“So as you can see,” Tom said, “I’m not playing with you.”
“What do you want from me?” she yelled.
“You. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“But I already told you the other day that I can’t do that.”
“You can, and you will.”
“Please. I’m begging you.”
“Was I that bad in bed?”
Charlotte pretended she didn’t hear him.
“Of course, I wasn’t,” he said. “Remember, you told me how great I was.”
Charlotte cringed, and a sharp pain shot through her heart. “I was drunk.”
“Drunk. Sober. Makes no difference. Not to me, anyway.”
“I can pay you,” she pleaded.
“And I already told you I don’t want that. This thing here is about so much more than a few dollars and cents.”
“But I’m not talking about that kind of money. I’m talking about a lot of it.”
“No. What I want is for you to meet me at our friendly little motel on Saturday.”
“That’s only two days away. And what am I supposed to tell my husband?”
“Tell him whatever you want. Just make sure you’re there at six o’clock.”
“That’s too late.”
“Well, we could meet earlier in broad daylight, if you prefer that.”
Charlotte felt like she was suffocating.
“Look, I’m not going to argue with you about this. Either meet me on Saturday or tell your husband to expect a copy of that photo I just sent you. I do have his cell phone number. Or have you forgotten that?”
Charlotte knew there was no way out of this and hung up the phone. She tried figuring other options, but in the end she knew she had to do what this man demanded. She had no choice but to drive over to Chicago on Saturday to have sex with him, just one day before Valentine’s Day, and she could barely fathom the thought of it. She could hardly stand the idea of being forced to sleep with a total stranger and then betraying Curtis all over again. She hated herself more than ever.
Chapter 32
Curtis strapped the seat belt across his body and backed out of Aunt Emma’s driveway. He’d just dropped the little one off for the day and was still in awe of how well things were going between him and Charlotte. She even seemed a bit more tolerant of Curtina, strangely enough, and all he could hope was that it would continue. He prayed her tolerance would soon become total acceptance and ultimately a normal mother-daughter relationship. He knew this would probably be a long time off, but Charlotte’s new attitude was very encouraging. He also knew this total change was a result of Matthew’s hostage situation. Curtis would never have wished such a dangerous experience on his son, but he was glad it had made Charlotte think. The whole scenario had truly opened her eyes, and life was better for all of them.
Curtis was glad about something else, too: that he hadn’t slept with Sharon. He had certainly come close, that much he couldn’t deny, but what mattered was that he’d walked away with no regret. Sure, he’d been attracted to her and had gotten himself caught up in the idea of sleeping with her, but that was already in the past. It had been over before it ever got started, and he was at peace about it. So at peace he picked up his phone to call her. He could easily never speak to her again, but he wanted to tell her where things stood with them. He wanted her to know that his coming to visit her never should have happened, and that this would be his last time speaking to her by phone.
But before he could dial her number, Raven called him.
“Hey, Raven,” he said.
“Hey, Pastor. I tried you at home, but your housekeeper said you were already headed to the church.”
“I am. Wanted to get in early this morning.”
“Oh. Well, anyway, the reason I’m calling you is because I won’t be in today. My car won’t start, and I’m having it towed to the dealership.”
“I was really hoping you’d be at our monthly budget meeting.”
“I know. But when I called the service department a few minutes ago, they said all their loaners were either gone already or had been promised to other people who have repair appointments.”
“Well, if you want, I can swing by and pick you up.”
“You don’t mind?”
“Of course not. I should be there in about twenty minutes.”
“I really appreciate this.”
“See you soon,” Curtis said and then dialed Sharon.
“Hello?” she said.
“Hey, how are you?”
“Now that I’m talking to you, I couldn’t be better.”
“Well, that’s sort of why I’m calling. Look, I never should have started calling you, and I definitely shouldn’t have come to your home. It was wrong, and I apologize. But this will be my last time phoning you.”
“I’m really sorry to hear that. I’m not upset about it, though, because whether you think so or not, you will call me again. It might not be tomorrow or even next week, but you’ll contact me sooner or later.”
“No. I won’t.”
“But you wanted me too badly the other day not to. I saw the look in your eyes, and had your phone not vibrated with that text message from your son, you would have stayed. You would have made love to me, Curtis, and you know it.”
“But things are different now.”
“Is that right?”
“It is.”
She chuckled like she didn’t believe him. “Whatever you say. Nonetheless, I’ll be waiting on you for however long it takes. You and I have this thing between us. This burning desire that will never go away. But like I told you before, I’m very patient.”
“I won’t call, and from now on, the only time I’ll see you is at church.”
“You do know what this is about, don’t you?”
“Yes. Me doing right by my wife and my children.”
“No. This is about your son and that incident at his school. I saw the whole story on the news. Things like this tend to bring families very close together and can even help sustain a bad marriage. But only for a little while.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.”
“No, I don’t think so. But you’ll see.”
“Well, that’s all I called to tell you.”
“Talk to you soon,” she said.
Curtis hung up and turned into Raven’s driveway. She wasn’t standing in the doorway and he didn’t see her looking out, so he called her cell.
“Hey,” he said when she answered. “I’m here.”
“Oh, okay. Um, Pastor, there’s something I really need to talk to you about. So, would you mind coming in for just a few minutes?”
Curtis glanced at the clock on his dashboard. “No, actually, I need to get to the church. But we can talk on the way if you want.”
“That’s fine. I’ll be down shortly,” she said.
Curtis wondered what that was all about. Especially since she sounded disappointed about his not agreeing to come in. Now he wondered if there was something wrong with her car after all.
He sat for a few minutes, and Raven finally came out and got into the truck. She didn’t say anything, though, and looked out of sorts.
“So, what’s up?” Curtis finally said, heading down the street. “What is it that you wanted to speak to me about?”
“Us.”
“I’m not sure I know what you mean by that.”
She turned her body toward him. “Us. You and me.”
“But I thought we already cleared that up.”
“I thought so, too, until you asked me to stay after when our meeting was over on Tuesday.”
Curtis squinted his eyes. “And?”
“You told me I shouldn’t feel bad about these feelings I have for you.”
“No. What I said was that you shouldn’t feel bad about the things you told me.”
“That’s the same thing.”
“No. Not to me it isn’t.”
“You also said you weren�
�t offended.”
“Okay, but what does that have to do with anything?”
“It means you understand and that you don’t have a problem with it.”
“I think you misunderstood our whole conversation. The reason I had that little talk with you was so you wouldn’t feel uncomfortable about anything. I was trying to clear the air so that it wouldn’t be hard for us to work together.”
“What about the way you look at me whenever I’m leaving your office? You did the same thing when I left the conference room. Even without looking back, I could feel your eyes all over me.”
Curtis wasn’t sure how she’d sensed it, but she was right. He had scanned her entire body. But that was two days ago and this was now. Two days ago, he’d been a confused man who was being ignored by his wife. Today, he was happily married and had no desire to look at another woman in that way, let alone be with her.
“Look,” she said. “I won’t tell anyone. This can be our little secret. No one else will ever have to know. We can enjoy each other, and then you can go home to Charlotte. I won’t cause any trouble. I just want to be with you. That’s all.”
“Raven, I don’t wanna talk about this anymore. I’m married, I’m not getting involved with you, and that’s that.”
“But why?”
“I just told you.”
“So are you saying that if you weren’t married to Charlotte, you and I could be together?”
“I couldn’t guarantee it, but the bottom line is that I am married. So none of what we’re talking about really matters.”
“It matters to me, Pastor.”
Curtis decided to leave well enough alone and not say anything else. But he wondered what was going on with Raven. She’d been so apologetic the other day, but now here she was coming on to him again. He also had a feeling she’d staged her so-called car problem, and that her plan had been mainly about getting him inside her house. Women.
They rode the rest of the way to the church in silence but when they parked, Raven switched gears on him again.
“Pastor, please forgive me. I don’t know what came over me. I’m very sorry. My actions were completely uncalled for and if you want to fire me, I will totally understand. You certainly have every right to.”
“No, that won’t be necessary. We all make mistakes.”
“I promise I won’t approach you like this again. I’ll get over these feelings I have, and things will go back to the way they used to be with us. Everything will be strictly business.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Curtis said, and they both got out and went inside the church.
Chapter 33
Curtis hadn’t been sitting at his desk for more than an hour when he asked Lana to summon Raven into his office.
“You wanted to see me, Pastor?” Raven said, walking in.
“Yes, and please close the door behind you.”
Raven did as she was told and took a seat.
“I know we basically finished this conversation during our ride here, but I just want to make sure we’re on the same page about everything.”
“Okay.”
“You keep saying you have all these feelings for me, and I keep telling you that I’m married. But what if these feelings of yours don’t go away?”
“They will. It might take a while, but they will go away eventually.”
“I can live with that. But what I can’t live with is the way you’ve been approaching me. When you first did that in my office, I sort of blew it off, but now today, this was something different.”
“What was different about it?”
“Well, first of all, you lied about your car needing to be repaired. Am I right?”
Raven stared at him, clearly caught and definitely embarrassed. “I just didn’t know any other way to get you to my house.”
Curtis sighed. “Well, you know how I feel about people I can’t trust.”
“I know. And I’m sorry. It’s like I told you earlier. I don’t know what came over me. I won’t ever lie to you again, though, Pastor. That I can promise you.”
“Can you imagine how upset my wife would be if she ever found out about all of this? And what if I had come into your house like you wanted me to and someone saw me?”
“But you didn’t come in. And it’s not like your wife will hear about any of this, anyway.”
“Well, actually, she will, because I’m planning to tell her everything,” Curtis said, lifting his phone. “Lana, please tell Barry and Joel they can come in now.”
Barry and Joel were two of the security guards who worked for Deliverance Outreach on an as-needed basis, whenever Curtis had “issues” that needed to be dealt with. Curtis had asked Lana to call them right after he’d arrived this morning.
They both strolled in and Barry, the more muscular of the two, walked right up to Curtis’s desk and stood next to Raven.
“What is this?” she asked.
“Ms. Jones, we need you to come with us,” Barry said.
“For what?”
“You’re being let go, and we’ve been asked to escort you from the building.”
“Pastor, what are they talking about?”
“Your services are no longer needed here.”
“You’re firing me? After you told me you wouldn’t do that?”
Curtis glared at her.
“Ms. Jones,” Barry said. “Please come with us.”
Raven stood up. “I don’t believe you. But that’s okay because when your wife hears that you were at my house this morning and that you’ve been coming on to me for weeks now, we’ll see who gets fired.”
“Now, Raven, you know that’s not true.”
“Sure it is. And it’s not like you can deny it because all of your staff members just saw us walk into the church together.”
Curtis pulled the miniature tape recorder from his lap and placed it onto his desk. “Like I said. You know that’s not true.”
“You were taping me? You actually set me up?”
Joel took her by her arm. “Let’s go, Ms. Jones.”
“Let me go! And I hope all of you know I’m not leaving here until I box up my things.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Barry told her. “We’ve already collected your purse for you, and we’ll have the rest of your items delivered this afternoon.”
“No! I’ll do it myself.”
“Let’s go,” Joel said, and the three of them left Curtis’s office.
Lana rushed in right after. “Pastor, what’s going on?”
“I didn’t have time to tell you this when I first got here, but Raven came to me last week, saying she had feelings for me.”
“What?”
“Yeah. And then this morning, she called to say her car wouldn’t start, but when I arrived to pick her up she tried to get me to come inside.”
“Please tell me you didn’t.”
“No. But then on the way here she kept trying to come on to me and then, all of a sudden, she started apologizing again. And that’s when I knew she was going to be a problem.”
“Oh my. I’m stunned. Raven? Of all people.”
“Yeah, I was shocked, too.”
“Well, you sure didn’t waste any time getting rid of her,” Lana said, laughing. “I mean, I know this isn’t funny but you got her out of here lickety-split.”
“I had to. Raven knows everything there is to know about our financials, and I couldn’t take any chance on her doing something dirty. That’s why I wanted to record our conversation and then get her out of the building. If I hadn’t, she would have tried going back to her office and doing only God knows what.”
“I guess you’re right.”
“I know I am. Especially since right after I told her she was fired, she tried to threaten me.”
“Goodness. What is the world coming to? You just can’t trust anybody these days.”
“No, you can’t. Not even the most innocent person.”
Chapter 34
&n
bsp; Charlotte walked inside Robin’s Hair Creations and laughed to herself. Some things never changed, and one would think that after coming there for as many years as Charlotte had, it wouldn’t bother her. But it did. She knew it wasn’t her business, but she just couldn’t understand why every stylist in the place continued stacking clients on top of clients when they knew they were only able to work on one head at a time. It was ludicrous to think they could do more, although Charlotte knew that, actually, they didn’t think anything of the sort. What they wanted was to make as much money as possible, even if it meant making customers wait more than an hour before they were even shampooed. Robin, Charlotte’s stylist and owner of the salon, sometimes did this, too, but not with her. No, with Charlotte, it was a much different story because Charlotte still paid her double the price so that Robin wouldn’t book anyone else during Charlotte’s two-and-a-half-hour time slot.
It was amazing how Charlotte played this entire scenario through her head every time she came there, but again, it really bothered her. It was one of her pet peeves, she guessed, and she couldn’t help herself.
Charlotte hung up her coat and then spoke to the three women who rented booth space from Robin.
“Hey, Charlotte,” Robin said, already waiting for her.
Charlotte went over and sat down in the styling chair. “So how are you?”
“I’m good, and I’m loving those jeans you have on, girl. Who are they?”
“Donna Karan.”
“Nice. I’m also lovin’ that sweater and those boots, too.”
“Thanks.”
Robin wrapped a cape around her. “So what are we doing today?”
“Just a wash and condition.”
“Let’s go then,” she said, starting toward the shampoo bowl.
Charlotte took a seat and leaned her head back, and Robin turned on the water.
“So how’s Matthew doing?” Robin asked.
“He’s fine, and thanks so much for calling to check on him yesterday.”
“I still can’t believe that happened. But I’m glad he made it out of there okay.”
“We all are. Such a blessing.”
“Definitely. And how’s Pastor Black doing?”
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