Drama 99 FM

by Janine A. Morris

  “You can invite a friend to meet you there, if you like.”

  Sereeta had been working for him for quite some time but hadn’t yet really enjoyed any perks—at least not any that people expected her to get. She’d had a few drop-offs and pickups by limos and a few free NBA T-shirts, but nothing really special. Sereeta was beginning to think he just wanted her to see that this was a job and not recreational. This was the first time he had offered to do something this nice for her, and she was beyond excited.

  She ran upstairs, dropped off his things, and headed back down to the truck where Corey waited. She stepped inside the car, and Corey looked over at her; he looked less scary tonight for some reason.

  “Thanks,” she said.

  “No problem. You work hard, so you deserve a night off.”

  “I appreciate that,” she replied.

  “Tell your friend their pass will be at will-call.”

  “Oh, yeah,” she said as she pulled out her cell phone.

  She began to text Reyna to let her know the plans and see if she could join her. Once she finished the text, she placed her phone in her lap and looked out the window. The radio was tuned to Drama 99 FM, and Corey was bopping his head slowly to the new Ludacris song playing. As usual, the car ride was a bit quiet, aside from the music and the muffled sounds from the street outside.

  Once they got to the stadium, Sereeta followed Corey through the players’ entrance.

  “You are going to be sitting in the box with the other players’ guests, their families, and friends.”

  “OK.”

  “You can leave and come back if you would like—you will just need this pass,” he said as he handed her a square-shaped pass that read SKYBOX #12 on it.

  “I will more than likely be here to the end.”

  “OK, and your guest’s pass and ticket are at will-call under your name, but I just remembered they are going to ask for ID, so you can either go down and meet him at will-call or I can call and have it switched.”

  “It’s not a him,” she said.

  She didn’t know why she cared to correct him, and she was just as unsure why he was willing to go through all this trouble for her.

  “Well, he—she—whoever,” he said as he kept walking.

  “You can change the name to Reyna Benton. I’m not sure exactly what time she’s getting here.”

  “No problem.”

  They continued down the hall and could hear the noise and voices from the announcer speaking and the fans in the stadium. After a few moments they reached an elevator. There was no one standing by the elevator except a security guard. Once they reached it, the guard used a key card to open the doors. Sereeta followed behind Corey as they entered the box. She had to admit that having Corey Cox escort her to the skybox felt surreal; she was trying not to show her excitement, but she was definitely feeling it.

  Once they reached the top level to the stadium, they stepped off the elevator. The floor was carpeted, the lights were dim, and the people were dressed up. They looked more like the guests at a social mixer and not fans at a basketball game. There were bars along the back wall and waiters walking around with hot plates. Sereeta just followed behind Corey down the corridor, passing box after box. As they walked, different people pointed at Corey, and some spoke, and he quietly spoke back. As she glimpsed inside some of the skyboxes, she noticed white men in business suits, a few young black kids, and a few well-dressed ladies. She tried to figure out how all of them had gotten their tickets and who they were. She felt special knowing that everyone knew how she’d gotten hers and who she was—well, maybe not who she was, but who they thought she was. She had to admit it felt awfully nice being Corey Cox’s special someone, even if just for one night.

  Once they reached Skybox #12, there were a few others sitting down. Corey walked in, and everyone stood up to greet him.

  “This is Sereeta, everyone. She will be joining you this evening. If she needs anything please take care of her.”

  Sereeta stood there in amazement. She wasn’t his “assistant” tonight, she was Sereeta, and he had asked that whatever Sereeta needed, please take care of it. She felt her heart drop at his kindness; he looked more appealing to her than he ever had. She wondered if she was dressed up enough to play the part. She hadn’t planned to come to the game, let alone to be in the skybox as Corey’s date, so she wasn’t dressed the way she would’ve planned to. She had on a gray turtleneck tunic and some leggings with some black flat boots. She was carrying her black Gucci bag, and her hair was in a bun with a bang. She looked casually cute, and she guessed she looked good enough for Corey not to clarify that she was only his assistant.

  “Hello, Sereeta,” the folks in the room said.

  “Hi,” she said as she stepped closer to Corey.

  “Sit wherever you would like. Save a seat for your friend, and I’ll see you later tonight or tomorrow,” Corey said as he moved out of her way so she could head toward the seats.

  “Thanks, Corey, I appreciate everything,” she said.

  “No problem,” he said as he walked off.

  That was typical of Corey to show no emotion. Despite how sweet he had been by doing all this for her, he had walked off with no more than his signature “no problem.” Somewhere in her imagination she imagined him kissing her good-bye and holding on to her hand until he couldn’t hold on anymore. That would be just the ideal ending to the night, but it was just a thought. There was nothing whatsoever between her and Corey, and she didn’t want there to be, and he had made it very clear that neither did he.

  Once he left, she began to watch the pregame festivities. The people looked so far away from where she sat, she couldn’t believe these were considered VIP seats. She noticed the big screen directly in front of her and began to watch from there. Reyna had texted her a while ago when she was in the car and said she was going to be heading to the stadium within fifteen minutes or so, so if Sereeta calculated correctly, Reyna would be there before the game started or early into the first quarter.

  Sereeta looked around the room subtly to see if she recognized anyone, but no one looked familiar. There were two guys in their midtwenties, a woman maybe in her forties, and two white men in their thirties dressed down in jeans and sneakers. There was nothing that gave away who any of these people were, but because Corey had said it was the box for friends and family of the team, Sereeta figured these people were just that. One of the guys in their twenties approached Sereeta as she looked around the box trying to see everything inside.

  “Hi, my name is Mark,” the young man said as he sat down.

  “Hi, Mark,” she replied.

  “My brother plays for the Knicks.”

  “Oh, that’s cool. I’m a guest of Corey’s.”

  “Yeah, I know. I was here when you guys walked in. I wasn’t stepping on any toes.”

  Sereeta just smirked at him, not knowing what else to say and not wanting to admit that she was just his assistant.

  “Oh, OK. Well, enjoy the game,” he said as put his drink in his other hand.

  “You don’t have to run away,” Sereeta blurted out as she noticed Mark standing up.

  He looked back at her to examine her facial expression. Sereeta was trying to remain relaxed and not let him see that she was a bit uncomfortable and nervous.

  “You sure?” he asked.

  “Yes, I’m sure,” she said, throwing him her sexy smile.

  She realized she had wanted him and others to think she was Corey’s special girl, but she quickly realized how letting Mark walk away was just stupid. Here she could be meeting the man of her dreams, and she was letting him walk away so she could give off some false impression of being with someone she wasn’t. Even crazier was that he could easily find out that she was just his assistant. She decided to stop living in fantasy land; Corey was gone somewhere in the locker room, and she was sitting alone. Mark was a handsome guy, and she could use the company until Reyna showed up, at least.


  “I don’t want any problems with Corey Cox.”

  “Trust me, there won’t be any problems with him. Maybe the girl you meet in here next game, but no problems with me.”

  Mark seemed shocked that she had said something so bold. He started to laugh and put his hand over his mouth to contain his reaction.

  “Don’t worry, it’s OK. It’s nothing like that between me and him.”

  “OK, I was about to say you are a tough cookie.”

  Sereeta just laughed and looked out toward the court to see what was going on.

  “And for the record, I’m in this box quite often, and you are the first lady Corey has ever brought up here.”

  Sereeta looked at him to see if he was being serious, and then she turned away when she realized he was. She didn’t want him to spot the flutter her heart had just made. She sat there thinking what the hell was wrong with her that she was even thinking this way all of a sudden—she knew she had to stop these thoughts before she got herself in trouble or lost her job.

  “He has only been playing in New York for a few months, and besides, I work for him. I am his personal assistant.”

  “Oh, really?” Mark said.

  “Really, so don’t go starting any rumors.”

  Mark just laughed. “You know I was.”

  The announcer began to announce the players as they exited the locker room and made their way to the court floor.

  “You will be here alone?”

  “A friend of mine will be meeting me soon, I hope.”

  “You’re trying to get me beat up in here,” he said.

  “No, it’s a girlfriend of mine. I’m single, Mark. I’m not trying to get anyone beat up.”

  “Well, that’s good news.”

  “What’s good news?”

  “That you aren’t trying to get me beat up and that you are single.”

  “Good news for you or for me?”

  “For me and hopefully for you.”

  Sereeta liked this guy’s swagger. He was six-two and brown skinned with a mustache and light goatee. He had a low fade with a part on the left side, dark brown eyes, a narrow nose, and full lips. He was definitely good-looking, but Sereeta was digging his carefree personality.

  It was well into the first quarter before Reyna showed up, and by then Sereeta was realizing that she would’ve been just fine if she hadn’t made it at all. It was like a perfect first date with Mark; they were laughing, talking, watching the game, and having a good time.

  Reyna walked in and looked twice as nervous as Sereeta had before she’d met her new friend. Sereeta gestured to catch her attention and signal her over by her. Reyna walked up and stood over Sereeta and Mark. They both looked in her direction, but no one said anything right away. Reyna was dressed real cute; she had on some fitted 7 jeans with black knee boots and an orange Kani Ladies top. She stood there with an awkward smile, wondering if she was intruding on a private conversation. Sereeta looked up at her with the same devilish smirk and recognized Reyna giving her the eye, indicating her curiosity as to the identity of the cutie she was sitting with.

  “Mark, this is my friend Reyna. Reyna, this is Mark,” Sereeta finally stated.

  “Nice to meet you,” Mark said as he reached out his hand to shake Reyna’s.

  “You as well,” she said.

  “Take a seat,” he said as he stood up.

  Reyna hesitated not at all as she sat down in the seat he had emptied.

  “I’ll give you girls some alone time. I will be right over there for a while,” he said as he gestured to the empty seat by another young man in the room.

  “Is that guy with you?” Sereeta asked Mark.

  “That’s Nate’s cousin. We aren’t technically together…but we kind of are.”

  Reyna gave a look of confusion, but Sereeta continued to talk to Mark. “Why don’t you and your friend come sit over here with us—you don’t have to leave us alone.”

  “It’s OK. Besides, I don’t know if he wants to move his seat and all.”

  “OK, no problem,” Sereeta said. “I just didn’t want you to feel that I was done with you now that my friend has arrived.”

  “It’s OK that you used me for company,” he said jokingly.

  “It’s not like that at all; you are welcome to come back over whenever you feel like it.”

  Mark nodded his head with a giggle and walked away.

  Reyna gave Sereeta one of her looks.

  “What?” Sereeta asked.

  “‘Come sit over here with us’? Is someone playing a desperate card?” Reyna said, looking at Sereeta out of the corner of her eye.

  “Uh-uh! No, you didn’t!” Sereeta laughed. “I was just trying not to be rude; he came over to keep me company when I was looking like Sad Suzie.”

  “OK, I’m just saying. You up here in the skybox trying to catch you some high-quality fish.”

  “Whatever, it’s nothing like that.”

  “Yeah, OK, Desperado.”

  Sereeta just sucked her teeth and turned back toward the game. Corey was down there dribbling the ball up the court. He looked so miniature from where Sereeta sat until she looked up at the JumboTron and saw it zoom in on his face.

  “That’s your boss, right?” Reyna asked.

  “Yeah,” she said, never taking her eyes off him.

  “He is cute.”

  “I guess.”

  “Don’t try to act like you never looked at him that way,” Reyna said.

  “I don’t. He walked me up here tonight; if you were on time you could’ve met him.”

  “He walked you up—like, personally escorted you? Ah, shit.”

  “Knock it off, it was nothing like that.”

  Sereeta knew she was fronting and didn’t know why. The truth was that prior to tonight, she really hadn’t seen Corey in that light. She had been more afraid of him than attracted to him. Even though she’d had a glimpse of temptation tonight, she didn’t want to entertain the thought—not one bit. She knew Corey was an all-business kind of guy, and she didn’t want to mess up her job in any way.

  Chapter 18

  Madison walked in the house and was stopped in her tracks by the darkened room and sweet scents. She slowly closed the door behind her and tried to take in the ambience of the room. There were dozens of tea-light candles everywhere all over the porch and living room. She didn’t see Jamahl anywhere in sight, but she knew he was responsible for this, although it was so out of character. The sounds of Brian McKnight swayed through the air, and the smell of something tasty in the oven filled her nose. Madison was excited. No one had ever done anything like this for her before, and it was the last thing she expected from Jamahl Walker.

  She saw a note on the table that read Read Me. A smile covered her face. She opened it up. Go upstairs, take a shower, change into something comfortable, and meet me back in the living room in thirty minutes. Don’t be late.

  Madison set the card down, tossed her purse on the porch chair, and headed upstairs. She could feel the butterflies in her stomach like she was a little girl. She didn’t know what had caused him to do this for her—their anniversary and her birthday were months away. She got to the bedroom and saw a trail of rose petals leading to the bathroom. Madison stopped once again, just looking at each rose petal—some were red, some were yellow, and some were white. She began to wonder if this was even Jamahl’s doings—had Polytics kidnapped him and planned this out, or was this a trick on her from God to make her feel guilty for what she had done with Polytics while her boyfriend was at home?

  Initially, she was wondering where he was hiding. Was he in one of the bedrooms or in one of the rooms downstairs? Suddenly her excitement began to fade, and her guilt began to heighten. She undressed slowly as she thought a million things about how horrible she was. She kicked off her black ankle boots and removed her black slacks and blue and black cardigan. She took out a bobby pin and pinned her hair up. She couldn’t believe that only weeks after she had resorted
to sleeping with another man for some attention, Jamahl had decided to go do the most romantic thing he had ever done for her. Damn, she said to herself.

  She almost wished she had a time machine to go back and fix her actions. She knew that what she had done had not only risked her job, but it had risked her relationship with the one man who had stood by her side through all these years. She knew she was no walk in the park—a lot of times she brought her job home with her. A lot of times she forgot that her title of boss was only at the office, and Jamahl wasn’t her staff, so when she would talk down to him or treat him like he was beneath her, he didn’t like it one bit. She knew it took a man with confidence to be with a woman like her. Not only was she strong-minded and out of control half the time, she had a hard time with any level of submission. It didn’t help that she was surrounded by rich and famous men who most men would easily be jealous of and feel insecure about, and she made no efforts to comfort him. When she really thought about it, Jamahl was a good man to even still be dealing with her, let alone planning romantic nights. She knew it was messed up that it had taken her cheating on him and to come home to this for her to appreciate him.

  She stood in the shower, washing away all her guilt in hopes of meeting Jamahl in the living room with a smile on her face. She stepped out of the shower and walked back to her bedroom. She didn’t know if Jamahl was in one of the other bedrooms on that floor or if he was going to jump out and surprise her at any point. She was just hoping to clear her mind of all the negative thoughts and guilt so she could fully appreciate all he had planned. She put on a purple teddy nightgown; not really sure what he meant by change into something comfortable, she chose to go with what she thought he would like to see. She combed her hair down, lotioned up, and sprayed on some Smell Goods.

  Madison looked at the clock and saw that she had three minutes to go before she would be late. She walked out of the bedroom and began to head downstairs. Just the scent of the food and the sight of the romantic candlelit scene below her was enough to put her in a good mood again. She stepped into the living room, where she saw the table set and a note on her plate. She walked over to the table and picked up the note. Take a seat, enjoy the wine, and listen to the music. I will be with you shortly. Madison smiled again. She pulled out the oak-wood chair and sat down on the soft plush cushion. There were two glasses of white wine on the table, a bouquet of roses in the center, and two tall dinner candles. Madison had to admit she couldn’t have done a better job if she had set this up herself.