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“Wouldn’t he?”
“No.” Her laugh evolved into a tight smile. “He wouldn’t do that.”
“Because he’s your friend?” Tazeem scoffed. “Friends have been known to stab each other in the back.”
“Not this friend.” Chess wasn’t smiling anymore. In fact, she seemed annoyed as she asked, “Do you know how far he and I have come together? We’ve been each other’s rocks, and he would never betray me.”
“You think you’ve been each other’s rocks, but does he think the same?” Tazeem explained, “From what I’ve heard, your coworkers seem to think you used Derrick as A stepping stone to climb the ladder. Apparently, he was supposed to have the position you hold now but you stole it.”
“Who told you this?” Chess’s eyes narrowed. “Peter and his boyfriend?”
Tazeem paused “Yes, Peter heard it from his boyfriend.”
“Well, Peter’s boyfriend is a punk and a liar.” Chess vehemently defended her friend, “Derrick was never even in the running to be a team director. He didn’t put in an application because he was too busy dealing with Kendall’s illness to add more responsibilities to his plate. Besides, he was my biggest cheerleader when I got the job.”
“That doesn’t necessarily prove that he was happy for you.” Tazeem reminded her, “People say things they don’t mean all the time.”
Chess snapped back, “Well, he meant it.”
Tazeem was silent for a while, and she hoped that meant he’d decided to drop this awful topic. If he’d gone after anyone else on her team, she wouldn’t have been this emotional. But this was Derrick. Tazeem was going after her best friend, which felt wrong and icky. She just wanted him to stop speaking.
Unfortunately, Tazeem wasn’t ready to stop.
He offered, “Okay, let’s put all that aside, and focus on how I found out about Jay.” He turned to fully face her. “You’re not the type of woman to share your personal life willy-nilly. You wouldn’t tell just anyone in the office that I was Tazeem’s father or even that we were once in a relationship. Hell, you were going around trying to set me up with your coworkers so I doubt anyone thought that we have history.”
He paused for a second before continuing, “However, it’s kind of obvious that mine and Jay’s meeting was skillfully orchestrated.”
“Mark did that.”
“Yeah, but how did he know that Jay was mine?” Tazeem asked. “You two don’t seem close enough for you to have told him.”
“Of course I didn’t tell him.”
“So who told him?” He relentlessly guided her toward the truth. “Who else knew? Did you tell anyone else about us?”
“N-” She paused.
Tazeem accurately deduced why she’d paused. “You told Derrick, didn’t you?”
“Yeah.” She rushed to add, “But he would never use it against me.”
“Maybe not. Or maybe he would.” Tazeem shrugged. “I’m just saying, you need to start thinking of him as a suspect too.”
“I won’t. I won’t think of him as a suspect. Derrick is my friend, and he would never do anything to hurt me,” Chess vehemently insisted. It felt like Tazeem was attacking a fundamental piece of her by going after Derrick, and she lashed out. “I bet you’re just making him a suspect because you’re jealous of him?”
“What?” Tazeem huffed in disbelief. “I’m not jealous of him.”
She scoffed. “Tazeem!”
“Okay, maybe I’m a tiny bit annoyed because of how close you and he are,” he admitted after a while, “but that’s not what this is about.”
“Isn’t it?” Heated anger swept through her. “You’re attacking my friend and I’m just supposed to believe that it’s out of good intentions?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what you should believe.” His gaze was steady as it met hers. “You know me. I’m not a petty man. I would never go after someone just because I don’t like them. I put Derrick’s name out there because I find him suspicious.”
“Well, you’re wrong about him.”
“I might be,” Tazeem acceded. “But if I’m not, I don’t want you getting caught unawares. I just want you to keep him as a possible suspect and to watch your back.”
