by Goss, Shelia
“Wait a minute. It’s coming to me. I was laying here. You were standing over there.” She picked up a pillow and hit him upside the head. “We didn’t do anything. And you would have had me thinking we did.”
Garrett leaned up on one elbow. “A man can dream can’t he?”
“You’re so silly. Well I can’t stay in the bed all day and I suggest you put some clothes on because I’m not trying to go there.”
“That’s not what you were saying last night.”
She grabbed her robe on the floor and put it on. “That was then. This is now. Now I want you dressed and out of my bedroom.”
“A man’s job is never done.”
“Keep your day job because your jokes aren’t funny.”
“Ha. Ha.”
Hailey left Garrett in the bed. She went to the bathroom and took a long hot bath. Garrett was fully dressed and downstairs by the time she finished taking a bath. She threw on a jogging suit and was surprised to smell food coming from the kitchen when she headed down the stairs.
“I think I might keep you around,” she said, as she picked up a piece of bacon to taste it.
“Only returning the favor, but I don’t want anything from you.” He winked his eyes.
Hailey pulled up a chair and sat down. “I told you, you need to leave the jokes to the comedians.”
Garrett sat down across from her. “I hope you like the eggs. I didn’t have all of the ingredients to make an omelet, so these will have to do.”
“I just noticed you aren’t wearing that suit.”
“I had some extra clothes in the trunk of my car.”
“I forgot who I was talking to. Playa, playa,” Hailey teased.
“Ex-player,” Garrett corrected her.
“That’s what you say,” Hailey said in between bites.
“It’s what I mean. I’m ready to settle down with one woman.”
“I’ll believe that when I see it. You’ve always had multiple women ever since I’ve known you.”
“That’s because I was waiting on you.”
Hailey almost spit out her juice. “There you go again with the jokes.”
“What if I was serious?” He stopped eating and stared into her eyes.
“I’ll pretend like we didn’t have this conversation. Now pass me the butter. I will have to work out an extra hour to get rid of these calories anyway, so I might as well enjoy myself.”
She chuckled every time she thought about what Garrett said. Garrett, serious. Yeah right.
***
Hailey thought he was joking, but one day she would learn that he was dead serious. His attraction to her was far beyond anything he had ever experienced. It was more than a physical attraction and if she could get over her fantasy of being with Trevon, she would be able to see it.
Once Brenda arrived, he didn’t hang around long. Hailey seemed to be in deep thought and he had a lot to deal with himself. Brenda’s arrival saved him from confessing his other feelings. As he drove away, he turned on his cell phone. He put his Bluetooth in his ear and listened to his fifteen messages. Most of the messages were either from Trevon or Shareeka; both pissed off at him for bringing Hailey.
His phone clicked but he didn’t recognize the number. He answered just in case it was a client. “Man, you dead wrong,” Trevon yelled from the other end.
“You sound like a woman, complaining like you do,” Garrett said.
“You trying to punk me. Man you know how I feel about Hailey. How long has this been going on?”
Garrett laughed.
“I don’t see anything funny. You owe me man. I thought you were my boy.”
“I am. I’m taking Hailey off your hands so you can concentrate on your wife to be.”
“Meet me at the spot. We need to settle this.”
“It’s already settled. What Hailey and I do is my business?”
“You don’t even want her man. You’re just using her like you use the rest of those women.”
“No brother. You get the award for using Hailey.”
He hung up on Trevon because he was tired of hearing him curse him out. He would deal with Trevon later as in tomorrow at the office. He planned on relaxing for the rest of the day. The sight of Shareeka’s car in his driveway put a damper on those plans.
Garrett pulled his car up beside hers and rolled down his window. “You need to go check on your man and leave me alone.”
“You’re an asshole,” she yelled.
“So I’ve been told,” he said, as he opened up his garage door and parked his car next to his SUV.
The garage door almost hit Shareeka on top of the head as she ran to get up under it before it closed.
“I’ve been calling you all morning.”
“I got your messages.” He went inside of his house. She followed.
He walked to the front door and opened it. “If you don’t want me to call your fiancé, I suggest that you leave right now.”
“What is it about her? Am I not pretty enough? Is it because I’m short? What?.”
Garrett felt sorry for her. “Apparently Trevon loves you or he wouldn’t have asked you to marry him. Be satisfied with that and stop comparing yourself to Hailey.”
“So when did it happen?”
Garrett looked at her as if she was crazy. “What are you talking about?”
“When did you fall in love with Hailey too?”
“First of all, it’s none of your business who I’m in love with but for the record, I’m not in love with her or any other woman for that matter.”
“No wonder I didn’t stand a chance,” she said, as she walked to the door and stood in the doorway, inches away from him.
“You didn’t stand a chance because you’re a cheater and I could never fall in love with a cheater.”
He gently pushed her out the door, closed it and locked it. He heard her let out a few obscenities.
“I swear you and Tre deserve each other,” Garrett said, out loud about Trevon and Shareeka.
II
It’s All About Love
~ 15 ~
“Looks like I missed out on a good party. Too bad I had to substitute for someone on another assignment at the last minute,” Brenda said, as she handed Hailey the newspaper.
Hailey looked at the pictures and read the captions. She scanned the article to see if any of the drama she experienced had been mentioned. Fortunately, it wasn’t. “It was okay. You didn’t miss much.”
Brenda looked over the rim of her glasses. “Now, I really wish I would have been there.”
The buzzer on the gate sounded. “I wasn’t expecting anyone,” Hailey said, as she stood to go view the person at the gate. A truck driver was ringing the buzzer. “Were you expecting a delivery?” she asked Brenda.
“No.” Brenda reached for her gun. “Let me go check it out. Watch me on the monitor. If anything happens, hit the alarm button so it’ll automatically lock all the doors and alert the police.”
Hailey tried not to panic. It was only a delivery truck. She watched Brenda on the monitor. She was relieved to see Brenda walk back to the house carrying a brown envelope. She met her at the door.
“When did they start delivering on Sundays.”
“Well, looks like your fan is at it again.”
“I knew it had been too quiet lately.”
Brenda reactivated the alarm. They went to Hailey’s office and sat at the table. “I need a pair of scissors.”
Hailey looked through her desk until she found a pair of scissors. She watched as Brenda tore open the brown envelope. “Looks like your fan has turned it up a notch.” Brenda took out her cell phone and made a phone call.
Hailey picked up the pictures of her and saw the words written in red across her face with the words D-i-e B-i-a-t-c-h. She shivered. She threw the pictures back on the table.
She waited for Brenda to get off the phone. Brenda said, “I wasn’t able to reach Garrett, so Trevon is on his way over. We’re go
ing to see if we lift some fingerprints. In the meantime, I need to see if I can track the sender of the package with this tracking number.”
Trevon was the last person she wanted to see; but then again, this might be divine intervention. It was meant for Trevon to come over. She went upstairs and changed into something more alluring as they waited for Trevon to arrive.
Brenda was just as surprised as Trevon to see Hailey come in the room with a white pants suit on.
“Trevon,” Hailey said, as she walked over to him and gave him a friendly hug.
Trevon didn’t respond to her gesture. He looked at the defamed pictures and said, “I’m taking these with me so I can test them out at our lab.”
“What do you think it means?” Hailey asked.
“Fortunately, they haven’t resorted to doing anything but send things in the mail; but we don’t want to take a chance. The sooner we find out who is behind it, the safer you’ll be.”
“Scare me more will you,” Hailey responded, as she wrapped her arms around herself.
“GT Securities will ensure your safety. Trust me,” Trevon responded. He looked at Brenda. “Can you leave us alone for a few minutes?”
“Sure, you’re the other boss man.” Brenda gathered up a folder and left the room.
Hailey couldn’t look at him. “She didn’t have to leave.”
“You should have stayed away.”
“If I didn’t know better, I would think you sent those pictures to me, to stop me from telling your fiancé that we’ve been knocking boots.”
Trevon grabbed her arm. “You know better than that. I will do whatever I can to protect you; but you need to stay clear of Shareeka.”
“Why are you really here Tre?”
“Because I care about you and I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“If you cared so much, you wouldn’t be marrying another woman. Tell her you changed your mind. You still have time,” Hailey persisted.
“I wish it was that simple,” he responded.
“In that case, I must do something I should have done the moment I got the invitation in the mail. As of this moment, we are no longer friends. I would prefer it if Garrett handled my case. I will only deal with you if he’s busy, understood.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“For the first time in a long time, all is clear. You made your choice. Peace be with you.”
Hailey left Trevon in the room to ponder what she said. Once on the other side of the room, she exhaled. She glanced at herself in the mirror. On the outside, it looked like she had it all together, but here she was suffering from low self-esteem. That’s what it had to be; otherwise, she would not be allowing Trevon or any other man to treat her the way he has treated her. She was vowing off men unless they served her purposes.
***
Garrett tossed and turned the entire night. Images of Hailey invaded his mind and groin. The shades he wore hid the bags under his eyes. He spoke to patrons as he made his way to his office. Caroline wasn’t at her desk, so he slipped into his office hoping to avoid an inquisition. He flipped the light switch and stopped in mid-step when Trevon swirled his chair around.
“About time you got here,” Trevon said.
Garrett took off his jacket and placed it on a rack. “I didn’t know I was on a time clock.”
Trevon stood and walked around the table. He didn’t sit but instead paced the floor.
He did his best to ignore him. He sat on the edge of the conference table, waiting on Trevon to make his next statement.
“I bet you’ve been feeding Hailey stories about me haven’t you?”
Garrett shook his head. “Man, you got issues. I have a number to a psychiatrist and I’m sure she’ll get you in today.”
“Everthing’s a joke to you. You supposed to be my boy, but you’re nothing but a backstabber.”
He stood up so that he and Trevon were face to face. “I’ve entertained you because I know you’re going through some things, but let that be the last time you raise your voice at me. I’m not your child.”
“What ever. Stay away from Hailey.”
“If you were so concerned about her, you wouldn’t be marrying some other woman. Now get the hell out of my face.” Garrett stared him in the face and walked around him towards his desk.
“This is just like senior year. You knew I wanted to take Pam to the prom, but you went behind my back and asked her.”
Garrett couldn’t believe what he was hearing. That happened ages ago and he was still holding a grudge. “If memory serves me correctly, it was your suggestion that I ask.”
“I was kidding and you know it.”
He shook his head. “You need to grow up. It’s a doggone shame for a thirty year old man to act like you do.”
“Leave her alone. She’s vulnerable right now. You’re the last thing she needs in her life.” Trevon backed off and started to sound defeated.
Garrett wanted to smack him but knew it wouldn’t do any good. He was beginning to question their friendship on many occasions. He realized Trevon had always been selfish and would probably never change. Their friendship was hanging on a thin thread. He refused to let Trevon and his rants stress him out.
“Let’s make a pact. You stay out of my business and I’ll stay out of yours.”
“One day somebody is going to knock that smug look off your face.”
Garrett stared him in the eyes and said, “Well today’s not the day, so I would suggest you go call that pretty fiancé of yours and let me get some work done.”
Garrett didn’t look at Trevon anymore. He knew he was still standing there, but he continued to ignore him. Trevon said a few obscenities. Garrett didn’t look up until he heard Caroline say, “There you are. I have those reports you wanted.”
Trevon snatched the folders from her and stormed out the room. Caroline looked at Garrett. He shrugged his shoulders. “This doesn’t have anything to do with Saturday night does it?” she asked.
“Ask him,” he responded.
“I always thought you and Hailey made a better couple than Trevon, but you know I try to keep my comments to myself.”
He booted up his computer. “Since when?”
Caroline walked and closed the door. “I didn’t want to say anything, but Shareeka’s left several messages on the answering service for you. She didn’t use her name, but she’s called here enough for Trevon that I know her voice.”
“I’m sure it was nothing.” Garrett pretended to be viewing the computer screen.
“I could tell Saturday night, she wasn’t too thrilled to see Hailey there.”
“For someone trying to stay out of other folks business, you’re not doing too good.” Garrett chuckled.
“Looks like the chicken has come to roost.”
“Say what?” Garrett asked. Caroline was always coming up with some stupid saying.
“Trevon is finally getting a dose of his own medicine. Here all this time I thought you were the player. At least you let the women know you weren’t ready for a commitment.”
“Finally, someone on my side.”
The phone rang interrupting the rest of the conversation. “I guess I better get back to my desk, before my boss fires me.”
“You better,” he said, right before answering. “GT Securities.” He paused. “Hold please.” He transferred the call to his accounting department.
He thought about some of the things Trevon said about Hailey. Would he be able to leave Hailey along? Did he want to leave her alone? Those questions and many more filled his mind as he sat behind his computer desk staring at the blue screen.
~ 16 ~
It was a typical Monday around the studio. To Hailey’s relief, nothing out of the ordinary happened. Brenda worked with Bach and his team on screening her mail and she went about her duties as if all was normal.
The guests arrived on time and the studio audience cheered for her when she arrived on the set. The show taped without
a hitch. Her life to the outside world appeared to be perfect. After the taping, she returned to her office and surfed the internet. She googled herself and found out what some of the online gossip columnists were saying about her. Some of her colleagues avoided the gossip sites, but not her. She wanted to read what folks were saying about her. Sometimes it did upset her when the information was false, but for the most part, she blew things off.
She even had a few sites bookmarked for quick views like the popular Mad News, Brown Sista and Mrs. Grapevine blogs. She giggled when she saw the entry about her in JoJo’s Journal on the eSpot – Entertainment News blog. I guess Shareeka wasn’t the only one who thought she had gained a few extra pounds.
She attempted to access her fan site several times but she kept getting an error message. She called her assistant. “Jackie, can you find out why my fansite is down?” A video of her lounging around in a skimpy bikini begins to play. “What the…”
Jackie comes in the room. “I had our IT person check it out. I hate to tell you this, but someone hacked the site. He’s going to take it completely down for now.”
“Tell him don’t do anything just yet. I’ll send Brenda down to talk to him.” She called Brenda and relayed the information, while Jackie called IT.
There went the uneventful day. Less than an hour later, Brenda, Bach, John and Garrett sat across from her in the conference room. “We spoke with IT and it seems like someone hacked your site and sent the picture to everyone that was signed up on your site,” Bach said.
“At least I wasn’t totally nude.” She tried to look on the bright side of things. “It could have been worse.”
Brenda added, “We’re tracing the IP address now to see where the problem originated.”
“In layman’s terms please,” John insisted.
Garrett responded, “With an IP address, we can identify the person or location of the computer.”
“Hallelujah. My troubles are almost over,” Hailey said, as she held her hands up.
“Now, calm down. We don’t know if it’ll lead to the person directly. It’s possible that they used someone else’s computer or one in a public place,” Garrett said.
