Lust and Lies (The Jamie Reynolds Chronicles #1)

by Casandra Charles

  “Excuse me,” I yelled out to the bartender, “can I have a bottle of Voss?”

  “What?” the bartender shouted.

  “A bottle of Voss,” I shouted over the loud music.

  I guess they didn’t have any because he turned around and handed me a plastic bottle of regular water.

  “No Voss, sweetheart. Damn,” I said as I began to go into my purse to pay.

  A guy behind me tapped my shoulder and said I was good.

  At that very moment I noticed my phone’s red light was flashing, letting me know I had a missed call or a new message.

  “Thank you, sweetie,” I said to the guy behind me and gestured with my phone that I had to run to take a call. I was curious to see who was calling me. I hoped it wasn’t Terry; I didn’t feel like talking to him tonight.

  To my surprise, it was a text from Toni. “Hey, hope you’re having a GT.”

  He’d sent this text about twenty minutes ago, so I figured I should text back.

  “I’m not really feeling the party. I’m getting ready to leave soon.”

  Before I could even look into the mirror to check my makeup and hair, my phone was going off, notifying me that I had a text message.

  Damn, that was quick. What, was he holding his phone, praying that I text him back? That image in my head made me laugh.

  “I guess you were right, you really will be home before 12:30.”

  I looked down at my watch and realized it was only 11:30. I walked around the club, making sure everyone saw my face before I dipped out the back door. I was only at the lounge for about forty-five minutes; that had to be some kind of record. As I exited the club, I noticed the line was all the way down the block. I hoped I wasn’t leaving too soon, but I was already outside and didn’t feel like going back in to find out.

  I picked up my phone and I don’t know what came over me… but I called Toni.

  “Hey, you ’sleep?”

  “No, I’m still up.”

  “How was the party?”

  “It was cool, but I really didn’t want to go out in the first place.” Besides, I couldn’t get you out of my mind, I thought to myself.

  “I hope it wasn’t because of me.” He paused for a second. “And your mom, of course.”

  “No, it wasn’t because of you two.” Don’t flatter yourself, I thought and started to laugh because he was right.

  “What is so funny?” he asked.

  “Nothing, I’m just walking down to the subway and I guess my four inches don’t like this walk.”

  “You crazy, four-inch heels.”

  “I always wear heels. You just managed to catch me on a bad day.” I was referring to the first time he’d seen me.

  “But I liked what I saw.”

  “I bet, old sweatpants and some flip-flops.”

  “After a while you learn to see the inner beauty of a person not the outer.”

  I was speechless; I didn’t even know what to say. As a matter of fact, there was about thirty seconds of silence on the phone before I said, “I’m about to go underground on the train and my cell phone won’t work. Thanks for talking and I’ll call you to—”

  Before I could even finish my sentence he said, “I said I would wait up for you to get home not get on the train.”

  “Oh, my bad, I’ll call you back when I get off the train then, bye.”

  “Bye, Jamie, get home safe.”

  On my ten-minute walk from the train to my house, I wanted to call Toni to talk to him while I walked, but I still couldn’t figure him out and that bothered me. Instead I just walked home, thinking to myself. I thought about almost every guy I fell for after the first conversation. Robert, Jean, and Shawn, oh, and who can forget David. David Walker, he was so cool. I was feeling him at first sight. We met, of course, in a club; as much as I hated meeting guys at the club, I met most of them there. It was my friend Angela’s idea to go to the club that night. She knew if I went to the club with her, she didn’t have to pay or wait in line, and if the right person was in the club or at the bar, she didn’t have to pay for drinks either.

  David and his best friend were waiting in line at the Havana Nightclub in Atlanta (my promoter friends, the Metro Players, did a cool Monday night after-work event there). We took the elevator upstairs, because if you take the stairs, you’ll have to fight your way to the front of the line or wait in the line like everyone else. When the elevator made it to the top floor, we got off and Angela looked at the crazy line and was so happy I came with her so she didn’t have to wait in it. We took two steps toward the door to the club and the bouncer stopped me.

  “Excuse me, ladies.”

  “Excuse me, sir,” I said as I tried to continue to proceed through his six-foot-four, two-hundred-sixty-pound self.

  “May I help you?”

  “I’m sorry, I’m a guest of Johnny, or Mitchell, or Michael, any member of the Metro Players.”

  I really wasn’t trying to sound cocky, but that was how I came off.

  “I’m sorry, miss, none of those people are here right now.”

  “Okay, they’re inside. I can go inside and get them.”

  “I am sorry, miss, but that won’t work.”

  “No, we both won’t go in, I will just go in and leave my friend out here as collateral,” I said as a joke, but I really was serious.

  “I am sorry, ma’am, that is not going to work. Are you on the list?”

  I knew I wasn’t on the list, but I said, “Check Jamie or Jamie Reynolds.” As he began to look for my name, I dialed Michael’s number so I could ask him to come to the door and tell this guy to let us in.

  “I’m sorry, miss, it’s not on here.”

  “Try JR. That’s what everyone calls me, JR, Jamie Reynolds.”

  “Hello,” Michael answered his phone.

  “Yo, Michael, this is JR.”

  “Yo, J, what’s up? Where are you at?”

  “I’m at the front of your club, trying to get in.”

  “My bad, I’ll be right up.”

  Within ten seconds, Michael was at the front door, letting me and Angela in.

  “She good,” Michael said to the bouncer. He turned to me and said, “Yo, J, who are you here with?”

  “Just me and my home girl Angela.”

  “Why didn’t you call me earlier and tell me you was coming?”

  “It was a last minute thing, and I just thought you guys would be at the front anyway.”

  “Naw, it’s too much confusion when me and the guys are up front.”

  “I see.”

  “So what have you been up to? You looking good, of course.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You want something to drink?”

  “Now you know I don’t really drink.”

  “That’s right, I remember.” He turned around to the bartender and ordered me my usual bottle of Voss. “Your girl want anything?”

  Angela, sounding crazy, said, “Of course I do. Unlike JR, I drink. I’ll have an Incredible Hulk.”

  You gotta love Angela; she was a cool girl and knew how to have a good time. She was my right-hand girl.

  “Thanks, Michael.”

  “You good, JR, I’m going to the back. Make sure you see me before you leave.”

  “No problem, bye, thanks again.”

  “Yeah, thank you again,” Angela said, trying to swallow a sip of her drink.

  “Yo, Angela, I’m going to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.” I began walking to the bathroom when I caught eyes with this chocolate brown, bald-headed guy. He was gorgeous, just the way I like them. We made eye contact for a second as I walked right into the bathroom. I stayed in the bathroom and checked my makeup for about two minutes and was hoping he was still in eyesight. Of course, he was gone. I walked back over to the bar and told Angela I’d spotted a cutie on the way to the bathroom.

  “Where? Where?” She was looking all around.

  “No, girl, I lost him, but don’t worry, let’s m
ake our rounds and see who else is in the club.” I knew I wasn’t looking for anyone, just Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome, but in this case Mr. Medium, Brown and Handsome. After walking around and scoping out the club, no luck. But Angela saw some potential lookers.

  “Oh, girl, that’s my song. Let’s go dance.”

  “Oh, Lord,” I said to Angela, being silly. Once you got Angela started on the dance floor there was no stopping her. She was the only one of my friends that went to the club and actually danced. Not like most of my other friends that just post up at the bar or in the VIP, looking like they’re waiting for something or should I say someone.

  “Okay, let’s go.”

  After about twenty minutes of BBD, A Tribe Called Quest, Busta Rhymes and ABC, all the classics, we were tired as hell, but still dancing. As I began to walk up to the DJ booth to say hi to my friend, who was killing it on the turntables, a guy extended his hand and assisted me up the small step to the DJ booth.

  “Thank you,” I said without even looking up, to realize it was him, Mr. Medium, Brown and Handsome. I played it off, pretending not to be attracted to him. I said hello and after a minute or so said good-bye to my friend up in the DJ booth, hoping Mr. Handsome was still there. He was; I was so happy.

  He stopped me and said, “For a second, I thought you were going up on stage to dance.”

  We both turned around and looked at the two girls looking a hot mess trying to dance up on stage next to the DJ booth. We both just started laughing.

  “Hey, I’m David.”

  “Hi, I’m JR.”

  “JR, that’s a cute name.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I’m glad to see you got in the club. For a minute I thought you were going to turn around and leave.”

  “What?” I just had this dumb look on my face, not knowing what he was talking about.

  “I was next in line when you tried to leave your girl at the door for collateral, trying to get in.”

  “It wasn’t like that, and I am so embarrassed.”

  “No need to be embarrassed.” We both started to laugh.

  “You’re too pretty to be embarrassed,” he said as he flashed me a beautiful smile. “So where’s your collateral?”

  “Who? Oh, Angela, she’s probably still on the dance floor.”

  “Well, maybe when she’s finished, she can meet my collateral, Adam.”

  “Well, you can get your collateral and I can get my collateral, and we can chat. We have a table in the back.”

  We both went our separate ways and I ran to Angela.

  “Yo, girl, I found the cutie and he says he has a friend. Let’s go to the back for a second. Oh, look, there’s Michael. Yo, Michael, I’m going to the back.”

  “You good, JR, tell Maurice the bouncer I said you can sit back there.”

  “Oh, Maurice is back there? I haven’t seen him in a minute. Thanks.” I leaned over to give Michael a hug and he whispered in my ear.

  “You look good, J, when are me and you going to hook up?”

  I pretended like I couldn’t hear him over the music and said, “Thanks for the table. Hey, is your wife, Veronica, in the house tonight? Tell her I said what’s up,” as I walked away.

  “JR, this dude’s friend better be cute,” Angela said as we made our way in the VIP.

  “We’ll see. If he’s not cute, then excuse yourself after five minutes and go to the bathroom. While you’re in there, I’ll get oh dude’s number and we’ll bounce.”

  “Bet,” we both said in agreement.

  “I guess the guys haven’t made it back here yet. Oh well, let me sit down. You know, my feet are killing me.”

  “JR, I don’t know why you always wear such high heels.”

  “Blame my parents I wasn’t born five foot seven, I was born five foot three. Oh, girl, there they are. Oh, his friend is cute.

  “Hey, he is, but you know I don’t like light skin. I like my men like I like my dessert, sweet and chocolate,” Angela said as I waved to Maurice that they were cool to come in the back.

  “Hey, JR, this is my collateral, Adam.”

  “This is my collateral, Angela.”

  Angela looked at me with a puzzled look on her face.

  “Collateral?” both Angela and Adam said at the same time. Me and David just busted out laughing.

  “I’ll tell you later,” I turned to Angela and said. On the other hand, I guess Adam finally got our inside joke and he began to laugh.

  The night was going good, Angela didn’t go to the bathroom after five minutes of meeting Adam, and we all talked and danced for about an hour or so.

  “It’s almost two o’clock. I got to be going,” I said.

  “Come on, JR, the club don’t close until three,” Adam said.

  “No, we both have to go, sorry, guys.”

  “I can take her home,” Adam volunteered.

  “No, thank you, she came with me and she’s rolling with me. I don’t play that.”

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything by that.”

  “No, you good.” We all exchanged numbers and planned on meeting up on a double date later on in the week.

  ***

  It was 12:05 a.m. by the time I got home. As soon as I began opening the gate, I decided to call Toni to let him know I made it home.

  “Hello,” a sleepy voice said.

  “I’m so sorry to wake you, but I was just calling to tell you I’m home.”

  “No, you’re good. I’m glad you called.”

  “No, no, please go back to sleep.”

  “It’s too late now,” he said, laughing, “Nah, I’m just kidding. I’m glad you made it home okay. I just finished praying for you that you got home safe.”

  What did he just say? Did he just say he prayed for me? My brain had completely shut down.

  “Thank-thank you,” I stuttered. “That was very sweet. What time do you have to go to work in the morning?”

  “I don’t have to be at work until ten. What time do you have to be at work?”

  At that very moment every word that came out of my mouth was very slow and long. What is going on with me? I thought to myself. The last forty-five minutes was a blur; we both spoke about anything and everything. We continued to talk until one in the morning. By this time we were both mentally and physically drained from our intense conversation.

  “Okay, then I’ll call you in the morning, Jamie, or should I say JR?”

  “I look forward to that; have a good night.”

  “Good night.”

  After I hung up the phone, I couldn’t do anything but just exhale and mentally think about what was happening in my life.

  I had always prayed every morning and night, but for the first time on April 18, I got down on my knees and prayed to God for guidance and patience for me and Antonio Hall. I had never prayed for something so personal as a man, but I thought this guy might be different. I just couldn’t explain it to myself, but God knew what my heart was feeling and that was all that mattered.

  What Did You Do to Antonio?

  About two weeks had gone by, and Toni and I had been talking on the phone every day and night for hours, not to mention the sixty to seventy texts we sent to each other throughout the day. Things were going great. He was a really good friend and I enjoyed his company. Then one day I received a call from Jonathan.

  “Hey, J, what’s up?”

  “You tell me?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Man, what is really going on between you and Antonio?”

  “What do you mean what is really going on between me and Antonio? Is everything okay?”

  “You tell me.”

  “Jonathan, stop doing that. What’s going on?”

  “Man, JR, you got that boy all twisted up. He woke up this morning feeling really sick.”

  I boldly interrupted, “Is he okay? I spoke to him about a half hour ago and he didn’t tell me he was sick.”

  “No, you don’t understand, he’s
not that kind of sick, he’s sick in the heart.”

  I knew exactly what he meant, but I played dumb. “What do you mean sick in the heart?”

  “JR, dude woke up this morning and started asking me all kinds of questions. Man, he even asked me if I believed in true love and soul mates?”

  What was Jonathan trying to tell me? Did Toni feel this way about me? I thought to myself as I began to smile.

  “JR, are you listening to me?”

  “I hear you, man, I hear you. What do you want me to say?”

  “I want you to talk to me. Toni is like a brother to me and I know how you get down.”

  “What do you mean you know how I get down? Really, Jonathan, you don’t know me, you only know what I tell you.”

  “Calm down, JR, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just saying he got it bad for you, and I don’t want him to get hurt.”

  At that moment, I didn’t know what came over me, but I just laid it all out on the table to Jonathan. “I don’t want to get hurt myself. I really and truly care about him; he’s a very special person. What he told you this morning, I think I also feel for him. I wish I could explain to you how confused I am when it comes to him; this doesn’t make any sense. I’ve only seen him once and we’ve been talking for over two weeks now and I can’t stop thinking about him. It really doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Love never makes any sense. Aw, my two favorite people are all grown up,” Jonathan said.

  “This is not a joke, Jonathan, I’m serious. I pray for him every night and I ask God to give me strength. Isn’t it the craziest thing how we met?”

  “Yeah, it is kind of crazy. It’s like the perfect twisted love story, boy meets girl, girl moves away, boy and girl fall in love and live happily ever after.”

  “Funny, but now you’re talking crazy. You can’t love someone in two weeks.” I paused for a second. “Can you?” Before he had a chance to answer my question, I blurted out, “I think I want out of this. It’s too fast. You can’t fall in love with someone you only met for a few minutes, and you can’t fall in love over the phone.”

  “Jamie, let me ask you the same question Toni asked me this morning.”