Darren walked over and took a seat in the black plush seats in front of Jordan’s desk.
“What brings you to see me today?” she asked.
“I was in the area, and I wanted to come ask you some questions face-to-face, but now that I’m here, I’m thinking I should’ve called instead.”
“Why?” Jordan asked, confused.
“Because I can’t have the serious conversation I need to have when I have to look at you.You look stunning.”
“Thank you, Darren, but that’s a bit insulting.You’re saying that I can’t do my job.”
“Not at all, I’m saying I can’t do mine,” he said, laughing.
Jordan was trying not to blush and remain professional.The truth was she hated when men made her gender and looks an issue in their business relationship.
“I apologize, Jordan. No disrespect intended,” Darren continued.
“I’ll try not to be offended. I’m your attorney; you can call, e-mail, or visit whenever you like ... and your compliments are not going to change your bill,” Jordan said, laughing to lift any tension that had settled.
Darren laughed back. “So let me get down to business, since I’m being billed for this time.”
“Might as well,” Jordan replied.
“Well, I just came from a meeting with the two other owners,and they have some ideas that differ significantly from mine. We discussed separating the company into different areas, and my funds would go solely to the things I agree with. Is that possible?”
Jordan was watching Darren and his mannerisms as he explainedhis situation. She couldn’t help but notice his muscular arms as he moved them and his beautiful teeth as his full lips moved over them. Once he was done, Jordan carried on like she wasn’t sizing him up in her mind.
“Well, Darren, it seems complicated but definitely possible. There will just have to be some agreements drafted to clarify the terms of what your partners and you decide upon.”
“So, should I arrange a meeting with them and have you present?
“That’s fine. I would suggest they have their attorneys there too.”
“OK, so I will talk to them and get back to you with a date.”
“Sounds perfect. Let me know and I’ll have my secretary lock it up in my calendar.”
Darren began to stand and walk toward the door.
“Great, so I’ll be in touch.Thanks for your time,” he said as he made his way toward the door.
“No problem. Speak to you soon,” Jordan said as she watched Darren walk out of her office.
She put her head down and began drafting some notes from their discussion to put in their files, as she was trained to do.
“Jordan?” she heard, and she looked up.
Darren was back in the doorway.
“I hope this isn’t out of line, but I was wondering if I could take you to lunch one day.”
“Darren, I don’t date my clients.”
“It wouldn’t be a date, it would be lunch. Besides, you do a great job as my attorney, so please don’t tempt me to find another,”Darren said with a smirk.
“I don’t take too kindly to threats,” Jordan said with a smile.
“Not a threat at all. It’s a plea.”
“Well, if it’s not a date, I’ll consider it. Call me tomorrow and we’ll set a day.”
“Will do,” Darren said as he walked away again.
After watching him until he was no longer in sight, she put her pen back in motion. She had to finish her summary of his visit, leaving out the last part.
11
Her arm flung from underneath the covers and plopped down on the nightstand, searching for the alarm clock. The unique laugh of Shaila from the KISS FM morning show was blaring through the speaker. She felt around until she locatedthe oval-shaped alarm clock and instinctively pushed the SNOOZE button. Once silence resumed in the room, Jordan nestled back up under her covers. As she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to make the most of the extra ten minutes she assignedherself, she let out a sneeze. She tried to shake it off and get nestled again, but after a few seconds she decided to get her dreadful wake up over with.
She lifted her feet from under the blankets and dragged her body into a sitting position on the side of her bed.The sunlight danced across her lavender carpet. Jordan just watched the variations of light on her bedroom floor. Her carpet was a daily reminder of all the change in Jordan’s life. She had always wanted a purple and lavender bedroom, but had never been able to get one. When she married Omar, he refused to have purple and lavender in his master bedroom, so she put the petty issue aside. However, once the divorce was final and Omar was completely moved out, she hired a designer to come in and make her room over. Years ago, Jordan heard Oprah say that her bedroom was purple, and purple was known to be the color for royalty; so she finally had her royal bedroom. She knew chances were that she wouldn’t have Oprah’s money in her lifetime, but she could have her bedroom.
Once she was done daydreaming about her lavender carpet,she finally stepped onto it and off her bed. She slowly walked into the bathroom and began to freshen up for the morning. Jordan had been planning for weeks to start running again in the mornings, but she just couldn’t seem to find the motivation.This morning, though, she was going to get her lazy butt out there and hit the pavement. Jordan wasn’t overweight, but she could definitely use some tightening up, and she wanted to tackle it before it got out of hand.
She put on her black-and-red-striped spandex shorts and sports bra with a wifebeater and headed out her front door and down her street. She tilted from side to side as she started her light run down her street. She was still breathing pretty light by the time she reached her corner, and that’s where she made a turn and began to speed it up some. She kept her arms by her side, pulling them in and out as she has seen the professionalrunners do. She went two blocks at that speed and began to slow down. She could feel her heartbeat racing and her breathing heavy, but she didn’t feel that familiar burning sensationin her chest that usually let her know she’d reached her peak.
She turned down Pineville Road and began to walk some. She wanted to pace herself so she could pick it back up at the corner ahead. Jordan’s attention was grabbed by a woman holding the hand of a young boy crossing the street. The little boy was about Jason’s age, and Jordan couldn’t help but feel a wave of guilt that she wasn’t there to hold her son’s hand every morning. To distract her, she started switching the song on her iPod and stopped at “Lose Control” by Ciara, Missy, and Fatman Scoop, one of her favorite workout songs. She walked and sang along as she passed by all the nice houses in her neighborhood.Up ahead there was a U-Haul truck with the back opened. Jordan thought nothing of it. She noticed the door open to the house it was parked in front of, but it was a few houses ahead, so she turned away to glance at the car passing by. As she went to look back straight ahead, she found herself bumping right into a man stepping from behind some bushes.
“Oo-oops,” Jordan said.
“I’m sorry,” said the man.
Jordan backed away to put room between them and get a clear view of the man in front of her. He was six feet with a muscular build, brown skinned, with light brown eyes and black wavy hair. He was a good-looking guy for sure, not the manicured magazine type, but something about his piercing eyes was mesmerizing. He was wearing a pair of basketball shorts, a fitted white T-shirt, and some Timberland boots. Sweat was nestled all over his face and neck, and his shirt appeared damp as well.
Jordan pulled her headphones out of her ears.
“That was my fault. I should’ve been paying attention,” she said.
“Well, how about you make it up to me by letting me run with you.”
“When? Now?”
“Now, or the next time you go for a sprint.”
“That sounds fair, although I don’t know how putting you to work is making it up to you, but if that’s your wish ...”
“I like to be put to work, so it’s not a p
roblem. Besides, I need to get to know the neighborhood.”
“You just moving in?”
“Yeah, as we speak,” he said, pointing to the truck behindher.
“Oh, duh ...” she said, laughing.
“Well, what’s your name? It was a pleasure to bump into you.”
“Jordan.Yours?”
“Marcus.”
“Well, it was nice bumping into you too, Marcus. I guess I’ll see you around the neighborhood.”
“Well, maybe we should exchange numbers so we can arrange that run.”
“OK,” Jordan said, sounding more sure about the plan than she actually was.
Jordan wasn’t the type to give out her number, especially when she was seeing someone. She knew there was no real harm until there’d been actual phone conversations, but she alwaysfelt it was the beginning of trouble. She was standing there, well aware it was too late to chicken out now, and giving the wrong number wasn’t an option because she was sure to see him again sooner or later. Besides, with the way Jayon had been acting lately, she had every right to make a new friend; he wasn’t being much of one lately. It didn’t hurt that Marcus was handsome and had a real nice body; a friend that was nice to look at was always a treat.
Marcus had whipped out his cell phone and began typing her name in his address book. Once he was done, he asked for her number, and she began to read it aloud to him as she typed his name in her cell phone. Once he was done typing in hers, she typed in his, and they began to wrap it up. Just as Jordan was putting her headphones back in her ears, Marcus joked that if she didn’t keep her promise within the week, he was going to press charges against her for bumping into him. Jordanjust laughed, thinking he didn’t know she was an attorney and would eat him alive. As she jogged off, she made sure she had her running form just perfect and cute, so in case he was watching he would be looking forward to running beside her in all her glory.
By the time she turned the corner, she couldn’t seem to remove the smirk from her face. Marcus was fine, and although she didn’t know much about him just yet, she knew that he was just what she needed to get her focus off Jayon and his crap. A new friend always helped; she knew that firsthand.
12
The office door was open, and Jayon got up to close it. He had just dialed Randi’s number and was waiting for her to answer. Randi had called him twice yesterday, and he was startingto feel like she was getting too comfortable and could likely cause some questions by Jordan if she didn’t stop. He was tryingto get ahold of her so that he could politely remind her of the rules of their arrangement.
Her voice mail came on, and he left her a message asking her to call him back. Once he hung up the phone, he went back to work. He was sitting there when he noticed his BlackBerrylight up. He went to look and there was an e-mail from a colleague asking if he had received their e-mail. Jayon thought about it and didn’t recall an e-mail from them. He searched their name and found that there was an e-mail from them, sent the day before while he was at Jordan’s house. He went back to that time of day, and there were three opened e-mails that Jayon had never seen. He took a few moments to try to understandhow that could be, and then it crossed his mind that Jordan could’ve checked them.
Jayon heard a knock on his office door.
“Come in,” he shouted.
His doorknob turned and in walked his colleague, Carl.
“What’s up?” Carl said as he went to close the door behindhim.
“No, you can leave it open,” Jayon said.
“So what’s been going on with you? You have been in and out of the office, and when you’re here you’ve been keeping to yourself.”
“It’s just been crazy these past couple of months, and I have been trying to get some shit together.”
“Is everything OK?”
“Yeah, just issues with Jordan, and I had some issues with some of my big accounts, so I had to take a lot of meetings.”
“Well, if you need me to help with any of your work or anything, let me know. Unfortunately, I can’t help you with Jordan,” Carl said with a giggle.
Jayon giggled back, and then began to think a bit.
“Maybe you can,” he said.
“How?” Carl said quickly.
“Give me your advice.”
“Oh,” Carl said, relieved that it wasn’t some freaky favor.
“OK, I haven’t been faithful these past few months—” Jayon started.
“Aww man, you been stepping out on Jordan? You guys are so good together,” Carl interrupted.
“I know. I can’t even say why, because it’s just been for the sake of doing it, for the fun. Thing is, since I’ve started I haven’t been the same with her, and she can sense it, and we are falling apart. I’m wondering if I should let it go before it gets worse, or come clean with her and try to start all over.”
“That’s a hard one. The chances of you coming clean and still being able to start over are slim.”
Jayon just tapped his pen on his desk. “I know,” he said in a low tone.
“I almost cheated on my wife a year ago. I came real close to it, and I didn’t go through with it. There was no reason for me to. Me and her was just fine, and I was only doing it becausethat’s what us men are supposed to do, I guess. I chose against it, and I considered telling my wife and telling her how strong I was by walking away from it. Still, even though I didn’t do it, I knew I couldn’t even tell her I came that close to it without opening the door for mad drama, so I kept it to myself.”
“I know. Jordan claims she wants honesty no matter what and then she can forgive me, but I have been such an asshole lately, she may just be through.”
“Jayon, you and Jordan have years behind you. If you straighten up and make it up to her, I’m sure you can move past this low point.”
“Thanks, man, I’m going to stop messing around and try to make everything up to her.”
“You better get it together before you lose your job and then you have no job and no woman,” Carl said.
As Jayon was lightening up more each moment that his buddy Carl spent with him, taking his mind off everything, his cell phone started to ring. Jayon picked it up and saw that it was Randi returning his call.
“I’m going to take this call,” Jayon said to Carl as he waved the phone for him to see.
“Aight,” Carl said as he stood up to exit.
“I’ll be right by your office as soon as I’m off.”
Jayon answered his phone as he nodded to Carl to go ahead and close the door behind him.
“Hey there. What’s up?” Randi asked.
“Nothing, just wanted to talk to you.”
“OK, so talk.”
“Well, as you know, me and Jordan have been talking about getting engaged, and even though it won’t be this month, I think we should chill out.”
“What do you mean?” Randi said, not seeming to like what she was hearing.
“I’m just saying that things have been too hectic, and I think it’s best me and you just remain friends.”
“Friends ... OK, Jayon, whatever.”
“No, I’m serious.We can even still hang out or whatever, I just don’t want us to be physical anymore, because I don’t want Jordan to find out.”
“Whatever you wish,” Randi said.
Jayon could tell that she was being a bit sarcastic, but he couldn’t pay that any extra attention. He just had to make his point clear, and since he had done that, nothing else mattered. They continued making small talk for a few more moments, although it was a little awkward at first. They gossiped about Randi’s job where Jayon used to work and then wrapped the conversation up after a while.
Jayon felt a lot better knowing that he was doing the right thing. He knew that he had been a different person in his relationship,and he knew that Jordan was trying her best to stick by him. He didn’t know exactly why he had been so difficult and uncaring, but he knew that it was a major change in Jordan’s eyes, and he did fe
el guilty on occasion for putting her through all the drama. Jayon also knew that he couldn’t fix anything overnight, but he figured if he could at least stop cheating, maybe he could focus more on what mattered and not everythingelse.
Jayon was going to make his way down to Carl’s office when his secretary popped her head in his office and told him Jordan was on the line. Speaking of the devil, Jayon thought to himself. He pressed the blinking button on his phone and picked up the receiver.
“Hey, dear,” Jayon said.
“Hey,” Jordan said, trying not to let his almost upbeat demeanorfool her.
“How’s work today? Did you finish that contract?”
“Yes, I finished. The record label is reviewing it now,” Jordanreplied.
Jayon remembered his earlier discovery with the opened e-mails.
“Babe, question, just asking, have you been checking my e-mails in my BlackBerry?”
“Why you ask me that?” Jordan said, getting a bit defensive.
“I had some e-mails that were open that I didn’t read, and I don’t see how they were opened.”
“Whatever, Jayon,” Jordan said.
“Yes or no?”
“I may have had your BlackBerry once or twice when an e-mail came in, and it opened.”
Jordan was never good at lying, so although her story was somewhat sensible, her tone said that she wasn’t telling the truth.
“It’s cool, Jordan; I know you were checking my e-mails. I’m not even going to flip out, but let me just tell you that’s not cool.”
“Not cool, really?”Jordan said. “Is it cool that you are constantlysneaking around and lying to me?”
“Jordan, you haven’t caught me lying to you. That is in your imagination.”
“It’s not in my imagination.You have girls e-mailing and calling you, and who knows what else is going on.”
“See, Jordan, you can’t be invading my privacy because you are being insecure.”
Jordan hated that word insecure. She never wanted to be labeled that insecure woman. In Jordan’s opinion, she had it going on way too much to be insecure, yet Jayon was able to make her behave in some insecure ways.
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