she was going to use the bathroom. He nodded his head in approval. The awkward feeling of being in the hotel room together must have caused the suddenly silent form of communication. Jordan went in the bathroom and witnessed the scratch above her eye and her frazzled hair. First things first, she couldn't stand to see her hair like that. She pulled the comb out of her purse and began fixing her hair back into place. Once she was done, she reapplied her Lancôme juicy lip gloss and used a cotton swab from the countertop to tend to her scratch. After some time had gone by, she realized that she had been in the bathroom for a bit and was leaving ample time for Donovan to get comfortable and make a plan of action. So she finished up and headed toward the bathroom door.
Donovan was resting on the side of the bed with the televisionturned to a football game. He instantly turned to Jordan when she walked into the room.
“You OK?” he asked.
“Yeah, I'm fine,” Jordan said with a smirk.
“You ready to go back down, or do you want to chill for a bit?” he asked.
Jordan paused for a moment to think. She wasn't sure if spending time in his hotel room was the classiest thing she could do, but at the same time she didn't feel like seeing all the people who had witnessed the brawl looking at her again.
“We can chill for a little bit and then go back down,” she said, thinking to herself that was the best choice for a happy medium.
“OK, relax,” Donovan said as he kicked off his shoes.
Jordan placed her purse on the desk and sat on the bed on the opposite side of Donovan. She removed her BlackBerry from her clip and began to send a text out informing Dakota and Chrasey of what had happened. She hesitated to tell Tayese just yet, because she wasn't quite sure how she was going to explain her being at a hotel with unclaimed Donovan. Once Jordan finished typing and sending her text, she placed her BlackBerry on the nightstand to await their reaction to her story. Once she placed it down, Donovan turned over and looked her right in the eyes.
“You know, I'm not just telling you now because we are in my hotel room, I was hoping you caught on from the first night I met you, but I am really feeling you.”
Jordan froze momentarily. She was thinking to herself,
Yeah, what an inopportune time to tell me.
She was trying to take a millisecond to figure out what to say back.
“Honestly, I wasn't sure. I didn't know if it was strictly business or if you were feeling Tayese or what. I was just going with the flow.”
“Tayese? Nah, Eddie is feeling her though. I had my eye on you. I did want to do business with you, but if I had to choose one, my heart says no.”
Jordan giggled at his cute game.
“Your heart says no?” she asked. “You got that from some Jodeci song or something?
“No, I'm serious. I really like you, so I would prefer that we get to know each other better and see where things might lead,” he said, shrugging off her innocent insult.
“I'm not against that,” Jordan replied.
Donovan scooted over a bit closer to Jordan, and Jordan instinctly backed up some.
“I'm sorry. I didn't mean to invade your personal space.”
Jordan realized how her reaction came off, and although that was what she meant to do and how she normally would respond, she remembered that she was supposed to be a new Jordan. She had to ask herself what she was running from, why she was moving away from this fine black man that could possiblygive her some great loving right here in this nice plush hotel room where no one could hear her scream.
“No, not at all. I'm sorry. I was just caught off guard,” Jordansaid as she eased back into her original position.
As soon as she was done, Donovan leaned in to kiss her. When their lips and tongues met, Jordan could feel her body's uneasiness and tried to mentally calm herself down. She chanted in her mind,
Relax, you're an adult. Live a little,
or combinationsof it. Moments later, Jordan had eased herself into his arms, while his tongue eased its way around her mouth. Jordan had no complaints; Donovan surely knew what he was doing with his tongue, lips, and fingertips as he caressed her lower back. Jordan resisted as long as she could before her body gave in to the attention.
30
T
here wasn't much on Jordan's mind the past twenty-four hours other than her rendezvous last night with Mr. Donovan. By the time she got home, she knew there was no way she was getting to work on time. Sure enough, Jordan awoke at 10:30
AM
, and by the time she showered, got ready, and drove in to the city, she walked into her office at 12:30
PM
. Lucky for her, she didn't have any clients scheduled to come in. However, she did have a client coming in at three that she still hadn't prepped for. Jordan knew she was being irresponsible,and she couldn't afford to lose money in her practice becauseshe was handling a lot of bills on her own. Jordan knew she had to get back on track, and soon.
Once she got to work, her mind kept wandering back to the details of their yummy time together the night before. It didn't help that her two silly, high school–minded friends kept sending her random e-mails making jokes and asking intimate details about the episode. Jordan couldn't help but laugh at their questions and comments, but on the inside she was feelinga little solemn about the whole thing. She had to rememberboth Dakota and Chrasey had someone at home to keep them “honest,” so to say, and she couldn't help but feel in a way that she'd become the damsel of the group.
Jordan opened one e-mail that was sent from Chrasey: “What is going on with you? You're fighting in clubs, having sex with randommen, you have the complete 360.” Before Jordan had opened it, Dakota had already responded, since all three of them were cc'd on the e-mails. Dakota's e-mail read “I told you, Jordanis the younger version of
Stella Got Her Groove Back
lately.” Jordan laughed to herself when she read what they wrote, but at the same time she knew she had to laugh to keep from crying.
Jordan headed toward her office door to go inform her assistantthat the last few files she went through were not updated.As she made her way closer to the door, she heard her assistant announce over the intercom that she had a Shakai on line one. Jordan stopped in her tracks and paused; she slowly turned back around and headed for her desk as she tried to fully recall the person known as Shakai. It only took a second to remember that Shakai was the young man from the cab ride the day before.
“Hello, Ms. Moore speaking,” Jordan said as she answered the phone.
“Hello, Jordan?” he replied.
“Yes, this is she,” Jordan responded, pretending as if she was still assuming she was on a business call.
“Hi, it's Shakai, the guy from the taxi ride the other day.”
“Yeah, I remember you. I'm glad you called.”
“It was nice meeting you the other day.”
“Yes, it was nice meeting you too.”
“Did you think I would call this soon?”
“Actually, no, but I was hoping you would.”
“Well, are you free any time this week? Maybe we can meet up.”
“Tomorrow night I can do dinner.”
“How is eight?”
“I have a seven o'clock meeting. Let's shoot for nine.”
“OK, see you at nine.”
Jordan was about to hang up the phone when she realized that they didn't make a definite plan.
“Wait!” Jordan said. “Where are we going to meet?” she added.
He laughed, realizing how silly that was.
“Do you have any place in mind?”
“I haven't been to Mr. Chow's in a while.”
“OK, so let's go there.”
“OK, I'll see you at nine.”
Jordan hung up the phone and quickly entered the date in her BlackBerry. She then got up and headed back toward her office door. She initially forgot what she was going out there for, but then she remembered she had to talk to her assistant. When she got to the hallway, Jackie wasn't in sight. Their intern,Hewan, was sitting nearby, looking over some documents. Jordan asked if she had seen Jackie, and Hewan told her that she had stepped out for lunch. Jordan was a bit annoyed becauseshe had told Jackie time and time again to notify her when she left for lunch. However, instead of making a big deal, Jordan just left a message with Hewan about updating the documents.
Jordan went back into her office and took a moment to reflecton her plans with Shakai and again on last night. She tried to think to herself how many guys she'd be dating at one time if she continued on this path. It would only take a few guys more before it became a roster. It would be different if she had not become sexually involved with more than one of them at once. She told herself that with Shakai she would try to keep it from getting physical for as long as possible. Marcus had been in Jordan's mind numerous times, but she tried extremely hard to keep her feelings from getting involved. Marcus was beginningto call more frequently and send more intimate texts, and although Jordan tried to deny it, she liked Marcus. Still, Jordan refused to allow herself to get hurt again, so she wasn't willing to not see Donovan and Shakai, or anybody else she met for that matter. Besides, Jordan was confident that Marcus probablyhad some friends of his own, just like Jayon did.

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