by Cj Howard
“Oh, tsk tsk,” Candace put on a fake concerned face. “I’m sure you don’t believe me. Who knows what silly story he gave you? Men! Well, here you are.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a marriage license, flinging it on the table. “It’s ready to go! I know our set usually has a large wedding, but Justin is such a skittish little thing that we decided to run off to wed, but certainly not to Vegas!” She chuckled. “I would never sink THAT low. So we’ll be marrying at daddy’s resort in Punta Cana. I know, I know… the social papers will have a fit, but it is what it is.”
Chantelle’s mind blurred as soon as she saw the license. The names of Candace and Justin were written on the license. Nothing made sense after that. Chantelle quickly excused herself, claiming that she had to get ready to catch her plane back to Vegas. When she got to the door of the room she had shared with Justin, she saw the rumpled sheets and knew that Candace was not telling the complete truth. She turned around and stormed back into the room.
Candace, is it? Yes, I think I caught that name. Anyway, I will believe your story if I hear it from Justin, and frankly, I saw him recoil from you at the restaurant. If you did marry him, good luck getting him to hit that uptight, narrow ass of yours!” Chantelle was a lady, but this day had thrown her over the edge and she was angry.
Justin heard angry voices before the elevator door opened. He saw Candace and Chantelle squaring off in the living room. “Candace!” he said sharply. “What the hell are you doing here? I made it clear that we are done!”
Candace turned to him. “Would that it were so simple, you soft little worm. I tried to tell daddy that it was over, but apparently our fathers have decided that we will marry. You may want to take chances with your business connections and associations, but I don’t. I know your inheritance is in the bag, but you still can’t afford to lose your business connections by pissing off our parents and the rest of the set. So, darling boy, it looks like you’re stuck with me.”
Justin took out his phone. “Security, I would like to take Candace Warren off of the list for authorized entrance to my apartment. I believe she may need an escort to her car.” Candace shot him a warning glance and moved toward the door. “Nix the escort. She decided to show herself out,” she said with a cold snarl.
As soon as the elevator doors closed, they realized that time was running short. They needed to get Chantelle to the airport. They quickly finished packing her things. Justin tried again and again to get her to stay, but Chantelle insisted that she get back to her job and said that she was concerned for Aunt Janine. In her hurry, she totally forgot that she had given Justin’s phone number to the clinic for her test results.
They rushed to the car and the staff made sure to collect Chantelle’s luggage. Dan was holding the door and they were off in a flash. They had driven about a block when the road seemed to be backed up. Justin checked his phone to see if there were any alerts, but it looked like the blockage was localized. They still had time before the flight and being first class customers, they were less concerned about the hassles of boarding.
They sat back to catch their breath. They didn’t know that the block in the road had been executed by boys paid by Tom, to slow their progress. Dan was watching the road for an opening, Justin had laid his head back on the seat, and Chantelle was watching him drift into a short doze when the window next to her was smashed.
Before anyone had time to react, a hand reached in and unlocked the door as if it had been done a hundred times. The man Tom paid to open the car quickly stepped aside and Tom pulled Chantelle from the car and put a knife to her throat. “Get on this bike now or you won’t be going anywhere. Don’t think I won’t do it. You get me or you get nothing.” His voice was ice cold and she knew that he meant it. He said this while hoisting her onto the motorcycle and by the time Justin got out of the car, Tom sped through the waiting cars with Chantelle.
Justin stood between the cars. The road was already clearing, but he knew that trying to catch a motorcycle in Manhattan with a limousine was nearly impossible. He tried to think fast, but he had very little to work with. Dan jumped from the car. “Get in.” was all he had to say.
They made their way around the traffic and shot down a side street.
“Where are we going, Dan?” Justin had no idea what Dan was thinking. They had no clue where Tom was taking Chantelle, but Dan told Justin to trust him. He knew exactly where they were going. Tom wasn’t aware that Dan knew every customized vehicle in the area. When Tom rented the motorcycle, he had no clue that he was on a classic that would be noticeable. Dan knew where it came from and he knew that the guy was nothing but trouble. Dan also knew a quicker way to the man’s garage and he was sure that Tom would be heading there.
When Justin realized that Dan was on Tom’s trail, he got on his phone and called Sam. He told him what area they were into and Sam knew without more information where they were headed. “Hold tight, buddy. You know my cousin is a cop. Back up is on the way.” Sam assured him before setting into action.
They parked the limousine a block away and moved toward the garage. There were no windows on that side and they carefully maneuvered to the other side. Looking into the building, they could see Chantelle and thankfully she was unharmed. Tom stood over her, yelling and screaming at her.
The vile names he called her were enough to make her cringe. She was afraid and now she worried for the baby she might be carrying as well. Tom leaned down and pulled her head back by her hair. His breath was hot on her face and he looked like he didn’t know whether to kiss her or spit on her.
This was too much for Justin. He burst into the room and grabbed Tom. He got in two hard hits before Tom knew what was happening. Tom’s years abusing his body didn’t help him stand up to Justin. He only managed a few feeble jabs before Justin had him sprawled and bleeding on the floor. He ran to Chantelle and helped her to her feet. As they turned to leave, Benjamin came into the room.
Benjamin was broad and mean. His lank sandy hair and pale, but dirt smudged face showed that he hadn’t bathed in days. He didn’t have any morals or ethical convictions except that he was out to get what he could for himself. Tom had paid him a lot of money and promised more, so Benjamin was motivated to protect his investment. Justin was no match for this armed man. He slowly moved in front of Chantelle and waited to see what Benjamin would do.
They say timing is everything and it certainly was in this case. Sam’s cousin had been trying to catch Benjamin at something for months. The man made a lot of trouble in the area. Since he was on probation, merely being caught with a weapon was enough to put him away, at least for a while, but Benjamin had been very careful and hadn't been caught. As Sam and his cousin entered the room, they took Benjamin by surprise. He was disarmed. Enough witnesses had seen Tom take Chantelle by force to allow them to take him into custody.
Chantelle sunk to the dirty floor, gasping out of shock and fear. This day had been too much for her. Justin leaned down and practically picked her up from the floor and led her to the car that Dan had gone back for while the police wrapped up their business.
“Come on, honey. Let’s go home.” The events of the day spun through her head. The scare with Tom had shaken her, but the run-in n with Candace had completely undone her.
She was glad that Justin had thrown her out, but she realized that his father would never let them be together and would stop at nothing to make him marry Candace. She didn’t want to be the cause of his financial ruin. As good as “Let’s go home” sounded, she knew that it wasn’t really ‘home’ for her.
She wanted nothing more than to run back to Aunt Janine and feel her strong, wiry arms around her. She wanted to be with Aunt Janine and know that she was known and loved as she was and that she wasn’t trying to be something she wasn’t. She turned to Justin and said, “No. I need to go to my home.” Her words were so final and said with such conviction that Justin didn’t fight her. He thought that she had had enough of him.
He couldn’t really blame her. The day had gone terribly wrong and Candace had portrayed his life and his world as something horrible. He would have run away himself if he were here. He didn’t want to try to keep her if she wanted to go. He looked at the clock. Things had happened so fast. There was still time to catch the next flight. He bowed his head, composed himself, and leaned forward to ask Dan to take them to the airport.
The Final Chapter
After a few days at home, Chantelle felt a bit more grounded. She had spent every night at Aunt Janine’s house. She couldn’t get there in time to feed the neighborhood children after school snacks, but she did go for dinner. They chatted companionably as they cooked simple and healthy dinners together. Aunt Janine knew something was terribly wrong, but she chose to wait until Chantelle was ready to discuss it. On the sixth day home Aunt Janine had to ask.
“Chantelle, what happened there? When we spoke on the phone you sounded so happy. I thought you were getting along well with that young man. Why haven’t you even spoken his name?”
Chantelle tried to change the subject but Aunt Janine knew her too well. She put down the dish towel and sat down on the wooden kitchen chair.
“Oh, Aunt Janine. I thought I loved him. I still feel like I do, but it’s all so confusing.” She explained to her aunt about Candace, Mr. Fullerton, and the entire business setting that Justin depended on for his financial success.
“Hmmm,” Aunt Janine said.
She was feeling awful, but she knew that Aunt Janine’s ‘hmms’ were loaded. “Alright, auntie. Out with it.”
Aunt Janine cleared her throat and put the cleaned sponge in its container behind the sink. “You know I don’t like to butt in, but you can’t fool me, Channy. I know you’re carrying a baby. Even without my intuition, I’d know the signs on you. You’re gonna carry that baby just like your momma carried you, if I’m not mistaken. I am guessing you’ll carry low.
Now that’s a good and a bad thing. Carrying low is better on heart burn, but it can really get to your lower back and if you ever wondered how many times you could go to the bathroom in a day, well, carry a baby low and you’ll find out.”
Aunt Janine went on for a while with her words of experience and wisdom. She knew Chantelle needed some time to get used to the idea that her secret was out.
“I’m not even sure yet if I'm pregnant, Aunt Janine. I’m waiting for the test results.” Chantelle was twisting strands of hair around her finger.
Aunt Janine looked up from beneath her eyelashes. “Well, you can wait for the results if you want to, but I know what I know. You’re going to have your work cut out for you, but you know that I’m here for you through thick and thin, and at least we don’t have to worry about that Tom character anymore. Between your personal protection order and his prison time, I’m sure we can put that behind us for a good, long while! Can you even believe how many things they found out about that young man? I didn’t even think he had been alive long enough to get in so much trouble!” Aunt Janine prattled on. Her voice soothed Chantelle and eventually she got up, stretched, kissed her auntie and headed back to her little home.
When she got back to her apartment, there was a letter waiting for her. Surprisingly, it was from the senior Mr. Fullerton. He sent her a large check and a note. The note went as follows:
Dear Ms. Lewis,
I am so pleased to hear that your annulment was a success. I’m sure it will be in the best interest of everyone involved to end this nonsense early and before it can affect my son’s career. I’m sure that you have a life of sorts in Las Vegas and that you will want to carry on with your own way of living.
I have enclosed a check to help you along your way and to encourage you to allow my son to pursue his life goals and his relationship with Candace unimpaired. I know that you will see how much a relationship with a woman like you could hurt him. Not to mention, he and Candace have been inseparable from their youth. Whatever little squabble came up in their relationship, I’m sure they can remedy it if there are not distractions or interruptions from a girl like you. She has been trained to be the perfect mate for a person of our set. Her education has been tailored to make her a wife and mother to a man of substance.
Finally, I would like to offer my sincerest apologies for your difficult experience with your ex-boyfriend. I’m sure you can see how I would be concerned for my son and would prefer not to let you expose him to such violence. I know you would hate to be the avenue for such criminal activity to enter into my son’s life. Years of careful training and business mentorship have been used to cultivate his talents. It would be a terrible waste if he were to be injured or killed because you exposed him to such riff raff.
Please feel free to contact me if you need anything. I would appreciate it if you would contact me directly through my personal assistant rather than going through my son. I’m afraid he is a bit blinded to logic where you’re concerned and we must keep temptation away from him.
Best Regards,
Jefferson Fullerton
She dropped the letter into the garbage and took the check to her desk. She sat down and opened a drawer from which she pulled out a pair of scissors. She slowly and carefully cut the check into tiny, unrecognizable pieces. Next she laid her head down on the desk and cried for herself and the baby she might be carrying. If she was pregnant, she needed money desperately. Raising a child on her own would be terribly expensive and she was determined never to tell Justin, and she knew that going to school would be next to impossible. She would need every hour of the day just to get by.
*
Justin returned from the airport. He sat in the front seat with Dan; the way he did when he was a child out of his father’s sight. He was quiet and Dan didn’t try to invade his thoughts with his own comments or with music. They both rode in silence, looking out at this city that Justin loved to call home.
The doorman asked if the lovely young woman arrived at the airport safely. Justin thanked him and said that she did. Any stories about kidnapping and motorcycles would have to wait for another day.
All week, Justin thought about Chantelle. He had lived in his penthouse for years, and yet everything he saw reminded him of her. He could see her cuddled on the sofa with a book. Her favorite throw looked lonely without her form underneath. The kitchen was desolate. He had lost his appetite and when he did eat, he tried to go out and to restaurants where they had not sat together, laughing and enjoying each other, but the worst time was at night.
The bed was too large and he missed the feel of her soft backside as they spooned in the night. He missed waking up with her arm draped around his waist. He got hard thinking of her naked body, lying on the bed in the moonlight, while he stroked her thighs and the warmth between them.
He avoided his father all week. He would not marry Candace no matter what Chantelle decided. He couldn’t control her choices, but he would never marry that woman. She was evil and the idea of living with her was bad and the idea of having children with her was unthinkable. He wrote a letter to his father on the same day that his father penned a note to Chantelle.
Dear Father,
I am grateful for the gift of life that you have given to me. I respect your tremendous business ability and I truly appreciate the many benefits I have received because of your lifetime of hard work and the hard work of our ancestors. I will continue to take excellent care of this company and follow the company’s core values because I believe that they are fair and just.
On the topic of Candace, however, I must make myself clear. I will never marry that woman. I want you to see this in writing so that you will know how important it is to me. I feel that she would be a very poor choice for me and I refuse to give in to your pressures. Not only is she cruel and selfish, but I know she has slept with other men, even as we were dating. This may not mean much to you, but I refuse to expose myself to such insult and physical risk. Please take note of my words because I will not change my mind.
I also wa
nt you to know that Chantelle has decided to leave for Las Vegas. She left last week and I miss her terribly. She is a good and kind person and the only woman who has made me feel truly at home, but you’ll be pleased to know that she has left me and it was her choice to do so. I’m terribly sad and not at all sure that I will ever marry.
I know that I’ve said some hard things, but I want you to know that I am trying to give you the respect you deserve. As a grown man, I believe that I am entitled to a certain amount of respect as well.
With love,
Your Son
He knew that a handwritten note would go further with his father than something by email, so he folded the note, addressed the envelope and called for someone to pick it up for the next post.
As he sat down, thinking of Chantelle, the phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number, but hoped beyond hope that it might be Chantelle.
"Hello?" he asked.
“Hello. This is the women’s clinic. I’ve been authorized to leave a message at this number for Chantelle Lewis. Her pregnancy test results came back positive. We believe that she was correct in her estimation, which would make her approximately six weeks pregnant at this time. I’m so sorry we didn’t get back to her in a timely way, but one of our receptionists became ill and was hospitalized that day and we didn’t realize that this call hadn’t been made. Please extend our congratulations to Ms. Lewis and tell her that we would be happy to schedule a follow up maternity appointment if she would like to continue her medical care at this clinic.”
The few sentences didn’t even register with Justin. He had never even thought about their drunken night in Vegas and whether or not either of them had been careful enough to think of birth control. He wondered why he hadn’t considered this possibility before. They had been careless enough to marry strangers, and so what made him think that he would have used his usual caution concerning protection.