7
W
ith the quick interruption already under the spotlight, Jayon glanced at his phone. The display read “Incoming call from Jordan.” Jayon instantly quieted the vibrating and put the phone back. He looked at Randi to see if she was looking, and looking closely she was.
Jayon was now just wearing his underwear and a wifebeater. He knelt back down and came very close to Randi's face beforehe leaned in for a kiss. The touch of his lips erased the thoughts that were forming from their little interruption. He twirled his tongue around her mouth for a few moments beforehe started back down to her chest. Jayon slowly took a few moments on each part of her body, kissing and softly sucking as he made his way downward. After passing her belly button, he reached her thong and began to kiss the perimeter of the undergarment.He kissed alongside her inner thigh and began to spread her legs more. He softly kissed the inside of her thighs lower and lower, until he crossed over to the other one and kissed the inside of her thigh going back up. Once he reached her thong again, he took it by its strappy sides and pulled it down.
Randi's toes were curled in anticipation of what her body was in for. She squirmed some as Jayon removed her thong. Jayon then took her left leg and placed it on top of the back of the couch while the other one was still on the couch. Jayon looked at her va-jay-jay and then looked up at her while biting his bottom lip. Jayon took her other leg and gently pushed it off the couch, to widen the entryway. Jayon then pulled his erect penis out of his boxers and knelt down between her legs. As he aligned himself and entered her, he placed his face in the crook of her neck. Once she felt the initial thrust, Randi arched her back and let out a moan. That was the first of many moans over the next fifteen minutes.
Once Jayon and Randi were both sprawled out on the couch, reveling in the perspiration, they began to return to reality. Randi's reality was that Jayon wouldn't be staying, and that he had to go home and possibly be with his woman. Jayon's reality was that he had to now get his explanation together for his whereabouts and get through Jordan's suspicion and questioning.
Jayon sat up and reached for his phone. He noticed that Jordan left a message and sent an e-mail. He opened the yellow envelope on his phone's screen and read “Missing in action again, huh? Ok. I see you.” Jayon knew that wasn't a good sign. That just meant that she was already in investigation mode, with a goal to sift out his lies and expose him. Jayon knew that the sticking-to-your-story trick usually worked, but with Jordan'ssometimes out-of-the-box analyses, she surprised him with questions he wasn't always prepared for. This part always got a little tricky. Jayon would tell himself that if he got away with it one more time, he wouldn't risk it again, but he would start to think he could get away with it again and then do it again. This was one of those times. Jayon's mind was racing as to every detail he needed to tell Jordan.
At some point during this down-time, Randi must not have appreciated Jayon's silence and sudden distraction.
“Is there a problem?” Randi said, breaking the silence.
“Nah, babe, not at all,” Jayon said as he put his arm around her.
“Jay, I know you have to get out of here soon. It looks like someone is waiting for you. So before we even get comfortable,just go ahead and start getting ready.”
“Whoa.What's all the hostility for? I'm not rushing out on you.”
“I know, but you might as well. I know you're gonna be worried the longer you're here and the more time you have to come up with something for.”
“You think you got my situation all figured out, huh?”
“No, not really trying to figure it out. I just know that you have some lying to do, and that's never easy.”
“Well, it would be if she wasn't a trained lie detector,” Jayon said with a laugh.
Randi wasn't quite as amused. She had been dealing with Jayon on and off for the past two years, probably having slept together a total of six times. She used to work with him, and throughout his single days and relationships she was kind of just always there. They didn't speak much; they would more so contact each other once in a blue moon, flirt, arrange to meet, have sex, and then fall out of contact for another period of time.Therefore, Randi didn't have any expectations of Jayon. She knew he had a girl and that what they had was nothing more than just sex. Still, sometimes it bothered her to know that even when he was with her his mind still had to be somewhere else. So she'd rather they just leave it at sex, since that was probably the only time she had all his attention.
“Randi, I'm sorry if that bothers you. I really wasn't going to rush out on you.”
“Nah, it's cool, Jay. I know your situation.”
Jayon reached over, grabbed Randi's stomach, and began to rub it slightly.
“Why don't we plan to hang out sometime next week?” he asked.
“Jayon, you don't have to do this. We do this every time, and then we don't talk for months.”
“It don't be months, and you don't be calling me either.”
“OK, how about we take it one step at a time.We call each other this week, and then we can make plans to hang out the next. That way, no disappointments,” Randi suggested.
“Sounds fair.You'll see, I will be the first to call.”
Jayon stood up and began to get dressed. After he placed all his clothes back on, he gestured for Randi to give him a hug. She was still dressed in her bra only and stood to give him his hug. Jayon could read through her happiness that something was on her mind, but he wasn't about to open that can of worms. She walked him to the door and he left.
He sat down in his car, and as soon as he started the engine,Fab's voice came through the speakers. Jayon quickly turned the music down to gather his thoughts before he made a move. He made up his mind that he would call Jordan when he was already home and settled, so he would be less likely to slip up. However, he decided to respond to her text. “I'm still at Bill's house, we are watching this movie, didn't see your call. I will call you soon,” Jayon texted. Jayon pulled out of his parking spot and drove down the street.
Two songs later, Jayon heard a beep in his ear. He glanced at his cell phone, saw it was Horatio, lowered the music, and pressed the ANSWER button from his Bluetooth.
“What up? Where you at?” Horatio said as soon as he answered.
“I'm on my way back to the Bronx.”
“You still coming by Bill's?”
“Yeah, I'll be there soon.”
“Where are you coming from?”
“That shawty Randi's crib.”
“Word?”
“Yeah, finally went through there.”
“Was it worth the trip?”
Jayon giggled. “Yeah, it was worth it.”
“She let you hit again?”
“Yeah, I knew she was, though. That's all she be wanting me to come through for these days.”
“Well, you gonna keep giving it to her? Or you done?”
“We'll see. It be aight, so I'm not sure. It is getting a lot more hectic, though.”
“Where does Jordan think you are? Let me know in case she texts me,” Horatio said, laughing.
“She thinks I'm at Bill's house. Where I'll be in about fifteenminutes, and I'll call her from there with all y'all talking in the background.”
“Oh, aight, playboy.You got it all figured out, I see. I'll see you soon, then.”
8
“T
he nerveof him,”Jordan said, storming through the living room, dropping her bags on the couch.
“It's about time you brought your butt in here,” Dakota said as she watched Jordan whisk by.
Jordan headed straight for the bathroom without lookingback. She was wearing her all-black pantsuit with the light pink pinstripes and her light pink button-down bodysuit.It was a lot of clothes to have on when your bladder is about to burst.
Dakota just sat there and turned back to the television. As the humor of Damon Wayans entertained Dakota, Jordan suddenlyreappeared in the living room.
“Girl, what is wrong with you?” Dakota said.
“I had to pee,” Jordan responded.
“OK, so what was all that âthe nerve of him' stuff?”
“Jayon ... he has, like, slipped and bumped his head.”
“Why, what did he do?” Dakota said, slightly laughing at Jordan's demeanor.
“It's more like what he didn't do. What he didn't do is realizeby now that this relationship is falling apart. He comes and goes as he pleases, and he has no regard for what I feel.”
“What are you speaking of?” Dakota asked, getting frustratedwith the beating around the bush.
“It's just, you would think after I forgave him for the Michelle thing that he would be more appreciative of me and put more effort into our relationship, but he doesn't. To make it worse, he gets mad at me that I have some trust issues now.”
“Yeah, men don't get it. I don't know what's taking you so long to get that.”
“Do you know he had the nerve to tell me it's not his fault I don't like to do anything but be with him?”
“Wow ... that's cold.”
“Tell me about it. He made me seem like some bum chick that has nothing going for herself. He made it seem like he is paying all my bills and keeping me. I was truly offended by that.”
“Well, I told you that you need to do more and stop sitting up under him.”
“That's the thing; I'm not sitting up under him. I just don't like clubbing like that. Is that so bad?”
“No, but you see how men get.They get complacent.They take it for granted.You need to get out there to remind them that you can be taken.”
“It's so sad, even at thirty-four we still have to play these games.”
“Sad, but true,” Dakota replied.
Upon finishing her statement, Dakota stood up and walked into the kitchen. She had been babysitting Jason for the past three hours when Omar dropped him off. She had just put him to bed and come back down to get a snack and watch television, but she'd left her snack on the kitchen counter.
Dakota came back into the living room with a plate full of potato chips, some dip, and a glass of cran-grape juice.
“So, all of this stemmed from the other night when he didn't answer his phone when you called?” Dakota asked when she sat back on the couch.
“Basically. When we spoke, I told him he always seems to have some excuse for where he is, and he got all pretend offendedand then tried to flip it back on me.”
“Why you say pretend offended?”
“Because I know that he sees where I'm coming from. He's late for plans we have all the time; there's way too many times he doesn't answer his phone when I call the first time; he works late a lot. It's just that I don't feel like a priority anymore.”
“Well, is he just busier at work and you can't understand that?”
“I don't know, but I know that it's taking my sense of securitywith him away completely.”
Dakota took a gulp from her glass and chewed a couple of potato chips at once.
“You should have never let him move offices. At least if you two still worked together and in the same place, you could know when he is really working late and when he's not.”
“I know, but at the time we thought it was best since we weren't together and it was awkward; and the job offer he got was a great opportunity. I wish I would've known it would make things so bad, though,” Jordan replied.
“So, think about this question for a second before you answerit,” Dakota said.
“What?” Jordan asked.
“Do you trust Jayon?”
Jordan became obviously uneasy. It was a question she didn't want to have dissected. She was well aware that there was no point being with a man you didn't trust, but then at the same time she was well aware trust didn't come accompanied with doubt and suspicion.
“I don't know anymore, Dakota. I can't have you force me to lie to you.”
“Well, that's what you need to figure out, because that's what is at the root of all your frustration with him.You don't believe anything he tells you ... and I'm not saying you should; I'm just saying that you need to be honest with yourself before you can demand that he be honest with you.”
It wasn't an easy thing to do, but Dakota shushed Jordan. All Jordan could do was recite that last statement over in her head to resonate the truth to it. They say truth hurts, but this time it stuck. Jordan knew that Dakota made perfect sense, but facing the truth was not an easy thing to do.