I swallowed the lump in my throat. I hated for anyone to try to tell me about Jonathan. I knew him well, and for anyone to say that he was using me, it was a far stretch. Yes, I had thought so before myself, but only when I was mad and was looking for a reason to talk myself out of loving him.
“I appreciate you for offering things from your perspective, but I have to disagree with you about Jonathan using me. We have this thing that not too many people can understand. He knows that I have his best interest at heart. He knows that I will be there for him, and he knows that I love him with every fiber of my being. I have his back, and isn’t that what a man wants? Isn’t that what he needs?”
“It is, but there are many men who take advantage of those things. I’m not sitting here like I’m all that, and to be truthful, I don’t have Jonathan’s money. I can’t afford to have a stay-at-home wife, and the woman in my future may have to get out and work. I can’t go to the mall and shop for the finest clothes. These jeans I have on are about six or seven years old, but they’re clean. My woman will be clean, too, but I don’t have Saks Fifth Avenue money to give her.”
“Sooo, where are you going with this? Jonathan is unique in his own little way, and I’m not expecting every man I meet to be like him.”
“You’ll soon get where I’m going, and the bottom line is this: I’m offering you me, as I am. I’ve treated you kind, I’ve respected you, prayed for you, and even advised you on certain things that didn’t necessarily benefit me. My house is small; I have two dogs and a daughter who just went to trade school. Are you willing to give us a chance? If not, I’d like to consider this our final dinner.”
I liked Brian, truly I did, but I wasn’t at a point where I wanted a relationship with him. Why wasn’t it okay for us to just be friends, and what was the rush?
“I feel as if you’re giving me an ultimatum. I’ve barely known you for two months, and you want me to commit. And if I don’t, it’s good-bye? That’s kind of harsh, isn’t it, Brian?”
“Hold up a minute. I didn’t say commit. I said give us a chance. Open up, and let’s focus on me and you, instead of you and Jonathan. I get that you’re in love with him, but allow yourself to fall in love with someone else. Especially since, deep down, you know he hasn’t been one hundred with you. You know something isn’t right, but you keep telling yourself that everything is all good. That he’ll come around and things will get better. You let him call all the shots, and you’re the one in fear of losing him. He should be the one in fear of losing you, but he’s not, because you’ve made it too easy for him. I’ve been on these reckless paths before. I got off that path, and I don’t mind getting off again. If you don’t want to proceed with me, no hard feelings.”
I had to see what this thing with Jonathan would lead to, especially with Lesa now being out of the picture. It was a risk that I was willing to take. If Brian couldn’t understand that, oh well. “Your timing is off, Brian. I’m sorry, but it is so off right now. I can’t find the time or energy to open the door for another man. That’s—”
“Shhh,” he said, reaching across the table to touch my hand. “Let’s finish dinner and call it a night. And for the record, my timing isn’t off. It’s yours.”
He left me with that. I gave him a hug after dinner and stood by my decision not to involve myself with another man.
CHAPTER 23
JONATHAN
Detroit was the real getaway I needed. I was having a good time with Jaylin and his best friend, Shane. We had been in meetings for the past two days. They were productive and worthy meetings that could impact our lives in a major way. I finally got an opportunity to see, up close and personal, businessmen make multimillion-dollar deals. It was a good feeling, and I was proud to be on board.
My life back in St. Louis was still a little rocky though. Lesa stopped by to finally get the rest of her belongings. We didn’t say one word to each other. I actually left the house before she did. Went to the grocery store, just to get out of the way. When I returned home, my key was on the table, along with a note that said: GOOD RIDDANCE, BASTARD. It appeared to be the same handwriting as some of the notes I’d been given before, so I now knew who had been doing slick shit behind my back. She was, indeed, crazy. It didn’t make me feel good that I kept finding myself with those kinds of women, but for now I planned to take it easy. While I knew that Sylvia wanted more from me, I was in a position where I wasn’t going to spend much time on serious relationships.
It was time to celebrate. The meetings were done, and I was hyped. Jaylin invited me to a private party in Bloomfield Hills. By nine o’clock we were ready to go. We arrived fifteen minutes later, and for the third time that day, I was in awe. Normally, I didn’t get off into lavish cars, houses, boats; all that material shit that didn’t really matter, but I would be lying if I said it didn’t feel good to see with my own eyes. The house we entered was almost indescribable. It hosted people from wall to wall. The contemporary décor was so unique, and there were many glass staircases, waterfalls, statues, televisions, swimming pools; it was out of this world. Made me feel like my house in St. Louis was Section 8 property. Nonetheless, I was proud of the home I had built my first year as a lawyer. I had done plenty of updates since then, but after seeing this, it encouraged me to do some more updates.
While Shane was on his cell phone, Jaylin introduced me to the owner and one of his business partners, Mr. Chan. He was real laid back, and funny as hell.
“John-John,” Mr. Chan said, looking around at the crowds of people in his house. “Have whatever you want. That goes for the pretty girls around here, too, and the food isn’t bad at all. Chinese cuisine is the best thing for your body. The Peking roasted duck is muuuah.”
“Sounds good,” I said, “but lead me to the special fried rice, extra eggs, no onion. I’m good with that for sure.”
We laughed. He attempted to give us a quick tour around his place, but that wasn’t successful, because either he was being stopped for conversation or Jaylin stopped to holler at someone. I wasn’t sure where Shane had gone, until I looked high up on one of the staircases and saw him speaking to an attractive young woman in a sexy outfit that revealed her shapely curves. I wondered how in the hell Shane was concentrating on the conversation; it would be difficult for me to do. She reached out to touch his dreads then I saw him lean in closer to her ear. I couldn’t help but to think about his wife, Tiffanie, who obviously wasn’t here.
Jaylin nudged my arm to get my attention. “Let’s hit up the pool area. Some food is out there, too, and I want to introduce you to some more people.”
I followed him, checking out the smiles on so many women’s faces and enjoying the company I was in. Everybody kept telling me that they knew me from TV. They had plenty to say about Taye’s case, and it took nearly forty-five minutes to get outside, because I kept conversing with people and so did Jaylin. One female in particular wasn’t letting him breathe. She kept whispering in his ear and saying something that made him blush. She was bad, too, and with a short, layered haircut and sexy-ass brown eyes, she reminded me of his wife. I wondered if he’d thought the same thing too. I sensed that they knew each other. Well. The soft kiss he planted on her cheek said so, and the way she looked into his eyes made it pretty clear.
We finally moved to the crowded area where the pool was. I had never witnessed so many sexy women in bikinis in one place. Music thumped in the background and huge fire pits and torches lit up that backyard like we were somewhere in Hawaii. I finally got my special fried rice, and it was made by chefs who catered to everyone’s individual wants. Jaylin had the Peking duck, and as we took our seats in a lounging area, it wasn’t long before others joined us, particularly females. I barely had time to eat. Jaylin and I hadn’t said one word to each other, because we were indulged in conversations with women who had plenty of inquiries:
“What’s your name?”
“Where do you live?”
“What do you do? Are you marr
ied?”
“Why are you here? Weren’t you that famous lawyer on TV?”
“Are you interested?”
This was enough to swell any man’s head, and the compliments just kept on coming:
“You’re very handsome. I love your waves.”
“You smell so good.”
“You’re rocking that suit.”
“Your lips are so sexy.”
“Take your clothes off. Let’s go for a swim.”
I was blown away, and it had been a long time since I’d been to one of these parties. I wasn’t taking my clothes off to swim, but I did make the women feel comfortable with my conversation. We laughed, drank plenty of alcohol, and chowed down. One chick reached out to feed me teriyaki chicken on a stick.
“Oh my God. Jonathan, you have to taste this,” she said, already having the chicken close to my lips. “This is better than the cashew chicken, I promise.”
I tasted the teriyaki chicken. She was right. She went to get me more while the others stood around treating me as if I were a king. I couldn’t help but to look at Jaylin, who was looking at me, shaking his head. A smirk was on his face, and I certainly knew what that was all about. He got back to conversing with numerous women and men who were near him. The woman from earlier stood directly in front of him, as if she was attempting to keep distance between him and the others. I was surprised that he hadn’t moved her out of the way, but as close as her ass was to him, maybe he didn’t want her to move. I quickly thought about how Shane had disappeared. I hadn’t seen the brother since he was on the stairs.
“Jonathaaaan,” the lovely woman sang as she headed my way with more teriyaki chicken on a stick. “Open your mouth, sweetheart. Wide.”
I opened my mouth and had never received anything so juicy. I had to thank the woman, so I quickly kissed her on the lips for being so kind. Her eyes bugged. She smiled at me with polished white teeth.
“You’re welcome,” she said. “I hope to get more of that later.”
The way I felt, she absolutely would. I downed several more glasses of alcohol, and the last thing I remembered was being whisked away by the woman who fed me the chicken. After that, I didn’t remember shit.
Bright sun beamed through the wide windows in the bedroom, causing me to squint. I was awakened by soft knocks on the door. My body was aching so badly that I could barely get out of the bed to see who it was. A crisp white sheet covered me, and to my left was the woman I had come to the room with. To my right was another woman. I had no idea, whatsoever, who she was.
Trying not to wake them, I eased out of bed then searched around for my clothes. They were here and there. I snatched up my pants, and as I bent over to get them, my head throbbed. I squeezed it to soothe the pain, but the only thing that could help me right now was aspirin. The knock came again, so I hurried to put on my pants then I cracked the door open. Shane was on the other side with a crooked smile on his face.
“Hey, man. Can you wrap it up in about ten or fifteen minutes? We need to check out of here.”
“Yeah,” I said in a groggy tone. I cleared my throat, as something felt clogged in it. Maybe the chicken. “Give me a minute. I’ll be out there soon.”
I closed the door then looked at the two women in bed, lying naked. Empty bottles of alcohol were all over the place, pillows were on the floor with sheets, clothes, condoms, even food. I never thought I would be in a situation where I didn’t know what in the hell had occurred. This felt real awkward to me, and I was too old for this shit. Not only that, but I had a reputation to protect.
I tiptoed around the room, gathering my things. I couldn’t find my cell phone, but I soon spotted it in the corner, next to a trash can. I picked it up then tucked it into my pocket. Afterward, I looked out of the windows, seeing several people chilling by the pool. Jaylin was down there, fully dressed as he sat on a lounging chair with his cell phone up to his ear. Tinted shades covered his eyes, and, to no surprise, the same woman was lying next to him in a thong bikini. I backed away from the window, wondering if anyone had seen the action that had taken place in this room last night. With no walls, and mostly windows, I was sure somebody knew more than me.
I quietly opened the door to leave. When I glanced downstairs, the entire place looked as if a tornado had blown through it. It was a mess. Several people were still downstairs, and I spotted Shane close by the door. He was texting someone. I walked up, and seconds later he put his phone in his pocket.
“You ready?” he said.
“Ye . . . yeah. I think so.”
Shane grabbed my shoulder then squeezed it. “Are you all right? You look out of it. Do you need anything?”
“Some aspirin and a bed where I can stretch out. That’s what I need.”
“I’ll take care of that once we get back to Jay’s crib. Let me go get him. He’s ready to check out of here too.”
Shane walked away while I headed outside to get some fresh air. I stood on the wide porch that had stone columns bigger than the ones at the White House. I sucked in a heap of air then cocked my stiff neck from side to side. A row of expensive cars were parked in the curved driveway, so I made my way to Jaylin’s truck. As I leaned against it, I saw him and Shane exit the house. The woman who had been hanging on Jaylin like glue was close behind them. Before coming to the car, he turned to say something to her. Shane unlocked the doors, and we both got inside: me in the front, him in the back.
“So, I heard you had yourself a good time,” he said, patting me on the back.
“From what I can remember, yes, I did have a good time. What about you?”
“Always, my brotha. Mr. Chan knows how to throw a party.”
“Yes, indeed.”
Jaylin kissed the chick on her forehead, watching as she walked away. He then got in the car and straightened his shades. “Well, well, well,” he said. “John-John, you definitely went all out last night. Glad you had a good time. You certainly deserved to.”
“Like I told Shane, I had a superb time, but after going into that bedroom, I don’t remember shit.”
Jaylin laughed then drove off. “That’s because you had too much to drink. I saw you tossing back the Henny like it was water. I started to stop you, but you looked as if you were having a good time. I didn’t want to interfere; after all, you are a grown-ass man who is much older than me.”
I laughed at his jab. “Older and much, much wiser. You should have stopped me from tossing it back like that. I mean, the whole thing was wild. No more teriyaki chicken for me in a long time.”
“That’s what probably got you,” Shane said. “And trust me when I say people do spike the chicken.”
“Possibly. And all I’m saying is it’s odd that I can’t remember a thing. I don’t even know if I had sex, but I suspect that the two of you did.”
“What?” they said in unison.
“Y’all heard me. I observe my surroundings rather well. All I’m gon’ say is slick, slick, slick.”
“And all I’m gon’ say is wrong, wrong, wrong,” Shane said.
I turned to look at him. “Man, you did a disappearing act. Didn’t nobody see you all night. The last time I saw you, though, things were looking up. You can’t sit there and tell me you didn’t make a move with the chick you were conversing with on the stairs.”
Shane sat back and crossed his arms. “I should plead the Fifth, but the truth is we stepped away to talk about her ailing father. She got emotional and didn’t want others to see her cry. I was there for support.”
Jaylin snickered underneath his breath. I shook my head while calling Shane out. “Save that sob story for your wife. I’m not sure if she’ll buy that bullshit. Even I’m not convinced.”
“Well, it’s the truth. I keep telling y’all I’m capable of having conversations with beautiful women and not having sex with them. I don’t know why that’s so hard to believe.”
I looked at Jaylin. He shrugged. “Some men can, some men can’t,” he said. “And so
me men are some lying muthafuckas who need to quit.”
“Exactly,” I said.
Shane kept quiet on that subject and started to talk to Jaylin about the deal from yesterday. While that discussion took place, I reached for my phone to see if anyone had called. There were several text messages from my secretary, one message from Crissy, Sylvia had called, and so had Britney. I responded to all of them, saying that I was in Detroit and would call when I got home. After the last text, something alerted me to hit my camera button. I did, and immediately got the shock of my life. Pictures from last night appeared. I quickly swiped through all twenty-eight of them, feeling shameful. So shameful that I deleted the pictures. I didn’t say one word to Shane or Jaylin, and when we got back to his house, I was too hyped to go to sleep as planned. I did take some aspirin, but I lay in bed wondering if more pictures would surface.
Less than two days later, I returned to St. Louis. The shit hit the fan. Pictures from that night were blasted on the news, and I suspected they were all over the Internet. I sat stone-like on the edge of my bed, watching the news. One of my socks was in my hand and my jaw dropped as many people weighed in:
“How can you be an upstanding attorney like that and put yourself out there like this?”
“Jonathan Taylor has a sex addiction. He should be arrested for coaxing those young ladies into this.”
“Some of you may find these videos offensive. Please beware.”
“The attorney who was credited with putting two St. Louis police officers behind bars now finds himself in a sex scandal.”
My home phone started ringing off the hook. So did my cell phone. I thought I recognized the number, so I quickly answered it.
“Is this the attorney with the big dick? If so, I need some representation.”
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