I Saw Your Profile (19 page)

Arianna
stuffed the documents in the pocket of her robe, locked the box and put it back
under the pile of clothes.

She
opened the front door to find Chauncey standing in the middle of the living
room. She jumped, putting her hand to her chest.

“You
scared me. I thought you were still in bed,” she said her heart pounding below
her hand.

“Where
have you been?”

“I
couldn’t sleep so I thought some fresh air might help. I sat on the front steps
for a little while and did some thinking.”
 

“What
were you thinking about?”

“You.
Us. Stuff.”

 
“Tell me something? How much of what
Nicole told you do you believe?”

Arianna
thought for a minute then she walked toward him, holding onto the keys in her
pocket so they wouldn’t jingle. She stood face to face with him and gave him
the kind of answer she knew he would have given her.

“I
believe in how I feel when I’m with you. That’s all you need to know right now.
Let’s go back to bed.”

Arianna
lay awake in bed until she was sure Chauncey was asleep, and then slipped his
keys back in his pocket.

Sunlight
forced Arianna from another forgotten dream. She opened her eyes to find
Chauncey staring at her. His face was almost menacing. She wondered if he’d
found the papers in her robe.

“Why are
you looking at me like that?”

“I’m not
sure I like the way you were last night.”

“Are you
saying you didn’t enjoy it?”

“No.”

“So
what’s the problem?”

He rolled out of bed and put
on his boxer shorts.

“I’ve never had a woman take
control in the bedroom. Not like that. That wasn’t very ladylike of you. Is
that the way you’re going to be from now on?”

Arianna
smiled, pleased with the effect her performance had on her bedmate.

She sat
up and grabbed her robe from the foot of the bed.

“I’m not
sure there’s going to be a
from now on.
”

“What
are you saying?” Chauncey asked.

 
“That we’ve gone from a lease with option
to a tenancy at will. Depending on how you act, I might have to evict you.”

Arianna
laughed. Chauncey failed to see the humor.

“So last
night was about nothing more than your carnal desires? I’m not a piece of meat
and your pussy isn’t so good that you can just have your way with me and simply
dismiss me.”

“It was
good enough to have you screaming my name last night. And who are you to talk
about dismissing people when you just dismiss all the women you get bored with?
Like your wives.”

His eyes
bulged. “I only had one wife.”

She
quickly corrected herself.

“Oh
that’s right. You never married Nicole. Your wife and your various fiancées.”

“Lady
Harris kicked
me
to the curb as you Americans say. And since you think
so little of me, I think it’s time I leave your presence as well.”

“Fine.
Consider yourself dismissed.”

“So this is it?” he asked, his arms folded tightly across
his chest.

Arianna had gotten out of bed and was putting on her
panties. “Yeah. How does it feel to be used?”

Chauncey’s eyes were like ice. “It’s a good thing for you I
don’t hit women.”

“No. It’s good for you because I hit back.”

After Chauncey left, Arianna took a shower. She douched and
scrubbed her cinnamon skin almost raw, trying to erase all traces of his
essence.
 

When she
was done cleansing, she wrapped herself in a towel and went downstairs, where
she made a cup of tea and checked her email.

Sandwiched
between the ads for Viagra and low-interest mortgages, was a message with the
cryptic subject line: “R
evenge is
Sweet.”

She
clicked it open.

My
sister,

 
Thanks for the warnings about Chauncey
Cockfield. It’s nice to see sisters looking out for each other. Wouldn’t you
love to take it a step further and pay this bastard back? I’ve got something in
mind. Write back if you’re interested.

Brenda

Arianna went for the mouse
like a kid attacking presents under a Christmas tree. She hit the reply button
and composed a response.

I
am definitely interested! Maybe we can work together, but I’d like to know more
about you and how you know Chauncey. Give me a call so we can talk.

Brenda
Jackson called at midnight, forgetting about the time difference between the
East and West coasts. Arianna learned she was a California realtor whom
Chauncey convinced was the love of his life.

Brenda
had learned the truth in an email from Nicole.

She
had broached the subject of revenge with Nicole several times, but it was
against Nicole’s religion.

Arianna
assured her she didn’t have the same hang-ups and agreed with Brenda that they
use the Internet to set up Chauncey.

“It’s
poetic justice,” Brenda said. “We’ve been pawns on his little chess board and
it’s time for us to checkmate his ass.”
 

Chapter Twenty-Three

Bertha
Clark’s phone rang and rang unanswered. Arianna
was about to hang up when a raspy voice finally said, “Hello.”

“Hello,
ma’am. My name is Arianna Singleton. I’m an investigative reporter and I’m
working on a story about an Internet Romeo named Chauncey Cockfield. Your name
came up as someone who might know him.”

“He’s my
husband.”

“Your
husband? Not your ex-husband?”

“Not
unless he divorced me without me knowin it.”

“But
you’re separated?”

“I
kicked him out and haven’t heard from him since.”

“Would
you mind telling me how you met him and how long you’ve been married?”

“What’d
you say this was for again?”

“A story
about Internet dating. Mr. Cockfield has apparently met a lot of women online
and I don’t think he’s told any of them that he’s married.”

The
woman laughed. “I’m not surprised. That’s how I met him.”

An hour
later, Arianna had a notebook filled with the details of how Bertha Clark
became Mrs. Chauncey Cockfield.

Bertha
was a lonely divorcee when she met Chauncey online. At the time, he was living
in London looking for an American bride to get citizenship. He was offering ten
thousand dollars, half up front.

If she
didn’t find love, cash and the company of a handsome man was a good second.

They
lived together for two years. In that time, he convinced her he’d fallen in
love and their marriage was real. He used her truck to store his massage table
and pamper party supplies.

Tired of
sharing, she bought herself a new one, thinking he’d help with the payments,
and let him have her old truck.

A year
and a half into the marriage, Bertha’s wedded bliss turned into matrimonial
misery
–
she
learned the rumors were true about her husband massaging more than his clients’
muscles.

Soon
after, she discovered one of his sex partners was her wild teenage daughter.
She attacked him with a knife, but he overpowered her, escaping with his life
and his gifted truck.

When
Arianna asked why she never divorced him, Bertha said all that mattered to her
was Chauncey was out of her life. Once immigration found out he was gone, they
stopped the citizenship proceedings.

Arianna
called Nicole and traded Bertha’s tale for Nicole’s revelations about wife
number one.

He met
the first Mrs. Cockfield in college when he left Barbados to get a degree in
the United Kingdom. He didn’t want to go back home, so instead he took a wife.

He
started a computer consultant business, became a father, and got British
citizenship. He left the wife once he got the papers, and made half ass
attempts at being a father.

The wife
divorced him and got half the value of the business, which he lost soon after.
That’s when he discovered Internet dating. Being legal in Britain wasn’t good
enough anymore. He wanted what America had to offer.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Nicole
and Arianna decided Janelle needed to know what
they did about Chauncey.

They made a three-way call to
her house, but got Vanessa on the other line.

“Slow
down lady. This ain’t Janelle,” Vanessa said after Nicole blurted out that she
had new information on Chauncey. “Who’d you say you was?”

“I’m
sorry. My name is Nicole. Is Janelle there?”

“She’s
busy. Who’s the other person on the line?”

“My name
is Arianna Singleton. Can you get Janelle for us?”

“I told
you she was busy. You said somethin about Chauncey. What do ya’ll know about
her fiancé?”

Nicole
sighed. “So she really is going to marry him?”

“What do
you care?” Vanessa asked.

Arianna
impatiently chimed in. “Who are you?”

“Janelle’s
best friend.”

“Good.
If you’re her friend, then warn her not to marry the asshole,” Arianna said.

“Been there.
Done that,” said Vanessa.

“Do you
think the fact that he’s already got a wife might do it?” Arianna asked.

“Oh
HaaaYull No! I knew he was no good. You mean to tell me he’s gonna say ‘I do’
to this woman knowin he got a wife already?” Vanessa asked.

 
“I’ve tried to warn her about him before,
but she wouldn’t believe me,” Nicole said.

“She
won’t listen to me either,” said Vanessa.
                                
“That massage man will come back and sweet talk hisself right back into
her panties.”

“Well,
I’ve talked to his wife and I’ve got the marriage certificate,” Arianna said.

“But if
he tells her he got a divorce, she’ll just take his word for it,” Vanessa said.

“There’s
got to be something we can do to convince her,” Nicole said.

Nearly
at a loss for what to do, Arianna suddenly remembered the tape.

“Shit!
How could I forget?”

“What is
it?” asked Nicole.

“Chauncey
was here this past weekend and I got him on tape talking about her.”

“Her
who? The wife or Janelle?” Vanessa asked.

“Janelle.
I made the tape hoping to get something to use online as part of my exposé.”

 
“I’m not even gonna ask what you’re
talkin about,” Vanessa said. “I just wanna know if this tape will convince her
not to marry him?”

“Yeah,
unless she’s a straight up fool,” Arianna said. “It proves he was just here
with me when he’s supposed to be marrying her.”

 
Beep! Beep! Beep!

Arianna announced her arrival at
Nicole’s with her horn. She’d left work early that Friday to beat rush hour
traffic getting to Maryland, but still had to face bumper-to-bumper cars on her
way to Richmond as weekenders headed to Virginia Beach.

This was the first time the new
friends would see each other.

Arianna exited the car and
waited beside it. She wore a powder blue designer pantsuit with turquoise
accessories.

Nicole, who had changed after
work, bounced down her town house steps in a pair of jeans and a long flowing
white blouse. She embraced Arianna.

“Hey lady,” Nicole said. “It’s
nice to finally put a face with the voice.”

“I know. I can’t believe we’re
actually meeting each other,” Arianna said.

“You look just like I thought
you would,” Nicole said.

     
“How’s that?”
asked Arianna.
 

“Sophisticated,” Nicole said. “Polished.”

“What made you think that?”

“The way you talk. How did you
imagine me?”

“I’m not sure,” Arianna said. “I
guess an attractive woman about my height.”

“Okay, so you got my height
wrong but...”

Arianna smiled. “Yeah, but I was
right about you being attractive.”

“Thanks,” Nicole said.

Arianna wondered about Janelle
and the others.

“What did the women in your
support group look like?”

Nicole laughed. “It’s not a
support group. They were all different, though. I think we were all surprised,
but you know how sisters do. We tried to act like we weren’t comparing
ourselves to each other, but we were.”

“It must’ve been pretty awkward
for you, considering you’re the one he lived with.”

“Yeah, it was harder than I
thought. Even though I kicked him out and it’s over, I was still a little
jealous seeing all these women he dated while he was under my roof.”

“So why are we doing this? I
could’ve mailed the tape to Vanessa so she could give it to Janelle. How do you
feel seeing me knowing I slept with him?”

“Oh, I’m over the jealousy,
now,” Nicole said. “I prayed about it and Jesus took it away. And I feel like
doing this in person is part of my healing process. It’s what God wants me to
do.”

Arianna rolled her eyes. She was
beginning to hate that she’d let Nicole talk her into making the trip.

I hope she doesn’t preach all the way down there.

They got
into Arianna’s car and put on their seatbelts.

Arianna
turned on the ignition. Her CD player was going full blast with Pru singing
about the aroma of a man.

Nicole
turned down the volume.

“Speaking
of you sleeping with Chauncey, what was he doing at your place last weekend,
and please don’t tell me you let him in your X-box Miss Thang?”

Arianna’s
face registered her surprise.

“I
wanted to ask you the day you mentioned it on the phone, but I didn’t want to
do it with Vanessa on the line,” Nicole said. “After we decided to take this
trip together, I figured I’d wait ‘til I saw you. So spill.”

Arianna
stared straight ahead.

“Well?”
Nicole said.

Arianna
exhaled, and then the words tumbled from her mouth.

“I
didn’t mean to sleep with him. Well, I did mean to, but… Okay. He asked to
explain what really went down between you two and I was dying to see what
bullshit story he was going to tell so I let him come over. I figured I’d at
least get something to use against him. Anyway, I’ve got my needs and…”

“So you
slept with him knowing he’s a con man,” Nicole said, interrupting Arianna and
giving her a chance to catch her breath.

Arianna
twisted her neck in Nicole’s direction with attitude written across her face.

“I used
him just like he used me. And you. And Janelle and God knows who else. Simple
as that.”

“Is it?”
Nicole asked, a hint of accusation in her voice.

“Meaning?”
Arianna said, her attention back on the road.

“Are you
sure you don’t have feelings for him?”

The
question amused Arianna. She turned again to face Nicole.

“Are you
serious? Women
can
have sex without emotions or have you been in love
with every man you screwed?”

“I don’t
screw,” Nicole said.

“Whatever
you call it. Has it always been for love?”

“Yes.”

“Heifer,
please. You ain’t been holy all your life.”

Nicole
laughed. “Okay, there might have been one guy at Hampton before I met Jamal Sr.
But I
thought
I was in love.”

Arianna
chuckled. “No you didn’t. You just couldn’t see past your next orgasm.”

“Okay.
We were talking about you. I hope you’re done with Chauncey for good now.”

“I’m
done fucking him, not fucking
with
him.”

Arianna
and Nicole were greeted by loud voices as Vanessa swung open the door to her
apartment.

“Sorry
it took me so long. There’s sort of a party going on in here,” Vanessa said.

They
stepped inside. “Let me take that,” said Vanessa, pointing to Arianna’s camera
bag. “You must be Arianna.”

Arianna
handed her the bag. “Yes and this is Nicole.”

Vanessa
shook their hands. “Nice to meet y’all. I appreciate you drivin down here.”

From the
foyer, Arianna and Nicole saw Janelle unwrapping a lace teddy to the oohs,
aaahs, and giggles of several women.

“Is that
her with the nightgown?” Arianna asked, once again surprised by Chauncey’s
varied taste. She assumed he preferred his women slender given his obsession
with his own body.

“Yeah,”
Vanessa said. “Those are hairdressers from the salon. They talked me into havin
a last minute shower.”

“You
want us to tell her about Chauncey in front of all these women? At her bridal
shower?” Nicole asked.

“I
didn’t plan it this way,” Vanessa said. “Can you do me a favor and just hang
out for a little while? I’ll get you some food. The shower’s almost over and as
soon as they leave we can talk to her.”

Arianna
and Nicole agreed. They followed Vanessa to the living area where she
introduced them as co-workers without giving their names.

They
received cursory hellos and took seats in the adjoining dining area where Vanessa
brought them plates of lasagna and tossed salad.

“I put
the camera in my room. I’ll get it later, when everybody leaves,” Vanessa
whispered.

“Thanks,”
Arianna said.

Vanessa
went back to her guests.

Impatient
and unable to sit still, Arianna walked onto the balcony off the living room,
leaving the sliding door open. Nicole followed.

The air
was thick and heavy, as if it carried the weight of the news they planned to
deliver Janelle.

“I feel
really bad doing this today,” Nicole said.

“She’s
going to be hurt no matter when we do it,” Arianna responded.

They
peered inside and watched as Janelle opened another gift.

“Where’s
the stripper?” asked one of the hairdressers.

 
“Janelle don’t need no stripper,” another
guest chimed in. “Her husband can get naked and give her a massage. He’s enough
to turn any woman on.”

The room
erupted in laughter.

Arianna
sucked her teeth and turned away. “Give me a break.”

 
“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He’s a freakin Greek
god. Open the presents already,” Vanessa said.

Arianna
laughed at Vanessa’s comment loud enough for the women inside to hear.

She
caught Janelle looking at her with raised eyebrows and averted her gaze.

“What
kind of host are you?” Janelle said. “Stop rushing me.”
 

A guest
handed her another gift. More oohs, aahs and giggles.

When the
last guest had been practically pushed out the door, Arianna and Nicole came
back inside.

“Do you
guys live in Richmond?” Janelle asked, as she packed her gifts. “I thought I
knew all Vanessa’s friends.”

“They’re
not my friends,” Vanessa said, as she emerged from her bedroom carrying the
camera bag. “They’re here for you.”

Janelle wrinkled her face in
curiosity. She turned toward Vanessa.

“What’s going on?”

“My name is Arianna and this
is Nicole. Chauncey was sleeping with the three of us at the same time.”

“You just won’t give up,
will you?” Janelle snapped at Vanessa. She stomped to the couch to grab her
purse, and raced for the door.

Vanessa dashed across the
room ahead of her, locked the door and stood in front of it.

“These women drove all the
way down here and you are goin to hear what they have to say, Janelle.”

“Get the
hell away from the door, Vanessa. You can’t make me stay here!” Janelle
shouted.

Arianna
reached into the bag and got the video camera.

“Look, Janelle. If you don’t
want to listen to us, listen to Chauncey.”

She flipped open the screen,
placed the camera on Vanessa’s coffee table, and pressed play.

Janelle lumbered back to the
living area.

“What is it?”

“Chauncey was with me last
weekend and I taped it.”

 
The four of them sat on the couch, their
eyes glued to the mini screen.

Chauncey’s
voice boomed from the small speaker on the camcorder –
“
Janelle is a sweet woman who
loves me.”

Arianna’s
face was absent, but her voice was loud and clear.

“
Do you love her?”