Simply Complicated (22 page)

“Oh,
now
you want to start feeling guilty? Don’t you think we’re beyond that point? You act like this is our first time having sex together. It’s been two years. So now that you have a man you want to end this? What kind of shit is that?” he said harshly.

“I’ve been feeling guilty for a long time. Why do you think I’ve been staying away from Camille, pretending as if I have been busy at work? And yes, having a man is making a difference.

“Timothy is really a nice guy and I don’t want to risk losing him for you. It’s not right to hurt him too. It’s bad enough that we’re hurting Camille,” she said.

“I don’t give a damn about Timothy. I can’t believe this shit. And now all of a sudden I’m not worth your time? You weren’t saying that a few minutes ago,” he said angrily.

“Come on, Jake. I can’t believe you’re honestly getting upset. You act like we’re in a relationship. All we did was have sex together. That’s it. I know you have plenty of other women you’re sleeping with so your getting upset is mind-boggling to me.

“I knew it was a big mistake having sex outside of the swingers’ parties. If only we had stayed at those instead of meeting at my apartment,” she said, shaking her head in disgust.

Jake pounded the wall in disbelief, “Candace, I’m just asking how you can end it like this?”

“Jake, let it go. It’s over. You need to be focusing on Camille and planning your engagement party,” she said.

“What does that have to do with us? My life with her is totally separate from what we have. Besides, I can handle Camille,” he said.

“You need to pay more attention to her and not be worried about if we’ll have sex again. I know I’m one to talk, but she’s still my friend and I worry about her.

“I admit it’s very awkward talking about her with you, of all people, but you know you’re not treating her right. She really loves you more than you know,” said Candace.

“I pay attention to her and I don’t need you telling me what I need to do with her. Again—my relationship with her is not your business. You’re supposed to be her girlfriend and you’re sleeping with me, so you shouldn’t talk. You’re not treating her right, either. She just doesn’t know it.

“So stop trying to be self-righteous with me because I know the real Candace. The freak who likes going to swingers’ parties and who’s not particular about who she sleeps with,” said Jake angrily.

“Wait a minute, Jake. You don’t need to be an ass about this. I am not Camille. I’m not going to let you treat me any which way. I know I haven’t been a good friend because I’m sleeping with you but at least I’m finally trying to put an end to my betrayal.”

Candace raised her voice, “When are you going to stop? You can’t even admit that you’re doing anything wrong. At least I’m willing to admit that.”

“Stop trying to act like you’re a good friend. You’re not ending it because of Camille; you’re ending it because you’ve found someone else. If he hadn’t come around you would still be trying to get with me. For a minute you sounded as if you really care about her,” he said sarcastically.

“Whatever, Jake. If it makes your ego feel better by saying that, then so be it. Regardless of what you think, it’s over. Now you need to leave,” she said as she escorted him to the door.

Jake left Candace’s apartment upset. Although they were only sex partners, he had become accustomed to being with her, especially because they were physically capable.

Their sexual interests are very similar. No other woman had ever completely satisfied him sexually like Candace, including Camille.

He thought about heading to Camille’s but since he saw her earlier that day he opted to go home instead. When he arrived home around 6:00 p.m., he had hoped to find a message from one of his other women.

To his surprise, there were no messages on his answering machine. This was new for him. He was accustomed to having at least three or four messages on his voicemail from someone asking him to come over or hang out. He was even more surprised that Camille had not called.

He decided to shower and afterwards see if a football game was on television. The season had just started so he knew someone had to be playing. After his shower, he made himself something to eat and turned on the television. He thought about calling some of his fellows over to watch the game but really was not in the mood. He had missed the Chicago Bears game earlier and decided to watch the Seahawks play the Patriots.

After about an hour into the game, he started getting bored. He thought about calling Cindy but he had never had her over to his house before and he didn’t want her to know where he lived. He was not up to going out again so decided he would finish watching the game and then head to bed early.

When Camille could not get in touch with Candace earlier, she decided to take a nap. She was asleep for about four hours. When she finally awakened she looked over at the clock and was surprised with how late it had gotten.

She had started to get hungry and decided to fix a spinach salad, baked chicken, and some brown rice. She checked her answering machine to see if she had any calls. The only message she had received was from Paul calling to say he was looking forward to seeing her again.

She was not too surprised that Jake had not called her. He normally did not call her if they spent the evening together the night before. After she finished eating, she returned Paul’s call.

“Hello sweetheart, is this a bad time to talk?” said Camille.

“Hey baby, it’s never a bad time for you. I’m glad you called me back. I was sitting here thinking about you,” said Paul.

“Oh really...so what were you thinking?’ she asked.

Paul lowered his voice and purred, “I was thinking about how wonderful it will be to see you next weekend. And then I started thinking about how I cannot wait to take care of you and make you happy.”

“See, here you go again—making me blush. You better be careful with me,” she said flirtatiously.

“So what did you do today?” he asked.

“I had brunch with my girlfriend and then I came home and took a four-hour nap,” she said.

“Wow—four hours! You must’ve been really tired. I thought when a woman takes a four-hour nap in the middle of the afternoon it is for one of two reasons,” he said, laughing.

“And what are the two reasons?” she asked playfully.

“Well, one is when Mother Nature pays her a visit and the other time is when she’s pregnant. You’re not pregnant, are you?”

“Very funny. Only a man would come up with those reasons why women sleep during the day. Maybe we’re just tired,” she joked back while avoiding his question.

“I know baby, I was just having some fun with you. I really miss you, Camille. You do know that right?” he asked.

“I know and I miss you too,” she said.

“So what are planning for us when I arrive?” he asked.

“I’m not sure. I was thinking maybe we could see what’s playing at the theater or if you want something less formal then maybe we could go to a jazz club and out to dinner,” she said.

“It doesn’t matter to me. As long as I’m with you, I’m happy. We could order dinner at my hotel suite and cuddle with a movie or we could go out. I’m happy with whatever you decide,” he said.

“I’ll let you know when you arrive. Is that okay?” she asked.

“That’s fine with me. I’m just happy that you’re taking the time to see me. I know you’re a busy lady.”

“I’m never too busy for the people I care about. Besides, whenever I come to Los Angeles you always take care of me.”

“So what are you going to say to your fiancé when he wants to see you that weekend?” he asked.

“I’m not going to say anything. I’m setting that time aside to see you and that’s all that matters to me,” Camille said firmly.

“Okay—sounds good. I should arrive there Friday by 2:00 p.m. I have a meeting around 4:00 with the store managers. After that, I’m all yours,” he said happily.

“Are you here only for the weekend?” she asked.

“I’ll be there for as long as you need me to be,” he said.

“I know, baby, but how long are you
scheduled
to be here?”

“I’m scheduled to fly out Sunday morning. Why?” he asked.

“I just want to know how long I have you for,” Camille said flirtatiously.

“Now who needs to be careful?” he said while laughing.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” she said playfully.

“You keep this up and I’m going to cancel all of my meetings in L.A. and stay in Chicago for the entire week,” he said, flirting back.

“You can’t handle me for an entire week,” she said seductively.

He toyed back, “Baby, I can handle you for a lifetime. You’ve been holding out on me. I didn’t know you could be so bad.”

“Do you like it or do I need to stop and behave?” she asked.

“Please don’t stop on my account. I like it. You can be as bad as you like; I don’t mind,” he said.

“Well, it’s getting late and I need to call my girlfriend before I go to bed,” said Camille.

“Just like a woman to get a man excited and then go,” he joked.

She laughed again, “I’m sorry, baby. I don’t mean to get you hot and bothered and then leave.”

“See—look at you being bad again! That’s okay. You’re going to get it when I see you. Go ahead and I’ll call you towards the end of the week. Good night, baby, I’ll talk to you later.”

Camille smiled as she hung up, but her joy didn’t last as her nausea returned. She was getting tired of feeling sick but figured it was part of being pregnant.

Thirty minutes later she decided to call Candace. It went to voicemail again, so she left a message.

“Hey Candace; it’s around 8:45. Give me a call when you get a chance. If you get this message within the next ten minutes you can call me, otherwise I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

Within ten minutes Candace returned her call. “Hey! What’s going on?”

“Hey girl. I called you earlier today after we had brunch. Are you busy?” asked Camille.

“I am a little busy. Timothy and I are finishing up dinner. Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yes, I’m okay. You can go ahead. I’ll talk with you tomorrow or sometime this week,” she said.

“Are you sure, Camille? I’m sure Timothy won’t mind if I talk with you for a few minutes,” she said, looking over at Timothy who was nodding his head in agreement.

Camille didn’t want to revisit their earlier conversation while Timothy was there. “That’s okay. It’s not that important—it can wait. You two enjoy your time together. I’ll talk to you later,” she said.

“Okay, I’ll call you later this week.”

“Is everything okay with your friend?” asked Timothy after Candace hung up her phone.

“She sounded as if things were okay. I’ll give her a call tomorrow.”

Candace started wondering what was going on with Camille. She guessed that Jake wasn’t with her; whenever they are together Camille does not call her.

Camille decided to call it an early night and went to bed. She thought about calling Jake to see what he was doing but she wasn’t up to doing anything and knew if he came over he would probably want to have sex.

The week went by rather quickly. Camille and Jake were both very busy at work and barely spoke with each other. Paul had called and confirmed his arrival on Friday.

By the time Friday arrived, Camille was a little tired. She had worked late every night that week. She decided not to go into work because she didn’t want to be tired when Paul arrived in town.

She was now six weeks into her pregnancy and the morning sickness still had not gone away, although it had gotten better. She was very excited about Paul’s arrival. Since Jake had a key to her apartment, she thought it prudent to stay at Paul’s hotel suite. She did not want any problems.

Wanting to be well rested when Paul arrived, she slept in until 9:00 a.m., which was late for her. After eating breakfast she packed a small suitcase for her weekend rendezvous. Once she finished packing she decided that she would listen to some music and start reading the baby book she had purchased the previous weekend.

She was starting to get excited about being a mother but still didn’t know what to do about telling Jake and Paul. She knew she had to tell them soon because she had started to put on a little weight, but not enough to raise suspicion.

Around 12:30 p.m. her cellular phone rang. To her surprise it was Jake. She started not to answer but decided since they had not really spoken to each other all week, she should talk with him briefly. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to tell him that she was home.

“Hey, baby. Are you busy?” he asked.

“Not really,” she said.

“Good. I missed you this week. I was wondering if we could go out later tonight. I was thinking that maybe we could go to dinner or whatever you’d like.”

Camille decided to give Jake a taste of his own medicine. “That sounds good. I’ll call you later and let you know. This has been a busy week for me with Christmas coming soon,” replied Camille.

“Well, let me know later tonight. I have to go. I love you and will hopefully see you this evening,” he said.

“Okay, I’ll talk to you later.”

Jake was surprised that she didn’t seem excited about seeing him. Normally when he asked if they could get together, she would say yes and seem eager for time with him.

Now things seemed a little different to him. He started wondering if Candace had said something to Camille about their relationship. For a minute he worried.

Then he realized that if she had known about them, she wouldn’t be as calm as she sounded. He wasn’t sure what was happening.

Camille’s excitement grew as 2:00 p.m. approached. She couldn’t wait to see Paul again. He always treated her well and she knew that all of his attention would be on her. This was the one thing she could never get from Jake.

Around 2:30 p.m. Paul called to let her know that he had made it to Chicago. He was headed to the hotel to shower and change before his meeting. “Hey beautiful, I’m here and can’t wait to see you and hold you again,” he said.

“Hey baby, I’m glad you arrived safely. I can’t wait to see you. So where are you staying?” she asked.