A Woman's Worth

by Nikita Lynnette Nichols

  “Arykah, please. You know you’re a fox.”

  “You better recognize. Can you get me a glass of water? My throat is dry.”

  Monique got up and went toward the kitchen, but stopped dead in her tracks as she got to the archway leading into the kitchen. Sitting on the kitchen table was an Atomic Bomb cake lit with a single candle. A dozen helium ‘Happy Birthday’ balloons were dangling from the ceiling.

  Suddenly, a hand firmly gripped Monique’s waist from behind. Adonis stood next to her and pulled her closer to his side, then looked down into her eyes and sang “Happy Birthday.”

  When Adonis had finished his solo, Monique wrapped her arms around his neck. “Oh my goodness. Thank you so much. How did y’all plan this?”

  Arykah got a large knife from the utensil drawer. “That was the call I got at the mall. Adonis was telling me everything was set for us to come to my house.”

  Monique hugged her best friend. “You are too much.”

  Adonis pulled Monique to the table. “The candle is getting low, you better make a wish and blow it out.”

  Monique leaned over the cake, closed her eyes, paused, then blew out the candle. The three of them sat around Arykah’s kitchen table, and the ladies introduced Adonis to Atomic Bomb. Arykah gave her testimony and told him what God did for her that day.

  “I told you I was gonna stop what I was doing at ten o’clock and pray,” Adonis said.

  “Well, it worked. To God be the glory for what He’s done,” Arykah said.

  “Amen to that,” Monique agreed.

  Adonis excused himself and left the kitchen. He returned a short time later with a small turquoise bag with the Tiffany’s logo on it. He sat it on the table in front of Monique. “Happy birthday, beautiful.”

  Monique couldn’t speak.

  Being speechless was something Arykah was not known for. “All right, Adonis, the big spender.”

  Monique nervously pulled a long rectangular shaped box from the bag. Inside the box was a five-carat platinum diamond tennis bracelet.

  Arykah nearly cursed aloud at the sight of it. She barely caught her tongue before the explicit was released.

  Monique couldn’t say a word. No one had ever given her anything like that before. She sat at Arykah’s kitchen table holding the bracelet, looking at it in total awe.

  Adonis gently took it from her hands and hooked the clasp around her right wrist. “It’s a friendship bracelet, Monique. Do you like it?”

  She rotated the bracelet around her wrist. The diamonds sparkled at every move she made. “My God, Adonis. It’s breathtaking.”

  “But do you like it?” he asked again.

  “Heck yeah, she likes it. But if she doesn’t, remember that I’m your friend too,” Arykah joked.

  Monique stood and looked into Adonis’s eyes. “I love it, thank you.”

  While she was standing so close to him, Adonis knew the time was now or never. He leaned forward and kissed her lips softly. Monique gave in to her own temptation and allowed the passion she felt for Adonis to take over her emotions. She stood on her toes and connected with him. Arykah dug into her slice of cake and watched the show.

  Monique was the first to pull away. Adonis grabbed her chin and kissed her lips again. He couldn’t get enough of her. “Whew, I better leave.” He held Monique’s wrist up. “If you allow me to love you, there can be more where this came from.”

  He kissed the back of her hand seductively, then walked to Arykah and kissed her cheek. “I’m glad you’re all right. It’s good to see you smiling again.”

  When they heard the front door shut behind Adonis, the two friends squealed with excitement as they made a fuss of Monique’s $6,800 gift. Adonis had mistakenly left the price tag in the box.

  Arykah reminded Monique of the conversation they had a few nights before about Monique being torn between Boris and Adonis. “Choose wisely, don’t be a fool,” Arykah said.

  “I’ve been living in the hotel for a month now and Boris has yet to call to see how I’m doing. Not even a phone call to try and get me back home.”

  “So what are you gonna do?” Arykah held her breath. If her best friend didn’t do the right thing, she would kill her.

  Monique glanced at her gift sparkling on her wrist. “I’m calling the wedding off.”

  “Oh, bah shah,” Arykah shouted in the unknown tongue then jumped up and started dancing.

  Chapter 9

  The loud ringing of her cell phone startled Monique from a deep sleep at seven-thirty, Saturday morning.

  “Happy birthday, Baby Girl.”

  “Thank you, Gravy.”

  “What are you gonna do today?”

  “Stay in the bed,” Monique responded lazily as she yawned.

  “Stay in bed on your birthday?”

  “I may go down to the pool later on, but other than that, I don’t have any plans. I just wanna chill today.”

  “Baby Girl, when you turn sixty-five, that’s when you stay in bed on your birthday. At your age you should be painting the town red. I don’t understand y’all young folks. I’m gonna cook you a birthday dinner tomorrow after church,” Myrtle said.

  “Gravy, you’re the best.”

  “Don’t you ever forget that.”

  “I won’t. I promise.”

  “What do you want to be on the menu?”

  “You know I love everything you cook, Gravy. Surprise me. Just be sure to make your specialty.”

  “What’s that?” Myrtle asked the question as if she didn’t already know the answer.

  “Finger lickin’ good gravy,” Monique said.

  After talking with Myrtle, Monique sat up on the bed and thanked God for her twenty-nine years of life. She had great strength and perfect health. As Senior Executive Producer at WGOD, Monique grossed nearly eighty-five thousand dollars a year and for that, she was thankful. She was proud of most of the choices she had made in life. She was an only child, but Arykah filled the void and became the sister she never had.

  She sat in the middle of the king-sized bed and thought about Boris, one of the choices she wasn’t so proud about. During the two years they’d been together, there were definitely more downs than ups. And then there was Adonis. Monique glanced at her gift. She still couldn’t believe she was wearing five carats on her wrist. Adonis said it was a friendship bracelet. Monique wondered how many carats his wife would get.

  Her cell phone rang again as she imagined what her life would be like if she were engaged to the other Mr. Cortland.

  “Good morning, beautiful. Happy birthday.”

  Monique’s heart melted at the sound of Adonis’s voice. “Good morning to you too, and thank you, it is a very happy birthday.”

  “Sounds like someone slept well last night.”

  She smiled and rotated her bracelet around her wrist. “I did. I slept with my bracelet on. I didn’t wanna take it off. I don’t know what I would do if I lost it or if somebody stole it.”

  “Calm your nerves, it’s insured. How are you gonna spend your special day?”

  “Lying in my bed, watching back to back movies on the Lifetime Movie Network.”

  “That doesn’t sound like much fun.”

  “It would be if you were lying next to me,” Monique mumbled.

  “What did you say?” Adonis asked.

  “Nothing.”

  “Do me a favor, Monique.”

  “Anything.”

  “Walk onto your balcony and look down.”

  Monique obeyed his request. With her cell phone in her hand, she stepped onto her balcony and looked down eighteen stories and saw a miniature Adonis standing beside a miniature white stretch Mercedes Benz limousine, waving up at her. She squealed in delight and waved to him. “What are you doing, Adonis?”

  “You have a nine o’clock appointment. Get dressed and be down here in twenty minutes.”

  Monique didn’t have to be told twice. She ran back inside and tossed her cell phone on the bed. She
quickly stripped from her pajamas and skipped into the bathroom.

  The doorman escorted Monique out of the hotel. Adonis saw her the moment she came through the revolving doors. She stole an extra fifteen minutes getting ready, but Adonis didn’t mind. Looking at her dark flawless skin with her make-up done to perfection and not a hair out of place, he decided she was well worth the wait. He wore a white casual linen shirt and pants set. Monique decided to match him with a white fitted sundress that crisscrossed in the back and draped to her ankles.

  “You are unspeakably beautiful today, Monique. I know you must be getting tired of hearing that word. Actually, you’re more than beautiful, but I can’t think of a more profound word to describe you.”

  “Adonis, I never get tired of hearing the word ‘beautiful’, so you can stick with it.”

  He laughed and guided her into the limousine, then instructed the driver to make a U-turn and head north on Lake Shore Drive.

  “Where are we going?” Monique asked.

  “I’ve had this day planned for a week. When you said that spending the day in bed would be relaxing, it confirmed that I’d made the right plans.”

  “That doesn’t tell me where you’re taking me.”

  He looked at her and smiled. “We’re going to a place where there’s plenty of rest and relaxation.”

  “Is Arykah in on this?”

  “Nope, this is all my doing.”

  Monique didn’t believe him. “Can I call her?”

  “Arykah doesn’t know anything, but you can call her if you want.”

  Monique dialed Arykah’s home number. “Hey, Arykah.”

  “Hey. Happy birthday,” Arykah greeted.

  “Thanks. I’m in a limo headed north on Lake Shore Drive, and I want you to tell me where I’m going.”

  Arykah lay in her bed not fully awake. “What?”

  “What’s my destination?”

  “Are you tipsy, Monique?”

  “No, I ain’t tipsy. Do you know where I’m going or not?”

  “First of all, I haven’t had any coffee yet, so I don’t have all of my marbles. But how am I supposed to know where you’re going if you don’t know yourself? And what are you doing in a limousine anyway? You said you were spending your birthday in bed like you do every year.”

  “Adonis picked me up this morning, but he won’t tell me where he’s taking me.”

  “Sorry, I can’t help you, girlfriend. As a matter of fact, I asked Adonis on Wednesday night if he were planning anything for you and he told me he wasn’t. So I want you to put that lying devil on the phone.”

  Monique gave Adonis her cellular telephone. “Arykah wants to have heated fellowship with you.”

  Adonis brought the telephone to his ear. “Sister Miles, God bless you.”

  “I’m only holy on Sundays. Why did you lie to me?”

  “Because I know you can’t hold water,” he said.

  Arykah was offended. Yes, she was known for her loose lips, but so what? “Oh no you didn’t. Now I gotta cut you.”

  “Let me ask you a question, Arykah. Who told Monique that Sister Cox is pregnant by Deacon Walton?”

  “Adonis, pregnancy is something that can’t be hidden. Eventually the whole church will know.”

  “Okay, I’ll give you that, but who told Aunt Myrtle that the Bishop’s sister-in-law is messing around with Sister Taylor’s husband?”

  Arykah’s tongue was hot when it came to gossip, but she didn’t like being called on it. “Look, Adonis, we’re not in a courtroom playing cross examine the witness.”

  “I just want you to know why I couldn’t trust you with privileged information; you tell everything.”

  “That’s not true. If someone says, ‘Arykah, don’t say anything,’ then I won’t. But you have to say those words to me. Now tell me where you’re taking Monique.”

  “It’s a secret.” He quickly disconnected the line.

  Monique saw they were entering the Eden’s Expressway. “Can you at least give me a hint, Adonis?”

  “Then it wouldn’t be a surprise.”

  “I don’t like surprises.”

  “Your bracelet was a surprise. If you don’t like it, I could take it back.”

  That was not an option. Monique proclaimed she would never take it off. In fact, she’d let her loved ones know that she was to be buried wearing it.

  The driver exited at Peterson Road in Skokie, Illinois, a small suburb just north of Chicago, and headed west. Monique twitched in her seat as though her underwear was on fire. “Adonis, the suspense is killing me. Pleeeease tell me where you’re taking me.”

  Adonis refused to answer her, but chuckled at her anxiousness. He instructed the driver to turn right at the next stoplight. Five minutes later, the limousine drove to the door of Lady Brenda’s Day Spa & Salon. Monique looked at Adonis and smiled broadly.

  The driver opened the rear door and Monique stepped out followed by Adonis. A light skinned African-American woman, with her hair pulled back tightly in a bun, came outside to greet them. “Good morning, Monique. Happy birthday.”

  Monique was stunned that the woman knew her name.

  “Mr. Cortland, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Were you able to follow the directions okay?”

  “Yes, they were very detailed, thank you,” Adonis answered.

  She looked at Monique. “I’m Brenda Finley, and this is my establishment. On behalf of my entire staff, we welcome you, and it will be our pleasure to relax your mind, body, and soul. Mr. Cortland has instructed us to meet your every need. So tell me how we may service you today?”

  Monique did her best to get words to come out of her mouth. “I, uh, I’m, oh my God, um . . . ” she stammered.

  Adonis stood next to Monique and gently took her by the waist. He loved the effect he had on her. “Lady Brenda, if I may. Monique is already beautiful and flawlessly made. But how about styling her hair any way she likes? I’m sure she’ll enjoy a facial and the Swedish body massage you recommended. Be sure to touch up her fingernails and toenails. Those are the services that I personally want for her, and of course, anything else her heart desires. The sky is the limit. I want her pampered from the crown of her head to the tips of her toes. Today is her birthday, so please make sure she’s completely satisfied.”

  Lady Brenda was impressed. “Absolutely, Mr. Cortland. She’s in good hands, and I promise she won’t be disappointed.”

  He lightly kissed Monique’s lips, placed his hands on the sides of her face, and looked into her eyes. “I want you to clear your mind and allow them to treat you like the goddess you are. Feel free to add whatever you want to the tab. On your special day, I want you to have whatever you want.” Adonis’s salary as an electrician and what the church paid him afforded him the opportunity to spoil Monique. And his parents’ life insurance policies were made available to him when he turned twenty-one years old. He had plenty of money to live a fulfilled life and take care of the woman of his dreams.

  “Will you be waiting for her, Mr. Cortland?” Lady Brenda asked.

  “How long will she be?”

  “Approximately four and a half hours.”

  “I’ll come back for her. That gives me enough time to plan her next surprise.”

  A woman dressed in a white smock and white pants met Monique at the door to the salon and exchanged her stilettos with a pair of pink plush complimentary slippers. Then Monique was led to a private room where she was instructed to change into a pink plush terrycloth robe. Five minutes later, Lady Brenda escorted her to another private room where a buffet table displayed all of her breakfast favorites.

  “Mr. Cortland was very specific in his selections,” she told her. “I hope this spread is to your liking.”

  On the table were fresh strawberries and whipped cream, crushed pineapple, lightly toasted cinnamon bagels, blueberry and banana nut muffins, sausage links, waffles, scrambled eggs, freshly squeezed orange juice, cherry lemonade, hazelnut flavored coffee, lemon i
ced tea, 2% low-fat milk, and ice water. Twenty-nine roses, one for each year of Monique’s life, were scattered along the table.

  Monique placed her hand over her heart. Adonis thought of everything and left no stone unturned. She was stunned at the lengths he’d gone to just for her.

  Lady Brenda saw the expression on Monique’s face. “This is the first time a man has requested first class service such as this. I’ve been in business for thirteen years and have never been asked to set up a buffet table.”

  “How much is all of this costing him?” Monique asked.

  “Mr. Cortland requested that you not be made aware of the cost.” She noticed Monique’s bracelet. “That’s a gorgeous bracelet.”

  Monique extended her wrist forward. “He gave this to me last night.”

  “You have one heck of a fiancé, Monique.”

  She saw that Lady Brenda was referring to the ring on her finger. Even though Monique had told Arykah she would call off her wedding to Boris, she hadn’t made any effort to do so. “Oh no, Adonis and I are only friends.”

  “Just friends? Over the years, I’ve had husbands and fiancées shower their women with unlimited pampering. But today is the first that a man has soared to this magnitude for a friend.”

  Lady Brenda advised Monique to eat all she could within the next half hour. At that time, her pampering would begin.

  Almost five hours later, Monique was so relaxed she could barely lift her calves and walk. Every muscle in her entire body was on vacation. She got to the reception area and saw Adonis sitting patiently waiting, reading a magazine.

  He looked up and saw Monique, then came and stood next to her at the receptionist’s desk. “How do you feel?”

  She leaned against him for support. “That was absolutely the most amazing experience I’ve ever had.”

  “Did you enjoy your breakfast?”

  “Oh my God. Yes, you fed me well; thank you. But it’s gone from my belly now.”

  He looked confused. “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve had my colon cleansed.”