All I Want Is Forever (6 page)

“He who finds a wife finds a good thing.”

He kissed her softly on the forehead.  “And that you are, my love.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

“Good morning, beautiful.  How’d you sleep?”

“I slept alright how ‘bout you?”

“After listening to you snore and watching you sleep for about an hour…umm, I slept alright.”

Denise pushed him to the other side of the bed. 

“I don’t snore.”

“Yes, you do and I have the voice memo to prove it.”

“You recorded me snoring?  Oh, it’s on now!  You have officially waged war mister.”

“Now, wait a minute, Denise.”

“‘Wait a minute, Denise?’”

“I did it all in fun.”

“Well, I’m glad I was able to be your comic relief for the morning.”

“Can you do it every Friday?  We can theme them Fun Friday’s.  That would be off the chain!”

Denise threw the cover aside.  “I’m going to shower.”

“Want some company?”  DJ smiled.

“You are a piece of work,” Denise replied.

“So, what does your schedule look like for today?  You think we can do lunch later?”  He asked once the shower was over.  DJ stood in front of the mirror and brushed his teeth.

“Um, I don’t know, hun.  I have a couple of meetings this morning and I’m not sure how long they’ll run.  I can let you know around 11:30.  Is that enough time?”

“Yea, that’s cool.”

“What about you?  You have a lot going on at the studio?”

“No, not really.  I’m going to work on some tracks and maybe do a few mix tapes, but that’s it.”

“Have you heard
back from Mrs. Scott yet?”

“Nope. 

“Well, I’m sure she’ll call you soon enough.  If you made as good of an impression on her as you do everyone else, you have nothing to worry about.”

DJ walked to the
bedroom and began to get dressed.

“It’s not that I’m worried.  I believe she’ll call
.  It’s the
when
,” he dragged.  “But I totally agree with you, my love.  She’ll call soon enough.  Okay, babe, I’ll see you later,” he said as he grabbed his keys from the dresser.  “I love you.”

Denise wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him softly on the lips. 

“I love you more.”

***

Jonathan met DJ at the front entrance of the studio. 

“Hey what’s up, Jay?  Is everything alright?”

“Kane is upstairs in the lobby.”

“Okay.”

“No, you don’t understand, D.  He looks bad, dawg.”

“Bad?”

“Yeah, he reeks of alcohol and I honestly doubt that he’s taken a bath in days.  He looks
BAD
,” Jonathan stressed. 

“Don’t worry.  I’ll talk to him and see what’s going on.  I’m sure everything is straight.”

They took the elevator up to the studio.

“
Kane!  What’s up?  What are you doing here, man?”

“
D, I need to talk to you on the real.  I know what you said,” Kane slurred as he stumbled forward.

“Whoa…hold on bruh.  Look,
let’s go into the lounge and sit down so we can rap.”

“Naw, I’m good.  I don’
t need to sit down,” Kane stated waving DJ off.

“
Okay.  Well, let’s go into my office so we won’t disrupt the flow of business.”

Kane
snickered.  “Yeah, so we won’t disrupt the flow of business.”

“Come on.”  DJ placed his hand on
Kane’s shoulder and escorted him down the hallway to his office.

DJ sat down in his chair while
Kane stood by the window. 

“
Kane, what’s going on with you man?  What are you doing here?”

“I
messed up.  I really messed up bad, man.  I needed money and I needed it quick.”

“
Kane, I told you that I’m not getting caught up in nothing I didn’t play a part in.”

“I know, I know. 
You don’t have nothing to worry about.  I handled it.”

“You handled what?”

“I did. I handled it.  You know you can’t let niggas think you weak and shit.  They’ll walk all over you.”

“
Kane…”

“Aw, my bad.  I’ll stop cussing and shit.”

DJ sighed.

Kane
laughed.  “I’m sorry.  Okay, okay.  What did I say?”

“This dude here,” DJ said aloud while shaking his head.  “You said you got your money back and…”

“Right, right!  I couldn’t let dude think he had pulled one over on me and keep what was mine.”

“And why not?”

“Because that’s weak nigga shi…stuff.”

“So, what?  You tried to get
the one who got you?”

“No, no, no,” he slurred. 
Kane staggered over to the sofa and sat down.  “How can I get him on for something that was mine to begin with?  It was mine.”

Kane ran his hand over his face.

“I just wanted my money back.  I didn’t want us falling out over the shi…stuff, but I ain’t weak, feel me?  I knew what he was up to when he wanted me to take the dope with me.  It was an obvious setup.”

“
Kane, I don’t know what you did and if it’s bad then I don’t want to know either because what I don’t know I can’t speak on.”

“Damn, h
ave some faith in me,” he said laying his head back on the sofa.  “D,” he whispered.  “The room is spinning, dawg.  This is craze!”

DJ picked up the phone and dialed the receptionist desk.

“Jonathan, do me a favor.  Bring a cup of coffee please.  BLACK!  Thanks, man.  Look, Kane.  I don’t know what kind of mess you’ve gotten yourself into, but you’re going to have to take it to your grave.  A dead man can tell no tales.”

“I told you how I thought my homeboy tried to set me up, right?”

DJ nodded.

“Well, I had to get ‘em. 
He had my money and my work.  I couldn’t let him get away with that.  So, I knew he was stepping out the other night, right?  I planned to get my cash back.  I parked.  I watched.  I waited for him to leave,” Kane grinned.  “You would think the nigga would have an alarm system or something, but he don’t.  I crept in through the basement door, found the stash spot and took what I gave him plus a little extra.  I felt like Bushwick Bill going in that mutha…”

“
KANE!”

“Hey, can you play some of that Ghetto Boys while I’m here.”

“Kane, you gotta roll!”

“
I wanted to kill the nigga, D, I swear I did.”

“Did you?”

“Nope.  Somebody beat me to it.”

“
What you mean ‘somebody beat you to it’?”

“Word on the street is that he got into it with some cat from the block and he put three hot ones in ‘em.”

“Damn, Kane!  You’re gonna mess up everything I’m trying to help you get!”

“I’m tired of waiting!  Plus, he had it coming.  It’s called karma.  He deserved it.”

DJ rose from his chair and began to pace back and forth.  “I don’t believe this.  Here I am out here trying to make stuff happen while you’re in the streets working against everything I’m working for.  I quit, Kane.  You hear me, dawg?  I QUIT!”

“D
, please,” Kane pleaded.  “I’m on the verge of self-destructing.”

“You’ve already self-destructed!”

“You’re my only voice of reason.  Please, dawg.  I’m begging you.”

DJ walked back to his desk and sat down.  “I am mentally depleted.  I can’t continue to go through this stuff with you.  I have a business to run
and a life to live.”

“I know, I know.  If you could just help me, please.”

“What?  What can I possibly do to help you?”

Kane
sighed.  “I started using again.  Umm, I felt like I was about to have a serious breakdown.  I just wanted to escape everything.  That was the only way to do it.  I know that if I don’t get help I’m going to end up in jail or either dead.”

“Are you sure this is what you
wanna do?”

“
I don’t know what else to do.”

***

“Ted, I think we’re ready.  I interviewed the girls and I loved them.  I’m so excited!”

“
I’m glad to hear that.  They’ve been asking if I’d heard anything back from you yet.  I assured them that you’d call if you were interested.  So, when do you want to get started?”

“How about next Monday?”

“Next Monday works for me.  I will let them know and we’ll meet you at the office, say around nine?”

“Nine is great, Ted.  Thanks again.”

Denise dialed the front desk.

“Yes, Mrs. Chatman?”

“Keisha, can you have Jonas come see me, please?”

“Sure thing, Mrs. Chatman.”

“Thank you.”

Denise looked at the
book covers Jonas had designed. 
He really does have a gift.

Knock Knock

“Come in.”

“Mrs. Chatman, you wanted to see me?”

“Have a seat, Jonas.”

“Thank you.”

“After looking over these book covers I’m very impressed.  I like them all.  Tell me something.  Why’d you apply for the runner position and not something in the graphic design department?”

“Well,
one of the requirements was a degree, which I don’t have.”

Denise nodded.  “I understand.  Well,” she stated removing a piece of paper from her desk.  “I’d like to personally offer you the position of Graphic Designer I.”

Denise slid the offer letter across her desk.

“Mrs. Chatman!  Are you serious?”

Denise nodded.  “Unless you’ve changed your mind about wanting the position.”

“No!  No!  I want it.  Oh, my God!” 

“Take a second and read over it and let me know if you have any questions.  If you don’t, sign the bottom and then I’ll walk you over to meet Kaleb.  He’s the manager in that department.  I think you guys will get along great.”

“Mrs. Chatman, I don’t know what to say,” Jonas stated.  He signed the offer letter and slid it back toward Denise.

“I’ll make sure you get a copy of this, but I believe Christine has already mailed you out one.  Oh, and a simple thank you will suffice,” she smiled.

“Thank you, Mrs. Chatman.  From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”

“Don’t disappoint me, Jonas.  I believe in you, You ready?” Denise asked. 

They stood to walk out of the office when her phone rang.  She looked at the display.

“Jonas, I have to take this call.  We’ll have to meet Kaleb later today or you can just walk over to the department and tell him who you are.  He’s expecting you.”

“Yes, ma’am.  I can do that.”

“Thank you.  You’ll do great,” she assured.  Will you pull the door closed on your way out?”

“No problem.  I won’t disappoint you and thanks again,” he spoke softly as Denise answered her call.”

“This is Denise.”

“Hey lady, what are you doing?”

“I’m working, what are you doing?” Denise asked playfully.

“I don’t know what I’m doing in all honesty.”

“What happened, Aprile?”

Aprile sobbed harder than Denise had ever heard.  She closed her eyes as a tear rolled down her cheek.

“Aprile, please stop crying.”

“I. Don’t. Know. What to do.  I feel so hopeless.  Like I don’t even wanna be here anymore.”

“Stop talking like that!  You’re not hopeless and you have to be here whether you want to be or not.  God has a plan for your life, honey.  This is only a test and He’s going to use this test as a testimony to help someone who’s going through the same thing you are.”

“Denise, I can’t eat or sleep.  I keep calling him and he doesn’t answer my phone calls.  I’m dying over here.”

“Aprile...you have to stop doing this to yourself.  You can’t make someone love you.  You can’t force somebody to be with you if they don’t want to.  I know you want to be loved and like I told you before someone already does love you.  He loves you more than any man in this world ever could.  You have to get back in the Word, stop focusing on Alex, and start focusing on God.”

“I’ve been praying and God isn’t hearing me.  He hasn’t answered any of my prayers!”

“How do you know?  You’ve been so distracted that you wouldn’t know if He answered them or not.  You’re so focused on what
you
want that you couldn’t hear Him if He screamed in your ear!  Aprile, honey, I love you and I truly hate to see you like this.  What do you want me to do?”

Aprile cleared her throat.  “Pray for me.”
 

***

“Today has been a really trying day for me, Denise.  Really trying.”