Primal: Part One (2 page)

CHAPTER TWO

JOVAN

After retrieving her spirits from the bartender, Monica scanned the room again, looking for a different table to park at.  She didn’t think she was avoiding Jovan, but there was no other way to explain a second bout of uneasiness that overcame her when she saw the man of the hour headed her way.  Monica wasn’t able to come to terms with her feelings before he was within a few feet; flashing a perfect smile that looked a whole lot less innocent as he drew near.

“
Monica Wyatt
!  I’m so happy to see you!”

His voice was manly in high school.  It was now a few octaves deeper.  Monica didn’t have a chance to respond before he closed the distance between them and hugged her tightly.  She had seen him hug a few other women when he first arrived, and theirs was certainly not the same.  This was no granny hug; with their hips far apart, as if there was an imaginary yard stick between their genitals.  He hugged her fully, with both arms, belly to belly.  Monica didn’t completely return the gesture, because she was holding her drink, but Jovan did enough hugging for the both of them.

She found his cologne enchanting.  Beneath it, she caught a trace of his natural musk, which was just as pleasant.  Jovan’s body was hard, but overall the hug was soft and warm.  When he backed away, Monica found herself heated to the point of sweating.  She prayed that wouldn’t actually happen.

What the hell is wrong with you, woman?

She didn’t have an answer for the voice in her head.  She hoped she was reacting to the
new
Jovan, rather than any lingering feelings she might have had for the guy she once dated.  She certainly hadn’t been carrying a torch for the past twenty years, and she knew he hadn’t either.

“It’s good to see you, too,” she told him.  Her smile was bright and wide; she couldn’t help it.

He released her but didn’t step away more than arms’ length.  He continued to grin as he looked her up and down, taking in all of the things that had changed since high school.

Monica didn’t dress that night with Jovan in mind, but she did dress to impress, considering it was a reunion.  Her dress wasn’t of the
freakum
variety, but it was short and form-fitting, exposing a nice amount of flesh about the chest and legs.  Her skin tone was fair.  Her shoulder-length hair was curly with gold highlights.  She’d put on more than twenty pounds since graduation but was happy to say most of it went to the right places.  Her breasts and thighs were fuller than Jovan recalled.  Her lips and eyes were the same, though her face had a more mature look.

“Where’d you get that dress?” he asked, still smiling ear to ear.  “I wish you would’ve dressed like this in high school!  Naw, I take that back.  I would’ve been so busy chasing you, I probably wouldn’t have graduated.”  He laughed.

Monica giggled, though she was taken aback by his forwardness.  Jovan had always been a pretty boy.  He wasn’t a full-fledged
player
at Finley High, but he certainly had player tendencies.  She thought his confidence was level ten when they were going out.  If that was the case, he was now up to level fifty.

“Whatever,” she said.  “And what have you been doing with yourself, Jovan, trying out for Mr. Universe?”

He laughed again.  Monica loved the way his eyes twinkled when he was amused.  His teeth were perfect.  She loved a man with a sense of humor.

“I’m not that big,” he said.  “I work out a little bit, but I’ve been slacking.”

“A little bit?  Yeah, right.  You don’t get a body like that from working out
a little bit
.  And look at your hair!  I think it’s longer than mine.”

He grinned.  She could tell he liked that she was checking him out.

“Hold on a sec’,” he said and took a few steps to the bar.

Monica had a minute to pull herself together before he returned with Cognac on the rocks.  The liquor matched his eyes and his skin tone.  Monica saw that most of the women in the room were watching them – especially the ladies at the table she left a few minutes ago.  She wondered what they expected to happen.

“So, what’s been up with you?” Jovan asked as he sipped his drink.  “I can’t believe it’s been twenty years since we graduated.  You married yet?  Kids?”

“I’m divorced,” Monica said.  “I have a daughter.”

“Really?  How old?”

“She’s six.”

“I’ll bet she’s beautiful,” he said, “just like her mama.”

Her heart fluttered.  She felt the perspiration on her face and palms this time.  “Boy, stop.”

“No, I’m serious.  You’ve gotten a lot finer since high school.  If I would’ve known, I would’ve kept tabs on you.”

She wondered what he meant by that.  Their relationship didn’t end badly, not that she recalled.  It simply ran its course, and they moved on.  She had no idea he would morph into this
earth-bound god
, but that didn’t mean anything.

She doubted if he really thought she was that beautiful.  He was probably just looking for a hookup for the night, in which case he was barking up the wrong tree.  Monica wasn’t going for it.

“You’re not married?” she asked, looking at his hands.  There was no wedding ring.  “Any children of your own?”

He shook his head and took another sip of his drink.  “Nope, on both counts.”

“That’s not surprising,” she said with a slight roll of her eyes.

“Why you say that?”

“You don’t look like the type to settle down.”

He grinned.  “What are you basing that on, Monica?”

The way he said her name made her stomach tighten.  “The, the way you’re dressed,” she managed.

“Still not sure what you mean,” he commented.  “I just got on pants and a shirt, like anybody else.”  She thought his smile was predatory now.

“You got your shirt unbuttoned,” she pointed out, “showing off your chest.  You got the long hair, pretty eyes, muscles for days…”

He chuckled.  “You think I look nice?”

“I think
you
think you look nice,” she replied.  “You know how to turn heads.”

“Come on, Monica, you know me.”

The way Jovan said her name, and the way he was watching her, seemed more intimate than everyone else she spoke to that night.  It was almost enough to make her want to buy whatever it was he was selling.  Almost.

“I don’t know you like that,” she replied.  “I have no idea what you’ve been up to in the past twenty years.”

He downed the rest of his drink with barely a reaction to the strong intoxicant.

“A little of this, a little of that,” he said vaguely.  “What about you?  What kind of work you doing?  You seeing anyone?”

Monica didn’t know why he was asking about her relationship status.  She already decided she wouldn’t be his easy lay for the night, so she told him the same thing she had told the ladies at her table:  “I’ve been seeing a guy for a little over a year.  We work together sometimes.”

If Jovan was disappointed by that news, it didn’t show.  “What kind of work do you do?”

“I’m a manager – and a club promoter.”

His eyes lit up.  He may have been faking his way through the conversation, but at that moment he was genuinely intrigued.

“Really?  What kind of folks do you manage?”

“A few local acts,” she said.  “A couple of rappers… a singer.”

“No shit?  Hold on for a second.”

He turned and took a few quick steps to the bar.  While he was busy with another drink order, Monica scanned the room and saw that all eyes were on her – well, Jovan to be specific.  She was struck with an uncomfortable sense of déjà vu, remembering how it was for them in high school.  Jovan was one of the most popular students on campus.  A lot of chicks were campaigning to be his girlfriend.  Most of them were not happy when he chose Monica for the coveted role.

They didn’t try anything mean or underhanded to break them up, but they were always watching and lurking in the shadows.  She knew they were waiting for her to screw up so they could jump in and
comfort
him – most likely with a sorry-for-the-break-up-blow job.  Initially Monica felt special for being Jovan’s girl.  He could’ve picked anyone at the school, but his eyes only lit up for her.  When they walked the hallways hand-in-hand, she was on cloud nine.

But over time the hate and animosity she got from her classmates got to be too much of a hindrance.  Monica couldn’t ignore the girls rolling their eyes every time she passed.  She didn’t like them eyeballing her boyfriend and flirting with him when she wasn’t around.  Even at the age of eighteen, it was clear that Jovan was a rock star.  He already had a throng of groupies.

Monica couldn’t be like them, and she didn’t want to compete with them, so she chose to step aside and let him shine without her.  When she told him she was through, Jovan didn’t put up a fight to change her mind, which, as far as Monica was concerned, meant he never really loved her to begin with.

When he returned with his drink, she was ready to bid him adieu and once again leave him to his groupies.  But Jovan was hoping to keep her around for a while longer.  In addition to his glass, he had one for her as well.

“I asked the bartender what you were drinking,” he said as he offered it to her.  “I was hoping we could sit and talk for a minute.”

She took the drink but told him, “No, actually I was about to take off.”

“Really?”  He looked upset by that.  “But I just got here.”

“Yeah, over an hour late,” she commented.  “We already had dinner and everything.”

“Can’t you stay longer, so we can talk?”

Monica shook her head. 
Nope.  Not tonight, Mr. Smooth
.  “About what?” she asked.

He surprised her with, “About your job.  I was watching this show on cable;
Power
.  Do club promoters really do all that crazy shit to make sure they stay packed?”

Monica frowned.  She didn’t think anyone had ever asked her that.  “We do,” she confirmed, “but not like on TV.  Anything you’ve seen on that show is way more interesting than what I do.”

“What’s the weirdest thing you’ve done for your club?” he pressed.  “Anything
illegal
?”

Her frown deepened.  She didn’t like this line of questioning.  “Why are you asking me that?”

He laughed.  Again Monica was struck by how beautiful his smile was.  His teeth were straight and gleaming.  Women had been fighting over that smile for years, hoping it would be directed at them.

“Why you being so standoffish?” he wondered.  “You’re acting like we’re not friends.”

“We’re not friends.  I haven’t seen you in twenty years.”

“But nothing happened to make you
not
be my friend.  We didn’t fall out, or anything.”

“Okay, but why are you asking about my job?  You need a promoter, or something?”

He continued to smile over his glass as he took a sip.  He nodded slightly.  “A promoter, manager…  Yeah, that would be great.  You taking new clients?”

Monica wasn’t sure if she could take him seriously.  “And what is it that you do, Jovan?”

“Jovan?”

They both turned to acknowledge one of his groupies.  Her name was Amanda.  Monica wasn’t positive, but she thought Jovan went out with her his junior year.  Unlike most of the black guys in their graduating class, Jovan was an equal opportunity employer.

White, black, Puerto Rican, everybody just-a-freaking
!

“Hey, girl!  Look at you!”

He threw his arms around Amanda for one of the full-body hugs that made Monica feel special a few minutes ago.

Some things never change
, she thought as she backed away and gave them some space.

● ● ● ● ● ●

By 10:30 the moon was on the rise in the starry skies above Overbrook Meadows.  The night air was warm and still.  Monica fished her car keys from her purse as she approached her Yukon in the hotel’s parking lot.  She thought she had escaped the mixer unnoticed, but she heard a second set of footsteps accompanying hers.  They were closing in, moving quickly.  She turned, hoping she wasn’t about to get mugged, and was surprised to see Jovan hurrying to catch up with her.

He was not a welcomed sight, but the look of irritation she wore as he approached was unintentional.  He stopped short ten feet away and regarded her curiously.

“Wow.  What in the world is your problem?”

The emotions Monica had been feeling since she saw him swept her up in a whirlwind.  She had plenty of answers to his question, but her lips remained sealed.  The fact of the matter was Jovan made her feel like she wasn’t good enough – for him or life in general – and she hadn’t felt that way in a long time.   She didn’t like how he reentered her world and took her right back to her awkward, confusing high school experience.  She didn’t feel like that before he arrived tonight.  It was definitely him.