Simply Complicated (17 page)

“You really are a bad girl,” he said. He then made love to her for the second time that night.

Early the next morning, before leaving for home, she told him that she needed his house keys so she could let the florist in later that day.

He tried coming up with a good reason why that was not a good idea but was unable to do so. He had no choice but to give her the keys.

Later that day Camille went to his house to meet the caterer and the florist. She showed them where she wanted everything set up. As they were leaving his telephone rang. She ignored it and continued walking to the door.

Just as she closed the door his answering machine came on. A woman’s voice on the answering machine said that she missed him and wanted to know when they were getting together again. She left her name and told him to call her that night.

Naturally Camille was taken back by the message and her initial reaction was to call him and confront him about it. But she decided that she would give him the benefit of the doubt. She convinced herself that maybe the woman didn’t know he was engaged.

After her meeting, she called Jake and told him she was finished, “Do you need me to drop off your keys at work?”

He told her it didn’t matter, but wanted to know if they were getting together later. They agreed to meet around 7:30 that evening at his house.

This made her feel even better about the voice message she had heard. After dropping off his keys she ran a few errands and went home to get ready for her date with him. It was already 6:00 p.m. and she wanted to be on time.

When she arrived to his house at 7:30 p.m. as planned, his car was not in the driveway. She thought maybe he pulled into the garage so she left her car to ring the doorbell.

To her surprise, he didn’t answer. She thought maybe he was held up at work so she tried calling his cellular phone. There was no answer. She knew his secretary was gone from the office but she called anyway, hoping he would answer. No such luck. She waited in his driveway for about thirty minutes thinking maybe he was held up in traffic.

She thought it a bit unusual that he had not called her to say he would be late. Suddenly it hit her! She started feeling nauseated and then she began to cry. She remembered the message he had gotten on his answering machine from the mysterious woman telling him to call her so they could get together that night.

She didn’t know what to do. Should she wait in his driveway with the hope that he would come home soon? If he did come home, would he have some woman with him? Camille decided to go home and wait to hear from him.

All she could think about was the engagement party they were supposed to be having in two weeks. She kept telling herself to stay calm and not to jump to conclusions. She did not want to believe that he had lied to her about being faithful.

In the meantime, Jake was indeed out with another woman. The mysterious woman on his answering machine was Cindy. He and Cindy had recently become intimate. Prior to sleeping together, he would only see her at the salon where he gets his hair cut. Every time he would go into the salon, they would laugh and joke.

One Saturday while getting his hair cut, she asked him why he had not asked her out. He jokingly told her that she could not handle him. She laughed and told him to give it a try and then they would see who could not handle whom. Later that evening they went to dinner and then back to her apartment.

After having sex with her that evening he added her to his list of women he slept with. This was the only time they had sex, nearly four months before.

When Jake arrived home from work that evening he played his answering machine and heard Cindy’s message. He called her back hoping they would spend another evening together. He knew he had plans with Camille but did not care. He figured he would make up something to tell her once he finished with Cindy.

He arrived to Cindy’s apartment around 6:30 p.m. When she opened the door she was wearing high heels and a black teddy. Before he could step inside she pulled him close to her and immediately started to undress him. He made no attempts to stop her. He gave no thought to his plans with Camille. He knew she would be upset that he did not call or show up. He knew that he only proposed in order to prevent her from dating other men in the first place.

He left Cindy’s apartment around 12 a.m., following his strict policy to never spend the night. The only place he would stay the night was Camille’s. He thought about going to Camille’s place but didn’t know what excuse he was going to give her so he went home.

When he arrived home he checked his answering machine to see how many times she had called. To his surprise she had not left any messages. He checked the caller id and her name was not there.

He couldn’t believe it. Initially he was relieved and then he started to feel strange. He didn’t know what the feeling was because he had not felt it before. He was used to women leaving belligerent messages on his answering machine and calling him several times whenever he stood them up. He was not sure how to handle this situation. He felt it would have been easier to deal with if she had left some angry messages.

Surely she must have come by the house expecting to go out! Maybe she didn’t come and if not, then why? Could she have cancelled our plans and therefore stood me up?

He could not get these thoughts out of his head. He decided to play things by ear. He was not going to say anything to her until she said something to him. This was his game plan. He hoped it would work.

The next day he went into the office as he normally did. He wondered how long it would take for Camille to call him to find out what happened. He had a few meetings scheduled for that morning and one that afternoon.

After his first two meetings he called his secretary to get his messages. He expected a call from Camille. He was a little disappointed because he had messages from two of his other women but none from her.

He figured she must be more upset than he thought. When his last meeting ended that afternoon and she hadn’t called him on his cell or at work, his ego was bruised. He decided to leave work early since he had finished his meetings. He called Ken to see if he could meet for a beer.

“Hey man, what’s going on?” asked Ken.

“I think I may have messed up with Camille,” Jake said.

“What did you do this time?” he asked with a little chuckle.

Jake took a deep drink of his beer, “We were supposed to go out to dinner last night to finalize the engagement party and I stood her up.”

“What’s wrong with you? Who were you with this time?” Ken asked, shaking his head at Jake’s stupidity.

“I was with Cindy. It wasn’t planned. I only meant to be with her for a few hours and still have time to see Camille. Things got a little heated and I couldn’t leave,” he explained.

“I still can’t believe that you stood her up. What’s really going on, Jake? I think you didn’t meet with her because you didn’t want to discuss the engagement party and the wedding,” said Ken.

Jake ignored that comment as he finished his beer. “Camille hasn’t called me all day. I’m not sure what to do.”

“I’m not surprised that she hasn’t called. Did you honestly think she would? Camille is not your typical woman. She’s not like the other women you’re used to being with.

“I’m not trying to wish you bad luck but I wouldn’t be surprised if she cancels the entire engagement. Do you think she knows you were with someone else?” Ken asked.

“I don’t think so,” replied Jake.

“Why do you think you went over Cindy’s other than the obvious reason?” he asked, not trying to sound sarcastic.

“I’m not really sure. I think what you said earlier was true. I’m not ready to settle down and I know the party is next week,” he said.

“Do you love her?” asked Ken.

“Yes I do love her,” he said.

“If you love her then you need to start acting like it or you will lose her forever. Remember how you fought to get her back. You told me that you promised her that things would be different if she took you back.

“I suggest you remember that she’s a good woman who genuinely loves you and has your best interests at heart. I recommend you send her something really nice like jewelry. Then call and apologize for last night,” said Ken.

“You’re right. I guess I just needed to hear it from someone else,” Jake said.

As Jake left the restaurant he decided to call Camille. He was not sure what he was going to say happened when he stood her up, but figured he would come up with something. For the first time he was a little nervous.

When she saw his number on her telephone she decided not to answer. She knew he was probably going to lie about what happened to him and she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear it. She decided to let the phone go to voicemail.

Instead of leaving a message, he called her again. She was surprised because this was not his usual style. She hit the ignore button and sent his call to voicemail again. She was sure he would leave a message this time. She was wrong; he called again.

This time she decided to answer. She didn’t want him to know that she was upset and had been crying, so when she answered the telephone, she made sure she sounded happy and pleasant.

“Hey dear, how are you today?” she asked, smiling as she answered to sound happy to hear from him.

He was completely thrown off-guard. He expected her to be angry or hang up on him. “Hey sweetheart, how are you?” he asked.

“I’m okay,” she replied.

“I apologize for the other night. I had a last-minute emergency meeting with a client. When I made it home it was around 9:00 p.m. I had planned on calling you after my shower but I inadvertently fell asleep. I promise to make it up to you tonight,” he said.

“I thought you were out with another woman,” Camille’s tone turned icy cold.

“I certainly understand why you would believe that, given my past. You know that I’m committed to only you,” he said, lowering his voice in an attempt to sound contrite.

“Okay Jake. I accept your apology but I can’t see you tonight. I am going to be unavailable for the next few days,” she said happily.

“Why so long?” he asked.

“I have to go out of town tonight on business and won’t be back for a few days,” she said.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“Los Angeles,” she said.

She didn’t really have any meetings in L.A. but felt she needed to get away and clear her head. She only pretended to believe his story. She knew all along that he was with another woman. She cancelled the engagement party the morning after he stood her up.

She left for Los Angeles that Friday evening as planned. Paul was picking her up from the airport. Since she hadn’t told him of her engagement to Jake, she decided to leave her ring at home.

The moment he saw her he could tell by her expression that something was wrong. He took her luggage and placed it in the back of his car, then hurried to open the door for her.

Camille recognized Paul’s goodness and deeply cared for him. This made her feel even worse for not being honest with him about her engagement to Jake. He was in his thirties and had never been married. The owner of several clothing stores in Los Angeles and Chicago, Paul was tall, handsome, and a complete gentleman.

His last relationship ended because his girlfriend wasn’t ready to settle down and commit. She took advantage of him and cheated on him several times. Eventually she left him for someone else.

Paul was growing increasingly fond of Camille. Whenever he knew she was scheduled to visit Los Angeles, he made sure to retrieve her from the airport. He also made himself available to take her around to the different shops she needed to visit whenever she was in town for business. He was pleasantly surprised to get her call saying she wanted to come to L.A. to get away for a few days

As he drove her to the hotel, he asked if she wanted to get something to eat and talk about what was obviously on her mind. After checking in and dropping off her luggage, she and Paul left for dinner.

“Hey baby, are you okay? I can tell something is bothering you. You were very quiet on the ride to the hotel,” said Paul.

“I don’t know how to say this but I started seeing Jake again and I’m not sure things are working out. We were supposed to have dinner and he stood me up. I think he was with another woman after telling me that he had changed,” Camille said quickly.

He was rather surprised to hear that she and Jake were seeing each other again. He thought the two of them were getting close and she had gotten over Jake. He knew something was different between the two of them over the past few months when she was always too busy to have a real conversation with him. He never imagined this as the reason.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what made you start seeing him again? I’m a little curious about what he did to get you to change your mind,” he inquired.

She wanted to tell him that he had proposed to her but she knew it would hurt him and therefore opted to keep that a secret. Instead, she told only half of the story.

“The evening after you left Chicago, he called and invited me to dinner. I know I shouldn’t have agreed to meet him but I did.

“He assured me that he had changed and begged for another chance. I admit, I was hesitant at first. But then I realized I still had feelings for him,” she said shamefully.

“I see. I just need to know where I fit in your life,” he said, sounding disappointed.

Camille tried to hold back her tears, “I really like you but I must be honest, Paul. I’m confused. Jake and I have been in each other’s lives for nearly three years now. Every time I try to leave him alone he pursues me and lures me back.”

“I’m sorry you’re going through this, Camille. I need to be honest with you. I thought we had something special. I don’t like how he treats you and I hate the fact that you allow him to get away with it,” he said while holding her hand.

She started to cry because deep down she realized Jake was never going to change and she wanted so desperately to let him go and commit to Paul. She excused herself and went to the ladies room. While there she pulled herself together and then returned to the table.