Trouble In Paradise (22 page)

He watched her walk to the car
standing there second guessing himself.  Joshua was in the living room calling Victoria back to back and taking back shots of Hennessy.  He had just about gone through the bottle.  Dantae slammed the door and locked it.  He looked at his watch.  It was three thirty in the afternoon.  He walked over to Joshua with his shot glass in hand.  He reached out for Joshua to pour a shot. 

“Damn J, how much have you been drinking?” 

Joshua was starting to look a little drunk. 

“You ok man?” 

“No I’m not, she still not answering the phone.  Shouldn’t she be over this by now?  I need to talk to her D,” he sputtered. 

“Hold on J,
let me call Shay.”

Chapter 26

Shay looked down at her phone, it was Dantae calling.  She answered the phone,

“If this is about Victoria I’m hanging up.”

“No, don’t hang up the phone please.  Listen I know this getting on her nerves but you are not over here with this dude.  He is love sick or something and Victoria done really put it on him ‘cause he over here losing his mind and I’m about to lose mine.” 

Shay rolled her eyes. 

“If you have any sympathy for me you would help me out and do me this favor.” 

“What do you want?” she said giving in. 

“I just need you to get Victoria to call him.  I don’t care how you do it.  If you just persuade her to talk to him for five minutes so he can stop looking pale and sick.  I have never seen a brother turn pale until now.” 

Shay laughed
. 

“Ok, ok
it isn’t that easy for me either.  Victoria is very determined to have her time to think about what she wants to do and all that but I’ll try and put a bug in her ear so you can rest easy.” 

She went into her purse and pulled out a stick of gum and put a piece in her mouth. 

“Anything else?” she said starting to chew. 

“What you smacking on?”  

“Some gum.” 

“
When am I going to get my kiss?”

“Why should I put my lips on you?

“Because that’s where they belong girl
,”

“We’ll see
let me call you back.”

  She hung up.  Victoria came into the room and took her glasses off.  

“Hey girl you want to do some more retail therapy,” she said. 

“T
hat would be nice,” Victoria said, “I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.” 

She picked her glasses back up,

“Let’s go now.” 

Shay grabbed her purse and slipped her feet into her flip flops.  It was a hot sunny day and the Fourth of July was coming up.  Shay wanted to buy something for the holiday while she was in Chicago.  She had not put a dent in her MasterCard even though Victoria and she had gone shopping earlier in the week.  After calling Leon’s parents and letting them know what happened she had become mute. 
The shrill screams were too much to bare.  Having to call someone, anyone for that matter and tell them that a loved one has passed away is awful.  Her heart sunk before she could get the words and information on where to view the body and what would be happening with Danielle. 

Shay had
also called the jail and spoken to Danielle’s attorney.  But Danielle’s attorney would only tell Shay to get her attorney to contact her.  Shay would keep checking up on what was going on with Danielle.  Shay’s attorney was representing all of them versus Danielle and she wouldn’t have a chance, Shay would see to that.  Leon’s next of kin screamed and screamed his aunt fainted, the uncle ended up finishing Shay off before he hung up in her face.  Even though it wasn’t Shay’s fault she would’ve cursed out the person that delivered such bad news to her also.  She understood.  Twenty minutes later they turned into the mall parking lot. 

“So are you still not talking to Joshua?”

“No,” Victoria stated flatly. 

“When do you think you might talk to him?” 

“Honestly Shay, I’ve wanted to talk to him every day but one thing I do know is if a man feels he can get away with anything he will try and get away with everything.  I will not be the one to stand by and let any man walk all over me.”

“So you think sleeping with another guy will solve the problem?” 

Victoria couldn’t believe it. 

“I’m not trying to be funny,” Shay said, “so don’t look at me like that.” 

“Well what are you trying to be Shay because really you’re not the one in this situation, I am.  And for the record I’m not just sleeping around with another man I have feelings for this man it’s not just a fling anymore, it’s gotten a little bit more complicated.” 

Now it was Shay’s turn to look shocked. 

“What do you mean?  You better spill it.  You been laid up with this guy for the last four days and now you telling me you have feelings for him.  Oh this just gets more shocking, what about Joshua, your fiancé?” 

“What about him? 
He has ruined us.  Look at what all has happened.  It was a cause and effect,” she threw her hands up.  “He chose to continue to mess with her even though he was with me, now she has lost her mind talking about being pregnant.  And another thing, miss me with that bull about her saying it was an accident because if she was just there to scare us why was the gun loaded?  Why was the safety not on?  For that fact why wasn’t the gun fake?  There are a lot of fake guns out there that look real.  The psychopath is a liar and I hope she never gets out.  He shouldn’t have been messing with her in the first place.” 

Victoria
was right
, Shay thought. 

Everything she was saying was the truth.

“I understand Victoria believe me I do girl, if anyone understands you it’s me, I get it.  All I’m saying is you have no choice but to move on from this even though it is fresh in your mind.  I have to fly back to Memphis.  You have to go to work on Monday and its Friday, we’re going to have to be around each other and communicate with each other because we were all involved in this thing so you have to find some common ground and talk to him.” 

Shay
was right Victoria knew it.

“Ok, ok I’ll call him after we shop maybe I can get him and Dantae to accompany us to the airport.  You know Dantae would want to see you off.” 

“Cute.  Dantae thinks I’m stupid, I know he would want to see anything with long legs off.”  

They walked into the mall through the Macy’s entrance and through another set of double doors.  Once inside they walked right to the makeup counter. 

“Oh la la,” Victoria said, “let me see that plum color right there,” she pointed. 

Judy was the lady’s name behind the counter,

“This plum color here?” she asked reaching in behind the glass and pulling out the plum colored lipstick. 

“Yes,
” Victoria said.

Her eyes lit up
. 

“We hav
e that color for your eyes also.”

Judy pulled
out the plum colored eye shadow. 

“Ahh.
”

Victoria grabbed
the eye shadow.

“Would you like to put on a sample?” 

“Sure,”  

Judy pulled out the sample eye shadow and handed it over to Victoria. 

“Do you need help putting it on?”  

“No, no I have this.” 

“Ok.” 

Judy looked to Shay,

“Can I help you with a color?” 

“Yeah, I’m looking for like a smoky gray eye shadow and liner.” 

“Oh yes, we have a fantastic grey you are going to love, step over here to this counter.” 

Judy stepped to the next counter and started pulling out greys for Shay to test. 

The plum colored lipstick and eye shadow was perfect,

“Yes there is nothing like retail therapy.” 

Her phone rang.  She looked at it.  It was Joshua again.  She looked over at Shay and back at the phone then answered it. 

“Hello,” she said. 

“Victoria,” Joshua said relieved that she answered the phone.  “Baby please don’t hang up.  I love you, I miss you so much.  What you trying to do to me?”

“What you did to me,” she said in a plain and even tone. 

“Baby, I am so sorry.  I know I have a lot of explaining to do and believe me I am willing to do whatever it will take to make this right.  You are my life girl; I never want to be without you.  Please come home.  I love you so much,” he begged. 

She let out a deep sigh. 

“I love you too Joshua,” she said feeling defeated.  “If I didn’t love you, I would never talk to you again.  But me loving you is my weakness.  Listen I’m at the mall trying out some retail therapy and when I’m done here I’m going to see Shay off to the airport, do you and Dantae want to meet us there?”

“Why don’t you drive over here when you get through shopping, we’ll all get in with you and drive to the airport so we can be in one car?  I want to be next to you girl, you are my wife.” 

At the mention of those words Victoria looked down at her wedding finger.  It was empty. 

She gasped. 

“Ooo
,” she said covering her mouth. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“Ah nothing baby, I dropped something.  Well Joshua let me finish up here and we’ll talk later ok?” 

“Ok baby and I love you girl, always and forever.” 

“I love you too,” she said before hanging up. 

She frantically started to pat herself down looking for her ring. 

“How could I be so careless?” 

She had removed the ring after the second night she spent with Greg.  She put her purse on the counter and checked her inside pockets.  She checked her small jewelry case she carried in her purse with rings and e
arrings and different bracelets she never knew when she would need one.  Opening the box she saw her ring and let out a sigh of relief. 

“What’s wrong?” Shay asked. 

“I thought I lost my ring girl, Joshua called me his wife and I realized I wasn’t wearing it.” 

“Oh, you must be crazy, you took the Leo Diamond off?
You an ungrateful type of chick aren’t you?”  Shay laughed.

Victoria’s mouth dropped open she slapped Shay playfu
lly across the arm,

“Girl shut up, don’t trip.  What I look like wearing it when I was not with my fiancé.” 

“Un huh I hear that, but you don’t know that man like that and when did you talk to Joshua?” 

“Just now, when we leave the mall we’re going over there, getting in one car and taking you to the airport girly.  I’m sorry we didn’t get to spend that much time together and this trip has been something like catastrophic.” 

“Don’t worry about it, it’s really not your fault it looks like I’ll have to make a couple of trips up here seeing how I’m involved in a murder case now.” 

“Yeah.”

They rung up their items and proceeded to the next store.  Thirty minutes later they were both coming out of Victoria’s Secret with bags loaded on both arms. 

“Gotta love it,” Victoria said smiling. 

“I’m not even tired,” Shay said.  “I can get used to this.  This mall has everything; even the Victoria Secret in the mall in Memphis doesn’t have such a variety like this one.” 

“Did you see how big that store was?” Victoria stated.  “I’m sure they don’t have as much.” 

They walked passed a Barnes & Noble.  

“Oh you know I can’t leave this mall without getting like a three-book series of some sort.  Ooh girl you know we will be in here all day if we go in, you know I’m a sucker for a good urban novel.” 

“Un huh I know,”

Victoria shook
her head up and down that’s why we going in.” 

An hour later they were coming out of Barnes & Noble with one big bag each: a three-novel series for Victoria had turned into four three-novel series by different authors and a debut novel called “Trouble In Paradise” by Stephanie Nicole Norris.  She had
books my Mary Monroe, Victoria Christopher Murray, Denesha Sheree and Tajana Sutton.  She wouldn’t have to worry about not having something to keep her busy.

She loved her urban novels.  Shay came out with a bag just as big as Victoria’s with some of the same nove
ls and also books by Vanessa Davis Griggs.  They almost didn’t have arm room left with the Macy’s, Victoria’s Secret, and Barnes & Noble bags. 

“Ok, so are we finished or should we go unload?” Shay asked. 

“It depends.  What time’s your flight?” 

“It’s at six thirty.”

“You have to be there an hour early and it’s now four twenty five.  Well that’s up to you girl.  Do you want to spend some time with Dantae before you leave or do you want to shop some more before you leave?  You’re gonna have to make a choice.” 

Shay twisted her mouth. 

“That’s not a hard choice,” she said smiling.  “Let’s unload and get another thirty minutes in real quick.  I need to check out Bath and Body Works.”

Forty-five minutes later Victoria and Shay emerged from the Bath and Body works with only forty-five minutes to make it to the airport and they had to drive twenty minutes across town to get to Joshua and Dantae.  They were looking at each other and giggling like school girls because they knew they stayed a little longer then they should’ve.  Victoria’s phone had started to ring again about thirty minutes ago and Victoria had ignored it.  She sent Joshua a text saying they were on their way.  They had two big bags of different body sprays, perfumes, lotions, shower gels, bath crystals and massage oils.  They wouldn’t need any for a while.  They headed down I-95 and got to the house in fifteen minutes.  Victoria had put the pedal to the metal in her Cadillac and it glided right acr
oss town in no time flat.  Oh yeah, she said to herself, that’s what I’m talking about.