by Darrien Lee
In his defense, he answered, “I couldn’t, Venice. I didn’t want to cause…”
Putting her hand up, she said, “Save it! Don’t you say another word! As far as I’m concerned, you don’t exist. I didn’t exist for you, so you don’t exist for me. Let’s just keep it that way!”
“Venice, please let me explain.”
She stood up from the booth, seeing Portia and Brandon returning. She was not going to let him get to her. She was not going to cry, but she wanted to. He stood and she leaned in as close as possible so their lips were inches apart.
“Stay away from me, Bennett! You got that?!”
Craig grabbed her wrists and yelled, “You think you’re the only one who’s hurting? I’ve been hurting for seven long years and I’m still hurt, Venice!!”
“Take your hands off me!”
“Oh, it’s going to be like that? Well, that’s fine with me! You stay out of my way and I’ll stay out of yours. I think this island is big enough for the two of us. Don’t you?”
Silence engulfed them as they stared at each other, breathing hot air through their nostrils. He slowly released her and ran his hand over his head and across his chest.
“Venice, I’m sorry I grabbed you like that…”
Still again, she lashed out saying, “Forget it, Bennett!”
About that time, Melanie approached and asked, “Craig, Sweetheart, are you ready to go? Oh! Hello.”
Stunned, Venice looked at Melanie, then back at Craig.
Melanie asked, “Darling, aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?”
Craig couldn’t tear his eyes away from Venice. He didn’t even hear what Melanie had asked. Venice’s heart began to beat hard against her chest. Her face became hot as she realized Craig was there on the island with another woman and was trying to get all up in her personal space.
Venice looked at Craig. “Yes, Craig, why don’t you introduce us?”
Still staring, he mumbled, “Melanie, this is Venice. Venice…Melanie.”
Melanie outstretched her professionally-manicured hand.
“Nice to meet you, Venice. Have you and Craig met before?”
Venice quickly shook her hand and nervously said, “We used to know each other a few years ago.”
Craig laughed sarcastically.
“Used to know each other…funny, Venice. That’s very mature.”
Melanie eyed the two and asked, “Is there a problem here?”
Venice said, “No problem at all. I was just leaving. I hope you two have a nice evening. Goodnight.”
Portia approached and saw the stress on Venice’s and Craig’s faces. She also noticed another woman standing with them.
“What’s wrong? Venice, are you okay?”
Fumbling with her purse, Venice said, “I’m fine, Portia. You and Brandon tell Mr. Bennett and his friend goodnight.”
Craig extended his hand to Portia and Brandon and introduced them to Melanie.
Venice turned her back to him and proceeded to leave the tip. Oddly, she felt hurt and jealous, but she had no right. She knew she had hurt Craig terribly when she married Jarvis and hearing those words yelled at her stung. Any woman would kill to have a man in their life as wonderful and loving as Craig.
She tried to hide her obvious jealousy from Craig.
“Let’s go, kids. I have a headache.”
Craig came over to her and stood close, so much that she could feel the heat from his body.
He whispered, “Venice, look, we need to talk, but…”
Gritting her teeth, she answered, “I said, forget it, Bennett!”
Feeling at the end of his rope, he pulled her to the side and looked directly into her eyes.
“Woman, I allowed you to walk away from me once and I’ll be damned if I let you do it again. I’ve been there, done that. Do you understand?”
Venice pointed her finger at him. “No! You understand this! You don’t tell me what I can or cannot do! Goodbye!”
Taking Brandon by the hand, she practically ran out the door. Portia looked at a defeated Craig and said, “Goodnight, Mr. Craig. I hope we get to see you again. Goodnight, Miss Melanie.”
Solemnly, he answered, “So do I, Portia. Goodnight.”
Craig sank back into the booth and dropped his head. Melanie sat opposite him.
“What was that all about? Who is that woman?”
He snapped at her angrily, “Look, Melanie! It’s none of your business! I came to Ocho Rios to relax. Drama from you or anyone else is not what I signed up for…understand? Now, I’m going to make sure you get back to your hotel and then I would appreciate it if you would please take the next plane back to Philly. It’s over, Melanie. I can’t put it any clearer than that!”
Melanie took a deep breath. “Wow! Craig, you really mean it, don’t you?”
Feeling exhausted, he took her hands into his. “Yes, Melanie, I do and I’m sorry for going off on you. I’m just tired, Okay? Thank you for being a great friend, but please let’s leave it this way. Okay?”
She smiled, leaned over the table, and kissed his lips tenderly.
“Okay, Craig, you win. Look, I don’t know why your friend is so upset with you, but whatever it is, I hope it doesn’t mess up your friendship.”
He looked at her knowing he could never reveal to Melanie the depth of his past relationship with Venice. If he did, she just might try to hang around to make things more complicated after all. At that same moment, he realized that Venice was the woman he saw jogging on the beach. He also realized that he was still very much in love with her and it made him sick to his stomach. A sharp pain radiated through his chest. He grimaced for a few seconds, then took a sip of water.
“Thanks, Melanie.”
“Are you okay, Craig?”
“I’m fine.”
“Now, Mr. Bennett, would you be so kind as to walk me to my hotel?”
“Sure. Let’s go.”
He took a moment to decipher what had happened, then they rose and quietly left the restaurant.
Venice’s heart took a justified kick. She returned to the restaurant to retrieve her sunglasses at the very moment Melanie passionately kissed Craig. She decided to let the sunglasses stay in the restaurant.
I should be happy that Craig found someone else to love. I guess I deserved this. Goodbye, Craig.
In another part of the restaurant, a gentleman pulled out his cell phone and placed a call.
“Yeah…it’s me. They finally ran into each other and it was ugly. She was upset, but I think it was just the shock of seeing him. Also, there was a woman who showed up unexpected at Bennett’s table. He apparently knew her. I’ll check her out and get back to you.”
After hanging up, he folded his newspaper under his arm and walked out into the cool Jamaican air.
CHAPTER Nine
Venice was almost dragging Brandon down the beach.
Portia yelled, “Venice, you’re going to pull Brandon’s arm off!”
She stopped in her tracks and fell to her knees so she could be eye-level to him.
“Brandon, Momma’s sorry. I didn’t mean to walk so fast. Is your arm OK?”
“I’m fine, Momma, but why where you so mad at Mr. Craig?”
Portia joined in. “Yeah, what’s up and who was that woman with Mr. Craig?”
Venice stood, brushed the sand from her skirt, and answered, “I don’t know who she was. I guess she was his girlfriend. Look, I don’t want to talk about him, okay?”
“Why, because you like him?”
“Portia, chill with that. okay?”
“It was obvious he liked you. He couldn’t stop staring at you. He wasn’t even paying that woman any attention.”
Venice sighed.
“It was a long time ago, Portia. Unfortunately, I hurt him very bad, so can we please not talk about him anymore? I have a headache. I’m surprised you’re pushing for me to hook up with somebody, anyway.”
“Why, because of my b
rother? Venice, are you saying you will never marry again?”
Feeling exhausted, she said, “Portia, I don’t know what I’m saying. All I know is I’m still in love with Jarvis.”
“He loved you, too, but he’s gone, Venice.”
“Don’t you think I know that, Portia? I don’t need people reminding me all the time. Look! Craig hates me…okay? Also, there was a woman hanging all over him, if you didn’t notice.”
Portia looked at her seriously and said, “The way he was staring at you, I believe he’s in love with you, not that woman.”
Folding her arms, Venice said, “Right, words of wisdom from a fifteen-year-old.”
Portia’s feelings were hurt by Venice’s comment, but she knew she was dealing with a lot of emotions. She lowered her head. “I’m sorry, Venice, I didn’t mean to push you. I just thought it would be nice to see you smile again. I just thought Craig might be the one to put a smile on your face.”
Venice hugged her tightly and apologized. “I’m sorry, Portia. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I know you’re only looking out for me. I confess…I fell in love with Craig when we were in college, but I had always been in love with your brother so I chose Jarvis. And Portia, I don’t regret it one bit.”
“So you were in love with him?”
“Yes.”
“Did Jarvis know about him?”
Venice sighed and answered, “Yes.”
Tears glistened in both of their eyes. Portia kissed her sister-in-law on the cheek.
“Venice? I think there’s still something there between you two.”
Venice burst out laughing nervously.
“Sure, Portia. You could tell by the way we were yelling at each other.”
Portia reached for Brandon’s hand. “That’s what I’m talking about. If it’s not love, it’s clear you still have some type of feelings for each other. Look, we don’t have to talk about him anymore. Okay?”
“Thanks, Portia.”
They continued their walk, hand-in-hand, back to the cottage.
Craig took the long way back after walking Melanie to the hotel. How in the world did he end up on an island with the only woman he had ever loved? Her fiery temper ignited his and now he didn’t know what to do. Their argument was not what he expected, nor was his own outburst. He was curious to find out if she still loved him. She once told him she would always love him, no matter what. Then he remembered his promise. Venice, I will always be there for you. He had failed on his promise; now he needed to find out if she kept hers. He was scared to risk his heart again, especially with her. He didn’t want to let love take another punch at his heart, but you only live once. It had been five months since Jarvis died, but he wondered if it was too soon to push her?
Craig walked around the shops of the village for hours. He was in no hurry to return because he knew his dreams would be consumed with visions of her.
When he did finally return to the cottage, he decided to call his childhood friend, Skeeter who was a prominent attorney in Dallas. In a few months, he would be moving to Philadelphia to join a prestigious law firm.
“Hey, Man.”
“Hey, Craig, what’s up with you? Why are you sounding so down?”
Craig sighed. “You’re not going to believe this, but guess who’s here on the island with me?”
Skeeter yawned while sitting in his home office.
“Don’t tell me Melanie has trailed you down there.”
“How did you know?”
Skeeter shook his head. “I’m a lawyer. I get paid to get into people’s heads. Besides, Melanie’s not the type of woman to go down without a fight.”
Craig let out a big sigh and said, “I guess, but she finally got the picture and agreed to stop trying.”
Skeeter laughed. “Good! I hope she sticks to it.”
“Me too, man. Anyway, Melanie wasn’t who I was talking about.”
Skeeter sat some paperwork aside. “Damn, man, just how many women do you have?”
Craig sighed again and rubbed his chest in silence. “Don’t start, Skeeter.”
Skeeter sat up in his chair. “You okay, Craig?”
“Skeeter, Venice is here. I ran into Venice today.”
“What!”
“Exactly! Man, I freaked out. I approached her, we chatted for a moment, and then all hell broke loose. She went off on me about not contacting her after all these years and I tried to explain, but she wasn’t hearing it. That’s when I snapped.”
Skeeter chuckled. “Damn, Craig, what did you do?”
“I grabbed her wrists and told her she wasn’t the only one who had been hurt. I mean I know she lost her husband, but damn!”
Skeeter laughed again. “Wait a minute! You grabbed her?”
Craig rubbed his hand over his head. “Yeah, I guess I did. I wasn’t thinking, Skeeter. I haven’t seen her in seven years and…I…I…”
Skeeter interrupted. “Damn, Craig! Venice took your ass through the mud and you’re still in love with her. Aren’t you?”
Rubbing his chest, he said, “I don’t know what I’m feeling, man. All I know is I’m having all kinds of emotions right now. We were at a restaurant and Melanie got all curious, but she thinks we’re just friends.”
Skeeter said, “Man, women have radar on stuff like that. Melanie knows there’s more going on there. You’re just not going to argue in public like that with just a friend. Where is Melanie?”
“I walked her back to her hotel. She’s flying back to Philly in the morning.” Craig took some bottled water out of the refrigerator and said, “I came here to get Venice off my mind and damn it if I didn’t run into her. What are the chances?”
Skeeter jotted some information into his Palm Pilot and asked, “Whatcha gonna do, dog?”
Craig smiled. “I hope you don’t talk like that in court, Skeeter.”
“I don’t. I pull out all my charm and charisma for the ladies in court.”
They laughed together, then Skeeter asked, “Seriously, Craig. What are you going to do? It’s obvious you’re still into the woman. Otherwise you wouldn’t be so worked up about it. Can you get past all that bitterness she left you with? I mean you’ve been bumping and grinding with women for several years trying to find her clone. Now, unexpectedly she’s available. Are you really going to put your heart out there again?”
Craig stood and walked out onto the deck. He leaned over the rail, taking in the scent of the salty waves.
“I don’t know, man. She was pretty fired up. She told me to stay away from her, but I don’t know if I can. Especially after looking into those brown eyes, you know? I have to find out what’s up.”
Skeeter closed his briefcase and said, “Well, whatever, man. You’re a good one ’cause I couldn’t do it. I hope everything works out for you. Keep me posted. Sorry I couldn’t get away to hang out with you down there. Hell, I’d love to have a ring-side seat for this. For real, Craig, be careful. Don’t let Venice dog you again. Aight?”
Craig walked back inside, leaned against the kitchen counter, and sighed.
“I hear you, Skeeter. How’s the move coming?”
“It’s coming along. I’m tying up my cases here and should be in Philly by February.”
“You know you’re welcome to stay with me if you don’t find a place in time.”
Skeeter laughed. “Thanks, man, but my real estate agent sent me the picture of a good prospect.”
“That’s great! If you want me to, I’ll do a drive by and check it out for you.”
Skeeter stretched and laughed again, saying, “You already have your hands full, my man. Anyway, I’m flying up this weekend to check it out. I’ll let you know what happens.”
Craig folded his arms across his chest. “Well, if you want to stay at the house while I’m down here, make yourself at home.”
“Thanks, Bro. I think I’ll take you up on your offer.”
“Skeeter?”
“Yeah, man.”
“N
o strange women in my house.”
Skeeter grinned. “I’m going to be too tired to chase the women of Philly on this trip, partner.”
“Good. I’m sure you could use the R & R, and Skeeter? Thanks for listening. I’ll call you in a couple of days.”
“You’d better call. Look, I’m headed to bed. Be safe and relax. Just let things happen, Craig. Don’t force it. Okay?”
“Yeah, man. Thanks. I’m out.”
“Peace!”
Craig hung up. Glancing at his watch, he realized it was two thirty-five a.m. He mumbled, “Another sleepless night.”
Venice stared at the clock and it read two thirty five a.m. She had been trying to fall asleep for hours, but she couldn’t. Her heart was still racing and she was unexpectedly sweating. It was a warm night, but not unbearable. She refused to admit the source of her problem…Craig Bennett. Where had he been all those years? Why was he there? Who was that woman? So many questions eluded her. She never could forget those eyes, so dark and readable. The desire he carried for her was still there. She saw it and it scared her. Unable to sleep she rose and walked out onto the deck. The night air blowing in from the ocean did little to cool the heat her body now radiated. Leaning over the railing she closed her eyes and inhaled the sweet scent of the tropical flowers. Immediately a vision of Craig invaded her thoughts.
Stop this! Forget him! Damn! Who am I fooling? The look, the touch was still there. This isn’t right. God help me. Jarvis, why did you have to leave me? Joshua, I’ll call Joshua. He’ll help me.
Venice returned to her bedroom and called, knowing it was an ungodly hour to call. Joshua and his wife, Cynthia, always told her to call anytime. That time was now.
A sleepy voice answered, “Hello?”
“Josh?”
“Venice?”
“Yeah, it’s me.”
“Is everything okay? What time is it?”
“I know it’s late, but I had to talk to you.”
“What’s up, Niecy?”
“I have a problem.”
In the background she heard Cynthia’s voice ask if everything was okay. Joshua assured her Venice was fine and just wanted to talk. Cynthia took the phone from him because she needed to know for herself.
Cynthia asked, “Venice, is everything really Okay?”