Don't Even Go There

by Brenda Hampton

  My coochie was tender from the beating it had taken, and after sitting in the tub for at least an hour to cool myself, that didn’t help. Maybe because Steven was in there with me, getting the last of our good-bye. I honestly liked him, and I could see this thing between us continuing for quite some time. He didn’t mention Liz’s name once, and even when she called, he didn’t try to hide it. He spoke to her right in front of me, and expressed to her that he was having a decent time in Michigan. After returning the love over the phone, he dropped it on the bed and got back to entertaining me.

  On Monday, I regretted that Claudette had made it back to work. She was so embarrassed, and could look no one in their eyes. Veronica and I couldn’t help but go to her cubicle to see what was up.

  “I’m not in the mood to talk right now,” she snapped. “I have a lot of work to catch up on, so don’t bug me.”

  Veronica growled at her like a tiger, and we couldn’t help but laugh. “Go ahead and bite our heads off,” Veronica said. “We don’t care. I just came over here to cheer you up, but if you don’t wish to be bothered, I understand.”

  Veronica walked away, and I followed suit. Claudette had been humiliated enough, so I left her alone. At least for the day.

  Liz hadn’t made it to the office yet, but when I got to my desk, she called.

  “I’m a bit under the weather,” she said. “I’ll be in tomorrow. If anything urgent comes up, be sure to call me at home.”

  “Okay,” I said. “I hope you feel better. See you tomorrow.”

  Since Liz rarely took time off from work, I used this opportunity to sit around and do nothing. I needed this time, especially so I could reminisce about my weekend with Steven. He was already starting to get comfortable with me, and that was such good news for me. As I was in thought, I heard a familiar voice and looked up. Korey was standing in front of Claudette’s cubicle, looking mad as hell.

  “Why’d you do that shit?” he yelled at her. “You didn’t have to run up my credit cards like that, and you are going to pay back every single penny. As for my car, that was cool too. My deductible is one thousand dollars and I’m here to collect.”

  “What are you talking about?” Claudette softly said. “I have no clue why you’re here. I did nothing with your credit cards or to your car. If you don’t leave, right now, I will call security and have you arrested.”

  “I don’t give a damn, Claudette. You need to grow the hell up and stop playing these childish games. That’s why I left you at the wedding looking stupid. I’m so glad that I didn’t marry you.”

  She jumped up and wiggled her finger in his face. “Not as glad as I am. Now, get out of here and don’t come to my job again.”

  Everybody was on their feet, looking over their cubicles and trying to see what was going on. I was so glad that Korey hadn’t said anything about us, and when he looked at me before walking away, I thought it was a wrap. Unfortunately, he kicked in his Plan B. And just as I sighed from relief, he came back and entered Claudette’s cubicle again. He removed his ring from his pocket, and dropped it on her desk. “By the way, I forgot to give that bullshit back to you. If you wouldn’t mind giving me back the ring that I got you, so I can pay for this stupid shit you did, I’d appreciate it.”

  Claudette rolled her neck around, while she remained in her seat. “I’m not giving you nothing back! You can kiss my tail, Korey, and kiss that ring goodbye because I already sold that sucker on eBay.”

  He leaned in close to her, going in on the attack. “If you had an ass, maybe I would kiss it. Or maybe I wouldn’t have had to stick my dick in women with a much better ass than yours, including that sexy-ass coworker of yours that you always tell me how much you despise. Yeah, you know the one, don’t you? And if you didn’t know by now that being inside of her pussy is the reason I couldn’t get with yours, now you know.”

  I stood frozen in time. My jaw had already dropped, and if you looked close enough, you could see steam coming from my ears. No, Korey didn’t just go there! Even though his words weren’t loud enough for everyone to hear, I heard them and so did Veronica. Claudette had definitely heard them, but before she could get up out of her seat to go after Korey, he jetted. She immediately turned to me, eyes cold as ever. There was a way out of this, but I wasn’t completely sure what it was.

  She gritted her teeth and a tear rolled down her face. “I hope to God that what he said wasn’t true.”

  My face was all scrunched, and I pointed to my chest. “Who, me?” I said. “You despise me? I didn’t know you felt that way about me, Claudette, and I am stunned.”

  “Don’t play games with me,” she yelled as if she had some authority. “Were you having sex with my fiancé?”

  Now, I was trying to keep everything on the down low, but Claudette was making a scene. Veronica had even gone over to her cubicle to calm her, but she snatched away from her.

  “Leave me the hell alone,” she said to Veronica. “This bitch needs to answer my question. Did you, or didn’t you?”

  That just about did it for me, and calm as ever, I let Claudette have it. “Yes. And I’m a bad bitch, too, Claudette. The kind who fucked your man ten minutes before he met you at the altar, with a dick still dripping wet from my juices. No wonder he couldn’t go through with the wedding. I had been telling him all along to get rid of you. You are so stupid and that’s what you get for putting all of your business out there in the workplace. You increased my appetite for your man, and now you’re mad because I couldn’t help myself. Get a grip, bitch, and go somewhere and sit down.”

  She tried to rush around her cubicle and into mine. Veronica held her back, and when a supervisor from another department came over, they did their best to restrain her. I already had the phone in my hand, calling security. I wasn’t about to go to jail today for knocking Claudette on her ass. And if she didn’t stop calling me out of my name, I may have had to change my mind.

  “You are such a conniving slut! I knew there was something about you that I didn’t like. You and Korey deserve each other! Go to hell, Chase, and take him to hell with you!”

  Claudette made herself look like a crazed woman who was in dire need of a straight jacket. When security got there, they had to haul her butt out of there by her arms. She was yelling and screaming, acting a complete fool. All over a man, I might add, who really and truly wasn’t worth it. I wasn’t even going to call and confront Korey about what he’d done. He knew he didn’t have to go that far, and I guessed he was saying to hell with me, as I had said to hell with him.

  I wasn’t sure what was going to happen to Claudette. Everybody was stopping by, asking what had gone on between us. Veronica was telling only half of the story, but many had heard that I’d been having sex with Claudette’s man. Some of the women looked at me with disgust, but there were others who laughed about it and wanted details. I kept my mouth shut, but as soon as I saw Liz, I knew there would be trouble. She looked tired as ever, and had bags underneath her eyes.

  “Step into my office,” she said to me.

  I went into her office, closing the door behind me. Liz plopped into her seat and closed her eyes as she massaged the back of her neck. She sneezed, then reached for a napkin to wipe her red nose.

  “What in the hell happened here today? I got a phone call from another supervisor, telling me that you and Claudette had been fighting.”

  I sat in the chair, preparing myself to tell the truth. “We weren’t fighting, and whoever told you that wasn’t being truthful. Korey came up here, yelling at Claudette about her running up his credit cards and causing some kind of damage to his car. They were arguing, and he mentioned to her that he’d had sex with me. She went ballistic and started calling me all kinds of names and threatening me. I called security and they came and got her.”

  Liz sniffled and rubbed her throat. “Were you really having sex with her fiancé?”

  “Yes.”

  Liz cut her eyes and shook her head. “Then what did you
expect her to do, Chase? Claudette has been going through hell these past few weeks, and you should have known better than to involve yourself with her fiancé. Excuse my French, but what kind of shit is that? Are you out of your mind?”

  “Liz, I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but you are weighing in on a situation that you know nothing about. I really don’t have to discuss my personal business with you, but if you must know, I am the kind of woman who has no problem going after what I want, especially when it comes to men.”

  “There have to be limitations. You can’t go after any man, especially if he’s involved with someone in your family, workplace, or if he’s married. I can’t tell you how upset I would be if it were my husband, but thank God that he has enough sense to ignore women with your mentality. I don’t even understand how a man like Korey got trapped, but—”

  “If you don’t understand, Liz, then I suggest you open your eyes a little wider and stop giving men credit where credit isn’t due. As for your husband, don’t thank God too soon, as one day you may find yourself in a messed-up situation, wondering why or how you got there. It’s happened to me before, and you are in no way exempt. The bottom line here is, Korey was not in love with Claudette and that is why he didn’t marry her. I’m sorry if she manipulated you into believing that her relationship was all that, but the truth of the matter is, their relationship had problems and not solely because of me.”

  Liz slammed her hand on her desk. “Why?” she yelled. “Why do we as women keep on doing this shit to ourselves! We all chase after one freaking man, always giving him whatever it is that he wants. Have some damn dignity for yourself, Chase, and be smart enough to recognize when you’re being used. And if a man is involved with someone else, then leave him the hell alone! Is it that hard to reject these jerks and tell them no, you’re not that kind of woman?”

  Pertaining to her husband, it was very hard. I could only imagine what she would say or how she would feel if she ever found out about me and Steven. She was pissed about the whole thing, and Korey wasn’t even her man.

  “No, it’s not that hard at all, but depending on who the person is, I might not wish to reject them. That’s what happened in this case, and no matter what anyone says, my personal life is what it is. Up until now, it has not interfered with my work, and my only concern is what do you intend to do about this incident.”

  Liz sighed. “For now, there’s not much that I can do. I am going to give Claudette a few days off to cool down, and if the two of you wish to continue to work here, there better not be any more instances like the one that happened today. It’s going to be hard for you two to get along, but for the sake of keeping your jobs, you have to do it.”

  “So you’re not going to fire her? After threatening me and carrying on like she did, she’s not getting fired?”

  “A warning, yes. Fired, no. Consider yourself warned too, and if this job ever gets too uncomfortable for you, Chase, you can seek employment elsewhere. Now, please return to your desk and get some kind of work done today. As for me, I’m going back home to my bed and to my husband.”

  Liz’s words really shocked me. She had rarely thrown her husband into the mix, but maybe it was just me. Her attitude had been changing toward me a little, but maybe I was thinking so because my attitude was starting to change toward her.

  Chapter 9

  I had already started to look for another job. Being around Claudette was too uncomfortable for me, and the same went for Liz. I could tell she was upset with me, and the only person that I enjoyed being around was Veronica. We started to hang out a lot, and she’d either come to my apartment on the weekends or I’d go to her house. I was surprised about how well she’d kept it in order, and it was good to see how much her life had changed since she’d gotten rid of Tony. No doubt, Veronica was progressing, and she could have done so a long time ago if she had been willing to toss out her extra baggage.

  The past weekend, we got together at Lance’s place, and had a blast chilling with him and talking about all that was going on in his life, as well as mine. Lance and Veronica were down-to-earth people who weren’t trying to judge anybody or their situations. That’s why I couldn’t get with Claudette, or, for that matter, Liz. They probably had never been through much of anything, and couldn’t understand how a woman like me had turned out as I had. I couldn’t care less what either of them thought of me, and as the weeks trickled by, Steven and I were getting closer and closer by the day. He had gotten to the point where he started to call my cell phone a lot. He was sort of checking in, and that was fine by me. I sat in the break room, far away from Liz and another supervisor, cheesing as I spoke to Steven on the phone. He’d just asked what color panties I had on.

  “What color do you think?”

  “Red?”

  “Nope. I wore red yesterday.”

  “Black?”

  “No, I’m sick of black. I have on a boring gray, but lacy.”

  “Sounds good to me. I wanted to, uh, see you tonight, but I won’t be able to. I’m working late at the office, but I want you to go on a business trip with me next weekend. You think you can handle that?”

  “Maybe. But if it’s business, you won’t have time to play with me, will you?”

  “Baby, I’ll make time. Just have your things ready and packed to go.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “Where else but to Vegas. It’ll be fun, and you know I’m all about that.”

  “You most certainly are. I’ll chat with you later, and thanks for spicing up my boring day. I’m starting to really hate this place, and I’m so ready to find another job.”

  “I told you I’d help you find one, so quit pouting. You don’t need to be in that office with Liz anyway. I’m still a bit uncomfortable with that.”

  “Why? ’Cause she be at home dogging me out, doesn’t she? I know she does.”

  Steven laughed, and he didn’t have to answer. “Let’s just say that she’s got some serious issues with you. Hang in there, though, and I’ll see what I can do.”

  I flipped my phone shut, sure that Steven would get me out of this mess soon. I cut my eyes at Liz as she sat at the other table, running her mouth. I wondered what it was like for the two of them at home, and more than anything, I wanted to know if Steven was giving it to her like he was giving it to me.

  Before I got back to work, I hurried into Liz’s office and looked for her keys. Now, this wasn’t about me stalking her or anything like that, but I just wanted to see how the man who was giving so much to me was reacting at home. Every mistress wanted to know these kinds of things. When I found Liz’s keys in her drawer, I couldn’t figure out which one was her house key. It was a toss-up between two of them, as the other two keys had the names of her vehicle maker on them. I quickly removed both keys, and hurried out to find a locksmith. One was right around the corner from where we worked, and when I got a duplicate of the keys, I rushed back to the office. Nosy-ass Claudette was at her desk, and she watched as I went inside of Liz’s office to close the door. I quickly put the keys back on her key ring and left her office.

  When five o’clock came, I was still working on a paper for Liz and hurried to finish up. She always worked way after five, so I figured she wasn’t leaving anytime soon. Her door was closed, so I opened it and put the paper on her desk. She was on the phone, and mouthed the words “thank you” to me and waved. I nodded, and left to go handle my business for the evening.

  I grabbed a quick bite to eat, then drove to the address that I had written on a piece of paper. As soon as I turned into the subdivision, my eyes were popping out of their sockets. There were some bad houses lined up on their street, and all of the houses sat on acres and acres of land. I looked at the address on the paper, and compared it to the brick-framed house in front of me. It was built like a castle, and had a four-car garage and thick white columns in front of it.

  An arch driveway was in front, and so was a waterfall with black marble rock. I was s
o sure that they’d have an alarm system, but when I parked my car far down the street, and checked around the house, I didn’t see one. I hoped like hell that no one was inside, and before entering the house, I waited around to be sure. The coast looked pretty clear to me, and when I tried the first key, it didn’t work. The second key did, and the door opened up to a spacious, shiny hardwood foyer. Double staircases led to the upstairs and the big, arched picture windows in the back of the house allowed the sunset to show. The ceilings were high, and the house itself was unlike anything I had ever seen. In a magazine, maybe, but never, ever in real life. Everything was so tidy and clean, and before checking out the upstairs, I looked in the kitchen. The granite island took up most of the space, and it was surrounded with bar stools. Flat-screen TVs were throughout the house, and the backyard had a swimming pool with a Jacuzzi. Steven and Liz had it made, and as I saw the numerous pictures of them here and there, I had to admit that I was a little jealous. They made a greatlooking couple, but, hopefully, that wouldn’t be for long. I now wanted their marriage to end, only because a cheating man like Steven didn’t deserve to live happily ever after.

  I finally tackled the stairs, and my shoes sunk into the plush carpet. The master bedroom was the first thing that I saw, and it was to die for. A king-sized bed, dressed with black and gold silk sheets, sat against the wall. Two chaises were by the bay window, and a huge fireplace was in front of their bed. The bathroom made me want to get cozy, and I pictured myself in the oval-shaped, deep tub with Steven. I envisioned the candles being lit and him fucking my brains out. All I could do was regret that I hadn’t demanded more of him. My rules were about to change, because I could definitely see myself someday living like this.