by La Jill Hunt
“Have we met?” I asked her.
“Zen, it’s me, Tam.” She smiled, and her porcelain veneers sparkled. “From the job.”
I thought about everyone I had ever worked with but couldn’t place the model chick who was standing in front of me.
“You two know each other?” Josh asked.
“Yeah, we used to work together at Graves Realty last year,” she told him. “Wow, Zen, you look good. You lost a lot of damn weight, girl.”
“Tamela?” I suddenly realized who she was, but she looked totally different from when we worked together.
“Yeah, it’s me, Zen.” She laughed.
“You look . . . I mean . . . I didn’t rec—”
“You didn’t recognize me, huh? I get that a lot. I had a little work done.” She adjusted her perky breasts that were peeking out of the top of her shirt, then flipped her long hair over her shoulder.
“I see,” I told her. “You still working over there?”
“Girl, no. I left there a little after you did,” she told me.
“Zen is the designer handling the house,” Josh told her.
“Really now? That’s interesting. Well, I’m glad things worked out for you.” Tam smirked. “It was a pretty big deal when you left.”
“Well, wherever you are now, it seems to be working out for you too.” I ignored her comment and pointed to her bag.
“To be honest, I’m in between jobs right now. I’ll find something else eventually. I came through to check out this house my boo has been spending so much time working on.” Tam grabbed Josh by the arm. “Can a sister get a tour?”
“Uh, yeah.” Josh looked uncomfortable, but she didn’t seem to notice.
“You guys can start up here. I have some work to take care of downstairs,” I told them.
“We’ll chat some more before I leave, Zen. We need to catch up,” Tam said. Either I was hiding it really well, or she was oblivious to the tension between me and Josh.
“Sure,” I said flatly and walked back downstairs into the kitchen. I couldn’t believe Josh was dating Tam. She was such a skank. The only thing I could think about was how loud and unprofessional she and her friend Danay would be in the office, especially in the staff meetings. What did he even see in her? I knew exactly what he saw: her ass, hips, and now her new breasts. After all, he was a man, and a good-looking one at that.
I could hear her laughing loudly and easily imagined her groping and touching on him. Wait, was I jealous? Hell no, I couldn’t be. Josh wasn’t my man, and I didn’t even really like him, I reminded myself. The more I thought about the two of them, the more they seemed like the perfect match. She was a loud-mouth barracuda who liked attention, and he was an arrogant asshole. Any slight connection I might have felt with him was now stuffed deep down inside of me, and I sure didn’t plan on ever acknowledging it again. From here on out, it would be purely business until I finished this job, upon which I would never have to see his ass again.
“This place really is better than what I expected,” Tam said as they walked through the downstairs rooms. “I was not expecting it to be this modern and fancy, especially considering this area and how it looks on the outside.”
“What do you mean? This is a nice neighborhood. These families have been living here for years.” I became defensive. “This is why Josh’s brother picked this area to build the house. It’s their family’s land.”
“Zen and Caldwell made a lot of updates on the house that my brother wanted but didn’t get the chance to do,” Josh added. Tam just gave him a blank stare.
Josh’s phone rang, and he excused himself, leaving Tam and me alone. I felt uncomfortable as hell, but self-involved Tam still seemed totally oblivious.
“Josh wasn’t lying. You hooked this house right on up. He’s gonna get some dough for this place,” Tam said.
“He’s not selling it.” I frowned. “His mom just told me that this morning.”
“She don’t want him to sell it. But the bottom line is this is Josh’s house. It’s in his name, and the reason I came to see it is because he wants my sister to list it. You know she’s one of the top listing agents in the city. That’s how I got the job at Graves for real. She pulled some strings for me.”
Her explanation answered the question that I had always wondered about her employment in a place where she was truly unqualified to work. Aside from that, I was bothered by the fact that she said Josh was selling the house. I couldn’t believe he would trash his family’s legacy so easily.
“Oh,” was my only response. She said something else, but I was too busy thinking about how elated Georgette had been earlier in planning the housewarming in honor of Ephraim and how devastating this would be for her.
“After you left, I decided to use that situation to my advantage, and it paid off. So, I owe you a thank you, girl,” Tam said.
“Huh? What?” I turned my attention back to what Tam was saying.
“I was saying I owe you a thank you because you helped me secure the bag, literally.” She patted her purse and laughed.
“And how did I do that?” I asked, confused about what she was talking about.
“I filed a sexual harassment suit against Graves and got a hell of a settlement check,” she said proudly.
“You did what?” She now had my full attention, and I was hanging on to her every word.
“I filed suit against those motherfuckers and won. I didn’t even have to go to court.” She laughed. “I hired a lawyer and told him that Lloyd displayed inappropriate behavior toward me in the workplace.”
“Wow, Tam,” I said, shocked.
“Yeah, got a check for over two hundred and fifty grand.”
“Shit.” The word escaped my mouth before I could stop it.
Tamela began to laugh. “That’s right. See, here’s where you went wrong. Instead of going to Priscilla’s two-faced ass, you shoulda hired a lawyer and told him what was happening. My lawyer is the truth, and she’s a woman, so she was not playing with they asses. When they heard about all the nasty shit that motherfucker was saying to me; then we had e-mails and text messages too? They were begging to settle.”
“I can’t believe Lloyd. I mean, he crossed some boundaries with me, but he never sent me e-mails or texts,” I told her. “I’m sorry you had to deal with that. At least you didn’t have to deal with them accusing you of lying. They didn’t believe me at all.”
“I know, but the gag is that I really fucked him with his fine ass!” she screeched.
I stood staring at her with my mouth open. I shouldn’t have been shocked by her sleeping with Lloyd. As soon as she said it, I quickly recalled the comments she had made regarding him. I then thought about Priscilla telling me that other employees had heard comments that I made concerning Lloyd. Here this chick was bragging about her settlement check that she was awarded based on a lie, and I was fired for telling the truth. It was unfair, and I was livid.
“Ain’t that a bitch,” I said. The longer I stood there, the angrier I became. I could feel the tears beginning to form in the corners of my eyes and the desire to punch Tam right in her collagen-enhanced face. I needed to get out of there quickly. I heard the front door opening, and I passed Josh coming in as I walked out.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, but I didn’t answer.
By the time I made it to my car, the tears were falling. I sat behind the steering wheel, crying in frustration. I had just started the car to leave when I noticed a black Mercedes S550 parked directly behind me, so I couldn’t back out. It had to be Tam’s, because the other two vehicles parked in front of the house belonged to Josh and to Caldwell’s workers. The sight of the gorgeous car angered me even more. I was stuck and couldn’t go anywhere until she came out and moved.
Luckily, it didn’t take long for them to come out. They both walked over to my car and waited for me to roll down the window.
“Is everything all right, Zen?” he asked, his voice full of concern.
I glanced over at Tam, who stood beside him looking innocent as hell, when in reality this was all her fault. Okay, I knew technically it wasn’t her fault, but she wasn’t blameless either.
“Yeah, I need to get out, though. I have to go. Can you move, please?” I asked without looking at either one of them.
“Oh, sure. No problem. It was good seeing you, Zen. You look really good, and you’ve worked wonders on the house,” she said. I was waiting for her to get the hell away from my car, but first, she reached in her purse then handed me a small card. “You should call her.”
I hesitated before taking it, but she seemed like she wasn’t going to move until I did. I took it, and she finally got into her car. I tucked her stupid card into my visor, not even bothering to see whose it was.
“Zen, are you sure you’re okay?” Josh asked again.
“I’m fine,” I said, then asked, “Does your mom know you’re listing the house once it’s done?”
“Huh? I . . . who . . .”
I shook my head, not bothering to hide my disgust. “That’s fucked up, Josh. I hope you know that. That’s just wrong.” I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Tam had eased her car out of the driveway and was waiting on me to move. I shot a disgusted glance at him and, without a word, drove away.
Chapter Twenty-two
“Zen, where are you?” Caldwell called me just as I pulled into the crowded drive-thru at the bank. I still hadn’t deposited the check that Georgette gave me the week before.
“At the bank. Why? What’s up?”
“Which bank? Where? I need you to come and get me right now.”
“Citizens Bank in midtown. Why do I need to come and get you? From where?”
“My crib. I got a call from Home Depot, and I gotta get over there ASAP. My mama got my truck parked at her crib. You gotta come,” he said.
“Who called you from Home Depot and why?” I asked, rummaging for the check that I had dropped in my purse when she gave it to me.
“Stop asking so many questions and come and get me. Hurry up,” he said.
“Caldwell, I don’t even know where you live.” I sighed. “And can’t this wait until I finish at the bank? I’m already in line.”
“No, get out of line. And I’ll text you the address.”
When I didn’t find the check, I pulled out of line. I would come back later and go pick up Caldwell now.
When I got to his house, he was already waiting out front, moving slower than usual, but he looked fine.
“Are you supposed to be out of the house?” I asked him.
“Yes, I am. My doctor cleared me yesterday. I’m fine. I just don’t have my truck because it’s still at my mother’s house. She was supposed to come and pick me up, but she’s still at the hair salon, and I gotta go meet this guy right now,” he explained. “He’s been waiting almost an hour.”
“What guy? I’m so confused.”
“I got a hookup that I’m trying to make happen if you hurry up,” he told me.
“What kind of hookup? On what?”
“Will you stop asking so many questions and drive?” he said, taking out his cell phone and dialing a call.
“Hey, Josh, you get my text? Okay, cool. I’m headed there now. Cash only, though. All right. See you in ten minutes.”
I tensed up when I realized he was talking to Josh. He was the absolute last person I wanted to see. “If Josh was going to meet you, why didn’t you just get him to pick you up?”
“Because he’s all the way on the other side of town. You were closer. What’s the problem?”
“There is no problem. I’m just saying. I stopped handling my business to pick you up to help him handle his. I have a life too,” I snapped.
“Okay, I don’t know what that means, but damn, Zen, you coulda just said you were busy. A simple no woulda been fine.” Caldwell looked at me like I was crazy.
“You were talking so fast that I didn’t have a chance to say no. You always do that. It’s like I don’t have a chance to comprehend what you say sometimes,” I complained, not even caring if I was making sense.
“Well, excuse the hell outta me. I didn’t know I was so inconsiderate with my conversation. And as far as I was concerned, we were both working as a team on the same project, which meant going to meet this guy was your business. But, trust me, I understand exactly how you feel.”
I knew that what I said was wrong and out of line, not to mention disrespectful. I was taking my disappointment and frustration out on him, and he wasn’t the one who was causing it. Still, I was too caught up in m hurt feelings to apologize just yet.
My cell phone vibrated. I looked down and saw that it was from the last person in the world I felt like being bothered with: Var. I hit IGNORE the same way I’d been doing since the day he gave me the decals. I glanced over at Caldwell, who was texting on his phone with a big frown on his face. I had hurt his feelings and felt bad.
“Caldwell, I’m sorry,” I said as I pulled into the store parking lot. “I didn’t mean that. You’re right; we are a team. I’m just bugging.”
“Pull around to the side of the store,” Caldwell said. He didn’t even react to my apology.
“The back? Why? This better not be illegal, Caldwell,” I warned him.
“Oh, so you think because I’m Hispanic and a fast talker this gotta be illegal, huh?” He glared at me.
“You know that’s not what I meant. Don’t be like that.” I sighed, feeling even worse. I pulled around to the back of the store where there was a box truck parked.
“Park behind that truck,” he directed.
I looked at him briefly then followed his direction. When I put the car in park, I reiterated, “I apologize, Caldwell. I was wrong.”
“I heard you the first time. It’s all good. Look, I don’t know what the hell is going on with you and Josh . . .”
“Wait, what is that supposed to mean? Has he said anything about me to you?”
“Not directly, but y’all were cool, and now there’s this weird vibe whenever I bring either one of you up. The other day, he asked if you had a regular schedule. He’s tripping, and so are you, but I’m gonna tell both of y’all you either need to fight, fuck, or figure it out. This may be fun and games for him, but this is my damn livelihood.” He opened the car door and said, “I’ll be back.”
He slowly eased his way out of the car then closed my door with a little more force than necessary. I could tell he was trying to get his point across. I sat speechless, watching him greet the driver of the truck. They talked for a few minutes, then he opened the back of the truck, and they both climbed in.
A store employee walked out, and I started to panic. Even though I knew there was no need, I said a quick prayer, asking that whatever this “hookup” was, it was on the up and up. He walked to the back of the truck and climbed in. A few minutes later, the three of them came out, all smiling, and Caldwell got back into the car.
“Everything good?” I asked.
He held up a shiny black square and said, “Everything’s great. Check this out.”
“Is that marble?” I said, taking the beautiful block of stone from him.
“That, my dear, is granite for the countertops.” He smiled.
“What? It’s gorgeous. Okay, I get that there’s no budget, but this is way more than Josh is probably willing to spend. Especially since—” I wanted to say that he was selling the house, but I didn’t. That would be Josh’s mess to deal with when the truth came out and he broke his mother’s heart.
“Man, when I tell you I got a deal, I got a deal,” Caldwell said. “Pull around front.”
“How? And what about the granite we already ordered?” I said as I turned my car around.
“Some rich guy ordered this and decided he didn’t want it. He can’t return it because it’s special order, so my boy called me, and we struck a deal. Since what we ordered is standard, the guy here is gonna let us cancel and let them use our store credit. I�
�m about to go in and handle the paperwork as soon as Josh gets here with the cash.”
I pulled to the front of the parking lot, but Josh was nowhere to be seen.
“Well, I’m gonna let you out and go ahead and park, because I need to look at some other stuff while we’re here anyway,” I said. He got out of the car, and I whipped into a parking space.
“Zen.”
When I stepped out of my car, I heard someone calling my name. I turned around and saw Var walking toward me. Could this day get any weirder?
I waved and said, “Hey, Var.”
“What’re you doing over here?” He smiled. “Damn, you looking better and better every time I see you.”
“Thanks, Var,” I said, wondering why he was commenting on how I looked, since I had on leggings and an oversized shirt, an outfit he would normally complain about.
“I was at the light on the boulevard and thought I saw you,” he said, explaining the coincidence of both of us being in the Home Depot parking lot at the same time. Well, I thought, at least he wasn’t stalking me.
“I tried calling you, but I guess you still got me blocked,” he said with a laugh.
“No, I don’t have you blocked anymore. I was on the phone,” I lied.
“Uh-huh. Looked like you had a dude in the car with you, Zen.”
“It’s not like that, Var.” I sighed.
“I ain’t tripping. All I’m saying is I thought we were better than that.” He shrugged.
I stopped just as we got to the entrance of the store. “Better than what? What are you talking about?”
“I’m saying if you got a man, then just say it. I already know you do.”
“Bye, Var.” I turned to walk off, but he grabbed my arm.
I looked at his hand on me, then my eyes traveled up to meet his. His grip softened, and so did his eyes.
“Zen, why are you doing this? You know how much I love you.”
“Hey, Zen, what do you think about this?” Caldwell was so busy looking at whatever it was he had in his hand that he didn’t realize Var was standing with me.
