All in the Games Work Part 6

Cienna's love life starts to fall apart now that her new man and her ex are somehow working at the same company. To make matters worse, her ex is her new boyfriends boss!

Secrets, Lies, and Love

Avai stood there feeling like the only person in the group who was the odd man out. "Do you two know each other?" The introduction was clearly an awkward moment for the two, but Cienna was quick on her feet, and had to get rid of the idea of any funny business. "What a small world! O, I haven't seen you in years." She said gleefully as she turned to Avai and wrapped her arms around his waist. Omari gave a sarcastic chuckle, but began to feel uncomfortable, so he dryly told Cienna, "nice to see you again." then walked away. Avai was now feeling more confused than a few seconds before. He looked down at Cienna as he raised his eyebrows as if he wasn't sure how to fill the silence. "Ok.. That was strange! So how do you know Omari?" Avai said as he pulled Cienna closer to him in a warm playful embrace. Hesitantly she brushes off what he says and responds with a nonchalant attitude. "Ohh he's just an old friend from college; but wow, he's your new executive? So does that mean you're going to be reporting to him?" She tried to change the subject, hoping to get Avai talking about work, instead of dwelling on the relationship between her and Omari. Avai knew there had to be more to the story, but didn't want to push it any further right now. "Well he's above my team, but I don't directly report to him. Anyways, we can talk about that later. Let me run over and say hey to a couple other people, then we can get outta here ok?" Avai kissed her gently then hurried off. No more than sixty seconds passed when she felt a gentle tap on her shoulder. "So that's your man huh? Nice! Now I see why you didn't want anything to jump off between us. So when are you gonna tell him about us?" Omari stood there waiting for her response. Cienna now flustered and agitated, began to whisper to him so that no one else could hear what they were saying. "Listen we just made up today, and he is someone I've been seeing for a few months now. Don't act like I've never been in this position with you before; with some random chick ready to cuss me out or worse. Besides, last night was unexpected and random. I apologize if I made it seem like we would be more than what it was! But it was nothing, and WE aren't going to happen again." Cienna said each word so cold and disconnected trying to prove her point. Omari smiled, leaned in and whispered in her ear "He's going to find out, and you'll want me back sooner or later! I Promise You THAT!" Chills ran down Cienna's back. He smiled, bit his bottom lip and turned to walk away. 

Cienna looked around for Avai, and seen him rushing back to her. "You ready babe?" He said noticing the flustered look on her face. "Ahhh, yeah! Can we stop and get some wine? I really just wanna chill out tonight; and I think I'm going to take tomorrow off of work." As they walked back to the car, Cienna noticed Omari waving at her from a distance, and even puckered up his lips as if to blow her a kiss. This guy was exactly who she remembered, and now he seemed worse since telling him that she didn't want him like he wanted her.

Once back at Avai's place, and more than halfway through the second bottle of wine, he took his chance to pry a little more into the situation between her and Omari. "So, really, how did you and Omari meet?" Cienna took a huge gulp of wine, and began to tell a somewhat true story, intentionally leaving out one key piece of information; her. "So here's the thing. Omari and I met my sophomore year of undergrad. He was a Senior and Mr. Popular around campus. He dated some of my friends, cheated on them, and even told one of my girls, if she was going to hang out with him, she better be ready to fight another chick at a moments notice. I've seen many sides of this guy, and one thing is for sure; he's arrogant, selfish, and egotistical." She said so directly he knew she had some deep, personal resentments with this guy. "Damn babe, he sounds like an a*****e. But you know people change, maybe you should give him another chance. He told me he just got out of a two year relationship, and would really like to get out and meet some people while he's here. Maybe we could" Cienna put her hand up in the air to stop him from saying another word. She didn't care about him failing in yet another relationship, after what he had done to her, she didn't care if all his relationships ended horribly. Then here is Avai trying to convince her to go out with him again; she turned and looked at him like he was insane. "Ohh NO! You better not suggest WE, as in you and I, take him out on a double date. You see how he was towards me today! We just know a lot about each others past, and I don't think it be a good idea for either of us to be out with one another." Avai could tell he was not going to get through to her on this, so he dropped the subject of her old friend, and wanted to start the subject of them clearing the air. "Ok, well we can talk about that later, but for now I really just want to tell you how happy I am that you are giving me another chance. I think I can take tomorrow off too so we can make up for real tonight." Avai said as he passionately kissed Cienna and aggressively pulled her closer into him. Cienna couldn't help but have flash backs of last night being with Omari at her place, and couldn't bring herself to sleep with Avai so soon. So she pushed him away and looked down at the ground. "I don't know about tonight. I mean, it's not you, just this whole situation is going to take some getting use to until we know the whole truth. I get it, what happened with your ex. She cheated on you for months, and now she's with this guy, and the baby. It's complicated, and I just kind of want to wait to see what the results will be before I can feel comfortable again." Avai although disappointed in her reaction, he understood why she may want to wait before celebrating them being back together again. So that night they sat on the couch and watched movies in each others arms until Avai fell asleep. Cienna, still shaken by Omari's comments at the park, she laid there, eyes wide open, with her mind racing and slightly jumping every time she heard her phone vibrate from all the missed messages. 

"Cien, I'm sure you're probably with your boy, but I can't stop thinking about you! Have dinner with me again. -Omari-.... Cienna I make way more money than this dude, he probably can't even pay for both of y'all to go on a vacation. I mean he does alright, but I'm doing BETTER! You would never have to worry about a thing if you were with me now. Cienna I love you, I always have... Ok, do you remember that time I took you to the mountains and we made love in the jacuzzi? You told me you would never love someone as much as you love me, and I told you, that no woman has ever made me feel the way you do? We're made for each other Cien, and I'm going to prove it. See you soon!" The next morning she read and deleted the messages away from Avai's view, and decided she needed to go home and do some damage control, to make sure she got through to this guy once and for all. Avai was coming back into the living room with a glass of orange juice about to ask Cienna what she wanted for breakfast, when she told him she needed to leave. "You know what, I think I'm going to go home. I just need to clean up, and put things away; you already know this weekend was crazy. But come by later, and I'll cook you dinner ok?" Cienna nervously got up, kissed his cheek, and grabbed her things as she headed for the door. Avai sat there thinking she clearly was still angry about him and his ex, but accepted her invitation to see her later.

Once back at her place; Cienna started cleaning every item Omari had touched. She vacuumed her floors, disinfected her couch, washed her sheets, even bleached the wine glasses they used. She wanted to have no trace of him left in her entire home. As she finished up her chores, she sat down to call Omari and tell him that they would never happen again. "Cien... See I'd knew you'd call me. What's up baby?" Cienna's skin began to crawl with the thought of him call her pet names. "Listen. What I said earlier may have been a little harsh, but Avai and I are really dating, you just happened to be around when he and I had a small issue in our relationship, and I admit I was a little weak. Point is; I can't see you again, but you know I will always be your friend. Ok? I gotta go he's coming by for dinner in a minute, take care of yourself." Cienna felt better after ending the call, and hoped that a rational educated man would kindly back off after that conversation. 

Later, after dinner with Avai, he asked her if she would want to go to Le' Bordeaux for dinner on Thursday. Knowing that she needed to move forward with their relationship, and he was inviting her to a 5 star establishment, she graciously accepted his invitation. Avai then asked a very strange question. "Hey don't you have a friend named Sabria? Doesn't she work for Logan Moore Financial Firm?" Cienna cautiously answered. "Yes..and Yes. Why?" Avai continued without missing a beat. "Oh nothing, I just needed a contact over there in the account management department. Do you think she could help me?" Avai knew Sabria worked there; he and Cienna had talked about that on their first date. All the friends they may have in common, and what other people they knew around town. "If you want my friends number all you have to do is ask. But I have to admit I don't think she's your type." Cienna added jokingly. Avai smacked his lips and dismissed her comment. "No really, it's work related, and yes I vaguely remember her working there. Just tell her to call me tomorrow please!"

Thursday night arrived, and as always, Cienna was eager to go out with her man. As she strapped up her tall black and orange stilettos, and wrapped a thin orange and silver accent belt around her waist to highlight the tight sexy black dress she wore; she heard a knock at her door. She opened it and immediately noticed Avai staring down at her plunging neck line that showed off her round bouncing bosom. "WOAH! I don't know if we should be going out tonight after all." Avai felt like he was lost in a trance. "C...That's real sexy. Are you sure you want to wear that?" He said as he continued to stare. "Hello to you too! My face, by the way, is a few inches north of where you're looking." She said jokingly as she welcomed him inside as she put on her finishing touches. Once at the restaurant, Avai went to check on their reservation, and told Cienna to grab a seat at the bar for a few minutes. As she strolled over she noticed Sabria sitting there looking as if she were waiting on someone. She rushed over to hug her friend, as she waited for Avai to return. "Sabria? What are you doing here?" Cienna said quite surprised. "Waiting for you and your man actually. I'm on a blind double date, and you and your man's friend are the two being surprised! So surprise I'm here, and surprise my date is behind you." Cienna turns around only to confirm her that her worst fear was a reality. Omari stood next to Avai waiting with his arms extended for a welcoming embrace from Cienna. "Hey!" She said awkwardly, and trying to give him a friendly shoulder to shoulder hug. As the made their way to the table she slowed down to ask Avai what was going on. Avai, cheesing like a kid in a candy store, quietly filled her in. "Omari asked me if we had ever been here, and said he would like to meet a nice girl but also wanted to make up for how he acted at the park the other day. So he suggested I invite one of your girls, and that we tag along. Just have fun babe!" Avai seemed to be buying Omari's game, but Cienna knew better. As the guys pulled the chairs out for each woman, the ladies noticed they each had a beautiful bouquet of flowers with each of their names on it. As Cienna looked at hers she noticed something shining attached to the inside of her arrangement. "Are these diamond earrings babe?" She looked at Avai with excitement, but his confused look somewhat alarmed her. "Those are from me!" Omari said proudly. Cienna then turned her head to the side, snaps her fingers in disappointment then said, "Awe man! Then these must be for Sabria! Maybe the florist got our bouquets mixed up." Then she hands Sabria diamonds she knew were clearly meant for her. As the drinks arrived Cienna ordered one after another trying to take the edge off of being at the table with Omari, knowing his true intentions. Then the live Jazz band began to play a song the entire table began singing along to. "I will love you anyway...even if you cannot stay..I know that you're the one for me... Here is where you ought to be" "Cienna come dance with me." Omari said and grabbed her hand before she could say no. Once on the floor he pulled her close and held the small of her back. Then he whispered in her ear. "So I decided I'm going to tell your boy about us tonight. I realized the other day. I love you Cienna, and you're the One for me!" Omari, had the biggest, sneakiest grin across his face. Cienna disgusted by his comments pushed him away, and walked to the bathroom trying to compose herself before going back to the table. She sat in the bathroom, heart racing, palms sweating, and shaking like a leaf on a tree. As she started to gather her thoughts, she looked up to see Sabria standing there with her arms crossed. "So let me guess. You slept with him, and he just threatened to tell Avai. How long ago was it? The other day?" 

Cienna couldn't believe her ears, and all she could say in that moment was. "What the hell is going on?"