Charmaine ended the call and looked over at Raymond, “I have to go over to Jessica’s place now. I’ll be back real fast.”

Raymond laid the magazine he was reading aside, “It’s kind of late, don’t you think.”

Charmaine sat down on the bed beside him and told him about the call from Joe. After she was done, Raymond looked skeptically at her, “I don’t think you should go. Something doesn’t feel right about it.”

“What doesn’t feel right?” Charmaine asked, not knowing what Raymond was getting at.

Raymond placed his hands on her shoulders and asked, “Why didn’t he call Tavia to come and help? Why you?”

Charmaine laughed now, understanding the direction of Raymond’s concern, “Because he’s not familiar with Tavia. You think he’s trying to lure me over there and then jump on me?”

Raymond eyes darkened and he said firmly, “I wouldn’t put it past him to do that.”

Charmaine chuckled but sobered up when she saw the look on Raymond’s face, “He called me from Jessica’s phone and I’m going over to Jessica’s house. So that means Jessica will be there also. There’s nothing to worry about.”

Raymond relaxed a bit but only slightly, “I still don’t trust him where you’re concern. He’s up to no good. I know it!”

Charmaine got up from the bed and grabbed Raymond’s hand, “Come on.”

Surprised Raymond asked, “Where to?”

Biting back a smile, Charmaine said, “To accompany me to Jessica’s place. That way you could save me if Joe is really up to no good.”

Raymond stood in front of Charmaine as he looked at her gravely, “I wasn’t planning on letting you go alone in the first place.”

Charmaine smiled cheekily at him, “I know that.”

Raymond pinched her nose then gave her a soft pat on her behind, “Go change. I’ll get the car and wait for you downstairs.”

Just when he was about to walk away Charmaine called out to him, “Raymond?”

He turned around to look at her. Although she was in an old beat up sweatshirt and jogging pants, her hair tied up sloppily in a pony tail, she still looked beautiful to him, “What?” he asked gently.

She pointed to his bare legs and her brows lifted in amusement, “You ought to put on something yourself. You might get arrested for parading around the streets in boxers. It’s considered underwear you know.”

Raymond looked down at his own semi-ness and smiled, “I guess we’ll both go down and get the car together.”

Charmaine laughed at his quip.

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Ron stopped in front of Charmaine’s building and glanced up. Sure enough, the lights in Charmaine’s apartment was still lit. Therefore, it meant that they were still up. Turning off the ignition, he left his car and was about to walk into the building when his phone rang. “Hi Tavia.”

“Where are you?” Tavia asked.

“I’m actually downstairs of Charmaine’s building getting ready to go in. I’ve been thinking a lot about everything and I can’t have Raymond mad at me. It’s driving me nuts.”

Tavia giggled, “I know, I know. He’s your best friend and he’s the most important person to you.”

Ron managed a smile, “Actually you are. He’s second.”

To that Tavia laughed out heartily, “Anyway, I’m calling to ask you to come pick me up. You can talk to Raymond tomorrow.”

Ron stopped walking and asked, “Pick you up to go where?”

“To Jessica’s place. I got a call from Joe saying that Jessica is extremely drunk and he didn’t feel right taking care of her overnight. He asked me to go over and keep an eye on her so that he could leave,” Tavia explained.

Ron walked back to his car, “I’ll be there in a few minutes. I’ll call you when I’m around the corner.”

“Okay,” Tavia said then added, “And about Raymond. I know he’ll forgive you.”

“I hope so,” Ron said softly, “I don’t want to lose the only best friend I ever had.”