Page 142

Story: The Love of Priest 2

Looking down at her phone, she cursed lowly as another call from Avery lit up her screen. Figuring that Britain still wanted to have a conversation with her, she just hadn't found the words yet, Jazzy held her finger up politely and excused herself from Britain momentarily. Britain watched as she stood up from her seat and sauntered over to the other side of the pool so she could answer her phone.

Jazzy's shoulders slumped in defeat as held the phone up to her ear. "Stop with all the frantic shit! I just told you I'll handle it!" she ordered, overcoming the shouting Avery was doing on the other side of the phone call. The two weren't in any shape to offer greetings as they both had no idea how they were going to get the situation resolved. "I'll be back in the city tomorrow, and I'll have the paper by the end of the week."

"The end of the week? I can't stall out that long," Avery denied, shaking her head.

"You're gonna have to." Jazzy shrugged her shoulders. "Just stop calling, and I'll call when I have it," she settled, ultimately ending the call before Avery could get another frantic word out. Despite giving explicit instructions to Avery to not to call her back, Jazzy knew she would be getting yet another call from her shortly. She silenced her phone, dropping it into her pocket and sauntering back to her seat across from Britain.

"Sorry about that," she apologized to Britain for interrupting their conversation before it even started.

Britain shook her head, indicating that it wasn't something she should worry about. "I get it. Business calls."

"Yeah, I'm in some deep shit," she admitted as she defeatedly put her head in her hands.

As much as Britain wanted to lecture Jazzlyn, she honestly couldn't help but sympathize with her. Although this could have definitely been avoided, Jazzy was bound to make mistakes that came with growth. Her mistakes just so happened to be on a much grander scale due to her lifestyle. She pursed her lips before responding to Jazzy. "Was that Cameron's wife, Avery?" She gestured toward Jazzy's phone, referring to the call she just had.

As her nerves began to pile up, Jazzy bit down on her bottom lip before nodding her head in response to Britain. "I had it all planned out. Everything was foolproof," Jazzy urged, exasperation lacing her words. "And Priest just?—"

"Proved a point?" Britain interjected with a raise of her brow.

She screwed up her face at Britain. She initially thought Britain came out here to comfort her after the blow up she just had with Priest, but it seemed as though she was wrong, and Britain actually came to lecture her. "He sent you out here?" Jazzy asked her.

Britain sighed lightly as she shook her head. "No one had to send me out here, Jazzy," Britain clarified. "But I know you needsomeone to talk to, especially someone who knows how you're feeling."

Jazzy smacked her lips lightly. "You got an asshole brother too?"

Britain chuckled, shaking her head at Jazzy. "Not quite, but I know how it feels when you deal with Cameron."

At the mention of Cameron's name, Britain could see how tense Jazzy became. After some time, Britain was able to piece a few things together. She was going out on a limb when she came up with the thought that Jazzy had been involved with Cameron, but from Jazzy’s unsettling reaction, she figured she was right. It honestly disturbed Britain that Cameron was out here doing the same old things. He married Avery out of spite toward Britain, yet he managed to still be in the city causing havoc in other women's lives. He was insufferable.

Another deep breath drifted out of Jazzy as she fixed her attention onto the blue waters that filled the pool. The water was clear enough to see the beautiful detailing of the tile that made up the pool floor. This was the last conversation Jazzy wanted to have with Britain. "How long?" Britain asked Jazzy, referring to how long she had been dealing with Cameron.

Jazzy pursed her lips as her eyes trailed down to her hands. "Few months shy of a year," she admitted and shrugged her shoulders. "It was just sex, no commitment."

A light chuckle aired out of Britain. She wished that her and Jazzy's situations were similar. She would have much preferred just sex with Cameron instead of the years of mental, emotional, and physical abuse in exchange for commitment that he couldn't even honor. "Did you know he was married to Avery?" Britain returned with another question, and Jazzy shook her head in response.

"Only found out he was married because of you. I didn't find out who he was married to until I strolled into Avery's office.”A scoff aired out of Jazzy as she shamed herself for being so oblivious to Cameron's game. Although she was unaware, that didn't stop her from feeling low about herself. Here she was judging Taylor for still being involved with J'Ru while he was married to Aja, yet her situation was basically the same. It disgusted her to say the least. Also, hearing the things he did Britain just made it even worse.

A heavy breath drifted out of Britain as she shook her head. Cameron was relentless. "So, what's the problem now?" she asked. She figured since Jazzy learned the truth about Cameron and his manipulative ways, she would just wash her hands of him. From the looks of how things were panning out, it was evident that Jazzy was not done with him yet.

"I bit off more than I can chew," she admitted with a groan. Usually, Jazzy was prideful and would never admit her wrongs. Instead, she would fight through them and solve the problem so she wouldn't have to come clean. However, in this situation, she was stuck. Britain was a safe space, so she felt comfortable enough to take accountability in front of her. "He pretty much has Avery in a chokehold. If she even thinks about leaving him, he threatens to take their daughter away from her. Now usually, her situation wouldn't have shit to do with me, but we were in a bind, so I thought if she scratches my back, I can scratch hers. He controls all of her finances, so I suggested that she does her work for us and build her money up so she can leave him with her daughter."

Britain couldn't help but sympathize with Avery. She could remember how happy and in love Avery looked when she had run into them while she was pregnant with Dreux. From that moment, Britain built an unexplainable hatred toward Avery. She had the man Britain so desperately wanted to simply acknowledge that she was pregnant with his child. Now that everything was coming full circle, Britain found the silver liningin everything not playing out how she wanted it to. She couldn't even imagine being in Avery's shoes.

"Let me guess. Things aren't playing out how you wanted them to?" Britain tilted her head in question.

A defeated breath exhaled out of Jazzy. "No," she shook her head. "PJ not only took his money from her, but he also took Cameron's money as well. Avery's in a full-blown panic because she's so afraid of him and what he might do when she can't explain where his money is," she explained.

Britain could hear the distress in Jazzy's voice. At the end of the day, Jazzy was now carrying the burden of Avery's issues becoming her responsibility. Priest wasn't making this easy for her at all. What Priest expected was for his little sister to become overwhelmed by the pressure and come running to him for help, but Jazzy made her mind up not to do that. She was going to figure this out without help. After all, pressure made diamonds.

"How much was it?" Britain asked Jazzlyn.

"Forty thousand," she enlightened Britain, causing her eyes to widen slightly. Jazzy leaned closer toward Britain, sitting her hand on Britain's knee. "I know this may be a lot to ask for, but do you think you can talk to PJ for me?"

Jazzlyn's request was nothing small. Britain had drawn her line in the sand about involving herself in Priest’s business. Britain wouldn't even know where to begin the conversation with him about relinquishing the forty thousand dollars back to Avery. Also, the conversation involved the topic of money, something Britain hardly ever tried to talk to Priest about. "I don't know, Jazzy. I don't think that's really my place," she declined and shook her head. The last thing she needed was that conversation opening a can of worms in her relationship with Priest.

Jazzy wasn't upset with Britain for politely letting her down. She understood and respected Britain's decision. "I have nofucking clue where to get forty stacks from," Jazzlyn stressed as her shoulders slouched in defeat.

Britain eyed Jazzy as she sat across from her. Although Britain couldn't really help Jazzy by talking to Priest, she could possibly help in some other way, but first, she wanted to get to the bottom of a few things. "Answer me this. Why is helping Avery so important to you? From what you told me, you barely know her. You said what you and Cameron had was just sex, no feelings involved, so this should be easy for you. Why are you making her problems yours?" Although Britain sympathized with Avery, she would never take it upon herself to help her out of the hands of Cameron. It just wasn't her situation to intervene in.