Truths and Trusts

By Tyra Wilson

Jelanai Carpenter is a 34 year old author/publisher who lives in St. Louis, MO. Nanette Brown, 35, an I.T. technician out of New York, NY and Eric Morgan, 32, a Private Investigator and Entrepreneur out of Atlanta, GA have been her best friends since the early 90’s and there’s nothing they wouldn't do for each other. Since leaving the DC/MD/VA area to start their own businesses, they haven’t had much time to see each other and plan on changing that soon as they plan the ultimate birthday reunion in Miami. For the past 6 months, Nanette has been acting very strange where her best friends and her boyfriend are concerned. She’s been keeping secrets that could make or break their longtime friendships and worst, turn deadly for the trio. Sparks fly, at the party of the century, skeletons come out the closet, blows are thrown, and old flames vow to get what’s theirs or die trying. Once things have seemingly settled between the crew, someone is MURDERED and no one knows what happened except one person but that person’s lips are vacuum sealed. Will love, seduction and betrayal put an end to the dynamic trio...or will a disloyal friend betray their friends for what could lead to eternal happiness?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tyra Wilson
• Release date: Oct 15, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301201129

Tyra Wilson

Tyra Wilson was born in Columbia, Maryland, raised throughout the Eastern Shore, Howard County and Baltimore City. Her first piece of work came in the form of a poem titled Greater Life for You, dedicated to her father when he passed in 1995 which she also read at his funeral. Throughout the years, she’s written for and inspired friends to write and make their voices heard. Truths and Trusts is Tyra’s first self-published novel with a plethora of short unpublished stories and poetry under her belt. Her second and third novels are already in the making and will be published in mid - late 2015. In her spare time, she likes to design scrapbooks, hand make fashion jewelry, play the Sims 3, work out, read, write and travel. With Edgar Alan Poe being one of her most admired writers, Tyra has also been inspired by an array of successful writers such as Nikki Giovanni, Maya Angelou, James Patterson, Omar Tyree, Zane, Carl Webber, Emily Dickenson and Harper Lee, just to name a few. Today, Tyra resides in Baltimore County and works as an Admin. Asst. while continuing to do what she loves to do best.....write.

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Truths and Trusts

By Tyra Wilson

Copyright 2013 Tyra Wilson

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. IF you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This book is dedicated to my father, Leonard W. Wilson, Jr.

August 10, 1953 – September 9, 1995

May you continue to R.I.P daddy, I love you.

Also, a special thank you goes out to Darrell King, author of Deadly Phines, for pointing me in the right direction and staying on me about my ever changing release date (smile). I couldn’t have done this without your help.

Prologue

Lanai

March 23, 2009

My last and final meeting for the day was with a representative from Island Massive Productions also known as IMP. I saved this meeting for last because I knew it would be the most interesting. Apparently, the company has been following my career for a while now and wanted to discuss movie rights before anyone else had the chance. I offered to meet the representative at my office, but he insisted that I attend his company’s happy hour at a nearby lounge to mingle with his co-workers. Any other time I would’ve said hell to the no on a Monday night but due to these past few days of running around and not officially having a weekend to just chill out, I owed it to myself to let my hair down and enjoy the night for once.

I pulled up to the Mandarin Lounge on Maryland Avenue ready to forget about work these next few hours. Once inside the lounge, I made my way to the VIP area where the IMP staff were and introduced myself. Since I arrived 30 minutes earlier than I discussed with the rep, I mingled with some folks at the bar area before the meeting began. Usually, I would be nursing a martini right now but since I found out I was preggo that was out. So I ordered a virgin pina colada while I waited. As I took another sip of my drink, I noticed this tall gentleman and petite, but seriously dressed woman walking towards the VIP area. This chick was runway ready fo’sho with clearly too much makeup on.

Jelanai Carpenter? The gentleman said as he held out his hand for a shake. Patrick Upshaw, we spoke over the phone earlier today.

Yes, Mr. Upshaw, it’s nice to finally meet you. And please, call me Lanai. I said, returning the shake. Patrick seemed to be a business oriented brother, but his colleague was a bit too anti-social for my liking. She’d hardly introduced herself before she scurried away to mingle with the lounge attendees. After the formal introductions were made, she kept her distance while we discussed the movie ideas. Patrick stated that he’d love for Queen Latifah to play my role, Taye Diggs to play Eric and Tamala Jones to play Nanette. I let that thought sink in. They all are some great actors but also very in demand so who knows if we’ll actually be able to get them until the budget is approved. After the business was done, I ordered another colada then Patrick and I decided to burn off some of those hot wings we ate by hitting the dance floor. As the evening progressed, we agreed to set up a more business-like meeting this coming week after I was settled in Atlanta. He agreed to fly out to meet me at my Atlanta office which would now become my main headquarters to discuss which actors/actresses would play which part. Things were going well, and I was excited about taking this next step in my career. As 8:30 quickly approached, we went back to the VIP area in which I noticed majority of his co-workers and miss anti-social had left already. I finished my last drink and prepared to say my goodbyes. As I gathered my things, I felt this sharp pain flash through my head like a thunder bolt which caused me to stumble for a second. I was coming down with a serious migraine all of a sudden and had to get home quickly.

Lanai, are you okay? Patrick asked once he noticed my change in stature. Do you need me to call you a cab?

No, I’ll be fine. Coming down with a migraine is all. I just need to get home and rest, it’s been a rough few days. I guess it’s all catching up to me now. I said as I continued to gather my things and left the lounge. Patrick walked me out to the parking lot to make sure I got to my car safely. Once the cool air hit me, I started to feel better. As I got in my car, put the key in the ignition and slowly pulled out of the parking lot, I lowered my windows so some of that good ol’ spring air could hit me in the face to snap me out of whatever it was coming over me. I was cruising down interstate 64 west, about 5 minutes from my home when all of a sudden, the pain came back with a vengeance! Damn baby Arrington, can you let mama have some fun without getting me sick, I thought to myself. If this sickness continues, I may have to think twice about working until my last trimester as originally planned. Sheesh.

I had to get home and in bed before I lost my train of thought. My mobility was getting sluggish, and I felt like crashing at any minute. Talking about exhausted. I really need to slow it down. You’re going to be a mother soon Lanai, you need to slow down. Besides, Atlanta isn’t going anywhere, I thought to myself. As I was driving, I felt like passing out, but I couldn’t, not here, not now. I pushed and pushed to stay awake, but this baby was making me hella sick. Great, 3 minutes away from home, I kept repeating out loud. When I finally made it home, I could barely push the security code for my gates to open but I managed. Ahhh, home sweet home¸ I said to myself as I whipped my DB9 up the roundabout driveway and parked in front of my door, completely passing by my 4 car garage. I sat still for a second to get myself together to call my doctor, but before I knew it, I crashed before I could even get myself into the house.

Chapter 1

Lanai

October 26, 2007

Why does Murphy’s Law have to pop his ass up on one of the most important days of my career? Not only did I have to politely curse out the President of the publishing company I’m trying to close a deal with for being a sexist jackass, but now, I have to deal with this mysterious caller situation that I’ve been trying to ignore for the past month. And in addition to all that, my support system is falling apart due to whatever brand of drugs my so called best friend Nanette has been on. Talking about what can go wrong, will go wrong. I don’t have time for this shit. Only three more meetings before I can claim my weekend, I thought to myself as I sat in lunch hour traffic, nibbling on a bagel I nabbed from Mr. Sexist’s office. Today has been such a crazy day. I just wanted to go home, soak in my hot tub and relax. Thank goodness it’s Friday, I thought.

I’m sorry. Here I am going on and on about today’s events, I didn’t even stop to introduce myself. My name is Jelanai Marie Carpenter. I am 5 feet 8 inches tall, 175 lbs. and have the complexion of a Werther’s caramel candy. I have short brown hair with honey blonde streaks, almond shaped brown eyes, and a smile that lights up the room. My attitude is very head strong, and I don’t put up with bullshit. I ended up dropping out of high school after my father passed away but my mom, Jalesa, told me to either get it together, or get the hell out her house. At that point, I started to focus solely on my writing and self-published my first book Young and Discouraged when I was 16. When I was 19, I went on to Howard University where I pledged Delta and obtained my bachelor’s degree in Journalism minoring in Computer Management. And I must say, those were some of the best and worst years of my life. Once I obtained my degree, I worked part time for the Washington Post with my fulltime job being a junior editor at Your Request Publishing Company for 2 years. Eventually, I grew tired of working for other people and following the craziest work schedule I’ve ever heard of for a couple pennies, I quit everything and used my savings and 401(k) to move to St. Louis to start my own business. As of today, my company is now one of the top publishing companies in the country and my books have been on the best seller list for the past 6 years. I’m equal to what they would say in the music industry, Platinum Status Baby! So now that you know my background and how I got to where I am, let’s get back to my life happenings.

When I finally got back to my office to wrap things up for the day, I had tons of messages on my desk from Dana, my friend from college and my personal assistant. The fun never ends, I thought. Only one of the messages caught my immediate attention and that was a message from Mr. Eric Morgan of ENJ Investigations. I immediately had my assistant return his call.

Ms. Carpenter, I have Mr. Morgan on line 2. Dana buzzed in minutes later.

Hey E baby, long time no chat. How are things down in Hotlanta? I happily answered.

You know me sis, same ole’shit dawg, just a different day. But this call isn’t about work, how’s the birthday plans coming along? Have you heard from Nanette?

No, you know how that girl is, all work and no communication! She shot me an email about a week ago on some bullshit about how I’m tearing the crew up because I never have time for ya’ll. Whatevs!

I don’t know what’s up with the two of you but ya’ll need to get that shit together.

Who you telling E, one minute we best friends and the next minute, she’s my worst enemy, I swear, she be taking that Dr. Jekyll and Mrs. Hyde shit a little too far these days.

You ain't never lied about that. But never mind all the drama, check this out, I’m going to be in St. Louis in a few weeks. If you’re not swamped with work, come scoop me from the airport and we can do dinner and hang out like old times.

Sounds good to me. I could use the break, especially with an old friend you know. We have some major catching up to do. I’ll tell you what, have your assistant send me your itinerary for that week and your flight info and I can make some things happen.

You got that baby girl. Good talking to ya. See ya in a few weeks.

After my conversation with Eric, that breeze of fresh air went straight out the window. My day was busier than Grand Central on Christmas Eve but because I was still on my Eric high, I didn’t let anything get to me. I even called Nanette to tell her the good news and try to convince her to take a week off to come along with Eric but as usual, she didn’t answer the phone and I had to leave yet another message that will probably be ignored, just like the rest of them. It was close to 8:00 pm by the time I left my office. When I pulled up to my gorgeous min-mansion and parked in the garage, I noticed my boyfriend Kendal hadn’t made it home yet. That gave me time to throw a quick dinner together. Kendal and I have been together for 4 years now, including the time it took to get to know each other. He’s such a gentleman. Not to mention he’s extra fine standing 6 foot 6 inches, with a 245 lb. muscular frame, and smooth milk chocolate skin. He has the smoothest, sexiest lips that made you want to kiss at first sight, low Caesar cut that he kept shaped up, thin mustache, goatee and beard that connected to his sideburns, and dimples that blew your mind. It was great waking up to him by my side every morning. Kendal was the man in every woman’s dreams, that is, if you loved them tall, dark, sexy, intelligent, and funny as Eddie Murphy in his prime. Speaking of funny, it was hilarious when we first met because I had no idea who he was or how much he was worth. I was just trying to get home after a long day’s work.

~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

It was spring of 2003, about 7 months after I moved to St. Louis to get a new start on life. I had just opened my publishing company two months prior and was currently in the process of getting my company some much needed recognition. Today was hot and humid and I just wanted to get back to my condo to relax in the air conditioner after a long day’s work. Before I decided to isolate for the weekend, I stopped at the car wash to get my car detailed. As I stood at the register, I felt someone staring at me, so I turned around to see who it was. My knees almost buckled when I noticed this sexy Adonis standing 3 persons behind me. I gave him a quick once-over then turned around as if I never noticed him standing there. I then gave the cashier my money and quickly walked away to the waiting area. While seated, I picked up a newspaper to fake read while my car was being cleaned. The Adonis came in about 5 minutes later and sat two chairs down from me. I could feel his eyes on me the whole time. He was dressed down in some red and white basketball shorts, white Air Force ones, a red St. Louis fitted hat and a white tank top showing off all of his muscular attributes. He had my attention whether he knew it or not. A few moments went by before he spoke.

Slacking on a book report or something? He asked with the smoothest, sexiest voice I’ve ever heard.

Excuse me? I responded, slight attitude, completely forgetting I was pretending to read a copy of today’s paper.

Well, you are just staring at that paper, haven’t turned a page since I walked in. Trying to avoid some kind of work?

Ohh, umm yeah, that….just a habit I picked up to avoid conversation with people. Sometimes people can ruin a good day with random spit boxing.

Well dayum, aren’t you a feisty one. My apologies. I’ll let you get back to your browsing.

You’re funny. But I guess I can spare a word or two. So, no need to ask you what brings you here, that’s pretty obvious.

Bad with small talk too I see. That’s okay, hopefully I can fix that in due time. Kendal, and you are? he asked as he extended his hand for a shake."

Jelanai. Nice to meet you Kendal. So you from around here? I said, returning the gesture.

Nah, moved here almost a year ago. Still trynna fit in yanno.

I should have known from your energy and anti-socialism that you aren’t a St. Louie native, neither am I.

My energy?

Yeah, you seem guarded, defensive even. Seem like you were giving me the ice grill until I pulled your card about fake reading. He said with a serious but joking kind of grin.

Product of my environment I guess. I’m a sweetheart. I promise. I said with a smile as I held two fingers in the scouts’ honor position.

That’s good to know, although, I still don’t trust that smile, albeit very gorgeous. So where are you from Ms. P.O.M.E? As for me, I’m kind of what you call a placed native. Originally from Maine. I moved to St. Louis almost 10 years ago. Wow, that sounds crazy saying it aloud. Time sure does fly.

Okay. I moved here from Maryland, Baltimore to be exact.

So you just came out on a whim, no friends, family, associates, nothing?

Yes and no. My assistant, Dana, is a great friend of mine from college but aside from her and another employee I’m cool with, I’m all by my lonesome in this big city. But I don’t think I should have told you that. You could be a stalker or something and try to kidnap me knowing that I have no friends or family here. I laughed as I finally loosened up a bit.

Hmm, so we gotta do something about your trust factor and about you fixing this no friend issue. What do you say to meeting me for dinner? You can pick the restaurant.

I was intrigued and definitely wanted to get to know him more. Kendal and I conversed until his car was done although mine was finished 20 minutes before his and even then, I didn’t want to end the conversation. This man was interesting, handsome, had a wild sense of humor and I liked that. We exchanged numbers and set up a date to meet at an Italian restaurant called Tony’s in downtown St. Louise later that evening. Just as planned, Kendal called me at 7:00 to confirm. I decided to wear my gray and baby blue pinstriped pencil skirt with a baby blue sleeveless mock neck top to match and my baby blue strappy stilettos. Before heading to dinner, I glanced in the mirror and I must say, I looked damned good.

Once I entered the restaurant, Kendal met me at the door and escorted me to our table. He pulled out my chair for me and everything. I was indeed flattered by all of his chivalrous actions. The food was delicious, and I was having a great time. When the check came, I reached out to cover the bill, but he insisted that I let him pay and that I could make it up to him on our next date which he already had in mind. We said our goodbyes that night, with just a handshake and a hug. Since that day, we spoke daily and when we didn’t verbally speak, he would text me or send an email letting me know I was on his mind. It wasn’t until 3 months after we met that I found out he was THE Kendal Arrington of Diamond Cluster Records, the Def Jam of the mid-west. It didn’t faze me that he dumbed down his profession initially because if I were that loaded with cash, I’d do the same thing to make sure the person I date is with me for all the right reasons instead of financial ones. Once the cat was out of the bag though, I racked up on major flyer miles because he invited me to his company parties and insisted on flying me to different locations where he'd have these celebrity functions to scout new talent.

A little over a year after that abnormally hot day last spring, he invited me to fly to New York with him to attend the infamous 4th of July, Nita Styles all white party in the Hamptons. I was hesitant about going at first, but I also knew that it would make for great networking to get my company out there, so I agreed to attend. Prior to attending the party, we had been close friends for about 8 months. We spent several nights together but he never pushed the issue of sex. In fact, the first time we were intimate, I was the initiator so of course he was scoring extra points in the perfect gentleman department.

The night of the Nita Styles party, Kendal had to go ahead of me to do his business thing but made me promise to meet him there and not leave him jilted at the alter as he jokingly put it. He sent a pearl colored Rolls Royce limo to pick me up from our hotel and take me to the party. Once I was there, I met people from all over. I met a few prospective clients and a few celebrities who have, to this day, became close friends as well. Most of them knew of me from my celebrity news columns at the Post. But what came to me as a huge surprise, was the fact that Kendal introduced me to everyone as his lady. Another year later we bought a house and moved in together and everything is just as great as it was the day we met.

~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

As dinner was cooking, I went to the lobby to check the mail and I paused as I noticed there was a delivery for me waiting by the door. Oh no, not another delivery, I thought. Before I jumped to conclusions, a tingle ran over me. This could be nothing. I mean, Kendal was infamous for random gift giving. This could be another one of his shenanigans, I thought to myself as I unlocked the door then grabbed the long silver box and headed straight for the kitchen to check on dinner. I decided on a quick shrimp stir fry and brown rice with a store bought apple cobbler and vanilla ice cream for dessert. Once the food was done, I opened the box and couldn’t believe what I saw. There were 3 fresh pink carnations centered in a small plastic vase surrounded by 9 dead roses with a card that read Roses die quick, waste of hard earned money, but carnations…now that’s beauty, as their petals have longevity. I froze in place for a few seconds to collect my thoughts. Not only did this freak show send me the weirdest dozen of flowers ever, but he’s taking my love of style and flowers a bit too far! The life and times of being a celebrity, I thought as I reread the excerpt from my best-selling novel Love and Marriageless. I quickly shook it off after realizing how that novel ended. If these fuckers want to scare me, why send me a quote from the funniest novel I ever wrote. This started to amuse me, then again, this was the second delivery today. I told myself it was nothing, just like the calls. I took a deep breath, shook my head, and tossed the box in my office closet until I got a better understanding about what is going on. Oh well, no sense of being afraid, we all gotta go sometime, I thought to myself.

When I heard Kendal pulling into the garage, I quickly closed the closet door and went to greet the love of my life. As we enjoyed dinner and a great bottle of vintage wine, I thought about how I was going to tell him about the mysterious calls and deliveries I’ve been getting, especially since my newest threat reared its head today. Kendal and I have never taken pride in keeping secrets, regardless how miniscule, but I knew he’d react so much differently during this truth session once he finds out my life could be in danger…again.

Baby, I have to tell you something. I said, trying not to sound as scared as I really was. For the past month I’ve been getting strange calls on my office line. I don’t know who it is and the more I try to ignore them, the more persistent they become. Now, it’s an issue at my company and as the owner, I can’t ignore it anymore because my employees are concerned for their safety as well.

Excuse, me what did you just say?!? What kind of calls are you talking Jelanai and why haven’t you mentioned anything before? Kendal said, trying to control his anger. I knew whenever he called me Jelanai, he was trying to maintain his cool.

I didn’t say anything because at first, it was just dead silence, I’d speak, and they’d hang up. This went on for about two weeks. I told Dana to redirect my direct line to hers and if the caller is hesitant to give information not to put them through. All was calm for a couple days and then the calls started back up again but this time, the caller would play a recording of a different prayer about forgiveness.

Well if the caller is getting past Dana’s prescreen, they have to have said something. Have you gone to the police yet?

Yes, only over the phone though. Like I said, I was trying to ignore it until my employees started talking. There’s a Detective Whitaker coming to the office tomorrow to get a statement.

Well, I’m going to work with you tomorrow, I don’t want to take any chances. If this person is targeting you, I need to make sure you are safe.

Targeted? Baby, it’s not that serious. I’m sure whoever this is will get bored eventually. You know I deal with some crazy fans. Remember in my book Care to Share, the heiress was being stalked by her brothers’ best friend, the priest, and he used bible passages to get her to forgive him. Sounds like somebody read the book and now they got jokes.

Lanai baby, I love your courage, but you can’t always take everything with a grain of salt. This may be serious and can’t be slept on. Has anything else happened?

Funny you would ask. I said as I stood up to get the box out of my office. When I got back to the dining room, Kendal was already on the line with his security detail. I opened the box, and his face turned a shade lighter. Now, he looked to be just as scared as I was, but I know he’ll never admit it.

Baby don’t worry. We’ll get to the bottom of this. Trust that you’re safe with me. I won’t let anybody hurt you. We’ve been thru this before so if we stick together as we did before, we’ll be good.

I know, that’s why I’m not making this a big deal. It will pass over, just like the other crazies in the past. Relax hun, there’s no need to worry over this. Trust me. I said as I leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Truth is, I wasn’t sure what to make of the situation. What I didn’t tell Kendal was that I received a delivery the day after the calls briefly stopped but what made me stop short of breath were the contents. Inside the package was the pair of AC Couture ivory satin pumps with a lace overlay I had custom made for an upcoming photo shoot. Now here’s the scary part, one of the shoes were broken and the heel was missing with a note attached that read: A lover of the finest things you are but without me, just like the shoe with no heel, you can forever get a replacement, but they’ll never be the original. Another quote from one of my novels in which the main character sent his lost love a box of store brand cookies and a batch of his famous double chocolate chips with the same note, substituting a word or a few. Who had enough pull to intervene with my mail though? I was saving this tidbit for the Detective but now that Kendal insists on making an appearance tomorrow and apparently already called his security to assist, he’s going to find out sooner or later. Maybe I can have Dana re-wrap and re-deliver so I can play it off like this is new news to me too, I thought. So much for a romantic evening with my man, I thought to myself, now this guy gone be on his Kevin Costner bodyguard shit and sex is going to be the last thing on his mind.

Eric

October 26, 2007

If it ain’t one thing it’s another, I thought. I’ve been investigating Mr. Parrish for 3 months now and I’ve come up with nothing. I’ve followed him from his job to the gym, jogs in the park, movies, out of town business trips, I even followed him to the damned bathroom but still…I have nothing! I’m just about through with this whole investigation. I keep telling myself I need a vacation, but I am never able to tear myself away from this job I love so much. So here I am again, staking out on the roof of a Starbucks trying to catch a husband who clearly isn’t doing anything wrong.

Before I get too carried away with the ups and mostly downs of this investigation, allow me to introduce myself; I am Eric Michael Morgan, a 5 foot 10 inch, 228 pound, dark chocolate, well built, bald head brother. I have a thin mustache, trimmed goatee, smooth baby face and a killer smile that the ladies can’t resist. Some would say I am an intellectual brother, conscious if you will. I am the founder of ENJ Investigations, a Private Investigation firm in Atlanta. I was raised in Bowie, MD. I went on to attend Morehouse College to obtain my bachelor’s in criminal justice. While at Morehouse, I pledged Omega and upon graduation I landed my dream job, or what I thought at the time was my dream job with the FBI in Washington, D.C. I worked there for 4 years until I decided to branch out on my own to become a private investigator. I then moved back to Atlanta and I’ve been here ever since. Aside from me being a private investigator, I also own 2 neo-soul lounges called Prolific Resonance I and II. So you can say, I am a very well established, single black brother! I am proud of what I’ve become, and I have two people to thank for that; my best friends, Jelanai Carpenter and Nanette Brown. I don’t know where I’d be without their love and support. So now that you have an idea of who I am, let me get back to this boring ass, dead end case I am working on.

This has to be a record for me considering I usually satisfy my clients in less than a month, 7 weeks tops. How can she possibly think her husband is still cheating after I keep telling her I haven’t caught him accompanying anybody, anywhere, other than the other old suits I’m used to seeing him with on his business trips? Shit, if she nags her husband like she nags the hell out of me, it’s no wonder he’s always gone, she’s a fucking nuisance! Forty-five more minutes went by and still nothing. I had Eddie, one of my junior PI’s on the inside and he hasn’t reported to me with any news on Mr. Parrish either. I think I’m about done for the day. No leads today, no leads yesterday, no leads tomorrow, no leads EVER! I keep telling this woman there is nothing to be insecure about; her husband is just an excessive workaholic. I guess if I tell her he’d rather be working than around her psychotic ass, I won’t be able to pay cash for that new money green Benz I have my eye on. Gotta keep it professional, I thought and laughed to myself.

Before heading back to the office, I decided to take a 20 minute mental vacation over a cup of French Vanilla cappuccino. I’ve gotten accustomed to these power vacays since I started Bikram yoga with my assistant a while back. It helps me free my mind of drama and bullshit, even if only for a second or two. I scanned the room to see what tables were available if any. As I continued to scan the cafe, I saw a very attractive woman sitting alone at her table reading a novel. She was very plain but still extremely beautiful. She had on a cream business suit, frameless glasses and her brown natural hair was pulled back and put up in a tight bun. Maybe she’d like some company, I thought. After I ordered my drink, I walked over and introduced myself.

Hello there, is this seat taken? I politely asked.

No, it’s not. She said as she blushed a little and urgently put down her book to give me her undivided attention.

May I join you for a quick moment? As you can see there are no other tables available.

Sure, not a problem at all. Have a seat.

Thank you. My name is Eric, and you?

Veronica Townsend.

Nice to meet you Veronica. I said and extended my hand, kissing hers as she made contact. "Just then, my blackberry went off and the next thing I knew, me and Lanai were chopping it up like old times.

I couldn’t have gone the rest of my day without telling Lanai I’ll be in St. Louis in a few weeks. We always promised each other that if we happened to be in town, it was 1st priority to let them know. To my surprise, she offered to let me stay with her during my assignment. I didn’t think she would even mention it because of this guy she’s been ranting about for the last few years. I was shocked when she sent me an email saying that they moved in together. That was a little over two years ago and she still seems to be just as happy now as she was the first day she told me about him. Truth be told, I’m happy for her, she really deserves a man like that in her life. I just hope she’s not sugar coating anything. You know how women do, best friend or not, they tend to hide the bad shit then come crying on your doorstep when shit hit the fan talking about, I don’t know how this happened, I never thought he’d do this to me oh please, ladies can miss me with that bullshit. I’ll just have to see for myself when I reach the Lou.

Girlfriend? Veronica asked as I hung up my phone.

Ohh no, that was my best friend Nee-Nee. I see you read a little, you may know of her. She’s a best-selling author. I said, giving my girl many props.

"Nee-Nee Carpenter?

I laughed. Her real name is Jelanai Carpenter.

Really, that’s your best friend? I love her novels. I’m currently reading Thunderous Silence. Veronica said as she held up the book she was reading. I must say, home girl has skills. I’ve been following her work for years. You must be really blessed to be good friends with such a person.

"Yeah, that’s my girl.