Chapter 28
Roni
The following day, Roni went to work, with Johnny still on her mind. She was at the desk with Mona and the first shift desk clerk. It was five minutes to 3:00 when she saw him come through the doors. She gave him a puzzled look and he had the same apologetic expression on his face, when he was late on his first day.
“Hello, Jonathan. May I speak with you in my office, please?” she asked professionally.
“Sure.” he said, walking back into her office and closing the door behind him. He abruptly began to speak in a quiet voice. “Roni, before you say anything, please let me say I’m sorry. I know I should have called, but my boy, Rob, from the Hole, you know the big emcee, he had me to go and talk to the guy who owns the record label out in New York. He was in Miami and since we were so close, he made time to meet with me. Well, while we were there, my cousin got into some serious trouble. I should have called off, but I didn’t expect to be there as long as I was. I meant to come back, yesterday, but I spent most of the night trying to get him out of jail. I am so sorry I didn’t call you. I know you were worried about me and I meant to call you,” he said.
“Well, it’s unacceptable for the job, number one. No call, no show is grounds for me to let you go, Johnny. I have to write you up, but I wont terminate you. As for me, yes, I was worried sick. Even if you would have just called to say you were okay, I would have been satisfied with that,” she said.
“I know. I’m sorry, Roni,” he looked back at the office door, then began to talk quieter. “Will you forgive me?“
He looked like a little kid, apologizing to his mother. She smiled. “Yeah, I guess so. Now get to work. I’m leaving for the day,” she said.
He grabbed her and kissed her, taking her breath away.
“Can I see you tonight?” he asked.
He was her weakness and she didn't even have the fight in her to deny him. “Yeah. Your place, though.”
“My place, it is, baby. I’ll be home right after work.”
“See you, later,” she said, kissing him on the cheek, before opening the office door. The hotel was so busy, she was sure nobody was paying her or Johnny any attention.
His apartment was always so neat and clean. Nothing was ever out of place. He took a shower, then came into his bedroom with a white tank top and plaid boxer shorts on. His wavy hair was still damp and pulled back into a long, curly ponytail.
“You sleepy, baby?” he asked, while Roni lied on his bed, with her eyes closed.
“No. Just lying here, relaxing. That’s all.”
“I still wanna show you my equipment and how it works,” he said.
“You can show me another time. I just wanna lie here, baby. If that’s alright.”
“Of course it is, sweet lady,” he smiled as he got in bed next to her. “Cuz I just wanna lie here with you,” he said in a seductive voice.
He began to touch her body, getting her hot and aroused. Once they were naked, he turned her onto her stomach and gripped her fleshy ass cheeks. He hovered over her, lifting her hair up, and ran his tongue from the nape of her neck, down her spine, to the small of her back. Then, he spread her ass apart and ran his tongue all the way to her weeping pussy hole. He pulled her up, so that she was on her knees, and he licked and sucked her aching pussy from behind. She moaned with ecstasy, as he tasted her. Then, after a brief prelude to the main event, he entered her with his long, hard dick. He gripped her chubby waist and began to pound away inside her. She had always been into dramatic sex and she loved a little thug passion when it came her way.
"Oh yeah! Give it to me rough, Johnny!" she pushed her ass back against him.
"You like that don't you, girl? You like this dick in that pussy? Huh?" he pounded harder. "Tell me you like it! Tell me you like it, or I'll stop!" he said, doubling her excitement, while he brought the pain.
"I like it! I like iiiiiiit!" She came multiple times and the juice from her pussy dripped onto his sheets and down her creamy thighs. He gently pulled her hair, while he thrust deeper and deeper into her. After he climaxed inside her, he lied behind her, rubbing her hair, and kising the back of her neck..
She lay there, enjoying the warmth of his body and the security of his embrace. There was no denying it; she was head over heels for Jonathan Parker.
"What you doin to me, Johnny?" she kissed him softly.
"The same thing you're doing to me, Roni. Falling hard for you." He lied there, ecstatic; but the anxiety and fear started to haunt him all over again. Every time he’d fallen in love with a woman, she left. He beat himself up too many times for being a fool. Why be a fool again? “You’re doing it again. You’re falling again. You better let go. Chase your dreams and forget about her before she forgets about you.” his subconscious mind worked overtime.
He looked down at his beautiful girlfriend. She was sound asleep. He was wide awake. All night long.
Roni opened her eyes and smiled. She’d found a love that she was happy to have. She rolled over to kiss Johnny. He wasn’t there.
“Baby?” she called. No answer.
She got up and went into the room where his equipment was. His guitar and keyboard were gone. He wasn’t there.
“Johnny?” she called again. No answer.
She called his cell phone. It went straight to his voicemail three times, meaning either his battery was dead or he’d turned the phone off, completely. “Maybe he went to the grocery store to grab a few things,” she thought. She went into his kitchen, opened the refrigerator and cabinets, and they both were fairly stocked with food.
After waiting on him for two hours, she decided to leave. She left a note for him to call her when he got home. She locked his door on the way out. His car was gone, that time.
The reality of him pulling, yet another disappearing act, became apparent to her, hours after midnight. It must have been some kind of game to him after all. He didn’t call and she hadn’t seen him. He was on the schedule at work, and nobody had heard from him or seen him. Her heart was in turmoil and her mind was whirling with a tornado of bewilderment and agony. Her only question was “Why?”. Why would he be doing this to her.
She continued to call him for about a week, but he never returned her calls. His phone just kept going to the voicemail. She left countless messages for him, pleading with him to just call her and let her know he was okay. She even called Miami jail information to see if he’d gotten into trouble or anything. He hadn’t.
The crying spells stopped after that week, but she still cried inside. She took his name off the schedule at work, deleted his name from her cell phone, and hoped that one day he would resurface and at least tell her why he disappeared.
She called an emergency meeting at the Halo. Karla and Daphne met her there. Angie had gone to visit her parents. Roni wasn’t Roni that night. Everyone was so used to her nagging and complaining. This time, she was speechless.
“Damn, Roni, this is your third Cosmo, maybe you should ease up on the drinks, so you can at least drive yourself home,“ Karla warned her.
“Oh, I’m upset and tonight I’m just gonna get fucked up, if you don’t mind,“ Roni snapped.
“Okay, so what’s really going on?“ Daphne intervened.
Roni shook her head. “I mean, I already told you guys that he left without telling me he was leaving. He hasn’t called in two weeks. I fucked him and maybe that's all he wanted to begin with. I’m sure he doesn’t wanna talk to me. Maybe he’s married and was just trying to deal with someone else until him and his wife patched things up. Shit, I don’t know,” Roni sipped her drink.
“But you also said that he left most of his things here, but he took his guitar, keyboard, and a few other pieces of equipment. Maybe he got some kind of gig or something,“ Daphne said.
“If he did, he could’ve still called me, “ Roni’s voice was starting to slur.
After drinking her cosmos, Roni ordered drank two long island iced teas.
Karla was
sipping her cranberry juice on the rocks and had started talking about how she really liked Tony, but wanted to take their relationship very slowly.
“Karla, I don’t mean to interrupt what you’re saying, but we need to get her home. She can’t drive like this.” Daphne said, pointing to Roni, who’s head was bowed, and eyes were closed.
“ I’ll bet she had something to drink on the way here, too,” Karla said.
“Maybe not. Those damn long island iced teas aint no joke alone. Plus she had a few of those cosmos. Believe me it don't take much,” Daphne said. “Roni! Roni, c’mon. Time to go!” she yelled.
“What? Time da whah?” Roni slurred. “I just wanna go da sleeeeee,” she waved her hand and it flopped down, smacking her right hip.
“Let’s help her out to my car,” Karla said.
She stumbled as they walked her out to the car. “Okay, I’ll have Jas to drive me back up here and I’ll get Roni’s car and bring it to your house, okay?”
“That’s cool. I’ll keep her with me until she at least sobers up,” Karla said.
Early the next morning, Roni looked like shit and felt even worse.
“You okay, girl?” Karla gave her a cold washcloth, two Motrin pills, and a glass of water.”
“Yeah. My fuckin head hurts so bad.”
“Yeah, it should with all that alcohol you drank last night.”
“I’ll be alright, you guys got my car, right?”
“No we left it. Of course we did, silly. We wouldn’t just leave it there all night. It’s outside. You going home now?”
“Yeah, I need to. Just going to lie down and sleep this shit off some more,” she had her hand on her left temple.
“Okay, if you need me, call me. I’m going to get going and grab some breakfast on the way to the office. I got some catching up to do. If you need me for anything, just call me."
“Thanks, Karla. See ya later.” she said, wincing from the bright sunlight that greeted her and her terrible hangover.
Chapter 29
Angie
“So, daddy wants me to move back home, and mom has turned into a complete health nut!” Angie laughed as she held a shirt up to her. “You like this color on me Roni?” she asked.
“It’s cute, but you look better in darker colors to me,” Roni said, as she looked at a dress for herself.
“Not to bring him up or anything, but have you heard from Johnny anymore?”
“No. It’s been a month now. I don’t think I will.” Roni said.
“I’m sorry, boo,” she looked at the sadness hidden behind her best friend’s eyes. “At least he didn’t do you like that asshole Brandon did me. I told you how he tried to call and get me back. The loser!” Angie said, attempting to make Roni feel a little better about her situation.
“Yeah, these men do have some nerve don’t they?”
“Girl, I’m telling you!” Angie said.
They walked through the mall and two White guys eyeballed them. One was tall and lanky, the other was no taller than five six and super muscular. The tall, lanky one approached them.
“Hey sistahs. Don’t mean to bother you at all, but I was wondering if you’d be interested in having drinks with my friend and I. On us, of course.”
Roni and Angie looked at each other and laughed.
“No that’s alright. I don’t drink,” Roni said.
“Thanks anyway,” Angie smirked as they walked away.
The guys watched them, as they walked off, giggling like two schoolgirls.
“Did you hear him girl? Sistahs!” Roni laughed. A genuine, cheerful laugh for the first time in weeks.
Chapter 30
Roni
The next day, Roni was at work, when Mona told her she had a phone call on hold.
“Veronica Carter speaking, how may I help you?“ she said.
No response.
“Hello?”
“Roni,” it was Johnny’s voice.
Roni felt weak in her knees. She didn’t know whether to hang up the phone, start cursing him out, or just listen to what had to say.
“Johnny?”
“Yeah?”
“What do you- you want?” she wanted to sound cold, but the love she had for him, intervened with her tone.
“I- we need to talk,” he said.
“What do we need to talk about?” she looked up to make sure nobody was around the desk area.
“I just need you to meet me. I’ll be there tomorrow. Please meet me at Serra Springs Park at nine oclock.”
“Johnny, where are you?” she asked.
“Just meet me tomorrow, baby. Please.” he hung up.
She stood with the phone in her hands. Confused, excited, and angry, all at the same time.
“Is everything okay?” Mona breezed past her with her box of cigarettes in her hand.
“Oh, yeah. Fine, thanks Mona,” she lied.
“I’m going out for a smoke, while we’re slow,” she said.
“K,” Roni replied, not hearing a word Mona had said. The only thing she thought about is seeing Johnny finding out why he left.
“He stood in front of her, his eyes glistening with tears. The autumn breeze caressed Roni's shoulder length, black hair, that she wore down for the first time in years. She'd lost twenty pounds and her once chubby face was oval shaped, her features were more defined, and her beauty was more evident than before. He took her trembling hand into his. "I don’t know where to start. All I know is, that I want to say sorry. I'm sorry for quitting on you, without notice.”
“You quitting the job is the furthest thing from my mind right now, Johnny,” she said.
He continued, “ I kept telling myself that I wasn't in love. That I better run now and not look back. I guess- I guess I was- was scared. I got left before. I don’t have to tell you that anymore, you already know. I just couldn't deal with the pain of losing you, so I left. I just have to be a man and be honest. I was scared- and- I was chasing the dream of a lifetime. I got the break that I've been wanting all my life and I ran for it. When I was in Miami, my boy, Rob, from the Hole connected me with some contacts out in New York. They want to sign me. Once I got to there, Roni, I saw all these tall buildings, bright lights, beautiful single women, and a world of new opportunities," he paused to fight the tears in his voice." "But all I could think about was you. I couldn't concentrate on anything. I realized that my life was so incomplete without you." Slowly, he knelt down on one knee. Roni's knees almost gave out.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. He gazed up into her eyes. "Veronica, I love you. Nothing in this world is important if I don't have you in my life. Some people would call me crazy for doing this so soon, but I feel it in my heart that you're my soul mate. We don’t have to do it now. It doesn’t even have to be soon, but, you are the one I wanna be with. I can‘t be without you, Roni. Please say you’ll go back to New York with me and be my wife?"
Her bittersweet tears streamed down her dark skin. What she never thought would happen to her, happened at that very moment. Her emotions started to spin and she didn't know what she was feeling from one second to the next. In fear, she answered, "You can just leave me, without so much as a goodbye. Not even a damn Dear John! I'm sorry, Johnny. I can't. You were so afraid of me leaving you, that you left me." She gently pulled her hand away, and ran. She didn't look back. Nor did she have to. He watched her run, until she was gone. He remained on the beach, kneeling on the sand, with his bleeding heart in his hands.
Chapter 31
Roni
Almost two months later, Daphne was alone at the shop. Roni came in for a wash and deep condition. As Daphne massaged Roni's scalp, she noticed the distant look on her face.
"So, do you wanna talk about it?" Daphne insisted.
After a few sighs, Roni, poured out her heart. "Daph, I'm just scared. He wants to marry me. I have waited my whole life for this. Ever since I was a little girl, I'd always dreamed of being swept off my feet by the man of
my dreams. Now that I've met the man of my dreams, and he's ready to sweep me off my feet, I am afraid. I'm afraid that he will leave me one day... that what is so right may end up being so wrong. I feel like he's my soul mate, but maybe it's too soon to tell."
Daphne waited patiently for her to finish. "Roni, you are one of my best friends and I love you like a sister. I have sat back and watched you go from one guy to the next, in tears and sinking into one depression after another. You have been through them all. The liars, the cheaters, the moochers, and even a married man. When you talked about Johnny, I saw your face light up. Your eyes told a story that they never have. It's never too early to fall in love. Love has no time limit. If you just know in your heart, then dont let anybody else tell you how to feel! Don't be afraid to be happy, baby. I had to learn that the hard way. Before I could come out and tell y'all that I was a lesbian, I had to think about my happiness and my life. Not anybody else’s. I had to relax all of my anxieties and my fears and just live for once. And you know what? It feels good. So, I'm telling you. You have to let go of your fears and just live. If it feels right, go for it."
"But he called me only twice in the last couple of months. Maybe he doesn't care anymore."
"I'm willing to bet he does."
"What makes you say that?"
"He’s all the way in New York. He doesn’t have to see you ever again, Roni, but he’s making every effort to do just that.”
"What the hell do you mean?" Roni's big eyes widened, as she turned around in the chair to look at Daphne.
Daphne laughed. "Johnny's promoters in the area dropped off some event fliers. He will be here this Friday night, at the Hole. He's performing. He wants to you to be there. The big guy from the Hole, the emcee, he‘s cool with Jas. He came in here and relayed the message for Johnny. See, Johnny thinks if he was to ask you to come, personally, you would‘ve turned him down."
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