A Little Bit of Karma

by ReShonda Tate Billingsley

  “Good morning, everyone,” I said, flashing the best smile I could muster.

  “Morning,” they chorused.

  “Dr. Shannon, it’s such a pleasure to finally meet you,” said a pretty, plump woman to one side of me. She was impeccably dressed, and her blond hair was pulled back into a tight bun. “I’m Jessica Emberly, the wife of the Family First Foundation president.”

  “Oh, so nice to meet you,” I said as the elevator doors closed. I was supposed to have met Jessica this morning at the breakfast. “How was your flight in?”

  “Fine. I arrived late last night. My apologies that I wasn’t here for the beginning of the retreat, but our daughter opened for the Boston Symphony,” Jessica said.

  “That is wonderful,” I replied. It was no secret that the Emberlys were an all-American family, with a perfect marriage, perfect family, perfect careers. But then again, everyone thought Jay and I had the same thing.

  “We missed you this morning,” Jessica said.

  “Yes, I wasn’t feeling well. I guess the traveling wore me out,” I lied.

  “I know that feeling.” Jessica laughed.

  The elevator continued down, stopping on a few floors. When the doors opened on the sixteenth floor, I thought I would pass out.

  Vonda was standing in the hallway, waiting to go down. She looked like she was going to a runway show. Her hair was on point and her emerald-green silk wrap dress clung to her perfect body. Vonda’s smile widened when she noticed me.

  “You getting on?” some man in the back asked.

  Vonda giggled. “Of course,” she said, stepping into the elevator.

  I considered getting off, but it would’ve been so obvious, especially since the two women from yesterday were already looking like they were expecting something to happen.

  “How is everyone on this beautiful, glorious morning?” Vonda asked, positioning herself in the corner of the elevator.

  “Just fine,” a couple of people replied.

  “Well, aren’t you a chipper little thing,” Jessica said.

  “Love will do that to you,” Vonda replied, as I willed the elevator to move faster.

  “Oh, is your husband here?” Jessica asked.

  Vonda shook her head. “He’s not my husband—yet. He’s my boyfriend. And yes, he’s here.”

  “That is just so wonderful,” Jessica replied, giddy with excitement. “I love to see young couples in love. That’s why I was adamant that my husband get behind this retreat.”

  “Oh, my boyfriend and I so need this retreat,” Vonda said, poking out her bottom lip. “We have a major obstacle keeping us from true happiness, and I’m hoping that by the end of this retreat, we will have worked through it.”

  “Oh no, I hate to hear that,” Jessica said.

  Is this damn elevator stopping on every floor? I wanted to scream as the doors opened yet again. There wasn’t even any more room. I pounded the close button.

  Jessica turned to me. “Maybe Dr. Shannon and her husband can give you a private counseling session,” she said. “I’m a big proponent of premarital counseling.”

  “Oh, I’d love that,” Vonda said, clapping her hands together. “Dr. Shannon, do you think you could meet with me and my honey privately so you can help us get rid of our obstacle?” She smiled at me, taunting me with her eyes.

  It took everything in my power not to lose it right there in the elevator. “Well, my schedule is pretty full,” I said, my voice cold. I didn’t even bother trying to fake a smile.

  I almost jumped for joy when the doors opened on the first floor. I was the first one off, but Jessica wouldn’t let me get far. “Mrs. Lovejoy, hold on a minute.”

  I stopped, my back to everyone. I inhaled deeply, then turned around.

  “Yes?”

  “I know you’re busy, but I told my husband that one-on-one sessions were imperative”—she smiled in Vonda’s direction—“for this very reason. And since we’re firm believers in young love, let’s try to help these young lovers work it out.”

  This was just too much. I was about to tell Jessica that it would be a cold day in hell before I ever had a private anything with this tramp, but Vonda spoke up before I could say anything.

  “It’s okay. I know Dr. Shannon stays busy, so much so that she probably seldom has time for anything or anyone,” Vonda said. “Maybe we can see if Jay can give me, I mean us, a private session.”

  “Well, I guess,” Jessica replied, disappointed. “As long as you get in.” She patted Vonda’s arm. “You have such a warm spirit; I want to see you and your sweetheart make it.”

  “Oh, I do too,” Vonda said. “You have no idea just how much I want that.”

  “Excuse me, I really must get going,” I said. I had to get out of there before I lost it, because right now, the only thing I could think of was how much I wanted to choke the life out of Vonda Howard.

  twelve

  I had known about Vonda Howard for less than thirty-six hours, and already I hated her more than anyone else in the world. It wasn’t just the simple fact that she’d had an affair with Jay; it was the way she sashayed around the resort, blatantly antagonizing me. She had been at the last two sessions, and although she’d kept quiet, she sat glaring at me like a crazed stalker. Now she’d even followed us to this reception and was putting on a show, laughing, talking to people, and stealing occasional glances at me. It was almost like she knew I wouldn’t retaliate because of all that was at stake and she was intent on torturing me.

  Well, Miss Thang definitely didn’t know Shannon Parker Lovejoy. Because the space I was in right now, I was ready to risk it all just for the chance to snatch her hair from its roots.

  Quincy must have sensed I was on the edge, because he stepped in front of me, blocking the straight-line view I had of Vonda.

  “You are better than this,” he whispered, trying to get me to make eye contact with him. We were in a meet-and-greet reception at another one of the resort hotels and Vonda was walking around like she owned the place. Quincy feigned a smile. “Plus, there’s a reporter from People magazine here to interview you and Jay,” he added.

  “Move, Quincy,” I said, not taking my eyes off Vonda, who had walked over to where Jay was talking to a group and inserted herself into their conversation. Jay had immediately walked away. I should’ve followed, but I wasn’t about to give Vonda the satisfaction.

  Quincy put a hand on my arm to try to settle me down. “She’s just trying to get to you.”

  Well, it’s working, I wanted to say. Instead, I turned my glare on Quincy. “How long have you known?” I asked.

  “Don’t do this,” he pleaded, gently cupping my elbow.

  I snatched my arm away. “How long have you known, Quincy?” I repeated. “I know Jay’s your boy and all, but how long have the two of you been laughing behind my back about this?”

  “No one ever laughed behind your back.” Quincy released a long sigh. “And this whole thing is not like that at all,” he added apologetically. “Jay really does love you. This whole affair thing, he was not thinking straight. He felt like you two had just grown apart.”

  “That’s bull, Quincy, and you know it.”

  “Can we just work through all of this when we get back home?” Quincy asked.

  “I had planned on doing that, until his mistress showed up. But I don’t know how much more of this harassment I can reasonably be expected to take,” I said.

  Just then, Nicole and Jay walked up with a tall brunette in a business suit. Jay’s eyes all but begged me to cooperate. I glanced over at Vonda, who was now standing in a corner by herself, sipping a glass of wine, her eyes glued to our every move.

  “Hi, Dr. Lovejoy,” the woman said, extending her hand. “I’m Ava Cole, a freelancer with People magazine. I’ve been assigned to cover the conference. As you know, Family First is a huge organization and the fact that they’ve gotten behind you so wholeheartedly is testament to their belief in you. Mind if I ask a few quest
ions?”

  I kept my smile pasted on as the reporter pulled out her digital recorder and started firing questions. Jay had the audacity to step next to me and put his hand against the small of my back. I tensed up at his touch. Vonda was still standing in the background, glaring at us.

  “I don’t want you to lose it in front of the reporter,” Nicole leaned over and whispered as Jay was answering a question. I glared right back at Vonda. Obviously, I won the stare-down, because she turned and walked away.

  After the interview, Jay and I had begun talking to some more people when we noticed the reporter talking to Vonda. She had her tape recorder positioned right in front of Vonda’s mouth and was doing an interview.

  “I don’t think so,” I mumbled, stomping toward them.

  “Shannon, no,” Jay said, stopping me.

  I gritted my teeth. We’d been pretty busy all day long, so I was sure Jay hadn’t had a chance to talk with Vonda yet, but he needed to do something. “It’s one thing for me to stay here in this sham we got going, but I will not be disrespected because you wanted your ho at our event!” I hissed.

  “Shannon, I promise you, she is doing this all on her own. I would never bring her here,” Jay protested.

  For some reason, I believed him. Jay didn’t like confrontation and he had to have known having the two of us together could lead to World War III. But that didn’t change the way I felt.

  “Get this under control, Jay,” I said. “This is your mess—now clean it up.”

  “I told you, it’s not like that. She’s crazy. I can’t control her.” I had never seen my husband so flustered.

  “Well, you’d better try to put that dog on a leash, because trust, you don’t want me to do it. I will blow up everything we worked for before I keep letting her try and torture me.” I spun around, took a deep breath, forced a smile, then walked over to Vonda and the reporter.

  “Ms. Cole, I didn’t know you were interviewing conference attendees,” I said.

  Ava grinned, like she was thrilled that her story was coming together. “Yes, we like to hear from the people as well. And trust me, they have nothing but rave reviews.”

  Vonda scooted over next to Jay, who had followed me over, probably to make sure nothing got out of hand. She draped her arm through his.

  “I was just telling this lovely reporter how you helped me find true love,” Vonda cooed.

  “And I just think it’s so wonderful that you were able to help someone who was so jaded about the idea of love discover how important it really is,” Ava said.

  I felt hot tears burning the backs of my eyes. I was so about to lose it.

  “So,” Ava said, raising an eyebrow like she knew there was more to the story, “tell me exactly what it was Jay said to make you want to give love another chance.”

  Vonda released a blissful sigh. “He’s just such an insightful man. He knows how to get at the core of issues. He helps you find that inner thing that makes you special, and he makes you feel worthy of love.”

  “Unh-unh,” I said, stepping forward to cut this sham short. “Ava, right?”

  Ava nodded.

  “This is a bunch of—”

  “Bunch of information to digest,” Nicole said, swooping in out of nowhere. “But we really don’t want to bother our attendees anymore. Thank you so much for the interview, but we have to get ready for the evening’s event.” She pulled Jay away. Vonda, however, wasn’t going to release him.

  “Oh, I see you really did have an impact on her,” Ava chuckled. “She doesn’t even want to let you go.”

  A half-nervous, half-disbelieving laugh escaped Jay’s throat.

  “Oh, she’s about to be impacted, all right,” I mumbled.

  “Excuse me?” Ava said.

  “Nothing,” I muttered, backing down. “I was just saying that we really do need to get going.”

  “Okay, I think I have enough,” Ava said, flipping off her recorder.

  “Hey, before they go, why don’t you get our picture to go with your story,” Vonda suggested. She was grinning like this idea was something that had just popped into her head and not something that she had been plotting since this event started. “You know, focus on one of the women Jay helped to find love again.”

  “What a wonderful idea,” Ava said, motioning for her photographer to come over.

  “Oh, I don’t think so,” I said.

  “It’s okay,” Jay whispered to me.

  “No, it’s not,” I retorted.

  Ava’s eyebrow rose, causing me to add, “It’s just that we really need to get going.” I flashed a faux apologetic smile.

  “Oh, it’ll only take a minute,” Vonda said, tossing her hair over her shoulder and snuggling close to Jay.

  “Well, since the Lovejoys are a team, we’ll both get in the picture,” I said.

  Vonda looked like she definitely hadn’t been expecting that as she squeezed right in the middle of us. I didn’t even try to force a smile as the photographer snapped away.

  “Okay, that’s it, they really have to get going,” Nicole repeated.

  “Thank you both so much. You have no idea what it means to be able to share in this beautiful experience,” Vonda said. She smiled at me and then leaned in and lightly kissed me on the cheek. The only thing that kept me from attacking her was that the photographer still had his camera poised to start snapping. Visions of myself, crazed and enraged, on the cover of the National Enquirer caused me to just turn and walk away.

  My cooperation in this sham was about to go out the window, and I really had no idea how much more I was expected to endure.

  thirteen

  This woman was determined to make me lose it. First the People magazine interview, now this?

  “Are you stalking us?” I said. I didn’t care that there was a small group of women standing around chatting. We were off-site at a private VIP dinner. Jay and I had just arrived and were being greeted by throngs of people, when out of nowhere, Vonda popped up. We’d had private counseling sessions most of the day (and I’d felt like a hypocrite during each one). I had been relieved to escape the Vonda drama, but lo and behold, here I was again.

  “Maybe Jay wanted me to meet him here,” Vonda said, smirking.

  “Vonda, you know I didn’t ask you here,” Jay protested. “I haven’t even talked to you, so stop playing these games.”

  I was surprised to hear that. I’d thought for sure they’d hooked up when I stormed out of the reception last night. Yes, he’d come back to the room about an hour after I’d left, but I had just assumed that he’d spent some time with Vonda. Granted, because he stayed locked up in his room and I was in mine, I was never able to ask him.

  Vonda flashed a seductive smile. “Oh, Jay, it seems you’re the one who likes to play games—with women’s hearts. You’re lucky I love you, though.”

  He thrust his hands up in exasperation. “What is wrong with you? What are you talking about? And the bigger question: why are you even here?”

  “You know you want me here,” she purred. “You’re always talking about how I make you feel like a man.” She glared at me. “Unlike wifey, who likes to emasculate you.”

  “Vonda,” Jay said slowly, “you need to leave before I have security throw you out.”

  “I told you—doing something like that could get very ugly.” She wagged her finger like she was chastising a child.

  “At this point, I don’t care, because this is bordering on harassment.”

  Bordering? I wanted to say. But if I opened my mouth, it wouldn’t be pretty, so I just kept taking slow, deep breaths.

  “Fine, I’ll go.” She stuck her bottom lip out playfully, then glanced around at all the people staring at us. “I know you’re working right now anyway. I’m in room 1623. I expect to see you there.” She glanced at her watch. “What time do you think you’ll make it by?”

  This woman has truly lost her mind, I thought. I’d had enough.

  I stepped toward Vonda
, so close that I was assaulted by her peppermint breath. I jabbed a finger in her face. “You know what? I am really sick and tired of you, and I’m about half a second from choking the life out of you.”

  “Go right ahead,” Vonda said with defiance. “Then I can sue you and get your money and your man.”

  “Vonda, enough!” Jay snapped.

  “No. I’m not going to let her scare me.”

  The two of us stood in a face-off; several people had started staring.

  Jay lowered his voice as he took Vonda’s elbow and led her over to a corner. It was almost as if he knew he’d have better luck getting through to her in private.

  Of course, I followed them.

  “Why are you doing this?” Jay pleaded. “This is my livelihood you’re messing with.”

  Vonda’s bottom lip trembled as she spoke. She finally was shedding some of her cockiness. “You don’t get to play games with me, Jay Lovejoy. I served my purpose, so now you think you can just toss me to the side? It doesn’t work like that. You don’t get to just play with me, then walk away.” She was getting loud and emotional, and the growing crowd was all ears.

  “Vonda, please lower your voice,” Jay hissed.

  “Why?” she said even louder, pointing to me. Jay turned around, noticing me behind him. “Because we don’t want the world to know the Lovejoys’ perfect marriage is a lie?”

  Two security guards walked up in the middle of her rant. “Ma’am, you need to leave. This is a private event.”

  I stepped on the side of the men. “You might want to listen to them before you get hurt.”

  “You don’t scare me,” Vonda said, wagging her finger in my face. She was like a crazed woman now. “Like you could really hurt someone. Please.”

  “Try me and I’ll show you just what I’m capable of,” I said through gritted teeth. The two of us once again stood face-to-face, Vonda looking smug, and me, full of fiery anger.

  “Come on, Shannon. Let’s go,” Nicole said, easing up behind me, seemingly out of nowhere. “You are above this.”