Love UnCharted (Love's Improbable Possibility) (18 page)

After looking me up and down she said, “Great minds.”

I knew that would be the extent of her compliments and really didn’t have much more to say, so I gave her a final gracious nod and walked out.

On my way out, I found Azmir in the hall, presumably waiting for me.
Could he not have given me a minute?
I could see he was talking to a woman, but her back was towards me. After a few more treads forward, the back of the woman’s hair grew familiar.
Oh, no!
It was Dawn Taylor.

Does this chick stalk him? Why is she always popping up?
We were outside of the main room of the lounge and the music was muffled, making words inaudible without screaming over the music. People were moving about the area, either exiting out of the building or going into the main lounge area. I was at an angle that Azmir couldn’t see me and neither could Dawn with her back to me. 

Eventually, I was close enough to hear her say, “I didn’t see you at the concert. Did you make it? I reserved a seat for you.” My body froze in place.

Azmir replied, “I was there. I had seats on hold already.”

“Oh, I’d been trying to reach out to you to make sure you knew. I’m glad you at least made it to the after party. I have a few people I want you to meet. I was hoping we can do that and then go grab a drink and chat a bit. I haven’t really heard from you since Connecticut,” Dawn paused, awaiting lead from Azmir. When she didn’t get any she continued, “We should really sort that situation out.”

Her tone made my skin crawl. She was still pursuing him.
Were those her calls that he was ignoring during dinner?
I didn’t know what to do.

“Dawn, I told you then it never happened. There’s nothing to discuss. It’s never been my practice to shit where I eat. Let’s just keep it professional.” Azmir
weakly
tried warding her off.

“I understand but…” she sounded frustrated by her thoughts. “Azmir, I can’t…I know I’ve been a bit aggressive and it’s not something that I do with men, but with you it…it’s like the more I see you the more I want to be around you. I thought at first it was simple attraction, but the more I get to know you and the more I learn about you…your reputation, it’s like...” Her voice trailed off. She was at an emotional impasse. “I don’t want to compromise business, but if I had a choice between the two—”

Azmir cut her off. “Dawn, I’m not here alone.”

“Who are you with?” Without giving him a moment to respond, she asked, “Rayna?” Dawn sounded as if she desperately wanted him to say no.

“Yes. Dawn, perhaps if another time, but right now…” It was Azmir’s turn to be at a loss for words.

“Is it serious?” she asked forlorn. “I mean, tell me what I’m up against here.”
Oh, my! She IS forceful!

“Roommate type of serious.” Azmir’s were like a jab in the stomach. I could no longer breath from the blow. There was a pause as Dawn decoded his encrypted words.

“Are you two exclusive?” She was desperately grasping at straws of hope.

“I have to go. I need to find her.” Azmir turned to leave.

I did an about face myself and headed back into the ladies’ room and into a stall to try to catch my breath and fight the harboring tears. After some time, I heard the door open and some chatter that caught my attention.

“Are you okay? What’s the matter?” I didn’t hear a response.

“Don’t cry, baby. What the hell is wrong? Was it something he said? Oh, no! You were so excited to see him tonight. No…no…don’t cry,” came from the same voice.

I figured the other party was too distraught to speak. It seemed as though I wasn’t the only one with drama going on here. At least this person had a shoulder to cry on. That led my thoughts to my loss of Michelle.

That’s it. I need get out of here before I breakdown publicly.

I flew out of the stall and over to the sink to observe my makeup once again before washing my hands. When I turned the corner for the door out of the bathroom, I saw the two
weeping women
that I’d heard from the stall. It was Dawn and another woman that I didn’t know. When Dawn laid eyes on me it was as if she’d seen a ghost. I was a bit shell-shocked myself. Her eyes were red and her mascara ran down her cheeks. She was panting out of breathing and her red stained lips were parted to assist with her breathing.

Without speaking words, our eyes communicated
well
. Mine told her I hated her for barking up my tree that was Azmir. Her eyes told me she resented me for being in the way. The other woman tried to follow our scowls, confused by it all. I walked out of the bathroom with no words for her.

Flustered from my run-ins of the night, I tried to remember which door I’d originally come out of, but nothing looked familiar. The music had stopped and I heard someone with a silken masculine voice speak over the microphone system. I figured it was time for the performance and had hoped they didn’t start locking doors for security reasons. There were several entrances I saw that led into the main room. I had to try one to start the hunt. I chose my door without hesitation. When I pulled it opened and started in, I immediately noticed that I was at the top of the room and had entered into the door closest to the stage.
Crap!

I saw women with their hands raised eagerly and hopping on their toes like toddlers.
What in the…?
In a nanosecond all eyes flew to me, causing me to still in my tracks.

The sleek voice flowed throughout the room again and it crooned, “Daaaamn, baby! I remember you from the concert,” with a strong southern twang. “Look it here!” it continued. I followed it to discover it was none other than Trey Songz himself…and he was looking in my direction. I instinctively turned to see who he was speaking to and then heard him say, “Nah, baby, you in the gold. Is that gold?” he asked, straining his eyes, using his hand to shade his eyes from the lights glaring in his face.

A brolic figure standing next to the door that I’d just come through called out to me. “Miss, he’s talking to you.” My heart sped in my chest. I looked back up to the stage and pointed to myself.

“Yeah, baby, you. What’s yo’ name?” he smiled, very much aware of his charisma. His vanity was built into the slant of his eyes.

With hesitance I sputtered, “Rayna.”

“Hold up. Let me come down there to get a better look.” The crowd cheered and laughed, apparently enjoying the show. My mouth went dry. I was extremely embarrassed and wanted to crawl into a dark hole, but I couldn’t. I had too many reasons not to fold—namely three, and they were all females, vying for Azmir’s affection.
Never let them see you sweat!

Trey made his way down and as he approached me, I fought harder to maintain my cool. “Daaaaaaaaamn!” he exclaimed, walking just a few feet away. When he got up so close that I could smell his cologne, I felt my legs chilling from nervousness. “You even better looking up close. What you say yo’ name is?” he asked as he slipped his arm around my shoulder.

He was quite the performer and his audience clearly loved it by their outbursts and chants. I chuckled ruefully, unfazed by his undeniable charm.

“Rayna,” I repeated.

“Oh, Rayna. That’s a sexy name for a sexy woman, baby.” He batted his long eyelashes.

I realized he was a lot taller than I gave him previously. I smiled.
Trey, you don’t want it with Rayna
, I flirted in my mind.

“Did you come alone? Please, god, say you came with ya’ girls!”

The room was filled with laughter. Even I had to chuckle at that one. He was good at this. I shook my head and gave a pouty lip to buffer the blow. I wasn’t alone
although at least three women in the room wish I was.

“Damn,” he said smoothly and gave a deep exhale. My cheeks flushed. “Okay, gorgeous. Just before you burst through those doors and in to my dreams—
I mean this room
.” Another round of laughs from the room. He laughed, too. “I was asking someone to pick a old school Trey Songz hit that we can kick the show off with. I want to show a little evolution, you know what I mean, baby?” I couldn’t get past his accent, it really didn’t come across in his music.

I played along with his flirtatious gaze piercing into my eyes and gave it right back to him. “Hmmmmm…” Instantly, my contemplative thoughts turned vindictive. “…
Can’t Help But Wait
,” I said, suggestively.

His head jolted and he flared that seductive smile that made all the girls go crazy. “Okay, that’s a good one.” He looked over his shoulder at one of his band members, giving a nod to cue the music. “Damn, I was wishing you’d say something like
Does He Do It
…or
Invented Sex
!” A light chortle slipped, pushing air through my nose. He was a coquettish man. “Alright. I’ll let you get back to your date.” For my participation, he awarded me a wet kiss on the cheek and then hit the stage to start the song.

I found my way back to Azmir who was sitting evenly with a pokerfaced expression. I sat next to him and right away was hit with all the emotions I’d previously been plagued with before my run in with
Trey. I had to confront this Dawn Taylor issue and right away. She wasn’t going away easily and Azmir didn’t seem to be pushing her either. I knew we couldn’t continue like this. It was making me insecure and paranoid.

“Interesting choice of song,” Azmir finally spoke. I didn’t know what that meant, but decided carefully on my response.

“Not really,” I shrugged. “Now, ‘
roommate
’…that is an interesting choice of words. Isn’t that how you termed our relationship to Dawn Taylor?” My tone was even as I trained my eyes to his.

Azmir’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t speak. And wisely.

Turning my eyes from him, back toward the stage, I hissed, “Yeah. Let’s go.” And without giving eye contact, I stood and headed to the door at a non-alarming, but purposeful speed. I knew Azmir and Marcus were awkwardly on my heels.

While we were outside waiting for Ray to pull up, Azmir turned to me and informed in his CEO mien, “I’m not sure what you thought you heard in there, but I can assure you it wasn’t anything to be upset about.”

I shot him a look of death. Azmir had the inimitable and exquisite ability to bring calm to an alarming situation by calling on his authoritative demeanor. It could be effective in the severest of situations. But I wouldn’t give his controlled nature any room. There was too much to unload in public and I didn’t want to create a scene, so I didn’t respond.

Our entire trip to the marina was silent just like our trip back from San Diego earlier that day. He all but slammed the door to the apartment as we entered and roared, “What’s the problem?”

I turned, alarmed by his audacity and muttered, “I can’t do this anymore.”

“Do what anymore? What did I miss?”

“A whole hell of a lot. Tonight was filled with face-offs with your ex-girlfriends, ex-lovers, and wanna-be lovers. It’s all too much for just a
roommate
!” I yelled, feeling my rage rising.

With furrowed brows he asked, “Ex-girlfriends? What are you talking about?”

“Tara was there. Did you not see her?”

“No, I didn’t,” he muttered broodingly.

I squinted my eyes, studying his telling body language. “You don’t sound convincing to me, Azmir.”

He cut me an eye, telling me he didn’t appreciate my insinuation of him lying. “I saw her
boyfriend
there, so it comes to no surprise.” His voice was terrifyingly crisp. But I refused to back down.

“Azmir, why did you ask me to move in? What are we doing here? Why am I even here?” my voice cracked.

“Because I want you here, with me. I want you to share in my…!”

“Again, at a loss for words, just like you were earlier with Dawn,” I shot at him, with of acerbity. “Have you fucked her yet?”

His eyes shot up at my brashness. He knew I’d sworn off profanity weeks ago. But I was so angry and confused that I’d lost self-control. It was as though all those deprecating feelings I’d experienced when I learned of his betrayal had suddenly resurfaced.

He cocked his head to the side, “Yet? When and why would that be a possibility?” he murmured in disbelief.

“Don’t sit here and undermine my intelligence, Azmir! At least acknowledge my dignity. I saw the damn texts from her.
You kissed her!
”  My tone was stridulous.

I barked to the point of straining my vocal chords, I had hit a brick wall. My emotions were on high and that was clearly evident to me at this point. Azmir’s eyes widened again in surprise.

“How did you read my text mess—” his voice dropped when the password revelation hit him.

Azmir backed into the wall, there in his foyer, and let his knees give way as he dropped to the floor. He rubbed his face and exhaled in exasperation.

Yeah, even the powerful and fearless mogul is brought to his knees when confronted with the truth!

My stomach jumped to my throat, not letting my words escape, but I fought to push them out. “You betrayed me. I asked you in there…” I pointed in the direction of the master suite. “…the night I moved in, not to hurt me and you did. You kissed
and
did God knows what to her. You were in clear violation!” My words were mumbled from my fierce, yet unsuccessful efforts to suppress my tears. I panted, trying to catch my breath among the pouring tears.