Synergy (16 page)

Almost
as if on cue, Dee’s phone buzzed next to her as she finished
applying the last bit of makeup. Her screen told her it was a text
from Jason. Opening it, she read what he had to say.

‘
Hey, are you free
tonight? I was wondering if you wanted to go for dinner, or we
could just order in if you just wanna chill and watch a movie? Need
a ride
?’

As soon
as Dee saw the word ‘dinner’ she panicked a little bit inside. She
knew he had money, and something made her nervous at the prospect
of him taking her out. She wondered if he might choose a real fancy
place she didn’t fit in. Maybe it would be confusing whether it was
a date or not. Either way, ordering in sounded less fancy and more
relaxed, so she replied after thinking for a minute.

‘
We can order in.
When you picking me up
?’

She
followed her reply with a winking emoticon, so she didn’t sound so
demanding. She wasn’t sure why he had offered her a ride tonight,
when he hadn’t before, but either way she was glad. She didn’t feel
like doing the same bus ride as before, and a cab would have been
too expensive. Of course, she could probably always catch a ride
off Tip, but she didn’t want him to know where she was going. That
hotel was fancy.

Jason

Jason
looked at the text message Dee had just sent him, and smiled. He
replied asking her if 7pm would be okay, and she instantly replied
it would. He set his phone down on the bed, and thought about
seeing her later. He wondered what she would look like, what mood
she would be in. After all, following the conversation they had
days ago, her bad mood put him on edge. He had never seen a woman
with such rage. Then again, every other time he had seen her, she
had been...perfect. She had a tough exterior but he had seen her
more vulnerable side. He had seen where she grew up, her
relationship with her brother, and the way she spoke about her son.
He could tell she loved him, and remembered the tears that glossed
over her eyes when she told him she didn’t live with him anymore.
He knew that had to be tough for her and his mind then turned to
the new baby, the baby that was his too. Would she be able to
afford to live with this baby? Probably not. He knew he was going
to have to step in, offer financial help. He knew if they did it
the proper way through the authorities that he would probably a owe
a lot of child maintenance anyway with his income, but if it took
more, he would give more. He made a mental note that this was a
conversation he needed to have with Dee.

Once the
serious thoughts had evaporated for a minute, Jason thought about
later that night. He wondered what they would talk about, what they
would eat and do. He had pretty much every channel on the hotel TV
so finding something to watch probably wouldn’t be a problem. He
decided to not over think things, and to just go with the flow.
He’d see what she wanted to do. It was a weird situation, he knew
that, but he was determined to step up and be a man about it. He
knew there may be some difficult decisions ahead, but he knew he
had to do right for the child’s sake. He had such a brilliant
upbringing, and he wanted the same for his child. He wanted to show
the child a good life, he wanted his parents and his grandparents
involved in their lives, so they could feel love like he did. He
didn’t know what the future held, and he knew Dee may not have the
same outlook as he did, but something would work out, he was sure
of it.

It was
only 1pm, and Jason had another five hours before he even had to
set off to pick up Dee. For once, he had had a slow day. He had
been to the studio briefly this morning, but there wasn’t much more
to do. He had actually finished all recording, and the songs had
been finalised. This morning consisted of him and his team deciding
which songs would be the lucky ones that made the final tracklist.
There had been some debate, but after a few hours, it was decided.
Fifteen of the twenty-two songs recorded had made the final cut.
Now he only had promo work until the album was set for release, but
until then, his manager had given him the rest of the day off. Him
and Tom had grabbed lunch, and then they’d gone their separate ways
for the day. Jason decided it was about time he kept to his promise
of getting to know Dee. Since she’d told him she was pregnant, his
every spare thought was about her and the baby.

After he
made sure the hotel room was presentable, Jason headed to the gym
on the outskirts of town. He had been at least twice a week already
since he’d been working in Detroit. He liked to keep himself fit,
and lord knows in his line of work you had to. If you even showed
one sign of slipping on your fitness regime, the public and media
would be on you like vultures. You’d be ridiculed, paraded in
magazines with before and after photos, and questioned why it’s
happened. Are they depressed? Have they been overeating? He never
wanted to give the vultures reason to talk, so for that reason he
liked to do what he could to keep himself looking good. He wasn’t
part of the celebrity culture that was pictured falling out of
clubs drunk or getting arrested with DUI’s. He preferred to keep
his private life as private as he could.

Though
the workout felt good, Jason couldn’t switch his thoughts off. He
pictured in his head what it would be like to have a child. He
wondered whether it would be a son or a daughter. Either one, he
would be happy. He saw Tom with Lydia and the bond they shared, and
he hoped his bond with his own child would be just as strong. He
thought about Dee having a son, and wondered how her child would
feel about having a new sibling, about possibly having a new father
figure in his life. Truth be told, Jason was hoping he could make
something work with Dee. He found her fascinating, as well as
beautiful, and he was intrigued by her and her life. Does she like
basketball? Can she cook? What kind of music does she like? Can she
sing? He realised he really hadn’t learnt much about her at all in
the three times he’d seen her. He hadn’t learned anything in the
first night, besides the fact she had a brother, sister and a son.
The second time, he met her brother; he heard her sister was the
brains of the family, and he knew she walked home from the club
where she worked as a stripper. She liked weed, and beer, and one
thing he’d learned from the third time he’d seen her: she had a
temper. Jason looked forward to getting to know the girl he barely
knew but would soon be a huge part of his life.

Once he
had returned from the gym, he had a bite to eat before showering
and making himself presentable. He called his mother to check in,
as he did every few days, and saw that she was fine. She sounded
her usual, happy self and was happy to hear her son was making an
effort with his baby’s mother. Before he left to pick Dee up, he
phoned down to the front desk of the hotel and asked them to bring
some drinks up for his return. When they asked what drinks he would
like, he stopped himself from asking for wine once he realised his
guest was pregnant. Instead, he asked for a variety of soft drinks
and some snacks. As he left for his car, he found himself feeling a
little nervous. First date nerves?

Chapter 14 – You’re Forgiven

Dee
wasn’t particularly dressed up for an occasion, but Jason thought
she was stunning. She was dressed in tight jeans, a fitted top and
gold hoop earrings, which he’d now noticed she’d worn every time
he’d seen her. The earrings had a name embellished in the middle of
them, though he had never been close enough to notice what they
said. He could only assume they said ‘Dee’ but she always had her
long curls in the way. Tonight, her usual curls weren’t there;
instead, she was sporting a straightened sleek look. Still, it
flowed over her shoulders and back perfectly. When he pulled up in
the car, it only took seconds before the front door to her house
opened, and she stepped out, locking the door behind her. He didn’t
even get chance to cut off the engine, so instead, he watched her
walk to the car, her hips strutting in her high heels. This was the
first time he had seen her house where she lived alone, as he’d
only ever been to her mother’s, however, he didn’t get to see past
the front door as she closed it so quickly.

Jason
had been raised to respect women growing up, and he always had the
upmost respect for all women, family or not. He liked to treat
women as a lady, not as a piece of meat like many. Of course, he’d
had his flings in the past but if he was interested in a woman, he
treated them right. The men in his family were old school, and
liked to play the part of the gentlemen. He had adopted this nature
growing up, so opening a door or pulling out a seat was second
nature to him. However, Dee had barely given him a chance to step
out of the car let alone walk around to the passenger side to open
it for her. As quick as a flash, she had strutted to the car, a
woman on a mission, and let herself in. He pulled himself back from
sitting half out of the car, and positioned himself back in the
seat, shutting his door after him.

“
I was about to
get your door
” he told her, not wanting
her to think he didn’t care.

While he
was expecting a smile or a ‘thanks’, she instead waved her hand
dismissively.

“
You don’t gotta
do that
” she said, buckling up her
seatbelt beside him.

It was a
slightly awkward drive on the way to his hotel. While it wasn’t a
long drive, the time seemed to go much slower, exacerbated by the
fact they hit almost every red light. Luckily, the radio playing
idly in the background provided a topic to talk about; Music. It
was his first love in life, and it would be his last, he thought.
He found that when all else failed in conversation, you could
always get someone to open up by asking what music they liked.
While you may have your disagreements, it opens up a gateway. Dee
wasn’t shy about sharing her musical preferences. She told Jason
about the rappers she liked and which she didn’t, and she expressed
her distaste for some of their person lives. Jason asked her what
kind of music she was brought up on, what her mother or father
listened to, and she told him her mother listened to Whitney and
Aretha, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder.

“
What about Al
Green
?” he asked, turning into the street
of the hotel.

“
Oh yeah, him
too
” she agreed.

“
He’s a great guy
too
”

“
You met
him
?”

“
He actually lives
close to me. His church is real close
.”

“
Shit
.” Dee replied with a surprised
tone.

As the car came to a complete stop, Jason cut the engine
before getting out of the car and walking around to her passenger
side in an attempt to get her door properly this time. By the time
he walked around, she had already opened the door and was in the
process of getting out of her seat. He pulled the door open
completely and held it for her as she got out; slamming it closed
once she was out. She half-smiled and muttered ‘
thanks
’ awkwardly, feeling in alien
territory.

As they
made their way to the front of the hotel, the doorman inside opened
the door for their arrival, smiling politely. Jason thanked him
before immediately heading to the elevator, careful not to attract
too many eyes. It was all attention that he didn’t need and he was
pretty sure she wouldn’t appreciate it either. As the two of them
stood in the elevator quietly, Dee fiddled with her handbag,
reaching for some lip gloss inside which she applied to her lips
using the elevator mirror. He tried not to watch her, and instead,
looked at his feet and then the buttons on the panel.

“
You
hungry
?” he asked after a few
seconds.

“
Starving. Are
you
?”

He
smiled and agreed. He liked a woman that liked food, so she had
already gained brownie points in his mind.

Inside
his hotel room, the staff had left a selection of soft drinks at
his request. When he swiped his room card to enter, Dee went ahead
of him, throwing her bag down near the sofa and then taking off her
heels, and placing them down neatly next to her bag. Suddenly, she
lost half of her height and he couldn’t help but laugh a little bit
at the decline. Throwing herself onto a seat on the sofa, she
looked over to him puzzled.

“
What you laughing
at
?”

“
Nothing
”

“
Tell
me
!” she demanded, her eyebrows furrowed
but a smile making its way across her lips
simultaneously.

“
Stand
up
” he said, and made his way over to her
at the sofa. As she stood up from her seat, she stood almost a foot
shorter than him without her high heels, and as he looked down at
her, a smirk crossed his mouth. As she watched his smirk, she began
to smile herself at how dwarfed she felt in comparison. Before she
sat back down, she slapped his arm playfully and told him to ‘shut
up.’