Leo - Mr. Boss: The 12 Signs of Love (The Zodiac Lovers Series Book 8)

by Tiana Laveen

  “That makes for stronger, more focused couples. You’re divorced, Mr. Jordan. Sky told me your parents divorced when you were in your twenties, too. So, Black on Black love is not a guaranteed recipe for success. You’re proof of that. I work hard at everything I do in life, and I promise you, that I will work hard at this marriage, too. This time, I have the maturity and the wisdom to know a good thing when I see it, and Sky definitely fits the bill. I love your daughter with all of my being, Mr. Jordan. I would never try to hurt her or do anything to cause her harm. I mean that. I promise you that, okay? You raised a very smart, sweet young lady. She can take care of herself. I’m just blessed she let me come along for the ride.”

  Dad looked at Lazarist long and hard, then peeled off the lid of the clear Tupperware container.

  “All right… you’re a good speaker, you know that? Very persuasive. Like Bill Clinton and Obama. That’s a sure sign of a good liar, but I’ll go with it for now,” Dad said gruffly. “Sky said your birthday was in August… so was her mother’s. Leos are very persuasive… manipulative. Clinton and Obama are Leos, too. Gotta watch them.”

  Sky bit down a laugh and shook her head.

  My father is a real piece of work.

  “Zander… isn’t that a Jewish last name?”

  “Oh Lord…” Sky huffed. Lazarist burst out laughing. “Dad, don’t start!”

  “Yes, it is.”

  “You’re Jewish then… not White.”

  “Well, actually, that’s not true. Had my mother been Jewish, I’d be considered such, Mr. Jordan. My mother is half Italian and half Irish. My father is the one who is Jewish, and he is in fact White because his ancestors came from Europe—Russia, to be exact. There are Jews all over the world, and though I do understand the argument that it’s an ethnicity, that’s not the case here.”

  “I consider you Jewish,” Dad said dismissively as he jammed his fork into his chicken and took a few dedicated chews. “I like Jews.”

  Lazarist threw up his hands and shook his head.

  “All right, well, if that makes you feel better, you can call me Jewish. It was very nice meeting you today, Mr. Jordan.”

  “Likewise,” Dad said, keeping his nose in his food. “Sky, go on up to Connie over there in the chow line and get a couple of plates and forks. I want Lazarist to taste this…”

  Sky grinned and slowly got to her feet. Before she left the two alone, she dipped low and whispered in his ear, “He’s sharing his food with you. That means he likes you. Welcome to my insane family…”

  …A few weeks later

  FALLEN ANGEL WAS thumping, the music blaring as bodies swayed and bumped around to the beats of the guest DJ—DJ Destruction. Lazarist walked about, twirling his cane, the brown and white one with the ivory marble tip. He greeted his guests, shaking hands and feeling invigorated to see the crowd enjoying themselves, letting loose for the weekend. After a few minutes, Heathen approached him. That was strange…

  Heathen rarely left his post, but here he was, tapping his shoulder.

  “Boss, you gotta call downstairs,” he yelled over the music. “They say it’s important!” His heart thumped a bit harder.

  “Who is it?”

  “I don’t know.” Heathen shrugged. “I didn’t answer the phone. Ted just told me to come get you.”

  “All right.” He threw on a smile once again, greeted a couple others who came up to him as he was exiting, and quickly made his way out of the club and down the steps. He walked through the restaurant, where a patron yelled his name.

  “Mr. Zander! Can I have a word with you please?”

  Shit! Not now!

  Still, he turned back around and approached the man. “Hello, how can I help you, sir?”

  “I asked for my steak to be cooked medium rare, but it’s medium… just medium. This is unacceptable. I come here at least a few times a year and I need for your—”

  “Okay, sir, my apologies. In the future, if you have an issue with your meal or your experience here, that is something you tell your waitstaff, okay? Hold on.” He held up his finger. “I will get this straightened out.”

  Can’t believe this shit!

  Lazarist stormed into the kitchen, the doors swinging behind him.

  “Who is taking care of the guy at table 7?!”

  “Rita!” someone yelled.

  “Where is she? I didn’t see her out on the floor! Never mind! Look, I have an emergency and don’t have time for this shit right now. Someone needs to get out there, apologize to the guy, and redo his fucking steak. Offer his dinner for free, but only after he requests the check! Have I made myself clear?”

  “Yes!” several people shouted as he walked out of there.

  I’m not going to have him running up a tab if he knows in advance!

  Lazarist stormed off, making a beeline towards his office. He took notice of the red light flashing on his phone, indicating that a call was waiting. As he approached, he paused. His heart was beating so fast and hard, it hurt. He slid his cellphone out of his pocket and noticed several missed calls.

  Shit, I didn’t hear my phone…

  He approached his desk and took a deep breath before he answered.

  “Hello.”

  “I’ve been trying to call you!”

  “I know, Eliza, I’m sorry. I didn’t hear or feel my phone. I was in the club and—”

  “Dad is in the hospital in critical condition! He got a cut of some sort and it got infected. The infection got into his bloodstream.” Eliza was beside herself, falling apart on the phone. He heard it beginning to rain outside.

  “Okay… okay,” He swallowed, his world becoming fuzzy and gray. “What hospital is he at?”

  “Mount Sinai. I’m already here, but I can’t see him yet… I’m waiting in the lobby. They’re working on him now.”

  “Okay, stay put. I’m on my way!” Lazarist grabbed his coat and umbrella and headed out of the club.

  As he approached his car, he kept telling himself to ‘wake up.’ He felt trapped in some wild, strange dream…

  The man he both loved and hated was at death’s door…

  Guilt consumed him, tearing him apart. He threw himself behind the wheel and called Sky with a shaky hand.

  “Hi, baby!” she stated with glee. She was having a girls’ night with her friends over at Scarlet’s house.

  “Sky… Sky…” Tears began to fall from his eyes as he worked his car into drive and merged into traffic.

  “Wait a minute, y’all! Hold up! It’s too loud in here!” He could hear her practically running, then he heard a door close. “Okay, I can hear you better now, baby… Are you okay? You don’t sound okay.”

  “Sky, my father is at Mount Sinai in critical condition.”

  “Oh my God! Honey, what happened?!”

  “I’m not exactly sure, but he had some sort of infection and it got into his blood. I’m on my way there now.”

  “I’ll meet you over there!”

  “No… no. Please stay with your friends. I just…” His chest hurt so badly as the emotions built up and took him under. He felt as if he were drowning. “He tried to come over last week, Sky!” he cried out. “I told him to leave me the fuck alone, that I never wanted to see him again!” His throat burned as he screamed.

  Regret…

  Regret…

  Regret…

  “I turned my back on him and look what happened?! I coulda prevented this. I could have just—”

  “Lazarist, stop it! Don’t do this to yourself. This is not your fault! He was being verbally and emotionally abusive for years! You even let me hear a few of his voicemails to you and the words he said were some of the cruelest I’d ever heard! You put an end to it but that didn’t mean you didn’t love him! You tried everything in your power to help him. Don’t you dare blame yourself!”

  He dropped his head while the rain began to fall harder.

  “I’m coming to the hospital.”

  “Please just
… just stay where you are, okay, Sky? I’ll keep you updated.”

  There was a long silence on the other end.

  “Oh… okay. I love you, Lazarist. It’s going to be all right, okay?”

  “Yeah… okay. I love you, too.”

  He disconnected the call and hurried on his way, praying he’d make it in time to tell his father that he loved him, too, before it was too late…

  SCARLET STOOD IN her blue denim overalls and gray bodysuit beneath it. Her bleach blonde short cropped hair was swooped to the side as she leaned against the bar counter in her apartment, barefoot and sipping on some Sangria. The music was now turned low and the ladies were sitting around, the zest sucked out of the room like a vacuum. Scarlet picked up her joint and took a long drag, then placed it back down into the ashtray. Blowing smoke out the side of her mouth, she glared at Sky. Sky turned away, twiddling her thumbs, feeling broken up inside… not certain what to do with herself.

  “Sky, get ya coat on. I’m driving you over there.”

  “But he said—”

  “I don’t give a shit what he said. Look at you—you’re a mess. And men say shit like that all the time.” She slipped her feet into some nearby slides. “With what you told me about him and his father, he needs you there, trust me.”

  She took another swallow of her drink and set it down. “This man is your fiancé… the fucker you’re about to marry. I’m the Maid of Honor, and as your best friend, it is my duty to tell you right from wrong and what to do with your life.”

  Sky smiled ever so slightly, appreciative of Scarlet’s humor at such a somber time.

  “Thankfully, I’ve only had one glass of wine so far, so I’m good. If he’d called two hours from now I woulda be fucked up.” Toi and the others stood to their feet. “No, you all stay here. I’ll be back.” Scarlet waved at them. “I’m just gonna make sure Sky gets there okay, all right?” They all nodded and sat back down.

  Minutes later, she was sitting in Scarlet’s electric blue Toyota Camry while ‘Erase Me’ by Said the Sky played from the radio. The song was so relaxing, the beat mingling with the falling rain. The city was slick with lights and colors, rainbow oil from cars appearing in puddles along the way.

  “I know you blame yourself, too.”

  Scarlet rolled down her window a bit and lit a cigarette. Drops of rain came in, sprinkling on her face, but she didn’t seem to mind. “You encouraged him to cut that negativity loose.”

  Sky hung her head and cried. The truth hurt like hell!

  “I was just tryna help! Scarlet, what if he dies? I’ll never forgive myself. I gave him bad advice!”

  “You didn’t give him bad advice. Would you say you gave his ass bad advice if the Devil was knockin’ at the door and you told him not to let him in, huh? Sometimes our own parents are the fuckin’ worst! And you know I know all about that first hand!” Scarlet took a big long draw of her freshly lit cigarette, then tossed it out the open window and rolled it back up.

  The soothing music filled the air, but she felt so scared inside.

  “Let me tell you something, baby. I know that this is his father, and as God is my witness, I don’t wish death on nobody. Mental illness is a real life mothafuckin’ situation; It’s nothing to play with. But, this man had a bunch of people tryna help him yet he didn’t want it. He wanted to do shit on his own terms so because of that, here are the consequences. He has to deal with those now, too.”

  “You’re right… I know… but…” She sniffed, got ready to protest, but stopped short. She had to try and pull it together.

  “All of us, Sky, mentally unstable, emotionally abused, abandoned by parents, treated like shit by sisters and brothers, fucked up, drug addicts, alcoholics, people with daddy and mama issues, whatever the fuck we have going on—we still have to face the consequences for our actions. There comes a time in your life where you have to stop blaming everybody else for your fuck ups. When you know better, you have to lean on that truth. We’re grown! Even crazy people sometimes know right from wrong. Please don’t get it twisted. Some people use that shit as an excuse to get over… a crutch. They try and do shady shit and have people feel sorry for them. That’s bullshit.

  “My mother used to do that shit, Sky! Talk about how she got this and that goin’ on, blame it on her illness instead of taking responsibility that she chose to have all of us kids and left us abandoned time after time! Even in the courtroom, she wanted to talk to the judge about her messed up childhood, how hard she had it—fuck the six of us that she left in that apartment wit’ no damn heat! It was always all about her! Fuck when I told ’er all the shit that was happening. She knew it was wrong, but it was easier for her to say, ‘I’m sick’ and not do nothin’ else, to run away from her responsibilities.

  “She wasn’t sick when she was bringing all those men around me and my brothers and sister. She wasn’t actin’ sick when she was sellin’ drugs and counting everything up to perfection. She wasn’t sick when the social workers came over and she had the house spic and span all of a sudden, when just an hour prior everything was all torn up and we was wearing the same clothes for several days in a row. I get sick of all of these damn excuses!”

  Scarlet beat the steering wheel with a hard fist. “We’ve all been screwed over by life a time or two… we deal wit’ it! We can’t pick our parents. Lazarist didn’t pick his, you didn’t pick yours, and I didn’t pick mine. We got what we got. It’s our job to make the most out of the mess. I don’t know who my father is, and I had to just accept that and move on. Life happens. We still have to live it. I put my own ass through school! I’m a damn good beautician, own my own shop. I ain’t sell my pussy to do it, either!

  “You didn’t have it easy, either. Drug addict absentee mother and all, you still made it big and now you’ve worked with J-Lo and all kinds of people! People know your name! Lazarist had it good, then had it bad, all within the blink of an eye, and his ass is now a self-made multi-millionaire. Fuck mental illness, Sky! It’s a real mothafuckin’ thing—but there’s people that care and medication that can help. This ain’t 1889 when assistance was limited and people were getting experimental lobotomies! Makes no goddamn sense and that man was a big time lawyer! He had health insurance, for God’s sake.”

  Scarlet drew quiet from her rant for a spell, but Sky appreciated that her best friend knew she needed these words. This was the way she could get up and around from herself, be strong for her man.

  “It’s hard to not feel sorry though, Scarlet, for people with these sorts of conditions.”

  Scarlet rolled her eyes as she changed lanes, the rain finally slowing down.

  “You think if some crazy mothafucka went outside and shot up a school full of kids, those parents would give two fucks about him bein’ sick in the head? Nope! They’d want answers, like why in the hell wasn’t he locked up somewhere?! Why didn’t the school have more security? Shit like that. When the shit hits the fan, don’t nobody care ’bout shoulda, woulda, coulda, Sky. Don’t nobody care about what kinda childhood they had ’nd shit. The only people that care about that are the ones whose kids didn’t get shot in the goddamn head! I ain’t on that bullshit, and you know it.

  “Lazarist is a strong man, but that father of his is his weakness. He told you that out of his own mouth. He’s going to struggle with this, so you have to keep assuring him that he did the right thing, Sky, no matter what happens. After all of that shit with his ex-wife and now this, I know he is exhausted. It’s a damn shame!” Scarlet reached over and grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

  “Thank you, Scarlet. You’re a good friend… I needed to hear that. I just finished telling him to not beat himself up and now here I am, doing it to myself. It was just shocking, I guess.”

  “Yeah? Well, shock yourself back into reality and pull it together. We’re here… and he needs you.” Sure enough, they’d arrived at the hospital. Scarlet pulled into the visitor area and Sky got out of the car. “You want me to come in with
you, baby? I can park in the parking lot.” She pointed in that direction.

  “No, I’m good! You’ve helped enough!” Sky smiled sadly as she looked inside the car at her friend.

  “All right, call me and let me know how things are going when you can, okay?”

  “I will. I promise.” Sky leaned back inside the car. “You’re like… one of the best friends I could ever have!” Her voice trembled.

  “Bitch, that’s just the alcohol talkin’. Take yo’ raggedy ass in that hospital and go give your man a blow job or somethin’. He needs it so he can relax his nerves.”

  Sky burst out laughing and slammed the door. She could hear Scarlet laughing before she pulled away from the curb. After Scarlet’s car disappeared into the night, she let out a deep sigh and entered the hospital…

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  My vessel in Sickness and in Health

  TIME CRAWLED BY like a sleepy spider resting at a corner, between two walls…

  Lazarist pressed his head against the cold arm of the hospital chair, his eyelids heavy and burning with spent tears. Dad lay in the bed, his eyes closed, his complexion a deathly shade of blue. Tubes ran in all directions out of his nose and wrists.

  Eliza was on the phone in the lobby giving others the news. Much to his surprise, Mom was on her way. He didn’t believe she had any desire to see Dad, even though he was practically on his deathbed, but she said she was coming for him and Eliza, and that meant a hell of a lot. They’d finally allowed Lazarist back into the room after the first heavy dose of antibiotics started taking effect. Dad was now in stable condition, but the doctor explained things were still touch and go.

  He heard a familiar voice in the hall.

  “He’s over here? Oh… yes, thank you. Okay, I appreciate it.”