by Linda Verji
London closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. “Why would she do this?”
“Because of me,” Zeke said quietly. “She wanted to get rid of you.”
London’s eyes locked on his. “Did you know?”
He wanted to lie; tell her that her that he’d found out only after they’d broken up. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. “I confronted her the day after you told me about Vicker’s offer and she confirmed her part in it.”
“And you didn’t tell me.” It was an accusation, not a question and said in a voice so wintery he actually felt himself freeze. London rose to her full height. “Get out.”
“Not yet. There’s more.” He dipped his head, unable to look her in the eyes anymore. “She also paid Enzo to seduce you.”
“What?” She inhaled so sharply he had to look up. He found her staring at him in wide-eyed shock as if she didn’t quite comprehend - or believe what he was telling her.
So he repeated, “My mother paid Enzo to seduce you.”
London deflated like a rag doll, the shock in her eyes morphing into pure misery as she sunk back onto the bed. “You’re lying.”
His eyes met hers. “I’ve never lied to you, London.”
“What am I supposed to do with this information?” she asked, the tremble in her voice so clear it made his heart hurt. “You’re telling me all this after we’ve already signed with him. What am I supposed to do now, Zeke?”
Guilt eating at him, he suggested, “I can get you out of his contract. And if you’re open to working with another label, I could arrange-”
“No, thank you. I think you’ve ‘helped’ me enough to last a lifetime,” she said bitterly. “I can’t believe Enzo would do something like this.”
To be honest, he wasn’t really shocked that Enzo had turned out to be a backstabbing weasel. Something about the man had never sat right with Zeke. But he wasn’t about to rub salt onto London’s wound so he said, “I’m sorry.”
“He’s supposed - he was supposed to be my friend.” The sadness in her voice was as blatant as her disappointment.
Zeke couldn’t help himself. He crossed the room to settle beside her on the bed. Wrapping an arm around her slender shoulders, he said, “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
Looking up at him, she asked, “He really took money from your mother?”
Even though they both already knew the answer, he nodded. He reached out to smooth a hair away from her cheek. Something in her brown eyes, the sadness there, tugged at his heartstrings and urged him forward. Before he could reel himself, his lips descended towards hers. It was a gently kiss, so gentle it felt like a whisper. A touch of his mouth to hers, a nibble of her bottom lip, a pleading swipe of his tongue across the seam of her lips begging her to let him in. When her mouth parted in reluctant acceptance of his kiss, he was lost.
With one move, he shifted her from the bed to his lap. He wrapped his arms around her back and crushed her against his chest as his lips slanted harder over hers. He sunk every sliver of sadness that had torn through him these past few days into that kiss, shaded every lash of his tongue against hers with the words he wished he could say to her. And she welcomed it all.
The way she wove her hands into his hair and pulled his head down to her adding sweet pressure to the intense kiss. The way she opened his mouth and welcomed his plunging tongue. The way she wound her hips and ground down into his crotch. It all drove him rapidly towards the edge of no return. He was just about to set her on the bed, perhaps take her fast and hard as he’d dreamt of every night since she’d left him, when she pulled back.
“Zeke… stop. Stop.” She drew her head backwards and cupped her hands over her mouth. He leaned forward to kiss her again, to coax her back into surrender - but her eyes stopped him cold. There were tears in them as she repeated, “Stop.”
He’d made her cry. It was enough to drain every last residue of pressured need within him. “Baby, I-”
“Don’t - don’t call me that.” She blinked furiously as she clambered awkwardly from his lap and scrambled towards the headboard. “I can’t- we can’t - you have to go.”
He started to move towards her. “Lond-”
“Just stay there,” she cut him off with a raise of her hand. “Please just stay there, Zeke.”
Though he didn’t move towards her, he didn’t leave the room either. He couldn’t. Not when there were so many unsaid words between them - so many buried feelings. A long silence fell between them as they both worked to reel in their desires and emotions, yet those emotions didn’t dissipate entirely. They just hung above them, dark and sad, like a wish that could never be fulfilled.
“You were right.” London finally broke the silence. Her stare expressionless, she said, “I knew exactly what I was getting into when I slept with you. In fact, you didn’t even want to get into anything with me. I’m the one who seduced you. And it wasn’t fair for me to come at you like that.”
“No, you were right,” he said quietly. “Things change, and I shouldn’t have expected them to stay the same.”
She shrugged but didn’t say anything.
He took a deep breath then confessed, “The answer to your question is yes.”
Her eyes met his. “What question?”
“Do I have feelings for you?” He nodded. “Yes.” And before he could give her false hope, he added, “But I can’t change who I am or where I come from. I’m just trying to do my best to protect my family and the people who depend on me.”
“How noble of you,” she said. He didn’t know whether she meant it sarcastically or not because her face was as expressionless as a stone. The London he knew couldn’t do expressionless. She was liveliness personified and wore her emotions on her face. For her to be looking so vacant, so beaten, cut him to the bone. He had done this.
She sighed. “Tell me something, Zeke. What about what’s best for you and me? You ever thought about that?”
Yes, he had; so many times since the conversation with Nathan. Each time it left him feeling even more confused, conflicted. The part of him that was just a man wanted to let it all go, wanted to love London like she deserved. The part of him that was a Landa-Hollis through and through kept pulling at him too - reminding him of who he was and everything that had been drummed into him.
“I wish you’d understand,” he said tiredly.
“I don’t. And I never will.” Her voice was soft but resolute. “So please just stop explaining and go!”
This time she was the one who stood up and went to open the door for him. She stood by the open door, her hand on the knob waiting for him to leave. And though he didn’t want to, he forced himself to leave.
Leaving London, once again, with tears in her eyes.
ONCE ZEKE WAS gone and she was done crying, London called the Xin Monsters for an emergency meeting at Enzo and Saif’s place.
“Since we made a group decision to sign with Vicker we should also jointly decide what our next step is,” she said after telling them everything Zeke had told her about the deal. “But I think we should walk out.”
“Why would we do that?” Enzo glared at her.
“Are you serious?” Saif cut in before London could answer. “Because it’s not a genuine offer. Why would we want to stay on with a guy who lied to us?”
“He didn’t lie,” Enzo defended. “He just didn’t mention everything.”
“You’re kidding me right?” Saif stared at Enzo.
“Either way,” London interrupted before the two men could come to blows. “Whether he lied or just didn’t mention some stuff, the fact is thatthe basis of any good contract is absolute honesty. No sneaky nonsense. What if he pulls something like this along the road when we can’t walk out?”
“We’d be screwed.” Maurice kissed his teeth. “But damn, the deal he was offering… Ugh, man!”
“And the money,” D’Angelo added with a distressed shake of his head.
“I know.” London winced. “But th
at gravy train comes with a dirty driver who could take us off the rails any time. Are we really willing to ride with him and risk it?”
“I guess not.” Maurice shook his head slowly.
“You know where I fall on this,” Saif’s tone was more sure, more determined. “I would rather eat rocks and wear sackcloth than sleep with a snake. I vote we ditch Vicker.”
“Are you people fucking with me?” Enzo pierced each one of them with his angry gaze. “You actually want to give up a great contract like this because of something she said?” He pointed at London and laughed, but there was no humor in that mocking laughter. “Fucking hilarious. As if she’s any more honest than Vicker.”
“What the hell does that mean?” London cut her eyes at him. Frankly, she was regretting not telling everyone about the part he’d played in the whole Edya fiasco because she didn’t want to start any drama. She was damn tired of Enzo’s attitude, his posturing and the chip he’d been carrying on his shoulder since this meeting had started. She just wanted him to shut up.
But Enzo wasn’t interested in shutting up. He guffawed. “Tell them how honest you’ve been with them. How honest you were when you got us that gig at Landa-Heron. Tell them how honest you were when you told them that Zeke Landa-Hollis hired us because he liked our singing. The truth is that what he really liked was what you’ve got between your legs.”
“Enzo!” Saif’s shock voiced London’s own.
“Man, what the hell is wrong with you?” Maurice yelled at him.
“What the hell is wrong with me? What the hell is wrong with you guys?” Anger glinted in Enzo’s eyes. “You’re actually thinking of walking out on a contract that could make us superstars, celebrities, millionaires on some bullshit technicality? So Edya gave it to us - big deal! Ever since we started in this business people have been throwing us bones. What’s so wrong if she throws us a bone too?”
London wanted to go off at him for the insult. She wanted to counter his defense of Edya with the reminder that there was no bone that woman threw came without strings. Then she realized that she didn’t really care what Enzo thought. Even before she’d called this meeting today she’d already made her decision. So she rose to her full height. “Look guys, I know I said this was a group decision but mine is already made. I’m out. You can stay with Vicker if you want, use the group name if you want. But I’m out.”
Shock pulsed through the whole group. D’Angelo voiced what they were all thinking. “But you’re our lead singer.”
“Oh, yeah! Real mature.” Enzo rolled his eyes. “Sulk because we won’t go along with you. Guys don’t even worry about her. I can be lead sing-”
“Shut the fuck up!” Saif leveled Enzo with such a livid look that the other man actually followed his orders albeit with another roll of his eyes and harrumph under his breath. When Saif turned back to London, his voice was softer. “You’re not out because we’re not working with Vicker. As far as I can see the count is four to one.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Maurice agreed. “We’ve turned producers down before for offering us shitty contracts. This isn’t any different. We’ll get other opportunities.”
Enzo shot to his feet. “Nothing as good as-” He paused his words to throw up his hands. “Fuck you all. I’m out.” And with that he stormed out of the living-room in a huff.
Perhaps he was waiting for someone to chase after him and beg him to stay as they had with London. Nobody did. In fact, his stormy exit was like having a breath of fresh air injected into the room. The tension eased and the rest of the group could finally discuss their next moves without explosions of emotion.
They discussed how they were going to back out of the contract with Vicker. Maurice’s uncle was a lawyer, so he promised to arrange a meeting. Saif suggested they produce the album themselves with their earnings from Landa-Heron. Of course they wouldn’t be able to make as large a splash as Vicker had promised, but they could try. Since she was the one who’d ruined their chances with Vicker, London didn’t protest when the band asked her to make sure that they still had the gig at Landa-Heron. Fortunately, their main contact at the hotel was the manager and not Zeke. A call later, the hotel manage confirmed that they still had the gig. He even agreed to give them the day off, so they could reorganize themselves now that they were short one member.
London was preparing to head back to her place when Enzo reappeared in the living-room. This time he looked calmer, even contrite, and before she could leave, he asked, “London, can I talk to you in the kitchen for a moment?”
She really didn’t want to be in the same room with him. But she had a few things to clear up with him too, so she nodded curtly and followed him to their little kitchen.
“Look, I’m sorry about the stuff I said in there,” Enzo started once they were in their kitchen. He pushed his fingers through his long hair. “I was just a bit heated-”
“Don’t even.” Narrowing her eyes at him, she said, “I have put up with a lot of bullshit from you, but I didn’t think you could go this low. Taking money from Edya?”
His eyes widened with surprise. His mouth opened as if he was preparing to deny it.
“Yeah, I know about that,” she cut into his defense. “And after that stunt - you and I? We’re officially done. Don’t speak to me, don’t look at me unless it’s about band business.”
“But we’re friends.”
“Bullshit!” She shook her head. “My friends would never stab me in the back like you did.”
“London, we’ve come too far,” he tried again, taking a step towards her. “Let’s talk about this. I’m really sorry.”
She took a step back. “Give me a break. You obviously don’t care about how far we’ve come - why should I? Actually, I don’t anymore.”
“Just give me a chance to explain.”
“No, thanks. Give those explanations to someone who gives a damn about them!” She turned and exited the kitchen.
“You’re doing this because of him, aren’t you?” Enzo followed her out. “You’re treating me like this because of Zeke.”
No, she wasn’t. This was all about Enzo and his very loose definition of friendship. But she didn’t have the energy or the interest to explain that to him. So shutting out his words and pleas for her to listen to him, she left for her own apartment. That, however, didn’t deter Enzo. He kept calling her, texting her and leaving voicemails to the point where she actually had to block his number. Finally, peace!
That peace only lasted until the same evening. Some minutes past eight p.m., Saif called.
“Enzo’s talking crazy.” Saif said as soon as she picked up her phone.
She rolled her eyes. “When isn’t he ever?”
“No, like real crazy!” Saif said. “Like he’s going to hurt someone crazy. He’s talking about you, Zeke, himself - the man has a lot of ideas about how to hurt you.”
“Empty threats. Ignore him,” she suggested as she stretched out on her bed. “Or better still buy him some booze and let him drink himself into a stupor.”
“Okay, but-” Saif paused. Seemingly talking to someone on his end of the phone, he yelled out, “Dude, where are you going? Enzo. Enzo.”
A door slammed so hard on his side of the line that London actually flinched.
“Damn, he’s gone out,” Saif stated what she already suspected. “He might be headed your way.”
“Ugh!” London kissed her teeth as she sat up. “Thanks for the heads up. I’ll be ready for him.”
Once her conversation with Saif ended, she dialed the building manager’s number. Enzo was such a punk that the moment he saw another man backing up London he’d probably scatter like a rat.
The only problem was that Enzo didn’t show up at her doorstep. Two hours later and there was still no sign of him. London wasn’t sure how she felt about that. His not coming to her house was a blessing. But a call to Saif revealed that he wasn’t home either. So where was he? Could he have…
Her pulse racing
and her heart pounding at double its speed, she called Zeke. But he didn’t pick up. She tried again. He still didn’t pick up. She tried again, once, twice, thrice - each time only the mechanical voice of a woman telling her to leave a message met her. Real worry biting at her nerves, she rushed from her room to knock on Amani’s door.
“Yeah.” Her housemate called out from within the room.
“Amani.” London pushed the door open. “Can I borrow your car?”
“You know I don’t like my car being out this time of the night.”
“It will be just for a few minutes, I promise.” Then London did the one thing she hated most - she begged. “Amani, please. Help me out.”
But Amani was obviously on a power-trip because she said, “The last time you took it out, you stayed out almost all night and didn’t wash it.”
“I’ll wash it this time,” London pleaded. “Please.”
“Fine.” Amani rolled her eyes as she snatched the car keys from her nightstand and held them out. London crossed the room to take the keys but just as she reached for the, Amani pulled them out of her reach. “Only thirty minutes. Anymore and I’m calling the police to report it as stolen.”
“Fine.” London leaned forward to snatch the keys. “Thank you.”
The drive to Landa-Heron was twenty minutes long, but it felt like hours. Panic dancing in her blood, London traded her attention between driving and calling Zeke’s number but he still didn’t pick up. What if something her happened to him? What if Enzo was serious and had actually done something bad to him? Oh, God. She stepped on the gas.
As she cruised into Landa-Heron’s parking lot, she called Zeke again. Please pick up. Please pick up.
“London?” Zeke finally answered.
“Oh, thank God,” she released a heavy breath, as relief rushed through her. “Why weren’t you picking up your phone?”
“I was busy,” he answered, his voice strangely devoid of all emotions.
That wintery answer was enough to deflate her relief. “Oh. Okay.”
“Was there something you wanted?”
“No. No. Um…” She scratched her hair. “Okay, bye.”