Dont tempt me, p.11
Don't Tempt Me, page 11
"What?" Casey responded, confused, "Kenny hasn't met Josiah yet?"
"No," Monica responded. "Why would I introduce Kenny to Josiah without talking to you first?"
"Oh, I don't know," Casey responded. "Y'all looked cozy when I saw y'all in the restaurant last time, so I figured y'all already been playing family."
"Casey, I really wish you knew me better than that," Monica sighed. "Just know I'm not going to have any and everybody around my child. And, I certainly wouldn't have anyone around my child without discussing it with you first. I think it's important as JoJo's parents that we have at least that amount of respect for one another," Monica paused, "…you know, to at least inform the other person when we're going to introduce our child to our new partners," Monica said.
"You're right," Casey agreed. "Honestly, I just didn't think about it. I mean, I'm not dating, and I didn't even know you were dating until I saw you, so you know," Casey paused, "And I know things ended badly, and our communication hasn't been the best."
"It's improving though," Monica reassured.
"I wanted to tell you that I appreciate you for being a good mother to our son and for being a good person to co-parent with. I appreciate you and I know that I haven't told you that before and I apologize for that. So, if you and Kenny are taking your relationship to the next level you certainly have my blessing to introduce him to JoJo."
Monica looked at the phone to see who she was talking to. She couldn't recall the last time Casey apologized to her, sang her praises, or been humble enough to acknowledge his shortcomings. Monica didn't know what was happening with Casey, but she would not interrupt him.
"If there's anything I can do to improve your life and support your relationship, just let me know," Casey offered.
"Thank you, Casey; I appreciate your support, and I appreciate you, too. Josiah is very lucky to have you as a father. Look at us being adults and getting along," Monica joked.
"Ha," Casey laughed, "you're right. You gotta thank my mom for my coming around."
"I adore your mom; she's an amazing woman," Monica shared.
"She loves you too," Casey admitted, "I didn't realize you two were running around like Laverne and Shirley."
"Oh," Monica paused, "she is JoJo's grandmother, and she and I always got along. There was no reason to exclude her from our lives. You just didn't want me," Monica laughed.
Pierced by her words, Casey was overcome by guilt. "Monica?"
"What's up?" she answered.
"I'm sorry. You deserved better from me," Casey apologized.
"Thank you, Casey, for acknowledging that," Monica paused, "I have better now, and though the picture doesn't look like what we imagined when we were kids, we'll always be family."
"So, can we be friends?" Casey asked.
"Yes, silly! I stopped being mad at you a long time ago. I'm good, you're good, we're all good," Monica reassured.
"Thank you," Casey responded soberly.
"Well, it's getting late for me. Let me get off this phone. I'll talk to you later," Monica informed Casey.
"Good night," Casey replied.
"Night."
Monica
Kenny arranged to take Monica and Josiah to a basketball game; the Houston Stars were taking on the Dallas Bluebonnets in their preseason opener. Monica was confident Kenny and JoJo would get along and hoped their initial meeting would set the foundation for the future. She believed attending a basketball game would be the perfect buffer if things did not go as well as expected.
Monica met Kenny in the VIP parking lot at the Stars arena. He had arranged for VIP access and a parking pass after Monica informed him that she preferred meeting at the arena versus him picking her and Josiah up at their house. Entering the parking lot Monica immediately located Kenny’s Mercedes. There weren’t many cars in the parking lot yet, so she cut across the aisles and parked grill to grill with Kenny. He walked to the driver’s side of the car and opened the door for Monica to exit. “Hey,” Monica said as she gave Kenny a tight hug, “let me get JoJo from his seat.”
“Sure,” Kenny responded as he followed her to rear passenger side of the SUV.
Taking a deep breath to compose herself, she opened the door for the moment of truth. Having unbuckled the chest harness of his booster seat Monica released the lower buckle to free Josiah’s legs. “Momma, who is that?” Josiah asked while pointing at Kenny.
“This is mommy’s friend, Mr. Kenny. He wanted to meet you, so he got us tickets to the game,” Monica answered.
“Oh!” Josiah paused, “Hi Mr. Kenny” the boy greeted with a large smile.
Squatting to be leveled with the young boy, “Hi Josiah,” Kenny stuck out his hand to formalize the introduction. Josiah looked at the hand curiously before imitating Kenny and sticking out his hand.
“I got us courtside seats if that’s okay with you,” Kenny informed the young boy as he stood up.
“It’s fine,” the boy said gleefully.
Josiah reached for Kenny’s hand as they made their way to the arena entrance; Monica’s heart smiled as she observed her son take to her man. “This could work,” she thought to herself as her son chatted up Kenny leaving her two steps behind. Kenny briefly broke his focus from Josiah to flash Monica a reassuring smile.
********************
Josiah, Monica, and Kenny went to Pappadeaux for dinner after the game. The Stars lost but that didn’t stop the little boy’s excitement. “That game was awesome,” Josiah shared exuberantly.
“I’m glad you liked it baby,” Monica replied.
“This was the best day ever!” Josiah exclaimed as he showed his mother and Kenny the signed basketball he was holding. “All of the players signed it,” he went on.
Kenny informed Monica that he had a surprise for Josiah, but he did not go into detail. After the game, she and Josiah were excited when they were escorted to the hall outside of the players’ locker room. The team’s star player, Jared Knicks, appeared from the locker room and presented Josiah with the game ball with signatures from all the players and coaches.
Kenny really tried to make the day special for Josiah and Monica. Josiah could not get enough of talking about meeting players, taking pictures and his beloved basketball. Memories are important to Monica and this one facilitated by Kenny was quickly climbing the charts.
Monica excused herself after the waiter took their order, “I need to go the restroom. JoJo, do you need to go?”
“No mama,” Josiah answered.
Monica turned her gaze to Kenny, “He’s fine,” Kenny reassured.
“Thank you,” Monica replied before turning for the ladies’ room.
Kenny watched as Monica walked off; when she was no longer in his line of vision, he turned his attention to the little boy that was sitting next to him in the corner booth.
“So, JoJo” Kenny started, “you know I like your mother, right?”
“I know” Josiah responded quickly. Entirely too quick to understand, Kenny thought to himself.
“One day I want to marry her. Would that be okay with you?” Kenny asked. The young boy was confused about the question but figured he was enjoying himself with his mother's new friend, so he agreed.
“Sure.” Josiah answered.
Kenny engaged Josiah in a 5-year old’s conversation discussing all his favorite things. Kenny was listening so intently as Josiah was describing the design of his bedroom that he had not noticed Monica had returned.
“What are you two fellas talking about,” Monica asked while sliding into the booth next to Josiah?
Stopping mid-sentence Josiah answered, “Mr. Kenny wants to marry you.”
“Oh,” Monica said as she darted her eyes to Kenny.
Bailey
The cancer awareness event was becoming a thorn in Bailey’s side. She managed to get a replacement with little incident, now she was getting word that Marcus Sims wanted back in. Bailey needed to know who the keynote speaker was going to be so she could finalize the event collateral. Jonathan had been in constant communication with the Player Operations Director and had not reached a resolution.
“Hey, Jonathan, you got a minute?” Bailey asked standing in his office’s doorway.
“Sure Bailey. What’s up?” He countered.
“Have you gotten word about who’s going to be the speaker for the cancer event next week? I need to finalize the program and get things going with the printers. It’s getting close,” she informed him.
“Not yet.” Jonathan started, “I have a call with Harvey at two this afternoon.”
“Okay. Perhaps, both Marcus and Casey could be the special guests. I know it’s not common to have two keynote speakers for these events, but…” Jonathan interrupted Bailey midsentence.
“That actually might work” Jonathan raved. “Can you prepare the layout with both guys and send it to me for review,” he asked.
“I already have that done, you should have it in your email in about five minutes,” Bailey reassured.
“Where would we be without you,” Jonathan gushed. “Let me get Harvey on the phone and I’ll get back to you with my feedback.”
“Sounds good,” Bailey turned on her heels to exit her boss’ office.
********************
“You are killing it at work” Mike cheered as he raised his beer to salute Bailey on her recent success.
“Thank you,” she responded before taking a sip of her wine.
Once Jonathan confirmed that her proposal for the double keynote speaker was approved by the Player Ops Department, Bailey invited Mike to happy hour in the Gaslamp. Counting that as a major victory in a dicey situation, Bailey wanted to celebrate the occasion. Her regular partner in happy hour crime Sierra, was not available so she reached out to Mike.
“When is the event again?” Mike asked.
“Next week,” Bailey answered.
“It’s an evening thing, right?”
“Uh, yeah,” Bailey hesitated unsure of Mike’s line of questioning. “Why do you ask?” she followed up.
“I was just wondering if this was one of those things where you could bring a plus one” Mike inquired.
“Some of my colleagues are bringing a guest, but I don’t typically do that for work events” Bailey answered earnestly.
“So, I can’t accompany you at work and see what a bad ass you are?” Mike asked outright.
Slowly shaking her head, Bailey replied honestly, “No.”
Detecting a shift in Mike’s mood, Bailey wondered why he would be offended that she would not invite him to a work function. She started to open her lips to probe further but decided to lift her glass of wine to her mouth for a sip instead.
The remainder of the evening felt forced and uncomfortable for Bailey. She tried to have casual conversation with Mike, however he appeared less than enthusiastic. The light conversation dissipated into phone watching and sporadic comments.
“I’m going to head out,” Mike announced.
“Okay,” Bailey acknowledged breaking contact with her phone.
“You’re not leaving too?” Mike asked.
“Not yet, I am going to stay a while,” Bailey stated while rotating in her seat to stand. “I’ll call you when I get home,” Bailey reassured him as she leaned in for a hug.
Bailey released her embrace when she felt Mike’s reluctance to join her in a hug. Stepping back, she smoothed over her clothes. “I’ll see you later,” she offered before sliding back into her seat.
“Yeah,” he snorted before turning to walk away.
Casey
Public speaking was never an issue for Casey, however, he found himself shaking with nerves while seated at the table waiting to be introduced by the mistress of ceremonies. Seated at his table was his teammate and co-keynote honoree Marcus Sims and his wife, Assistant Player Ops Director, Josh, with his date, two cancer survivors with their guest and Bailey.
Casey didn’t know if he was nervous because he didn’t want to say the wrong thing or if he wanted to impress Bailey. She was beautiful, incredibly smart, and although he had agreed to be platonic friends, a part of him longed for her. Every opportunity he had; Casey basked in Bailey’s presence. She wore a black square neck tea length cocktail dress adorned with a single strand of pearl necklace and pearl drop earrings. Bailey wore her hair bone straight with a middle part. Her simple look was stunning, and Casey did all he could to contain himself. He cursed himself for arriving late and thereby not being able to grab a seat next to her. He imagined that she smelled delightful, and he committed to himself that he would get close enough to her before the night was over to find out.
Casey was shocked when he received a standing ovation from the audience at the end of his speech. When he arrived back at his table a coy smile crept up his face as Bailey mouthed “great job” to him. While he was partial to the kid-friendly events that focused on being active Casey realized that he had underestimated how enjoyable the formal events could be; though, he did not like wearing suits or dress shoes.
********************
After the cancer awareness event ended, Casey made the decision to linger in the foyer in hopes of catching Bailey. She remained inside the event hall once the event concluded, and the guests filed out to the parking lot. Casey positioned himself along the far wall that was to the left of the banquet hall entryway where those exiting into the foyer wouldn’t see him right away. He’d hope the advantage would allow him to spot Bailey first while being discreet to anyone else needing to exit the building.
“Hey, Ms. Bailey,” Casey called out when he spotted her leaving the event hall unaccompanied.
“H…Hey,” she responded startled by Casey’s presence.
“Where is your boyfriend?” he asked.
“He's not my boyfriend,” Bailey replied looking around the foyer.
“Oh, could have fooled me,” Casey prodded.
“Well, you're wrong. Thank you very much,” Bailey sneered.
“How do you think it went?” Bailey asked, changing the subject.
“Man, I'm not even really trying to talk about all that right now” Casey admitted.
“Okay, sounds good,” Bailey started, “I'll have an evaluation for both of you guys tomorrow anyway, I was just trying to get some feedback right away.” Bailey went on as she leaned towards the building entrance, “On any account thank you again. I am going to head out now.”
“Do you mind giving me a ride?” Casey asked.
“A ride?” Bailey asked puzzled. “Why do you need a ride?”
“I took a car here instead of driving myself and I was going to take it back but since you're right here I figured you can give an old friend a ride home,” Casey admitted.
“I'm not sure about that,” Bailey hesitated. She was mindful to remain vigilant about the optics of being too close with any of the players on the team. Considering Casey was still one of her biggest crushes and that they had even gone out on a date, the last thing she wanted was to be seen driving around with him. “I mean; I'll wait with you while your car comes back but I don't really feel comfortable driving with you.”
“I hear you; but I’m not just anybody, we're friends, remember? Plus, how do you think my coach is going to feel if I arrive late tomorrow because I am so tired from this event because my car came late,” Casey coerced.
“Are you blackmailing me?” Bailey asked.
“Blackmail, white male, call it whatever you want.”
“Unbelievable,” Bailey said as she rolled her eyes in disbelief. “This is ridiculous,” she continued.
“Well, the longer we stand here the more eyes are going to see that you and I are talking” Casey rationalized.
“I really don't know what to do with you. Is this how you get your way? Bailey asked.
“Get my way?” Casey feigned hurt. “Most people just do what I say. There's never any jockeying or negotiating,” Casey boasted.
“See, now you're starting to talk like an arrogant athlete that's full of himself. You sir, who need a ride home should humble yourself. Or better yet, you can catch a cab, Uber, or a Lyft, I don't care”.
“Really? That's how you gonna do me?” Casey asked.
“Nope! That's how you're doing yourself” Bailey said as she exited the building.
Casey was in awe that Bailey would leave him standing there after he asked for a ride home. Pulling his phone out of his pants pocket Casey began to contact the car company to dispatch a driver as he walked slowly to the entrance of the foyer. He decided to wait for his car inside the glass double doors because it was a chilly night, and he didn’t have an overcoat.
Playing on his phone Casey looked up abruptly when he heard a car horn; and a small smile crept along his face. Pressing his way through the double doors Casey made his way to the waiting vehicle and got in.
“I thought you left me” Casey quizzed the driver as he adjusted the passenger seat for additional leg room and to engage the seat belt.
“I did leave you,” the driver said.
“Well, you came back,” Casey said as he pointed his finger at the side of the driver's face.
“That, I did. So where do you live?” Bailey asked.
“Chula Vista,” Casey informed her. “Do you know how to get over there?” he asked.
“Yes,” she replied.
“Perfect,” Casey started, “Just make your way toward Chula Vista and then I will give you the turn-by-turn directions”.
“Whatever” Bailey grumbled.
“So, this is what it feels like to be in a drug dealer’s car?” Casey kidded.
“Wow! Really?” Bailey exclaimed. “I'm giving you a ride in my nice vehicle and you're going to accuse me of being a drug dealer?”
“Well, not you but your boyfriend,” Casey clarified. “Because, like I said before and now sitting in this car and seeing how tricked out it is, this is definitely a drug dealer's car.”
“Like I told you before, my dad got me this car for my graduation,” Bailey countered.
