Jaded Hearts (10 page)

"I knew when I met you that we could be a
great team." There seemed to be a sparkle in his eyes as he said
that.

The next few days were spent trying to pull
the event together. John and I worked side-by-side bringing the
three clients together on the same project. We met with each client
together in individual meetings, and the tag team approach worked
like a charm. Jackie was instantly on board and was more than
supportive in putting together an eclectic guest list. Hector
Delgado was our second meeting and after a little coaxing, and lots
of smiling on my part, he agreed that this was, indeed, a great
idea.

Score!

The Anglers were the most difficult because
not only were we trying to sell them the idea, but also it was
their first meeting with me as an agent. They were unsure of the
crowd they would be playing for since they were an old school/swing
cover band. I reassured them with Jackie's list and my own love of
Frank Sinatra and Sara Vaughn, and in the end they were pleased. We
planned a Friday night party in four days.

*

I was so damn busy I barely had time or
energy left for Julian, but managed to fit in a few late night
dinners and Spanish lessons. He was insistent that I learn to speak
his native tongue fluently, so that I would understand when he
slipped into it. He seemed to be preoccupied with his own issues,
and didn't complain or mind that we hardly saw each other. The
night before the party was when I really noticed something was off.
I had just crawled into bed when my phone buzzed.

"Hey baby," I answered drowsily.

"Are you already asleep?" His tone was flat
and clipped.

"Um, no. Not yet. What's wrong?" I was
shocked by the lack of his usual affectionate greeting.

"OK. Buzz me in."

Then he hung up.

I stared at my phone for a moment confused
at his behavior and the fact that he wasn't using the key that I
gave him.

I pulled on my robe and headed downstairs. A
strange tension was building in my gut. By the time I got to the
last step, I heard the lock click as he opened the door. I stopped
in my tracks when I saw him. His entire swagger was off, and he
looked like he hadn't slept in days.  We just watched each
other for a long moment, both wordlessly acknowledging the
awkwardness.

Julian took a deep breath and released it
slowly, as he tossed the keys on the counter and strolled towards
me. I was still standing in the same spot on the last step, frozen
with anxiety.  My hands fidgeted nervously with the belt of my
pink cotton robe. I could feel his energy, his total maleness
engulfing me like a fog as he approached. He took my hands and
wrapped my arms around him in a tender hug.

"Why are you afraid?" He kissed my cheek
after he made his observation.

"I don't know," I whispered and he cupped my
face between his hands.

"Don't be. Mi poco conejito." His words
calmed me a bit.

"Is this another after-hours Spanish class?"
I tried to lighten the mood.

"No, but you remind me of a little bunny in
that fuzzy robe. So cute," he joked.

"What? A bunny? You don't like my robe?" As
I examined my favorite cover up, Julian grabbed my hand as he
headed up the stairs, pulling me along with him.

"No, Bonita. I love your little pink
robe."

We continued to my room in silence and I
watched him undress. He took a quick shower and came out of the
bathroom still towel drying his hair. I couldn't hold my tongue any
longer.

"What's wrong Julian?" My voice didn't sound
as tough as I had intended.  He let out another long breath as
he tossed the towel in the hamper. His tossing of shit was
beginning to piss me off.

"Nothing, Jade. I told you not to
worry."

"No, you told me not to be afraid," I
countered.

"Afraid, worried. Same thing," he replied
flatly. "I just have a lot on my plate, carino. Now turn off the
light."

He crawled into bed behind me, but I turned
to face him. As I was about to unleash a barrage of questions, I
was paused by the tiredness in his eyes. Instead, I traced the
outline of his features as if they could somehow give me the
answers. He pulled me closer to him and relaxed under my touch.

"Just hold me tonight baby. OK?"  

"OK, Papi."

No, something was off. This wasn't my
Julian. Who was always confident and charismatic. He watched me as
I watched him, leaning forward to give me a gentle kiss before he
snuggled into me and promptly fell asleep. I barely slept that
night, too worried to rest my mind, and too excited about my event
to calm down. So I just held Julian in my arms, stroking his hair
and face until I eventually found my way to sleep.

The preparation for my first event started
with a day of preening. I managed to squeeze my mani/pedi in on
Thursday so all that was left was hair and makeup. Donna referred
me to a Dominican hair salon that would have my hair straight and
swinging without reversion at the first sign of the steamy summer.
Two hours later I was on my way to meet Jackie at La Carra with my
new straight mahogany and gold streaked do. I decided to get rid of
the black rinse, and go lighter for the summer. The color suited my
complexion to a tee.

The boutique was buzzing with Jackie and all
the models swirling around. She was determined to find the perfect
look for each girl. I was greeted by a shriek of delight when she
saw my new look.

"OMG! Jade! I love, love, love the hair! If
I didn't know better I would ask if it was yours." She ran her
fingers through my hair in disbelief. Then a severe frown swept
over her face.

"What Jacks? Is my hair falling out?"

I knew I shouldn't have let them put bleach
on my hair.

At that she laughed shaking her head
violently.

"No. You nutcase! I have to change your
dress. I had a sexy little red dress picked out to show off those
legs of yours, but now with the new hair color..." She turned away
in deep thought and returned with a small piece of fabric on a
hanger.

"Here." She handed me the garment.

I studied it for a moment and then
questioned her.

"What am I supposed to do with this
scarf?"

Jackie patiently took the dress off the
hanger and walked me to the fitting room. She was used to my
reluctance at trying racy outfits but she was always right in the
end. I tried on the pale gold tube dress that had light tassels
diagonally across the waist. I looked hot! I walked out of the
dressing room in my own clothes and I could see Jackie's confusion.
I stopped her before she could even start.

"I love it. It's perfect, and I'll see you
tonight."

I was rewarded with her huge smile and then
she was back to fussing over a model.

On my way home to get ready, I called Julian
but my call went to voicemail. I considered asking Jackie if she
had any clue what was wrong with him, but I decided against it. I
was a private person, and didn't want to stir up any unnecessary
drama. I would just have to be patient until I could ask him
straight up.

*

I met John at Club VI at 7:00 pm. The party
was scheduled to start at 8:00 pm and we wanted to be there to make
sure it all fell into place. His eyes darkened as he did a double
take at my appearance. I tried in vain to deny the attraction
between us all week, that even Donna had noticed and was more than
willing to discuss, but I couldn't now. It wasn't the crazy over
the top pull that I had with Julian; it was more like a room slowly
being warmed by a fireplace. I could see John being a really good
friend, and chalked it up to us just having great work chemistry.
He pulled me into an embrace and held me in a brief hug before he
turned me around to get the full view of my dress.

"You. Are. Beautiful."

Oh my...

The event was a raging success. John and I
watched on like proud parents as the night unfolded. The tequila
was a hit with most of the crowd's reaction being about how smooth
it was going down. This made John, with his dirty mind, laugh when
I informed him and Hector of the response. The fashion show went
off without even a slight hitch, and the band was amazing. Their
tastefully done 1940s cover songs were a nice reprieve from the
clubs usual techno/house club dance mix.

Jackie did such an outstanding job with the
models and the show that she was approached with requests of her
services to be a personal stylist by a few of the patrons.
 Among the list of diverse guests were of course the Garzas,
minus Julian. I had expected to see him here. OK, I was hoping to
see him. Somewhere deep down I knew he was too good to be true.
 I did notice his friend Nina among the crowd as she chatted
with Edward.  She caught me watching her and shot me a smug
smile and Edward raised his glass to me.  As I tried to figure
out why she was even there, the Angler's lead singer dedicated a
song to me.

"This goes out to the wonderful Ms. Jade
Spencer who helped put this evening together."

Then his sultry voice began to croon Fly Me
to the Moon. I smiled at the choice of one of my favorite Sinatra
tunes and began to sway along basking in the almost perfect success
of the evening. John held out his hand to me in a silent request to
dance with the goofiest twinkle in his eyes. He was such a
gentleman.  A handsome one, at that.

OK, let's put those eighth grade dance
lessons to work.

We worked the dance floor with our finest
renditions of the Foxtrot, Balboa, and the Lindy Hop. Jackie being
her wonderful, playful self encouraged as many people on to the
dance floor to join in as possible. John led me around the dance
floor in true Gene Kelly fashion, gracefully twirling me into his
arms to songs like
I've Got You Under My Skin
, and
All or
Nothing at All
. With every dance my giddiness grew because John
seemed to be having just as much fun. I loved that he didn't take
himself too seriously.  I could see the flirtatious gleam in
his eyes whenever he pulled me close to him.

This is really awesome.

And then, suddenly there was Julian, cutting
in as usual. His interruption came about 40 seconds into
The Way
You look tonight
.  John was visibly reluctant to give me
away and after an encouraging nod from me, turned me over to
Julian, bowing out gracefully.

In an instant all my playful cheeriness was
replaced with the intensity of us. Julian did not move as lightly
on his feet as John, but he somehow managed to impart his own
sensual sway as he held me pressed against him. He gazed at me his
eyes ablaze with some unrecognizable emotion.

"Hello Julian." I decided to be the first to
break the ice. He just continued to stare at me.

"So, is he the reason you're not ready for a
relationship?" The tone of his voice was icy as he tried to conceal
what his eyes where betraying. I laughed.

"No, John is a business associate who helped
me put this together. I don't need another person to be a reason
for anything I do." I tried to keep my temper in check at his
unfounded question.

A warm hand slid up my back to gently caress
the exposed skin of my shoulders and then back to rest on the small
of my back. I was certain he was doing this for the benefit of
anyone, mostly John, who may have been watching.

"You know Jade, you're an amazing woman and
I never cease to be amazed by you. Congratulations! What a hit for
your first event."

A quick spin and he positioned me with my
back to his chest as he rocked me to Witchcraft. Hot, heavy breaths
escaped against my neck and ears as our natural animalistic
chemistry struggled to overtake us.

"There is no nicer witch than you, for
sure." His application of the song's lyrics made me smile.

I held on to my indifference, born of not
hearing from him all day, but it was slowly slipping away.

"Why haven't I heard from you all day? How
can you just ignore me, and then magically show up questioning my
choice of dance partner?"

My voice was surprisingly calm as I turned
the interrogation around onto him. I turned for his answer, so that
we were face to face for his answer trembling with anger. The
pained expression returned to his eyes and my chest tightened.

"Bella, I've had something very serious come
up that has created havoc for me."  

Havoc?  

"Care to share?"

I pressed for more of an explanation. He
hesitated to answer and
I'll Be Seeing You
streamed at us
from a nearby speaker.

Julian took a quick glance around the
ballroom before ushering me towards the emergency exit at the back
of the room behind the stage.

“What is going on?” By this point I was
utterly confused. Julian just stared at me, his eyes gleaming with
intensity.

"Its business Jade, and I don't want to go
into too many details with you."

Until that moment I had managed to keep my
temper in check but it was becoming increasingly difficult as his
evasive answers increased my level of agitation.

"You don't want to, or just won't tell
me?"

He narrowed his eyes.

"I don't want to, can't, and won't tell
you."

His grip around my waist tightened, he knew
me well enough to expect I would try to pull away from him. I let
out a long exasperated breath.

"So why are you here now?"

Julian thought long and hard about his
answer. Something was off with him. His usual egotistical swagger
was missing, he seemed excessively pensive, but not willing to
share why. I searched his face for any indication of what he was
thinking or feeling.

"I wanted to see you before I left. I'm
going out of the country for a few weeks on business."

The words felt like a jab to the chin a-la
Mike Tyson. This time I narrowed my eyes to him.