Jada’s mouth opened, but before she could speak, Denise’s eyes widened as she jerked her head toward Antoine, who was facing them with one finger up. Jada looked at him and nodded.
“See? You caught him at a bad time. He’ll let you in soon. I’ve gotta run; I’m expectin’ a client.” Her forehead wrinkled as she paused. “We haven’t been to lunch or dinner in a while. Let’s get together.”
Jada flipped through the log. “I agree. It’s been a minute, text me a time and we’ll go to lunch on Saturday.”
“Will do. Uh, I almost forgot,” Denise waved her hand. “Ervin has plans for us on Saturday. Send me two Saturdays that you’re free. We should hook up before the month ends.”
“Why don’t you send me yours? I’m free every weekend.”
“True. It’s about time for that to change.”
Denise pivoted and headed to her office. From the moment Denise mentioned Antoine’s possible interest in her, it weighed on Jada’s mind. Denise loved to tease for laughs, and Jada suspected her comment about Antoine might have been just that — one of her tutti frutti jokes.
Or was her friend trying to play matchmaker again? Hopefully not with Antoine.
Antoine ambled to the window, lip-flapping words she couldn’t understand, then returned to his seat again. With furrowed brows, she stuck her tongue out at him. I could wring his neck. He knows I didn’t hear him.The females in this place must be desperate.Am I the only one without shutters over my eyes? She tapped lightly on the door with her pen. Finally, he rushed back to the door after a commercial break and opened the door.
“I apologize. I had to log my playlist before my shift ends, and I was behind. How’s your morning going?” Antoine asked as though he’d done nothing wrong.
“Better. Now that I can do my job. Can I see your log?” She stepped back so he could take his seat. A violet aroma filled her nostrils. She searched for incense but didn’t see an incense burner or vase.
“Sure, little lady. Go ahead.” He placed his headset around his neck and handed the radio log to Jada.
Her first thought was to ignore the silly nickname he’d given her. She hated it, and her inner voice said no way should she engage in this guy’s rhetoric today.
“I think you know my name. It’s Jada, and I don’t like being teased about my height. I have no problem with being short.” I wish. Between her five-foot one height and petite size five figure, people always assumed she was much younger than thirty-two. Jada had coped with being teased during her school years, but she’d reached a breaking point. Now a lot curvier, she often flaunted her bodacious legs in skirts and dresses.
“My bad, Jada, I didn’t mean to insult you. It’s a figure of speech,” Antoine said in a flippant tone before raising his hand, signaling a pause. “All right, L.A. It’s 8:48 a.m. and you’re listening to 101.3 KTLM on your dial. I’m DJ Ant, the Prince of Romance, here to add a little spice to your morning. Next up—one of my favorites by Stevie Wonder—“As” from Songs in the Key of Life.
Spice? Calling me little lady didn’t add a bit of spice to my morning. Jada briefly watched Antoine out the corners of her eyes, then diverted her attention before he noticed. She flipped through the log, made notes, then altered her stance. Where did Denise dig up information about his attraction to me?
Antoine removed his headset and swiveled his chair around to face Jada. He slumped in the chair and crossed one leg over the other. Their gazes met. Without a blink, his eyes ogled her inch-by-inch, from her face to her cleavage and down to her shapely bare legs where they stalled.
He licked his lips. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Depends on what it is.” Although her white blouse, hot pink pencil skirt, and gold hoops kicked-butt, Antoine’s attention didn’t faze her. If he doesn’t stop staring…
“Why’re you so bitter?”
A frown splayed across Jada’s face. “Excuse me. What do you mean bitter?”
“I’m just saying,” he leaned back in his chair and paused. A bundle of dreadlocks tumbled around his peanut-butter brown face and shadow-beard. “You seem angry, easily agitated, like you’re mad at the world.”
Jada snapped her chin to her chest. “Sir, you don’t know me well enough to make that judgment.” The nerve of him to make comments like that after his buffoonery, which was causing her heart to beat faster, and raising her anxiety level.
“I don’t have to. Your actions expose your feelings.” His hazel eyes bored through hers and made her uncomfortable.
“That’s your opinion. Bottom line. You don’t know me. So, let’s end this conversation now,” she said, remembering to remain positive. “Have a good day.” Jada forced a cheerful smile, placed an orange Post It Note on the log and laid it in his desk tray.
“Uh, huh. Can’t stand hearing the truth.” With a sly grin on his face, Antoine placed his headphones back on.
Jada maintained a smile and strutted to the door; she threw a palm up and walked out.
Who does he think he is?He has no idea what I’ve been through. His insensitive behavior will not interfere with me doing my job. I worked too hard to get this position. Just because I’m not stimulating his ego like the groupies who worship him, he’s fuming.But that’s the least of my worries right now. She rolled her shoulders, released Mr. Antoine’s criticism from her mind and walked to the breakroom for coffee.
Chapter 3
JADA
Friday
The aroma of fresh percolating coffee triggered a craving that Jada would satisfy within minutes. She entered the breakroom, poured a cup and added French Vanilla creamer. After that little tit for tat with DJ Ant, she needed to recoup.
Thoughts of how much she and her mom loved coffee brought a pleasant smile on her face. Hazelnut, Caffe Latte, Folgers. Brands didn’t matter if the label spelled coffee. Not a day had slipped by without fond memories of her parents, one of which was coffee chats with Momma before they left for work. Those chats varied. Some related to the seventeen debutante gowns her mom and Aunt Dee churned out in less than a month. Or Jada’s Best Employee of the Year Award or more personal issues she’d discussed only with her mom. To this day, the void was still present—the pain hadn’t ceased.
Two hairy arms clamped her waist, and she flinched. The familiar fragrance of Paco Rabanne cologne, warm breaths, and a kiss on her neck sent clues. She twirled around to Gordan’s laughter.
“Guess who?” he asked.
“You scared me.” As always, his presence rehashed old memories, and the energy used to avoid the dark-skinned, pretty-boy was ludicrous. At thirty-nine, Gordan was clean-shaven; his physique was impeccable; and he’d devoted the effort to maintain a youthful appearance.
“Sorry, bae. How you doing?”
“I’m okay. But you know what? Stop doing this. We don’t want to stir up gossip around this place.”
“J, our relationship is old news. Who doesn’t know about us dating? Or previously dating?”
“That was then. This is my job, and nobody should see you doing what you just did,” Jada pinched his arm. “Why are you here this early anyway?”
“I have a meeting with Griff and Simon at 10:00. My company’s buying some spots, and I thought I’d check on you.”
“Great. You’re giving that deal to Denise, right?”
“Yep, I know she’s your buddy. I’m meeting with her first. We’re still on for lunch, right?”
Jada sighed. She lifted the coffee pot and refilled the half cup that she’d drank, then added cream and sugar. “I’m not sure. Listen, let’s go to my office.”
“Word? What’s up now? We already agreed on this.”
Jada glanced around and pressed an index finger against her mouth. She did a hand gesture toward her office. They walked the long-carpeted hallway lined with framed albums, awards, photographs of famous singers, and disc jockeys, including DJ Ant. They entered her office and closed the door.
She placed the coffee mug on a coaster
and sat down. “Give me a minute,” she said, while she opened her computer.
Although she’d reached ninety percent of ‘relationship breakup’ recovery mode, she still cared for the man. Jada often saw Gordan at the station after she was hired full-time. They became friends, and then dated years later. He popped into her life at a dismal time and helped expedite the help she required for generalized anxiety disorder. Smart, mature, fast-talking Gordan Pierce, who worked promotions in the music industry for sixteen years, became the man close to her heart.
Despite the self-promise to move forward, she missed Gordan’s soft lips, the way he touched her body… She shook her head. Their relationship shouldn’t have happened, and they both knew better. He had too many ties to the station, too many women he called “just friends.”
She jotted notes while fumbling with the silver locket on her chain. Jada glanced up at Gordan who was still standing and now staring in her eyes. “Take a seat. I forgot to ask if you wanted coffee.”
“No, I had coffee.”
He set his briefcase on top of her desk. “You know… if you break our lunch date, you’ll miss out.”
Jada paused and pressed a hand against her face. “Miss out on what?”
“Oh, no. I’ll wait and ask my question at lunch. Are you going?”
“You must have forgotten our agreement,” she slanted her head and looked at Gordan.
He leaned forward. “What agreement?”
“No more dating, Gordan. I’m thirty-two; I don’t have time to waste. I plan to start dating other men.”
“Bae, I understand, but we talked about lunch two weeks ago and you said yes. It’s kinda like you and Denise going out to lunch sometimes.”
“Uh, huh, and kinda like you and Evette in Sales going out to dinner?”
Gordan shook his head. “That was all business. And I still think somebody told you we’d be there. The point is we said no exclusive dating. You know how I feel about you, and what’s wrong with us kickin’ it occasionally. We’re still cool, right?”
Jada opened a window on her computer and started typing. “We’ll always be cool. And I said maybe to lunch. FYI — this will be our last one. I need to wrap up here first. How long is your meeting?”
“Approximately an hour and a half. You know Griff is a talker; Simon never says much, though. My meeting with Denise shouldn’t take long.”
“We’ll see. Between you and Griff, that meeting might last for hours.”
“Not today. I’m going back to the office later.”
The station sales manager, Griff was a fast-talking slickster who could strike up a sales deal with his eyes closed, and Gordan wasn’t far behind. He’d climbed the corporate ladder fast at his job. Air Mist Record Company delivered on a promise after Gordan’s gift of gab won favor with Griff, and Simon, the program director. Free batches of concert tickets as on-air giveaways were fresh honey on the buns for Griff. And a vast raise for Gordan lived at the top of his discussion list for weeks.
After their breakup, Jada decided the short period of friendship and casual dating was not emotionally healthy for her. Nearly a year had flown by when Gordan stopped by her office with concert tickets and an offer for dinner. His impromptu speech on being ‘just friends’ made sense at that time. She wasn’t dating, neither was he, and she missed him. They should have companionship.
But companionship wasn’t enough. Casual dating morphed into twice, sometimes three times a month, and then her guilt piled high. She wanted to let go and move on. Now, he was back again, and those old feelings were starting to surge. The ones she’d fought so hard to defeat — healing one day at a time —were all in vain.
The phone rang. Jada noticed the studio red line blinking and buzzing, a signal that Antoine likely had another trick in his shoe. She checked her watch. “He’ll have to wait.”
“You’re not answering?”
“Not now. I must finish what I’m doing before we leave. Text me when your meeting is over. I’ll be ready around noon.”
“Fine with me. We’re going to Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles. Will that work for you?”
Several minutes later, the door flew open. Antoine barreled in with a log in hand and a distorted facial expression.
“I didn’t hear you knock,” Jada slanted her head.
“I called you.” He shifted his gaze to Gordan, then back to Jada before dropping a copy of the log on her desk. “There’s a new spot on the log. Why is it there? I’m off shortly, so it should be on Lina’s show.”
She opened a window on the computer. Using her finger, she scrolled the log against his paper copy. “Confirmed. It’s yours.” She reached over and dropped it on the edge of the desk. “Address that with Denise, okay? It’s her account.”
Antoine waved his hand before folding those beautiful tattooed arms that Jada tried her best to ignore. “No, it’s not okay. I’m off soon. Can we talk in private, please?”
Jada’s eyes bounced back and forth from his face to his arms, back to his face faster than a ping pong match. “Shouldn’t you be in the studio?” She asked.
“Don’t worry about that. We need to address this issue now.”
“Sure, but I can’t change anything this late without approval. Try to catch Denise or Griff.”
“I tried already. Neither are available,” Antoine said.
Thoughts circled in every direction; she’d had enough of him. Jada picked up a pen and pad and scurried toward the door. “Excuse me, Gordan.”
She and Antoine walked down the hall; Jada paused a few feet away from her office. This situation didn’t look favorable, and if she needed to sprint away from this fool, she would.
“Okay, explain why this happened,” Antoine looked down at Jada.
“Because the client bought an extra spot and that’s the time it airs. Look, you know this can happen any time,” Jada stared in his eyes. Don’t pretend you don’t know that.
“Well, hip-hip-hoorah for the client, but you should’ve told me. It’s unacceptable to add extra commercials this late.”
“Since when? I thought you knew. Denise told you. I added it on the log. Did you check?”
“Yes, when I came in this morning. It wasn’t there. Explain why it’s there now.” He threw his arms up in despair, forming a ‘T’ with both hands. “Time out, forget it. I don’t care to hear your overinflated excuses for not mentioning this in the studio.” He moved closer and glared down at her, pointing his finger in her face. “You’re trying to sabotage my show.”
The fury in Antoine’s voice caused a tremor in her small stature. She tried to remain calm but gazing up at a man taller than the sky intensified her fear and anxiety. Jada backed up.
“That’s ridiculous. I’m just doing my job.” She wiggled a pen in between her fingers, attempting to simmer down. If she didn’t, a fireball would surely escape, and it would be on. He would not disrespect her.
“Well, you flunk at your job!” he said through clenched jaws. “This is wrong, and I’m taking it up with the GM.” He stormed down the hallway.
He’s lucky he walked away. “Yeah, well, go ahead. You should’ve taken it up with the account exec or Griff, not me,” she shouted. Thankful no one overheard their spat, she was more confident now that he’d stepped out of her personal space and added, “and I’m not trying to sabotage your show. I put an orange Post It Note on that log.” With one hand on her forehead, she leaned against the wall, inhaling and exhaling to decrease her anxiety until she felt refreshed by the seed of courage in her spirit.
She had to find a better way to deal with that man, but he or no one else would disrespect her.
Chapter 4
ANTOINE
Friday
Taking giant steps with the velocity of a hurricane, Antoine stormed down the hallway. Jada’s perpetual defiance caused resentment that festered in his soul, and he didn’t like her attitude. This time, her job title wouldn’t make a difference, and he would report her to man
agement. This maneuvering of spots, and always on his shift, had to stop.
Antoine paused at Griff’s closed door. He knocked, but there was no answer. A few steps down, Kiley was at her desk; he lightly tapped the door and walked in.
“Hey. You know what time Griff or Toni will be in?”
Kiley glanced at him with her usual flirtatious smile. “Griff won’t be in until after 11:00 today. Not sure about Toni, but I’ll check,” she reached for the phone. “Marisol’s probably in by now.”
Antoine threw up a hand. “No, no… Forget it. I’m going back to the studio.” He did a light jog to make sure he’d be in the studio before Will’s newscast ended.
To Antoine’s surprise, Lina was sitting in his chair.
She swiveled the chair around and stood. “I didn’t think you’d left but figured something came up.”
He sat in the chair and grabbed his headset. “I was down the hall. Our traffic director has a stick up her rump again,” he said with a frown.
“You and Jada. What happened this time?”
“Nothing. I don’t feel like discussing it.” He prepared for the commercial breaks and spun his chair around while they ran. “What’s crackin’, DJ Lina RaShawn? You’re here early.”
“Yeah, to do studio work.” Lina removed her compact and applied hot pink lipstick brighter than the pink glittery blouse she’d worn. She fingered her short red highlighted cut.
“You doing voice overs?”
“Yeah, and a few other things.”
“Cool,” Antoine gave her a thumbs up.
“I’ll be back. Oh…are you busy next Saturday?” She said with a flat expression.
“I’m not sure. What’s going on?”
“Some friends of mine are barbequing Saturday. Thought you might wanna tag along.”
Shocked by her request, he didn’t know how to answer. Lina barely said two words to him at work, now she was asking him to hang out? “Um…I think that’s the weekend I go to San Francisco. I’ll let you know, though.”
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