The Marrying Kind

by Monique Miller

  Chapter 8

  Travis decided not to job hunt, but instead took the day off, feeling he deserved a break from all the hard work he’d done the previous week. He felt a lot better after sipping water the rest of the evening before and eating some fruit. Andre had encouraged him to go to the hospital to make sure he hadn’t gotten heatstroke, but Travis’s pocket couldn’t afford a trip to the emergency room. So he hoped and prayed that drinking the water and eating pieces of juicy fruit would help his condition, and gladly it had.

  For the first part of the day he hung around the house watching TV, first watching a church service on television. He felt a little bad about not actually going to a church service, but then shrugged it off. Then he watched some episodes of CSI on the DVR.

  That next day, Monday, he ventured out at lunch time to go the library to check his e-mail. After he left the e-mail he headed to Starbucks to get a cup of coffee. He had a coupon for a free cup of coffee with a Danish purchase.

  He found a seat in the corner at a table. As he drank his coffee he people watched, observing people inside and outside of the store as they went about their daily lives. The Danish he’d chosen was tasty and the Starbucks coffee ended up being some of the best coffee he’d ever tasted, especially after he added the sugar, cream, and a sprinkle of cinnamon to it.

  He almost choked on his coffee when he glanced toward the door and saw Jade Morris. She still looked as good as she had the first time he saw her at the Wash and Dash. Today she wore a tight-fitting business suit that hung on her perfectly. Her hair was pulled up in a bun and she wore a pair of glasses that made her look smart and very businesslike. She carried an attaché case and her purse. He figured that maybe she was on a break from her job and wondered if she worked somewhere nearby.

  As the woman completed her transaction, getting her own cup of coffee, she made her way to the area to put sugar and cream into her cup. Travis thought about approaching her to say hello. He looked down at his clothing and suddenly wished he’d chosen something better to wear out instead of the jeans and T-shirt he’d chosen.

  He hunched his shoulders and went for broke as he slid out of his booth to approach her.

  “Hi, miss,” Travis said as he walked up next to her.

  She looked around to see if he was talking to her, and when she realized he was, she said, “Hello.”

  The hello was void of any warmth; it was more functional than anything else. It didn’t look as if she recognized him at all from the car wash.

  “You look familiar. I think I’ve seen you somewhere,” Travis said.

  She stirred the cream and sugar in her cup and said, “Oh really?”

  “Yeah, I think I saw you at the Wash and Dash a couple weeks ago,” Travis said.

  Still Jade looked at him blankly. She did not remember that he was the one who had cleaned her car.

  “Ah, yeah, I was getting the platinum service on my car.” Travis had no idea why he’d just told that lie, but figured if he’d been truthful the woman would have given him a smirk and would have gone about her business.

  For a second it looked as if a light went off in the woman’s head, as she finally let a smile cross her lips. “The platinum service, huh? What kind of car do you have?”

  Without a second of hesitation Travis said, “I have a BMW 135i, candy apple–red.”

  He had finally gotten the woman’s attention. The platinum service was the most expensive service at the car wash. And now that she believed he had a BMW of his own, he figured the woman must have figured he must also have some money.

  Travis continued talking. “Excuse my appearance; my office is being renovated and I decided to take the day off to run a few errands.” Lies continued to flow out of his mouth.

  She stuck her hand out for a handshake. “I’m Jade,” she said.

  Travis shook her hand. She had a very firm handshake. “You can call me Wayne,” Travis said. This name flowed out of his mouth. He figured if he was going to present himself as something he wasn’t, then he might as well take on the whole persona.

  “Well, it is nice to meet you,” Jade said. “Although, I have to admit, I don’t remember ever seeing you at the Wash and Dash.”

  “It’s okay. I believe you were sitting in the waiting area. I was outside making a few calls,” Travis said.

  Jade took a sip from her coffee to test it, then put the top on it.

  “So I see you aren’t wearing a ring. Are you unattached ?” Travis boldly asked.

  Surprisingly, Jade was very forthcoming with him. “I am unattached at the moment,” she said.

  “Oh, well, this must be my lucky day.” Travis smiled.

  “Must be.” Jade matched his smile.

  “I wonder how much luckier I can get.”

  Jade looked at him with her eyebrows rising in question. “And what is that supposed to mean?”

  “I’ll bet you like the finer things in life—fine dining, going to the opera, and traveling to exotic places. Am I right?”

  “And your guess would be right,” Jade confirmed.

  “What about concerts?”

  “That depends on who it is,” Jade said.

  “How about Sonnette?”

  Jade’s eyes widened. “You have tickets to see Sonnette next weekend?”

  Trying to remain cool in his Wayne persona, Travis said, “I sure do. Front-row seats in fact.”

  She touched his forearm with a tap. “Are you serious? Those tickets have been sold out for weeks. I wanted to go but got the dates wrong, not realizing the concert was on Mother’s Day. And by the time I checked, there were only nosebleed-section tickets.” She wrinkled her nose and forehead.

  “So would you like to go with me?”

  Jade looked at him like he was joking. “Are you serious ?”

  “Yeah, I’m serious. This is my lucky day, remember?”

  Jade let out a laugh and nodded her head. “You did say it was your lucky day.” She looked down at her cup like she was contemplating.

  “So what’s up? Is it my lucky day or what?” Travis asked.

  “Man, I don’t even know you. How am I supposed to go out with a guy I don’t even know?”

  “Well you can get to know me, and if you don’t go out with me, then you won’t ever know me, will you?” Travis asked.

  “You’ve got a point, but you are still a stranger. I mean you could be some kind of killer or something. I watch those movies on Lifetime.”

  This time Travis laughed. “I’ve seen a few of those movies on Lifetime too, but I assure you I am harmless.”

  Jade looked down at her watch again.

  “It looks like you’ve got to be somewhere,” Travis said.

  “Yeah, I need to get back to work.”

  “So is it a yes or no?” Travis smiled. “It’s my lucky day. Maybe we can make it your lucky day also.”

  Jade smiled back. “I tell you what; give me your phone number and I’ll call you to let you know. Let me think about this first.”

  Travis frowned. “Okay, but don’t keep a guy waiting.” “I won’t.” She smiled to reassure him. “Now what is your number?”

  Travis gave her his phone number, which she put into her phone.

  “Okay, Wayne. I’ll call you to let you know what I’ve decided. And I promise I won’t make you wait too long.” She looked at her watch again.

  “I’ll let you go. I need to go run some errands myself.” Travis led her to the door and opened it for her. She bid him good-bye and headed down the street. Travis headed in the other direction as if he had someplace he had to be. After a few steps he turned to see where Jade was. He saw her step into a building a block down. Then he slowed his pace.

  He couldn’t believe his luck that day. He’d actually run into Miss Jade Morris, and had the possibility of going out on a date with her.

  Travis felt his cell phone vibrating in his pocket. He pulled it out, hoping it was Jade. It was a local Silvermont number. He stepped into a
convenience store to get away from the noise from the street and then answered the phone. To his disappointment it wasn’t Jade. It was someone calling him to do a survey.

  He told the person on the phone that he was in the middle of something and couldn’t talk. The peppy person told him she would try him another day and Travis gladly hung up.

  While in the store he decided to buy a couple of lottery scratch-off tickets. He ended up buying five one-dollar tickets and one five-dollar ticket. As soon as he bought them he scratched them off right there in the store. He saw no need to go back to the house and scratch them off, especially if he won something.

  After scratching off all the dollar tickets, Travis started feeling like he had just wasted ten dollars. The chance of him winning big was slim to just about none. When he scratched all the numbers off of the five-dollar ticket and looked to see if he had any matches, Travis grinned like the Cheshire cat.

  On this particular scratch-off, he needed to match one of the four numbers at the top with one of the numbers at the bottom. One of his numbers matched. There was a thirty-seven at the top and one at the bottom. Just below the thirty-seven at the bottom, there was a $100 bill sign, which meant he had just won $100. It was his lucky day after all.

  Chapter 9

  The next few days seemed to pass by extremely slowly. Travis hadn’t had any calls or e-mails with any new job offers. He’d mainly stayed around the house, exercising, eating, and looking at cable and movies.

  He’d never thought there would be a day on which he’d be tired of taking it easy, but he was. With the house being void of any other life, there were times when he felt lonely. Calls to his uncle were never answered or returned. And the calls he’d intermittently gotten from Beryl he’d started listening to, to make sure there was nothing wrong with his sons, but he never called Beryl back.

  It was now only two days away from the Sonnette concert and he still hadn’t heard from Jade. Many times he’d contemplated asking Tory if she’d want to go to the concert, but he still held out hope that Jade would call. But now that the time was so near, he seriously doubted Jade would ever call. So he made up his mind to go ahead and call Tory to invite her to the concert instead.

  He still didn’t think that Tory would be all that into Sonnette’s music, but at least he’d have someone there with him at the concert. He’d feel like a fool sitting in the front row of the concert by himself. He could have kicked himself for waiting so long for Jade in the first place. She probably forgot about him as soon as she stepped out of the door at Starbucks.

  He dialed Tory’s number.

  “Well hello, stranger,” Tory said with what sounded like a smile in her voice. Obviously she’d seen his name on the caller ID.

  “Hello, Miss Tory,” Travis said.

  “T.J., what have you been up to? I thought you fell off the earth.”

  “Ah, nothing much. I’ve been busy looking for jobs,” Travis said.

  “Looking for a job?” Tory asked. He could hear concern in her voice.

  “Ah, uh, yeah.” He’d forgotten that he’d never told her he didn’t have a job. “Yeah, I lost my job since I talked to you last. So I’ve been trying to focus on job hunting. That’s why you haven’t heard from me.” Travis tried to clean up the story he was telling.

  “Wow, I am sorry to hear that. What kind of work are you looking for?” Tory asked.

  “At this point, something that will help me get back on my feet,” Travis said in all truthfulness.

  “If I hear of anything, I’ll let you know.”

  “Thanks, Tory. That is sweet of you,” Travis said.

  “Just trying to help a good man out. I mean, you helped me once.”

  “I knew there was something I liked about you,” Travis said. Tory was sweet and he wouldn’t mind spending the night with her at the concert. “Hey, Tory.”

  “Yeah?””

  “What kind of ...” Travis’s voice trailed off as he heard his phone beep, indicating he had a call coming in on the other line.

  “Yeah, Travis?”

  “Hold on a second, Tory. I’ve got a call on the other line,” Travis said.

  “Sure.”

  Travis clicked over and said, “Hello?”

  “Hello, may I speak to Wayne?”

  Only one person would be calling asking to speak to a Wayne and that was Jade. Her voice sounded the same but a lot more sultry than he’d remembered it sounding the day he spoke to her in Starbucks.

  “This is Wayne. With whom am I speaking?” Travis wanted to sound sophisticated and he also didn’t want Jade to think he’d been sitting around waiting for her call.

  “Wayne, you don’t know my voice?”

  “Let me guess, is this Jade?”

  “Yeah, I’m hurt.”

  “No, you’re not. I was just playing with you,” Travis said.

  Without beating around the bush, Jade said, “Is that invitation to go to the Sonnette concert still open?”

  “Yeah,” Travis said a little more quickly than he’d meant to say.

  “Good. Sorry it took me so long to get back with you,” Jade said.

  “No worries,” Travis said, glad he hadn’t asked Tory. Then he remembered that he had Tory on hold on the other line. He contemplated asking Jade to hold for a moment, then decided against it for fear that he’d lose Jade on the line.

  “Great,” Jade said. “There’s just one thing.”

  “What’s that?” Travis asked.

  “Since I still don’t really know you, I’d like to meet you at the concert if that is okay with you.”

  Overall, it wasn’t okay with Travis. But when he thought about it, he couldn’t really object since he didn’t have a car to take her to the concert in, and he didn’t think it would be right to ask her to pick him up.

  “Sure, I completely understand,” Travis said. “I know how you women can get, being all cautious and all. We can meet there.”

  “Great,” Jade said.

  Travis gave her the details on when the concert was to start and they agreed on a time and place to meet outside of the concert. In his mind Travis still knew he needed to work out the logistics of how he was going to get from Silvermont to Durham to get to the concert himself.

  “Okay, so I’ll talk with you and see you the day after tomorrow,” Jade said.

  “So what if I need to call you before then or the day of the concert? Then what?”

  “Just call me. My number came up on your caller ID, right?” Jade said as if it was an obvious fact.

  “Yeah, I guess I could just save it,” Travis said. He would have preferred that she had just given him the number. But he guessed getting it off the caller ID would have to work.

  “Oooh, I am so excited,” Jade said. “Now I’ve got to find something to wear.”

  Travis hadn’t thought about what he was going to wear yet either.

  “Thanks again, Wayne. See you the day after tomorrow,” Jade said.

  “Uh, okay. Well, the day after tomorrow it is then,” Travis said, trying to sound cool with the way she was abruptly ending the call.

  “Bye,” Jade said.

  “Bye,” Travis said as he heard the click before he could get the word out good.

  He didn’t know how to react to the call: elated that she’d finally called, but dejected because she seemed more excited about seeing Sonnette than actually going with him and getting to know him better.

  When he tried to click back over, Tory wasn’t on the phone. Tory hadn’t called back so he figured she’d probably gotten busy with something else herself. He would call her back later.

  Right then he needed to focus on his date with Jade. He was finally going to get a chance to spend some time with the woman he’d admired from afar just a few short weeks ago. His daydreams might actually become a reality—that is, if he played the part right.

  Looking through Brent’s collection of movies, Travis found the one he was looking for. He put the Pretty W
oman DVD into the DVD disc changer that sat on one of the recliners and watched the etiquette skills of Richard Gere to prepare for his date with Jade.

  Sunday rolled around quickly. Travis looked through his clothing, trying to find something suitable for his date with Jade. He could have kicked himself for waiting until the last minute to put an outfit together. The event was to be held at the Durham Performing Arts Center, also known as the DPAC. The DPAC was located in downtown Durham, North Carolina.

  He wanted to be dressed to the nines to impress Jade. And after over an hour of looking for something suitable, he came to the realization that none of his clothing would pass as anything dressy enough for the concert.

  The concert would start in just seven hours. Travis sat on the side of his bed and pondered his dilemma. He thought about how nice it would be to have a nice suit to wear. But he knew that buying a suit would cost him a little more than he had received from his last check at the car wash. He still had fifty dollars from the money he’d won on the lottery scratch-off but it was in an envelope in a drawer. The envelope he put the fifty dollars in was for the money he was attempting to save. Fifty dollars wasn’t a lot, but it was a start.

  A suit would set him back. He even thought that a nice shirt and a nice pair of slacks would work, but those two items would cost also. Even if he did get an outfit, then he’d need shoes to go with the clothing.

  This was indeed a time when he wished he could borrow an outfit from a cousin, friend, or even his Uncle Billy across town. He and Billy were about the same stature and build. But not only was Billy all the way across town, he hadn’t answered any of Travis’s recent phone calls.

  Then, like a light switch turning on a light bulb in his head, Travis realized he did have a friend from whom he could borrow some clothing. He and Brent were the same size and build as well. He made a beeline straight to Brent’s bedroom and closet.