by Velvet
“What do you mean by that?”
“Well . . .” She blushed again. “I heard you guys getting busy the other night. I wasn’t trying to pry, but when I came in the house to pick up a few of my things, you guys were snacking rather loudly in the solarium.”
Naomi started blushing, reminiscing about that night. Jacob had come home from work and nearly attacked her as she sat reading the business plan that she had recently gotten from the consultant. But before Jacob could really get his groove on, Naomi confronted him again about cheating, and once again he denied it. Naomi realized that continuing to accuse him without proof was useless, so she dropped the subject, but broached another one. She told him about her plans for starting an interior design business, and asked him for the seed money. Jacob had a few pointed questions, and when she presented him with the plans, he was impressed and agreed to give her the money. Naomi was so happy that she let Jacob eat her out on the love seat in the solarium. “Well, he agreed to fund my business. I was so happy that I agreed to—let’s just say, accommodate him,” she said with a giggle.
“I’m glad. There’s nothing like running your own business. I may not be getting a paycheck every two weeks, but I love the flexibility of not having a regular nine to five.”
“Well, I’m really looking forward to it, since it’ll give me something else to do with my time,” Naomi said. Now that she wasn’t going to be joining the Black Door, she needed an outlet, but of course she wasn’t about to tell Tyler this.
“Well, it looks as if we both have good news,” Tyler said, grabbing a bottle of water out of the refrigerator and holding it up in a toasting position.
“We need to toast your new love and my business with a real drink instead of water,” Naomi said, turning her attention back to making lemon drop shots. After cutting the lemons in wedges, she placed them in a bowl and drenched the entire lot with vodka, then sprinkled them with powdered sugar. Naomi took a wedge out, and handed one to Tyler. “Here’s to the future!” They each took a plug out of the lemons.
“Whew,” Tyler said, twisting her face at the sweet and sour taste. “That’s good. Tart, but good.”
Over the next hour, they polished off half of the lemon drop shots and made finger sandwiches for the meeting. Just as Naomi was making another batch of shots, the doorbell rang. She teetered to the door feeling quite lovely, with a mild buzz.
“I need some of whatever you’ve been drinking,” Kennedy said, taking one look at Naomi’s slightly inebriated state.
“Girl, get in here.” Naomi pulled her by the arm. “And give me the scoop. Have you talked to Nigel?”
Kennedy stepped into the foyer. “Yeah, I’ve talked to him.”
“Well? Don’t keep me in suspense. Where has he been and what did he have to say?” she asked, bombarding Kennedy with questions.
“He’s been in Uganda setting up a production plant, that’s why I hadn’t been able to get in touch with him. He’s going to—”
Naomi cut her off, “A projection plant?”
“No, a production plant. He’s opening his own cosmetics company. That’s why he sold his paintings, to generate seed money.”
“That’s great news!”
“Yeah, I guess,” Kennedy said, obviously unimpressed.
“Why do you sound so glum?”
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for him. I just wish he’d let me in on his plans, then I wouldn’t have gotten all hopped up on this sabotage scheme. I mean, we’re supposed to be a couple.”
“Not to defend him, but you guys have only been dating for a few months, and maybe he’s just not used to sharing his life plans with someone else.”
Kennedy thought about it for a moment. “I guess you’re right. Besides, he said that because the cosmetics industry is so competitive, he was advised to keep the plans under wraps until everything was finalized. So don’t mention anything in the meeting, because Mira doesn’t know yet.”
“My lips are sealed. That sounds like a valid reason. Anyway, you can’t blame the guy for protecting his interest.”
Kennedy shrugged her shoulders. “True.”
Looking at her friend’s defeatist disposition, Naomi put her arm around Kennedy’s shoulder and said, “Come on. You need a drink.” She then led the way into the kitchen.
“Hey, Kennedy!” Tyler shouted, a bit too loud.
“I see you’ve been dipping in the sauce too,” Kennedy cracked.
“Gurrlll, these lemon drop shots are the bomb!” Tyler thrust the bowl of lemon wedges in Kennedy’s face. “Here, have a couple.”
“Don’t mind if I do.” Kennedy reached in and took two wedges.
“Wait, let’s toast,” Naomi said. “Tyler and Mira are moving in together. And Jacob has agreed to fund my business.”
“To new beginnings,” Kennedy said, biting into a wedge. “Whew!” she exclaimed, making the same face that Tyler had made earlier.
They were giggling, sucking the vodka out of lemon wedges and giggling some more when the bell rang again. “It must be Mira,” Naomi said, and trotted to the door.
“Heeeyyy,” Mira sang as she swept into the foyer.
“Looks like somebody’s already got the party started,” Naomi said, referring to Mira’s tipsy state.
“Yep, that would be me.” She pointed her index finger into her chest. “I received the best news today!”
“And what might that be?”
“The rollout for Baby FACEZ, our new children’s line, is back on schedule. As a matter of fact, it’s ahead of schedule. After a few R & D mishaps, it seems we’re going to beat BOD E. to market,” she said, using industry terminology. “So I broke out the champagne.” Mira was usually reserved when it came to business, but she was so elated that she told Naomi her good news. Besides, Jacob would probably tell her anyway.
“Well, in that case, let’s continue the celebration.” On the way to the kitchen Naomi congratulated Mira on her relationship with Tyler.
“To life,” Naomi said as they all held up lemon wedges.
“To life,” the group agreed in unison.
An hour later, they were as giddy as schoolgirls, laughing uncontrollably at the silliest things. They were gabbing about everything except the book.
“I had the biggest crush on Rodge from What’s Happening,” Kennedy laughed.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Naomi said, bending over with a serious case of the giggles.
“I don’t know why you’re laughing so hard, Naomi; you know you had it bad for J. J. from Good Times,” Kennedy shot back.
“DYNOMITE!” Naomi laughed.
“Thelma rocked my world,” Tyler chimed in.
“Mine too, especially when she wore those Afro puffs.” That was Mira, enjoying her fourth lemon drop shot.
As they sucked down those potent shots and tripped down memory lane, the doorbell rang.
Naomi wrinkled her face. “Who’s that?”
“Maybe it’s a new recruit who’s heard about how much fun we have and decided to invite herself to our meeting,” Kennedy said, making a lame attempt at guessing.
“I haven’t invited anybody to join, have you guys?” Naomi asked, looking around the room.
“Naw, not me.” That was Tyler.
“Me neither,” Mira said.
“I’ll be back in a few,” Naomi said, and headed to the door, humming the theme song to Good Times.
She swung the door wide open, with a vodka-induced grin plastered on her face, “Hel—” she started to greet her guest, but stopped short.
“Is this the home of Jacob Reed?” asked one of New York’s finest.
At the sight of the uniformed police officer at her door, her buzz began to fade, along with her cheerful grin. “Yes,” was all she could manage to say.
“I’m Officer Mulligan,” he said, flashing his silver badge. “Is he in?”
“Uh, no, he hasn’t gotten home from work yet.”
He took a step toward h
er. “Do you mind if I wait?” he asked, but Naomi could tell from his body language that he planned to wait whether she invited him in or not.
“Sure, no problem.” Naomi stepped aside. “What is this about?” she asked once he was inside the foyer.
“This is a matter for your husband,” he said curtly. “If you don’t mind, I’ll have a seat and wait for him.” He looked in the direction of the kitchen, obviously hearing the cackling coming from down the hall. “You can return to your guests. I’ll be fine right here,” he said, making his way into the solarium.
Naomi wasn’t about to leave a strange man alone in her home. She didn’t care if he was with the FBI and CIA rolled into one, so she joined him and waited to hear what Jacob had to say.
38
JACOB’S PALMS were sweating so much that it was hard for him to get a grip on the key fob. Self-consciously glancing back at the squad car parked in the driveway, he thought back to the conversation with that meddling private investigator, putting his nose where it didn’t belong. I bet he called in the police, Jacob thought. But that didn’t make sense. Why would the NYPD investigate the disappearance of a hooker from London? They were probably canvassing the neighborhood for donations for the Fraternal Order of Police, a nonprofit advocacy agency. Yeah, that’s it, he assured himself.
Jacob could hear laughter coming from the kitchen the moment he stepped inside, which was a good sign. He breathed a sigh of relief and headed up the stairs to get his checkbook, so he could write a check to the officer.
Naomi’s voice stopped him on the steps. “Oh, Jacob, can you come into the solarium?”
“Sure,” he said, bouncing back down the stairs. A huge grin spread across his face, thinking about their heated romp in the solarium. The sex therapist he had been secretly seeing was doing an excellent job of curing him of the negative feelings that he once harbored toward Naomi. Through hypnosis, the desire for his wife had returned with a vengeance. “You’re gonna have to wait until your book club meeting’s over before we can have one of our private meetings,” Jacob spoke, walking toward the solarium. When Naomi didn’t respond, he asked, “Did you hear what I said?”
He appeared in the doorway and Naomi was sitting on the sofa with her hands folded neatly in her lap and a solemn expression on her face. “Hey, babe, did you hear what I said?” he repeated.
“Mr. Reed? Officer Mulligan,” said the uniformed officer, flashing his official badge.
Jacob nearly jumped right out of his skin when the policeman appeared from behind the double French doors. Seeing the squad car parked in the driveway, he knew the officer was in the house, but didn’t think he would be lurking about. “Yes, what can I do for you?”
The cop looked over at Naomi and said, “Can we talk in private?”
Before Jacob could answer Naomi spoke out, raising her voice: “I’m not going anywhere.” She then crossed her arms in front of her chest and sat back hard on the cushions, planting herself firmly on the couch.
From her disposition, Jacob could tell that she wasn’t going to budge. “If this is about a donation, let me get my checkbook,” he said, turning to leave.
“Wait a minute, Mr. Reed.” He looked over at Naomi again. “This isn’t about a donation. It’s about . . .” he stalled.
“Well?” Jacob asked.
“Do you recall talking to a Mr. Davis?”
At the mention of that nosy PI, Jacob’s palms began to sweat again, and he rubbed them up and down on the side of his pants, trying to dry them. “Uh, uh, Naomi, I’ll take care of this. Why don’t you go entertain your club members?” Jacob said, trying to get her out of the room, realizing that this was one conversation she didn’t need to hear.
“I told you, I’m not going anywhere,” she spat out, then turned her attention to the police officer. “Who is Mr. Davis? And what does he have to do with my husband.”
“He’s a good friend of mine and a private investigator who’s working on the case of a missing person. He’s run into a dead end and asked me as a favor to do some legwork on his behalf.”
“What does my husband have to do with some missing persons case?” Naomi looked perplexed.
“Look, miss, you need to ask your husband,” he said, seemingly annoyed at her interruptions. Tired of trying to sugarcoat his questioning, he lasered in on Jacob with an intimidating stare. “When you were with Cinnamon, did she mention anything about taking time off?”
“No, she didn’t,” Jacob answered quickly, ready to end the inquisition before it started. “Now if you don’t mind,” he said, leading the officer to the front door, “I’d like to get back to my family.”
“Okay,” he relented, realizing that without a warrant, there was nothing else he could do, “but if you remember anything, give Mr. Davis a call.”
“Yeah, okay.” Jacob rushed him out and closed the door. He couldn’t believe that that Davis person had called his friend the cop to muscle him. How was he going to explain this to Naomi? Their relationship was finally back on track, and now this major snafu could completely derail their marriage. He stood at the door, trying to think of a reasonable explanation, when he heard her storming up from behind.
“Who the hell is Cinnamon?” she screamed at the top of her lungs.
Jacob took a deep breath and tried to explain. “Naomi, I love you.” He dropped to his knees and hugged her legs, begging for mercy.
“Just tell me the truth,” she said in a measured tone, lowering her voice almost to a whisper.
Jacob didn’t know where to begin. How was he going to tell his wife that he had been with a hooker? Tears started to roll down his face as he held his head down in shame. There was no escaping the truth. If he lied, it could come back in the form of Mr. Davis to haunt him. His only hope was to tell Naomi the entire story and pray that she would find it in her heart to forgive him. “Cinnamon is a . . .” he started, but the words stuck in his throat.
“A what, Jacob?”
He gripped her legs tighter, squeezed his eyes shut, and said, “She’s a high-priced call girl.”
“So when did you solicit her services?” Naomi asked, her voice removed and as cold as steel.
“When I was in London a few months ago.”
“So, was that the reason for your spur-of-the-moment business trip?”
“Yes.” Jacob couldn’t lie any longer. He told her the entire story, including the reason behind his adulterous affair. “But I’m in therapy now, Naomi,” he said, looking up at her for mercy, but she was looking straight ahead. He continued. “And . . . and I know you can tell the difference. Our love life is better than it’s been in years. So you can see the therapy’s working. And I swear to you that I’ll never cheat again.” He slowly stood up, and gently gripped her by the shoulders. “Can you ever forgive me?”
“Turnabout is fair play, Jacob,” she said coldly, and walked off.
Running after her, he said, “Naomi, wait.” He grabbed her by the arm before she reached the kitchen. “Please tell me that you forgive me,” he begged.
“I forgive you,” she said with a blank expression. “Now, please let me go. I have guests, remember?” she said, and strutted off without even a backward glance in his direction.
The words came from her mouth but not from her heart and he knew in that instant that he had possibly lost his wife forever.
Epilogue
“WHERE ARE you going?” Nigel asked, pulling Kennedy back into bed.
“I’m getting in the shower. If I don’t start getting ready now, we’re going to be late for the party.”
“Stop stressing. We got time. Now come here.” After finally forgiving Nigel for keeping a lid on his plans to start his own company, Kennedy couldn’t get enough of him, especially once he told her that he could no longer work for his former lover. He admitted that he had been deeply in love with Mira, and getting over her had taken longer than he expected, but now that Kennedy was in his life the feelings that he once had for Mira wer
e gone. And now that he had gotten FACEZ’s new product off the ground, it was time to move on professionally as well.
Nigel pulled Kennedy on top of him.
“You’re so naughty,” she said, sucking on his bottom lip.
“And you love every second of it.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and began sucking her top lip.
Their lip locking was getting Kennedy wet all over again, and she spread her legs so that her knees were on each side of his legs. “I want you inside of me,” she whispered in his ear.
Nigel got a charge from her words, and a surge of blood rushed to his penis until he was as hard as a piece of wood. He positioned the tip of his dick so that it teased her vulva. “Is this what you want?” he asked, poking against her.
“Yes,” she moaned. Kennedy was so glad that she hadn’t jumped the gun and slept with Nigel too soon. At last she not only had the sex that she desired, but the relationship to go along with it. This was the happiest that Kennedy had been in her entire life, and a tear eased down her cheek as she held onto her man. For the next hour, they actually made love, instead of just fucking around, like she’d done so many times in the past.
THE MUSEUM OF Urban Art was abuzz with activity. Months after the opening of the Jacob Lawrence exhibit, which garnered press coverage from around the country, Mira reserved the Museum for the launch party for Baby FACEZ. Reporters littered the sidewalk along with paparazzi trying to get shots of New York’s Who’s Who as they entered the party. There was a frenzy of flickering flashbulbs as the company’s spokesmodel—a famous child actress—and her parents entered the party.
Mira indeed had reason to celebrate. The company had overcome major R & D obstacles and beat BOD E. to market with FACEZ’s new children’s line. Before his untimely departure, Nigel made good on his promise by removing the proverbial fly from the ointment. He pinpointed the problem with the initial formula, which was high acidity levels (even with the second set of shea pods), and found another source for the pods in a completely different region. Once that mystery was solved, he worked day and night until the formula for the children’s skin care line was blemish free.
