Later that night, as Raymond lay in bed waiting for Charmaine to emerge from the bathroom, his thoughts kept returning to the way Joe had looked at Charmaine and it made his skin crawl. Raymond was not mistaken by the pure desire and yearning on Joe’s face. Joe may seem to all that he has moved on but Raymond thought otherwise and his intuitions were always correct. He can’t fight the feeling that Joe had something up his sleeve where Charmaine was concerned. Worse of all was that Charmaine bought his act and that left her vulnerable to whatever tactics he had planned for her.

Charmaine came into the bedroom and found Raymond lost in thought. She cleared to get his attention but he didn’t even notice. She slid onto the bed next to him and when she rested her head on his shoulder then did he look at her. “What’s on your mind?” she asked.

Raymond kissed her forehead and hugged her close to him, “I’m thinking about Joe.”

“Joe?” Charmaine said, surprise on her face. “Whatever for? You don’t think he still has feelings for me do you?”

“Let's just say I don’t believe that he’s gotten over you,” Raymond stated with disdain. When he saw her eyes roll with disbelief, he added, “I have my instincts. After all, you ditched him for me. He isn’t likely to let it go that easily.”

Charmaine snuggled against him and said reasonably, “He really isn’t that bad of a person. Sure, he has his moods but all the times that I’ve been with him he had shown me only goodness. Besides, I think he has an eye on Jessica now. You saw how attentive he was to her.”

Raymond did not believe that. His suspicions told him that Jessica was only a coy to mask his true feelings. He cocked his head to the side and looked at Charmaine, “Let’s get married.”

“What?” Charmaine asked stunned by the question. They have never discussed marriage. Sure she knew that eventually they would but she didn’t think it would be any time in the near future.

Raymond sat up and took her hands. He didn’t know why he blurted that out but after he did, he realized that its want he wanted. “Think about it,” he pressed, “you know I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Plus, this will send a message out to Joe to back off.”

Charmaine was still unsure on where all this was coming from. She searched his face, “I don’t want us getting married just because you think Joe will interfere with our relationship. I’m telling you Joe has moved on.”

Raymond tensed at her comment, “You think I’m only suggesting this because of Joe?” He looked at her tenderly and quietly said, “I love you Charmaine. I always did and I’ll always will.”

Charmaine looked at him and was overwhelmed by the love and devotion shining in his eyes. Her resistance melted away as she kissed him on the cheek and said, “I love you too.” Then she gave him a wide grin, “Let’s get married!”

Raymond hugged her fiercely to him, all thoughts of Joe forgotten.

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Ron walked Tavia to her apartment and as he was about to get into his own car saw Joe walking towards him. Slamming his hand down on the roof of his car, he yelled with agitation, “What the hell do you want?”

Joe snickered, “When are you going to fulfill your end of the bargain?”

Ron glared at Joe, “Give me time.”

Joe was now standing in front of Ron. “You had enough time.” He patted the pocket of his jacket, “Do you want me to show this to Raymond?”

Ron fought the urge to throw a punch at Joe. He took a deep breath to calm himself then slowly said, “I need time to plan everything.”

“One week,” Joe said firmly. “By the end of one week if Raymond and Charmaine are still together then you leave me no choice but to give this to Raymond.”

Ron stared at Joe with loathing and icily said, “One week is not enough. Give me two.”

Joe chuckled and in a tone to match Ron’s said, “What makes you think you can bargain with me? I’m the one with the upper hand.”

Ron remained silent as he knew what Joe said was true. Joe patted Ron’s shoulder, “One week or else,” he turned and walked back to his own car and drove off.

Ron muttered a stream of curses and kicked the tire of his car in frustration. He was about to open the door when a shadow caught his eye. He turned and saw Tavia standing off to the side. Judging by her stoic expression, Ron gathered she had overhead the entire exchange between him and Joe. He walked glumly towards her and laughed bitterly, “Either way I’m going to lose my best friend.”

Tavia held her arms out to him and Ron walked into her embrace. In a soothing voice, she said, “Ron, I think you should just get it over with. Tell Raymond the truth. He’ll forgive you just like I have because you were only following Michael’s orders.”

“Will you be there with me when I tell him the truth?” Ron asked hopefully.

Tavia’s arms continued to hold him in her embrace. Softly she said, “If you want me to.”

“Thanks for this,” Ron murmured, feeling better. He stepped out of her embrace and took her hand, “Come on, let me walk you back upstairs again.”