Urban Love Prophecy Page 9

  * * *

  Jay

  What is it with women always wanting a relationship? Can’t they just take it one day at a time and see what happens?

  All I wanted from Tori was for her to spend a little time with me, keep making me laugh, and to work my cock over whenever the mood struck. Instead, she throws in my face she wants more. Sometimes I really hated that word.

  Stepping under the spray of the shower, I fought the urge inside me to go tell Tori I’d give her whatever she wanted. It’s so unlike me, that I’m a little concerned her pussy is blinding me.

  I’m no weak sucka, so my only shot at keeping myself in check is to cut her loose completely.

  Nah, that wouldn’t work. She fucking owns my mind a good portion of the time, so letting her go only stood to hurt me as well. Something about her allures me like nothing else. It could be her fan-fucking-tastic body or her killer sense of humor. Or maybe it’s the way she looks at me like I can do anything. Like I’m a man worthy of her attention.

  Who the fuck knows? And really, does it fucking matter?

  The whole back and forth thing where I argue with myself was so foreign to me that I slammed the bottle of shampoo down a little harder than necessary.

  Maybe I could just be friends with her like she suggested. At least that way I’d still get to have her goodness and light around. Not being able to sample the heaven between her legs whenever I wanted would suck, but I had plenty of pussy lined up whenever I needed it. It didn’t matter that her face was the one I’d be seeing with each of them.

  And hell… maybe she’d give me a taste every once in a while.

  You only live once, might as well see what comes of it.

  * * *

  Tori

  After flushing the condom and taking a quick shower, Jay came back into the room and started putting his clothes on.

  Well then. It would seem that as soon as I said friends only, I was no longer worthy of his time. I couldn’t believe he was just up and leaving me lying here naked with all my emotions stripped bare. Until that moment I held out hope that he was going to be sensitive to my feelings.

  “Get up and get moving,” he said as he pulled his shirt over his head. “We’re leaving in thirty for breakfast.”

  I scrambled to my knees, holding the sheet to my chest. “Breakfast?”

  “Yeah. You want to be friends. Friends eat together, right?”

  I nodded and hated myself for being thrilled with the fact that he wanted to spend time with me still. I was so thrilled that I didn’t even think to question his abrupt change in behavior. I said it before and I’d say it again, no matter what happened romantically with Jay, I always wanted him in my life.

  “Then let’s go, baby. I’m hungry.”

  “Okay,” I climbed out of bed and dragged the sheet with me into the bathroom. I found a toothbrush that he must have left on the counter for me and went to town on my mouth. Then I pulled my hair back into a messy knot and quickly jumped into the shower. I didn’t think it would be appropriate to go to breakfast while reeking of sex.

  I pulled on my clothes from the day before, sans panties. Going commando would never be my first choice, but it was the only choice I had besides putting on my dirty underwear.

  I raced down the stairs and found Jay in the kitchen with a cup of coffee.

  “Ready,” I said, slightly winded from rushing.

  “Let’s roll.”

  He grabbed his keys and then we rolled.

  I was afraid the dynamic in our friendship would have changed after having sex, but I needn’t worry. At breakfast, Jay showed me I was still as important to him now as I was yesterday. It made me feel loved, even if it was just a platonic love.

  Chapter Ten

  Nervous energy filled me on my first morning at Rucker Records. I barely slept the night before, continually waking up and panicking about oversleeping. Once I was awake, my mind just wouldn’t turn itself off.

  When I told Pete I had found another job, he didn’t seem too surprised. He told me that if I ever needed a job, I’d always have one at Lace. The only thing he asked of me was that I work out the rest of my shifts that week. I had no problem doing it really. I enjoyed my time there and I had a great relationship with not only Pete, but all the girls there. I was going to miss them.

  At six-thirty, I climbed out of bed and began getting ready for my new job. Thus began a long debate about what to wear since I was unsure of what the dress code was. In the end, I opted for a sleek black pencil skirt, a pink silky tank top, and a super cute black blazer that had ruffles on the back at the bottom. My feet donned a pair of pink sling back peep-toe heels. And to cap off what I hoped was a professional look, I wore black framed glasses. I had bought the fashion frames on a whim awhile back because I thought they made me look smart and distinguished. I could use a little of that feeling today.

  I pulled into the parking lot behind the building in Deep Ellum exactly fifteen minutes early. Since I had never had a “real” job before, I turned to Google for help in preparing myself. I had read it showed commitment and made a good first impression to be early.

  Google had also been my friend when gleaming more information about Jay and Rucker Records. It was amazing the amount of information on there. Him, him and Nessy, him and the boys. There were millions of pages and pictures to search through. I had spent hours perusing them and getting as much knowledge as I could. I only wish I had thought to do it earlier.

  I eyed the back entrance—wishing I didn’t have to walk around the block—but Keesha had said I wouldn’t get an access card until after I started. So instead, I walked around to the front and used the time to try and settle my nerves.

  Rucker Records was located in a two-story brick warehouse on Elm Street. It was a hip and trendy building in a great part of the city that focused on artists and music. Windows made up most of the front of the building on both stories. Trees lined the sidewalk out front and there was a green metal awning announcing the entrance.

  Walking in, I expected to be greeted by a cute, young receptionist. You can imagine my surprise when I saw it was a male model. Or what I assumed a male model should look like. He had dirty blond hair and blue eyes with perfectly symmetrical features. Stunningly gorgeous, yet still very masculine.

  He stood up to greet me after we introduced ourselves. His khaki pants fit him perfectly, his white linen dress shirt was unbuttoned to the middle of his chest, and he wore a brownish gray fine knit vest. Every single cell in my body was aware of his swagger and appeal. Mmmm… great eye candy to help the days go by faster.

  “Keesha’s been talking up a storm about you this last week. I just wanted to let you know how excited I am… well, we all are to have you here.” His eyes did a lazy perusal of me from head to toe. There was no subsequent shiver though. Instead, I felt absolutely nothing. Interesting.

  “Well, thank you, Mark. Um… can you show me to Keesha’s office?” It was becoming slightly creepy the way he kept checking me out. Cute or not, he just met me. He had plenty of time to hit on me later. It wasn’t like a respectable girl would hook up with her coworker on the first day at a new job.

  “Sure thing, doll.” I cringed at his cliché term of endearment. Looked like Mark was only going to be a pretty face. He could get his easy lays somewhere else. This girl wasn’t interested.

  Keesha’s office was on the second floor. I knocked after Mark left me with a promise that I stop by and keep him company at some point during the day. Sure, like that was going to happen.

  “Come in,” she called through the wood door.

  I turned the handle and slowly peeked into the room. It was fairly large with a desk on the right, two chairs in front of it, and a couch with bookshelves on the left. Her windows faced out the front side of the building. The room was decorated in vibrant colors, but it wasn’t overboard. It was tasteful and inviting. I liked it.

  She rounded the desk and enveloped me in a tight hug. “You loo
k fine, girl. Wait until the boys get a look at you. Sex kitten for sure.”

  I looked down at my clothes and then over to her cuffed shorts, blouse and wedge heels. Maybe I was a tad bit overdressed.

  “I wasn’t sure what the dress code was.” I shrugged. There wasn’t much I could do about it now.

  She waved me off. “Please, I wouldn’t worry about it. Like I said, you look hot. Let’s give you a tour and then I’ll show you to your office. I put you in a room down the hall, a few doors down from Jay. It was the closest I could do without totally rearranging things.”

  I nodded and followed her as we toured the studios in the basement, the administrative offices on the first floor, and then the management and creative offices on the second floor. We ended the tour at my office.

  My office.

  God, I loved the sound of that. I never imagined this day would ever come. I was perfectly content with putting together fundraisers, shopping and golfing at the Country Club. My days were whatever I wanted them to be and I had no stress whatsoever. I had never pictured myself as a career woman. I had never needed to.

  When I started at Lace I was scared shitless and not really focusing on the future. I was more worried with making it through one day at a time. Now all I felt was anxious and looking forward to this adventure.

  “Okay. Jay is out of the office the next few days,” Keesha announced and I felt something wither inside of me. Like a flower wilting without the sun. I had just assumed that he would be here on my first day. We’d eat lunch together and then at the end of the day he’d praise all my heretofore unknown talents at filing and whatever else needed to be done.

  “Oh. Okay. What should I do then?”

  Keesha led me over to my desk where a giant stack of papers sat. “Jay’s last assistant sucked. And that’s putting it mildly. Ever since we let her go, things have been piling up. I thought we could start with organizing everything piled here and making folders for it all. And when that’s done, there’s more in Jay’s office. I have a feeling once you see Jay’s mess you’ll have plenty to keep you busy. When Jay’s here, he’ll have other things for you. When he’s not, I’ll expect you to help me keep this place a well-oiled machine.”

  “Sounds good.”

  She gave me a smile and headed for the door. “Oh, and we’re going to lunch later. I’ll come get you around noon.”

  “Great!”

  The door shut and I let out a long breath while eyeing the stack of papers like they were my biggest enemy ready to be taken down. This was going to be a long day.

  Before diving in, I took stock of my office. The wood desk sat in front of the windows that overlooked the parking lot out back. Not exactly a room with a view, but it would do. If I got bored, I could spy on the people coming and going at least. In front of the desk were two leather club chairs and behind that against the wall was a credenza. To the right of the desk and taking a good portion of the wall was a two-sided gray filing cabinet.

  I made a mental note to go shopping to get some pictures and knickknacks to fill out the space and personalize it. I wanted to make it my domain.

  After lunch at the deli down the street, I decided to snoop… er… check out Jay’s office. Just to get an idea of how much work I had waiting for me of course. I needed to know how many more boxes of folders I was going to need. Yeah, it was strictly for professional reasons.

  What I wasn’t prepared for was to walk into a sterile office. The only personal item was a picture of a little girl with puff ball pigtails and gorgeous blue eyes that looked identical to Jay’s. It appeared as though Jay had forgotten one tiny—strike that—huge detail about his life. Because if she wasn’t his daughter then I was Joan Rivers.

  Peeved at the fact that he didn’t trust me with that bit of information about himself, I started slamming piles of paperwork in an attempt to sort through them. It wasn’t like it was a law or anything for a man to tell a woman he had children, but it was common courtesy. Shouldn’t friends share that type of information with each other? He had plenty of time to tell me. At some point during any one of our dozens of conversations he could have worked it in.

  I hated holding grudges and I could feel myself inching towards that self-destructive behavior. Shaking myself out, I decided to take a break and text him. I would casually let him know I saw his office and maybe that would spur a reaction about the picture. And if it didn’t, I would give him an interrogation on it later. It was long overdue considering I was constantly offering him personal information and he seemed to be locked up as tight as a vault. Damn it, I was breaking this vault wide open.

  I pulled out my phone and scrolled to Jay’s name, starting a new text message.

  Me: Your office is sterile.

  Jay: I’d be worried if you were calling me sterile.

  Me: Gross. Seriously, where is the personality?

  Jay: It’s an office.

  Me: It’s a reflection of you.

  Jay: Whatever you say.

  Me: What are you doing?

  Jay: Wondering why I’m paying you to text me.

  Me: Ha ha! Seriously.

  Jay: I’m sitting in a pitch from the A&R guy at my LA office.

  Me: Oh. I should let you get back to it.

  Jay: Text me anytime you want T.

  Me: Okay. It’s just I kind of missed you today.

  Jay: I miss your sweet face too.

  That generated all sorts of butterflies in my stomach.

  He thought I had a sweet face.

  And he missed me.

  I was beginning to think I might be a lost cause where he was concerned, soaking up his attention and praise.

  Me: I better get back to work before the boss catches me. ;)

  Jay: Have fun and behave.

  Me: Always. TTYL.

  I set my phone down and bit my lip. Even though I knew it was counterproductive and not something the new, responsible Tori should be doing, my fingers itched to keep texting him.

  Three hours and what felt like a gazillion folders later, I stretched my fingers and looked at the clock. A smile took over my face and I did a little jig. I totally made it through my first day at a grown up job.

  Take that Annabelle! It was sweet revenge to know that she wasn’t accomplishing anything with her bullshit tactics. She thought I couldn’t hack it on my own, and she was doing me a disservice. Boy was she wrong about me! Not only was I surviving, but I was thriving too. I made great friends, had a solid job, and a somewhat decent place to rest my head. Pretty soon I could afford my own car and give Jeff back his Bentley.

  There was no way that bitch could survive without spreading her legs for someone with money. She wouldn’t be able to hack this or even waitressing at Lace. It just proved to me that I was a better person than she was. The sad thing was I almost wanted to thank her for waking me up to this whole other world I didn’t know anything about.

  Still feeling victorious, I grabbed my purse and walked down the hall to Keesha’s office. Her door was open so I went right in.

  “Hey, I was going to head out if you didn’t need anything else.”

  She looked up from her laptop screen and smiled. “Go. Have a good night. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Sounds good. You too,” I called out as I walked away and headed to my car.

  First stop—the mall. Second stop—Lou’s Pizza for dinner. Then home to relax after a day of hard work.

  * * *

  My phone rang and I cracked one eye open. All I could see was the dark purple of my comforter.

  I had spent several hours shopping for stuff for my office after work and was exhausted by the time I got home. Which was why I probably crashed after scarfing down two slices of pizza.

  It was a productive trip, though. I picked up a beautiful picture of a young girl on a horse riding through a pasture. It reminded me of how free I used to feel whenever I rode my horse, Magpie, growing up. I also picked up a heart-shaped paperweight that said �
�The best way to predict your future is to create it”. It seemed fitting. A blue clay vase and matching bowl, along with some other decorative items rounded out the purchases that would brighten up the top of the credenza.

  I even splurged on a gorgeous black and white framed print of Yankee Stadium for Jay’s office. Not the new overdone stadium, but the original. It cost way more money than I thought it was worth, but I knew he’d adore it. One of the few personal things he had shared with me was that he was from Harlem and grew up a diehard Yankees fan. He even had the chance to do a sold out show there back when he was performing more. You could tell how proud he was to be able to go back to his roots as a success.

  The shrill ring of the phone went off again, and I slapped my hand around on the bed looking for the damn thing. I smacked my Kindle off the bed in the process and cursed when I heard it hit the dresser with a thud. That shit better not be broken or whoever woke me up was going to get a serious tongue lashing.

  A triumphant cry came from my lips when I finally did find my cell phone. The screen said Stallion and my heart leapt seeing that Jay was calling me. I quickly swept my finger across the screen so I wouldn’t miss the call.

  “Hey,” I said with a sleep still in my voice.

  “Hey, baby. Did I wake you?” He asked, and dear God did his voice sound sexy over the phone.

  “I must have dozed off while reading. I’m not used to day shifts yet.” I swiveled around on the bed and put my head on the pillows, getting comfy.

  “You’ll get used to it soon enough. How was your first day?”

  “Really good. Everyone I met was nice and I totally kicked file folder ass. Seriously, they didn’t stand a chance against me and my mad skills.”

  Jay laughed into the phone, and I smiled, knowing that he always seemed to smile or laugh whenever we were together.

  “Mad skills? You do know you’re fucking nutty, right? I never know what’s going to come out of that mouth of yours.”