Chapter 6
6
Taja
P issed off was an understatement. I was fifteen minutes late and still had five more minutes until I arrived at the office. It was 8:05, and I had a meeting at 8:15 with all the company leaders, managers, and supervisors. I was up bright and early, ready to take on the day, when I walked out of my apartment and realized my car was gone. I had no choice but to call an Uber. I called Jay several times until he finally answered the phone.
“Hello.” His voice was filled with sleep.
“Jay.” I let out a deep sigh. “Where the fuck are you with my car?” I shouted into the phone, not caring about the Uber driver looking at me in the mirror.
“Damn, baby, calm down. I was hungry and ran to Waffle House!” he lied. I knew it was a lie because I never heard him leave.
“Jay...where the fuck are you?”
“Shiiiii, ‘bout forty-five minutes.”
I damn near almost dropped my phone. “Forty-five minutes! What the fuck, Jay? You act like I don’t have a job.”
He sighed. “I know you have a fucking job, Ta. You ain’t got to remind me every day.”
“Are you really trying to switch this shit around on me? I’m having to pay for an Uber when I need to be saving money when I have a goddamn car that I can drive!”
The phone became silent for a few seconds before Jay spoke.
“Baby, I’m sorry. I lost track of time and wanted to do something nice for you. I thought going out to get breakfast would make up for me working and being gone all night.”
Jay was full of shit. Instead of entertaining it, I hung up the phone without even saying goodbye or I love you. I needed to hurry my ass up and make it work at a decent time.
While on the ride to the job, I called Allison. I needed to vent. She was in Japan, and I knew it was ten p.m. over there, which meant she was still up. She answered on the first ring.
“Hey, friend! You’re on your way to work?” she asked.
“Yeah, in fucking Uber.” I let out an annoyed breath.
“Is everything cool with your car?”
I gave Allison the rundown of what had happened. By the time I finished, she was seething just as much as I was.
“Ta, I don’t know why you keep entertaining Jay’s sorry ass. He constantly does shit to piss you off, and he doesn’t deserve you. You can do better. I know you can.”
“But—”
She interrupted me. “Stop all that feeling sorry for him bullshit. He needs to feel sorry for himself. He is bringing you down, best friend.”
Allison was right. The more time I spent trying to make sure Jay was doing okay, or I didn’t outshine him, I was bringing myself down.
“You’re right. Maybe if I talk to him and let him know I am on the verge of leaving, he’ll straighten up.”
Allison sucked her teeth. “Friend, you deserve so much better,” she repeated.
I agreed with Allison, but I also knew that people deserved the opportunity to make it right.
I finally arrived at the office at 8:20 a.m.
“Ally, I’m at the office now. Can I call you later?”
“Of course. I love you. Have a great day at work!”
“Love you too!”
Once inside the building, I sprinted toward the conference room area. It was 8:25 by the time I made it to the conference room. I tried to sneak in but failed when I accidentally ran into the chair, which caused everyone to turn and look at me.
“Um...good...good morning, everyone.”
Weston was standing at the front of the room, presenting. He called my name, and the hairs on my arm stood up.
“Ms. Walker, it’s nice of you to join us this morning even though...” He looked down at his expensive watch. “You’re ten...wait...eleven minutes late,” he noted with a sly smirk.
Embarrassment flushed across my face. I felt Weston got a thrill out of making others feel like crap. Regardless, I couldn’t let him see he had got to me. I needed to turn my charm on.
“Sorry, Mr. Jones, it’s just that I was having car trouble.” I smirked. “You know, I meant to get that looked at, but the price it will cost and how much I’m making won’t allow me to. My pocketbook is kind of tight around here...don’t ya think?”
Some people in the conference room giggled, and others tried to stifle their laughs. I kept my eyes locked on him. It was like being in an old western, and we were about to have a standoff. Weston pushed the inside of his lip with his tongue, followed by a deep sigh, and I knew he had caught my shade.
“Well, Ms. Walker, find a spot for me on your busy calendar, and I will make sure we have that conversation.”
“Will do.”
I immediately grabbed a seat in the corner. I listened in as Weston went over the budget before I tuned out. My mind drifted to how handsome he looked today in his tan suit. It had been tailored to perfection. Weston’s broad shoulders caused me to have flashbacks of when my nails were digging into them while he was on top of me. The faint mustache he rocked this year only added to how handsome he was. Weston belonged in GQ , and he knew it. He had my head spinning, my heart thumping, and my honeypot leaking just from him standing up and presenting. It was hard to forget an image like that, and no matter how hard I tried, I failed.
* * *
The meeting finally ended, and I had been sitting in my office going over social media plans for the week when there was a knock at my door. Before I could tell the person on the other side to enter, my door was already being swung open. I glared at Weston. He would always walk into the room without waiting for the other person to invite him in. No matter how many times I told him to knock and let me prompt him to walk in, it fell on deaf ears. He closed the door behind him, strutting in, taking a seat in one chair in front of my desk. He unbuttoned his suit, exposing his crisp white shirt.
We sat in silence before I could no longer take the awkward silence.
“Yes, Weston?”
He smiled. “You look nice today,” he complimented.
I rolled my eyes, waiting for his backhanded compliment. Yet it never came.
“Thanks,” I replied in a dry tone. “Now, what is this visit about?”
“I mentioned us having a discussion about your raise, so I’m here.”
I rolled my eyes. “Weston, I’m fine. I was just teasing you.”
He looked at me. “Why were you late?”
“It had to deal with my car, but it’s not because it’s in the shop.”
He lifted his eyebrow.
“My boyfriend has my car, Weston.”
“Why? He ain’t got no car?” Weston probed with a hint of amusement in his voice.
“I don’t see how that is funny.” I folded my arms across my chest.
“I’m trying to wrap my brain around the fact that you are dealing with a nigga with no car.” He laughed, holding his stomach.
“We choose not to have two cars. That way, we can save money and better our future,” I defended.
That was far from the truth. We didn’t have two cars because Jay couldn’t afford one. He made bad money choices over the years, and his credit was trash. I would have to co-sign in order for him to get something that he could drive, and I wasn’t willing to take that risk.
“None of this is funny, so make it makes no sense to me why you are laughing so damn hard!”
He held his hands up in defense. “Damn. I must not be paying you enough for real.”
“Weston, it’s not that deep. Let the damn topic go.”
He held his hand up in defense. “Okay, my bad. All jokes aside, I’m here to discuss a raise with you. A few of us in the C-suite were talking about raises. Your name was the first mentioned.”
I perked up. When money became a topic of discussion, I was all ears. A nice little raise wouldn’t be so bad. I could get another car, and I won’t have to worry about showing up late.
“Yes, what about the money?” I asked, throwing on my professional voice.
Weston must have noticed because he rolled his eyes.
“Anyway, the leadership team and I were talking about how much you have taken on since you started with the company and the strides you have made. We would like to increase your salary.” Weston reached for a sticky note and a pen off my desk. He scribbled on it and then slid it back to me, relaxing in his seat.
I immediately reached for the note. I scanned the amount written, and my eyes sprang open like saucers. I began choking on my spit, causing me to cough so hard that tears sprang to my eyes. I never thought that I could start making this much money, but damn it, I was grateful.
“W-wow, u-um...I don’t know what to say,” I stuttered.
“I figured you would like the number. When I threw it out there, everyone instantly agreed.”
My eyes shot from the note back up to Weston. “Wait, this was your recommendation?”
He nodded. “Yep.”
“Weston, I don’t know what to say besides thank you. Shoot, thank you for even considering me for a raise.”
“Now you can buy as much McDonald’s as you want,” he softly joked.
Heat stirred in my stomach, and I could feel my heart race. Images of that night flashed through my mind. I needed to keep it professional, but damn if it wasn’t hard seeing this man sitting in front of me. It made it even worse that he considered me for this raise. My kitty wanted to pounce on him. Weston stood from his seat and made his way around to the side of my desk. My eyes followed until he took a seat on my desk. The cologne he wore invaded my nose, sending more memories of that night to my mind. He reached for one of my braids and ran it through his fingers. I shuddered at the touch. My mind raced. I wasn’t sure what was happening.
“I like your braids, but I like it when you wear your afro. It’s sexier,” he lowly stated.
I had just gotten my braids over the weekend. I wanted a change and was tired of maintaining my natural hair.
“I’m shocked. I never took you for liking natural hair.”
“My sister and mama are big on that shit. I grew up around it. I always liked it,” Weston disclosed.
“Well, thank you. I appreciate it.”
He kept his fingers stroking that one braid. I could feel myself losing my composure.
“Tell me something, Taja,” he voiced in a whisper.
“What?”
“Do you ever think about that night between us?”
“Um...”
Weston smirked and rubbed his hand along mine.
“Don’t play dumb with me. The way I had you screaming my name on my balcony. The way we pleased each other on my living room floor. You mean to tell me you don’t think about that night?”
I shrugged nonchalantly. “Yeah, sometimes I have flashbacks. It was a thrilling night.”
“Hmm...what I wouldn’t do to relive that moment...”
He positioned his body so he could rub his hand along my exposed thigh. I froze. Weston’s freezing fingertips sent electric shocks through my body. He didn’t stop. He kept working his way until he found what he was looking for, softly brushing against it. A part of me was thankful for opting to wear the pencil skirt instead of my wide-leg pants.
“Weston...wha...what are you doing?”
“Shh...” He dropped to his knees and pushed my legs open, exposing all of me to him. He pulled his face in closer between my legs. He brushed his tongue along my laced panties and sniffed.
“Damn...still smelling the same...sweet.” He removed my panties, pulling them off and stuffing them in his coat pocket. He softly blew on my clit, causing my eyes to roll in the back of my head.
“Weston...what are you doing?”
Before he could answer, someone knocked on my office door. He leaned in, placed a kiss on my inner thigh, and stood to his feet. Adjusting his clothes, he had a silly smirk on his face.
My mouth was on the floor. I couldn’t believe that had just happened. I was stunned and stuck in place.
“Are you not going to tell whoever that is to come in?” he asked.
“C-come in,” I stammered.
Jay came in with a big smile on his face, and my entire soul left my body.
“What’s up, baby?” Jay asked, spreading his arms wide open with a greasy brown bag in his hand.
“Jay...uh...what are you doing here?”
I looked back and forth between Jay and Weston. Weston had his arms folded across his chest. He studied Jay, looking him up and down.
“Damn, you can’t even get up and hug your man? Are you still that mad?”
My eyes ballooned. “Jay, do you not see my boss standing here?”
Jay finally made eye contact with Weston. “Oh, my fault, T. What’s up, man? I’m Taja’s man, Jay.”
Weston nodded his head. “Weston.”
“Are you in a meeting or something, baby?” Jay asked, looking back at me.
“Jay, why are you here?”
“I’m here to bring my girl some lunch and to apologize for this morning. I’m sorry that I just went off with your car like that. I lost track of time. I ran into one of my homeboys and got lost in conversation.”
I looked over at Weston. He had a look of disgust written all over his face.
“Jay, you can place the food on the table. Thank you, but I need to get back to work.”
“Damn, baby, do you at least forgive me? I’m trying to do better, put my pride aside, and be the bigger person in all of this.”
Weston scoffed, and my head snapped in his direction.
“Ms. Walker, we will revisit the conversation from earlier. Please handle your personal business and get back to work.”
There was no emotion on Weston’s face. The once seductive eyes were nonexistent. He adjusted his suit jacket and walked out of the door. He didn’t bother to acknowledge Jay. As soon as the door shut, Jay looked at me with wide eyes.
“Damn, your boss is an asshole. Ain’t no way you sitting up here putting up with that shit. I know they ain’t paying you that much to deal with that. All skin folks ain’t kin folks.”
Rage crept from the tip of my toes to the top of my head. A part of me wanted to grab the greasy fast food Jay brought me and throw it at his head, but I knew this was my job, and I couldn’t show my ass in here, so just like any other time, I took the high road.
“Jay, thank you. However, I’m so busy with work, so you can’t stay and chat. There are deadlines that I have to meet. You understand, right?”
“Bet, you know I know how you feel about your job, the most important thing in your life.”
I raised a brow at his condescending tone, yet I didn’t have the energy to address it.
“Rain check?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Whatever, I’ll be back at five o’clock to pick you up.”
“Why not leave the car and you catch an Uber home? I’m not sure if I will be done by five o’clock.”
“I got a couple of errands to run, and I need the car.”
I stared at Jay, trying to figure out when things went left for us. The energy he carried now was bum behavior, and the more he gave off, the more turned off I got.
“Just call me thirty minutes before you wrap up, and I will be here.”
“Jay...do not have me waiting on your ass.”
He smirked. “I promise, baby. I won’t.”
* * *
I checked my watch and phone, but still no response. I texted Jay thirty minutes before I wrapped up, and I had been waiting for forty-five minutes for him to arrive. I called again, yet the phone went to his voicemail.
“Jay, where the hell are you? You said you could pick me up. I have been waiting for forty-five fucking minutes! Come get me!”
I hung up the phone and shot him a text saying the same thing. My body heated more and more with each minute that passed. Irritation had set in, and I could no longer wait. I opened the Uber app, hoping a driver was nearby when I heard my name being called.
“Taja...Taja...Walker.”
I looked up and saw a black Mercedes. There was a black woman with a head of gray hair full of curls and red lipstick in the driver’s seat.
I tightened the strap on my purse, preparing to run in the opposite direction if I had to. “Whose asking?”
“I’m with Lux-Car Ride, and I was requested to pick up a Taja Walker about ten minutes ago. Is that you?”
My eyebrow raised, and I smiled. Jay must have sent a ride. I was shocked that he went all out with this. I would’ve been fine with an Uber or Lyft.
“Yes, I’m Taja Walker,” I finally acknowledged.
The lady smiled and got out of the driver’s seat to open the door for me. When I slid in, the AC was slightly blowing, and there was an assortment of sodas, water, and chips in the back. I relaxed in the comfortable leather seats and prepared for the ride.
“I’m Ms. Leslie, and I will take you to your destination.”
“Hi, Ms. Leslie, thank you. Do I need to give you my destination, or did my boyfriend already give that to you?”
She looked at me through the rearview mirror with a smile.
“Yes...yes, he did,” she confirmed.
We rode in silence for a few minutes before I sparked up a conversation. I was just so happy and giddy about what Jay had done. He really was trying. He showed up at my job to apologize, and he ordered me a luxury car ride. He was pulling out all the strings, and I wondered what else he had planned. I felt bad about what I let happen with Weston seconds before Jay walked in. Weston had crossed the line. He was aware of my boyfriend, and he was my boss. I couldn’t jeopardize that just so he could get a fix. I’m sure he had plenty of women for that.
“I can’t believe him. He’s pulling out all the strings to make this right,” I noted, rubbing my hands along the leather.
“Well, that’s the type of person he is,” Ms. Leslie added.
That caught me off guard. “You know my boyfriend personally?” I asked, confused.
“Well, of course. I’ve been doing business with him for a long time. It’s nice to see him with someone different from what he usually is chasing behind.” She laughed.
The happy feeling that I was feeling was gone, and now I was on high alert. “Excuse me? How many women does he have in this car?” I asked, looking around in disgust.
“Well, not this particular car. This is his personal, but in the others, it’s so many! However, a man as attractive as him, I don’t blame him!”
At this point, I was out of my seat belt, sitting up, trying to get some answers.
“My man is cheating on me with multiple women?” I asked.
Ms. Leslie’s eyes widened. “Oh, no! That’s not what I’m saying. It’s been a while since he used my services. It seems like you two just started dating because I’ve never seen or heard your name before.” She shook her head and sucked her teeth. “I’ve said too much!”
“No, you haven’t said enough! Tell me all the bitches that Jay has in here!” At this point, I was ready to fight and tear this car up.
She turned around and looked at me strangely and then back at the road. “Um...Jay?”
“Yes, Jay! My man, the one that ordered this ride for me since he has my car.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, ma’am, there must be a misunderstanding. The person who ordered this car for you is Weston Jones. He said that you were waiting out front for a while. He called me and asked for me to take you home. He also asked for me to give you my card.” She reached back, never taking her eyes off the road. “If you needed more rides. He will cover the bill.”
I sat back in my seat as my heart did a couple of flutters. I wasn’t expecting that. I didn’t know whether to be embarrassed or thankful. I pulled out my phone and sent Weston a text.
Me: You didn’t have to send a car. My boyfriend was on the way.
I knew it was a lie, but Weston had already developed an idea about him, and I didn’t want him to keep clowning him. Three little dots appeared, and I held my breath, waiting for his reply.
Weston: You’re welcome.
Weston: Also, stop covering for that nigga. You and I both know he ain’t shit.
My mouth dropped open. Of course, Jay had his flaws, but Weston was on the outside trying to look in.
Me: Watch your mouth. You don’t know him to sit here and talk shit about him.
I wanted to say more, but I had to remember he was paying for me to get home.
Weston: I know enough. A woman of your caliber can do better.
Me: And who could that be?
By the time I pulled up to my place, Weston still had not replied. I guess he didn’t have a response to that because he couldn’t think of anyone. I thanked and apologized to Ms. Leslie.
I looked around the parking lot and noticed my car was there. My blood boiled. The entire time, Jay was home. I moved at a quicker speed, taking the apartment steps two at a time. I stormed through the door, and the smell of ramen noodles hit my nose. I gagged. That smell haunted me now at my adult age, being that I ate so much of it in college. I looked over at the couch, and Jay laid there with his hands in his boxers, mouth open, snoring so loud that the walls were rattling.
I became even more frustrated because his phone laid on his chest, which meant he should’ve heard me calling. I stormed over and slapped his chest with all the frustration inside of me.
“Wake your ass up, Jay!”
He jumped out of his sleep. “What the fuck, Ta?”
“Don’t what the fuck me! Your ass is here asleep, and I’m fucking stranded at work.”
He rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “Oh, fuck, baby. My bad, I was tired from cooking for you.”
I looked at the messy ass kitchen and rolled my eyes. “Fucking noodles, Jay?”
“It’s your favorite, right?” He smiled brightly as if he had just brought me a thousand-dollar steak. I rolled my eyes and stormed to my bedroom, slamming the door. I fell back on the bed, taking deep breaths to stop from crashing out on Jay. My thoughts ended up going back to Weston. A woman like me and a man like Weston would never mix. We had two different definitions of happiness.
I heard footsteps and then a knock at the door. I rolled my eyes.
“What, Jay?”
“Um...did you do a DoorDash?”
“What? No! Why are you asking me that?” I asked, annoyed.
“There was a knock at the door. When I went to answer, it was a Door Dasher.”
I pulled myself up from the bed and walked down the small hall. Jay had already brought the food inside. I looked at the receipt and saw that it had my name and my address on it. I thought to myself, did I accidentally butt dial and place a DoorDash order? I reached for my purse to retrieve my phone and saw that I had a text from Weston.
Weston: I’m sure he didn’t keep his word. Enjoy your dinner.
A tingly feeling shot through my body. I felt cared about, a feeling I hadn’t felt from Jay in a while. My thoughts quickly interrupted when I looked and saw Jay digging through the bag, eating a fry, and smacking. I texted Weston back, thanking him for the dinner. However, Jay had ruined my appetite.
Me: Thank you, really. You didn’t have to do all of that.
“Damn, this shit is good! Look, baby, it’s enough for the both of us.”
I rolled my eyes and headed back down the hall. Today was too fucking much, and I needed space from Jay, especially after his behavior and with the way Weston was on my mind.