Yes.

That place.

My heart.

The heart, just so you know, is like a very young child…brutally honest and unable to contain itself. That is why it should never be given a voice or turned to in a crisis. The heart wants what it wants and therefore, if given the opportunity, will make poorly timed, spontaneous decisions, which can only be classified as too impetuous or ill advised.

In this case it was probably both but certainly an error of grave proportions.

There was no way for me to unsay what I’d said. I swallowed loudly and still there was nothing coming from Hugh whose lips had left my neck and were now buried in the bed covers next to my head. No movement. No words. He was a heap of dead weight. I couldn’t even tell if he was breathing. Since I had never perfected the ability to miraculously evaporate into thin air, I had to deal with the situation. So, I dealt with it the only way I knew how.

I panicked.

“Don’t mind me.” I downplayed my confession. “I don’t know what the hell I am saying.”

“Don’t,” Hugh’s muffled response came just on the heels of my excuse. “Delilah, don’t try to take it back.” My palms, which rested flat on his back, could feel the vibration of his voice as he tried to speak loudly enough so I could hear him through the covers.

“I just…” I began.

“No,” he rumbled. “You said it. I heard it.” He turned his face away from my neck but still had it planted in the mattress. His physical reaction felt like alienation and didn’t bode well for my emotional wellbeing even though rationally I knew that he wasn’t able to breathe with his face buried in the covers. “You can’t take it back,” he explained speaking a little more clearly.

“I can’t?” I asked innocently. “I could try.”

I felt him shake his head. “No. You can’t,” he murmured dejectedly.

I cleared my throat trying to quickly fabricate another evasive maneuver. “You don’t have to say anything in…” I started with another defensive approach giving him the commonly used but rarely effective ‘you don’t have to return the sentiment’ speech essentially letting him off of the hook, which I thought was a generous gesture.

“Don’t say that either,” he cautioned.

“Well, then, I don’t know what to say,” I explained my dilemma peeling my hands off of his lower back unsure where to rest them.

“That’s because there’s nothing else for you to say, Delilah.” He lifted his head from the mattress and stared into my eyes. “There’s only something for me to say.” The silence that followed was torturous. Hugh took his time and I wasn’t sure what would come out of his mouth next. I watched and waited with bated breath as his eyes danced back and forth on mine. Just when I had reached my hopeful limit and my eyes began to close with disappointment, Hugh began to speak.

“Darcy treated you so badly because of me.” My eyes opened slowly and drifted to the ceiling over his right shoulder. I wasn’t sure where he was going with the conversation but the last thing I wanted to hear from Hugh’s lips in that very moment was Darcy’s name. That just couldn’t be a good sign.

He shifted his elbows side to side settling into a more comfortable position. The mattress dipped and rolled until he stopped moving. Then he went into story-telling mode. “A bunch of guys were at the diner in town after one of the football games. We were having a silly conversation. Do you remember Grant?” he asked me like we were making small talk.

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. I was desperately fighting back the tears that were threatening to burst from my eyeballs. He must have seen the distress I was experiencing because he continued without a response. “Grant asked me if I could be with one person for one night in a perfect world where no one would know, who would my free pass go to?” he smirked as he relived the memory. “It was meant to be a silly prank. Grant knew something I didn’t. Darcy and her friends were in the booth behind us. I guess he thought I would say Darcy. I mean, he knew we were getting engaged and all. But that isn’t what I said.” He leaned into his left elbow and took his right hand placing it under my chin. He shifted my face toward his. “Hey,” he called so my eyes would go to his. Once they did he went on. “I chose you,” he flashed a cautious smile and then let it go. “I didn’t just say your name either. We had been drinking and I went into detail,” he said the word ‘detail’ with emphasis. “I realized how much detail when I turned to look at Grant and he looked like he just saw my mother naked,” Hugh sort of half-laughed. “Darcy was so pissed. She started squealing so loud I thought her head might explode. Her friends were all there.” He shook his head at the memory. “It was pretty bad. I had to try to calm her down so I told her that it was a stupid fantasy and she was the real deal. I thought my quick response appeased her but I knew it hadn’t because she was always so mean to you. Delilah,” he began my name on a whisper, “Darcy was mean to you because I told Grant that God put you on this Earth to torture me. You were my end all be all but you were just too young.”

I couldn’t help the tear that rolled down my cheek without warning. Hugh saw it and he wiped it away. His small smile returned cautiously. “But you’re not too young anymore, Delilah Welling.” His eyes roamed my face while his thumb caressed my cheek. “You are still my end all be all,” he paused to place a sweet kiss on my lips, “and I’ve been in love with you for a very long time,” he finished stringing out his words.

He waited until his message registered in my expression. Then he gently pressed his lips to mine again. It wasn’t a searing kiss. It was a whisper soft, heart swelling, life altering kiss. The kind of kiss that changes a person’s outlook on the world. And it held more meaning than any elicit thing we had done that weekend. Then he pulled his face an inch from mine and finished me off on a whisper. “And now you’re mine forever.”

I swallowed hard from the emotion that was coursing through me. Maybe Hugh didn’t realize it but one of my dreams had just come true.

“I love you, Hugh,” I repeated back. His eyes dropped to my lips and then he lowered his to mine again.

We kissed, just kissed, for a long while. So long that Ryan’s important message was long forgotten.

Chapter 13

 

I thought I was hearing things. I thought maybe I was in the middle of a nightmare from which I just couldn’t awaken. Because in the deep recesses of my sleeping mind I could hear Darcy Strong yelling at the top of her lungs that she was going to kill me. Darcy had done many things to me. Maimed my reputation, called me embarrassing names, damaged my self confidence, smeared my name all over Southern Virginia, but in all the years that I’d put up with her she had never threatened to kill me. So I rolled over and chalked up my hallucination to an unwelcomed nightmare. That was until Hugh jumped up and started dressing urgently. I felt a few light smacks on my ass and then Hugh’s voice cutting through the fog.

“Delilah. Get up and get dressed,” he coaxed urgently.

I jolted to sitting clutching the top sheet to my chest. My hair was strewn this way and that and I was looking at a half naked Hugh threw the wayward strands. “What? What’s going on?”

“I’ll kill you, Delilah Welling!” The screeching seemed to be getting closer but it wasn’t coming from the hallway. Then I saw the crazed face and wild hair through my bedroom window.

Ah!

“Oh my God!” I screamed.

What the heck was she doing here? And why did she look so enraged on my fire escape?

I scrambled off of my bed (away from the window) and onto the floor searching for clothes to throw over my head. Hugh stormed toward the window AND LET HER IN!!! She fell inside my window from the fire escape and onto my bedroom floor with a thud.

“What the fuck are you doing here, Darcy?” Hugh sneered. Though it was a good question I would have preferred he called the police and left her outside.

I managed to get half dressed, the exact opposite of Hugh. He was wearing pants and no shirt. I was wearing his shirt, luckily a long one, and no pants. I stood up making sure to position myself between my bed and the nut-job and tried to control my breathing. I was hoping that she would answer Hugh’s question as to why she was scaling fire escapes illegally and spying on me in New York City. As far as I knew she, Ryan and their three adorable children, Dolly, Dustin, and Damian, had a happy life.

“You!” she growled pointing her finger at me.

My eyes widened confused by the start of her verbal attack. Me what? I hadn’t seen, heard or spoken to or about her in over a decade. The first word of her sentence should not start with the word ‘you’ while she was pointing her finger at me.

“Me?” I said with a squeak.

“How could you, Delilah?” her eyes were squinting so hard that I questioned if she could see threw them.

I saw Hugh’s head swing my way out of my peripheral vision. “How could I what?” I asked breathily.

“You are the lowest of the low, Delilah Welling. You are a sick, malicious, devious bitch, and you should be ashamed of yourself.” Though her verbal accusations outlined her dismay quite clearly they didn’t help to clarify why she was upset.

I shook my head back at her because I truly didn’t know what she was referring to. “Listen, Darcy. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I held up one hand hoping to ward off any more name calling on her part.

“Oh really?” she questioned haughtily.

I just shook my head again. My eyes bounced from Darcy to Hugh and I could see he looked perplexed. I watched his eyes drift down Darcy’s arm to her hand. There she clutched a piece of paper that looked all crumpled and tattered. Hugh pulled the piece of paper from Darcy’s hand and started to read it. I watched him intently because he was staring at it a long time. Either whatever it said was lengthy or he was reading it twice. I saw his jaw clench in anger and then he directed that anger at me. I was so shocked to see the mounting animosity that had begun to palpitate off of his body aimed in my direction that I became speechless.

Worried and speechless.

I swallowed hard before I spoke one broken syllable. “Hugh?”

He shook his head once sharply to shut me up. Then I watched as his hands balled into fists combatively. The waves of anger were almost visibly rolling off of his body. He started to rumble before his voice essentially exploded. “How could you do this?” he roared.

I jumped having never heard such a terrifying sound. I had no idea what he was talking about, yet I was afraid to find out whatever it was. I was like a young child who wasn’t sure what they were in trouble for.

“Delilah!” he bellowed demanding an answer.

The tears appeared instantly. His furious tone had me literally shaking in my socks. “I, I…” I swiped at the tears trying to muster up the courage to ask him what he was talking about but I was so upset that I couldn’t form the words. Hugh took my stuttering response as an admission of guilt and stormed out of the room. On the way, he crumpled the note and whipped it at my head. Luckily it missed but I inhaled a jagged breath devastated that he meant for it to hit me. He might as well have shot me through the heart because his actions evoked the same response. I stood in silence lifeless until reality bit through the shock and I burst into sobs. In my head I had tried to halt the progression of his departure in a million different ways. But physically I couldn’t move a muscle. Deep down I already knew that no effort could have persuaded him to hear me out. He was so furious he had already made up his mind. Darcy headed for my door, swiftly snatching the crumpled note off of the floor and followed behind Hugh storming through my apartment. “I had no idea you were so vindictive,” she muttered. The sobs racked my body as I felt the cold blanket of heartbreak constrict my chest. Hugh was gone. And the only thing I knew was that whatever he thought I did was awful.

Chapter 14

 

“It’s over?” Logan sniffled before he added his usual, ‘over.’

I wasn’t absolutely sure what Logan was more upset about…my departure from the company or my break-up with Hugh.

“Logan do you think we can have this conversation face-to-face?” I asked. “There’s only so many ‘over’s’ I can handle in a 24-hour period.” I just didn’t have the energy to deal with his intercom foolery.

“You didn’t say ‘over,’” he noted.

I walked out of my office where I had been packing all of my belongings in a box.

I stopped in front of his desk and said the single word bitterly. It held double meaning and I was fairly confident Logan understood the double entendre.

“I just can’t believe it,” he shook his head outlining his disappointment. Of course, I was still unsure what he couldn’t wrap his head around, my transfer to another state or the debacle better known as my love life.

“Yeah, well. Don’t even get me started on the things I can’t believe.” I picked up his pencil holder desperately needing to occupy my hands and tapped it gently on his desk as I tried to suppress the overwhelming thoughts of recent events. I sniffled back the emotion that was dangling from the precipice and changed the subject. “Do you think you can find me a few more boxes?” I pressed my lips together still reining in the heartache. “I don’t think everything is going to fit into the one that I have.”

Then Logan’s main concern became clear. “First just tell me what happened with Hugh.”

Every time I replayed the events that transpired between Hugh and I, tears began to flow uncontrollably. Partly because I didn’t know what happened but mostly because I just missed him awfully. I shrugged in response to Logan’s question because I truly didn’t know what to say. But Logan was adamant. He needed to know even the smallest detail. So I began to explain what I could from the beginning. Maybe if I hashed it out, out loud, things would make more sense.

“We spent the weekend together,” I began with a half-hearted grin. “It was wonderful.” I pulled a tissue from the box that sat atop his file cabinet. “Then Hugh’s ex from our home town showed up and accused me of…something.” I shrugged and shook my head still reeling from the confusion. “She had a note. Hugh read it. Demanded an answer and left when I didn’t have one,” I finished on a whisper.

“And you have no idea what the note said?” he questioned suspiciously.

“No.”

“Delilah,” he admonished. “Think.”

My voice rose in defense. “How could I possibly know? I’ve never written Darcy a note in my life.”

“No, don’t think about what the note might have said. Obviously a note exists and you didn’t write it. But we both know a certain someone who could have sent that note, don’t we?” he nodded once raising one eyebrow to his hairline. When I seemingly wasn’t catching on he continued. “Delilah, if Stacey could orchestrate your exile to Virginia don’t you think she could manipulate a girl you once described to me as a complete idiot?”

My chin jerked back in surprise while my eyebrows simulated a perfect ‘v.’

“I mentioned Darcy to you before?” I asked with surprise in my tone.

“Well not exactly. You were on the phone with that pepper from Virginia. What’s her name? Julia?” he shrugged his indifference like it was no big deal that he was eavesdropping on my conversation. “I just unintentionally file all nonsensical shit that doesn’t pertain to me in my head,” he explained with a wave of his hand as if that excused his actions.

Since I didn’t have the energy to scold Logan on his eavesdropping practices or explain to him that his next boss might not be so understanding of such behavior, I just skipped directly to the dropping, which was a hell of a lot easier. Dropping the subject of his eavesdropping, that is.

I had to admit, Logan’s theory did make perfect sense. I was starting to think I never gave Logan as much credit as he deserved. His silly antics always undermined his astuteness. I knew he was smart. But since he never behaved like someone who had a modicum of intelligence I had a tendency to forget and thereby underestimate him. As I tested his theory in my mind, my expression became more suspicious.

“Do you really think Stacey would go so far as to send a note to Hugh’s ex in Virginia?” I asked with disbelief in my tone. “How would she even know about…?” As the question breached my lips my eyes settled on Logan’s. He looked like he was waiting for me to catch on. Then he saw the entire scenario dawn on me and he began to nod. He held up his hand straight out at me and continued to nod.

“Okay? Okay? Are you thinking what I’m thinking now?” he prodded.

I was.

Stacey didn’t just want to screw up the life I had made in New York. She made sure that the one that I was about to return to in Virginia was just as painful to settle into. It would seem that Stacey took all of the information that Hugh shared at lunch and used it to ruin any life I could possibly salvage anywhere.

Good Lord.

She wasn’t just evil. She was the epitome of evil. She was the devil.

I still didn’t know what the note that she sent Darcy said but I gathered it was pretty bad if Hugh’s response was any indication.

Logan picked up the receiver from its cradle and extended it out to me. “What’s Hugh’s number? I’ll get him on the phone,” he offered.

I was shaking my head before he even finished his sentence. “No. It doesn’t change anything, Logan,” I whispered.

“Of course it does!” he replied heatedly.

“No, it doesn’t,” I protested. “Hugh didn’t even give me a chance to explain. He immediately assumed I was guilty. If he would have paused for just a second he would have known that I had nothing to do with what Darcy was accusing me. But he didn’t. He jumped right on the band wagon,” the tears breached my lids as the admission crossed my lips.

“That’s a load of wax and you know it,” he challenged.

“Well I beg to differ. Relationships are based on trust, Logan. Hugh made it pretty clear that he doesn’t trust me at all.” I swiped another tissue and dabbed at the tears, which toppled from my lids with synchronization. I kept my eyes fixed on the carved edge of his desk hoping to rein in the emotion. Once successful I could feel the two holes that Logan was drilling into my head with his critical stare.

Unwilling to face another reprimand, I did the mature thing and changed the subject. “Please just find me a box.” I raised my chin defiantly and turned on my heel. So, all told, at the end of the shit day that I had started, I was able to stand up to Logan. Big fucking deal.

 

I heard the creak in my doorway before I saw the figure peripherally. It had been a very long day but I still could tell immediately that it wasn’t Logan. And anyone else wasn’t welcome anyway, so it didn’t matter whom it was. I shuffled a few more papers and spoke facing my desk. “Sorry, but I am quite busy. Any PR questions should be directed to Stacey “the devil” Horner,” I stated without inflection.

“Actually I was wondering what time I could come by and take some measurements in my new apartment,” the unwelcoming voice drawled.

I looked up at Will out of the corner of my eye. I almost, almost, killed him with my death stare.

“Don’t give me that look, Delilah. You snooze you lose.”

Really? Was he really going with the excuse most widely used by nine-year-olds? I guess so.

That last thing I was willing to do was let Will think that I cared he was taking over my rent stabilized apartment. So I did my best to mask my expression. However, I couldn’t let him get off totally scot-free. So I stooped to his level and responded with a twelve-year-old insult. “Whatever time floats that dingy of yours, Will.” I deliberately forced my eyes to travel to his crotch and then back to his face. Then I followed up with a look that clearly conveyed that I thought he was a piece of shit on the sidewalk.

Will shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny. “Just understand, Delilah, you brought this on yourself.”

“How so, Will?” I countered. Having had enough of the psychotic game he was playing, I became more confrontational. “How exactly did I bring all this on myself? Was it because I was giving my attention to another man? A real man that is?” I saw his jaw clench in anger. He was about to say something, probably derogatory, before we were interrupted.

Logan’s timing was impeccable. He walked in as if on cue and delivered the perfect comment.

“Hey! If it isn’t the ding-dong from accounting.” I hadn’t even told Logan about Will’s involvement. He was acting completely on his own reconnaissance. Logan pushed past Will knocking him in the shoulder and then hit Will in the back of the head with the box he lamely tried to raise over his head. Too bad it was empty. “Sorry, Will, tight doorway,” he chuckled through his ridiculous excuse.

Will ignored Logan and spoke to me directly. “I’ll be by around 7 o’clock tonight. You better let me in,” he finished and spun on his heel.

“What an asshole,” Logan barked with a laugh.

Yes, Will was absolutely an asshole. A bitter asshole, more accurately.

“Want me to help?” Logan’s genuine offer cut through my hateful thoughts of Will and his sadistic cohort, Stacey.

I stared at the empty box blankly. When I looked back at Logan I swallowed hard choking back the lump that lodged in my throat. I could pretend all I wanted, but Stacey and Will had won. No two ways about it. Sensing I was about to lose something else, another shred of my dignity, Logan rounded my desk and enfolded his arms around me.

“Don’t worry, Delilah. Everything will work out. You’ll see,” he comforted with an authoritative paternal tone.

It didn’t matter that he was two years younger than me. I must have needed to hear his hopeful outlook because I took his words as gospel even though I knew deep down he didn’t comprehend the magnitude of the situation.

Chapter 15

 

My apartment didn’t look like my apartment anymore. Most of the effects that had made it mine were carefully enveloped in excessive amounts of bubble wrap. I had made considerable progress in the last couple of weeks and had the majority of my belongings already in boxes and stacked by my front door. I made sure to label each one with detailed information so I knew for certain what was in each box. There were more than I had expected. Hopefully the moving company didn’t jack the price too high from the estimate I was given.

I wasn’t sure where I was going to stay for the first few weeks when I arrived back in Virginia. I was actually considering shacking up with Julia. I knew deep down that was not the best idea. We just might kill each other after the first three hours, but my options were not what one would consider plentiful. I could stay at a hotel. But most of the hotels were near the airport, which was a forty-minute drive. Until I had myself settled in my new job and got the commute down pat, I didn’t want to commit to an apartment sight unseen. Julia had assumed that I would be staying with her. And she had apologized profusely for sharing my friendship ring finger secret. Not that it was a good excuse, but apparently she slipped one night at Preacher’s when she and Tiff were out celebrating Tiff’s engagement to Griff. Since she had begged for forgiveness I said I would forgive her. So now if I told her I wanted to stay at a hotel instead of with her, she would take offense and assume that I was still carrying the ‘you threw me under the bus’ torch. Therefore, I resigned myself to the fact that it was Julia’s place for a few weeks, maybe days if we were getting on each other’s nerves too much, and then I would search for the perfect place.

            I only had a couple of days left before I made my way south. Julia was excited that her sidekick was returning. This, of course, was expressed in conjunction with her jab once again outlining that (in her eyes) she was never truly invited to come stay with me in New York. We could argue the point forever but knowing she would never see it my way, it was just easier to drop the subject.

“But at least I get my girl back. When do you actually get in?” she asked.

“My flight lands at 3pm. Do you think you can pick me up at the airport or should I call a car?”

“Are you crazy?” I had to pull the phone away from my ear with the high octave of her voice. “I’ll be there. I can’t wait to see you.”

“Okay, Jules. Got some things to finish up here,” my voice quivered slightly so I hurried off the call. “See you in a few days.” I tried to control my emotions. I did. But every time the topic of moving back to Virginia came up I lost it. Everyone there knew me as the girl who ruined Hugh Rowen’s wedding and sported meat patties in her bra. No one looked at me that way in New York and leaving the place that had become my home was hard for me to handle.

But I wasn’t so sure that Julia would understand my point of view so I didn’t want her to know how much I resented the thought of returning to Virginia. Of course it had nothing to do with her, she was the only bright spot in the whole scenario, but I knew somehow she would take it personally. So it was just easier to work out the details of my arrival and get off the phone quickly.

Given she let me off the phone without argument, I was fairly certain she was afraid the conversation would digress back to the “Hugh left me for God knows what reason” saga. Over the past few weeks Julia and I had had never ending conversations about what happened between Hugh and me. Oddly, Julia didn’t get in the middle. She just offered an ear, which I chewed off night after night. Don’t get me wrong. She had her opinion. I could hear it in the way she sighed heavily or growled in response to a comment I made. But for some reason she wasn’t sharing. I wasn’t sure where she was getting her information or why she was reluctant to share it. I just knew that if she wasn’t giving it up so easy, it was most likely information I was incapable of handling. So I left it alone. I had bigger fish to fry anyway and a lot of shit to pack in the process.

            I had been in touch with the HR department in the Virginia offices of Norstride. They had sent an orientation packet, which I had glanced over briefly. I figured I had plenty of time on the two-hour plane ride to go over the details. So I threw the manila envelope in my carry on luggage and continued to tinker around the apartment. I had already called the phone and cable company to discontinue service and I had cancelled all of my magazine subscriptions. Except for Feminine Hygiene Monthly. That subscription had been a gag gift from Stacey. She had presented that fine piece of literature to me on April Fools Day. So feeling a momentary bought of generosity, I transferred the subscription to Will Krakow’s name. But not before doubling it. He would receive that magazine for another twelve months. Who knows? Maybe he would learn something about himself. He was such a vagina.

            An unexpected knock on my door startled me from my daydream. “Just a second!” I called. I put down a set of candlestick holders that I was trying to decide if I should toss or essentially pay to move and dragged my feet to the door. I peeked through the peephole to see who was there.

Davis.

I plastered on a half-hearted smile knowing Davis wouldn’t be able to handle a frown and opened the door. “Hey!” I greeted excitedly masking all signs of my depression.

Davis whipped off his ridiculous hat and started kneading it in his hands. “Hello, Delilah,” he stated blandly.

“Come on in, Davis. Everything okay?” I tried to be as chipper as I could. But Davis wouldn’t walk in. I gestured with my hand encouraging his progression to breach the threshold of my doorway but saw his mouth twitch instead. My fake smile began to falter. “What’s going on?” I asked with concern beginning to take hold.

“Well, um,” he began hesitantly. Then I watched his eyes move to the side and down slightly as if something or someone was there. I tipped forward through the door to see where his eyes had settled. There I found a young girl. She was small in stature but dressed kind of trendy. If I had to venture a guess I would say she was 10 or 11-years old.

“Oh!” I said with surprise. “Is she, um, yours?” I asked Davis. He had never spoken about children but it was certainly possible that it was personal information that he just never shared.

“Uh, no, Delilah. She’s not mine,” his eyes held mine in a way that said he was trying to convey something. But I just didn’t have a clue what it could be.

My eyes reflexively twitched as a horrible feeling took hold. I swallowed loudly and turned back to the girl. “Do you want to come in?” I tried to soften my voice so as not to frighten her.

The girl just nodded in response. Davis went to turn from the door but before he could I grabbed his wrist. “Don’t leave me,” I whisper scolded.

“Delilah, I’m working. I can’t stay. I’ll check on you two in an hour but I’m sure you’ll be fine.” He touched his other hand to my cheek as I let him go. He gave me a reassuring smile. Davis was so nice. I was really going to miss him.

I slowly closed the front door and turned to see the young girl. She was sizing me up and didn’t look all that happy. There was an edge to her. She looked pissed but emotionally shaken all at the same time. The attitude didn’t match her physical attributes as I imagined without the perma-sneer she might look angelic. Her hair was golden blond, her eyes warm with amber and her body was wafer thin. Decimating the vision I was picturing, she crossed her reedy arms over her boney chest and threw out a non-existent hip.

“I need information. And you are the only person who could give it to me,” she stated flatly and jutted her chin at the same time.

I shifted my weight from one foot to the other trying to get my bearings. “Well. Do you think you could tell me who you are first?” I crossed my arms to match her combative stance. “We should probably call your parents. I doubt they’ll be happy to know that you are parked in a stranger’s apartment. Stranger danger and all. So first tell me your name and I will call your parents so they aren’t worried.” I was starting to lose my patience. I had had just about enough of people pushing me around and then wiping their feet on my back. I certainly wasn’t going to take it from a pint size version that I didn’t know.

“You mean you don’t already know my name?” she stated with more attitude. “I thought my father was staying with you. Isn’t he here?”

Her father? My head shook reflexively answering before my mouth could catch up. “There’s no man staying here with me,” then it occurred to me. Maybe her father was Will and she thought he moved in already. “Is your last name Krakow?”

She shook her head vigorously. Like only a young child would. “My last name is Rowen. My father is Matthew. The letter you sent me said so and that he was staying here,” she pointed her skinny finger at me accusatorily.

Holy shit. My heart began to pound in my chest. I could hear it in my ears. “What?” I asked genuinely confused. “What are you talking about?” Since I was experiencing trouble breathing I knew my words were barely audible.

“You sent me a letter. It said that everything I knew to be true was not. That my father wasn’t who I thought. That Matthew Rowen was my real dad and he didn’t want me when I was born because then he couldn’t have you. It said you were glad that his brother, Ryan, took me in and pretended to be my dad. That’s what it said!” she began to yell. “Don’t tell me you don’t know who my father is! Where is my father!?”

Oh no. Oh my God. Logan was right. Stacey did send a letter but it wasn’t to Darcy, it was to her daughter. Could Stacey actually be that crazy? My entire body began to tremble. And then the tears arrived. I sniffled hoping to hold back the moisture. I couldn’t fall apart in front of this girl. But acknowledging that she was caught in the cross hairs of my nemesis was excruciating. How could a back stabbing psycho go so far? To win…what…exactly? I didn’t even know.

“Dolly?” my voice quivered as I confirmed her name.

She pursed her lips and nodded fiercely. “I want to see my Uncle…I mean my Dad.”

I dropped to my knees in front of Dolly and watched as she took a cautious step back. I couldn’t blame her. She didn’t trust me. Why should she? I sat back on my heels and covered my mouth with the palm of my hand trying to figure out where to begin. Once I gathered my thoughts, I dropped my hand and began. “Dolly. I know you are confused about a lot of things,” I started. “But nothing in that letter was true. Nothing,” I emphasized. “I didn’t send you that letter.”

I looked into her eyes and could see the determination that she was desperate to hang on to. “Then how would you know whatever it said was true or not?”

My lips pressed together knowing I had quite a fight ahead of me. This kid if nothing else was observant and wise beyond her years.

“Okay. Listen,” clearly I needed to try another tactic. “Have you ever had a friend who you thought was your best friend in the whole world but they did something that let you know that you were wrong?” I didn’t know if I was going down the wrong road or not. I didn’t know one thing about children. My only experience was having been one, of course.

Luckily Dolly nodded. “My friend Shelby was looking at the things in my room and I showed her my most favorite poster of the band Bronco Billy and The Half Calves that I kept rolled up in my closet because I didn’t want it to get ruined and she said that she had the same one even though I knew she didn’t. When I went to the bathroom and came back she said she had to go and I couldn’t find the poster. The next time I went to her house I saw it in her room and she said it was hers all along. But I knew she was lying.”

I didn’t know what the heck she was rambling about but I didn’t care. All I cared about was that I had made a connection and I had something to go on.

“Okay, well I had a friend who I thought I could trust but she turned out to be not my friend at all,” I explained.

“What does this have to do with my Dad?” she asked with a little less contempt than she had started.

I shook my head not sure how to explain the rest. She was young. I couldn’t use examples like ‘Stacey fucked my boyfriend in a closet while I waited to go to lunch.’ So I was procrastinating trying to figure out how to explain myself and not put her in extensive therapy at the same time.

“Well. She hates me.” Remembering my mother’s wise words I quickly tried to qualify my statement. “Hate was a word that I was always told was bad. But there is no other word that I could use that would explain it.” I looked down and intertwined my fingers trying to decide how to proceed.

But Dolly immediately interjected. “That’s what my Momma always says, too. Hate is bad.”

Really? That was a surprise. Darcy was so full of hate for me that I was surprised that she would have taught her daughter such a thing. But I focused on the more important aspect of the conversation, which was that Dolly and I had something in common. I made another connection with her and there was no way that I was going to lose it.

“It is a bad word,” I agreed with her and thereby agreed with her mother. “But right now it is more important to me that you understand how this all happened and the woman I am speaking of isn’t a nice person. She is full of hate. So much so that she used a precious little girl in Virginia to hurt me.” I looked back up at Dolly to see the angel that I knew she could be. Her demeanor had completely changed and she looked saddened. Knowing I was making some headway I had to continue. “She sent you that letter. Not me. Your Dad is your Dad. Your Uncle is your Uncle. This woman sent you a note to hurt me. Not you. What she wrote was a lie. I’m so sorry, Dolly. I had no idea that she sent it.” My voice broke at the end knowing the torture that this little girl endured the past few weeks.

“You swear?” she whispered her question.

“I swear. Cross my heart,” I said into her eyes swiping an x with my finger over my chest.

That was when the tears came. She fell apart and then fell into my arms. Her entire body shook with what, I wasn’t sure. Relief maybe? Fear? Anger? She had the right to feel all three.

As I hugged her as tight as I could without frightening her, another knock came at my door. I assumed it was Davis checking back in. I stayed kneeling on the floor with my arms wrapped around Dolly and my back to the door. I yelled for him to ‘come in.’

I felt Dolly’s face lift from my shoulder to see who was walking through the door and then felt her body pull from mine. I opened my eyes and followed her body as she stumbled forward quickly toward the door. She threw herself into her mother’s arms who was standing next to a stoic Hugh Rowen.

“Mommy,” Dolly melted.

“Dolly. Where have you been?” Darcy breathed. “We have been worried sick.” Darcy began to cry. Though I truly never liked her, in that moment I saw a different person. A compassionate person. A side of her that I had never seen before.

Once Darcy was done going through the motions of relief that her daughter was safe in her arms, she looked up at me and shot me her standard look of disdain.

She spun on her heel while escorting her daughter under her arm and left. Hugh stood in my doorway with the same hard look that he had left with the first time and whatever infinitesimal strides my heart had made in the healing department were decimated. Deep in my heart I was hoping that somehow he had realized what really happened. That he knew that I would never hurt a child in any way, shape or form. But if he had, he obviously didn’t care because he gripped the handle of my front door, shot me the same contemptuous look that Darcy just did, and abruptly pulled it closed. I couldn’t help the overwhelming devastation that gripped my heart again. It felt like my chest was caving in. I shook my head as the tears began to flow once more. Would there ever come a day that I would get over Hugh Rowen? I already knew the answer to that question. The answer was no. That day would never come.

           

It had been a long, taxing final day of packing. The movers were scheduled to show up first thing in the morning. I exhaled a heavy sigh of relief and fell back onto my plush sofa. After a Mexican beer and a shit ton of guacamole, (yes- shit ton described how much guacamole I had eaten,) I lied on my couch belching like a sailor. “Poor sailors, they get all the shit expressions.” I murmured to myself as I shifted to get more comfortable. I had packed everything that wasn’t nailed down in the entire apartment. A few boxes were left unsealed so I could throw last minute things in them. My beer and guacamole were my way of celebrating my last night in my apartment in the great city of New York. I even went so far as to top it all off with sour cream. A plethora of calories I rarely afforded myself. I heard the ding of the elevator and footsteps heading toward my door. I cracked a small smile knowing it had to be Davis coming to say goodbye. Before he knocked I dragged myself up and met him at the door. But when I opened it, it wasn’t Davis I found.

The air in my lungs left in a hurry leaving me unable to breathe or speak.

I know he saw the shock and awe his presence created because he averted his eyes for a couple of beats and then looked back at me and bit his lower lip. “Can I come in?” Hugh asked.

I shook my head to answer. I didn’t want him to come in. I didn’t want to hear how awful a person he thought I was or how he was happy that he didn’t have to worry about running into me in New York City. And I certainly couldn’t bear him screaming at me again.

But Hugh ignored my refusal and pushed past me muttering a low ‘fuck this.’ He turned with his hands low on his jean clad hips and blew a breath out at the floor. “I didn’t know,” he said.

I bit my tongue in response pressing my teeth down hard on the top and bottom so I would feel the pain. I couldn’t answer him and not burst into tears. Focusing on the sharp pinch my molars were inflicting on my tongue was a good distraction and a hell of a lot less painful than whatever harsh words Hugh had come to deliver. So I nodded barely acknowledging what he’d said and opened the front door wider inferring that he should leave.

His head shook infinitesimally in response.

“Hugh,” I managed and shook my head more vigorously back still struggling to rein in the emotion.

“Delilah. I didn’t know,” he reiterated. “Dolly just explained things on the way to the airport.”

I continued to shake my head and swallowed several times trying desperately to choke back the threatening tears. “It doesn’t matter now,” I hiccupped feeling my sinuses sting.

I saw his jaw clench before he answered. I could see in his expression that he was trying to manage his coursing frustration. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and forced his fingers through his hair. “It fucking matters. Don’t say it doesn’t matter,” he said through gritted teeth.

I swiped at my nose because it had begun to run with the silent tears that were pooling in my lids.

“I need you to leave,” I whispered. “I have an early flight.”

“Delilah!” he yelled. “You’re going to let her win!”

My eyes winced shut at his outburst. I could see he was losing control and I was guessing he was mostly angry with himself. But I couldn’t handle Hugh at that moment. I certainly couldn’t handle an angry Hugh. It didn’t matter whom that anger was directed at. I shook my head at him again and managed to open my eyes to look into his.

“But I didn’t let her win.” I knew he was talking about Stacey. “You did. You threw me under the bus the first chance you got. You didn’t even stop to consider giving me the benefit of the doubt,” I choked on my words. “That’s exactly what Stacey wanted. You gave her all the ammunition she needed when you had lunch with her that day,” I bounced the tips of my right fingers against my right thigh before continuing. “So…congratulations,” I stated flatly not feeling the celebratory mood that would normally accompany such an expression.

Self control completely gone, Hugh was clearly all out pissed off. But now I was pretty sure he was pissed at me. Obviously my words had hit home. If steam could actually rise from his head it would have. But I was done. My arms folded over my stomach tightly trying to hold onto my last shred of pride. But, I just couldn’t bear another moment. So I turned, walked to my intercom, pressed the button to summon Davis and told him I needed someone escorted out of my apartment immediately. I didn’t turn to see Hugh’s expression. I couldn’t.

I heard the elevator ding its arrival almost immediately. I heard the footsteps thudding loudly on the hallway floor and I could tell Davis had company. In my opened doorway appeared Davis and directly behind him was Giancarlo. Giancarlo was hard to miss because he was enormous. The guy must bench press small vehicles. He was definitely the ‘heavy’ in the scenario. But Giancarlo wasn’t as emotionally invested as Davis. So Davis couldn’t be underestimated.

“I’m not going anywhere, Delilah. We aren’t done,” Hugh informed me ignoring Davis and Giancarlo.

At his words, the tears that had been threatening breached my lids and began to run down my cheeks. I kept my back to Hugh so he couldn’t see how devastated I was but I could tell by the look on Davis’ face that he had caught a glimpse.

“That’s not your decision,” Davis protectively cut in from the doorway. “Delilah said she wants you gone. So you’re gone,” he informed Hugh with a confrontational step forward. He was so determined that even his hat didn’t look as ridiculous as usual.

“This is a big mistake. A big fucking mistake,” Hugh rushed.

I said nothing because it was in fact a mistake. But this one wasn’t mine. I had taken responsibility for the ones I had made. I wasn’t taking responsibility for everyone else’s. So I turned and made my way down the hall to the empty bathroom and closed the door leaving Davis and Giancarlo to deal with a confused, frustrated and very infuriated Hugh. I closed the lid on the toilet and sat down holding my head in my hands. I could hear Hugh trying to defend his actions.

“Davis. It was a misunderstanding. I just didn’t know!” he repeated.

But then Davis silenced Hugh with his next remark and I couldn’t have said it better myself.

“But, Mr. Rowen, if you knew Delilah, you should have known.” Wiser words had never been spoken. At least not when I was the topic of conversation.

My tears began to flow freely because finally someone understood my position completely. And even if it wasn’t Hugh or Logan, it was someone who I knew cared about me deeply. And with Davis’ wise words, which he used to defend me, suddenly I didn’t feel quite so alone.

“This isn’t over, Delilah!” Hugh bellowed from my front door.

Then I heard what sounded like a fist breaking through something. My entire body stilled at the noise. I even stopped breathing. My mind tried to filter through the objects in my entrance that could possibly make that sound but I just couldn’t figure what it could be. I was just hoping he didn’t punch his fist through one of the wallboards. I wouldn’t have time to have it fixed and that would definitely cost me my security deposit. I was counting on that security deposit. That money had already been spent. It was going toward the payment for the movers who were due to arrive first thing in the morning.

Chapter 16

 

            Take off and landing were by far the most taxing aspects of flying. At least they were for me. But that statement would infer that I found the rest of the process somewhat relaxing or even tolerable, which was totally untrue. I was a mess in the air waiting for something tragic to happen. Some people just stressed before their trip worrying about the intricate details involved in packing or appropriate airport arrival times. But not me. I worried that the pilot had a liquid breakfast after learning that his wife was screwing around with his best friend and finally determined mid-flight that he had little if nothing to live for.

Sad, but true.

So when the wheels touched down in Greensboro, NC (it was closer to fly into NC than to fly into a VA airport) and screeched our arrival I couldn’t be more relieved. Now if I could just survive the mayhem in the airport and, subsequently, the car ride with Julia, I should be in decent shape.

            “Dee!” I heard my name squealed over the banter of the other travelers who were meeting up with their friends and loved ones. I could see a hand waving above a few other heads and I knew whose body was attached to those wiggling fingers. Since all of my belongings were making their way south via a moving company, I only had a small carry on which held some traveling essentials and a couple of outfits to get me through the next couple of days.

I adjusted my bag on my shoulder and weaved around the large group of people in the middle of the terminal who couldn’t wait to begin their family reunion. Julia emerged from behind two women, who must be twins because they looked almost identical to each other, engaged in a tight embrace. I smiled when I finally caught sight of all of her. She was wearing a cute little sundress, high heels and holding a crudely designed homemade ‘welcome home’ sign. She looked the same as if I had just seen her yesterday only her hair was a little shorter and a little blonder. It hadn’t occurred to me at the time, but Logan’s description of her was perfect. She was a ‘pepper.’ She hugged me like she hadn’t seen me in years, which was apropos since she hadn’t, then she hit me gently with her sign.

“You look like crap. Rough flight?” Julia knew my issues with air travel so she knew it had been a few hours since I had breathed easy.

“It was fine,” I exhaled a sigh of relief ignoring her left-handed greeting. I was just happy that I had two feet on the ground.

As we neared the exit doors, Julia pulled her sunglasses off of her head and lassoed them onto her face with a flip of her hair to get it out of the way. “We’re just over here,” she directed.

“Thanks for coming to get me, Jules.” Little did I know, but Julia had illegally parked in the ‘No Parking Zone’ situated directly outside of the exit doors. Had I known this before we stepped outside I might not have expressed my gratitude at that very moment. Needless to say there were a lot of angry drivers unable to pull up to the curb because Julia’s little Fiat was creating an incomprehensible amount of traffic. In between the near unrelenting honking was a healthy outpouring of swearing in our direction.

Julia ignored my gratitude at first so she could confront the driver of the Dodge Viper that had pulled next to us to inform Julia that she was an asshole.

“Go to hell, you big jackass!” she yelled giving him the finger. So basically nothing had changed with Julia in the ten years that I’d been gone. She was just as ornery and confrontational as always.

Julia turned to me barking that I should stop dragging my ‘big New York ass’ and get in ‘the fucking car.’ So I shut up and did what she instructed. Clearly she was maxed out in the patience department.

A few more fingers flew left and right and then our escapade culminated with the near collision of Julia’s car with an old woman who rolled down the window of her paneled station wagon to call Julia a dipshit.

“Maybe I should stay at a hotel,” I blurted desperately as her little car jerked forward when her high heels slipped off the clutch. My hand flew to the dashboard to brace. I knew staying with her was going to be challenging. I just didn’t anticipate that my tolerance would be tested so quickly. I probably should have waited a bit before I shared that tidbit of information. Julia was already jacked up. So needless to say she didn’t take my suggestion well.

“Are you kidding me?” she asked rhetorically. “I hauled my ass all the way out here and you are trying to dis me already? What the hell is that all about?”

Once we merged onto the highway, I bent forward to bury my head in my bag under the guise of searching for my sunglasses. “I just don’t want to be a burden,” I mumbled having trouble locating the glasses that I had started out using as a beard. “Where the hell are my glasses?” I asked the interior of my bag.

“They’re on your head,” Julia stated snidely not buying my ‘burden’ excuse.

Oh. I sat up slowly and reached for my glasses. I slowly slid them down to rest on my nose.

Then I slid my body down in my seat, put my head back against the headrest and ignored the entire conversation. Luckily, so did Julia.

 

            “So when do you start?” Julia unlocked the front door to her little two bedroom bungalow pushing the heavy wood door open wide. She was referring to my new job. Which was taking place in a new city where I would have to find a new place to live and start a new life. That was a lot of ‘new’ for me to handle all at once. I really had never mastered the art of multi-tasking.

I had to admit, as soon as Julia pulled her little Fiat into her loose gravel driveway a feeling came over me. Longing? Jealousy? Regret? You name it. It flitted through my mind uninvited. Not because I begrudged Julia of what she worked so hard to obtain. But because she was completely settled in her life and mine had just become a simulated version of an egregious game of 52-card-pick-up. Nothing in my life was the same. Nothing. My home, my job, my friends, my phone number, not even the man that I’d dreamed of making mine for the last decade. Everyone got to keep their dream man. Everyone. It was like a given that when your life turned to shit you could always retreat into the protective corners of your own mind to live in a fantasy world with the one you always loved but could never have. But even that dream had died. I got my dream man and then he threw me in the street. Everything I knew and loved yesterday was gone today. Except for Julia and my family, of course. But I only called them a couple of times a month to check in. They weren’t even aware that I was moving back to Virginia. Every single aspect of my life was beginning anew and I resented every nuance of it.

“They asked me to come in tomorrow to fill out some paperwork for security and insurance purposes. I’m sure they will show me around, introduce me to the staff, stuff like that,” I downplayed. I stepped into her home and took a look around. It was darling. The rooms weren’t large but they were all Julia. Most people got the impression that Julia was modern and edgy. They would be surprised to know that she was quite traditional and very conservative.

“Okay, well, tomorrow I have to follow a couple of leads that I am working on. Gossip never rests.” She walked to the kitchen and swiped something off of the counter. She turned and came to me with her hand outstretched. “Here’s a key. You can come and go as you please. If you want, tomorrow morning I can take you to the rent-a-car place down on Main Street,” she offered. “When does all of your stuff arrive?” She turned around and walked back into her kitchen. I could see her through the little window that separated the kitchen from the dining area. She was washing her hands at the sink and then reached for what looked like a glass carafe to a coffee pot. Thank God. She must have read my mind because that is just what I needed. “Still take milk and sugar?” she asked while she swished water around the pot to rinse out all the bubbles.

“Just milk. My shipment should arrive some time tomorrow. I’ll be here to receive it,” I answered as I surveyed the nooks and crannies of her home. “This is just…perfect, Jules.”

She peeked her head out of her kitchen trying to ascertain if I was being sarcastic about my situation or genuine about the surroundings I was admiring. Since I was going from one surface to the next with a delicate hand she must have assumed the latter. “This shithole?” She asked with surprise in her tone. She continued before I answered. “It’s no biggee.”

But it was. It was to me. I knew Julia was verbally trashing her place so as to make me feel even more inadequate about my situation. Her house was pristine and decorated with a caring hand. There was no way that she truly thought of it as a shithole. And even though I knew her intentions were stemming from a sympathetic place, the mere act made my circumstances hit home even more. Unwilling to let Julia know that I was floundering internally I responded with a tentative smile but a smile none-the-less. “Well I think it’s wonderful.”

“Thanks, Dee.” I saw Julia press her lips together and take a deep breath. Maybe I wasn’t hiding my struggle as well as I had hoped. “Listen,” Julia’s tone changed. “We have plans tonight. I lined up a little reunion for you and me and we are going out on the town. So. That means if you don’t have something in that little bag of yours that will do me proud, you better find something in my closet to wear. Cause there is no way,” her finger came out and took on a life of its own making jerky movements while pointing at my physique, “that I will be seen with you wearing those rags.”

My eyes immediately traveled to said ‘rags.’ My eyebrows pinched together. These rags, as she called them, had cost me a fortune. I had on Joe’s Jeans and a Lucky Tee. But my NY fashion, no matter how expensive, was falling short for Julia. Julia was all about ruffled skirts, high heels and femininity.

“Now, git!” she ordered with her southern inflection and a slap on my behind. I think she was just trying to get rid of me for a minute but I wasn’t sure why. I needed to use the bathroom anyway so I asked Julia to point me in the right direction. Then I told her on my way that I needed coffee before I tackled any wardrobe decisions. Julia didn’t argue. Even she knew I was addicted to the liquid gold and there was no way I could match an outfit without caffeine.

“Where are we going?” I asked before I closed the door to the bathroom.

“Preacher’s,” she announced firmly.

I froze with my hand on the handle just as the door clicked closed. Preacher’s was an old hangout that we used to frequent when we were in high school. It had good bar food and a great vibe. The problem was Ryan Rowen bought it five years ago and there was no way in hell that I was stepping foot in his joint willingly.

Julia must have lost her marbles because the only way she would get me inside Preacher’s was if I was heavily sedated with an IV drip and wheeled in on a gurney.

“That ain’t happenin’, girlfriend!” I yelled through the door.

“Wanna bet?” she barked back.

 

            I could lie and say that I won the throw down. But what would be the point? Julia was no one to be trifled with and when she had her mind set on something it didn’t turn out any other way. So essentially my options were to show up to Preacher’s willingly or show up exhausted from fighting. We had already had it out over the outfit I thought was ‘good enough’ to go to Preacher’s. Needless to say she made me change into this sweet (I had to admit) skirt and fitted top that she thought would do wonders for what she referred to as my ‘sallow coloring.’ What could I say? I’d been through a lot and it was showing in my complexion.

Though my outfit definitely brightened my mood, I still wasn’t happy about going to Ryan’s establishment, which I conveyed through the sighing and whimpering as we approached the door.

“Seriously? There are so many other places that we could go instead.” I begged annoyingly.

“That’s true. A whole bunch of new places opened up while you have been living it up big in N.Y.C. But not one of them holds a single memory from our youth. So we are going inside and we are having some awesome hot wings and an ice cold beer.” She pointed toward the door authoritatively. “Go on,” she ushered me from behind.

“You suck,” I stated matter-of-factly.

“So do you,” she answered in kind.

That was that. We stepped inside and I was forced to deal with whatever was about to fly my way- good, bad or indifferent.

Fortunately for me, I was hit by a little angel with wings. “You’re here!” Dolly announced to the restaurant while hugging me fiercely. She was dressed up in a fairy costume. She must have been excited about Halloween, which was just around the corner, and couldn’t wait to show it off.

I swallowed hard. My hand went to her upper back trying to avoid any damage to her delicate wings while attempting to give her a genuine hug. Between the fragile wings and my reluctance of being in her father’s bar at all, the hug came across a little more tentative than I had intended. But given how much her mother despised me, there was a good chance that the next body part to hit me was her mother’s fist if Darcy found me anywhere near her daughter. So my hugging Dolly in any capacity was a risk.

“Hi, Dolly,” I said in the sweetest voice I could muster.

“Uncle Hugh said you were coming,” she replied.

Just hearing his name resuscitated every butterfly in my belly. I wasn’t sure how Hugh would know that I would be showing up at Preacher’s. Maybe Ryan told him after Julia made the reservation. Whatever.

“Oh?” I had to say something. Sadly that was all that I could come up with.

She wrapped her dainty hand in mine and held on tight. “Come see,” she pulled me with all of her might.

Come see? Come see what?

“Do you like my costume?” she asked on the way.

“Mmhm.” I was hoping my strangled answer sounded genuine. “It’s perfect. But I would have thought an angel would want to dress up as something else for Halloween.”

“Oh, this isn’t for Halloween. I just like to wear it,” she educated. “All girls like to get dressed up once in a while and this one makes me feel like a princess. I can’t tell you what I’m going to be for Halloween. So don’t ask me,” she tried to be authoritative, “cause it has to be a surprise.”

I nodded assuring her I wouldn’t ask.

As we neared the back room, every muscle in my body became rigid frightful of what she wanted to show me. We rounded a corner, which brought us into the private party room. It was full of people. “Oh, Dolly, hon.,” I pulled back slightly, “my friend Julia and I are just here for dinner,” I tried to explain gently. Clearly she didn’t know that there was a gathering already taking place in the party room. When my head popped up from her blonde pigtails that swished this way and that from the bounce that she put in her step, I focused on the crowd before me with an apology for interrupting on my tongue. But when I looked more closely, all the faces looked familiar to me. I whipped around to confront Julia who was ready for me.

“Don’t start. Just suck it up,” she interjected before I could utter a word. Julia brushed past me and took a seat at the crowded table. She air kissed the girl to her left. I recognized her. Her name was Holly Hoss. She threw up all over her desk in fourth grade. An image I would never forget. Most of the other girls were our high school cronies. There were a few faces I sort of recognized but didn’t really know. I hadn’t seen any of these people in years. But that didn’t seem to quell their excitement to see me.

“Delilah!”

“Hey, Girl!”

“Good to see you back home!”

“Too long, Dee.”

Everyone was so welcoming that it was difficult to comprehend. I was embarrassed to admit that, for me, most of them had been out-of-sight out-of-mind. In my haste to leave Virginia and start a new life I never gave any of these people a second thought. But for them it was like I’d never left. I gave a tight smile and a mass, uncomfortable ‘hello.’ My eyes traveled down the long table hoping I would remember everyone’s names. When I got to the end I saw Darcy with a glass of wine to her lips at an adjacent table. Her eyes, which were all I could see with the big glass in front of her face, appeared guarded. Obviously she knew the truth of what happened. Dolly must have told her. But she didn’t look any more accepting of my presence than her usual. I swallowed hard because I was uncomfortable and on her turf. Our last encounter was a nightmare. I watched her slowly lower her glass as her eyes traveled over my shoulder. Her face remained expressionless. Dolly trotted over to her mother’s side and when she turned to lean into her, she smiled a huge smile and wiggled her fingers to wave hello to someone behind me.

A deluge of fear consumed me. I had a terrible feeling that I knew who was standing there. Even though I was holding onto a tiny shred of hope that the person that had Darcy and Dolly’s attention was Ryan. I knew in my heart it wasn’t. I could feel him. And he wasn’t even standing that close.

He approached silently and I knew this because I watched Dolly and Darcy’s eyes follow him. Then I heard him swallow and I could tell he was right on top of me. I didn’t turn to look. I just closed my eyes as the warmth of his body penetrated mine from behind.

“Hey,” he whispered as he wrapped his warm hands around my biceps. That one word slid through my heart and soul. He pulled my back into his chest and brushed his cheek against the side of my head. I could feel my hair tugging from the strands that tangled in his five-o’clock shadow. “You ready to hear me out?” he continued on a grumble.

I opened my eyes and saw that little Dolly had lost her smile. She looked pensive. Maybe she was worried that I would protest her uncle’s request. Then my eyes went to find Julia. And she looked like she was trying to pay attention to the person sitting next to her but couldn’t. I knew she was paying closer attention to what was happening behind me than to whatever bullshit Tiffy was spewing. I pressed my lips together and then ran my tongue over my front teeth because my mouth had suddenly gone dry. Trying to sort through all of the mayhem that was occurring in my head while simultaneously filtering out all of the banter at the big table in front of me, I focused on the chest that was expanding and contracting against my back. When I couldn’t find the words to respond to Hugh quickly enough, he roped his arm around my stomach, grabbed my hip and turned me around.

“I fucked up,” his eyes danced on mine. “I should have known better.”

I stared at his chest with great concentration. “Hugh. I…”

“Please look at me,” he whispered. “I’m dying, Delilah. I’ve spent the last two weeks in hell not understanding how you could do such a horrible thing to my niece. Then when Dolly told us what actually happened I felt so much relief that I came straight to see you. Maybe I don’t deserve to be forgiven. But there is no way in hell that I’m not going to try.” When I didn’t respond Hugh got more insistent. “Damn it, Delilah. Look. At. Me.”

Upon hearing his demand my eyes left his chest. They slowly traveled to his beautiful face and that was that. My heart made her decision before my mind had a chance to catch up. Damn heart. Way too impetuous. As I studied his face I could see he was genuinely sorry. But it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. My heart just couldn’t be trusted.

“Please,” the words he whispered melted into my soul. “I’m begging you. Give me another chance.” I could hear the honesty behind the words that he so carefully chose. The tone of his voice was steady but demanding.

I nodded slightly even though my face still held the pain of what I had been through.

He pressed his lips to my temple and exhaled loudly outlining his relief. Then he pulled me in for a tight embrace. “God, I love you,” he whispered in my ear. “I’m so sorry, Delilah.”

I slowly wrapped my arms around Hugh’s shoulders and heard the cheers of encouragement erupt behind me as my toes left the ground momentarily so Hugh could hold me tighter.

I watched out of the corner of my eye as Darcy quietly left the room with Dolly in tow. “I know you’re sorry, Hugh,” I murmured as Dolly turned to get one last look at me before she disappeared around the bend. I gave her a meek smile and noticed her lips form a faint smile in return. “I’m sorry, too,” I murmured into his shoulder as he expelled a warm sigh of relief against the skin on my neck. “But things just don’t always turn out the way we want them to.”

Hugh’s entire body stilled. I guess he thought my apology in return was referring to the misunderstanding that had occurred between us. “What are you talking about, Delilah?” His voice sounded different. It wasn’t soft or endearing like it had been only seconds before.

“You know. It’ll be hard. I’ll be here and you’ll be back in New York,” I clarified. “The odds are stacked against us.”

“Well that would be hard but that’s not what’s going to happen,” he educated.

“What do you mean?” I asked pushing off of his chest.

Hugh tucked his chin so he could see my face. “We had this conversation already. You’re staying in New York…with me. I found an apartment. I moved in last week.”

“Hugh, I don’t have a job in New York. I accepted the job here, remember?” I reminded him.

“Well, tell them you changed your mind,” he insisted.

“I can’t do that.”

“Why not? You were willing to do it up until Darcy showed up in your bedroom.” Hugh was getting confrontational and though I understood the basis of his argument, he was forgetting the role he played in the whole drama. Had he stood by me, believed in me, I would have made calls that Monday morning explaining that things had changed. But that wasn’t what happened. That Monday, having nothing left for me in New York, I essentially solidified my plans to move.

“That was before,” I stated trying to avoid the actual accusation.

“Before what?” he pressed.

“Look,” I evaded further shaking my head. “I’ll look like an even larger nut case than I do normally. Norstride is under the impression that I asked to be transferred. They don’t know Stacey, my evil partner, orchestrated the entire fiasco. Not to mention they are my biggest client. I’ll never get a recommendation from them if I don’t take the job that they think I wanted in the first place. Nowadays it’s hard enough to find a job in New York City with good credentials. No matter what PR firm I approach they want to see a list of clients. I’ll have nothing to show them,” I bolstered my reasoning. “I’m here now. I have no choice but to stay at least a couple of years.” As the realization sunk in my expression became pained and Hugh’s became more resentful.

“That’s not why you won’t do it. You and I both know the real reason,” he stated heatedly.

I wasn’t sure where he was trying to lead the conversation but I knew one thing for certain. It was fruitless. I didn’t say anything in response to the trap he just laid before me. No matter how I responded I would lose. I could tell that he was angry with himself over the choices he had made. But what was done was done and there was no going back.

“Just say what you are really thinking,” he prodded trying to bait me even further.

I shook my head and closed my eyes. Why say the words? What good would they do now? “Why are you doing this, Hugh?” I whispered.

“Because I fucked up!” he barked. And that wasn’t in response to my questioning why he was behaving the way he was. It was in response to his own statement pushing for me to admit why I wouldn’t turn down the Norstride opportunity. “You think I don’t see how I helped cause all this shit. But I do,” he swiped his hand over his jaw and looked up at the ceiling in frustration. There was nothing I could say to alleviate his self-deprecating thoughts. His actions affected the outcome. So I stayed silent and waited for him to work through it. “I hate that bitch,” he added. “She is a conniving, manipulative, mother fucker,” he was referring to Stacey who set the whole thing in motion. I wasn’t sure if the ceiling tiles above his head agreed but I sure did.

So I tugged on his shirt to get his attention. He bit his bottom lip and looked back down at me. “Join the club,” I said with a half-hearted grin.

Hugh roped me around the neck and pulled me in for a hug. It was nice to feel his arms around me again. Even if it was going to be a short lived reunion.

Chapter 17

 

            Kissing Hugh Rowen was quite possibly the best thing in life. I loved how his lips gently worked over mine in the most deliciously possessive way. His kisses weren’t designed to be a means to an end. He lovingly took his time thoroughly enjoying the entire experience. He would get this predatory look on his face as he approached me, his eyes zeroing in on their intended target. He would hesitantly pause before lowering his lips closer to mine. As if once he took the plunge he would invariably lose control. With a gentle graze he would test the waters. But once he pressed his lips against mine he took command, turning his head while holding my face softly in his hands so he could position my lips right where he wanted them. His eyes remained closed sometimes pressing tighter as if there was something that pained him as he took his time tasting, sucking and savoring. The kissing always got wetter which led to his tearing his lips from mine so he could catch his breath and rub his thumb along my swollen lower lip. Then when he returned he would part my lips with his so he could touch his tongue to mine. His arms would snake around me engulfing me in all that was Hugh Rowen. Slowly his tongue would slide along mine and a low grown of pleasure would rumble from his chest. I could feel the vibration as he expressed his appreciation and the hum of his satisfaction radiated throughout my body. I never knew lips could feel so soft or taste that good. I could kiss this man forever. I always knew when he was done because he ended the artful process with three kisses that consecutively became gentler. With the last one he always lingered so his breath and mine could become one before pulling away and opening his eyes to take one last look at the masterpiece, my swollen and contented lips, he had just created.

            “Goodnight, Junior,” Hugh whispered with his forehead pressed up against mine.

            “Goodnight, Hugh,” I breathed back.

The porch light was blinking on and off like there was a short in the wiring. “You better go inside before she starts a fire,” Hugh suggested. Julia was peering through the window like a father waiting for his daughter to come home from her first date.

            I knew when I embarked on my temporary cohabitation with Julia that certain aspects of my stay could be challenging. It just never occurred to me that she would be one to keep a strict curfew. “Okay,” I agreed even though I really would have preferred the ability to freeze time.

Hugh and I had talked rather extensively earlier in the evening. We had come to a resolution of sorts. He would return to New York to start his new job and I would remain in Virginia to start mine. We would alternate visits back and forth every other week so each of us was only flying once a month. Not a bad plan but given the original, it was quite a sacrifice.

            “Call me when you get in?” I requested. Hugh’s flight was first thing in the morning. He was going straight to his new office from the plane.

            “I will,” he rubbed his nose along the side of mine inhaling loudly. “My God, I’m going to miss you, Baby,” he groaned. “I just got you back. I hate having to let you go.”

            Despite the fact that it was a massive understatement, I could only agree. I tried to look at the bright side. “It’s just a couple of weeks. I’ll be knocking on your door in no time,” I half smiled.

            “Our door,” he quickly corrected.

            The corner of my lips tipped up at his immediate response. “Our door.” I agreed because it sounded a hell of a lot better than the actual circumstances at hand, which sucked huge. We both knew how difficult a long distance relationship could be but neither of us was willing to admit that that was the road on which we were embarking.

Chapter 18

 

            I stepped into the Human Resources Department, which was on the second floor of Norstride’s new home. The brick and mortar building was an architectural gem in Tremont, which was one of the larger metropolis’ in southern Virginia. When Julia dropped me at the car rental office that morning she left me with words of caution.

“Be careful in that big city. Things are different over there even though it’s only a few minutes away. And it’s huge…you might get lost,” she warned.

I choked back the laugh that was threatening to burst from my lips. I guess I should have been more forceful when inviting Julia to visit me in New York because she had absolutely no frame of reference. In her defense, Tremont was the biggest city around but it was still a far cry, size wise, from New York City.

As I parked my rental car, which could only be described as a piece of shit on wheels, I was wondering how the New York transplants were fairing in Tremont. Some probably found the quaint and laid back atmosphere refreshing while others were probably pulling their hair out of their own heads trying to get a decent bagel.

 

The relic who greeted me in the H.R. office looked like she was 105 years old, and that was a generous assessment on my part.

            “Can I help you, dear?” she asked sweetly.

            “Hello,” I answered just as sweetly having been taught from an early age to always respect my elders. “My name is Delilah Welling. I am…a…um…new employee,” I stammered, still unable to believe how my life had completely gone off the rails.

            She shuffled some papers on her desk and started to make some excuse for the big pile. “We have a lot of folks coming in. All of them big New Yorkers.”

My eyes squinted in response. Were these New Yorkers she spoke of big in stature or did she think their egos were big? Though it was difficult to discern, I didn’t really care to know so I kept quiet.

“Oh my,” she licked her two shaky fingers and slowly lifted one sheet at a time from the stack in front of her, which was clearly overwhelming. I knew when she found what she was looking for because a loud burst of air left her lungs with an audible humph. She kept her head perfectly still as her eyes traveled up to meet mine. “Well!” She said with a hint of excitement. “That’s odd,” she sort of muttered.

            My eyebrows shot up in response. “What’s odd?” I questioned.

            “Well, it says here that…well…how do I put this?” she seemed reluctant to share the information in front of her.

            My shoulders did a quick shrug in response to her question. I bent my arm at the elbow, balled up my fist and pumped my arm giving the universal ‘college try’ sign. “Um, I guess just lay it out there,” I suggested with a bit of a chuckle.

            “Well, Dear, it says here that you’re…um…fired,” she blinked her eyes, which were magnified to an unimaginable size by very thick lenses, three times in quick concession and offered an uneasy smile. Then her heavily wrinkled upper lip began to falter and she stood only halfway out of her chair leaning her hands on her desk to brace while I pondered her words. She looked like she was preparing to bolt. Unable to hold that position another minute she straightened to standing in front of her chair. “You know some people get hostile when they are told they are fired. Do I need to call security?” she asked bizarrely.

            My eyes squinted in question. “I beg your pardon?” I was unsure if I heard her correctly. Not about the need for security but about my walking papers. “How can I be fired when I just got here?” I questioned instead.

            Under the misperception that I was getting hostile, granny picked up the phone threatening to press a button. “Child, I just tell it like it is. Don’t make me call for Walter. He doesn’t shut up once he gets talkin’,” she drawled her disquiet at having to dial Walter, the security guard.

My eyebrows remained pinched together. “Are you sure you are reading that correctly?” I questioned again. She was old. Very old. “Maybe your Coke bottle glasses need replacing and your vision is faulty.”

That was the wrong thing to say.

            She shook her head and pressed the button as if I had given her no other choice. “Walter, you better get up here. We have a live one.”

I was guessing I was the live one.

            I held my hands up in surrender. “I assure you that I am not a ‘live one.’ I just don’t understand how I had a job with this company yesterday, they never saw my performance or lack there of, and today I am fired!” Since my voice hit a slightly higher octave than it had in the beginning of my sentence, granny was ready to throw me in a straight jacket. As soon as Walter walked in Granny was giving him the run down on how I was ornery and irrational.

I rolled my eyes in response.

            “Listen, Walter,” I began, “I am just asking a couple of questions. I am not hostile, ornery or irrational,” I defended. “Now is there someone I can talk to so we can straighten this out? I moved all the way down here from New York for this damn job.”

           I was pretty sure it was the ‘damn’ that did it. Granny and Walter gave each other a knowing stare and a synchronized nod. Walter, who was sporting a walkie-talkie on his shoulder, tilted it toward his mouth and pressed a button. “Marcus?” I heard the ‘psht’ sound from the walkie-talkie but this time it was the real deal not Logan’s ridiculous role-playing. “You better call for back up. This one is going to be a problem.”

            I sighed heavily and looked up at the ceiling. These people didn’t know what hostile was. But since ‘back-up’ was already on its way I might as well push the envelope. “I insist on speaking to Charles Dorn immediately.”

            Granny picked up the phone in a huff and stabbed at a few numbers on her antiquated phone system. “Betty? It’s Fern. I have a big problem down here. Yep. Unhuh. Mmhm. Exactly,” she added desperately. “Is Charles in? This one is insisting on speaking to him,” Fern sounded as exasperated as she looked. “A miss Delilah Welling.” She looked up at the ceiling and then pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose with her finger. “Mmhm. Yup. One of them big New Yorkers. That’s right,” she affirmed.

My eyes rolled again and I purposefully exhaled as loudly as I could. Then I heard her say ‘thank you’ and she held the phone out to me with a snap. I stared at her a moment unable to believe how inconsiderate this woman could be.

            I pressed my lips together and slowly reached out to take the phone from her. I ran my tongue over my teeth as I brought the phone to my ear. I could hear light elevator music playing so I knew I was on hold. Then I heard Charles jump on the line.

            “This is Charles,” he said quickly.

            “Hello, Charles,” I cleared my throat as if that would somehow make the call sound more official. “This is Delilah Welling. I just arrived at the HR Dept and I was informed that I have already been fired. Clearly this is a mistake,” I added an uncomfortable giggle. “So I was hoping that you could straighten all this out because Fern is calling for back up.”

Yes, I was officially a tattletale. Fern plastered a satisfactory smirk on her face as if she knew the answer before Charles dropped the hammer.

            I heard Charles sigh his discontent before he began. “We received a phone call from someone in the Premiere office outlining your drug and alcohol problem, Ms. Welling. Since none of this information was revealed prior to accepting your transfer we are under no legal obligation to hold the position while you are admitted to a rehab for proper treatment.”

            What?

            “Charles,” I chuckled trying to communicate the hilarity in his comment, “I can assure you…”

            “I’m sorry, Delilah,” Charles interjected. “You seem like a nice girl. Don’t let this road bump define your life. Get the help you need. And please leave the premises without incident.” Charles hung up without any further ado.

            “That bitch!” I screamed, of course referring to Stacey who must have gone even further to sabotage my career. Holy shit, she was thorough. But all Fern and Walter knew was that I was officially hostile, irrational and ornery. And it had to be said that it was true. So much so, that I quickly turned to Walter.

“I sure hope you called for back up, Walter.” Then I finished my confession on a tear. “Because you are going to need it!”

Chapter 19

 

            “What do you mean you are at the police station?” I heard loud and clear even though I had pulled the phone two feet away from my head. The officer who had so kindly finger printed me, I think he was smitten, lifted the right side of his mouth at Julia’s outburst.

            I put the phone back to my ear and spoke calmly (very calmly) fearing another disorderly would be coming my way if I raised my voice. “I’ll explain when you get here. Please just come pick me up. My rent-o-crap is at the parking lot at Norstride,” I explained, flashing a disingenuous grin at the officer who was still eavesdropping.

            “Fine. But just so you know…this is going in my gossip column,” she sort of asked.

            “Oh goody, my 15 minutes of fame…finally.” My snappy sarcasm was met with a chuckle. But I didn’t care if my mug shot ended up on the six o’clock news. I just wanted out of Tremont. “Just hurry,” I insisted.

            By the time Julia arrived to get me out, another officer had approached after hearing I was ‘fresh in’ from New York. He was quite large and had a look in his eyes that told me he meant business. I swallowed hard fearing he was a little unstable. But when he reached me, he snagged a chair from another desk, flipped it around and sat facing me. I had nowhere else to look but at him. That was when the interrogation began. He started to grill me on the ins and outs of New York City. He wanted to take his fiancé there for Christmas and skate at Rockefeller Center. Imagining him on skates was a little comical but there was no way that I was going to share that thought. He wanted to know where to stay, where to eat, what shows to see. I gave him as much inside information as I could and in return he conjured up a half decent, thank goodness, large cup of coffee. It seemed like a fair trade. I said my goodbyes to the law enforcement staff in Tremont when I saw Julia arrive and headed towards freedom.

            “So you are telling me that you were fired from your new job before you even started,” Julia sounded as perplexed as I did as she started her little Fiat.

I gave her a cautionary glance as she pulled out of the police station screeching tires.

            “That’s what I am telling you,” I nodded as she ratcheted up the speed and the scenery began to fly by at warped speed.

Julia really ought to slow down.

            “That is so strange,” she murmured.

            “Yeah well, turns out it isn’t quite as big a mystery as one would think,” I explained. “Stacey Horner strikes again,” I shared.

“Holy crap. Really? She is relentless,” Julia shook her head as she downshifted into a turn. “Gosh, I wish she lived here. I would have an endless supply of material for my column.” My head turned slowly to stare down Julia. When she noticed my eyebrows in my hairline she shrugged. “What? I’m just sayin’.”

Ignoring Julia’s comment, I proceeded to state the obvious. “I came here because she sabotaged my job and apartment in New York. Now I have no job and no apartment in Virginia,” I shook my head unable to believe the circumstances I found myself in.

            Just as I was about to begin my woe-is-me speech, my cell phone started ringing. I folded myself in half and began rifling through my bag to find my phone. “Hello?” I said with urgency in my voice hoping to catch it before it went to voicemail.

            “Hey, Junior, it’s me.”

            “Hey,” I greeted sounding perturbed given the circumstances.

            Ever perceptive, Hugh heard the disquiet and responded accordingly. “Oh. I wasn’t thinking, Babe. I’m sorry. You’re probably just getting acclimated to your new surroundings. I’ll call you around lunch time.”

            Hugh thought he was interrupting something important, like my new job, but little did he know he needn’t worry. “Hugh,” I cut into his rant. “I am, uh, not getting acclimated to anything. As it turns out, I was, um, fired,” as my explanation progressed, my voice diminished enough that Hugh couldn’t be certain what I’d said.

            “What did you say, Junior? I couldn’t hear you. It sounded like you said you were fired,” he sounded just as confused as Julia and I.

            I cleared my throat trying not to sound as downtrodden as I felt. “That’s right. That’s what I said.”

My clarification was met with silence.

“Hugh? You there?” I asked.

            “Yeah, Junior, I’m here,” he responded. But then there was another long pause. “Are you fucking with me?” he queried.

            I sighed loudly before I answered. One would certainly think that I was, as he put it, fucking with them. But sadly I was not. “No,” I sort of sang.

            Then Julia cut in loudly so Hugh could hear her through my phone. “And she got arrested!” she yelled.

            “Come again,” Hugh drawled. “Delilah Jean, did I hear her correctly?”

            My mouth tensed in response to his question at the same time my eyebrows shot into my hairline. No one ever called me Delilah Jean unless I was in major trouble, which was never. I didn’t even know that Hugh knew my middle name. He must be super angry. I slapped Julia’s thigh as she took a hairpin turn. Her two cents weren’t worth even that. I held my pointer finger up to my lips signaling for her to be quiet.

            “Delilah,” Hugh said my name authoritatively.

            “Yeah?” I asked.

            “Answer me,” he insisted. “I need to know what I have gotten myself into.”

            Oh shit. It never occurred to me that my arrest could negatively impact my boyfriend who must have taken an oath or two. “It was a misunderstanding,” I rushed defensively.

            “Is that right?” Hugh drawled. Then I heard the laughter. “My little, Junior, went and got herself arrested?” I was wrong. Hugh wasn’t angry. He was enjoying himself. “Do you need an attorney?” he asked on half a chuckle.

            “Why? Are you going to come bail me out?” I said with a sexy inflection. “Take me into custody with a personal set of handcuffs?” I heard a strangled sound of disgust out of Julia. I don’t know when she became such a prude.

            Hugh started laughing before he answered. “Delilah, I am a corporate lawyer. I can manipulate a mean merger but that’s about it,” he chuckled some more.

Hmm. I hadn’t considered that.

After a good spell of silence on my part, Hugh began again. This time his tone was more serious. “But I have friends. Friends who work down at the Court House over that way.”

            Oh. Well what fun would that be? “No, Hugh, I don’t need one of your friends to come bail me out,” I stated with a hint of irritation. If I couldn’t have him I didn’t want anyone.

            “No, you have me for that,” Julia murmured eliciting another hush from my lips.

“So now what?” Hugh asked.

            “Now nothing. They dropped the charges. But I’m not sure about the rehab,” I answered reflexively.

            “Wait. What? What rehab? Junior, I was referring to your current professional dilemma,” he clarified.

            Oh yeah. My professional dilemma. Well. I didn’t have a job or a place to live and I couldn’t afford to move all of my stuff back to New York. The funds in my bank account were scarce. “Not sure yet. I’m still trying to make sense of what the hell just happened,” I shrugged as if he could see my physical response.

“What was the rehab remark about?” He asked clearly confused.

“Can we talk about this later?” I answered unsure myself what to make of Charles’ comment. “I just don’t have any solid answers right now but I’m thinking Stacey gives retaliation a whole new meaning.”

            At that point someone must have entered Hugh’s new office because he suddenly sounded serious and began talking to me like I was a client. “Well, okay then. That sounds like a good plan of action. Call me when you have some answers. Bye, bye now.”

            I pulled the phone from my ear and stared at it as if it would explain things further. Then I shook my head to disconnect. I let out a huge sigh and threw the phone back in my bag. “Is it time for a margarita yet?”

            “If you enjoy margarita’s at 10am it is,” Julia informed as she swung her car into the Norstride parking lot and came to an abrupt halt. My body jerked forward and back with the force of her stop.

“You must get your brake pads changed weekly.” I said as I opened the passenger side door.

“Bi.” Julia responded snidely in reference to how often she changed brake pads. “Now, I have some shit to take care of since I was so rudely interrupted. Then I have to whip out an article on how some ding-dong from New York got herself a disorderly in Tremont.” I watched a wicked smile appear on her face as she put the car in drive. “See you back at the ranch,” she somewhat jested with a wink.

I raised my chin in response and barely got my ‘thank you’ out before she started driving away. Luckily the door closed with the force from her acceleration.

 

I extended my finger to jingle the teeny-weeny gold bell that dangled from the neck of a cat figurine that was frozen in time amidst other bric-a-brac on Julia’s antique hutch. He looked like he was having a grand ol’ time wrestling a ball of yarn. It also looked like the yarn was winning. The keepsake was parked on the middle shelf that sat eye level. The bell made a delightful sound and my mind went straight back to the day she bought it.

I was with her at a street fair. We were young, maybe twelve, and it was one of the first days of spring that was sunny and warm enough to give us a taste of what summer was promising to offer. I was wearing one of my itty-bitty tank shirts (without a bra because I definitely didn’t need one) and a short skirt. We had just purchased ice cream cones from a portable cart that was parked between a soap vendor and a woman who crocheted doilies. The street fair was packed with townspeople young and old. It seemed like anyone who was anyone was out that day. But a certain someone instantly caught my eye. The one. The only. Matthew Rowen. He and his buddies were walking around as if they owned the town, on a high because they were graduating high school. I remember the sadness that enveloped me when I realized that I wouldn’t see him after the summer was over because he would leave for college. Julia must have been tapping me on the shoulder for an hour trying to get my attention to show me this sweet little tabby adorned with a bell that actually jingled around its neck. I turned to Julia to affirm how darling it was so she could feel good about her $.90 cent purchase and when I looked back to see Hugh, he was gone. We strolled around for another hour, me looking for Hugh while Julia babbled on about how she should start collecting cats. But we didn’t see him for the rest of our stay. Then, just as my mother arrived to pick us up, I caught a glimpse of Hugh sitting across the street atop an outdoor bench. His butt was on the back of the bench and his feet were on the seat. His elbows were resting on his knees with his hands clasped together just under his chin. He looked like he was contemplating something big. His glasses were mirrored so I couldn’t be sure what he had his sights on, but with every fiber of my being I wanted to believe that Hugh was looking at me. I even went so far as to lock my eyes on him as we drove past, hoping beyond hope that his gaze would follow my car. And it did for a short spell. But then his head snapped back to where we had been standing. When I turned to see what had caught his attention, the sting of reality pierced my hopeful balloon. Because there, standing at the curb where I had just stood moments before, was Darcy Strong wiggling her fingers in Hugh’s direction. That was the day that Hugh began his relationship with Darcy. And that damn tabby was the most painful reminder.

Chapter 20

 

Julia’s home was even better than I had first admired. Every square inch of the house was well organized and decorated beautifully. Even the closets were neat and orderly. After changing into the last outfit I had packed and carried on the plane, I made my way to the kitchen to test the ‘how early is too early for a margarita’ theory. I found out that margaritas could be ingested at any point of the day; especially if it was made with fresh strawberries.

Mm-mm-mm-mm-mm. After my second, made with a much-needed second application of salt around the rim (not an easy task with the glass still half full,) my cell phone began to sing in my bag. I could hear the faint rhythm of my theme song emanating from the floor where I dropped my bag as I entered. I folded to my knees in front of my bag and fished out my phone. Fighting the urge to sing along, I slid my finger over the screen to connect the call.

“Helloooo,” I sang feeling happier than I should as a result of my liquid concoction.

There was a brief silence before I heard a deep clearing of a voice. “Delilah?” It was Steven. My old boss.

“Oh, hey, Steven!” I said enthusiastically.

“Hello, Delilah. If you have a minute I, uh, need to talk to you.” If anything, he seemed hesitant to talk to me.

Since he sounded peculiar, I figured he had heard the embarrassing news that I had been expunged from my job before I even started. For some reason I felt an overwhelming need to explain myself. I jumped to standing as if talking to him while I was still parked on the floor would be disrespectful.

“Steven, I didn’t do anything, I swear. And I have never even so much as smoked a cigarette, I sort of swear.” Steven had always been like a father figure to me and the last thing I wanted was for him to be disappointed in me. “I found out they let me go just as I stepped my foot in the door. I didn’t even have a chance to screw up,” I rushed.

Then I heard a separate conversation that was being shared between Steven and…and…was that Logan?

“Dad!”

Dad? Did he just call Steven, Dad? Holy crap!

“I’m telling you, you don’t have the full story,” Logan whined. “Stacey Horner orchestrated the entire thing!” Of course this was followed by an exasperated ‘over’ which was voiced with the frustration of a child who was complaining to his father.

I had never put two and two together. Yes, of course I had known that Logan’s last name was Smith. But who’s wasn’t? I mean, of course, lots of people’s names weren’t but it was such a common name I just assumed it was a coincidence. It certainly explained a lot. No wonder he would never stay fired. His father was an executive in the company.

“Steven?” I questioned even though I already knew the answer. “Is that Logan?” And out of complete habit from hanging around Logan too much I actually said the word ‘over.’

“Holy Cow. He’s got you doing it now?” The sheer aggravation in Steven’s voice was unnerving. “Would you be quiet for a second please?” he continued. “No more ‘overs’!”

I shut myself right up fearing I would further upset my boss, even though he was no longer actually my boss. I always respected Steven, so when he told me to hold my tongue I did what he asked without question. “Now,” he continued after a deep sigh, “explain to me what the hell happened.”

Since I was still following his gag order I didn’t respond.

“Delilah?” Steven asked petulantly. “Are you there?”

“Oh! Yes, I’m here. I thought you were talking to me,” I qualified my silence.

“I was talking to you,” he affirmed haughtily.

“So you want me to be quiet? Or you want me to explain why I got fired,” I questioned with confusion.

I quickly realized that Steven was losing all of his patience. And that was because I could hear the rumble that emanated from his chest before he even began to audibly share is discontent. “I want you to explain to me how you ended up fired from a job that you didn’t want in the first place!” he yelled.

The muscles in my lower jaw flexed pulling my lower lip down to reveal my bottom row of teeth. Oh jeeze. Oh no. Not only had he lost his patience but he was also pissed. At me.

It should be said that Steven was one of those people who didn’t need to raise his voice, like, ever. His mere presence conjured up fear and compliance in any life form that was equipped with a set of lungs. Children, employees, alpacas…you name it, we all cowered. He was tall and he had perfect posture at all times. That in and of itself could scare a person shitless. He always looked crisp and put together and at any given moment his jaw would tense like he was trying to contain an inner beast that was just itching to be released. He could make a person acquiescent without uttering a single word. It was an enviable quality but terrifying at the same time.

It was so impressive that I deliberately studied him one day…quietly observing his actions, his movements, his posturing and reaction time. When a person asked him a question, he would pause while staring into their eyes before answering. You could actually see the person shrink in response. Unbelievable. How Logan survived his upbringing was a sheer miracle. It must also be noted that he was the best boss I had ever had. He was honest, complimentary and fair.

“Well,” I began, “I don’t, um, know where to start…” I paused and pursed my lips inhaling a long, faint breath while I tried to calm my nerves and concoct a satisfactory excuse at the same time. But I couldn’t come up with a reasonable defense to save my life. And if that just didn’t say it all. “I, uh, I don’t have a good excuse, Steven. Stacey set things in motion and I was unable to stop the ball from picking up speed down hill. I guess, the truth is, I was afraid what people would think once they found out…you know…found out…that I was duped,” I paused to expel whatever air was left in my lungs. “So I went along with it. Like it was my plan from the start.”

Suddenly it felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off of my shoulders and my impersonation of Atlas, metaphorically speaking, was finally over. Since the entire charade began, I hadn’t admitted to myself, or anyone else for that matter, how or why my circumstance had come to pass. So, admitting to Steven that my paralyzing fear, which attributed to my inability to defend myself, was the primary cause was somehow cathartic. Because, the truth was, I let Stacey get away with what she set out to. I could have stood up for myself, put up a fight, laid down the law. But I chose instead to accept my fate. And that was no one’s fault but my own.

My admission was met with silence. I expected a few seconds of silence. Steven being Steven and all. It wasn’t unusual for him to digest information before he responded. But the silence was carrying on a little longer than I would have thought customary. I pulled the phone away from my ear to look at the screen to check if the call was still connected. The timer was still going, two minutes thirty eight seconds and counting, so I was assuming Steven was still there. I swallowed loudly and put the phone back to my ear. I pressed my lips together and continued to wait for Steven’s response. The silence was becoming uncomfortable so I cleared my throat preparing to speak.

            “Delilah,” Steven scolded. “Get your ass on a plane. I want you back in my office on Monday morning.”

            I opened my mouth to speak but before I could respond, our call was disconnected. My hand went over my mouth in horror. What the hell was I going to do? I couldn’t afford a flight back to New York. But there was no way that I would not be in that office come Monday. “Shit,” I murmured.

            Once again, my phone began to ring and vibrate in my hand. I jumped at the sensation and quickly swiped at the screen to make it stop. “H,h,hello?” I stuttered.

            “Flight 2142. Sunday. 10:40AM.”

            It was Logan. “Logan. What the hell is going on?” I questioned.

            “You’re back. Bitch doesn’t know it yet but her time is up. Monday is Dee-Day. Well, you know what I mean,” he answered.

            He made it sound so simple. I could practically see his shoulders shrugging as if it was a no brainer. “How…” I began.

            “Last year when the job opened up in your office for an assistant, my father made me take the job. He got tired of me hanging out at the skate park all day long. I didn’t really want to work. Especially in an office,” I heard a long sigh. “But after a little while I didn’t mind so much. And that was because of you, Delilah. You were always cool. So if I couldn’t hang at the skate park then you were a nice alternative.”

A small smile appeared on my face knowing that I ranked just as high as the skate park in Logan’s eyes. That was saying something.

Then Logan went on. “Stacey was always a wicked bitch. She doesn’t deserve to get away with what she did to you. So,” he made a noise that gave me the impression that he was pausing for a stretch, “I had to get involved.”

            I didn’t respond immediately. I guess out of sheer habit I was waiting for it. But after a few beats I figured he needed some prodding. “You forgot to say ‘over’,” I shared.

            I heard a faint chuckle before he responded. “See you Monday, Delilah.”

            “Wait. What? No over?” I questioned.

            “No over,” he confirmed. “You heard the big man. No more ‘overs.’”

            A sense of disappointment took hold in my heart. It was then that I realized that I liked Logan just the way he was. “Logan!” I called before he hung up.

            “Yeah?”

            “Thanks.”

            “Your welcome, Delilah. Oh! And I’m sorry about the drug and alcohol story. But it was the only sure fire way to make sure you were, you know, fired.”

“Wait. What? That was you?” I couldn’t conceal the confusion that I was experiencing.

And then I heard it. It was quiet. Almost inaudible but I knew that he said it. The faint whisper hinting that the Logan I had come to love was still there. “Over,” he softly breathed.

            A giggle erupted in my throat and a smile commandeered my face. Yes, half of my professional contacts thought I had a drug and alcohol problem. But the half that mattered to me was fighting to get me back. A small slice of satisfaction sunk in at the realization of the lengths that Logan had gone to get me back. And that was when I let my hopes wander. Maybe Stacey and Will would get what their manipulative asses deserved in the end. Only time would tell for certain. “Over,” I whispered back in lieu of goodbye.

            I disconnected the call to momentarily stare at the wall. Things were changing so quickly without any coaxing or influence on my part. My head was officially spinning.

Less than a week ago my world was turned upside down. An hour ago I was homeless and jobless living in Virginia with a prolonged stint in a rehab facility in my not to distant future. Now I was heading back to New York and hopefully getting back my old job, which I loved with all of my heart. As this news hit home I immediately went to my call history to dial Hugh in his new office. I couldn’t wait to share the exciting news. I was back in the game. Heading back to the place that for the last few years I considered my home. Returning to New York City to start a life with the love of my life. Suddenly, a demonic expression took over my face and I stopped the progression of the call. Hugh knew nothing of my returning to New York. What a wonderful surprise it would be if I showed up unexpectedly. I threw my phone in my bag and started doing a happy dance. I wasn’t sure what I was looking forward to more. Seeing Hugh’s expression when I surprised him half naked in our new apartment or the look on Stacey’s face when she realized that her plan backfired. That was when I decided to allow myself the thrill of relishing in both. That was until, of course, Julia walked through the front door and caught me celebrating. She looked betrayed. And that was when I realized that all was not rosy in Delilah World.

 

            I knew Julia would not be happy. But I wasn’t expecting full on tears. That was definitely a little surprising.

            “You just got here,” she whined throwing her hands on her hips to outline her dismay.

            “I know. I’m sorry,” I truly was sorry. The only positive aspect of returning to Virginia had been the idea of spending time with Julia. And in the end, we really hadn’t had much time at all.

“When is your flight?” she asked petulantly adding a stomp of one foot.

“Sunday morning,” a strangled smile curved my lips. “Let’s do something fun tonight,” I suggested hastily. “It’s Friday night. We can go get a great dinner, have a few drinks, laugh about old times. Do some much needed catching up.” I watched as Julia licked her lips considering my suggestion. She wasn’t looking at me so I knew she was still upset. “I have to take it, Jules. I’m pretty sure they are going to give me my old job back.”

“I know!” she stated heatedly. “But I don’t have to like it.” She knew I had to go. She also knew that I knew she had to pour it on thick just in order to inflict the maximum amount of guilt. “It’s just that…I’m going to miss you,” she finally looked up at me and I could see her eyes soften. I offered a more genuine smile because I knew exactly what she meant.

“Me too, Jules. But this time you are going to come up to visit,” I insisted.

“I will,” she said assertively. “If I actually get invited this time.”

Oh jeeze. Sore subject. “I will send you a hand engraved,” I assured.

Hearing the undertones of sarcasm dousing my retort, Julia responded accordingly. “That was a bullshit invitation last time, Delilah!”

And we were off. There was no way that Julia would ever see my version of what happened and I was dog tired of our ridiculous miscommunication. My mind shot straight to my mother who had once told me while sharing her untimely sage advice that sometimes it was easier to just give in. I remembered it like it was yesterday. We were at the park waiting for the arrival of Aunt Dody and we were in the throws of setting up the picnic table for lunch. I was setting down plates while Mama was counting napkins. That was when she came up with one of her more poignant pieces of advice. “Pick your battles, Delilah,” she’d said. Her eyes never left the floral napkins that her fingers were rifling through. “Sometimes it’s easier to just let things go.” Of course, at the time, I had no idea what she was referring to. I couldn’t imagine the napkins were giving her that much trouble that she was willing to forego a battle. But I filed that piece of advice away anyhow, just like all the others, for future use just like everything else she had shared with me.

So, having use for it at that particular moment, I heeded the advice my mother had doled out fifteen years prior and agreed with Julia.

“You’re right, Jules. My bad.”

I watched Julia nod once in victory and I realized that Mama was right. It really wasn’t all that painful accepting what someone else thought was your wrongdoing. The topic was dropped and Julia was moving on to greener pastures. “Where should we go for dinner?”

“You pick.” I walked straight to her and wrapped my arms around her. I knew Julia was upset so I decided to address it head on. “I’m going to miss you, too,” I whispered in her ear. “I love you, Jules.”

Julia being Julia was not one to get all mushy and sensitive. I knew this about her. She could be tough as nails. And I was sure that my admission wasn’t timed very well because she was already thrown off kilter with the news of my pending departure. So essentially I wasn’t surprised by her response. “Shut up and go get ready. And put on something nice. Not one of those big New York outfits,” she instructed.

Since I was still embracing her, I gave her a gentle squeeze while a genuine smile instantly appeared on my face.

Since my belongings hadn’t arrived that day there was little danger of embarrassing Julia with any of my ‘big’ outfits anyway. So I let her go and stared her in the eyes. “No worries there. I’ll have to borrow something. My stuff didn’t arrive today like it was supposed to.” I let her go and turned to head down the hallway. “They hit some sort of bad weather and won’t arrive till tomorrow.” I timed the last morsel of information with closing the bathroom door. I needed to rejuvenate and the best way to do that was with a nice hot shower.

As I turned on the shower I could hear Julia through the door. “You should have just told them to turn around,” she suggested. “Saved yourself some miles.”

“Huh,” my shoulders fell.

Why hadn’t I thought of that?

Chapter 21

 

“Holy shit. I can’t feel my lips,” Julia laughed gutturally through her confession. She was pressing the tips of her fingers of her left hand into her upper lip and then releasing it quickly. Needless to say, she was totally wasted. We had parked our bottoms on a barstool three hours ago and had only left our post to use the bathroom. Julia was steadily drinking Vodka and Lime on the rocks. I was sticking with my tequila. I was definitely tipsy but Julia was three complete sheets.

“Wait,” I said randomly. It wasn’t like Julia was making a hasty getaway. Nor had she started to tell me something that needed clarification. But since Julia was as inebriated as I was, she waited listening intently for what I wasn’t exactly sure.

Then she got tired of waiting and leaned into me expectantly. “I think I’ve waited long enough,” she whispered conspiratorially. Then she slid off of her bar stool and staggered down a few feet. I watched her with rapt attention as she stopped in front of two guys with whom we had gone to high school. I hadn’t seen them in years but I remembered the one who was sitting farther away pretty well. He was cute and funny. And, if memory served, had had quite a crush on Julia in high school. She never so much as gave him the time of day. However, as soon as we stepped inside the bar he had his eyes trained on her and not very discreetly. So when Julia approached him, he spun around on his stool to face her.

“Sup, Jules?” he asked with this ridiculously sexy voice. My eyebrows went up with his question. He was asking way more than what was up with her.

Speaking a little more boisterously than her usual (which was normally pretty loud) Julia began to explain to the devilishly handsome guy, Mason, what exactly was going to be up. It was like the Anti-Julia.

“I think that I have waited long enough, Mason. Are you ready to take me home?” she asked seductively. She leaned forward until her chest hit his and then harshly planted her lips so hard on his I could actually hear him wince his pain audibly. My eyes shot open the size of dinner plates. Mason was clearly taken aback and not just physically. His arms froze mid air as Julia worked him over like a professional. Her body wiggled left and right. Her hair flung from side to side. It was impressive that Mason was able to stay on his barstool. Once I saw Mason’s free hand snake around her back and tug her in tighter, which seemed nearly impossible, I knew I was on my own for the rest of the night. Just as well. I had to get packing. I hopped off of my stool and approached Julia and Mason.

I tapped Julia on the shoulder and held out my hand. Without removing her lips from his she dropped her car keys in my palm. “Wow,” I stated completely impressed. Then I tapped Mason on the shoulder and addressed him. “Don’t wake me up when you two get home.”

I heard a faint, ‘Mmhm’ acknowledging my demands and then I turned to leave. Good for Julia. Mason was a good guy and he had loved her for as long as I could remember. Maybe, just maybe, she wouldn’t fuck it up.

           

            By 10 o’clock the next morning I was immensely grateful for two things- coffee and Julia’s stackable washer and dryer. I washed all of the clothes that I had lugged in my carry-on, folded, and balanced them on top of the dresser in Julia’s spare bedroom. I laid out all of my belongings so as not to forget to pack them and made a list of any last details that needed to be taken care of before I left. Feeling somewhat accomplished in my endeavors of getting organized, I decided it was time to reward myself with a second cup of coffee. I made my way to Julia’s kitchen and started washing out the pot. Only seconds had past when I heard the handle of Julia’s bedroom door squeak. I peered through the little kitchen window to see who might be heading my way and saw Mason exiting her room. I watched as he blew her a kiss from the doorway and backed out of her room closing the door. His shirt was unbuttoned and un-tucked, his hair was a mess and he looked quite pleased with himself. I couldn’t help the smirk that took control of my mouth. Mason came toward me so he could say good morning. The first thing he noticed was the look on my face.

            “What are you lookin’ at, Delilah?” he teased.

            I shook my head before I answered while the corners of my mouth tipped down. “Nothin’,” I said quite unconvincingly.

            “Don’t be givin’ me that look. For ten years I was under the impression she hated me.”

            “Understandable. Whether it is intentional or not, I’m not sure. But she does give people that impression, doesn’t she?” I smiled knowingly.

            Mason smiled back. “Yeah. I guess she does,” he dipped his chin and shuffled his feet trying to hide his infatuation. When he looked up we both smiled wider for a brief second then he soldiered on. “She said you were leavin.’ That true?” he asked.

            “Wow. Pillow talk to boot?” I skirted.

            “Just a little,” he confessed.

            “It’s true. I’m heading back tomorrow,” I shared.

            “She’s going to miss you, ya know,” his smile faded outlining his honesty. I knew Julia was going to miss me. To the extent that she would share it with Mason during a one-night stand of torrid sex, however, was surprising. I was going to miss her too. But before I could share that morsel of information, Mason cut in. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep her occupied.” Then a devious smile appeared on his face.

            “You better take care of her, you hear?” I informed with my southern accent.

            Mason just nodded once. But I had little reservations concerning his feelings for her. And, conversely, the fact that Julia let him in at all spoke volumes for her feelings about him. Drunk or sober.

            “I have to go,” he gestured toward the door.

            I nodded my understanding. “Bye, Mason.”

            “Goodbye, Delilah,” he answered with a smile on his handsome face.

 

            As soon as Mason left I finished brewing a fresh pot of coffee. That was when I heard the pipes in the bathroom rattling like thunder. Her geriatric plumbing system alerted me to the fact that Julia was up and functioning. As she staggered down the hall holding her head I remembered that she had had a few too many the night before.

            She walked into her little kitchen where I was resting a hip into the counter.

            “Coffee?” I asked.

            “In a second. Can you reach behind you in that cabinet,” she pointed with her eyes closed. “I need a pain reliever,” she confessed.

            I turned immediately to retrieve the medicine and took a glass from the cupboard. I filled it with water and turned to give it to her. She had her palms pressed up against her forehead. Her fingers stretched as far back as she could reach. It looked like she was squeezing. “That can’t feel good, Jules.”

            “Surprisingly, it does,” she answered on a whisper.

            “Here,” I reached out to her with my palm opened flat, facing up.

            She scrounged for the pill in my hand as if the pill was performing evasive maneuvering trying to avoid ingestion. Once she finally corralled it, she carefully placed it on her tongue. Her eyes hung closed as if her lids were too heavy to lift as she washed the pain reliever down in one acrid gulp.

“Why do I do that to myself?” she asked as if I had the answer. Her faced looked pained and I wasn’t sure if it was from the hangover, the pill, or Mason’s company.

            “I guess you don’t know when enough is enough,” I answered logically taking a stab at the answer that made the most sense.

            “I meant Mason.”

            I wasn’t actually sure what she meant. “What do you mean? What about Mason?”

            She exhaled heavily before she clarified squeezing her eyes closed harder. “Why do I start things when I know I am only going to hurt myself in the end?”

            “Jules. I’m still not following.” Figuring it was time to get some caffeine into her body, I opened the cupboard and started the process of finding her favorite mug. “Mason adores you,” I gingerly closed the cupboard. “He has for a very long time. As far as I am concerned you should have started it with him a long time ago,” I shared my unsolicited opinion facing her once again.

            “Oh, please, Delilah. Mason is just like every other guy out there. He got what he wanted. Now he will never call again,” her hands found her face again and the tips of her fingers began to intensely massage her own forehead. “You forget the cow story your mother shared with us on more than one occasion?” She asked. Obviously my mother had shared her sage advice with more than just me.

            “Julia, not all guys are after one thing. Mason’s a good guy. He’ll call. You’ll see.” I turned toward the coffee pot and grabbed the carafe.

            “I don’t know, Dee. I made that mistake once before,” she confessed. “And it never worked in my favor.”

            My body stilled mid-pour. “You slept with Mason before?” I couldn’t help the shock that accompanied my tone.

            “Not Mason.” When I turned my head to look at her, her hands fell away from her face. Her eyes fluttered opened and found mine. She looked remorseful, repentant, guilty and awfully sorry.

An instant pit formed in my stomach. Not Mason. I felt my heart begin to flutter a funky beat. And then a warning siren started screaming in my head. My breathing became shallow and I started salivating inexplicably. I felt my face pale and I began to have flashbacks of Stacey and Carson in the closet. “Julia,” I began still clutching the coffee pot. I had a terrifying feeling that I knew where her confession was going.

            “Delilah Jean, I did not sleep with Hugh Rowen. Wipe that look off of your face right this second.” She scolded me for my invading thoughts.

            I felt the rush of air leave my lungs with the adrenalin that had built up from my visions of betrayal. I lowered the coffee pot to the counter harder than I had planned but luckily it didn’t shatter. I had suffered the blow of betrayal once before and had no desire to relive it ever again. I couldn’t handle hearing that Julia had slept with Hugh. Thank God I had wrongfully jumped to conclusions. “Then who?” I asked.

            “Ryan,” she confessed.

            My jaw instantaneously dropped two inches. My eyes fluttered uncontrollably in disbelief and I started to shake my head. Once my facial features recovered from the shock of her confession, I just had to clarify. “Ryan, Hugh’s brother?”

Julia just nodded her response.

“Ryan,” I repeated. “The Ryan married to Darcy. That Ryan.”

Julia nodded again.

“When did you sleep with Ryan?” I asked with sourness in my tone. What I should have asked was what Julia was thinking when she slept with Ryan. As much as I despised Darcy, I found it hard to believe that Julia would have slept with Ryan knowing he was married. And even if that moral high ground was surmountable, which apparently it was, frankly, he didn’t seem her type.

            “You can’t say anything,” she informed instead of answering my question.

            “Julia. I would never say anything to anyone.”

            “Not even Hugh,” she further insisted.

            Damn. Now she was asking a lot. “Fine,” I answered not very convincingly.

“Cross your heart with your friendship ring finger?” Julia began.

“Oh, is that back in full effect now?” I responded instantaneously. I watched as Julia rolled her eyes in response and then I continued. “Fine,” my finger reflexively went to my chest so I could cross it over my heart. “Julia, when did you sleep with Ryan?”

            “Three years ago. New Year’s,” she paused as she used her pointer finger bouncing it around in midair trying to visualize the proper title for that evening. “Day Night? Is that how you say it?”

I just shrugged. Who cared what night it was or what the proper name for it would be.

“Everyone in town was partied out from New Years Eve and I was at Preacher’s trying to get the jump on the coming year’s gossip. Ryan was working the bar. Apparently he couldn’t find anyone to fill in that night. Everyone was hung over. He and I were the only ones in the entire place. We got to talking. One thing led to another,” she shrugged. “We ended up back at my place.”

           Since I had recovered from the initial trauma that Julia had not slept with Hugh in my absence, I turned back to the coffee pot to pour some into her cup. “You haven’t had sex in three years?” I asked with disbelief. Of course I honed in on the superfluous information that she shared. But in all seriousness it was hard to believe. Julia was what most men might consider a piece of ass. Pretty, delicate, blond, but could tear you a brand new rectum at any given moment.

A true winner.

            “Is that the only part of that sentence you heard?” her voice pitched higher. “Jeeze, Dee! Try to focus,” she admonished.

            I pursed my lips and did as she instructed. I grabbed the milk from the fridge and dropped a dollop in Julia’s coffee. “Does Darcy know?” I don’t know why I cared. The girl had spent the better part of her life tormenting me.

            I turned to put Julia’s coffee in front of her and watched Julia’s mouth form a straight line. “She knows. Didn’t you see the dirty looks she was tossing my way the other night?”

            “I thought those dirty looks were directed at me,” I shared leaning back into the counter.

            “Nope! All me,” she countered and then lifted her mug to blow some steam off. “In my defense. Ryan was determined that night,” she put emphasis on the word ‘determined.’ “Not that I was protesting that hard. But I know I threw at least one ‘we shouldn’t’ and I even suggested a ‘think about your wife.’ He didn’t seem to care,” she sighed at the memory re-gripping her mug at the same time. “I found out later Ryan was using me to get back at Darcy. Apparently, she had cheated on him and slept with Griff. You know, before he was with Tiff,” she added quickly as if I would be devastated having the intimate knowledge that Griff had cheated on Tiff years ago.

            “How is it that you never mentioned this before?” I had to admit my feelings were a little bruised.

            “Let’s just say it wasn’t my finest hour.” Clearly Julia regretted her choices from that one night. Her eyes followed her mug, which she rested on the counter.

            Holy beheebees. What the hell was going on in my hometown? I thought people were screwed up in New York, with Stacey screwing Carson in a closet and Will stalking me over a cup of coffee. “I, I, I don’t know what to say,” my lack of inflection outlined my disbelief. I found my cup on the counter and took a comforting sip.

            “Yeah, well,” Julia nodded continuing on her original train of thought. “So, I doubt Mason will call. He was probably using me, too. You know what your mama always said. Once word gets around,” she swiped her mug from the counter and headed for a kitchen chair.

            I slowly followed behind unable to believe her line of thinking. “Julia, that was three years ago. Having sex once every three years hardly gives people the impression that you are the town sperm bank,” I stated the obvious. “Mason has been in love with you forever. He’ll call,” I insisted. “And your assuming he even knows about Ryan at all.”

            “Time will tell.” Julia dropped into a chair and immediately pulled her legs up seemingly unconcerned. She wrapped her arms around her shins and cradled her chin in the v she created with her knees. “Could you make me some toast?” She asked with her eyes closed.

            I looked back into the kitchen as if my answer was written on the wall somewhere. “Yeah. Of course.”

            I found the bread and threw a piece in the toaster before I walked over to the fridge to see what kind of condiments she had. The butter was easy to find parked front and center. “Jelly?” I called out to her.

            “No,” she answered. Whether the no meant she didn’t want it or didn’t own it didn’t much matter.

            I heard the ding of the toaster and pulled out the scalding bread with my fingers. Receiving only a couple of second degree burns, I scraped the butter on the toast spreading a nice thin layer. As I walked it back to her, I had to admire my work. The butter had melted into the bread making the toast glisten. It looked scrumptious. I placed it in front of her as gently as I could. “Here,” I whispered.

            “Thanks, Dee,” she murmured back.

            I walked back into the kitchen to retrieve my mug just as I heard my phone begin to sing. I had barely had a chance to take a sip of coffee when I placed the mug back on the counter and ran to get my call.

            “Hello?” I asked expectantly unable to wait to hear his voice.

            “What are you wearing?” The deep voice rumbled and a shiver ran down my spine.

            I giggled at his question. “I miss you,” I whispered wishing I could wrap every limb around him.

            “Oh, Baby, you have no idea,” he answered.

            “What are you doing on this fine Saturday in New York?” I asked trying to feel like I was a part of his new life.

            “Other than trying to understand how you and I ended up in different cities again?” I could tell by the way he formed his question that he wasn’t wallowing. He was just stating reality. Our reality.

            “Yes, other than that,” I matched his exuberance.

            “I just got back from the supermarket. I bought some deli meat and I just made myself a sandwich. Not terribly exciting,” he admitted. “Have you heard back from Norstride?” He asked with the first bite of his lunch garbling his question. “They have to know they made a mistake.”

            Since I was still hoping to surprise Hugh with my return to New York, I hadn’t shared that I had spoken to Charles or to Steven. So I had to continue with the charade if I wanted my plan to work. “No,” I sang trying to convey surprise. “Weird, huh?”

            “Maybe Monday,” he offered. “Don’t worry. I’m sure it was just a mistake. It will all work out in the end. You’ll see. You up for some phone sex later?” He asked out of the blue.

            I couldn’t help but smile at his question. Although Hugh couldn’t see me, I shrugged my response. “It might be late. Julia has a hangover. So I’m thinking dinner is going to be pushed back a couple of hours since she is just having breakfast at…” I checked my phone to see the time, “1:15.”

            “I can wait,” he revealed and my smile grew wider.

            “I’ve never had phone sex,” I admitted sheepishly.

            I heard an exaggerated inhale feigning surprise. “What! A virgin?” He jested with another half mouth full.

            Another giggle erupted at his dramatic reaction. “Hasn’t anyone ever told you that you shouldn’t talk with your mouth full?” I joked.

            Hugh laughed out loud in response and it was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. “Call me when you get in later,” he responded through a chuckle.

            “I will.”

            “Love you, Babe,” he said clearly.

            “I love you, too,” I whispered back.

 

            I had spent the better part of the day packing all of my things. Julia spent a better part of the day jumping from her chair fearing she was about to vomit. When she wasn’t scrambling for a toilet, she sat at her computer hopping from one social media page to another looking for dribs and drabs to build a story on. This was accomplished with a lot of belching, salivating and audible swallowing. After a whole lot of nothing she decided a nap was in order as her head was beginning to hurt her again. She retreated to her bed while I retreated to her coffee pot.

            I poured a fresh cup and sat on a stool at her kitchen counter. As I waited for the caffeine to invade my blood stream, I heard a faint knock on Julia’s front door. It was so delicate, I thought maybe I was hearing things. I stood slowly and made my way to the front door expecting to see absolutely nothing outside. But instead I found quite a surprise. Ryan.

            My chin tucked back at the sight of the unexpected visitor and I opened the front door to see what brought Ryan to Julia’s doorstep.

            “Hey, Ryan,” I said with a hint of a smile as I tipped my chin up to look at him.

            “Hey, Delilah,” he slid his hands in his pockets. “Can I come in?” He asked.

            “Uh, sure,” I said a little surprised. I pushed the door open wider so Ryan could pass. “What’s goin’ on?”

            I heard him swallow loudly. “Is Julia here?” He asked while his eyes wandered her home.

            “She’s not feeling great. She went to lie down. Is there something I can help you with?”

            Ryan looked pensive. Clearly something was bothering him and I was having trouble figuring out what it could possibly be. Was he still holding a grudge about what Stacey did to his daughter and wanted to share his dismay? Was I totally off base and he was curious about Julia’s presence because he wanted to tell me something completely unrelated but in private? Or was he actually looking for Julia?

            “Um, no. There’s nothing you could, um…” Then, clearly unable to contain himself, he changed his mind. “Was Mason here last night?” he asked instead.

            Oh, man. I was wrong. Way wrong. Ryan’s visit had nothing to do with me. He was jealous. Didn’t see that one coming.

            “You know, Ryan, I am not comfortable talking to you about Julia’s friends or their comings and goings, for that matter. But if you’d like you are welcome to hang out with me and wait for her to get up. I could get you a cup of coffee,” I gestured toward the kitchen.

            Ryan was conflicted. I knew this because he demonstrated the exact same mannerisms that Hugh did when he was conflicted. It was one of the few things that solidified any doubt that they were related. “I, shit, I wish I could but I can’t,” he stated hesitantly confirming my suspicion that he was in fact conflicted. His hand went to his forehead to try to rub the frustration away with the tips of his fingers. “Just, uh, tell her I stopped by, um…yeah.”

            I pressed my lips together waiting to see if he was going to change his mind. When he nodded once and seemed confident in his message I nodded my understanding and walked with Ryan towards the door. I was a little confused by this exchange. If Julia hadn’t slept with Ryan in three years why would Ryan care if Julia was starting something with Mason? He seemed awfully invested for someone who got laid on a torrid one-night stand three years ago and then never called again. Or so Julia said. Or was it me who said? Then it occurred to me. Did I read into what she told me? I mean, she definitely inferred it was a one-night deal. Of that I was certain. But it was me who said she hadn’t had sex in three years. And she didn’t confirm that little tidbit of information. She avoided it.

Holy crap.

Could Julia and Ryan’s little affair have been more than a one-time deal? That’s when it occurred to me. Maybe, just maybe, I had gotten it wrong and their tryst had been ongoing.

           As I closed the door behind Ryan my head turned toward Julia’s bedroom door as if it had the answers to all the questions that were dancing around in my head. But it wouldn’t be for a few hours that I would get my answers. And when Julia and I finally had the Ryan conversation I was shocked.

 

            I’m not quite sure what I was more upset about. The fact that Julia allowed herself to be in a no win situation or that she was stupid enough to think that it could possibly work out in her favor. “What did you think? He would leave Darcy for you?” I yelled at her. “They have three children together.”

            “No. I didn’t,” her tone betrayed her. That’s totally what she thought. Julia sat on the couch with her elbows to her knees and her hands cupped around her eyes. Argumentatively, Julia knew she didn’t have a leg to stand on. I could tell by her inability to exercise her customary level of hostility.

“Well then can you explain your reasoning to me, Jules? Because I can’t seem to understand how you determined that carrying on a long term affair with Ryan Rowen was a good idea.” I didn’t share with Julia that I didn’t understand how she determined having a one-night stand was a good idea, but for some reason, in my mind, this was far worse.

Apparently I’d pushed too far because Julia finally snapped. “I fell for him, Dee!” her hands jerked from her forehead to outline her loss of control. “It wasn’t my intention. I was lonely. I’m all alone here,” she gestured with her eyes and showcased the room with her hands. “If you hadn’t noticed my phone isn’t ringing off the hook,” she paused to try to calm herself. After she gained a modicum of control she started again. “I told myself it was one time deal and no one would know. I wasn’t planning on falling for Ryan, Delilah. It just happened,” there was another pause but this time when she continued I thought my head was going to explode. “Anyway, it all started because of you.”

Holy shit. Was she blaming her affair with Ryan on me? “I beg your pardon?” I asked not begging her pardon at all.

She pointed her pointer finger at me accusatorily and squinted her eyes before she scolded me. “Ryan bought me a drink that first night as a peace offering. He said he was sorry that Darcy was such a bitch to you and me when we were younger!”

I inhaled an audibly outraged breath. “You have lost your ever loving mind!” I barked back at her. “I am not even going to respond to that ridiculous accusation!” I countered. Then I remembered Hugh’s words on our first date back in New York. ‘Ryan says thank you.’ I had assumed he was referring to my tossing my tits at Hugh and Darcy’s wedding, which we all knew was the catalyst that ended their big day. But he was referring to my pseudo introduction to Julia. I subconsciously shook my head unable to believe the irony.

There was a bit of silence while Julia intertwined her fingers and pondered her next response. For her sake I was praying that she said something rational. Because blaming me for her affair with Ryan was beyond absurd. The entire mood in the room slowly changed as the silence between us loomed. I could see Julia’s expression change. She was becoming more remorseful (about time) and subsequently I became more sympathetic. Julia continued her explanation more calmly. “I’m sorry, Dee,” she shook her head. “That was a ridiculous comment,” she admitted. Well at least she said it or I would definitely have to throw that in her face later. “I know now he is never going to leave her,” she admitted. “It’s time for me to move on. I guess that was why I made a play for Mason last night.”

            “In front of Ryan,” I reminded her. There was a purpose to my delivery. She was still trying to get a rise out of Ryan. So, mission accomplished.

I stared at her judgmentally, realizing she had yet to apologize for her part in the whole affair. So far everything was everyone else’s fault but hers. But this time, with regard to making a play for Mason in front of Ryan, there was no way she could deny her motives. There was no one else to blame. No excuses she could employ. She had to accept responsibility for her actions.

“You’re going to have to deal with Ryan before you start anything with Mason. You do realize that, right?”

            As if on cue Julia’s phone started ringing. She reached for the end table where the phone was in its cradle and looked at the caller ID. Her mouth formed a straight line before her eyes found mine. “Mason,” she stated.

            “Well, there you go. He called,” I slapped my own thigh. I gave Julia a knowing look as she stared at the phone with trepidation. The phone rang two more times while Julia sat frozen. “Don’t let it go, Jules,” I begged. “Ryan is a dead end.”

            Julia pressed the talk button on her portable and said hello. Granted it wasn’t the most welcoming hello. To be honest it sounded a little abrasive. But it was a hello none-the-less. I started out of the room when I was hit from behind with a couch pillow. Julia was silently reprimanding me because I had the audacity to give her some privacy. I shooed her with a waving hand and left her to her own devices. Of course, I mouthed the words ‘be nice’ before I disappeared completely. I didn’t want to take too many chances. But at some point all baby birds must get shoved from the nest. Today was Julia’s day.

            Moments later I heard a knock on my bedroom door. Then Julia toe kicked the door open and stuck out a finger. “I hope you’re happy,” she reprimanded. “Now I have a date for tonight.”

            My mouth stayed agape for a beat because I had to digest her words. “Actually, yes, I am happy.”

            Julia turned in a huff and stomped to her room bitching how the whole thing was bullshit. I started chuckling in response to her rant. It looked like Julia was going on a legitimate date with Mason and I was going to be experiencing phone sex for the first time with Hugh. Things in general were starting to look up.

Chapter 22

 

            “Stick your hand in your underwear.”

            “I’m not ready.”

            “C’mon now. Don’t be shy. You said you wanted to do this.”

            “Just give me one more second.”

            “We don’t have that much time. Julia will be back soon enough and you know she is going to want to talk about her date.”

            “Seriously, could we just slow down?”

“Seriously, Hugh? If this is how sex is always going to be I may have to reconsider. I am ready. So hurry up and get ready!”

Once I had called Hugh I couldn’t wait to get started and he was the one who was hesitating. Go figure.

I had never had phone sex before. But if I was going to do it there was no one else I wanted to do it with. Hugh, as usual, was taking his sweet ass time so I, of course, was losing my patience. I was alone. Julia was out of the house for the night. I had dimmed the lights and set the mood. I had even lit a fucking scented candle. Unfortunately, the only candle Julia had in her entire home smelled like apple cinnamon. So instead of feeling calm and relaxed I was beginning to crave a serious helping of apple pie. If Hugh didn’t hurry up instead of sticking my hand in my panties, I would be sticking it in Julia’s freezer to polish off the vanilla ice cream that would compliment the delicious visions of apple pie dancing in my head.

            “Why are you in such a hurry all the time?” He questioned.

            “Aw,” I said with mock sympathy. “I’m sorry. I guess you would be happier if I was a cold fish that needed a vat of KY to get in the mood. I’m sorry that you turn me on, Hugh, but my cohort who happens to be heating up South of the Border is singing your name. She’s hard to ignore,” my apology was hardly an apology. It was more like a verbal spanking.

            I heard a brief chuckle before Hugh got serious. “Hey, Chatterbox. You’re going to kill the mood and I’m thinking your cohort won’t be all that happy if that happens,” Hugh scolded.

            I might be feisty but I wasn’t stupid. I shut right up. I could hear a lot of movement on Hugh’s end. I heard him grunting and sighing trying to get comfortable in his bed. Then it sounded like he was stretching while he alerted me of his readiness. “Okay. Light’s out,” he shared.

            “I don’t know what took you so long,” I murmured having to get the last word in.

            “Delilah,” Hugh whispered ignoring my remark and I’m pretty sure I heard my girlie part shush me as well just before she sighed her infatuation. “Slide your hand down your belly,” Hugh instructed.

            I threw my body into a reclined position so fast I nearly rebounded to sitting. My big debut was starting and I planned on following Hugh’s instructions to the letter. I bit my lip trying to conceal the satisfactory smile knowing I was about to embark on something a little naughty. “Now what?” I asked quietly.

            “Shimmy your panties down your legs. Slowly. Very slowly,” he grumbled with that unbelievably sexy voice of his.

            Fuck slowly. I slid those suckers down my legs so fast I was pretty sure I gave myself underwear burn. “Now what?”

            “I said slowly, Delilah,” he admonished.

            “That was slowly.”

            Hugh chuckled at my response and then forged on. “Now I want you to slide your feet up and let your knees fall open,” his voice grew husky and thick and it was turning me on even more.

            “Okay,” I whispered as I did what he asked. But this time I did it slowly knowing we were getting to the good part.

            Ding Dong! Ding Dong! Ding Dong Ding Dong Ding Dong! Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding Dong!!!!

            Holy shit. Someone was at the front door. And they meant business if the repetitive pressing of the doorbell was any indication. It was so loud that Hugh heard it as well. “Is someone there, Delilah?”

            “It sure sounds like it,” I sighed heavily.

            “Are you going to get it?” he questioned.

            “No way!” I snapped. “Just keep going,” I encouraged.

            “Uh,” Hugh sounded reluctant. “What if it’s Julia and she’s locked out?”

            “Fuck’er!” I proclaimed. “She’s been gettin’ hers all along so now I’m going to get mine,” I continued without thinking.

            “Really,” he chuckled. “The Front Porch Stalker has been getting horizontal?” Then a long pause ensued before Hugh began again. “Who is this poor soul who obviously hasn’t figured out that he’s in deep shit?”

            Speaking of shit. I was about to lower myself knee deep in it, as I typically had the innate ability to do. Since my senses were diminished by my heightened sense of euphoria I was unable to skirt, dodge, quell or dismiss Hugh’s question. Thereby digging myself into a deeper shit hole. “I promised Julia I wouldn’t say anything.”

            Well. I might as well have doused Hugh’s balls with ice water because I could tell that our first ever phone sex session was officially over. His tone changed and I could no longer visualize him naked. I knew that was a bad sign.

“So she asked you to keep a secret and that includes keeping it from me.” he sort of asked.

            “Uhhhhhhhh,” this response was no better.

            I heard a loud sigh before Hugh spoke again and when he did he didn’t sound all that happy. “So you’re okay with that?”

            “Not exactly,” I answered sitting up so my back was against the pillows. “Just let me explain.”

            Ding Dong! Ding Dong! Ding-ity-Dang-gone-it! The bell rang again. I threw the covers off of me with gusto. “Hugh, first let me go kill whoever is at the front door. I’ll call you right back.”

I ended the call on a grumble and pulled on my robe. I stomped to the door unconcerned with who was standing behind it since my mind was occupied with how I was going to explain my choice to keep Julia’s secret from Hugh. I was in a shit position and consequently a shit mood. By the time I reached the door I was totally irritated.

            “This better be important!” I barked as I swung the door wide. My hand flew to my hip ready for a confrontation.

            The last person I expected to see on Julia’s front porch was standing right before my eyes. In that moment I was wishing that I had told Logan to change my airline ticket to Saturday.

            “Where is he?” Darcy asked with the attitude she always sported. Then her heavily made up eyes slowly strolled down my body taking in my scantily dressed appearance. “Are you fucking kidding me?” she somewhat whispered.

            I looked down at my robe and back to Darcy realizing that she was under the assumption that I was smack dab in the middle of having sex with her husband. Before I could get a word out of my mouth, Darcy started in. “Are you on a mission to fuck every man that I have been with, Delilah? If so, I will make it easier for you and give you a list.”

            “Don’t be ridiculous, Darcy!”

Truthfully, Darcy had every right to be annoyed. However, her fight, whether she realized it or not, was not with me. In my mind it wasn’t with Julia either, though she was not an innocent party. Darcy should be having this conversation with Ryan. He was her spouse. He was the one who stood across from her in front of God and her family and vowed his devotion. But instead of sharing my opinion of how Darcy should handle her husband’s infidelity, I responded to her immediate question. “I am not in any way or do I intend to ever in the future be involved with your husband.”

            I saw her jaw clench in anger. “Then where is he?” she asked on a threatening whisper.

            “I have no idea. But he isn’t here,” I stepped back and closed the door in Darcy’s face. I had had many a moment fantasizing about what that moment would feel like. I was sorry to discover that it lacked the satisfaction I had always envisioned.

            As I retreated to my room, I was attempting to muster up the courage to call Hugh back and say what I knew in my heart I had to say. First, I was sorry that I was keeping a secret from him and second I was sorry but I had to keep keeping that secret. I gave Julia my word. I was afraid neither revelation would be met with understanding so I procrastinated on the edge of my bed staring at my toenails. Boy did I need a pedicure. Then my phone began to sing while the vibration made it dance on the nightstand. It was Hugh.

            I picked up the phone and took a moment to admire the picture of him that I had saved in his profile. Once I got my fill I slid my finger over his bright white smile. “Hey,” I said solemnly.

            “Hey. You all right?” he asked with concern.

            “Mmhm.”

            “Who was at the door?” he asked innocently.

            Well how in the world did I explain this one? A much-needed enormous sigh escaped me. There would be absolutely NO reason for Darcy to be at Julia’s door. None whatsoever. They weren’t friends, neighbors or in any of the same social circles. The way I saw it there were only two ways to answer Hugh. One was with a flat out lie, which was not an option at all. The other was to evasively answer with the truth. The latter didn’t hold all that much appeal either. Mama had always told me ‘honesty was the best policy.’ Words to live by, really.

“Hugh? Has someone ever asked you to keep a secret and once they told you the secret you were sorry they confided in you at all?”

            There was a good beat of silence. I was starting to think that I was barking up the wrong tree answering his question with a question. “Delilah. Are you telling me that you can’t tell me who was at the door because it would compromise the secret you are already keeping from me?”

            God he was smart. “Yes!” I overstated my response happy that he understood my position. I exhaled loudly with relief. “That’s exactly what I’m telling you!”

            Another long beat of silence ensued. “Baby, can this hurt us in any way…this secret you’re keeping?” he asked next.

            “Um,” I wanted to be thorough before I answered him. I was trying to think of even the most bizarre consequences but I still couldn’t see how Julia fucking around with Ryan could hurt Hugh and me. “I honestly don’t think so.”

            “This doesn’t have anything to do with Stacey?” he asked out of the blue.

            “No. Nothing to do with Stacey,” I confirmed.

            “I have to be honest. I’m not happy about you keeping secrets from me.”

“I know. I’m sorry, Hugh.” I somewhat whined.

“Is there anything else you’re keeping from me?” he asked, again out of the blue.

            Shit. Now if I said no I would be lying. Hugh didn’t know I was flying back to New York in the morning. Nor did he know that I had a wonderful surprise planned for us when I got there. “Hugh!” I exclaimed in frustration.

            “Delilah. You better come clean right now,” he threatened.

            “I will. Tomorrow,” I heard Hugh’s lips part with another warning on the tip of his tongue so I had to jump back in and cut him off at the pass. “Don’t ask me again, Matthew Rowen, you’re pissing me off now, I mean it!”

            “Oh, is that right? Look at you, getting all feisty. I love it when you get all hot under the collar. You’re turning me on again, Junior,” his voice got husky again.

            Holy cow. Shockingly, I was somehow back in the game. If I played my cards right I might just have my hand in my panties in no time. I jumped up and ran across the room to blow out the candle that was becoming a major distraction. A promising squeal escaped me before I knew it. “Are we back on?” I asked with hope in my tone. “Because if not I am going directly to the grocery store for an apple crumble.” I hurried back to the bed scrabbling to get into position just in case. I clutched the phone to my ear, as I didn’t want to miss Hugh’s response.

            “Yeah, Baby,” he rumbled. “We are on,” he annunciated every word carefully.

            Well at least all was not lost. I was getting a second chance at my virgin phone sex expedition. Bon Voyage! Then maybe I would head out for a crumble.

Chapter 23

 

I was out like a light when I heard the front door slam really hard. I popped up to sitting. My heart was racing so fast I thought it was going to gallop straight from my chest. I realized it was Julia when I heard her start screaming at the top of her lungs for whoever was with her to ‘get the fuck out.’ It was hard to imagine but I guess it was possible for Julia’s first date with Mason to go that badly. What he could have possibly done or said to elicit such a formidable response was hard to imagine. But anything was possible with Julia. I threw back the covers and reached for my robe. I started to swing it on when I heard another voice chime in.

            “Julia! Just hear me out!”

            I froze mid step even though I was just half a step to the bedroom door. That wasn’t Mason.

It was Ryan.

            “Damn you, Ryan!” I heard Julia’s keys hit the dining room table with a clang. “You are like a bad fucking penny. You just keep turning up.”

            “Julia, would you listen to me?” he pleaded loudly again.

            “No. You’ve had plenty of time over the course of the last three years to say whatever it is that you want to say. Now it’s too late,” she yelled only slightly less intensely. “I am giving this thing with Mason a shot.”

            “What about us?” he actually had the balls to ask.

            I was praying really hard that Julia held her ground. But it was like dangling a carrot in front of a starving donkey. I knew in my heart that she just might take the bait. I also knew that it was not in her best interest to do so. It was taking every fiber of my being to stay put and not burst into the room and shove my two cents in his face. If Julia didn’t answer him soon I would probably lose control.

Thank God, just as I rolled my eyes scolding myself for having to get involved, she chimed in and sang the appropriate tune. “There is no us. There is a you and Darcy. And now, if I play my cards right and don’t totally fuck things up, there might be a me and Mason. This fucked up thing we had…is over.”

            Good Lord, she was good. She said what she had to say and she couldn’t have been clearer.

Or at least so I thought.

            “So what are you saying?” he asked seemingly confused.

            How could he have not understood what she said? Clearly Ryan didn’t get half the brains that Hugh did. But thank God Julia held her ground. “What part of ‘there is no us’ do you not understand?” she asked with the attitude only Julia could serve.

            “I guess the part that actually believes that that is true.”

Then I heard some rustling, some keys jangle, and the front door open. “You won’t be able to stay away from me, Julia. Mason can’t give you what you need. He didn’t even come after you when you took off. What does that tell you?” Then I heard the front door slam.

            Son of a bitch.

            Was he kidding? I heard Julia exhale loudly and I knew it was time for damage control. I opened the bedroom door and saw Julia with her hand bracing herself on the back of a dining room chair. She was staring at her own shoes and breathing really hard.

            “Jules,” I interrupted.

            “Yeah,” she stated.

            “You okay?” I asked carefully.

            “No,” she answered flatly using her other hand to rub her forehead.

            Damn. My fingers went to my lip and started pinching. I wasn’t sure where to start. So I asked the obvious. “Where’s Mason?” I had to begin the process of sorting out Julia’s debacle of an evening. I figured that would certainly get the ball rolling.

            “Not here,” she continued without any inflection in her voice at all.

            Well that wasn’t good. “Want to tell me about it?”

            Julia dropped her hand from the back of the chair like it weighed a hundred pounds. She sighed heavily and then tilted her head to stare at her ceiling. “Ryan showed up halfway through dinner,” she told the ceiling. “He threatened to rip Mason’s head off if he laid a single finger on me.”

            “Oh boy,” I murmured. “What did Mason say?”

            Julia languidly walked to her couch and fell on the cushions. She slid down to a slouching position, cocked her knees in the air and pressed her heels into the end of the cushion. “Mason didn’t have all that much to say in response. But he shared two words. Do you know what those were?” She asked me through the fingers she had thrown over her face.

            “Um, no,” I answered not willing to chance a guess.

            “Too and late,” she answered.

            “Oh shit,” I responded.

            “Yep. Oh shit is exactly right,” she sort of whispered.

            “Then what happened?” I asked as I made my way over and slouched down on the couch next to her.

            “Then,” she sighed, “Ryan swung wide and hit the waiter.”

            “Oh, jeeze,” I whispered and half chuckled.

            “Yeah. Mason started laughing, too. I wasn’t really finding any of it funny so I got up and left. Ryan chased after me. Mason didn’t.” She pulled her hands from her face and started to slowly shake her head from side to side on the back of the couch cushions. “I’m guessing you heard our little conversation.”

            Julia was referring to her conversation with Ryan. I swallowed hard before I answered. “Yep.”

            “Ryan scored one blow, didn’t he?” she asked me.

            “No,” I cut in quickly. “No he didn’t.”

            “Mason didn’t follow me, Dee.” I could hear the sadness in her voice. I knew what it was like to be in her shoes. My lips pressed together outlining my sympathy.

            “Give him a chance, Julia,” I pleaded. “That might have been a little more than he is used to for a first date,” I shared.

            Julia rolled her head toward me and gave me a tight smile. “I’m really sorry about what I said earlier,” she whispered genuinely.

I returned the tight smile and grabbed her hand. “Just forget it,” I pulsed her fingers to indicate my support and she leaned her head into me to rest it on my shoulder. I kissed the top of her head and said what I should have said a lot sooner. “You aren’t alone, Julia Harper. Even when I’m back in New York, you are never alone.” I roped my arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze just as I heard a faint sniffle come from her. Julia wasn’t nearly as tough as everyone thought. She was actually a lot more sensitive than me. “No matter what happens. Even if Mason doesn’t call,” I began. “Don’t go back to Ryan,” I pleaded.

            Julia didn’t answer verbally she just nodded her response. To which I responded with another squeeze.

            “I’m going to miss you, Dee,” her voice sounded thick with emotion.

            “Me, too, Sweets. Me, too.”

 

            I was having trouble falling back to sleep. I was worrying about my flight in the morning. Wondering how badly the news of the pilot’s wife’s infidelity was affecting his ability to reason. I was still worried about Julia. It had been an hour since I had tucked Julia into her bed and locked up her house. I wasn’t sure if she was sleeping though I figured it was unlikely. I was alternating between staring at the little dots on the digital clock, which blinked with every passing second and trying to distract myself by making mental lists of things I didn’t want to forget before I boarded the plane.

I heard a car approaching just before I saw headlights flash across the far wall. I held my breath and waited a beat but then I heard a car door slam. Crap. I heard boots hit Julia’s front walk and I threw the covers back to go head off Ryan before he woke a hopefully sleeping Julia. The banging started before I even made it out of the bedroom door. Clearly he was determined.

            “Julia!” The pounding on the front door was causing every item in the house to vibrate and rattle.

            I saw Julia’s door open just as I stepped into the hall. It didn’t sound like Ryan. I looked back at Julia who looked like she was scared out of her wits and breathing heavy. I squinted at her in question. “Mason?” I asked her on a whisper.

            She shrugged in response. She maneuvered tightening her robe to look out the window. She expelled a loud sigh when she realized it was, in fact, Mason. She nodded at me and made her way to the front door. She unlocked the bolts and opened the door slowly. “Mason,” she began slowly. “What’s goin’ on?”

            The words barely left her mouth when Mason pushed in and scooped Julia up in the most passionate kiss I had ever witnessed. My eyes brows shot up and my lips pressed together to contain the shocked and amused expression that was threatening to assume my face. He shuffled her backwards to the wall pressing his hips into hers while his lips working hers vigorously. Since every one of Julia’s limbs was tightly wrapped around Mason’s body I was thinking that she was okay with this method of entry. Unable to tear my eyes from the show, I stood and watched it all play out. Mason finally pulled his lips from Julia’s.

“I’m not afraid of Ryan,” he gasped.

            “Oh, well, um, that’s good,” Julia stumbled.

            “You want me?” he asked.

            Julia just nodded frantically.

            “Well alright then,” he answered and kissed her again. I continued watching since anyone in their right mind would be unable to do otherwise. After a few seconds Mason scooped Julia up again and walked past me to her bedroom. He was so engrossed in Julia that I wasn’t sure if he noticed I was there. He kicked her bedroom door closed with his cowboy boot and I heard Julia squeal.

“Goodnight, Delilah,” Mason called.

Okay. So I was wrong. Mason was more observant than I realized and he knew I was there. But then I heard a lot of giggling and laughing. So I was guessing neither of them cared that I was there anyway. In any case, things were clearly moving in the right direction for Julia. Which in all honesty was quite a relief. At least now I could leave Virginia with a clear head and all I had to focus on was the poor pilot and his cheating wife.

One crisis at a time.

Chapter 24

 

            Home sweet home. As soon as I saw the Empire State Building I felt a thousand times better. The flight wasn’t as smooth as I had hoped but it was in the past now and I had apologized profusely to the poor business man sitting next to me who had to go home to his wife and explain why he had claw marks all over his body. It must be said I had warned him well before take off that I wasn’t a good flyer. Feeling quite guilty about my irrational behavior, I did offer to give him my phone number in case his wife wanted to call and ask me any questions regarding the attack. But he seemed to think that having my phone number might make matters worse. Since he knew her better than I did I figured it was best to go with whatever he decided.

Unable to change the past, I had to focus on the future. And the immediate future required that I focus on the plan I had formulated and was hoping to execute seamlessly. If it had any chance of working, whatsoever, I had to time everything perfectly. I had spoken to Hugh just before I boarded the plane. He knew something was up because he asked me a hundred times what was wrong with me. Since I couldn’t tell him I was afraid the pilot’s wife was a cheating whore, I told him I was nervous about talking with Charles on Monday. In essence, I lied. It felt awful but I was on a mission and that mission was to surprise Hugh in a hot slinky number and a bottle of champagne. Hugh had mentioned, in our brief conversation, that he might step out later to look at blinds. Apparently the bedroom was way too bright in the morning and there was a woman across the street that seemed to be somewhat obsessed with his body at night. Not surprising. Who could blame her for appreciating perfection? So I encouraged his plans of shopping for window treatments for two reasons. Obviously the first being that I needed to get him out of the apartment in order to surprise him. And second was because I didn’t want some peeping Thomasina to be ogling my man or me, for that matter, once I moved in.

Hoping I had succeeded in convincing Hugh to go out and purchase blinds, which it looked like I had, in order for any of the aforementioned plans to be even remotely possible, first had to make a few stops. My belongings and I still hadn’t been reacquainted. So I was short said ‘hot, slinky, number.’ So, I asked the cab driver to drop me off at Victoria’s Secret. I paid my fair and hopped out of the cab. I checked my phone to see how I was doing on time. So far so good. I had just enough time to find something sexy, get over to the liquor store to buy some champagne and get to Hugh’s new apartment to set everything up.

            As luck would have it, it didn’t take me long to find exactly what I was looking for. A plum colored two-piece nightie that had black lace cups and black lace accents on the sides of the panties. The rest of it was silky smooth with a hint of shimmer. It was perfect. I hurried to the dressing room and tore my clothes from my body. As soon as I let the top slide over my head and down my torso, I knew I made the right choice. I looked in the mirror, fixed my boobs (Angela’s advice and the importance of balance never really left me,) and smiled. I was happy with my findings and decided in an effort to save time that I would just leave it on. I bundled up my clothes, put my boots back on and threw on my coat. No one would be the wiser. I went straight to the register and paid for the set and high tailed it out of the store.

Since Hugh had rented a place on the Upper West Side, I wasn’t as familiar with the territory as I would have been where I had lived previously. So I took out my phone to look up a location for the closest liquor store. As soon as I started swiping at my phone, it began to vibrate and sing. My body jumped at the startling sensation. I focused on the screen and saw it was Julia.

            “Hey,” I sang with my inflection dipping lower at the end. Since I had to keep moving, I looked both ways as I jaywalked across the street.

            “You could have said goodbye,” I could tell by the tone she was using that she wasn’t nearly as angry as she was leading on. I was guessing this was due to an overnight visit from Mason.

            “You weren’t alone,” I answered as I trotted a little faster. “And there was no way that I was going to interrupt.”

            Knowing that I had a point, instead of continuing with the fruitless banter, Julia started to giggle and got down to business. “Can you believe it, Dee?”

            I chuckled back before I responded. “Uh. I think I pretty much called that one, didn’t I?” I bragged as I stepped onto the curb.

            “Maybe,” she answered. Then I heard her sigh heavily and I knew it was due to the satisfaction she was feeling. Her entire demeanor melted as she began again. “He really is great. He’s kind, and cute, and he has this hidden passion that I never knew existed. It’s kind of intense. But the best part is I know he is only mine,” she admitted.

            “That’s great, Jules,” I agreed. “Hold on one second.” I stared at my phone and pressed a few buttons to get back to my home screen. I needed to see exactly where I was going to get the champagne. Once I saw the location I put the phone back to my ear. “Okay. Go ahead.”

            “Well. Now I just have to not screw it up.”

            “Well you know what they say…the first step is admitting it.” I scoured the buildings for an address and walked feverishly at the same time. I spotted the liquor store on the next block and walked purposefully full steam ahead. “Just take it easy, Julia. Ya know, enjoy the ride,” I began to huff and puff from power walking.

            “You’re right. I’ll try,” she relented. “Um, Dee, what are you doing?”

            “Oh,” I answered quickly. “I am on a mission to surprise Hugh. I just picked up the sexiest undergarment you could possibly imagine and now I am getting champagne,” I squealed at the end.

            “Is it crotch-less?” she asked.

            “Uh, no. So, maybe it isn’t the sexiest you can imagine but it’s pretty nice,” I corrected.

            “Cool,” she remarked. “Ooo, gotta go. Mason’s on the other line. But if you really want to make it memorable go back and get the crotch-less,” she advised.

            I chuckled at her advice. Since when had she become the sex goddess? “Oh, okay, Jules,” I said with a hint of sarcasm.” There was no way I was going back to search out a crotch less negligee but I didn’t want to burst Julia’s bubble. She would be too distracted to remember anyway. “Call ya later.”

            “Bye,” she hurried and disconnected.

            I walked into Mooney’s Wine and Spirits like I owned the joint. I was running out of time and didn’t need to browse the shelves.

            “Champagne!” I barked to the guy behind the counter. “What aisle?”

            “Uh, do you want it chilled or are you planning on refrigerating it when you get home?” he astutely asked.

            “Oh, good point, uh, I need it chilled,” I quickly answered.

            “Back wall. Refrigerator,” he called out as I power walked to the back of the store. “To the left!” He yelled directing me from afar.

I found the refrigerator and grabbed a medium priced bottle of champagne. Gripping the bottle by the neck, I pumped my arms as I walked so I could make it to the register even faster.

            Having been through this drill before, the employee snapped the bag before I got there and slid it in smoothly as I passed him the bottle. “$29.99,” he called out. I whipped out my trusty credit card and finished the transaction. “Good luck,” he called out as I made my way through the door waving my hand as a thank you back at him.

            I checked my phone again and realized I was beginning to cut it close. I decided to play it safe and call Hugh to make sure he was still out looking for window treatments. I walked as I dialed hoping that my path wouldn’t cross his.

            The phone had barely rung when his deep sultry voice had me biting my lip. “Hey. How’s my girl?”

            “Pretty good,” I sighed. “Just checking in,” I sort of lied.

            “Okay. Well I am literally stepping inside the store to buy blinds,” I quickly realized how accurately he was communicating his blow-by-blow because the sounds that were so indicative of city life began to dull with his entry into the store. It occurred to me that if I could hear all the commotion from the city through his phone then he could hear it through mine. Concerned with blowing my surprise visit too soon, I cupped my hand over the phone to muffle the surrounding noises. Thankfully, Hugh didn’t seem to notice one-way or the other. “Or is it shades?” he continued. His confusion with his options of window coverings was obviously monopolizing his focus. “What am I buying again?”

I shifted my hand off of the speaker before I answered. “Um. You’re buying blinds,” I informed him with a hint of aggravation. I think I even harrumphed unnecessarily as if his purchase was a no brainer. In an effort to distract Hugh from the New York City acoustics that shrouded me, I was sounding like a nagging wench.

“Oh. Okay. Are you going to run me over with the car if I buy shades?” he asked sarcastically in response to my over the top remark.

I had to pull myself together. I was going to blow the entire surprise if I didn’t calm down and stop panicking. “Ha, ha,” I exaggerated. “Very funny.”

“Are you okay? You seem a little out of sorts. Did you hear from Charles?” Crap. Hugh was getting suspicious. He knew something was bothering me and asked about Charles figuring that he was the reason I was acting so peculiar.

As I looked up, aggravated with my inability to pull off a simple surprise, I could see a cab barreling down 92nd Street. There was no doubt he was in a hurry and trying to make the green light. My eyes travelled ahead of his car where I found another cab stopped on the corner letting an older woman out of the back. He was blocking the road and any possible chance of the other cab making the light. Uh oh. I knew what was coming. I had lived in New York long enough to know the signs - an all out, full on, straightened arm so your fist is imbedded in the horn press. My head flew left and right looking for somewhere I could escape before the ‘horn blower’ reached the corner.

            I cleared my throat hoping that in addition to my hand still cupping the speaker might somehow conceal any honking that might commence prematurely and answered Hugh’s question with a much softer tone. “No. Mnmn.” I hurried to the corner deli and pushed the door open to step inside just as the horn blower reached the corner.

            “Oh. Well, don’t worry, Baby. I’m sure you’ll hear from him soon,” I could hear an elevator ding on Hugh’s end and knew he had stepped inside. “I might lose you. I’m getting in an elevator,” he warned me of our potential disconnection.

            Well thank goodness for that.

            “Oh. Okay. Well, call me later,” I suggested.

            “Okay. Bye, Babe,” he was gone. I exhaled loudly emitting the stress of my narrowly missed discovery. But at least I knew he wasn’t in his apartment.

I exited the store and rounded the corner to head down the street of what I was hoping would be my new home. As I stepped in front of Hugh’s building I got a sudden feeling of déjà vu. It was as if this was meant to be and I was finally on the right track of my life. The building was quite nice. It was a stately brick with a green awning and gold lettering. I took a deep breath stepping closer to the door. This was it. I finally felt like I was home. I smiled at the thought and was met by a man who could only be described as ‘not Davis.’ He was older, grayer, and not nearly as welcoming. He had on a hat, which was just as ridiculous as Davis’ but the similarities stopped there. I lost my wide ass smile immediately.

“Can I help you, dear?” He asked with a large stick up his ass.

I swallowed hard before I began. His presence on a whole made me uncomfortable. And I knew at that very moment I was about to be met with a fair amount of resistance. “Yes. You have a new tenant. Mr. Matthew Rowen and I am, um, Mr. Rowan’s girlfriend,” I fake giggled trying to soften him up. I gave him a huge smile to bolster his impression that I was a friend. Not a foe.

“No, you’re not,” he answered curtly.

I saw his eyes follow my eyebrows, which slowly rose to my hairline. “I’m not?” I shook my head.

“No, you’re not. Mr. Rowen is married and she has blond hair,” he stated with conviction. “What game are you up to, young lady?” he queried in response.

“Are you sure you aren’t mistaken?” I asked innocently. “I am Mr. Rowen’s girlfriend,” I assured. I didn’t want to get too ornery since my last encounter with a person over the age of 60 landed me in the back of a patrol car.

“Listen. I don’t want to get in the middle of anyone’s love life. But I don’t want to see a sweet young girl like you get hurt. Mr. Rowen has a wife and a child. She was here last week,” he whispered. “Apparently they are moving up from Virginia and Mr. Rowen came up first to get them settled. Now you should go find yourself a nice, single man.” He turned me gently with his hands and escorted me to the outer doors.

I glanced down at his nametag and then back at his eyes. “Richard,” I asked and watched him nod that he heard me call his name, “that wasn’t Mr. Rowen’s wife,” I assured. We stopped so we could finish our conversation as I had apparently caught Richard’s ear. Maybe he was one of those doormen who liked gossip. “Just to be certain, was the little girl blond as well?”

He nodded again.

“Was her name Dolly?” I queried.

“Yes!” Richard responded. “She wasn’t shy in sharing her name which was the first indication that she wasn’t from around here. You need a crowbar and a sledgehammer to get a New Yorker to share any information,” he explained how he astutely concluded that Darcy and Dolly were out-of-towners. “Are you telling me the woman and child that came to stay with him were not Mr. Rowen’s family?”

I was already shaking my head before he finished. “No. They were his family. Just not his wife and child. That was his sister-in-law and his niece,” I explained.

“Well that explains a lot,” Richard looked somewhat relieved. “You know it was confusing. She introduced herself as Darcy Rowen so of course I assumed that they were married,” he clarified.

“Of course. That would be confusing,” I agreed. “But, listen Richard, I would like to surprise Mr. Rowen. He doesn’t expect me. Do you think it would be okay to keep it a secret? Between you and me?” I questioned with hope in my tone. I was pretty sure I had him. Richard and I had made a connection and his head was no longer shaking from side to side but nodding up and down. That was a good sign.

“Absolutely not,” he replied without a hint of uncertainty.

Oh. Well so much for our connection.

“Um, Richard. Please. I bought this champagne and, well,” my eyes dropped to the Victoria’s Secret bag that was dangling from my fingers. Richard didn’t know that my jeans and sweater were in that bag and the goods, so to speak, were already on my person. “I bought, um, s,s,some other things and I was hoping to surprise him when he gets back,” my lips tipped up at the corners hoping to convey my sincerity.

“Oh, of course. I understand,” Richard answered.

“You do?” I said with a hint of surprise.

“Yep. But I can’t let you into Mr. Rowen’s apartment without his permission. And I am guessing since you are here to surprise him that you didn’t get permission. Is that right, Miss…Miss?” He paused hoping I would share my name.

“Delilah,” I stated flatly feeling completely deflated. I had made it so far and now I was going to be derailed by an anal retentive doorman who was hell bent on keeping that 2 by 4 lodged up his own ass.

“I’m sure you understand for security purposes I can’t let uninvited guests into the building. Let alone into someone’s apartment.”

Of course I understood logistically. But emotionally his obstinacy was a pain in my ass. “There must be some solution,” I somewhat asked.

“Not unless you can get him on the phone and somehow get him to tell me that you are who you say you are without ruining your surprise,” he responded as if this was an impossible task.

But I was up for the challenge. “You’re on,” I responded with a jerk of my pointed finger. I took out my phone and Facetimed Hugh. I checked on Richard to make sure he was paying attention and found that his eyes were trained on my phone. Thankfully Hugh answered the call exactly how I was hoping.

“Hey, Baby. God, do I miss you,” he oozed. I smiled at his greeting and lifted my eyes victoriously to gloat at Richard only to find he still looked unconvinced. Really? My face fell and my mouth twisted. Of course, Hugh saw this and didn’t know what to make of it. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Um, nothing’s wrong, per say. But, uh, Honey, can I ask you a question?” I needed to coerce Hugh and I was just going to get straight to the point.

“Sure,” he answered, though he sounded unsure of where the conversation was going.

“Do you love me?” I stated without a hint of emotion.

“Uh, yeah?” Hugh answered slowly but he did so with a question. Obviously he was still suspicious and my calling to ask this specific question was only stirring his curiosity. “Junior, do you want to tell me what you are up to now or am I going to find out later?” he asked knowing I was up to something.

            “No. I’ll tell you later,” I dropped the phone and disconnected the call. I stared back at Richard who still looked skeptical. I might just have to knock this man out and tie him up in the corner. “There. Happy now?” I asked.

            Richard’s eyebrows were so close together that a huge V formed in his wrinkles. “Something is telling me that you are up to no good,” Richard responded.

            Clearly Richard was still on the fence and since I was running out of time, I needed to be convincing. So I did what I had to do and opened my coat to show Richard what I was wearing underneath. “What do you think?” I asked sarcastically.

            “I’ll buzz you in,” Richard quickly replied.

Since I didn’t have my own key, Richard had to escort me to Hugh’s apartment. He used his master key to let me in and pushed the door open so I could pass. As I stepped inside I gave Richard a tight smile knowing he was doing something that went against every fiber of his being. As expected, Richard didn’t return the gesture. But as guilty as I was feeling, I couldn’t expend any more energy worrying about compromising Richard’s standards. I had to get a move on if I was going to surprise Hugh. Once I was a comfortable distance inside, I turned to thank Richard who seemed to be in a hurry to leave me alone. “Thank you, Richard,” I called after him.

Richard was halfway down the hall when I heard his response. “Don’t mention it.”

I closed the door and leaned back against it. I scanned the apartment from one side to the other taking it all in. I had to admit, Hugh’s new place was really nice. He made a lot more money than I did so he could afford a much bigger apartment. It was spacious and relatively new. The first thing that caught my eye was all the windows. I was surprised that it had taken Hugh this long to get blinds.

I walked around the sparingly decorated rooms just getting the lay of the land. The kitchen had light wood cabinets with granite countertops. The living area was a good size but was only furnished with a couch and a TV.

Typical guy.

I turned to look down a short hallway where I was assuming I would find the bedroom and bathroom. The carpet under my feet was beige and the walls, every single one of them, were cream. Blank slate. I turned to step into the kitchen. I was hoping to find champagne glasses but given the bare necessities in the rest of the apartment, I knew it was wishful thinking. It was unlikely Hugh purchased champagne glasses when he didn’t have an end or coffee table. My phone started to sing just as I opened one of the cupboards. I pulled my phone from my pocket and my breath caught as Hugh’s beautiful face filled my screen. I took a moment to admire his smile and then I answered the call.

            “Hey, Babe!” I said excitedly still feeling the satisfaction that I was able to convince Richard to let me into Hugh’s apartment.

            “Beige or white?” He asked in response.

            “Uh,” I stammered. I turned to walk out of the kitchen to get a better look at the apartment assuming he was talking about his color options for blinds. “Hmm,” I scanned the barely decorated apartment before I answered. “I would go with white otherwise there might be too much beige with the carpet and all,” as soon as the words left my lips I cringed.

            And sure as shit, Hugh picked up on my apparent clairvoyant insight immediately. “How do you know that the carpet is beige?” he asked with suspicion in his voice.

            “What? I don’t! Of course I didn’t know the carpet is beige. I mean, I know now that you just told me but, um, no. How would I know that? I am all the way down here in Virginia,” I exhaled a burst of air almost spitting, insinuating that his suggestion was absurd. I knew it made matters worse but I couldn’t help the pent up nerves that had accumulated. I quickly continued hoping he wouldn’t notice. “I was just saying it might be a lot of beige with all those windows.”

Had someone asked me if I could lodge two of my ‘fuck me’ boots in my mouth simultaneously, I would have said no. Yet here I was with both lodged all the way back to my tonsils.

            “A lot of windows,” he repeated flatly. Holy crap I was a bad liar.

            So I tried to cover up the hot mess I created as best I could. “Hugh, you said that it’s too bright in the apartment and the woman across the way was watching you. I assumed it was because there was a lot of windows,” I shrugged as if he could see me.

            “Oh,” he seemed to be taking my excuse at face value. “Good guess. The carpet is beige and there are a lot of windows.”

            “Oh! Well, what do ya know?” I sort of accepted his compliment. “So are you going to go with white then?”

            “Hmm,” he answered sounding a little unconvinced. I was beginning to think I had shot myself in the booted foot. “I guess so. But they are really, really white. Almost too white. They’re almost…blinding,” he confessed. “No pun intended.” Obviously he was still staring at them and his evasive response was because he was still trying to decide. Maybe my verbal blunder had gone unnoticed.

            Then it began to occur to me that I was going to have to live with Hugh’s choice. Maybe it was time to weigh in on the window coverings decision. “Don’t they have the wood ones where you are?”

            “Junior, there are three options here. Beige, black or glaring white. That’s it. There’s no wood. These are…aluminum, maybe?” Then I heard that snapping sound that aluminum blinds make when they are manhandled. “At least I think these are aluminum. Maybe they’re really thin plastic.”

            Leave it up to a guy. He was probably in a dollar store picking out blinds. There was no way that I was going to let Hugh decorate what was supposed to be our apartment with blinding white blinds. So I did what I thought was best at the moment. “Hugh. Blinds are supposed to diffuse the light not burn holes in your retinas. Turn away from the crunchy reflective blinds and go to the linens department. Buy some plain sheets and a couple of curtain rods,” I cleared my throat before I added to my lie. “When I come home next week I will take you to a store that has more than three options of blinds. The sheets should suffice for now.”

            I heard Hugh sigh loudly. “Thank you, Junior. You just made my life so much easier,” I could hear the relief in his voice. Obviously the task of picking out blinds was more taxing than the idea had first presented. “I’ve been waiting for you to come home so we could pick stuff out together,” he admitted.

Aw! He was the sweetest man ever!

“Now I have to head over to the gym and get myself signed up. And, since I have no one waiting at home for me I might as well get in a good work out as well. I wish you were here,” he whispered. “Call you later, Babe,” Hugh hung up the phone and left me with my mouth hanging open.

            Damn. I was hoping he would come straight home after his errand. Trying to look at the bright side, I placed my phone on the counter and started to examine Hugh’s apartment with a finer toothcomb. The lighting fixture that hung in the middle of the kitchen was blah. It looked like it came from the same dollar store where he was searching for blinds. It had one job to do and that was light the room. And, that was all it did. It wasn’t cool, pretty, attractive or inviting. That would need to be changed. I opened the cabinets trying to get a lay of the land. Four plates, four bowls, four mugs, four glasses.

No champagne flutes.

No surprise.

I moved to the refrigerator and placed the bottle of champagne on the empty top shelf. Actually the entire refrigerator was fairly vacant. What the hell was he doing? Was he waiting for me to buy food as well? There was a half empty container of milk, orange juice, cream cheese and a loaf of bread. I closed the door to the fridge and went straight for my coat. I threw it on and hurried to the elevator to go see my new buddy, Richard. When I stepped off the elevator Richard took one look at me and turned red. I guess I shouldn’t have flashed my half naked body at him so soon.

“Um, hey, Richard?” I called him in a way that hopefully conveyed that I hadn’t noticed him blushing. “I wanted to order some food. Any suggestions where I should call? I’ve never lived on the West Side. I sure could use some suggestions,” my voice pitched higher hoping he wouldn’t blow me off.

“Mr. Rowen seems to enjoy Van’s. It’s an American Bistro a couple of blocks over,” he stated matter-of-factly.

“Oh! Great! Thanks, Richard. I mean, thank you for your suggestion. Would you happen to have a phone number for that establishment?” I pressed uncomfortably.

“Just tell me what you would like and I will call it in for you, Miss,” Richard still hadn’t looked at me. I was guessing it would be that way for a while.

“Okay. I guess if you could get two Club Sandwiches and French Fries that would work,” having never seen the menu to Van’s I was guessing this order was fairly universal and easy to fill.

“Yes, Miss,” Richard scribbled down the order. “I’ll have them send it over at once,” he nodded still averting his eyes.

“You know? It’s not what you think, Richard,” I stated out of nowhere. “I have been in love with him my entire life.”

I watched as Richard’s mouth twisted. His facial expression contorted and it appeared as though Richard was trying to contain a smirk. I immediately knew the conversation was about to enter territory that Richard found uncomfortable. “Me and the Mrs. have been married for 48 years. We were childhood sweethearts,” he shared. Finally Richard’s eyes briefly hit mine. He smiled a lopsided smile and looked back at his notepad.

I smirked in response and nodded once understanding what that expression combined with his confession just told me. “So, I guess mine is the second half naked body you’ve ever seen?” I continued to slowly nod already knowing the answer.

Richard didn’t answer my rhetorical question. “I’ll ring you when the food arrives, Miss Delilah.”

I swallowed loudly before I turned to go back upstairs. “Okay. Um, thanks,” I stammered. What else could I say?

Chapter 25

 

            The food arrived. The champagne was poured. The table was set. I pressed my lips together scanning the room I had so carefully staged. Everything looked perfect. Now. There was only one thing left to do. Wait for Hugh. I looked back at the couch and an image took root in my mind. Wouldn’t it be awesome if I surprised him in a sexy pose on the couch? I squealed my excitement and scampered to it with a gleam in my eye. I splayed my body across the length of the couch crossing my black, ‘fuck me’ boots, which were essential in any attempt at seduction. Bending my left knee, I slid my left leg up so it dipped in front of my right thigh. I stretched my right arm over my head draping it over the one side of the couch. I remained frozen in that position, willing Hugh to walk through the door any second.

After about forty minutes, my neck muscles were straining, my hand that dangled over the side was numb and my calves were cramping from being immobile for so long.

Where the heck was he?

 

I jerkily unknotted my body and rolled up to standing. A wave of dizziness washed over me from the prolonged state of inertia. It had been over an hour since Hugh said he was going to the gym and he still wasn’t home. I couldn’t call him again. He would definitely know something was up. The champagne had been opened, poured and consumed twice. I wasn’t sure if champagne went ‘flat’ like soda and there was no way I was letting it go to waste. So, I was long four glasses of champagne, getting quite tipsy and there was still no sign of Hugh.

           

Another hour passed and the wind was officially out of my sails. I now sat in a slouched position on the couch in my sexy new undergarment with my boots long gone, my feet stretched out, my legs spread wide, my belly full and my chin tucked into my chest.

So much for a sexy pose. I looked like a beached whale caught in fishnet stockings.

My eyes meandered over to the table where two more flutes of champagne fizzled and the other half of the club sandwich I had already consumed was quickly going stale. I was fairly certain the smudge on my nightie was mayonnaise although it could have been drool from when I had nodded off for about fifteen food comatose minutes. But even more upsetting than the mystery stain was that I still hadn’t seen Hugh. Just as I was about to burst into tears, I heard the key in the lock. There was no time to react. Hugh swung the door open and froze at the sight of me. There I was on his couch looking like a drunken, disheveled, not-so-hot mess. And of course Hugh’s reaction was to do a full on shoulder jerking chuckle.

Not good.

My body stayed still as my eyes lifted to his. He stepped inside, swung the door closed and pressed his lips together trying to contain his laughter.

            “Surprise,” I murmured with leaden emotion.

            “I’ll say,” Hugh stepped closer to the couch. “Nice outfit,” his eyes slowly took in all of me. Sadly, minus the ‘fuck me’ boots cause those were the shit.

            “Thanks,” I whispered with tears still threatening. “I was trying to surprise you but as you can see…it didn’t really work out,” I twisted my mouth to bite the inside of my cheek.

            Hugh approached with softened eyes. He stepped over my right leg and kneeled in between my thighs. He held his hands out so I would place mine in his. I pressed my lips together unsure if I could muster up the energy. Hugh flexed his fingers encouraging me to try. “Come on,” he whispered.

            I lifted my arms, which were now dead weight and slapped both my hands in his. I’m sure Hugh found my spot on impersonation of a rag doll quite impressive. He pulled me up and forward so we were face to face. Somehow I found it in me to produce a half smile so Hugh would know that I was happy to see him. Then my eyes fell to his beautiful lips. Hugh inched closer and placed those lips on mine. “God, I missed you, Baby,” he whispered against them just before he kissed me harder.

            Okay. So maybe things weren’t as bad as I thought. Hugh pulled me to standing and turned me away from the couch. He placed his hands on my hips guiding me from behind. He herded me past the table so he could grab the champagne. I saw him eye it curiously assessing its almost empty status. Then he walked me into the bedroom. He took a swig from the bottle and then held it out offering some to me. I shook my head since I had already had my fill. I saw him smirk his knowing look that I had had enough. He placed the bottle on the nightstand and walked me back until the back of my legs hit the bed. As I started to fall, Hugh ran his hands down my sides and to my ass so my bottom landed on his hands. His head tilted slightly so he could get a better view. So far he hadn’t seemed to notice the stain on my new nightie. Either that or he knew calling me out on it would push me over the edge. My hands went to his shoulders as he leaned forward so I would fall back on the bed. His hands still cupping my behind, he lifted my ass so I had to wrap my legs around him. God he was good. His mouth crushed down on mine kissing me long and deep. Groaning his pleasure in my mouth, every fiber of my body began to hum. “You like the apartment?” he asked tearing his lips from mine.

            “Mmhm. It’s really nice,” I answered when his mouth moved to my neck.

            “Oh good,” he breathed. “You should get to know the neighbors,” he sucked the skin on my neck causing me to hiss through my teeth.

“Okay,” I breathed.

“You can start right now by waving to the woman across the street,” he breathed the heat he was generating into my neck as he dropped the strap on my nightie. As I raised my hand to absently wave to the woman whom I was guessing had her binoculars trained on us, Hugh pulled the nightie over my head.

            “Do you really think she’s watching?” I whispered as pleasure from Hugh’s mouth continued to course through me.

            “Mmhm,” he answered trailing his tongue down my neck.

            Hugh had me so jacked up I didn’t care if we were on 34^th street in Macy’s window. “Well, that’s okay. Richard already got an eye full,” I answered.

            I felt Hugh pause momentarily and then smile against my neck. “Making quite a first impression, aren’t you, Junior?” he murmured.

            “You know it,” I breathed as my hands pulled his shirt over his head.

 

            Fuck the Empire State Building. Home was lying in Hugh’s bed with Hugh’s body blanketing mine. I was lying on my back and Hugh was taking his time kissing every square inch of sensitized skin on my body. I turned to look at the nightstand and saw that it was only 7:30pm. Hugh hadn’t eaten and I wanted to shower. I lifted his face with my finger under his chin. “You hungry?”

            “I could eat,” he answered dropping his lips to my belly. I smiled at the sensation and dropped my head back to the pillow.

            “I need to shower,” I continued in no hurry to move from underneath him.

            “Okay,” he moved his lips a little lower.

            I figured he was almost done but then he moved even lower. “Uh, Hugh, what are you doing?” I asked bending my elbow so my right hand could hit my mouth and I could bite the side of my finger.

            “You asked if I was hungry,” he answered moving even further south.

            I closed my eyes unsure if I was ready for what he was really saying. Suddenly the thought of the Peeping Thomasina watching from across the street had me even more uncomfortable. “I meant for food,” I responded deciding it was not the right time.

            “Oh,” he sounded disappointed. “Well,” he rolled off of me and onto his back, “I saw the bag from Vans. What did you order? I know you ate already.” And the way he said it I knew he saw the stain after all. I wasn’t surprised. He didn’t miss much. He rolled throwing his legs over his side of the bed. He reached for his jeans, shoved his legs inside and then stood not bothering to button them. I watched in awe as he walked around to my side of the bed. He really was beautiful. He leaned toward me in an overbearing way and kissed me sweetly. “I’ll get you a towel,” he kissed me again and walked to a closet. I saw him reaching and when he turned his hands were full. “Here’s a towel, robe and nice warm slippers. I’ll leave them in the bathroom.”

            “Thanks, Babe,” I whispered still in awe of him.

            He winked at me and then disappeared from the room.

           

            The shower was hot, steamy and relaxing. I was halfway through my routine when Hugh’s voice stopped my scouring hands mid scrub. I could tell he was chewing. I was guessing on the other half of the club sandwich I had already eaten.

            “When do you head back?” The crinkle of the wax paper that had been wrapped around the sandwich confirmed my suspicion.

            I realized as soon as he asked his question I still hadn’t revealed my plans of staying. I wasn’t sure how he was going to react but I had to tell him the truth. “Well. I, um, don’t…head back,” I sort of giggled. “Surprise,” I sang.

            There was a long pause of silence. Since the shower curtain was closed I was guessing Hugh was swallowing. Either that or panicking as the realization of our impending cohabitation became a terrifying reality.

            “You don’t?” He said with his mouth still compromised. I didn’t hear any more crinkling which made me wonder if he had stilled because he was hopeful he heard me correctly or sorry he had ever extended the offer. “Care to explain?” He spoke with his mouth still full.

            “Steven called me. My assistant told him Stacey set me up. He asked me to come in tomorrow morning. I’m hoping that means I’m getting my old job back,” I tilted my face back to rinse the conditioner from my locks while listening intently for any peculiar sounds, which would indicate how Hugh was receiving this news.

            I didn’t have to wait long. I got my answer rather quickly. The shower curtain snapped back making my body jump reflexively at the sound of the decorative rings scraping along the metal bar. Crossing my arms strategically in front of my private parts, I blinked through the droplets of water, which had taken up residence on my lashes. I waited breathlessly trying to ascertain if Hugh was upset or happy with this news.

“You’re staying in New York?” he asked genuinely surprised and miraculously unencumbered by any food.

            I nodded licking the moisture from my lips.

            I had never been tackled in a shower before. But Hugh had me pressed up against the white subway tiled wall faster than I could have imagined. “You just made my day, Junior,” he kissed me lifting me up at the same time so he could press his torso into mine. So I was guessing he was happy with my recent confession. I wrapped my legs around his jeans as the water rained down on our conjoined forms, mine naked, Hugh’s half clothed. He tasted like a combination of smokey bacon and creamy mayonnaise (even more delicious than usual.) I felt Hugh’s one hand working between us. Heat instantly pooled knowing his manhood would be freed momentarily. As soon as he accomplished this task he didn’t waste any time. Both hands laced with mine as he stared into my eyes looking for my soul. “Welcome home, Junior. You ready?”

Hugh wasn’t referring to our impending physical union. He meant something far more profound. I nodded modestly before my breath shuttered against his lips. “Twelve years is a long time to wait.”

Hugh held my stare a moment before he answered. “That’s for damn sure.” Hugh slowly and purposefully introduced himself to me, his eyes never leaving mine. “I love you, Junior.”

“I love you, too, Hugh,” I managed breathlessly.

And the added bonus was this time, Thomasina, or so I had nicknamed her, didn’t have front row seats for the show.

Chapter 26

 

            I don’t think I’ve ever been so nervous. I approached the Premiere headquarters with my heart pounding so hard the throbbing gallop reverberated in my throat. I couldn’t be sure if I was getting my old job back. Yes, Logan said I was back and Stacey was gone. But there was only so much credibility I could bestow on Logan.

            The first thing I’d done that morning after showering was get dressed. I still didn’t have my belongings in my possession and truth be told, I was quite tired of wearing the same clothes over and over even though they had been laundered. I stared at myself in the hall mirror uninspired by my reflection. I needed to call the moving company and ask if they could expedite my things back to New York. I knew I was emanating my discontent over my dull appearance because Hugh quickly picked up on my mood.

“When do you think all of your all shit will be arriving?”

A small smile appeared on my lips when he asked. Because even though he clearly thought of my shit as shit, it told me that he cared enough to read my mood and was looking for a solution.

            “You don’t like my shit?” I asked teasingly trying to lighten the mood I had created.

            “No, Baby, I love your shit,” Hugh approached me tauntingly from behind. “You just have a lot of it,” he finished by kissing my neck.

            My eyes began to scan the reflection of the apartment. It was barren. “I think my shit will fit just fine,” my eyes went back to his in the mirror. He was so handsome looming over me.

            “Mmm,” he hummed as he pressed his lips to my neck again.

            At that point I was figuring he wasn’t all that concerned with my shit but more concerned that I was upset that I didn’t have it with me. Either way his lips on my skin were a nice distraction.

            “Stop your worrying. You look great,” he added when he pulled his lips from my skin. He was amazingly observant.

            How had I got so lucky?

 

Before I left our new apartment, the realization of which was beginning to sink in, Hugh was behaving even sweeter than usual. His normal level of sweetness was difficult to beat but knowing I had a big day ahead, Hugh had breakfast ready for me by the time I hit the kitchen. He poured a hot and delicious cup of coffee and even scrambled some eggs not knowing that I never ate breakfast first thing. There was a lot we still needed to learn about each other. But I honestly couldn’t wait.

News of my delayed breakfast consumption didn’t seem to concern him. He just gave a shrug and scraped them in his dish. He inhaled those almost as quickly as I had politely shared the details of my pre-work morning ritual, which lacked solid food.

Hugh could see that I was preoccupied with nerves so he did his best to make me feel better. I appreciated his efforts and even told him so. But there wasn’t much anyone could do to quell my fears. I just had to face the day and see what it had in store for me. Before I left, Hugh pulled me in for a reassuring hug and kiss.

            “No worries, okay? Whatever it is, it is. No matter what happens at Premiere today, we’re together now. The rest we will figure out,” the reassuring squeeze he gave me had me holding his body to mine a little tighter and a little longer.

I loosened my grip slightly so I could lean back enough to look into his eyes. He nodded to bolster his previous remark. When I didn’t respond he pressed his lips together revealing his concern with a half-hearted smile. “You gonna be all right, Junior?” he asked with genuine concern.

            I nodded even though I could pass out at any given moment.

            “You’ll be fine. I’ll call you around noon, yeah?” One of his hands dropped to my behind where he gave me a supportive tap on the bottom.

            “Okay,” I responded lamely. I rolled up, not as far as usual since I was wearing heels, and gave Hugh a quick kiss. “Talk to you in a bit.”

            He smiled at me supportively and whispered a ‘that’s my girl’ as I pulled from his arms. I felt like a five-year-old leaving for my first day of kindergarten. I even looked back at him as I walked down the hall to make my way to the elevator.

            How ridiculous.

 

            I had only been gone a week but for some reason my one week absence somehow outweighed my six years of employment. I felt like a stranger as I walked through the circular glass doors of the Premiere Building. Maybe it was all the sideways glances I was getting from the other employees or maybe I was being totally paranoid and obsessing about something that no one else gave a shit about.

Either way, I felt like a fish out of water. If I sprouted gills and started gasping for air, I wouldn’t have been surprised. Trying to snap myself from the downward spiral, I shook my head slowly admonishing my negative thoughts and deliberately inhaled a very loud and healthy breath.

As I was exhaling the stress and anxiety, completely out of nowhere, Mama’s encouraging words popped into my head with perfect clarity. “Delilah, if you don’t go…you don’t go.” I knew exactly what she meant when she said those words to me.

Even though at the time, she was teaching me how to drive and we were sitting at a four way stop sign in a very busy intersection, I knew the true meaning of her advice. I would get nowhere in life if I didn’t take the bull by the horns and face my fears. I silently thanked my mother and forced myself to put one foot in front of the other.

 

I thought it would be best if I got to Steven’s office early. At least earlier than Stacey. I didn’t want her to get there before me and spin some sort of tale that made me look like an even larger disappointment. Even though I was fairly certain she had done a stellar job of that already. But it would seem that Stacey must have had the same idea because I could hear her irritating voice in a heated discussion with Steven as soon as I hit Steven’s floor. Clearly she was angry and already in the middle of a rant.

            Maria, Steven’s assistant, looked at me as I approached and smiled. I was hoping she kept quiet about my arrival for two reasons. One, I didn’t want to enter Steven’s office more nauseated than I already was (her voice always did a number on my stomach) and, two, I didn’t want her to alert Stacey to the fact I was there. I wanted to eavesdrop for as long as I could before I went in.

            “He’s been expecting you. You can go in whenever you’re ready,” Maria whined with a quivering voice. Man, her voice was irritating. She was super nice. But her voice was such a deal breaker. I was beginning to wonder why Steven kept her around.

            “Are you related to Steven somehow?” I asked Maria out of the blue. It was possible. Logan’s relationship to Steven had gone completely unrealized. It would make a lot of sense if she were.

            Maria snorted before she answered. “Hnk! Don’t be silly, Delilah,” she admonished her voice quivering like a frightened Chihuahua.

            I couldn’t interact with Maria any further because my stomach was already beginning to roil. So I shrugged one shoulder and gave a quick tilt of the head communicating that it was just a guess. Luckily Maria kept quiet and got back to her emails.

            I stepped closer to Steven’s door though I really didn’t need to. I could hear Stacey loud and clear from where I was standing. It was just a way for me to gear myself up for the ensuing fight. I listened to the words she was so carefully choosing and with each lie Stacey spewed I could feel my anger go up another notch. By the time she was done with her litany of outrageous remarks I was like a raging tiger. I was weaving from side to side in front of the doorway to his office ready to rip her to pieces. Silence fell inside the office. I could virtually see what was going on even though I didn’t have eyes trained on either of Steven or Stacey. Steven was giving her the death stare to see if she would blink. But I knew Stacey well enough to know that she could look him dead in the eye and lie like nobody’s business. Not even Steven could break her. It was time for me to show my face.

            I stepped into the doorway and produced the most domineering face I could muster. Granted it wasn’t all that terrifying but it did what I needed it to do. Which was to knock Stacey on her ass. Steven was leaning into the corner of his desk with his arms crossed over his expansive chest, Stacey was sitting in a chair with her crossed leg bobbing nervously and in the corner was Logan. He was picking at his nail beds.

            Their three heads turned to me in unison. Steven gave nothing away, Logan bit his lip trying to contain his smirk and even though it was almost unnoticeable, I saw the side of Stacey’s nose flinch. Even she knew she was about to face the music.

            “You were saying?” I entered showing little to no emotion.

            “What are you doing here?” Stacey asked with trepidation.

            Steven jumped in cutting Stacey off at the knees. “The same thing you’re doing here, Stacey. I called her in for a meeting.”

“Care to revise any of your comments, Stacey?” I asked venomously.

            She didn’t answer, though I wasn’t surprised. I knew her well enough to know that she wouldn’t incriminate herself more than she already had. Instead she turned to Steven making a very poor choice tactically. “If you fire me I will take this to the Board.”

            I heard Logan guffaw. Stacey heard him as well because she looked at him with hatred in her eyes then proceeded to machine-gun her derogatory comments one after the other. Clearly she was still unaware that Logan was Steven’s son.

“You’re a fucking joke, Logan. What are you doing in here anyway? I fired you about a hundred times. You’re so stupid you don’t even know not to come back to work when your superior tell you to leave. Over,” she said mockingly.

            Logan lost his smirk. And it bothered me that she might have scored a blow or hurt his feelings somehow. So I jumped in with two feet. “The only joke in this establishment is you, Stacey. You don’t have a single redeeming quality.”

            Steven, who seemingly had finally had enough of Stacey, slowly stood and began the short trek of rounding his desk to his chair. “Pack up all of your things, Stacey. I’ll expect your resignation letter on my desk by the end of the day.”

            Stacey shot to standing. “You haven’t heard the last of me, Steven,” she snarled through gritted teeth. “I meant what I said. I’ll bring this up to the Board.”

            Steven froze mid-step and turned to look at her down the length of his nose. “Stacey, if I were you I would leave quietly,” he continued to his chair behind his desk. He sat calmly leaning back against the fine leather upholstered back.

“Well, I’m not you,” she countered.

“That’s entirely your choice. But before you decide to go that route you might want to take something into consideration,” Steven began. “A few months ago the head of security approached me with an ethical dilemma.” Steven slowly leaned forward and opened a file sitting in front of him on his desk. “At the time I overlooked the incident because neither of the people involved, you and a,” he paused to check his notes making sure he got the other name correctly, “Mr. Carson Ackerson, never filed any complaints of any kind,” a disgusted expression rolled over Steven’s face just before his voice dipped slightly lower in order to continue, “not that I was surprised given the circumstances of the…um…what should I call it? Encounter?”

Steven cleared is throat before he began again. “Both parties involved,” he said fervently, “were seemingly…I guess you could say satisfied with their quickie meeting.”

Well aware of the quickie meeting Steven was referring to, my lips pressed together unable to believe that she and Carson were caught in the proverbial act.

Steven leaned back against his chair. He rested his elbows on the arms and began the painstaking process of aligning his fingertips with each other one at a time. “I decided at the time it would be in everyone’s best interest to disregard their behavior and give these employees the benefit of the doubt, hoping this was a one time occurrence. Clearly they had exercised poor judgment and I assumed they wouldn’t engage in this behavior again.” Steven looked up from his fingers to find Stacey breathing heavily curious as to what the head of security had brought to his attention.

Effectively letting Stacey off of the ‘curiosity hook,’ Steven continued. “Apparently,” his hands parted, palms up and out to the sides to illustrate the uncanny coincidence, “paper products were disappearing from the utility closets at alarming rates and a decision was made to set up cameras so we could witness what was happening to them.” His eyes squinted as he watched the realization hit her.

Everyone knew what happened in that utility closet. Carson had announced it to the world. My hand went straight to my mouth to cover my horrified expression. Logan’s shoulders began to roll with laughter. Steven, of course, kept a completely straight face, which was another impressive attribute he possessed.

“Steven, I don’t know what you thought you saw,” she actually had the audacity to try to deny what we all knew had happened.

“Stacey,” Steven interrupted shaking his head, “I’ll expect to find your resignation on my desk by the end of the day. That is all.” Steven stood from his chair effectively adjourning the meeting. He sighed heavily before he turned his attention toward me. “Delilah, we have a meeting at 1:30. I’ll see you in the conference room?” He somewhat asked nodding at me once. I was familiar with this form of interaction. It meant it was time for me to leave Steven’s office and get back to work.

Realizing she’d been bested, Stacey spun and stomped out of the room trying to contain her temper tantrum. Logan’s contained laughter had morphed into a very loud chuckle. The smile on his face was priceless. “Ready to get to work, Delilah?” Logan asked.

I nodded at Logan but my eyes went straight to Steven’s. He was staring at me, gauging my response. I mouthed my ‘thank you’ to Steven and watched a softened expression consume his face.

As it turned out, my life looked like it was back on track. I got my old job back, Hugh and I were beginning our life as a couple and I was officially a New Yorker once again.

As we exited Steven’s office I turned toward Logan, “Can you do me a favor?” I asked with all seriousness in my tone.

“Sure, Boss.” Logan paced me as we made our way to the elevator. “What do you need?”

The elevator doors opened and we stepped inside. “First, I need you to call the movers and tell them to expedite my things back to New York.”

“You got it,” he quickly responded. “No problem whatsoever. Anything else?”

“Just one more thing. If we are going to work together, I am going to need my assistant to be completely professional and dedicated.” I turned my head to look at him as a confused expression took over his face.

“I know,” he stated dejectedly. “You want me to conform. Become the kind of assistant that doesn’t embarrass you. I get it,” he nodded. “I’ll do it, Delilah. I’ll do it for you,” he acquiesced.

I was already shaking my head. “No, Logan. That is not at all what I am asking.” Logan looked a little perplexed so I continued. “I want my old assistant back. The one I’ve come to appreciate and adore. Do you understand what I am asking?”

I watched as the realization of what I was requesting wash over him. His squinted eyes locked on mine questioning if his supposition could possibly be correct. I raised my eyebrows and gave a little nod essentially giving him permission to verbalize what he’d concluded.

“Over?” he questioned faintly and disbelievingly.

“Over.” I nodded and exhaled with relief. “And don’t forget to watch my six,” I added. I was beginning to like this lingo he’d introduced me to. “We still have the ding-dong from accounting to contend with.”

A smile consumed Logan’s face, which was such a treat to witness.

I high-fived my assistant as we exited the elevator. I couldn’t wait to get back to my office and call Hugh to share the good news.

I’d heard it said that Karma was a real bitch. But all in all, I think I was beginning to like her.

 

Epilogue

(Nine months later.)

 

I was preoccupied. I couldn’t help it. It was going to be a big day so my thoughts were scattered all over the place.

“What time does she get in?” my mouth twisted with my question.

“Her plane lands just after two o’clock,” Hugh breathed into my neck.

I glanced over to the nightstand. It was 8:00am and Hugh and I were still in bed.

“We should leave no later than 12:30,” I informed him as if he didn’t know how much time it would take to ensure that we got to the airport on time to pick up Dolly.

“Mmm,” I heard him hum his agreement into my neck. Hugh’s beautiful body was blanketing mine. He was preoccupied in other ways. But I was so nervous about Dolly coming to stay with us for a week that I couldn’t focus on anything but her visit and the reason she was coming to stay with us. Not even Hugh’s talented mouth, which was gently kissing and languidly sucking the tender skin on my neck and shoulder, was effective in distracting me.

“Did you buy ice cream at the store? Kids love ice cream,” I asked out of nowhere. “Oh!” I blurted excitedly. “And whipped cream.”

“Can you stop worrying for five seconds? I am going to be without this body for an entire week. Why don’t you worry about that?” he suggested lifting his head from the crook of my neck. He used his hand to turn my face toward his. “Focus, Junior. I need you,” he whispered.

He lowered his lips to mine and started kissing me into oblivion. But my restless mind was so preoccupied I couldn’t focus on Hugh. “I’m sorry,” I tore my lips from his, “I’m just worried about the whole thing,” I whined. “Are Darcy and Ryan still going away for some alone time?”

Hugh gave up and rolled off of me throwing one arm over his eyes in a huff. Clearly he was a little frustrated with my inability to focus on our intimate moment. I hated when he was upset so I rolled over and threw my leg over him to straddle him.

“Just tell me what is happening while Dolly is here,” I pleaded. I pulled his arm off of his eyes so he would look at me. Lacing my fingers with his, I brought our joined hands to rest on his firm belly where I mindlessly stroked my fingers over his hands.

He sighed heavily before he began. “Ryan’s mom is taking Dustin and Damian to Florida while Darcy and Ryan go away for a few days to…reconnect.” he stammered. “Dolly asked if she could come see us instead,” he shrugged into the pillows. “We’ll see what happens. Hopefully they can work out their problems.”

I processed what Hugh said. He was right. Hopefully they could get past all that had transpired and find their way back to each other. They had both cheated on one another over the course of their marriage. But once Julia started her relationship with Mason which was still going strong, Ryan had no choice but to face Darcy.

It was a wild fight. They fought like two grizzlies battling for the same salmon. We know because Dolly called us crying. There were a few weeks of silence between them and then the mention of divorce. But then one of them suggested counseling which, now, seemed to be helping.

As I came into the moment I looked down into Hugh’s face and saw what lay before me. A beautiful, intelligent, thoughtful, generous, caring man who was all mine. I leaned over him plastering my body to his and kissed him square on the lips.

“I love you, Hugh,” I breathed against him.

“I love you, too, Junior,” Hugh replied.

“Now,” I danced my eyes back and forth on his. “Where were we?” I asked him coyly.

“You tell me,” he answered with hope in his tone.

A smile graced my lips before I kissed my man. Over the past nine months Hugh had taught me how to stop rushing and take my sweet ass time. Which was precisely what I planned to do that very moment.

~Acknowledgements~

 

So much time goes into writing a book. Months and months involving research, creative writing, editing, formatting…and that’s just the beginning. I have to thank my husband and children for being so patient and supportive. I also have to thank my mom for being my never-ending cheerleader. She’s always in my corner. I have a wonderful group who beta read and give me amazing feedback and guidance. And I appreciate every single one involved. In the end, writing is a labor of love and I appreciate the readers who find my work. Enjoy! And, thank you!

 

From the author…

I hope you enjoyed reading The Junior Bridesmaid. Feedback is so important and always appreciated. Please feel free to share your thoughts about this book and write a review. If you enjoyed this story you might also like one of my other novels. Finding Catalina, The Dream Weaver and The Beginning of January are all available for download. Thank you!

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