by Rhonda Bowen
“It wasn’t me; it was all you,” Jules said, smiling.
Every time she looked at Truuth, she felt inexplicable pride swell inside her. Most people would have broken, or become bitter if they had grown up with a mother who was a drug addict and who died without giving them as much as a prayer. But not Truuth. Not only had he risen above it, he had used his experience to reach others who were still where he used to be. He used his music to show them that God could be their way out of no way, just like He had been for Truuth.
“You gotta meet somebody,” Truuth said beckoning to a figure nearby. “G, you already know ‘Dre; this is my publicist, Jules; Jules, this is my cousin Germaine.”
For the second time that night Jules caught herself staring.
“We already met,” Germaine said casually, his eyes lingering on Jules for a split second.
Jules shivered despite the warmth of the club.
“Yeah, we met,” she mumbled, tearing her eyes away from his.
“I’ve been looking all over for you guys,” Tanya said, appearing out of nowhere. She stopped suddenly, looked up at Germaine, then at Jules.
“Tanya, this is Truuth’s cousin, Germaine; Germaine, this is the boss lady, Tanya,” Jules introduced.
“A pleasure to meet you,” Tanya said brightly, before turning back to ‘Dre and Truuth. It was obvious from her briskness that she was in full business mode.
“There’s this guy who’s doing a gospel thing later this year. I think he might be interested in booking Truuth. Maybe we can even get him to squeeze some of the other artists into the roster.”
Not one to miss a business opportunity, ‘Dre was out of his seat and nudging Tanya across the room before she had even finished speaking.
“Catch up with you later, cuz,” Truuth said, trailing behind them.
“Aren’t you gonna do the mad dash with them?” Germaine asked, raising one eyebrow questioningly.
“Nah. They can handle it, that is if they don’t scare the poor guy off with their enthusiasm first.”
Germaine chuckled lightly before occupying the seat ‘Dre had just vacated.
“I thought you weren’t gonna stalk me,” Jules said.
“It’s not stalking if you enjoy it.”
Before she could think of a witty response, the bartender came over and placed a glass of cranberry juice in front of Jules and what looked like a root beer before Germaine.
“Thanks, Owen,” Germaine said, nodding slightly to the bartender as he left.
“Since when are you and the bartender on a first-name basis?” she asked.
“Since I hired him.”
“You hired him?” Jules said. “So I guess you’re going to tell me next that you own the place?”
Germaine smiled easily, his eyes never leaving Jules’s.
“You’re the owner? But wait, that means …” Jules’s eyes widened as Germaine casually took a sip from his root beer and watched her put the pieces together.
“You told Owen to cut me off!”
Germaine shrugged unapologetically. “Guilty as charged.”
“Why would you do that?”
“How else could I get you to let me buy you a drink?”
Jules opened and closed her mouth several times as she searched for a response. She was sure that she probably should be mad at him. But she could only shake her head and smile. Guess she didn’t have to look far for that something new after all.
“Okay, so you got a few moves,” Jules said, refusing to give in so quickly. “Is that supposed to impress me?”
“I never said it should.”
“Good, because it doesn’t.”
“I picked up on that,” Germaine said easily. “Tell me something though,” he said, cocking his head to the side and looking at her curiously. “What would it take to impress you?”
His eyes were hypnotizing her again, and Jules felt her stomach begin to do somersaults.
“Well, if I had to tell you, then it wouldn’t be that impressive anymore, now would it.”
“You do have a point there.” The corner of his mouth turned up in a smile. “You’re something else, Jules. A guy’s gotta bring his ‘A’ game when it comes to you.”
“Oh, you were bringing game? I couldn’t tell.”
“Ouch,” Germaine groaned, leaning back and grabbing his chest. “You’re killing me.”
“Nah, you’re fine. Most guys wouldn’t hold out for as long as you have.”
“Yes, well, I’m not most guys,” he said. “I like a good challenge. You, however, are one tough cookie.”
“You gotta be in a city like this,” Jules said, taking a sip from her juice. “Toronto doesn’t pull punches.”
“You got that right,” he said. Jules didn’t miss the serious look that crossed his face for a quick moment. She wondered what he had been through that made him agree so strongly.
“Thanks for this, by the way,” she said, raising her glass.
“No problem. You looked like you needed it,” he said, his focus returning to her.
“I did.”
“Did you want something to eat as well?”
Jules couldn’t help but smile. “You don’t have to—”
Before she could protest, he had signaled Owen to the table and had her order some food. Within moments Owen returned with a large basket of sweet potato fries. Jules narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
“How did this get here so quickly? You got some tricks up your sleeve, don’t you, Germaine,” Jules said, squinting at him suspiciously before popping a fry into her mouth.
“And you’re making me use all of them,” Germaine said.
She laughed lightly and pushed the basket of fries toward him.
“So, I’m pretty good at summing up people,” Jules began, “and I definitely wouldn’t peg you as a nightclub owner.”
Germaine shrugged. “It’s not really your average nightclub,” he said. “Plus, it’s something to do in the evenings after the store closes.”
“What store?” Jules asked in confusion.
“This store,” Germaine said, looking at her strangely. “Sound Lounge is a record store from ten to seven. Then on Sundays, Mondays, and Thursdays, we close up downstairs and use the second floor as a lounge.”
Jules looked around and for the first time noticed the stairs at the back that probably led down to the darkened ground level. She had come up via the side stairs outside and hadn’t even thought twice about what might be downstairs.
“Up here used to be part of the store,” Germaine continued, “but we just moved everything downstairs and capitalized on this space.”
“Wow. I never noticed that,” Jules said, still looking around. “I thought the posters and LPs on the wall were just part of the décor, but they’re actually part of the store. That’s pretty crazy.”
“Yeah, well, with music moving to the Internet, the record store thing is pretty much on its way out,” Germaine said. “I figured if we could add some entertainment, feature a few artists a couple nights a week, and charge a small cover, then we could really boost the business. So far it’s been working.” He chuckled. “Your bartender friend actually manages the store during the day when I can’t.”
Jules cocked her head to the side and looked at Germaine, a small smile spreading across her face.
“Okay, you got me,” she said. “I’m impressed.”
“Imagine that,” he said, popping another fry into his mouth. “And I wasn’t even running game this time.”
Jules threw back her head and laughed.
Chapter 2
“Your boy was on fire tonight,” Tanya said, as she pulled her black Lexus GS Hybrid out of the Toronto Grace Hospital parking lot, where she had picked up Maxine right after leaving the Sound Lounge with Jules. Jules and Maxine almost never passed up an opportunity to carpool in Tanya’s luxury vehicle. Unlike that of the rest of them, Tanya’s standard of living was more reflective of her trust fund than her income from
running Triad with ‘Dre.
Tanya had moved from Ottawa to Toronto to attend college several years earlier. Jules had met her at a campus fellowship meeting where Tanya had been trying to rent out her five-bedroom house to students. Even though Jules had not needed housing, she and Tanya had become fast friends. By the time Tanya graduated with her honors degree in business, she was so well integrated into Triad and its network of people that she decided not to leave.
“Don’t even talk,” Maxine said with a groan. “I am so bummed I missed it.”
“It’s not your fault. You were on call,” Tanya said.
Maxine was a registered nurse at the same hospital where Jules worked. She had been planning to be at the Sound Lounge with the rest of them, but just as they were getting ready to leave, she got a page that she had to go in to work.
“I know, but I hate to think of all those heifers all up on Truuth.”
“Girl, please, Truuth is fine, but he ain’t that fine,” Tanya said rolling her eyes. Maxine sometimes forgot that not everyone saw Truuth through the same rose-colored glasses that she did.
“You know you just jealous, girl.”
“Whatever. You should have seen his cousin though. Now he’s something else.”
“Who, Germaine? Yeah, the Sound Lounge is his place. That’s how Truuth got the hook up to perform tonight,” Maxine said. “Did you get to meet him?”
“Just for a minute. Our friend Jules spent all night chatting him up though,” Tanya said teasingly.
“Is that true?” Maxine said, turning to look at Jules in the backseat. “How come you never said anything about that? Come to think of it, you’ve been mighty quiet back there. What’s up with you?”
“Nothing,” Jules said, glaring at Tanya through the rearview mirror.
“So how come you never told me you had a little thing for Truuth’s cousin?”
“Because I don’t have a thing for Truuth’s cousin,” Jules said.
“Oh really,” Tanya said grinning. “Is that why you’re back there all sulky ‘cause he didn’t ask for your number?”
Maxine burst out in laughter. “Oh, so that’s why she’s so quiet!”
“Whatever, Tanya,” Jules said. “For your information I am not sulking. Can’t a girl just be quiet sometimes?”
“Come on, Jules. You’re gonna tell me that you’re not even a little cheesed that he didn’t ask for the digits?”
“No, I’m not. All we did was hang out. Can’t a grown man and a grown woman hang out without people making something out of it?”
“Aww, sweetie, don’t worry. I’ll get Truuth to put in a good word for you,” Maxine said, turning back to the front.
“No, thank you, Maxine. I’m good,” Jules said.
“I can’t believe it,” Tanya said, chuckling. “Jules, who is too cool for every guy she meets, finally met a guy who beat her at her own game.”
“It’s not about being cool; it’s about being cautious,” Jules said dryly. “You’ve seen the crazies that I’ve had to deal with. Cheaters …”
“Baby daddies,” Maxine added.
“Stalkers,” Tanya chimed in.
“Baby daddies who were stalkers …”
“Okay, okay, I think we all get the point,” Jules said, cutting them off before they started bringing up stories like they usually did when they talked about Jules’s sitcom-worthy dating life.
“Well, Germaine’s not like that, I can promise you,” Maxine said. “I met him a couple times. He’s good people.”
“Yeah, Jules, give him a chance,” Tanya said. “You might as well trust Maxine’s guy-radar since yours seems to be on the fritz.”
“You know, Tanya, you got a lot of talk for a girl who can’t even tell her business partner she has a crush on him,” Jules said, leaning toward Tanya in the driver’s seat.
Tanya’s pale skin immediately began to turn a deep shade of pink.
“‘Dre knows that I care about him,” Tanya said quietly.
“I think you do a little more than just care about him,” Jules said.
“She does have a point there,” Maxine said.
“Whose side are you on?” Tanya asked, glaring at Maxine.
“Well, it’s true,” Maxine said. “You sing the guy’s praises all day long. You bend over backward to please him. You drive two and a half hours in snow to pick him up from the airport—”
“Okay …”
“Not to mention all those times she came to my apartment depressed because ‘Dre was on a date with some girl,” Jules added.
“Oh, she does that to you, too!”
“Max, I have a pint of Rocky Road in my freezer just for her—”
“Okay! Okay!” Tanya exclaimed. “So I have a thing for ‘Dre. Is that a crime? He’s a smart, ambitious, good-looking, Christian guy. What girl wouldn’t like him?”
“There’s nothing wrong with having feelings for him, sweetie,” Maxine said. “But those feelings aren’t worth much if he doesn’t know about them. And you know ‘Dre don’t see a blessed thing unless it’s got ‘Triad’ printed on it. You gotta say the words, girl.”
“And I would say them if they would make a difference. But they wouldn’t, ‘cause you both know that ‘Dre doesn’t do white girls.”
She was right. They had all heard him say it on several occasions. And as the single white female in their tight-knit Triad family, that meant that Tanya was automatically out of the race for ‘Dre’s heart. It didn’t matter that they had all been friends for more than five years, or that Tanya had been the one to cofinance Triad with ‘Dre when it was nothing more than a dream. Even though ‘Dre probably loved Tanya just as much as he did Maxine and Jules, there was a part of his love that she didn’t qualify for because she had the wrong pigmentation.
Jules leaned back as the heaviness of that thought cast a gloom on the atmosphere in the car. She couldn’t understand how that type of thinking still managed to pervade even the best of people. It seemed like the more things changed, the more they stayed the same.
Chapter 3
“Jules, the caterers just called—they want to know when we I will be coming in to do the tasting.”
Jules rubbed her temples and looked up at the clock hanging on the wall in front of her desk. It was only 1 p.m., but she felt as if she had already done a whole Monday’s worth of work. Even though the gig at the Sound Lounge was the Thursday before, she had barely been able to recover from it over the weekend. Between the follow-up from the event and the planning for the next few weeks, she had been keeping very busy. It didn’t help either that she kept getting distracted by thoughts of tall, attractive lounge owners.
Despite the tiredness, Jules still loved her day job. The excitement of planning hospital events, working with media, and communicating with staff and community members on behalf of the hospital gave her a thrill. She was sure public relations was what she had been made to do.
As far back as she could remember, she had always been organizing something. Whether it was youth emphasis day at her church, or her high school prom, Jules knew that event coordination was in her blood. In the beginning, her family had been pretty skeptical when she had decided to study public relations in college. But so far it hadn’t been as bad as they had imagined. And even though it had been almost four years since she started, she still got a rush every time she saw a story she had pitched to the media on the front page of a newspaper, or in the evening newscast.
There were times, however, when being a public relations officer for the hospital seemed to demand more from her than she had to give. Times like this week.
The hospital’s volunteer awards banquet, which was coming up within the next two weeks, had her spinning in circles. There were speakers to be confirmed, gifts to be bought, seating plans to be approved, and not enough time to do it. If Jules had had the help of Penny, the public relations director, then she would have been fine. But Jules’s boss had been in and out of labor relations meetings
all week due to the growing unrest between the hospital’s nurses and senior management. No one had said the words “industrial action” yet, but given the unpredictable nature of the nurses’ union, Jules was already a bit worried.
The sound of Michelle’s long, French-manicured nails drumming impatiently against the door frame broke Jules out of her thoughts. Jules looked up at the communications secretary and realized Michelle was under just as much pressure as she was. In fact, there were about four hundred guests who Michelle had to contact to confirm their attendance at the event. Jules knew because she had given the list to her earlier that morning, along with a number of other tasks.
“Tell them we will come by at two o’clock on Thursday,” Jules said, updating her weekly schedule as she spoke. Sliding the tasting in had just turned her nine-hour day into a ten-hour one. But she had no choice. There was no way she would risk a repeat of last year’s long-service awards dinner, where the food was so bad that most of it got left on the buffet table.
No sooner had Michelle disappeared than she heard her phone ring.
“Public Relations, Jules speaking.”
“I was hoping I would get you directly.”
Jules’s heart skipped a beat.
“And who am I speaking with?” she asked cautiously.
“Oh, I think you know.”
“I think I do too,” Jules said smoothly. “But just so I don’t make a fool of myself, I think you better tell me.”
Jules heard Germaine chuckle, and a feeling of warmth spread through her.
“It’s Germaine, Jules.”
“Well, isn’t that something,” she said, leaning back in her chair, unable to stop the smile that curled her lips. “Never thought I’d hear from you again.”
“Yeah, Truuth mentioned that you might be a bit salty.”
Jules rolled her eyes, annoyed that all her friends thought they knew her so well.
“I’m just surprised to hear from you, that’s all.”
“Does that mean you’re glad I called?”