I Saw Your Profile Page 13

  “I don’t blame you for thinking that, but my circumstances have changed and I can make different choices. I could have stayed in New York with my sister. That’s where I lived before I met Nicole. I had a life there and I could make one there again. If I didn’t want to be with you, why would I be willing to move to Richmond?”

  “So you want to move here when we get married?”

  “Yes. Why should you give up your life and your business to follow me to god knows where? You’ve made enough sacrifices for this relationship. It’s my turn. I’ll move here and start over. We’ll start over.”

  Janelle got up and walked to the bedroom door. “I need time to think, and I need to be alone to digest this.”

  “You want me to drive all the way back to New York while you think?”

  “I guess so. I can’t make any decisions right now. If you want me as bad as you say, then you should be willing to wait.”

  He acquiesced. “You’re right. And I am.”

  He laid the ring on the bed. “Keep this while you think. Maybe it’ll help you make up your mind. When you look at it, remember how much I love you.”

  He asked her for a piece of paper and pen and gave her his new cell number.

  “Call me when you make a decision. If I don’t hear from you, I’ll call you in a few days.”

  Janelle was sitting on her bed stroking the engagement ring in the palm of her hand when the phone rang.

  “Hello. I’m sorry to bother you. My name is Nicole Harris. Your number is on my cell phone bill. Do you know a Chauncey Cockfield?”

  Nicole’s pulse quickened. “You already know I do. He said you’d call.”

  “What else did he tell you about me, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  “That’s between us.”

  Nicole paused, put off by the anger in Janelle’s voice.

  “I wanted to warn you about him. We’ve been living together for two years. I kicked him out a few days ago because I found out he’s been cheating on me with dozens of women.”

  Janelle’s heart thumped. “Dozens!”

  She wasn’t prepared for that revelation.

  “He meets them on the Internet and charms his way into their lives, like he did with me,” Nicole continued. “Is that how you met him?”

  Janelle paused, wondering whether she should answer.

  “Are you still there?” Nicole asked.

  “I’m here,” Janelle sighed. Feeling she had nothing to lose, she continued. “I found him on the Internet through an ad for his business, Tender Touch. We met at a pamper party.”

  “So he actually did pamper parties?”

  “I just told you that’s how we met.”

  “Barbara in California was a pamper party. So was Lisa in Atlanta and a bunch of others. Every time he was going to see one of his women, he told me he was doing a pamper party.”

  Janelle took a deep breath, laid the ring on the bed and massaged her temple. Trying to sort out the truth of this drama was like getting all the blue blocks to line up on a Rubik’s Cube.

  “Who did he tell you I was when I called your house all those times?” Janelle asked.

  “A client. Women called here for him all the time, but I never questioned it because of the business.”

  “He told me that you broke up a year ago and you were just living together as roommates for convenience.”

  “Yeah, his convenience, but we were more than roommates. I don’t care what he told you. We were engaged.”

  “He asked you to marry him? When?”

  “A month ago.”

  “He asked me to marry him today. Did he buy you a ring, too?”

  “No. Why?”

  “’Cause he bought me one. I’m looking at it now.”

  Silence.

  Confusion held Janelle in a vice grip as her emotions bounced between distrust and loyalty. She looked again at the ring. Nicole never got one. She did.

  Was Nicole just a woman scorned out to get Chauncey for choosing another woman?

  She decided Nicole’s story didn’t add up.

  “You know, I’m sorry. I find it hard to believe that a man could be sleeping with as many women as you claim he was while he lived with you and you were supposed to be his woman and didn’t have a clue. I may have put up with my ex-husband’s cheating, but I never acted like I didn’t know about it.”

  “Look, I didn’t call you to start trouble,” said Nicole. “I’m just trying to warn all the sisters who’ve been scammed by this man, some giving up thousands of dollars to him. I’ve even talked with one who said he gave her an STD.”

  Janelle gasped. “Who? What did he supposedly give her?”

  “I’m not giving out names. No need to embarrass anyone else. You do what you need to. I was just trying to help.”

  Janelle leaned back, giving her angst to the stack of pillows against her headboard.

  Could Chauncey have given her an STD? They’d never practiced safe sex.

  She threw the ring across the room and howled as questions swirled through her mind. Then she buried her face in the comforter and soaked it with her tears.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Janelle was wringing her hands when the doctor walked in the examining room with her test results.

  Dr. Walker was a handsome, dark-skinned man with wavy hair graying on the sides. He avoided her eyes when he spoke, focusing instead on the papers in his hands.

  “Mrs. Carter, I won’t have the results of your STD workup for another week, but your pregnancy test was positive,” the doctor said.

  For Janelle, the room went dark, as if the florescent light above her had gone out without warning. When the bulb in her head came back on, she was so dizzy; she nearly fell off the exam table.

  “How many weeks am I?”

  “I can’t say definitively until I examine you,” he said. “I’d like to do an ultrasound too.”

  “Today?”

  “Yes. The sooner the better.”

  Janelle lay on her living room couch drowning in shame and embarrassment. During the ultrasound, the doctor had found two heartbeats.

  She couldn’t call Vanessa. Her best friend’s judgment would be too harsh for her to stand. Janelle’s own self-criticism was damning enough.

  I can’t believe this. Teenagers get themselves into this shit, not grown women.

  She had never felt more alone than at that moment.

  How can I do this alone if he really is a scam artist? Why would he ask to marry me if he doesn’t care about me? What the hell am I going to do?

  She needed to talk to someone. She decided it might as well be the man who knocked her up.

  She was surprised when he picked up on the first ring.

  “How are you, sweetie. I’ve been waiting for your call.”

  “Not good. Your girlfriend tells me you’ve been whoring around the country and oh yeah, I’m pregnant. With twins.”

  “Oh frig! Fuh trut?” he blurted in Bajan.

  “That’s my ear you’re yelling in, Chauncey. English, please.”

  “Sorry. It means I’m shocked. How did this happen?”

  “Why do men always say that? You know how it happened. You were there without a raincoat. The question is what are we going to do?”

  “I don’t want to talk about this on the phone. You’re upset and I want to be with you. We’ll talk when I get down there.”

  When Chauncey arrived, Janelle swung the door open then dragged herself back to the couch, letting her body language speak her mood.

  He eased the door closed and walked across the room to sit beside her.

  “How are you, sweetie?”

  Her voice was filled with distress. “How the hell do you think I’m doing? I find out the man who asked me to marry him, the man I have been emptying my bank account for, had a live-in girlfriend and other women on the side, plus he got me pregnant with twins. Why did you even come here? To tell me more lies?”

  She took a breath.
“How many women have you been laying up with? Nicole said you were cheating on her with dozens of women you met online.”

  His shock almost seemed genuine. “What are you talking about? I’ve met dozens of people, women and men, online. I’m not dating them all. That would be impossible.”

  “Why is she saying it then?”

  “How do I know? I’m not inside her head. She’s called every female in my cell phone and emailed all the women in my address book and told them lies about me. Most of these women are clients. About ten have dropped me.”

  “They believe her?”

  “It’s irrelevant whether they believe her or not. Just the fact that she is making the calls and sending the emails is enough. These women don’t want to be bothered with that kind of bullshit.”

  “So what are you going to do?”

  “Well, I’m not going to let her win. After we get married, if you accept my proposal, I’ll build a new clientele. I already have clients here from the pamper parties. I’ll just let them know I’ve relocated and soon word will spread that I’m back in business.”

  “She said you guys were supposed to get married.”

  “Did she tell you that she proposed to me?”

  “No. She said you proposed.”

  “Cha! I would never ask her to marry me. And I said no when she asked me.”

  Janelle looked at the King’s Dominion photograph. Tears gathered in her eyes.

  “Do you remember this day?” she asked picking up the picture.

  “Of course I do, sweetie. I am so sorry for how I’ve hurt you. But Nicole means nothing to me. You are the only woman I care for. The only woman I love. The woman I want to marry.”

  Janelle stood up, walked to the window by the front door and stared into the darkness. She was tired, physically, mentally, and emotionally.

  Chauncey walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his hands on her thick abdomen and his chin on her neck.

  He whispered in her ear.

  “If I could, I would give you those stars. You have no idea how badly I feel that I have let you down. I really want to make it up to you, Janelle. I want to be a father to our children. Give me another chance, for their sake.”

  Janelle allowed Chauncey to sleep on the couch that night. While she showered for work that morning, he made breakfast.

  The phone on the kitchen wall rang as he was flipping pancakes. He nearly leapt from his skin, as if he recognized the ring. He checked the caller ID, and picked up the receiver.

  “What can I do for you, Lady Nicole?” he said, his voice thick with British accent.

  “Chauncey?” She paused, but he didn’t respond.

  She sucked her teeth. “I knew you’d find another meal ticket. What’d you tell her? I was crazy? Never mind. I don’t care. You won’t be there long. Eventually, she’s going to find out the truth.”

  He huffed. “My fiancée already knows the truth about me and she doesn’t want to hear any more of your lies, Nicole.”

  “A few weeks ago you asked to marry me, now you’re calling another woman your fiancée. You really are pathetic.”

  He laughed sardonically.

  “Don’t wait by the mailbox for an invitation to the wedding. You wanted me out of your life, now stay out of mine.”

  Janelle heard Chauncey’s loud voice from the bathroom. She walked to the kitchen doorway, wrapped in a robe, just in time to see him slam the phone into the charger.

  “Who was that and why are you so mad?”

  Chauncey jumped. “I didn’t see you standing there, sweetie. It was just a telemarketer who wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

  Puzzled, Janelle stared at him as he took the pancakes from the skillet.

  “A telemarketer pissed you off that bad?” she asked in a suspicious tone.

  Chauncey sighed, letting go of the anger in his voice.

  “Well I’m not in the best of moods right now. I have a lying bitch trying to ruin my life and I don’t know if the woman I love is going to be with me or not. Eggs?”

  Janelle moped to the refrigerator, dragging her slippers across the tile, and took out a carton of orange juice.

  “Yes, please. Scrambled hard.”

  She poured two glasses of juice and set them on the table in the breakfast nook and dropped into a chair.

  She planted her elbows on the table and lowered her head into her hands, pensively massaging her wet scalp.

  “If I told you I would marry you, but I didn’t want to have these babies, what would you say?”

  Janelle closed her eyes as she awaited his response. She didn’t notice Chauncey’s shoulders drop as he exhaled in relief. A grin popped on his face, but quickly disappeared as he turned around to answer her.

  “I’ll respect and stand by you no matter what you decide.”

  She raised her head and looked at him, her eyes begging for love.

  “Are you sure I’m the woman you want?”

  He smiled. “Absolutely certain.”

  Chauncey told Janelle he had loose ends to tie in Maryland before they could get married.

  While he was gone, she made wedding plans, asking Vanessa to be her maid of honor.

  “He proposed?” Vanessa said. “Ain’t this outta the blue?”

  Janelle couldn’t admit she had her own doubts about her engagement.

  “No, he told me a while ago that once he got on his feet, he wanted to make our relationship official.”

  “Oh. So he’s on his damn feet now is he? So that means, he’ll be buyin y’all a house and you’ll be sellin your condo?”

  “No. He wants to move down here.”

  “Move in with you, you mean? That doesn’t sound like a man on his feet. Girl, when are you gonna wake up and smell the damn coffee? That man is playin you.”

  “How, Vanessa? By marrying me? Since when do men play women by marrying them?”

  “Whatever, Janelle. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you. Just because you don’t have nothin to hide doesn’t mean there ain’t people out there who do. Alvin should have taught you that.”

  “Look, Vanessa. I know you’re saying these things because you care about me and I appreciate that. But, I’ve got to make my own decisions.”

  “Fine. What can I do?”

  “I’ve made most of the plans. It’ll be next weekend at the justice of the peace.”

  “What’s your damn hurry? He ain’t goin to war.”

  “What difference does it make when we do it? You got a hot date that weekend?”

  “Maybe. You give somebody less than two week’s notice to be a damn bridesmaid. What kinda shit is that?”

  “Oh girl, please. Are you gonna be in my wedding or not?”

  “Are Devon and Yasmin invited to this weddin? Better yet, have they even met Daddy Dearest?”

  “You know they haven’t met him. I told them about him, though, and they know I’m getting married. But they can’t come.”

  “What is it with the shotgun weddin? You pregnant?”

  Janelle knew the question was rhetorical but the fact that Vanessa had vocalized her secret made her flinch.

  “Stop talking stupid, girl. I just want to get married. It’s that simple.”

  “Whatever. What do you want me to do?”

  “Just show up. It’s nothing fancy. Wear a nice dress.”

  Chapter Twenty

  It was one-hundred-and five-degrees.

  Arianna flicked drops of sweat from her chest as she relaxed in the whirlpool at the Twelfth Street Gym and stared at the thermometer floating in the water.

  She sat with her back to one of the jets, allowing the pressure to massage a sore spot damaged from a fall she’d taken years before literally chasing a story.

  She wanted to stimulate another part of her body, but didn’t want to orgasm in front of the wrinkled old man who had joined her in the water.

  Instead, she made polite conversation with him as they watched two women
swim laps in the pool.

  When he finally left, she moved to the other side of the tub, her knees resting on the step below the jets, her legs shoulder width apart. Her body was positioned for satisfaction, a jet aimed straight between her thighs.

  After pleasuring herself, Arianna got out of the whirlpool and went to the sauna to get Kenny, her workout partner and dinner companion for the evening.

  They showered and he followed her to Warm Daddy’s, a music and soul food joint a few minutes from the gym on South Front Street.

  It was one of Kenny’s favorite spots in the city. The restaurant was decorated in dark wood with bright red walls and abstract prints of musical scenes. He enjoyed the ambience as much as the food.

  Arianna was treating to celebrate the twenty-five pounds he’d dropped since they started working out together.

  Still, she couldn’t help but turn up her nose when Kenny ordered the ribs.

  “I can order anything I want, remember?” he said, blowing her off.

  The waitress, a petite, light-skinned sister with locks in the ugly stage, smiled.

  “You’re right,” Arianna said. “I’ll have the crab cakes.”

  The waitress took their menus and left.

  “I’ll get you off that pork some day,” Arianna said, smiling.

  “One thing at a time,” Kenny said. “So how are things with you and Mr. Sexy?”

  After she slept with Chauncey, Arianna told Kenny about her relationship with him.

  She and Kenny were getting close and she didn’t want him to mistake their friendship for something more.

  “It’s Mr. Good Body – I mean Chauncey – and I haven’t seen him in a while so I don’t know.”

  Kenny grinned. “What’d you do to drive him away so soon?”

  “Ha. Ha,” Arianna said sarcastically as she sipped her water. “I didn’t do anything. He’s been busy with work.”

  “The ol’ work excuse, huh?”

  “Could be an excuse. Could be the truth. I don’t know him well enough to know, yet.”