Temptation

by Victoria Christopher Murray

  Brian held up his hands as if he were warding off an attack. “Okay . . .”

  “First of all, it only happened once. I don’t even like Jasmine . . .”

  Brian’s eyes widened. “You mean you’ve been kicking it with that woman Jasmine, Kyla’s friend?”

  “Like I said, it was only this one time.”

  “Man . . .”

  “I can’t even tell you what happened. One minute I was talking to her, and the next minute we were in bed.” Jefferson pulled his hands to his face. “This is a mess.”

  “Yeah, I’ll say. How did Kyla find out?”

  “She walked in on us.”

  Brian bounced back in his chair. “Oh, God! You did this in your own house? What were you thinking?”

  “I know . . .”

  “Never do that in your house, Jefferson. You’re a doctor, you have money. Take her to a hotel. In your house! Oh, man!”

  Jefferson raised his eyebrows, but didn’t respond.

  Brian continued, “So, Kyla found you in bed with Jasmine.”

  “Well, not exactly. I mean, I was in the shower. I don’t know where she found Jasmine.”

  “Wait!” Brian exclaimed, holding his hand high. He stood and leaned over the desk. “So, she didn’t actually see you two together.” His question sounded like a statement.

  Jefferson shook his head.

  Brian slapped his hands on his legs. “Well, then you’re home free.”

  Now, it was Jefferson’s turn to frown. “What?”

  “You are home free. Just don’t admit that anything happened.”

  “What?”

  “Just tell Kyla that no matter what she saw, she’s wrong.”

  “You want me to lie to my wife?”

  “If that’s what it takes to get you through this.”

  Jefferson narrowed his eyes. “Brian, there are a lot of reasons why, but I’m not going to lie to Kyla.”

  “Why not? This is only about sex.”

  “Well, I’m not going to lie. I love her too much to do that.”

  “And that’s why she found you with Jasmine.”

  Jefferson winced.

  “Look, man,” Brian started. “I’m just trying to get you out of this. Believe me, the best way to handle these things is to just flat-out deny it.”

  Jefferson’s chuckle was bitter. “You sound like you have some experience.”

  “Some. But that doesn’t matter. I’m just trying to save you and Kyla.”

  “I understand that, but I can’t go that way. I’ve already sinned against my wife. I’m not going to complicate this by covering it up with another sin.”

  “I understand what you want to do. What I’m talking about is what you have to do to save yourself.”

  “I don’t care what you say, I’m not going that way.”

  Brian laughed. “Man, I’m talking about lying. You were in bed with another woman.” He held out his hands as if he were weighing the options. “Tell me, which is worse?”

  Jefferson’s voice raised slightly. “I know what I did. And, I know how I’m going to handle it and it’s not going to be by going backwards.”

  Brian shrugged. “Whatever, but I’m telling you, man . . .” He paused taking in Jefferson’s unshaven face and reddened eyes. “So, you haven’t heard from her at all?”

  Jefferson shook his head. “I have no idea where she is.”

  “I’m sure she’s okay . . .”

  “That’s my prayer.”

  “Jefferson . . . look, the best way for you to get out of this once you do find her . . .”

  Jefferson held up his hands. “No more, Brian. I don’t need any more advice like that.”

  Brian shrugged. “Well, let me call Alexis and see if she’s heard anything.”

  “No, don’t do that. I only called you to find out if Alexis had heard from Kyla. But if she hasn’t, I don’t want to tell Alexis about this. At least not yet. Oh man,” Jefferson said shaking his head slowly. “I’m just praying that at some point today, Kyla will at least contact me.”

  “Well, if Alexis says anything, I’ll let you know.” Brian stood. “Jefferson, I know you’ll find a way to work this out. It’ll be all right.” He reached around and patted his friend’s shoulders.

  “Thanks,” Jefferson said. More than anything he wanted to believe his friend was right.

  With trembling hands, Kyla opened the Bible and went straight to Isaiah 43. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord, thy God. She closed her eyes, then placed the Bible back on the table.

  Doubt had accompanied the light of day and now Kyla wasn’t sure how she’d handle the future that loomed menacingly before her. Her eyes roamed to the mirror. She’d done well, she thought. With hair braided and wrinkles steamed from her clothes, now she looked more like a homeless person than a battered woman, something she ruefully considered an improvement.

  Still staring at her reflection, she picked up the phone and dialed the number, her fingers moving quickly, before she changed her mind.

  On the first ring, her daughter answered the telephone. “Hello, Carrington residence.”

  Tears stung her eyes, but Kyla was able to keep the shaking from her voice. “Hi, sweetie.”

  “Hi, Mommy! Where are you? You didn’t call me back last night. Are you and Daddy coming up here? Are you going to go to Misty and Kristy’s party? Can I stay?”

  Kyla laughed through her tears. “Hold on. I can’t answer so many questions. How are you?”

  “I’m fine. I’m having a real good time. Papa and I went fishing again and then I played on the beach with Misty and Kristy. Can I stay up here so that I can go to their birthday party? It’s Saturday and Daddy said he had to talk to you about it.”

  Kyla was sure her heart had stopped beating. “You spoke to your father? What did he say?”

  Nicole was silent for a moment. “He said he had to ask you.”

  “Where was your father when he called?” Against her will, the questions flowed.

  “He was home, Mommy. What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing, sweetie.”

  “Well, can I go to the party on Saturday? Can you and Daddy come up for the party too?”

  “I don’t know. Anyway, how’re Mama and Papa?”

  “They’re fine. Mama went for a walk, but Papa is sitting right here. Do you want to talk to him?”

  “No!” she said a little too quickly, knowing that as soon as her father heard her voice he would know something was wrong. Obviously, Jefferson had called but had kept his secret tryst just that—a secret—and for that she was grateful. She would break all of this to them when the time was right. “No, just tell Papa I’ll call later, okay? I love you, sweetie. Kiss Papa for me.”

  “Okay, and kiss Daddy for me. Bye!”

  It took a moment for her to replace the receiver. “Kiss Daddy for me.” Kyla wondered whether her lips would ever touch Jefferson’s again and a single tear rolled down her cheek.

  Wiping it away, she shook her head. “Stop it, Kyla!” she scolded herself aloud. “You have to move on.”

  Not letting time pass, she dialed the second number and again, it was answered on the first ring. Just the sound of Alexis’ voice made Kyla relax a bit.

  “Hey, it’s me.”

  “Kyla. Where have you been? Jefferson called me yesterday and I left a message for you this morning. I was really beginning to worry.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Kyla . . .” Alexis began slowly. “Kyla, what’s wrong?”

  She would have smiled if a lump had not formed in her throat. It was uncanny how she and Alexis could read each other.

  When she remained silent, Alexis asked again. “Kyla, what is it?”

  Kyla wanted to tell her friend, but only tears fell. This was unbearable—it hurt to
think about it, but now it was impossible to say out loud.

  “Kyla, please! Where are you?”

  “I’m at a hotel,” she sobbed. “I don’t know where.”

  “Give me the telephone number,” Alexis spoke slowly. “I’ll call the hotel, find out where you are, then come and get you.”

  “No,” she sniffed back her tears. “I’m going to be fine. It’s just that this is so hard.”

  “Kyla, what happened?” Alexis asked, her own voice now trembling. “Did someone die?”

  “Die,” Kyla repeated. “That almost explains it.”

  “Oh, my gosh! Who?”

  “Not who, Alexis. What . . .” Kyla paused, trying to build the nerve to continue. “When I got home yesterday . . . I found . . . Jefferson is having an affair!” The last words came out in a wail.

  “Oh my goodness! I don’t believe you! With who?” Alexis didn’t try to hide her astonishment. This couldn’t be true. Not Jefferson.

  Kyla inhaled a deep breath. “With . . . Jasmine.”

  There was a moment’s pause and Alexis knew from the pit in her own stomach that it was true.

  “Kyla, I’m on my way!”

  “No, Alex, you have to work. I’ll just see you later.”

  “I don’t care what you say. Either I’m coming to get you or you’re going to get your butt to me as fast as you can!”

  With lips that had been trembling only minutes before, a half-smile came to her face. “Thanks, Alexis. Just give me some time and I’ll meet you at your office.”

  “Come to my apartment. Are you sure you’re going to be all right?”

  “I’m okay, especially after talking to you. I’ll see you in a little while.”

  “Okay, but if you’re not here in an hour, I’m sending out the cavalry.”

  “Give me two hours. I drove for a long time.”

  “Kyla . . . you know I love you,” Alexis said before she hung up the phone.

  Leaning back against the soft leather of her chair, Alexis sighed and shook her head. Never did she believe Jasmine would go this far. But what was even more astonishing was that Jefferson had been such easy prey.

  It just didn’t make sense. Jefferson loved Kyla, but more importantly, he loved God. Not that these things didn’t happen with Christians. In her years of walking with the Lord, Alexis had had her own trials and temptations, troubles and struggles. She was not surprised that Jefferson had been tempted, but she was surprised that he had stumbled. And, with Jasmine.

  Alexis stood and hurriedly stuffed papers into her briefcase. Work would have to wait; she had a friend to rescue.

  Jasmine couldn’t concentrate and right now she needed to be focused. But there was nothing more important than what she was going to do this afternoon. She had to make her move on Jefferson before he and Kyla had any chance of getting back together. Kyla was surely up in Santa Barbara getting comfort from her mother and father. But that wouldn’t last long. The Carringtons were probably at this very moment trying to convince Kyla to return to Jefferson. Jasmine knew she would have to have a quick plan of action if she had any hopes of achieving her goal.

  She looked at her watch; only five minutes had passed since the last time she had checked. She sighed, then looked up as she heard the knock.

  “Hey, Jasmine. I need you to do me a big favor.” Rose, the Vice-President of Finance and her boss, leaned against the carpeted wall of her cubicle. “I’m not feeling well; so I’m gonna get out of here. Would you look over the sales projections and then send them upstairs for me?”

  “Sure.” Jasmine grinned at her luck. With her boss out of the way, she’d be able to leave early too.

  “I really appreciate you covering me like this,” Rose sneezed. “This is going to be a tough week with the presentation on Friday and I need to be in tip-top form.”

  “Don’t worry about a thing.”

  “Thanks! By the way, I looked over your part of the presentation. You did a great job.”

  “Thank you.”

  Rose sneezed and brought a tissue to her face. “You know, you’re next in line for the Senior Analyst position.”

  “That’s what I’m hoping . . .”

  “I’ll be putting in a good word.”

  Jasmine smiled. “Well, you can get out of here. I’ll take care of these numbers.”

  When Rose had left, Jasmine leaned back in her chair. She had planned to tell her boss that her grandfather/grandmother/godmother had died. All she had to do was remember which one of them she hadn’t used before. But now that wouldn’t be necessary. Leaning forward, she perused the sheets she’d been given, then pulled out her calculator. It would take her about an hour to complete this project. Good. That would still give her time to get home before noon.

  She turned her attention to the numbers, ignoring the chatting associates and ringing phones that surrounded her. She was on a mission. When she finally looked up, it was eleven-thirty. Calculating the time in her head, she knew she’d be home within an hour. Then, with another two hours to cook, take a bath, do her hair, get dressed—it would be about three. Three o’clock. Maybe three would be her new lucky number.

  Putting her hand over her mouth, she stifled her laugh, trying to hold down her excitement. She scribbled a note on top of the report she’d just finished, then dropped it in her “out” box. Taking a moment to straighten the papers on her desk, she grabbed her suit jacket, purse and briefcase and ran from her office. She didn’t even look back when her secretary called after her.

  “If I’m lucky, she’ll just think I had some sort of family emergency,” Jasmine thought. “Maybe she’ll just think my grandfather/grandmother/godmother died,” she giggled.

  She ran into the parking lot and jumped into her car. Rose might be thinking about promotions and that was good. But she couldn’t begin to think about that now. There was a big night with Jefferson to prepare for and she was going to be ready. Turning on the ignition, she pressed down hard on the accelerator and sped from the SONY parking lot.

  To Alexis, it seemed like forever, but only two hours had passed before the doorman finally called up, announcing Kyla’s arrival. Standing in front of her opened door she waited, and within minutes the elevator delivered her friend. At the sight of each other, they embraced and broke down in tears.

  When Kyla stepped into Alexis’ condo, she stopped crying. She always loved coming here; her friend’s home was so different than her own. Alexis’ mark of creativity was stamped throughout the high-tech, high-rise apartment.

  Taking her by the hand, Alexis led Kyla to the black and white striped couch, hugged her again, then pulled back, quickly taking in her friend’s appearance. The Kyla who was always perfectly put together, with every strand of hair in place and every outfit perfectly matched, looked like a waif. There were dark circles under her puffy eyelids and her wavy, unruly hair was braided.

  “Well . . . here I am.”

  “Here you are . . .”

  Kyla smiled. “I know you want to know what happened. All the details. You’re just too polite to ask. Unlike me.”

  “You’re right. I do want to know, but I’m worried about you. Are you hungry? When was the last time you had something to eat?”

  “I don’t remember.”

  “That means you need to eat.”

  “Alexis, just the thought of food makes me want to puke.”

  “Okay . . .”

  “I just want to talk.” Kyla turned away, unable to look at Alexis. “You know, I never thought this would happen to me. I just knew that Jefferson loved me.”

  “Jefferson does love you. No matter what happened. You have to believe that.”

  “I don’t know what to believe anymore. Finding him in bed with Jasmine changes everything.”

  Alexis’ eyes widened. “You actually found them in bed together?”

  “Well, not together. Jasmine was in my bed. Jefferson was in the shower.”

  “In the shower. That makes sense
.”

  “What?”

  “Well, if it really happened, Jefferson was in the shower trying to wash her off of him.”

  “It was too late for that! And, what was worse was that he called me Jasmine. There are so many women in his life that he can’t tell the difference in our voices.”

  Alexis reached for Kyla’s hands. “Stop. With what you just said, I know what’s missing. Girl, we need to pray.”

  “Alexis . . . I don’t want to right now.”

  “And that’s just why we have to. This is clearly spiritual warfare if you’re talking about all of Jefferson’s women. Here,” she said reaching out again. “Give me your hands.”

  When Alexis bowed her head, Kyla followed, closed her eyes and listened to the words Alexis prayed. And when Alexis asked the Lord to lead them and help Kyla find peace in this situation, she opened her mouth and uttered in the spirit, praying that the Lord would answer them.

  “Now,” Alexis said as she dropped Kyla’s hands. “Now we can talk. So, what did Jefferson say?”

  “About what?”

  “About what happened.”

  “Alexis, it’s not like I stood there waiting for Jefferson to fill me in on all the details.”

  “Have you talked to Jefferson at all?”

  “No.”

  “Well, you have to talk to him. Because there is one thing I know for sure. I don’t know how she did it, but I know that your husband did not get into bed of his own free will with that . . . snake!”

  Kyla turned and her eyes bore into Alexis. “You did call her a snake. Did you know about this all along?”

  “No! No!” Alexis rushed to clear up that question. “I never thought anything was going on with the two of them. I still don’t believe it now.”

  “You had to think something,” Kyla said as she folded her arms in front of her.

  “Now come on, Kyla. Think about it. You know me. If I thought anything, I would have not only told you, but I would’ve kicked Jasmine’s and Jefferson’s behinds myself! I just had a feeling, an intuition.” She paused. “Whenever Jasmine was around you and Jefferson, she always made it a point to be with Jefferson.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It wasn’t any one thing. Just a lot of stuff added together. I mean, think back to Jefferson’s party. Remember when Jasmine wanted you to give her a ride home?”