Honesty wasn’t always the best policy. “What if I lose out?”
“What if, Mr. Williams, you try? Tell my receptionist to set up another appointment for next week, if you’d like. Mandy folded a white piece of paper in half, then handed it to him. “To whom much is given, much is required. Take care of yourself, Mr. Williams.” Mandy turned her back to him and began closing her laptop.
Darius folded the paper again and again until it was small enough to slide into his pocket as his phone rang. “Yeah, Doc,” he answered.
“Here’s the address. Go to the lab now…I’ve expedited your tests and will call you first thing in the morning with the results.”
“Thanks.”
Mandy hadn’t turned around, so Darius exited into the lobby. Fancy was gone. Darius decided not to set up his next appointment. His shoes thumped several blocks up to Cal Berkeley’s campus. Sitting on a tree stump, Darius removed Mandy’s paper from his pocket. The handwriting wasn’t Mandy’s, it was Fancy’s.
Darius read I do love you…still.
To whom much is given, much is required. What if he tried to love Fancy back?
CHAPTER 30
Fancy
Closure. Her head said forget about him. Her heart disagreed. The last flight back to L.A. had departed without them. Fancy had agreed to visit Darius.
“You’re going to see him. Aren’t you?” Desmond asked, lying across the bed in Fancy’s Oakland Hills penthouse.
“No, I’m not,” Fancy lied. “I have to consult with SaVoy on her wedding. It’ll only take about an hour.”
The last time Fancy left Desmond alone in their room in Los Angeles, she returned to the hotel from Michael Baines’s house at the break of dawn. Kissing Desmond’s lips, Fancy said, “I love you, Dez. I’ll be right back.”
Grabbing his jacket, Desmond insisted, “Then I’ll ride with you. I can hang out with my boy Tyronne while you talk to SaVoy.”
All Fancy thought about on her way home from her appointment with Mandy was Darius. Fancy confided in Mandy the things that had happened. Mandy’s advice was, “You can create your own truth, you can ask Darius to tell you the truth, or you can simply let him go, move on, and marry a man you know won’t make you happy.”
Mandy was right. Desmond was what he was, just a friend. But Dez was a great friend. A true friend. Fancy hated lying to him.
Stepping out of her penthouse directly into the elevator, Fancy exhaled, refusing to tell the truth. “When I return, we can go for a late dinner at Kincaid’s in Jack London Square. Now stay here.”
“Wait a second,” Desmond said, disappearing, then returning.
“You forgot your ring.”
No, she hadn’t. “Thanks,” Fancy said. Watching Desmond toss his jacket on the sofa, she knew what she had to do. Hopefully after she spoke with Darius, Fancy could define her relationship with Desmond.
The ride to Darius’s house was a blur. Fancy recalled the first time she had stepped foot in Darius’s Oakland house was with her ex, Byron. If Fancy could’ve ditched Byron for Darius that night, she would have. The same way she met Byron at the New Year’s Eve gala Desmond had taken her to. Fancy was definitely an opportunist, and every date was an opportunity for her to upgrade until she hit the jackpot. Miss Kitty had earned them free rent, a Mercedes, and lots of cash. If Darius didn’t act right, she could marry one of his wealthy teammates.
Parking in Darius’s driveway, Fancy sat for a moment preparing for the worst. If their relationship was over, she still couldn’t marry Dez. Slowly walking up three white steps, Fancy thought, Why does Darius have a house this big collecting dust? Maybe she could convince him to let her sell it. The house was beautiful. Rolling green hillside adorned the large white columns. On a clear night from the upstairs balcony one could see the sparkling lights on the Oakland/San Francisco Bay Bridge and the city’s skyline. The moon was full. So was her heart, filled with love.
Ding-dong.
The melody of the doorbell rang in her ears. She could hear Darius scrambling, scratching to open his door. There he stood. He opened the door wider as she gracefully stepped inside.
“How are you?” he asked.
“Fine, I guess. I can’t stay long. I came to hear why.” That and to think with her heart.
Caressing her hand, Darius said, “Let’s go upstairs.”
“Let’s not,” Fancy countered. “I’m not interested in being intimate with you.” At least not tonight, she thought, standing still in the foyer.
“Okay, whateva you say. Whatever you want, Ladycat. I’m just glad you came. The living room is okay?”
Fancy knew her way around his houses well. Darius followed her, then sat beside her on the sofa.
“If it’s too cold in here, I can turn on the heater.”
She shook her head in response. Silence lingered as Fancy pretended she didn’t care about him at all.
She stood, then said, “Well, you invited me over, so if you don’t have anything to say, I guess I’ll be—”
“Please, don’t leave. I was waiting because I wanted to listen to what you have to say.”
Sitting, Fancy said, “You’ve got ten seconds.”
“You don’t have to talk to me this way.” Darius exhaled, then continued. “Look, I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I lied about not fucking Ashlee, but…” He paused, then said, “No buts. I was wrong. I apologize for not believing you, for leaving you at the hospital, for not being there for you…You can stop me at any time.”
Looking into his watery eyes, Fancy asked, “Darius, what do you want from me?”
His eyes shifted to the corners, then swiftly back to her. “I’m scared, Ladycat. I’m afraid that if I love you too much I’ll lose you. I thought being a man was being hard, never saying sorry, and shit like that.” Darius’s hand grazed his locks. His side profile was sexy as hell.
Focus, Fancy, focus. “You know what I want from you, Darius.”
“Tell me. Anything you want I’ll provide.”
“I want you to stop lying to me. I want you to hold me in your arms. Protect me. Make me your priority. Show me that you love me too.”
Wrapping his arms around her, Darius didn’t hold back his tears. This was the first time that Fancy felt his pain. He was scared. She was too. He cried. She cried. They cried together.
CHAPTER 31
Jada
Meanings were in people, not words.
People had a way of saying things they didn’t mean. Or meaning things they didn’t say.
Wellington had a lot of nerve, dropping all his skeletons in her lap at once. If he weren’t sick, Jada would’ve, she should’ve, hell, she didn’t know what she could’ve done. She sat quietly in their bedroom. Wellington didn’t have to become a jerk because he was ill. Melanie was his soul mate too? Throwing her hands up, Jada yelled, “Bullshit! My gosh. When did he realize that? Liar.” Surely that was his justification for wanting to give Melanie the business and money she’d never get.
Jada flopped backward onto her bed in disgust, staring at the ceiling. No wife wanted to be the other woman. But if Jada had to be the other woman, Wellington was overdue for being the other man. Men could dish out infidelity, but their egos couldn’t handle their wives fucking another man.
“Yeah, since you’re Mr. Big and Bad, I got one for your ass,” Jada said, then thought, Maybe I should let Darryl say his good-byes to Wellington. That would kill Wellington for sure.
“Um, um, um.” All of Melanie’s pathetic life she’d spent chasing Wellington. Maybe if Melanie weren’t so preoccupied with Wellington, she could’ve found her own damn husband. The lie she’d told Wellington about being pregnant wasn’t enough to make him stay married to her after she miscarried another man’s triplets, so she had to find another way to get Wellington. “Here, doggie, doggie, doggie, dog.” Throwing her old bag of bones at him. And just like a mutt, he lapped her up. Well, now that Wellington was dying, Melanie could find somebody else’
s husband to screw.
Jazzmyne sat in a chair across from Jada’s bed and said, “Everything will be all right. You know Wellington was heavily sedated when he said those things to you.”
“Heavily sedated? That’s like excusing infidelity on drinking too much alcohol. Wellington had said what he’d meant. He also knew enough to know about my affair with Darryl. How’s that?” Jada knew Jazzmyne was reporting back to Wellington. How else would he know?
Jazzmyne continued. “If you’re insinuating it was me, maybe you’re feeling guilty. I’m sure my brother will explain when he’s coherent. But you know, when it comes to matters of the heart, love is about as illogical as one can imagine. You of all people know that.” Jazzmyne kept talking, but Jada wasn’t listening.
Jada’s eyes narrowed, she thought, How dare he leave me like this? Well, God knows best. Maybe He was on vacation or break or something, because where was He when Wellington was doing all his madness? She’d better not think too loud. What about what she’d done?
“Whether we accept the truth or not, each person is so special, so unique, it is possible to be in love with more than one person at the same time. It’s possible to have more than one soul mate. And one’s heart is often torn between what is right for family and what is right for self. We can constantly struggle to get all of it right and never please anybody. Not even ourselves. I’ve seen this situation over and over while counseling battered women who go back time and time again to their abusive husbands. And I see it in you. You love Darryl.”
Jada realized Jazzmyne wanted to help, but all Jazzmyne did was irritate the hell out of her. Sitting up on the edge of the bed, Jada asked, barely above a whisper, “Where’s Darius?”
“In his room. Asleep. He came straight from the airport after he got back from his doctor’s appointment in Oakland.”
“Appointment? Oakland? I thought he went to Atlanta.”
“He said the team doctor ordered a retest of his blood.”
“Is he okay? I want to see my baby,” Jada said, moving to the dresser, farther away from Jazzmyne. She ruffled the clothes in the top drawer, removing a canary-colored bra she hadn’t worn in months. Inspecting the sheer material, Jada stuffed the bra back inside.
Jazzmyne left the room. Moments later, Darius entered.
“Hey, Ma. How are you?”
Opening her arms wide, Jada said, “Tired. Come here, honey.”
“What time you wanna go to the hospital?”
“Not sure that I wanna go back at all.”
Staring at her, Darius hugged, then rocked her in his arms. “Go to sleep, Ma. Take a nap. You need to rest. You’ll feel better when you wake up.”
Jazzmyne entered the room, holding the cordless phone. “Jada, it’s the hospital.”
“Darius, honey, talk to them for me.”
“This is Darius Williams.” He paused, then said, “Uh-huh. I see. Okay, I’ll tell my mom.” Darius placed the cordless on the nightstand. “Ma—”
Jada whispered, “I know. Wellington is dead.”
“No, Ma. But they don’t expect him to make it till tomorrow.” Grasping her biceps, Darius insisted, “We gotta go now.”
Jada sat on their bed, lay atop the covers, and curled into a fetal position. What more could Wellington say? Her entire body ached with more disappointment than sadness.
Darius sat on the edge of the bed beside her. His side touched her spine as he lovingly stroked her hair. “Ma, what is it? Tell me.”
Exhaling Jada cried, “There’s nothing I can do.”
“I’m here for you, Ma. Whatever you need. Whatever you want. I’ll do. Nothing is more important to me than you, and I’m not going anywhere until you say it’s okay, Ma, and mean it.”
Regrets.
Jada didn’t understand why her mind said go; her body said stay. She didn’t want to be angry at her husband as he took his last breath. Nor did she want to abandon him on his deathbed. Seeing Wellington die was not the way she wanted to remember her husband.
“Lord, forgive me,” Jada whispered as she closed her watery eyes.
CHAPTER 32
Darius
Out of sight wasn’t good when she weighed heavily on his mind.
Kissing his mother’s forehead, Darius softly said, “Ma, I’m going home for a sec and I’ll be right back.”
Stretching her legs toward the foot of her bed, turning onto her stomach, his mother said, “Uh-huh. Okay, sweetie. Hurry.”
What happened to Candice? Where was his dad?
Entering the living room, Darius asked, “Auntie Jazzmyne, have you seen my dad? Or Candice?”
“Your dad mentioned something about giving your mom space, that and he had to train his new employee.”
Flinching his jaw, Darius asked, “Who?”
“You know who. And Candice was in a car accident in Dallas. She’ll be here tonight to pick up her things.”
Shaking his head, Darius said, “Thanks, Auntie.”
What if Candice was back early? Darius drove toward his house. But what if Kevin is stealing my money? Darius thought, making a detour to Somebody’s Gotta Be on Top. Parking at a meter, he dropped in eight quarters for fifty minutes. “Man, this is wild.” Shouldn’t take more than a half hour, but he wasn’t sure. Darius dropped in fifty cents more.
Entering his office, Darius said, “Hello,” bypassing the secretary.
“Excuse me, sir. Who are you here to see?”
No, she did not question him.
“Another fuckup like that and you’re fired!” Darius said, entering his dad’s office.
Who else but Kevin’s short ass, thieving ass, Williams was in his office, behind his desk, on his phone.
“One minute, brother,” Kevin said, holding up his finger. “I’m negotiating a big deal here for us.”
“For us, my ass! Nigga, if you don’t,” Darius said, leaping across the glass top, “get your ass out of here before I—”
Backing away, Kevin tossed the phone to the floor, shielding his face. “Dad didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what! Nigga, what!”
Darius picked up the receiver slamming it onto the base.
“He made me executive vice president so I could help out in the office while he traveled with you to Atlanta. Now that he’s your agent—”
“My what? Get your lying ass out of my office.”
“It’s true, D. I’m straight now. No more stealing from you, my brother. I ain’t going back to that hellhole for nobody. But you know I’m good at this movie business shit. I can wheel and deal with the best of ’em. I was just sealing a one-hundred-million-dollar package.”
“Kev, man, I don’t wanna hurt you. You’d better leave now. I’ll talk with Dad later. Sorry, I just don’t trust someone who’s stolen a million dollars from me.”
Kevin exhaled, lowering his shoulders.
“Move, nigga, move, this ain’t no joke.”
Standing face-to-face with Darius, Kevin said, “If that’s how you want it, my perfect brother, your loss.”
Covering Kevin’s face with his hand, Darius pushed his brother away. “Don’t make me ask again.”
Thankfully Kevin left, because Darius didn’t feel like fighting. Picking up an incoming fax, he read the dollar amount on the contract. One hundred million dollars. Maybe he could find forgiveness in his heart, but not today.
Darius exited into the lobby area. “Come on, baby doll. Pack your shit and get out too.”
“I don’t work for you.”
“But you do. Get out!” Darius yelled, pounding on her desk.
“And give me your keys.”
As he locked the door, Darius realized he had forgotten to get Kevin’s keys.
Sitting in his Bentley, he dialed the locksmith. “Yeah, man, can you change my locks at Somebody’s right away and leave the keys at my mom’s house?”
“You got it, D. Be at peace,” the locksmith said, hanging up.
Darius drove home,
pissed off the entire trip. Parking in his driveway, he clenched his teeth. His cell phone rang as soon as he entered his front door. Blocked ID. Darius started not to answer, but assuming it was his dad calling on behalf of his brother, he answered, “What?”
“Mr. Williams?”
“Who’s this?”
“Dr. Chase.”
Darius’s anger melted into fear. “Yes?”
“I have good and bad news. Which would you like first?”
His lips disappeared inside his mouth. Silent for a moment, Darius finally said, “Give me the bad news. Wait, yeah.” Might as well.
“You, Mr. Williams, have a bladder infection,” Dr. Chase said.
Air escaped Darius’s lungs. “What? That’s it?”
“What did you expect?”
“Yes!” Darius danced in the middle of his living room floor.
“And the good news is, you passed your physical. You can fly back to sign your contract. I’ll phone in a prescription for you to pick up at your local pharmacy. Have a good day.”
“Thank you, Jesus! Thank you, Ma Dear! Boy, I’m one lucky mutherfucka.”
Jumping on, then off his couch, high into the air, Darius tapped his forehead, heart, then left and right shoulders. His fist pounded three times against his chest. He’d never been happier to have a bladder infection. He thought that was for women only. A few antibiotics and he’d be a healthy man again.
Gripping his dick, Darius yanked up and down.
“You lucky too, dawg. We gotta celebrate!” Darius thrust his fist high above his head. “Yes! Yes!”
Darius dialed Mandy’s number. “Yes, this is Mr. Williams. Put me through to Mandy.”
“She’s with a client. Would you like her voice mail?”
“Sure,” Darius replied, smiling. When he heard the beep, he said, “Mandy, this is Mr. Williams calling to ecstatically inform you my report is clear. Bye.”
Darius was so elated he wasn’t mad at anyone anymore. Not Ashlee. Not Fancy. Not Kevin. Not his dad. Not Candice. Not even his new teammate, K’Nine.
When Somebody Loves You Back Page 20