Playthang (3 page)

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Authors: Janine A. Morris

BOOK: Playthang
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3
B
y the time Chrasey sat down and requested the drink menu, she looked up and saw Jordan walking in. She instantlysmiled at the sight of Ms. Moore walking toward her in her power suit and carrying a black Louis Vuitton briefcase. Jordan had that typical look of the successful black woman, and it always amused Chrasey to think of how the world would react if it really knew she had issues just like the rest of us.
Jordan glanced around the restaurant, smiling at a few people,until she finally spotted Chrasey sitting at a table in the middle of the room. The Cheesecake Factory on a Friday night got pretty crowded, but the food and drinks were worth it. Jordan made her way to the table where Chrasey sat, and she instantly placed her briefcase and purse in the booth and walked off.
“Gotta go to the bathroom,” she blurted.
Chrasey giggled and buried her face in the drink menu that the waiter had just brought over. She was beginning to narrow it down as to what her drink for the night would be, when she heard someone close by clearing their throat.
“Look at you.” After debating if she wanted to squeeze onto the bench or sit at the chairs facing the bench, she muttered, “You're turning into an alcoholic.” She pulled a chair out from the table.
“Ha ha ha, Missy ... you are teaching me well,” Chrasey replied.
“Where's Jordan?” Dakota asked, gesturing toward the briefcasesitting on the bench.
“She is in the bathroom.”
“Oh. Well, what're you drinking?”
“I'm thinking a Mai Tai.”
“I'll take that too,” Dakota said.
At that moment, the waiter walked over. “You ladies ready to order?”
“Not yet. Waiting for someone to get out of the bathroom,”Chrasey said.
“OK, no problem. I'll give you a few minutes,” the waiter responded.
The waiter walked away and headed toward the next table over.
Chrasey followed him with her eyes. “He is kinda cute,” she said.
“Stop it, slut,” Dakota said.
Unbeknownst to Dakota, Jordan was walking up behind her, returning from the bathroom.
“Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?” Jordan laughed as she wiggled into her seat.
“Ha ha ha,” Dakota muttered.
“Whatever, heifers. Pick what you are getting, 'cause I am starving,” Jordan said.
Jordan immediately opened her menu and began perusing the pages to see what she wanted to eat for the night. She went straight past the beef section and toward the chicken and pasta sections.
“I'm not sure what I'm in the mood for,” Jordan said.
“Well, I'm getting the Navajo Sandwich,” Dakota added.
“Nobody asked you,” Jordan said.
“What's your problem this evening?” Chrasey said before Dakota could respond.
“Nothing, I was just joking,” Jordan said, looking at Dakota.
“You better be playing, 'cause you're about two seconds from getting jumped over here,” Dakota said, laughing.
“I'm just cranky. Work, that damn Jayon ... I'm missing Jason like crazy, just going through it right now, that's all.”
“You ain't called me in like two weeks. I was wondering what's been going on with you. When Dakota said we was meeting, I knew I had to come because I had to catch you while I could.”
“I did call you a couple days ago at work, but when your secretary said you weren't at your desk, I didn't leave a message.My bad.”
“It's cool. So what's been going on with you?”
“Well, my now ex-husband doesn't want to agree to give me custody of Jason.”
“Really?” Chrasey asked. “I didn't know you were asking for it.”
“I said he could have him every weekend and half the summer,but he's still not trying to work with me and, quite honestly,it's driving me crazy,” Jordan said.
“Well, what is it that he is willing to do?” Dakota asked.
“He is willing to let me take him weekends and half the summer. He says it's too much change for Jason, which I see what he is saying, but either way the back and forth is unstable no matter how we arrange it.”
“Yeah, that is true. I just don't want my godson being stressed out over you two's nonsense,” Chrasey chimed in.
“I know, Chrase. That's why I feel so torn. My decision to let Omar have him in the first place was based on trying to do right by Jason, but I always felt guilty. I could never tell if there were some selfish reasons for that too. This time I know it's all for Jason. I do miss him, but I know it's what's best for him,” Jordan said.
“Well, honestly, J, how do you know it's best for him?” Chrasey asked.
“He tells me he doesn't like Omar's fiancée, and that when Omar is at work she doesn't do anything with him. No woman is going to be making my child feel unwelcome or neglected.”
“What does Omar say about that?” Dakota said.
“He just says that it's not like that. Jason keeps to himself, and she tries to bond with him and so on. Really, I don't care what attempts she has made; Jason isn't comfortable there, and he needs his mother's love,” Jordan said.
“So what are you going to do?” Chrasey asked.
“I'm filing papers to get custody of him.”
“Really! You're going to take him to court?” Chrasey asked.
“Well, I'm hoping he will not want to go through the troubleand just settle with me. If he doesn't, then yes, it will go through the courts.”
“You think you have a good chance of winning?” Dakota asked.
“Yes, they always side with the mother unless there are some extenuating circumstances.”
“Well, good luck with it. If you need some character witnesses,we got you,” Dakota said, laughing.
“Whatever, miss.Y'all heifers will make me lose the case.”
As they all laughed at the humor found in the not-so-funnysituation, they snacked on the bread and their drinks.
A few moments later, the waiter came and took their orders.They all ordered different things so they could steal a bite from the others' plates, as they usually did. Once the waiter walked away, they began chatting again.
“So what's going on with David?” Chrasey asked Dakota.
“He is fine; he is starting his new job this week.”
“He got promoted, right?” Jordan asked.
“Yeah, he is excited,” Dakota answered.
“That's good for him,” Jordan said before taking a bite of her bread.
As Jordan reached for a sip of her water, she saw in her peripheralview a man walking toward her table. She took a sip from the glass, and then looked up as she placed her water back down. By now, the gentleman was standing only a few inches from the table. Once it was obvious that his intention was to get the ladies' attention, they all looked in his direction.
“Hi, I'm so sorry to interrupt your dinner, ladies, but I would've never forgiven myself if I didn't come over here and at least introduce myself.”
The ladies just looked back at him and smiled some.
“My name is Alan,” he said.
“Hi, Alan,” Chrasey said.
The guy looked at Jordan and said, “I won't be surprised if some lucky man has taken you for himself, but if by chance it's possible, I would love if you would call me sometime,” Alan said as he placed a business card in front of Jordan.
Jordan looked down at it and read that Alan was a director of finance and his offices were located up the street from her own.
“Thanks, I'll give you a call, Alan,” Jordan said, picking up the business card off the table.
“Sorry I didn't place it in your hand, but I didn't want you to feel pressured to take it.”
“I never feel pressured to do things I don't want to do, but thanks for the thoughtfulness.”
“OK, I'm going to let you get back to dinner. Nice meetingyou, ladies,” Alan said as he turned to walk away.
Alan walked back to the bar where two men were looking in his direction as if waiting to see if he had been shot down or not.
“I guess you scared him away,” Dakota said.
“I'm just saying, how you going to put the card down on the table?” Jordan asked.
“You are always so hard on these men. You would think you were still married the way you won't give them no play,” Chrasey said.
Jordan just shrugged her shoulders.
“You made him nervous; cut him some slack,” Chrasey added.
“I know. Maybe we can meet for lunch one day,” Jordan said, looking down at the business card. “He works right up the street from my office.”
“Uh-oh,” Dakota said. “I remember when you wouldn't even take a number; there must be trouble in paradise.”
Jordan made a face at Dakota.
“That's true... . What Jayon do now?” Chrasey said.
“Nothing at all. I just don't feel like living by any rules right now,” Jordan replied.
“They're your rules. Nobody made you live by those rules,” Dakota said. “I used to tell you to live a little.”
“I know that, and that's why I'm breaking my rules for a while.”
“Well, you gotta do a lot more than pick up a business card off the table if you call yourself living a little,” Dakota replied.
4
T
he sounds of whistles and crowd screams were coming from the living room when Jordan opened the front door. She was walking into her home with three grocery bags, her briefcase, and a Macy's bag in tow. Jordan closed the door behindher and dropped the bags by the door.
“Jayon, can you come help me with these bags?” she shouted.
She began to walk down the hall toward the bathroom. She noticed that Jayon hadn't responded, and she hadn't heard any movement since her request. She finished up in the bathroomand walked out into the living room. Jayon was still sitting in front of the television with the joystick to his PlayStation in his hands.
“Jayon, you didn't hear me ask you to help me with the bags?”
“I was coming.Where are they?”
“By the door,” Jordan said.
“Why are they by the door?”
“'Cause they were heavy and I had to pee.”
“OK, well, I'll be right there. The game's almost over.”
Jordan looked at Jayon for a few seconds longer and then walked away. There were days she just wanted to break that damn PlayStation. She was walking down the corridor when she felt her cell phone begin to ring. She looked down at her pocket, and removed the phone from its clip.When she looked in the caller ID, there was a local number displayed with no name. She initially hesitated to answer, unaware of who it was, but she decided to answer to remove her focus momentarily from Jayon.
“Hello,” she answered.
“Hi, is this Jordan?” the voice replied.
“Yes, this is she.”
“Hi ... You probably don't remember me, but we met about two months ago at the BMI Music event.”
“Oh, yeah. I do.What is your name again?”
Jordan walked farther back into the kitchen so that her conversation wasn't overheard.
“Malcolm.”
“OK, right.”
“Well, I'm sorry to bother you after hours, but I wanted to try to get you when you weren't so busy at work.”
“I actually just got home, and I wish I could say I wasn't busy anymore once I was off, but that'd be a lie.”
“I understand. I know you're a very productive woman. I was hoping I could steal you away from your hectic schedule one of these days for dinner or drinks,” Malcolm said.
Jordan didn't recall the person she had in mind from the BMI event trying to hit on her. In fact, if she remembered correctly,they were discussing business only. For a moment she wanted to do her normal shut down line, but she hesitated becauseshe wasn't sure if his comments were still from a professionalperspective. Besides, she could still hear the PlayStation game blaring from the television in the living room.
“Sure, one of these days sounds good to me. Why don't you call me tomorrow at the office, and we can arrange a day.”
“I will call you first thing tomorrow,” Malcolm said.
They both said their good-byes and hung up. Jordan began to walk back down the hall to see if Jayon had even begun to fulfill her request from over ten minutes ago. She entered the room, and Jayon was sitting on the edge of the couch with the joystick in his hand and his eyes glued on the television. Jordan took one look at him, and when he didn't even look up at her when she entered the room, she rolled her eyes and walked off.
“I'm coming,” Jayon said, probably in response to her teeth sucking.
Jordan walked onto the porch, took each bag one by one, and began to lug them into the kitchen. She took the route that didn't call for her to cut in front of the television, but still, Jayon probably heard the sound of the bags rustling together. As Jordan was a few feet from the kitchen, she heard footsteps coming from the other side of the wall. She continued until Jayon was walking toward her and attempting to take the bags from her hands.
“Don't even worry about it now,” Jordan said, trying to steadily walk pass Jayon.
“Give me the bags,” Jayon said with attitude, as if he had a right to be upset.
To avoid the argument that was brewing, Jordan let go of the bags and headed back down the hall. She walked upstairs and went into the bedroom. She sat down on the side of the purple king-size bed and ran her fingers through her hair. Jordanknew she was no longer in a fairy-tale relationship; she knew her prince had pretty much turned back into a toad. Each day that went by, she didn't know if there was something she could do differently or if she had done all that she could do and had to now deal with the hand she was dealt.
When she forgave Jayon over a year ago for cheating on her, he was so apologetic and appeared to be sincere. She had such high expectations for what a great significant other he would be in order to restore their relationship back to what it was. That lasted all of a month or so. In the beginning, he was real sweet and caring; he would spill compliments upon Jordan,suggest the sweetest dates, and so on. However, as soon as Jordan was over his indiscretions, he stopped being so romanticand putting in the extra effort. He started to go back to Jayon the friend, the boyfriend that was more like just a homeboy.That was enough in the beginning. Hell, it was more than enough back then.When they first started, Jordan loved feeling like she had the best of both worlds, a lover in her best friend. That was fine until she realized that he wasn't that best friend after all, and he lied and deceived her just like any other man would. Once she realized that, the friend thing wasn't so cute anymore. She could no longer thrive off their friendship; she needed some romance and effort just like the next woman. Unfortunately, Jayon became less of a boyfriend, and these days, less of a friend. Lately, he was just company, and she felt like she was settling. Settling more than she ever was with Omar.

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