Nervous

“Yes.” I paused to take another sip of tea. “Apparently, a whole lot happened at the wedding when Jude took over.”

“Such as?”

“Jude seduced Darnetta’s man.” I searched Marcella’s face for a clue as to what she was thinking, but couldn’t read her thoughts. “She did it with Logan right there during the reception.”

“Let me get this straight. Jude had sex with the man in public?” she inquired.

“Well, in a private room somepla

ce, but basically, yes.”

“So what did you say to Darnetta?”

“I did the rational thing since I knew she wasn’t making it up. I apologized for Jude’s behavior—my behavior.”

“Did she accept your apology?”

“Absolutely not. In fact, I still need to go through the want ads so I can start applying for other jobs in the morning.” I got up and started pacing the floor. My anxiety had kicked back in full throttle, just thinking about going to work. “Darnetta is a drama queen and she’s going to do everything within her power to make me out to be the devil incarnate at the office.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

“That’s also not all,” I uttered.

“What else?” Marcella asked.

“From what I’ve been able to piece together, the way Darnetta found out was by walking in on Mason and Logan arguing about it.”

“Logan told Mason?”

I shook my head. “No, Jude told Mason.”

“Jude?”

“Uh-huh. Mason came over here Friday night to ask me out to a movie and Jude convinced him that I was a whore and to prove it, she threw the incident with Logan up in his face.”

“How did you find that out?”

“Mason told me.” I sat back down beside her, remembering the wonderful night we had spent together. “He’s such a good man.”

“I take it that things went well between the two of you.”

“I told him everything. He actually listened to me and even tried to comfort me afterward.”

“That’s definitely a good thing.”

“Yes, it is.” I began to think about the possibilities between Mason and me and how much I wanted to see what could actually develop. Then I thought about Jude and how she could ruin it all. “Jude’s getting out of control. Or maybe it’s the exact opposite. Maybe she’s in control.” Marcella was silent. She seemed like she was in deep thought. “She’s really going to take over completely, isn’t she?” I asked.

Marcella said, “Not if I have something to say about it.” She took my right hand and held it tightly. “Jonquinette, I need to speak with Jude.”

“Meaning?”

She touched me on the cheek with her free hand and stared me in the eyes. “Jude, I know you can hear me. Come out. I promise I won’t hurt you.”

I tried to pull myself away from her. “This is crazy, Marcella.”

She refused to let my hand go. “Jonquinette, you’re not the one destroying your life. She is and that’s why she’s the one I need to get across to.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “So you think she’s just going to come out like that? On demand?”