“Psycho,” Nicola said shaking his head as he watched her slam his door. He was glad that she had finally gone and left him to rest. He had planned for her to leave right after they had sex, but she had to cuddle under him talking about absolutely nothing for a whole damn hour. Before he knew it, she had taken up his entire night. If Ivy hadn’t called, she probably would have been content to spend the night, which he was hoping wouldn’t happen. Thank God for small favors, he thought to himself.
Pulling the sheets off of his bed, Nicola looked at the ultrasound picture again for the hundredth time. He couldn’t wait to find out if those little babies were actually his. Balling the sheets up and taking them to the washroom, he grabbed the framed ultrasound and took it with him. With care, he took the picture out of the frame and placed it under his Hooters refrigerator magnet; he leaned against the kitchen counter. What did Ivy want so late at night? Maybe she just wanted to talk to me?
“Maybe,” he said aloud smiling as he ran his dishwater.
**
Finished. Finally. Turning off his computer and throwing his report by the stack of papers on his desk, Grey picked up his keys and grabbed his briefcase. It had been a long day, and all he really cared to do was get some sleep. Gliding his fingers over the switch, he walked out of his office with his suit coat over his arm and his tie loosely hanging around his unbuttoned Brooks Brother Oxford.
“Carol, do you want to walk out with me?” he asked his new assistant. She looked up from putting the last of her files in the drawer.
“Yeah.” Carol closed the file drawer and stood up. Grey watched amazed at her height. Six feet exactly. “I’ll only be a minute.”
“Take your time.” Grey yawned put his coat on.
“I hate walking out alone.” Her short curly red hair bounced with life as she slipped on her coat. Smiling at him, she slipped on her gold wire rim glasses. “I can’t see at night,” she said winking at him with her bright green eyes.
“I’m not the best driver at night myself,” Grey said smiling in his gentle, playful manner.
Grey had noticed Carol around the office. In fact, he had hired a white woman on purpose and often played with the thought of having an affair with her just to calm his nerves about Nicola. He was not fascinated anymore by color. He had experienced more than his share of all types of women, but still Carol’s demeanor entertained him mildly.
Recommended by a good friend with the alumni association at his alma mater, Carol was fresh out of college with a hundred ideas and endless energy. Grey liked that she always wore sleek, smart little outfits that accented her long slender figure. And occasionally, she would tease him with low cut blouses that revealed her milky white breasts. She was nice eye candy for the clients and intelligent. Not a bad mix of assets to go far in the firm, but he was sure that his mother would disapprove of not hiring a sister. She was constantly on him about helping shatter the corporate glass ceiling.
“So what are you getting into tonight?” Carol asked as they entered the elevator.
“I just want to go home and get some rest,” Grey said looking at his watch again.
“Me too.” She bit her lip. “My family is a big supporter of your father.”
“Really.” Grey wondered where that came from.
“Yep. They even worked the polls in his last election.” She became more confident, finally turning toward him. “I personally think that the Henderson men are a true asset to Memphis…especially you.”
Grey realized that he was in a compact elevator with a woman he didn’t know in the middle of the night. Maybe he should use some caution, just in case he wasn’t reading her right. “Well, thanks. That is really nice.”
“This job is a great way for me to get some experience in my field, and I’m great with numbers.”
“I know. I reviewed your transcript. It was impressive.” The elevator opened, but Carol stepped in front of him.
“But…the plus was having a chance to work with you.”
Grey stalled in his response. “Well, Carol. I don’t know what to say. Thanks.”
“I’m sorry. I know that this is forward.” She laughed nervously. “But I had to let you know that I’m very intrigued with you, to say the least.” She pulled her hair behind her ear. “And I would love to spend more time with you outside of the office.”
Carol moved closer to his wool dress coat and smelled his cologne, but Grey was stiff as a board. He watched her with a stoic look on his face. He looked her straight in her eyes without so much as a blink. It was very disconcerting for Carol, who desired more than anything to know if he was the least bit interested in her.
“I don’t think that would be a good idea, Carol.” He finally broke his silence after much internal debate.
“You probably have a girlfriend, huh?” Biting her lip, she began to show signs of embarrassment. She could have sworn that since day one, he was interested.
“A fiancée actually.” The thought even disturbed him now. “But if I didn’t…” He let his words drift off hoping that she would get the point. He hated to embarrass her.
“Well, the invitation is always there,” she said getting off the elevator when the door-ajar alarm started to sound. “Goodnight, Mr. Henderson.”
“Goodnight,” Grey said walking to his car. Watching to make sure that she got in her car and out of the basement safely, he followed behind Carol’s blue Volkswagen Jetta out into the busy streets of downtown allowing the calming sounds of Coltrane to ease his mind.
With very little effort, Grey redirected his thoughts from what he could have been doing with Carol to his pregnant fiancée asleep safely in her apartment. Carol’s offer had made all of the fantasies seem unreal and unconventional now. He was definitely one who loved to chase but not to be chased. He felt cheated out of his birth right as man to pursue the prey.
Ivy would have never approached a man with such a precarious offer. She would have made the man come to her, and when he did finally come to her…he would still have to fight like hell to win her. It was because of all of those things that he loved her so much and that he found her so desirable. She continued to be the ultimate chase.
Getting onto the expressway, Grey picked up his cell phone and dialed Ivy at home. After a few rings, her voice mail answered. So, he decided to pay her a surprise visit. He would spend the night with her and hold her in his arms. He would embrace her warmly and feel what he hoped to be his children kicking in the night. For once, he would forget about their shortcomings and enjoy a peaceful evening with the woman he truly loved.
**
Nearly a half an hour later, Grey pulled into her apartment complex and walked to the door. He had a key, so there was no need to knock, but he did so out of respect of Trina. Greeted by Ivy, she opened the door in her pink pajamas and stomach revealed slightly.
“Hey,” Grey said wrapping his arms around her.
“Hey,” Ivy said glad that he had come to visit her.
“I just…I wanted to be with you tonight,” he said closing the door behind him.
“I want to be with you too,” she said in a whisper. “I’ll go and set out your pajamas. There is some dinner still left from earlier in the microwave. You can heat it up while I run you some bath water.” She always did take good care of him.
“Don’t go through all of that, Baby. I’ll do it,” he said grabbing her by her arm. “God, I miss you.” The sincerity in his voice alarmed her slightly.
“I miss you too,” she said amazed at his mood change. No one would have believed that only hours earlier they had argued.
“No, I mean the Ivy I knew before the pregnancy. I miss you being happy.” He rubbed her face.
“I miss being happy.” Ivy fought tears.
“Let’s just go to bed.”
Entering into her quiet little bedroom, Grey noticed the picture of him on her nightstand in its silver frame. Her room was in perfect order with only the small nightlight to illuminate her bedsid
e. The blinds were slightly opened to allow in the moonlight and the oak canopy bed set inviting with its plush soft pink comforter and gold embroidered sheet set. Dozens of pink silk and satin pillows with hand-stitched flowers lined her bed. To him, her room was a reflection of Ivy. Soft. Beautiful. Feminine.
Pulling the comforter to the side, Ivy tapped the bed and smiled. “Come to bed, baby.”
“Let me get undressed,” Grey said glad that he had chosen to come to her. “I’ll only be a moment.” Crawling into the warmness of her arms, he kissed her cheeks. “You feel like making love, baby?” he asked kissing her neck.
“I always feel like making love to you, Grey,” her eyes were crystal clear and wide with excitement.
Chapter Fourteen: I Do Love You
Chapter 14
I DO LOVE YOU
“I’ve had enough of the bullshit. I’m through with all these women. I’m swearing off sex. Hell, I can do without it,” Nicola proclaimed as he slowed down around the curve of the track field feeling his lungs nearly cave in from the compression of such a hard run. Bending down to catch his breath, he wiped the sweat from his forehead. “And when is this cold-ass weather going to finally go away? It’s March for Christ’s sake!” Nicola vented now after he and Brooks had run an exhausting six miles straight in complete silence with only their thoughts to keep them company.
“Sign of the times, man,” Brooks said bending down beside him. “Anyway, the fact that you are giving up women must mean that the world is coming to an abrupt and final end.” He stretched his hamstrings.
“I’m serious. Kelly got on my last nerve. She answered my phone, hung up on Ivy, compared me to a dildo, flipped me off and then slammed my door.” Standing up straight, he caught of glimpse of Brooks laughing. “What’s so funny?”
“Where in the hell do you meet these crazy-ass women?” He laughed aloud.
“The same place you meet them. The only thing is that you have Trina to go home to on a permanent basis, and she’s stable. So, it balances out your life, somewhat.” Sometimes, Nicola envied Brooks for his relationship with Trina, but he never envied Trina’s relationship with Brooks.
“Yeah, it’s just that I don’t constantly go back to the same retarded ass women.” Brooks couldn’t help but laugh at Nicola again. “You and Kelly have been on and off for a couple of years. I bet she thinks that she’s the one,” Brooks said shaking his head. To Brooks and Nicola, the one was the woman that would eventually carry their last name and have their children.
“She did. I told her last night though that she wasn’t the one, right before she gave me her you’re a big nothing speech.” Nicola stopped his watch. “She’ll be back next week, begging me to knock her back out.” They had obviously been through the entire scenario before.
“And of course you will oblige her.”
“Not this time, man. Until Ivy gives birth, I am a celibate man. No sex for the next three months.” He had made up his mind the night before as he tossed and turned in the bed thinking about Ivy, but he would never admit that to Brooks.
“Tell that shit to someone else,” Brooks said grabbing his shirt of the ground. “Three months…man, you couldn’t stop having sex for three days.”
“Well, I’m going to give it a good fight.” Nicola stopped laughing and looked at Brooks seriously nodding his head as if to give more emphasis on what he was professing.
“This wouldn’t have anything to do with Ivy…not the babies but the mother?” Brooks asked in vain.
“I’m just saying, what if she not only wants me to be the father, but she also wants me to be…you know…with her.” It was logical enough for Nicola although he could see that his long-time friend was not buying it.
“What?” Brooks had never heard such nonsense in his life. “Do you recall Ivy ever saying once that she wanted you to be the father of her children? No. And you won’t hear it, because it would mess up things with her fiancé, or have you forgotten about him? Take my advice,” Brooks said not allowing Nicola to say a word. “This woman is better off with Grey.” He absolutely hated wishful thinking.
“So, you don’t think I’m good enough?” Nicola asked offended and extremely discouraged.
“Oh no. It’s not that. I just don’t think that you’re ready for what Ivy needs. I’m telling you that you’re barking up the wrong tree. You’re not ready for all the crap that comes with her.” He shook off the entire ridiculous notion.
The thought made Nicola stutter. “Hhh…how do you know what I’m ready for?” he said picking up his phone. “Damn, Taylor called,” he said regretting that he has missed hearing his phone ring. For a moment, he lost concentration.
“Look, I know you man. Believe me, it’s just possible fatherhood talking right now. When the kids get here, you’ll go back to your regular self, especially if they are Grey’s. You’ll see that Ivy is better off with Grey, and you are better off with your entourage of women.”
“I don’t have an entourage,” Nicola said in denial. They were more like a small village of concubines.
“You don’t have a steady woman either.” Brooks wanted his friend to see exactly what he was asking for. “Just take my advice, and leave that girl alone.”
**
Grey ushered the movers through his house to the guest bedroom quickly where he was secretly redecorated for the twins’ arrival. He had spent an ungodly amount of money on a local interior decorator that assured him that everything would be ready by next Sunday to surprise Ivy after church. With all the negative things that had transpired over the last few months, Grey felt the need to do something nice for Ivy and something that would ease his conscious about Kit.
He had only four months to prepare for what was to be two new additions to his family. And he had a gut feeling that those children belonged solely to him. Nicola was just a reminder of how close he had come to loosing Ivy, which was all the more reason to make an extra effort to be there for her now.
Watching the painters pull the error tape from the wall basing, Grey was in total approval of the newly painted powder yellow bedroom. Yellow was neutral and calming.
Proudly, he pulled one of the bears out of the Macy’s shopping bag and set it on the floor by the closet. He was excited now about the prospect of a family. And although he still fought with the rebellious spirit of a bachelor, he was starting to grow anxious of a new lifestyle with the twins and Ivy.
**
Across town, too sick to get out of the bed, Ivy lay in between her mass of pillows reading over her homework and sipping on chicken broth. It had been nearly three hours since her first attempt to get up and head to class, but she still felt dizzy and nauseous. Setting down her book, she grabbed her remote and turned down her radio to here a knock at the door. Looking over at the clock, she became a little alarmed. She wasn’t expecting company this afternoon.
She found her robe quickly, dressed and slid out of bed. Looking out of the peephole of her front door, she discovered her brother Emerald standing anxiously peering back at her under a yellow Hawaiian baseball cap. With utter excitement, she opened the door and screamed.
“Emerald!” Ivy said opening her arms wide.
“Ivy!” Emerald said picking her up off of the ground and spinning her around in her hallway. “Look at you.” As he set Ivy back down, his emerald green eyes were fixed on her stomach.
“Yeah, I know. I’m pregnant,” she said rubbing her top of her stomach. “Four and half months to be exact.”
“You look so beautiful,” he said in awe as he moved her hair from her shoulders. He adored his baby sister more than she would ever know and to see her in such as state was both exciting and painful.
“Thank you,” she said finally noticing he had company. “Who is this with you?” She closed her robe.
“Oh, this is Kakeline, my fiancé,” he said moving out of the way to reveal a tall olive-skinned girl with huge almond shaped eyes, full lips and a long flowing black hair.
&n
bsp; “She’s so pretty,” Ivy said shaking Kakeline’s hand and quietly observing the one-carat solitaire that was showcased on her ring finger. “Hi. I’ve heard so many wonderful things about you. My goodness, Emerald! I can’t believe that you’re engaged.” Ivy tried to close her mouth knowing that it was wide open now. Her brother had been a wild, carefree guy for as long as she could remember. Now, he was settling down. What had the world come to?
“Quiet as kept. We actually are married. We just haven’t told anyone. So, mums the word until after the baby okay.” He put his arm around his wife and kissed the side of her head.
“Sure, but why are you keeping it a secret?” She was confused at why he would want to hide such a thing. Their mother would be glad to see that the endless bounced checks, charged up credit cards and personal loans paid off.
“It happened just night before last. I got a call from Madison, and I was headed back this way. Kakeline didn’t want me to leave, but she didn’t want to follow me to the main land without knowing we had something…concrete.” Kakeline blushed as Emerald tried to explain.
“Well, there is nothing more concrete than marriage. I understand,” Ivy said taking Kakeline’s hand. “I wouldn’t have followed him either,” she said laughing.
“Anyway, we’re staying at Mom’s house for about two weeks. That should be sufficient time for me to find an apartment and for us to find jobs.”
“What about your family?” Ivy asked Kakeline.
“They do not know yet. We just up and left,” Kakeline said softly. “We plan to return in a month or two and get their blessings the right way. For now, they think that I’m off on another island at school.”
“So you took the semester off?” Ivy asked concerned.
“Yes. I felt it was best.” Kakeline showed signs of disappointment.
Ivy's Twisted Vine Redux Page 22
