Twisted (22 page)

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Authors: Tracy Brown

BOOK: Twisted
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Celeste felt her heart racing in her chest. “What question?” He was standing so close that she could feel his breath on her face.
“You don't love me anymore?”
Celeste looked into his eyes in silence, refusing to answer the question. But when he leaned in to kiss her, she didn't resist. And it felt just like old times. He held her close to him as if she might get away again. But Celeste wasn't going anywhere. She clung to him just as tightly and she was so happy that she wanted to cry. Pulling away reluctantly, she said, “I gotta go.” Celeste walked quickly to her car, hoping to get away from him before she fell back in love with him all over again.
When she got home she found Ishmael in her kitchen cooking. She smiled, wondering what had prompted this. Ishmael smiled back. “Getting my Rachael Ray on,” he said. “I'm making shrimp jambalaya. Hope you like it.”
Celeste shook her head. “You are too much, Ishmael. When did you learn to cook?”
He rolled his eyes. “Nina taught me how to make a few things. At least she was good for something.”
Celeste sat down at her kitchen table and rested her head on her chin. “Have you heard from her?”
He nodded, stirring the contents of the pot on Celeste's stove. “Yeah, she keeps calling. I keep ignoring her. Eventually, she'll get the point.”
“What about Robin?” Celeste asked. “Do you miss her?”
Ishmael shrugged. “Not really. She said it's over and I'm not gonna keep stressing her. It's like R. Kelly said. When a woman's fed up there ain't nothing you can do about it.” Ishmael really did miss Robin. He thought about her more often than he was willing to admit. He thought about Hezekiah, too, and wondered what it was about Robin that made him change his mind about dating women with kids. He wished that he had the heart to call her and ask her to change her mind about dealing with him. But he felt that he was too much of a player to beg her.
Celeste sighed. “Well, I wish your boy would give up that easily,” she said. “Rah-lo just ambushed me at my grandmother's house.”
Ishmael stopped stirring immediately. “What?” Ishmael set the spoon down and leaned against the counter. “What was he doing at your grandmother's house?” Ishmael couldn't believe that Rah-lo was going this far to win Celeste's heart once more.
“When I got there Nana told me that he came to talk to her about me. She heard him out and then tricked me into going over there so that I would talk to him. So I had lunch with him today.”
Ishmael felt a twinge of jealousy. He shook his head
disapprovingly. “You're letting him break you down,” he said. “What about ole boy? What's his name?”
“Bryson,” Celeste answered. “What about him? Nothing has changed. And Rah-lo is
not
breaking me down, Ish. I'm just trying to see if we can salvage a friendship now that our relationship is over.”
Ishmael scrunched up his lips in disbelief. “Whatever!” He waved her off and went back to fixing dinner. “Before you know it, you'll be back in love again.” He turned his back to her and added some spices to the dish.
Celeste looked at him. “You seem upset. What? Are you mad at me for agreeing to have lunch with him?” Celeste was beginning to have second thoughts herself. Seeing Ishmael's reaction only made her question her decision even more.
Ishmael shook his head. “Nah. Why would I be mad? It's your life.”
Celeste watched him, knowing that he was lying. She could tell that he was upset. “You don't think it's a good idea, huh?”
Ishmael finally turned to face her. “You want me to answer that as your friend or as Rah-lo's friend?”
“Well, Rah-lo's not your friend anymore, for one thing. And second of all, when he
was
your friend you never had a problem telling me what you really thought. So don't sugarcoat anything now.”
Ishmael nodded. She was right. He pulled up a chair across from her and sat down, leaving the pot simmering on
low. “I like you, Celeste. A whole lot. I like you as a friend—and maybe even as more than a friend.” He looked into her eyes so that she could see how serious he was. “I told you that I had a crush on you years ago, but as Rah-lo's friend I couldn't act on it. But now you're not with him anymore. And I'm not with Nina. I know you got Bradford or whatever—”
“Bryson.”
“Yeah, him. But I can tell he don't move you like a New York thug would.”
Celeste laughed. Ishmael was too much.
“All I'm saying is Rah-lo had his chance. He blew it. You shouldn't let him just pop back into your life and set up shop. That's not fair to the rest of us waiting in line.” He looked at her and smiled. He wanted Celeste in the worst way. Even the feelings he was developing for Robin paled in comparison to what he had always felt for Celeste. In his mind, she was available now. He could be with her and Rah-lo would never have to know. At that point, even if Rah-lo did find out, Ishmael wouldn't give a fuck. All bets were off as far as loyalty was concerned. “It's not fair to you, either,” he said. “Look at what you've done for yourself, Celeste. This condominium is beautiful. You got a great job, friends, money—you don't need him. You've got a whole new life here. Why let him come back and fuck it up? What is it about him that you can't resist for too long?”
She shook her head, not knowing how to answer. “We have a lot of history, Ishmael. He protected me. He supported me, financially and emotionally. He made me feel safe, and loved, and I never had to worry about anything when I was with him—money, power—he gave it all to me.”
“He was like a father to you. That's how you're making it sound.”
“It's not just that—”
“No, it's not
just
that. But that's a big part of it. He gave you the world and what woman doesn't want that? What woman doesn't want to feel loved and protected and all that? But he's not the only man willing to give you that, Celeste. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?” Ishmael was laying it all on the line. He didn't want to lose Celeste to Rah-lo again. Not this time.
Celeste melted. Hearing Ishmael pour his heart out to her this way was incredibly touching. She shrugged her shoulders. “You're right. I guess there's a part of me that just has a soft spot for Rah-lo, Ish. I mean … he was my man for so many years. He took care of me.”
“I'll take care of you.” Ishmael's words hung between them for several silent moments. They held each other's gaze and waited to see who would fill the void of silence between them. The smoke detector went off, bringing them back to reality. Celeste scurried over to the pot on the stove, which was bubbling over, and Ishmael walked over to the smoke detector and fanned the smoke away from it. When it stopped
beeping, he came back into the kitchen and found Celeste at the stove cleaning up the mess. She turned to face him.
“Listen,” she said. “Maybe you're right about Rah-lo. After lunch tomorrow I'll fall back. I don't need him coming back into my life now. Not after all that I've done to get myself to where I am.” She looked at Ishmael seriously. “And I don't think we should get involved, either, Ish. It's too complicated. I was your best friend's mistress for years. And even though he's not my man now and he's not your friend, either, it just doesn't seem right.” She looked at Ishmael's beautiful face and physique and found it hard to turn him down. But something just felt wrong about the whole situation.
He nodded. “Okay. I respect that.” He was disappointed and it showed. “Let's eat.”
Celeste pulled out some dinner plates and prepared to have a friendly meal with Ishmael. She suddenly felt like she was in way over her head. Rah-lo wanted her; so did Ishmael. And Bryson was also in the picture. She felt flattered by all the attention but overwhelmed by all the decisions she had to make all of a sudden. As she and Ishmael shared dinner, they changed the subject and discussed the weather, politics, current events—anything that would keep them away from the subject of the passion bubbling just beneath the surface between them. After dinner, Celeste watched a movie with Ishmael until he fell asleep on her couch. As he slept, she looked at him lying there just as sexy as ever. She took a shower, threw on some jeans and a sweater, and
headed over to Bryson's place for the night. Seeing Ishmael had her yearning to be touched.
 
 
The next day, Rah-lo arrived at Celeste's job and signed in at the security desk, saying to the security guard, “Celeste Styles; Miller, Wilson, and Carter.” As the guard checked the directory for Celeste's extension, Rah-lo nervously fidgeted with the flowers in his hand. He was not only concerned about seeing Celeste face-to-face again. He was also bothered by the fact that Asia had come to town. Uncle James had informed Rah-lo of her unexpected visit the day before. He now wanted to win Celeste's heart back before Asia got a chance to throw her usual shit in the game. The security guard dialed Celeste's extension and informed her that she had a guest at the front desk. She slid her feet back into her stilettos and grabbed her Coach purse. She eagerly made her way to the elevator bank, and when the doors opened, Keisha stepped off.
“Hey, girl,” Keisha said. “Running out to have lunch with fine-ass Ishmael?”
Celeste smiled at her nosy friend. “No. I'm having lunch with a blast from my past today.”
“Who?” Keisha asked, curious.
“Rah-lo.”
“That bastard from New York with the wife and three kids?”
“Shhh!” Celeste hissed at her, looking around to see if any of their white-collar coworkers were within earshot.
“Shhh, nothing! Are you fucking crazy? I thought you had more sense than that. What is he doing in Atlanta?” Keisha was disappointed. She had heard all about Rah-lo and his reluctance to leave his wife. Celeste had come to Atlanta brokenhearted, and only recently had she started to let go of that pain.
“
He
found
me
,” Celeste clarified. “I'm only going to lunch with him to see if we can still be friends. We have a lot of history together. I guess I just need some kind of closure.”
Keisha rolled her eyes. “Oh God! What is this shit, the fucking
Young and the Restless
? You know this ain't smart, Celeste. The man is married. He has three little rug rats running around at home. He ain't got no job, no benefits. What's the matter with you? You're smarter than this!”
Celeste shook her head. Keisha was being very dramatic, as usual. “I would love to hear your wonderful lecture, Keisha. But Rah-lo's waiting for me downstairs so he can take me to lunch.” She pressed for the elevator again and Keisha looked surprised.
“That thug is downstairs? Here? Right now?”
Celeste nodded. “Yup.”
The elevator doors opened and Celeste stepped on and waved good-bye to her friend. Keisha stepped on as well. “Uh-uh, bitch! You can save all that waving for later. I'm
going, too. I wanna see the man that has you throwing away all your common sense.” Keisha shook her head and looked at Celeste in amazement. “Yeah,” Keisha said. “I gotta see this dude up close.”
The elevator doors opened and they stepped out. To Celeste's surprise, Rah-lo stood leaning against the wall wearing a pair of khakis, a button-up, and a pair of crisp Air Force Is. In his hand he held a beautiful bunch of white calla lilies—Celeste's favorite. She smiled as she walked over to him. “Hi. You look nice,” she said to him. “Are these for me?”
Rah-lo smiled modestly. “Thanks. And yes, these are for you. I remember that you like these.” He handed her the bouquet wrapped in a pretty red satin ribbon.
Celeste sniffed the flowers and was swept away by their lovely fragrance. She had almost forgotten about Keisha. But she was hard to forget about. She stood peering over Celeste's shoulder, sizing Rah-lo up. Celeste took Keisha by the hand and looked at Rah-lo. “This is my friend Keisha. Keisha, this is Raheem.” Rah-lo reached to shake her hand but was interrupted by a disturbance to their right.
“Move the fuck out of my way, bitch!” Asia was storming in their direction, pushing executives and clients alike out of her way. Celeste's jaw dropped.
“Look at this shit!” Asia yelled, looking at her husband. “Why you dressed like that, Rah-lo? Where's the hoodies and Timbs you normally wear? You gotta change who you are to impress this bitch?”
Asia got right in Celeste's face as Keisha looked on. “You like fucking bitches' husbands, Celeste? You like taking food out of my kids' mouths so you can have what you want? You fucking home wrecker!” The people in the lobby were staring and a crowd was forming around them. Keisha stepped back slightly, wanting there to be no question about whether or not she was involved in the dispute. This was her place of work, after all. She stayed close enough to Celeste to help her kick Asia's ass if need be, though. Celeste looked like a deer caught in headlights as Asia cursed and made a scene. “You dirty bitch!”

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