“That’s what you say,” Eva 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.”
Eva 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 Garth said. Garth, serious. Yeah right.
***
Eva 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 Trevor, she would be able to see it.
Once Brenda arrived, he didn’t hang around long. Eva 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 Trevor or Cheryl; both pissed off at him for bringing Eva.
His phone clicked but he didn’t recognize the number. He answered just in case it was a client. “Man, you dead wrong,” Trevor yelled from the other end.
“You sound like a woman, complaining like you do,” Garth said.
“You trying to punk me. Man you know how I feel about Eva. How long has this been going on?”
Garth laughed.
“I don’t see anything funny. You owe me man. I thought you were my boy.”
“I am. I’m taking Eva 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 Eva 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 Eva.”
He hung up on Trevor because he was tired of hearing him curse him out. He would deal with Trevor later as in tomorrow at the office. He planned on relaxing for the rest of the day. The sight of Cheryl’s car in his driveway put a damper on those plans.
Garth 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 Cheryl 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?.”
Garth felt sorry for her. “Apparently Trevor loves you or he wouldn’t have asked you to marry him. Be satisfied with that and stop comparing yourself to Eva.”
“So when did it happen?”
Garth looked at her as if she was crazy. “What are you talking about?”
“When did you fall in love with Eva 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,” Garth said, out loud about Trevor and Cheryl.
~ 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 Eva the newspaper.
Eva 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,” Eva 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.”
Eva 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 Eva’s office and sat at the table. “I need a pair of scissors.”
Eva 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.
Eva 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 Garth, so Trevor is on his way over. We’re going 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.”
Trevor was the last person she wanted to see; but then again, this might be divine intervention. It was meant for Trevor to come over. She went upstairs and changed into something more alluring as they waited for Trevor to arrive.
Brenda was just as surprised as Trevor to see Eva come in the room with a white pants suit on.
“Trevor,” Eva said, as she walked over to him and gave him a friendly hug.
Trevor 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?” Eva 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,” Eva responded, as she wrapped her arms around herself.
“GT Securities will ensure your safety. Trust me,” Trevor 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.
Eva 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.”
Trevor grabbed her arm. “You know better than that. I will do whatever I can to protect you; but you need to stay clear of Cheryl.”
“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 wo
man. Tell her you changed your mind. You still have time,” Eva 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 Garth 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.”
Eva left Trevor 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 Trevor or any other man to treat her the way he has treated her. She was vowing off men unless they served her purposes.
***
Garth tossed and turned the entire night. Images of Eva 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 Trevor swirled his chair around.
“About time you got here,” Trevor said.
Garth took off his jacket and placed it on a rack. “I didn’t know I was on a time clock.”
Trevor 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 Trevor to make his next statement.
“I bet you’ve been feeding Eva stories about me haven’t you?”
Garth 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 Trevor 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 Eva.”
“If you were so concerned about her, you wouldn’t be marrying some other woman. Now get the hell out of my face.” Garth 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.”
Garth 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.” Trevor backed off and started to sound defeated.
Garth wanted to smack him but knew it wouldn’t do any good. He was beginning to question their friendship on many occasions. He realized Trevor had always been selfish and would probably never change. Their friendship was hanging on a thin thread. He refused to let Trevor 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.”
Garth 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.”
Garth didn’t look at Trevor anymore. He knew he was still standing there, but he continued to ignore him. Trevor said a few obscenities. Garth didn’t look up until he heard Caroline say, “There you are. I have those reports you wanted.”
Trevor snatched the folders from her and stormed out the room. Caroline looked at Garth. 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 Eva made a better couple than Trevor, 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 Cheryl’s left several messages on the answering service for you. She didn’t use her name, but she’s called here enough for Trevor that I know her voice.”
“I’m sure it was nothing.” Garth pretended to be viewing the computer screen.
“I could tell Saturday night, she wasn’t too thrilled to see Eva there.”
“For someone trying to stay out of other folks business, you’re not doing too good.” Garth chuckled.
“Looks like the chicken has come to roost.”
“Say what?” Garth asked. Caroline was always coming up with some stupid saying.
“Trevor 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 Trevor said about Eva. Would he be able to leave Eva 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 Eva’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 Cheryl 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 Garth 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.
Garth responded, “With an IP address, we can identify the person or location of the computer.”
“Hallelujah. My troubles a
re almost over,” Eva 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,” Garth said.
“I’m sure you’ll get to the bottom of it. I’m confident in GT Securities.” Eva stood up. “Brenda, will you be accompanying me on my interview at Hotel Bel-Air?”
Brenda looked at Garth. Garth responded, “I’ll go with you. I want Brenda to follow up on the IP report.”
“Let’s go. I’m already running late.”
John said, “See what I have to deal with.”
“Oh I can handle her.” Garth teased.
Eva waited by the door and patted her foot. “Step. Step.”
Garth opened the door. “After you.”
***
Eva wished Brenda would have come with her instead of Garth. Garth sitting in the corner pretending to be invisible made her nervous. She was already nervous interviewing for the People magazine article. The ride over to the hotel lobby went smoothly only because they both avoided talking about anything personal. They spent the ride talking about her fan website and making small talk about the weather and traffic.
The brown-haired female reporter pulled out a tape recorder and asked her several generic questions to ease the tension. “I learned earlier today that someone hacked into your fan website. Is that true and how do you feel about it?”
Eva responded, “It’s true and I apologize to my fans for having to endure receiving the mass email that was sent out about it. We have people working to resolve the problem and hopefully they can ensure that it doesn’t happen again.” She looked in Garth’s direction.
“I haven’t had a chance to see the email that went out.”
“It wasn’t bad; it could have been worse.”
“Rumor has it that you have a deranged fan out there.”
Eva squirmed in her chair. Garth nodded his head as if he understood her nervousness. “I’m not sure what rumor you’re speaking of.” She hoped she sounded convincing.
“One of my sources said that this person has been sending you hate mail at the studio and your home.”
Betrayed by Love Page 7
