Jonathan Denson

The day James, my little brother, was married, I’ll never forget. Who’d have thought the most conceited, self-observed, promiscuous man on the planet would find the one woman who could break him of it all? And hadn’t it been even more ironic that they’d come together because of a lie? Tayla Maxwell had become my sister by happenstance; before it’d been official and before either her or my brother had known it.

It hadn’t been an easy road for them. Hell, even the most treacherous of roads couldn’t describe the kind of mayhem their relationship had endured. But they’d come out stronger and even more in love.

Her business was thriving and with mine, James’s and Rochelle’s connections it was only a matter of time before she’d be opening chains in all the major cities across the country. I knew that would probably be a long time coming because they’d be so wrapped up in being newlyweds they’d probably never leave the house. Then when the kids started pouring in, they’d really be bombarded.

James and kids…who’d have thought that one?

I smiled to myself as I thought of an exasperated James chasing a tiny, golden skinned, diaper clad toddler around the house.

At least someone around here was genuinely happy, I thought as I looked upon the lovebirds sharing a slow dance and pretending like they were the only two people in the room.

I shook my head and made my way over, as the music ended and the two shared a kiss.

“Get a room, you two,” I called out.

Their heads snapped in my direction.

Tayla — or Tater-tot as I aptly bestowed upon her — smiled at me and reached out her arms for a hug.

“You’re next you know,” she whispered in my ear and gave me a chaste kiss on the cheek before pulling away.

“I don’t have any prospects,” I said, trying to push down the feeling of disappointment and smile in spite of it. “But we shall see.”

James raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure we’re related? Johnny, you have your pick here,” James gave me a pat on the shoulder and surveyed the ample amount of beautiful women in attendance. “Weddings are like an all-you-can-eat buffet.”

I chuckled when Tayla delivered a soft blow to his abdomen. “Don’t listen to this fool. Unlike some people, you have higher standards and deserve a nice girl to spend your time with.”

“You’re saying I don’t have high standards? I mean, you’re not very nice but I married you, didn’t I?”

“Best decision you ever made, kid.”

I felt a tug of envy as James tipped his new bride’s chin up and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. I would forever wonder how my brother had ended up with such a level-headed woman like Tayla Maxwell. Though, they were complete opposites in most aspects, they complimented each other like no other couple I’d ever seen.

“It’s about time to cut the cake, guys.” Rochelle’s voice pulled me from my thoughts.

My pulse quickened as I watched her guide the newlyweds in the direction of the cake and caught full view of her attire. She wore a powder blue strapless dress that accented the golden hue of her skin and showed off her long legs which were adorned with white pumps. Her dark hair was slicked back, curled and pulled into a side pony tail.

Once the couple was in their respective places, ready to shove cake in each other’s faces, Rochelle turned to me with a rehearsed, cordial smile.

“Hi, Jonathan.”

Ah, we were going to play games.

“How’s it going, Rochelle?” I wasn’t really interested in how she was doing. It seemed she’d been doing pretty well from the looks of her attentive date; who was retrieving a champagne flute for her. It’d burned my butt for the past few hours the way she wielded the guy around as if he were her best asset.

We hadn’t spoken much in the past few months since I’d kissed her at James and Tayla’s engagement party. I hadn't brought it up because I was way too chicken-shit. Also, what man wants to relive his romantic short-comings?

That had been fine with me; I wouldn’t have known what to say to her anyway. The awkward silence wasn’t what I’d expected from someone I thought I had formed a pretty solid relationship with over the past twenty years.

How times certainly change people, I thought as her date moved toward us with a smile and her champagne in hand.

“Thank you, Lamar.” She gulped down the cool liquid eagerly; giving me the impression that she was trying to use the alcohol to calm her nerves. Once she’d finished off the drink, she gave me another tight smile and gestured toward her date. “Jonathan, have you met Lamar Hernandez?”

I turned my attention to the deep auburn skinned gentlemen. His hair was equally as dark and if not for his name, his features would have given away his Hispanic heritage. “I don’t believe so. John Denson, older brother of the groom.”

I reached out my hand and took Lamar’s in a firm handshake. “Good to meet you, man. I knew you looked familiar. You’re the big guy’s attorney.” His heavy accent and quick tongue made it difficult to decipher what he’d just said.

I had to keep from rolling my eyes at Lamar’s reference to my brother as the ‘big guy.’

“I represent my brother, only because he is my brother. Not necessarily because I like it.” I chuckled at the joke only I seemed to get. “I have my own firm downtown and I’m also advising my sister-in-law in her new business matters.”

“That’s great, man. A family affair; I like that. That’s really cool, man.”

If this guy called me man one more time…

“Lamar’s trying to get his PR firm off the ground,” Rochelle relayed for her date because she could see the way I was looking at the moron…I mean gentlemen.

“Ah, a fellow business owner.  It’s too bad you’re not a lawyer, I could have gone for some stiff competition.”

Lamar and I both laughed but Rochelle’s face suddenly set in a glare. She had caught the subtle double meaning and I had to give her a lopsided grin. This guy was definitely no competition.

Maybe playing this game would be more fun than I thought.

“Lamar, do you want to dance?” She asked suddenly but never took her glaring eyes away from me.

“Sure, Shelly.” I cringed inwardly as he secured an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to his side. “Hey, it was great meeting you, John. We’ll talk some more, yeah?”

“Sure,” I gave him a quick smile and watched them make their way toward the dance floor. When I lost sight of them in the crowd of swaying couples, I let out a breath I didn’t even know I was holding.

I looked at my flute of champagne and decided that I was going to need much stronger alcohol.

****

Kaleesa Blake

I finally found the white linen covered table with my small name tag placed in the middle of a sparkling cream colored plate with gold trim. Kalenda Black, it read and I frowned.

Who the hell was Kalenda?

My name was Kaleesa Blake for Pete’s sake. I had helped Tayla with the seating chart months before and knew that I was seated next to her brother-in-law. I looked to my left and read Jonathan Denson. From that deduction, I knew that this was supposed to be my seat. I wouldn’t dare mention this to Tayla. She’d been under so much stress trying to make everything right; this little faux pas with my name would surely get someone’s head chewed off. I would just keep this to myself.

I smiled as I watched my new boss put her head in the crook of her groom’s neck and sway to the soft groove of Musiq Soulchild crooning about love never changing.

I loved weddings.

It wasn’t just the promise of a new life but also the solemn oath before God, friends and family that made me sigh contently. There was no real guarantee that love would last but there was always the hope that if two people loved each other enough, they would fight to keep it. Maybe I was a hopeless romantic but I would believe in true love until the day I died. I wasn’t so sure about happy endings but I knew love was worth fighting for.

“Would you like to dance?” I looked up and spotted an African-American man in a grey suit, accented with a dark lavender tie. His salt and peppered hair gave away his age but his skin was almost void of wrinkles. He smiled lazily and it was then that I recognized him; not the man, per se, but his kind. His upturned expression and the way his eyes zeroed in on my cleavage were definite signs that his intentions weren’t to get to know me. Also the subtle sway of his body and the goofy grin on his face also told me that he’d taken advantage of the open bar.

I shook my head and placed my clutch on the table. “No thank you,” I said quickly and I turned my attention back to the dance floor.

“Oh, c’mon, beautiful,” he said and took the seat next to mine. “I know you wanna cut a rug with me.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and placed his hand over top of mine. I cringed at the smell of alcohol on his breath.

I was about to cut something alright, if he didn’t take his hands off of me.

“No, but thank you.” I gritted my teeth and peeled my hand away.

That was the last time I’d tell him nicely.

“Ah, honey—”

“Uncle Charlie, I’d advise that you stop hitting on this young lady before I tell Aunt Valerie on you,” a deep masculine voice threatened.

The man I now knew as Uncle Charlie quickly straightened his back and turned toward the voice. “Hey, my boy! Oh, I was just asking this beautiful, lonely lady if she’d like to dance.” Uncle Charlie patted my hand and looked over my shoulder sheepishly before standing.

“I’ll bet you were.” The stranger’s voice was full of amusement but still stern. “I believe you’re in my seat.”

“Oh, right.” Uncle Charlie stood quickly. “Where’s your Auntie anyway?”

From the way Uncle Charlie looked behind him, I’d guessed that my savior had pointed across the room. The older man gave my hand one more pat before making his exit. When I thought he was out of earshot, I turned and smiled up into deep green eyes. I had to clear my throat to find my voice again.

“Jonathan, right? The other brother?”

I’d met Jonathan Denson in passing before and he’d always been very cordial; a quick greeting and then he’d be gone. At first, I’d put him off as saddity but beneath the exterior his eyes showed a depth of pain. I wondered what a guy with such great looks, a thriving business and wonderful family had to be pained about.

“Kaleesa, right? The new CPA?”

I smiled as he came around and sat in his appropriate seat. “That would be me. Good to see you, again.”

“Good to see you too. I’m sorry about my uncle. He thinks he has a way with the ladies; as most men in this family seem to think.”

I lifted a suspicious eyebrow. “He’s your uncle…by blood? I can’t say I see a resemblance.”

“No, no.” He chuckled and I was vaguely comforted by the sound. “More like an appointed family member than anything. He’s my godfather but I thought it ridiculous to call him ‘Godfather Charlie’ or just ‘Charlie.’ So, I opted for ‘Uncle Charlie.’”

I nodded with a smirk. “Appropriate. Any other genealogy I should be forewarned about?”

“None that I can think of at the moment,” he said and shrugged off his black suit jacket which gave me perfect view of his sculpted arms under his white dress shirt. I tried to keep from staring as he continued. “James is married now, so I guess that leaves me but I’ve never claimed to be a ladies man.”

A sexy man who had no idea how sexy he was. Could it be true?

“I don’t mean to sound forward — well, okay I do — but with your looks, I can’t believe women aren’t falling all over themselves.”

His laugh was so infectious, I found myself smiling. “Well, I…I’m sorry. I don’t quite know how to respond to that one.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” I waved him off. “You’re smile is more than enough.”

What had gotten into me? I wasn’t normally this upfront with a man I barely knew and a white man at that. Maybe it was the champagne…yeah, that had to be it. I was going to pull a Jamie Foxx and blame it on the alcohol.

The slight blush in his cheeks gave him a boyish charm that I was quickly becoming enthralled with. And that smile just wouldn’t quit.

“Why, Ms. Blake, if I’m not mistaken I’d say you were flirting with me.”

“Me? Nah.” But my smile betrayed me. I didn’t want to flirt with him but it was just too damn easy. He made it easy to get lost in those eyes of sea green and his easy-going aura.

“I wonder, can you flirt and dance at the same time?” He stood and extended his palm to me in invitation.

“I’ve been told I’m the ultimate multi-tasker.” I said as I placed my hand in his.

****

Rochelle Galena

Was it some kind of a crime to want to choose the person I was with? Was it so wrong to want to decide how I wanted to live my own life? I’d been asking myself these questions for the last few months — since the kiss. I should have smacked the hell out of Jonathan for just acting on impulse like that. I’d known he’d been carrying some kind of torch for me in high school but I ignored it. I thought it’d run its course, as most grade school infatuations do. I didn’t need any more complications when I left for college or another tie keeping me in the area. However, when the time had come to go off to school we’d inevitably ended up at Ohio State. I knew he hadn’t made the decision based upon me because I hadn’t told anyone what school I’d attend. Fate had a sense of humor, I supposed.

Since being shipped to Schilling’s School for the Gifted in Cincinnati at the tender age of eight, all of my choices had been made for me. I’d never wanted to leave Puerto Rico. I’d never wanted to attend an American school and I sure as hell never wanted to get mixed up with the opposite sex. Yet, somehow, my path had been forged for me; be it by destiny or what have you.

Destiny.

I’d thought long and hard about it for a while as I looked on at the newly married couple swaying on the dance floor. If there were two people destined to be together, it was definitely Tayla and James. God help me, I liked her too. She was spunky, funny, she didn’t back down from me — which was something I respected — and she was exactly what James had needed at the time.

Was Jonathan what I needed? Was he my destiny? I was getting a massive headache trying to figure it out. The only thing I knew for sure was that I didn’t like Kaleesa Blake in his arms.

I narrowed my eyes and took a long sip of my champagne.

Maybe leaving things to chance wasn’t what Fate wanted of me. Maybe I’d been given a challenge — a test of my willpower of sorts.

I took down the rest of the cool, bubbly liquid, and I watched Jonathan spin Kaleesa into his body and hold her as she laughed freely. Their faces came close and something passed between them. My breath hitched when I saw the instant spark. A ball of jealously formed in my belly and I clenched my fist.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

I looked up and James stood over me with a silly grin plastered across his face. He was so happy it almost made me sick but I was glad to see him finally with someone who could match him in every way.

“My thoughts are worth more than that.”

“Can I get a discount? I do over pay you to babysit me.” He placed another glass of champagne in front of me and I gladly took it.

After a moment of silence, I looked over at his solemn expression. “Stop. You know staring annoys me.”

“What doesn’t annoy you?” James shrugged.

“Good point.”

“So, I heard Johnny put it on you.”

I choked on the champagne and watched him with wide eyes.

Christ, that came straight out of left field.

Once I got my breathing under control, I took a second to clam myself before I spoke.

“First of all, you need to keep your voice down.” I pulled on his lapels so that we were closer, just in case someone was eavesdropping. “Secondly, it was a kiss. No more. And I’d appreciate it if you’d just drop it.”

I released his collar and made a move to stand.

“Now why would I want to go and do something like that?” He said smugly.

I turned sharply with fire in my eyes.

Stubborn fool.

“You don’t have a choice, because I’m not talking about it.” I brought my attention back to the dance floor when a circle formed around a couple obviously cutting a rug. The music had changed and the rich sounds of horns followed a quick salsa beat.

The first genuine smile of the night threatened to break through. John would surely come looking for me to dance. We’d taken Latin ballroom classes a few years ago after one of John’s grateful clients had mentioned his wife owned her own dance studio. We were given a month of private lessons. Those were the days when things weren’t weird and awkward between us. He’d have to forget about all of that—if only through the song—with the current beat pulsing through the speakers.

People continued to clap and cheer for the couple making a spectacle of themselves in the middle of the dance floor. We could show up those amateurs, whoever they were. I was sure of it.

I looked around again; where the hell was he?

“Looking for Johnny?”

I ignored James and stood to see if I could get a good look at the duo on the floor. It was probably some cute old couple shimming away and doing their best not to break their artificial hips.  

I had to get a good look at this.

“Hey, husband-o-mine!” Tayla ran up with her hands extended and quickly grabbed James. “C’mon and dance with me. Your brother is about to show you up!”

I almost tripped on my Manolos.

“Jonathan’s out there? With who?” I tried to sound disinterested but I was fuming on the inside.

Tayla’s nonchalant attitude and lack of a response said everything.

“Kaleesa, right?” I deadpanned.

She shook her head. “Kaleesa is dancing with…Lamar? I think that was his name.”

What the…

“My date, Lamar?”

Judging by her wide eyes, I suspected she’d said more than she’d wanted to.

Kaleesa Blake was becoming a damn thorn in my side; and the only way to deal with thorns was to grab the tweezers and rip them out as quickly as possible.

Game on, Ms. Blake. Game on.