Temptation

by Victoria Christopher Murray

  “You worked it, Ky,” Alexis said as she reached for one of the black balloons that floated above her. “Memphis restaurant has never looked better. Louise did this, right?”

  “Of course.”

  “She’s the best in L.A. She used to cater everything for my office, but recently, she’s been hard to get. Hollywood has been calling her.”

  “I wasn’t about to try to do this without Louise. But enough about this stuff,” Kyla said grabbing her friend’s hand and pulling her into the corner. “There are a lot of good-looking, single, successful men here.”

  “Kyla . . .” Alexis whined.

  “Now, I’m not trying to set you up or anything.”

  Alexis raised her eyebrows in doubt.

  “I just want you to know . . . you have options here.”

  “That’s a new way of putting it.”

  “I just want you to be happy.”

  “I am happy. I don’t need a man for that.”

  “But . . .”

  “Kyla!” Alexis interrupted before her friend could continue. “Not everyone is going to find her Prince Charming, have the perfect child and wake up sixteen years later just as much in love as the day she married. That only happens in fairy tales and at your house.”

  “Well, you never know who you’ll meet.”

  Alexis closed her eyes, slightly irritated, and tilted her head toward the ceiling. “Lord, please have mercy! And, please keep this chile out of my love life!”

  “What are you two over here conspiring about?” Jasmine wiped her sweaty face, then tugged at her dress, trying to smooth it down over her hips. “Hello, Alexis,” Jasmine said in a slow drawl, imitating Alexis’ southern accent.

  “Hello, Jasmine,” Alexis said curtly. “Anyway, Kyla,” Alexis continued, turning her back to Jasmine. “How are things going with the expansion at the clinic?”

  “Great. The final proposal goes in next week.”

  “Does that mean they’re going ahead with it?” Jasmine asked, leaning forward so that she could be heard.

  “Uh-huh. Can you believe it?”

  “Of course!” Alexis said. “As hard as you guys work, you deserve it.”

  “Yeah, just what you need—more success,” Jasmine whispered and rolled her eyes.

  “Hey, you,” Jefferson appeared, and grabbed Kyla’s arm. “We haven’t danced all night.”

  As they stood in the center of the dance floor, Jefferson wrapped his arms around Kyla and they swayed to Lionel Richie’s sexy voice. “Zoom! I’d like to fly away!” Jefferson sang softly into her ear.

  “Umm,” Kyla sighed and leaned in closer.

  Jefferson brushed her thick bangs from her face and kissed her forehead. “Kyla, I can’t believe you did this for me. Thank you.” He leaned over and brushed his lips against hers, then pulled her tighter. As Jefferson sang Lionel’s words into her ear, Kyla knew this would be one of the best nights of her life.

  “Louise, you outdid yourself this time, lady,” Kyla exclaimed as she signed her name with a flourish and handed the check to the caterer.

  “I’m glad you’re happy. I haven’t done many private parties since I opened the Pie Shoppe. But how could I refuse this for Jefferson? By the way, I have a gift for him. I couldn’t remember which was his favorite, so I baked two things—a pecan sweet potato pie and a pineapple cheesecake. They’re in the kitchen.”

  “No, you didn’t!”

  Louise laughed. “I know his sweet tooth.”

  “He’ll think he’s walking around in heaven! Thank you!”

  As she hugged Louise, she glanced around the empty room.

  “Jefferson’s out front with some of the guys,” Alexis said reading her friend’s expression as she sat down at the table. “I just saw him. Kyla, this was a great party.”

  “I was just thanking Louise for everything. So, did you . . . meet anyone?”

  Alexis rolled her eyes and ignored the question. “Anyway . . . how have things been with you, Louise?”

  Louise laughed. “Great. I’ve been busy. In fact, I have a wedding to do tomorrow, so I’ve got to get going.” Standing, she hugged Alexis, then Kyla. “Tell Jefferson I said enjoy the rest of his birthday.”

  Kyla remained silent until Louise left the room, then scooted her chair closer to Alexis, but before she could say anything, she heard Jasmine’s voice.

  “Still here, Alexis?”

  Kyla glanced up and saw Jefferson and Jasmine walking towards them.

  “Hey, you,” Jefferson took Kyla’s hand and pulled her to him. “Honey, everyone is raving about this party.”

  “It was all Louise. She left you a special surprise and said to tell you to enjoy the rest of your birthday.” Kyla brushed her lips against his neck, drinking in his scent. “I want you to enjoy the rest of your birthday, too.”

  “Well . . . I guess that’s my cue. I’m out of here.” Alexis stood, readying herself to go, and glared at Jasmine when she didn’t do the same.

  “Hey, Alexis,” said Jefferson. “Brian told me you guys had a great time together. He’s a good brother.”

  “Brian!” Kyla said, opening her eyes wide.

  “What about Brian?” Jasmine asked. She hoped they weren’t talking about Brian Lewis, the doctor who had just joined the Medical Center. Jasmine had spent quite a bit of time tonight trying to get his attention, but he hadn’t shown any interest in her. Now, she hoped that they weren’t talking about Alexis getting together with him. That would be a dire end to this dismal evening.

  “Jefferson, don’t say another word!” Alexis commanded, softening her words with a smile. “You know how your wife is.”

  “Sorry. I was only passing along some information.”

  “But Alex, we can help. Jefferson has known him since they were kids, right, honey?”

  “Leave me out of this. I don’t want Alex killing me.”

  “You’re a smart man, Dr. Blake.”

  “What are you guys talking about?” Jasmine piped in again.

  “Like I said, I’m outta here.” Alexis hugged Kyla and Jefferson. “Happy birthday, again. I’ll call you tomorrow, Ky.” Alexis looked over her shoulder. “Aren’t you coming, Jasmine?”

  “I was hoping that Jefferson and Kyla could drop me home.”

  “I think they want to be alone,” Alexis said stating what she thought was obvious. “Where’s your car?”

  Jasmine grimaced at Alexis’ cutting tone. “I came with some friends. Not that it’s any of your business,” she snapped. “Ky, would you mind giving me a ride?”

  “No!” Alexis interjected before Kyla could answer. “I’ll take you home.”

  “Alex, that would be great!” Jefferson exclaimed. “I do want some time with this beautiful lady,” he said pulling Kyla closer. “I want to thank her and I have a very special way to do that.” Jefferson kissed Kyla as if the two of them were already alone.

  Jasmine grabbed her jacket from the table and stomped out. Alexis followed, leaving Jefferson and Kyla totally unaware of anything that was happening around them.

  Two

  * * *

  Jasmine slammed the door, kicked off her pumps and tossed her keys on the corner pedestal, piled high with unopened mail. She clicked on the lights and glanced around her pale pink and green living room. People often asked if she had decorated with her sorority colors in mind. Often she said yes, although she had never pledged a sorority. And anyway, she wouldn’t have joined that sorority. That wasn’t the sorority Kyla belonged to.

  She hated coming home this late. At this hour, the house screamed its silence. As she climbed the stairs, she clamped her hands over her ears, but the quiet only grew louder. Dragging into her bedroom, her queen-sized bed swallowed her as she stretched across it. This had to be what it felt like to go crazy. First, you lose your husband, then you lose your mind.

  She should have never gone to that party. It only reminded her how messed up her life was. Ever since her marriage broke up, sh
e had put on a happy face to show everyone that she loved her new single life. They thought she was the one who had thrown Kenny out.

  The small brass clock chimed softly. It was two o’ clock in the morning and it would be hours before she fell asleep. “This is all Alexis’ fault!” she screamed.

  Even with all of her planning, she was alone again. She should have been staying with Jefferson and Kyla tonight, just like she had many times before.

  She reached for the telephone, but just as quickly pulled her hand away. Giving her body to another faceless man was something she couldn’t do tonight.

  Rolling over, she let her eyes roam in the dark, finally settling on the photo on the bureau. Through the open miniblinds, the streetlights illuminated the wedding picture she still kept on her dresser, and she struggled to hold back the tears.

  From the moment they’d begun dating during their senior year in high school, Jasmine knew that Kenneth Larson was her key to a life she’d seen only on the society pages of Jet magazine. According to his coach, the high school football star had a lucrative career before him. All he had to do was choose the right college and stay healthy. Jasmine was going to be there to make sure Kenny did all that and a bit more. When he signed that big money contract, she would be at his side with a ring on her left hand.

  With fortune and fame beckoning, Jasmine and Kenny entered UCLA in the fall of 1973. The first weeks were filled with freshman excitement, but it wasn’t long before Jasmine realized that getting Kenny to marry her was going to be a tough task.

  The freshman quarterback was not even eligible to play one game, yet women swarmed him like honeybees, leaving no question about their desires. Jasmine was beset with perfumed notes left at Kenny’s room, harassing phone calls and constant interruptions when they were out on dates. By the time football season ended with the team achieving a Rose Bowl victory, Jasmine had found him in a parade of compromising positions. But her determination was stronger than her crushed pride. Keeping her head high, she continued in her mission to get the wedding ring.

  For three years, Jasmine played out their situation, praying that patience would deliver the prize. But, it was her mother’s death during their senior year that became the unexpected impetus toward their marriage. When Jasmine withdrew in mourning, Kenny drew closer, jumping in to rescue her from her state of agony. He took care of her—cooking, cleaning, providing whatever support she needed. The process took his mind from his flagging football career that had been fading quickly due to the presence of LaShaun Pitt—a younger, faster, more agile player who had replaced him as starting quarterback. Caring for Jasmine became his only focus.

  For endless nights, he held her while she cried out her grief. Still, weeks passed before she returned to class. It wasn’t until Kenny asked Jasmine to marry him two weeks before graduation that she was finally able to totally escape her despondency.

  Even though the million-dollar football contract was now a bygone dream, Jasmine jumped at his proposal. She’d accomplished her mission and believed that somehow, one day they would have the life she wanted.

  But it never happened. In their eighteen years, he had never made her happy. He had never been able to give her the kind of life that Kyla lived.

  Kyla. Her sisterfriend for over thirty years. They’d been connected ever since that day in kindergarten when she’d been playing in the schoolyard with a group of boys and noticed the little girl with tears streaming down her face sitting against the fence.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Jasmine asked the girl with thick, unruly pigtails.

  “Those girls over there,” she said pointing. “They’re picking on me.”

  “So? Just punch them out.”

  The little girl looked up, her eyes questioning.

  “You know,” Jasmine said sitting down on the concrete. “Punch their lights out. Kick their behind. Sock ’em in the nose.”

  The girl’s eyes grew wide. “My mother said that Christians can’t do that and God would be mad at me if I did.”

  Jasmine turned up her nose. “Well, your mother doesn’t know anything! What’s your name?”

  The girl looked up and tried to smile. “Kyla.”

  “I’m Jasmine.” Jasmine marched across the playground and demanded that the girls leave Kyla alone. And with what Jasmine had done to the neighborhood kids in the past, there was no one in the circle willing to challenge her. As the school bell signaled the end of recess, Jasmine took Kyla’s hand and they stomped together past the now-silent group.

  Their friendship had been sealed that day. Kyla was the friend who was always there when Jasmine needed help with schoolwork, and Jasmine was the popular one, the protector, the antithesis of the timid Kyla. Through years of birthday celebrations, pajama parties, and weeks together at sleep-away camp, their friendship continued through high school, though by their senior year, Jasmine began to notice a change in the dynamics.

  One day after cheerleader practice, Kyla and Jasmine had strolled to the bus stop just as a yellow Volkswagen Beetle eased up to the curb.

  “Hey, Kyla. How’s it going?” the boys shouted.

  Kyla smiled, hugging her books to her chest. “Fine.”

  “Want a ride?” the driver leaned over, yelling out the window.

  “No, thank you.”

  “Hey, Marc,” Jasmine waved.

  “Hey, Jasmine. Are you sure you don’t want a ride?” He said, directing his question to Kyla.

  “No thanks, the bus is here now. See you guys later.”

  As the two took their seats, Jasmine wrinkled her nose. “That Marc thinks he’s so cute.”

  Kyla smiled. “Sounds like you’re a little jealous.”

  “I’m not. I’m in love with Kenny.”

  “That’s what you keep telling me, but I think you’re just boy crazy.”

  “I’m seventeen. I’m supposed to be boy crazy. Plus, you have no idea what you’re missing.”

  “I’m not missing anything.”

  “I think you’re the one who’s jealous because you haven’t done it yet. You’re probably the only virgin left in the senior class.”

  “I doubt that. But if I am, I’m proud of it.”

  “Well, do you plan on being a virgin your whole life?”

  “Of course not. I’m just going to wait until I’m married.”

  “Kenny and I are getting married.”

  Kyla’s snicker was doubtful. “When?”

  “None of your business.”

  “I’ll save my congratulations. I just think it’s wrong to have sex with someone before you’re married.”

  “That is a crazy, old-fashioned idea. Everybody’s doing it. You’re talking about something you know nothing about.”

  “I know what the Bible says,” Kyla said rather weakly. “What you’re doing is wrong.”

  “See, that’s what’s wrong with you. Not only are you judgmental, but you don’t have a clue! It’s all right to have sex as long as you love the person. And, not only that,” she said crossing her legs, “Kenny will do anything I want because I gave it to him. You see these?” she asked pointing to her boots. “Do you know who gave them to me?”

  “Kenny, so, is that why you sleep with him?”

  “You haven’t been listening to anything I’ve said. It’s about love. Kenny gives me these gifts because he loves me. Anyway, why would anyone wait to have sex?”

  “Maybe because God says to wait.”

  Jasmine sighed. “Why can’t we have a normal conversation without you always bringing God into everything?”

  “But, Jasmine,” Kyla said sweetly as she rang the bell to get off at the next stop. “God is in everything.” Kyla answered confidently, then jumped off the bus. She left Jasmine seething with emotions that her young mind didn’t understand . . .

  Jasmine bolted up in the bed, listening. A moment later, she heard it again—a banging sound, coming from downstairs. Then suddenly, it stopped. With her heart pounding, she turned
on the nightstand light and tried to remember if she had locked all the doors.

  She tiptoed into the darkened hallway and peeked over the railing into the foyer. The light was on and her shoes were sitting by the door just as she left them. Clicking on the hallway light, she tiptoed silently down the stairs. At the bottom, she turned on the light switch and the entire first floor became illuminated. Jasmine checked all the doors, closed the windows and blinds, safely shutting herself in. She sat down on the couch and shuddered as she wrapped her arms around her waist.

  Maybe it was the furnace that she had heard. There was no one lurking in the dark shadows. She was scared beyond belief, for no reason at all. This house that she had once loved, had become a house of dread. She knew she would have to get out soon, if she were to maintain any semblance of sanity.

  But, this was her final connection to Kenny. Everything reminded her of him. She had even purchased his favorite Calvin Klein cologne and sprayed it through the rooms. She needed to keep all this around her for as long as she could. This house was all that she had left.

  Jasmine went to the downstairs linen closet and pulled out the down comforter. She fluffed the pillows on the couch, wrapped herself in the blanket, took one more glance around the room and lay down.

  But locked doors and bolted windows could not bring her peace. And as she closed her eyes, trying to block out the glare from all the lights she was too afraid to turn off, her emotions boiled, gurgling like a volcano. Finally exploding, she no longer restrained the tears and they gushed forth freely. She cried until she slept.

  Three

  * * *

  Alexis hadn’t turned on the answering machine and now the phone’s ringing was relentless. She drew the pillow over her ears, but it continued. Without opening her eyes, she grabbed the phone.

  “This had better be good,” she said, her voice muffled by the pillow.

  “Alexis, did I wake you?” a male voice asked.

  Her eyes popped open. She sat up, catching her reflection in the mirror and smoothed her hand over her hair. “Good morning, Dr. Lewis,” her voice smiled.