Running From the Night (14 page)

Chapter Eighteen

Jelani woke to another day and thanked God for it. He was always thankful for every day, but considering the uncertainty of whether or not he would be killed in his sleep, he was thankful in a survival type of way. He could tell by the look on Daniel’s face when they engaged quietly in their morning cereal, that he felt the same.

“I don’t know whether I should feel like the situation is loosening up on us or to be worried because nothing has happened,” Daniel said, finally breaking the silence. “I can’t bring myself to believe that Hunter lost interest in us, but it’s been over a week and not a peep.”

“Hey, take it as it is,” Jelani replied. “We’ll just try to be as ready as we can be and hope for the best.”

They had gone online and found a store that sold pure silver blades. It was grotesquely expensive, but weighed against one’s life, the cost was not so high. Their preparations hadn’t taken long, as the silver blades were the only practical weapons they could carry. They had dismissed the garlic possibilities, and one couldn’t just light a person on fire without first dousing them in gasoline, and it wasn’t like they could just carry a container around with a lighter or blowtorch in their pockets.

“Things are moving along with you and Alisha?” Daniel asked, bouncing his eyebrows.

“More or less,” Jelani said. “We’ve talked about it, and she wants to take her time about it. Understandable, considering she’s fresh out of a breakup. She had quite a bit invested in that relationship.”

“So you’re taking it slow. How about the other one?”

Jelani stared into his bowl during a lengthy pause.

Daniel let his head hang back. “Aw man, don’t tell me.…”

“Calm down, calm down,” Jelani said, patting his hand in the air. “It’s not like that. Well, not exactly. I told Alisha about Melinda.” Seeing the shock in his friend’s face, he continued. “Not everything, man. Geez, give me some credit! No. I just told her that while she’d been with Phillip, I’d been seeing someone, and though it wasn’t serious, I couldn’t just blow her off if I wasn’t committed to someone else.”

“And how did she react?”

“She understood. Actually, it went better than I thought it would. She appreciated that I was upfront with her and didn’t try to hide it. I think I also got some points for the fact that it’s only one girl and not three or four, you know.”

“You could be right, but I don’t know. You know how girls can be.”

Jelani finished his last spoonful and went to the sink. One of the reasons he and Daniel had gotten along so well as roommates was that they were both “neat-freaks,” as their friends had called them. He remembered the first time Wen and Alisha had come to visit them. They had looked in all the closets, certain that they would find dirty clothes or trash shoveled out of sight. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bachelor pad so neat and clean,” Alisha had remarked.

“To tell the truth,” Jelani said. “If she couldn’t understand that I was living my life while she was living hers and that I wouldn’t just drop someone like a log for the possibility of dating her, I wouldn’t want to be with her anyway.”

“Good point,” Daniel said. He smiled deviously. “You could have the best of both worlds, at least for a little while. You could enjoy Melinda’s company while building with Alisha. If things go right with one or the other, you definitely could do worse.”

Jelani didn’t completely disagree. “Yup. Though I wouldn’t put it exactly like that. Melinda is not a call girl, dude.”

“I find it surprising you’ve allowed yourself to go this far with her,” Daniel said.

“If you call me a monk one more time …” Jelani warned.

“No, no, let me finish!” Daniel laughed. “I mean, I’ve known you for over five years, and you’re more disciplined than anyone I’ve ever met about dating.”

“Yeah, well I try not to make a practice of gettin’ it crackin’ with a girl if I don’t think it could go somewhere.”

“You’re not getting married, man.”

“I know that. But unexpected things can happen. Not that I’m planning on having a kid any time soon, but if such an apocalyptic scenario came to pass, I would at least like it to be with someone I’d like to be with and not some girl I met at a bar and have no respect for.”

“Such a responsible young man,” Daniel teased.

“Oh?” Jelani said, exaggerating his response. “And you wouldn’t mind Mika in your face for at least eighteen years with her hand out for child support?”

Daniel groaned and Jelani knew he had won the argument. Before they’d met, Daniel had been dating a girl who turned out to be obsessive and, in Jelani’s opinion, just plain crazy. Every time Daniel teased him about living the life of a monk, Jelani would ask him how nice life would be if he were tied to that crazy chicken for the next eighteen plus years.

“Yeah, yeah, okay, you win.” Daniel waved his hands in surrender. “So you’re saying you could see a future with Melinda?”

Jelani thought about it. “I think I could. I’m not going to lie, I hadn’t anticipated what happened last week, but I also can’t deny that the girl has some really good qualities about her.”

“You don’t think this is some kind of game for her?”

“I won’t pretend to know for sure, but I’m doubting it. I haven’t forgotten being teased and strung along for months, but lately she’s been making an effort. I don’t think she would have slept with me if she was planning on dangling a carrot in front of me this time.”

“I wonder why she didn’t come straight in the first place,” Daniel said, now drying his dishes.

“Don’t know for sure, but we could sum it up to the fact that girls outnumber guys in this city something like ten to one. Probably more? Guys don’t have much motivation to put in work to be with a female, you know.”

“True,” Daniel agreed. “So she was stringing you along to make sure you were serious.”

“I think she was playing little games to see how I would react. Whatever the reason was, she’s starting to act right, now, and I’m starting to like her more because of it.”

“What about Alisha?” There was no doubt who Daniel preferred, given the concerned look on his face. He and Wen both wanted to see Jelani and Alisha together.

“I don’t know. I like them both, and I’ve always had a bigger thing for Alisha. But I’ve also learned the hard way—twice—that throwing all my stock in one girl puts me at a distinct disadvantage.”

“So you’re in the water, standing with your feet in two boats,” Daniel said.

“I’m standing on the shore, taking careful consideration of both boats before I set off in one or the other.”

Daniel nodded. “Fair enough.”

“Not like you have to think about all this anymore. You’re pretty much married.”

“You say it like you’re envious.”

“I like the idea of having just one girl to worry about. Dating a bunch of females is too much for me.”

“It’s because you have a very active conscience, my friend.”

Jelani half smiled and didn’t deny it. “You and Wen going out tonight?”

“Yeah. We’re having dinner with her parents. I get to brush up on my Cantonese.”

Jelani shook a finger at him. “Man, I’m telling you, do not let your language slip, homeboy. It’s a major piece of culture you don’t have to work hard to find, like yours truly. Don’t have kids that don’t speak your native tongue.”

“You know how it is being born in Canada, or even the U.S.” Daniel said. “My parents didn’t really push me to learn it.”

“Yeah, but you can learn it now, and you’ve got plenty of people to speak it with. Wen is fluent, right?”

“She’s been teaching me for a while, now.”

“There you go. You’re in there! And when she’s finished with you, maybe I can learn.”

“That’s the second time you’ve said that,” Daniel scrutinized him. “You really want to learn Cantonese, don’t you?”

Jelani shrugged. “I want to learn as many languages as I can. A dream of mine is to be able to go anywhere in the world and communicate with people.”

“A lot of places speak English, you know.”

“Maybe so, but I’m not about to touch down in somebody else’s house and expect them to adjust to me.”

Daniel smiled in appreciation. “That’s a good way to think.” He looked at his phone. “I need to get going. We’re leaving from Wen’s place. What do you have going on today?”

A guilty look crossed Jelani’s face. “Alisha is out of town on business. Earthtech is apparently solidifying a foothold in Alberta, so they sent her out there to oversee some of the negotiations, or some such.”

Daniel eyed him. “And that look on your face suggests you’re going to be spending a little more time with Melinda.”

“A little, yes. More than that, not likely. I’m not letting anything go too far too fast until I’m sure where I stand. If things work out with Alisha there won’t be too much attachment between Melinda and me. If things don’t happen with Alisha, then hopefully things can progress with Melinda.”

“Sounds like you’ve got it all figured out,” Daniel said.

“I’ve got a plan that I hope will work out. I’m not fooling myself into thinking things will go exactly as planned, especially where females are concerned. I could just wind up single. It is what it is.”

Daniel grabbed his coat. “And on that note, I’m outta here. Have fun on your little date with Melinda.”

“I’ll try,” Jelani said dryly.

O O O

Jelani picked up his phone and pulled up Melinda’s name. After a few rings, she picked up.

“Hello, Jelani.”

“Hey. We still going to link up at three?”

“I haven’t changed my mind if you haven’t.”

“Haven’t changed my mind either. Just calling to double check.”

“So what did you have in mind?”

“I was thinking we could get some lunch, then go for a walk around Stanley Park.”

“Sounds like I’ll see you at three, then.”

“See you then.”

Jelani ended the call and touched the email icon on his phone. As he’d hoped, one of the large clients he had been designing a website for had electronically paid the second half of his fee, along with a message stating how pleased they were with the work. He couldn’t help pumping his fist in the air after he checked his account.

“Debt free and living in VC,” he said, a big smile on his face. Living in Vancouver was far from cheap, but without any debt siphoning his finances, and making the kind of money he was, life was not difficult.

“Think I might take a vacation soon,” he thought aloud. “Go someplace nice and warm.” He thought of Alisha. Maybe he would ask her to go with him? Would she even agree knowing he was kind of dating Melinda?

Before he realized how much time had passed, the buzzer to his apartment rang, startling him. “Damn I hate that thing!” he said, as he always did when it rang. “I ought to just tell people to call when they get here.” He pressed the talk button. “I’ll be down in a sec.”

“Don’t keep me waiting too long. It’s cold out here.”

“On my way down right now. I’ll buzz you in and you can wait in the lobby.” He grabbed his coat and phone and left.

Dressed in dark blue jeans and her waist-length coat with the faux fur hood, Melinda stood in front of the fireplace warming her hands. “Just give me a few minutes,” she said. “It’s freezing outside!”

“It’s not that bad.”

“It’s almost zero Celsius.”

“Not quite freezing.”

“Only by one degree!”

Jelani laughed at her. “I thought I was supposed to be the soft one, being from California and all. You’re from here, right?” She punched him in the arm. “Hey, man! You’re boney little knuckles hurt!”

“Don’t make fun of me!”

“I was just making an observation.”

She blew into her hands, giving him a sidelong look. “I’m still up for lunch, but I may have to pass on that walk.”

“You really are that cold?”

“Yes, I am. And the walk around Stanley Park is next to the ocean. It’ll be even colder.” She cast him an inviting smile. “Or, we could just have lunch and you could keep me warm here.”

Jelani never thought he could want and not want something at the same time, but he did now. “All I have at home is some leftover quinoa salad and baked salmon”

“Sounds good.”

Jelani realized he’d just trapped himself. “It’s several days old, though,” he said, thinking fast. Girls never liked eating food that was more than a day or two old.

“Oh,” she said, clearly disappointed, and he felt a surge of hope that he might get out of taking her upstairs. She looked at him with a smile that suggested she was about to call his bluff. “Well, let’s try it. As long as it’s sealed, it should be okay.”

Bluff called.

“Alrighty. Let’s go up.”

Back at his apartment again, he unlocked the door and held it for her to go in. After hanging their coats, he took off his shoes and started toward the kitchen, but she grabbed his arm, stopping him. Her grip was soft and gentle, quite the opposite of that iron grip Saaya had ensnared him with. Thoughts of the exotic woman floated across his mind until Melinda’s voice scattered them.

“Let’s eat in a bit,” she said, grabbing his hand. Such soft hands. “Let’s just sit a while.”

“Sure,” Jelani said, spreading his hand toward the couch. “Have a seat.”

“You first,” Melinda said. Jelani gave her a wary look and sat down. Once he was settled, she dropped in his lap and draped an arm around his neck. The weight of her soft, yet firm body caused his loins to quicken. He tried to concentrate on not reacting, but when she smiled at him, that alluring, light-brown-eyed smile, he found his resolve beginning to fracture.

“Um, so what do you want to talk about?” he asked, desperate to divert his attention from her welcomed weight in his lap.

“Well,” she said, laying against his chest. Her long, sandy brown hair smelled of fresh lavender. “We could talk about why you are so hesitant with me.” She slid her cheek against his, then leaned back just enough to look into his eyes. Her tiny black freckles practically shouted against her warm, pink cheeks.

“What’re you talking about?” he asked, his voice quiet and soft.

She smiled at him, and it was an almost sad smile. “Melinda ‘The Tease’ Reese,” she said. “I’ve had that nickname for a long time, love. Do you know why?”