Unforgettable (Arabesque)

by Byrd, Adrianne

  Jimmy glanced up and his face twisted in confusion when he recognized the masked woman, but not what she was wearing.

  “How late am I?” she whispered, reaching him.

  He frowned. “It’s almost one. I’ll be lucky if I don’t lose my job over this.”

  “I’m so sorry, but let’s get out of here.”

  “Where have you been? Is everything all right?” he asked as he rushed to open the back door.

  “I’ll tell you once we’re on our way.” She dove into the backseat.

  “Yes, ma’am.” He closed the door.

  Diana plopped her clothes down next to her, and then twisted in her seat to stare back at the house as they drove away. She breathed a sigh of relief. She’d pulled off the impossible: she’d stolen one night with the man of her dreams.

  So why wasn’t she happy?

  Marcel dreamed that he and Diana were getting married in the Bahamas. He stretched out to pull her close, but when his hands fell to the cold and vacant spot next to him, he was instantly awake. “Diana?”

  The bed was empty.

  He tossed the sheets from his body and climbed out of bed. The bathroom door was open and when he peeked inside, it was empty, as well. He couldn’t have been asleep long, he reasoned. Twenty minutes tops.

  “I don’t believe this,” he mumbled under his breath. It was proving difficult not to feel as though he’d been used. He’d played along with Diana’s game thinking that at the end of the night she would reveal her identity. He would’ve acted surprised and then continued making love for the rest of the night. He didn’t think she would pull a Houdini on him.

  He walked out of the bathroom and noticed that the French doors were cracked open. A smile passed his lips as he headed in that direction, but once he pulled it open, his smile disappeared.

  “She’s gone,” he declared with disbelief. He closed the door and then stared at it for a long while. After thinking about it for a moment, he convinced himself she’d just gone downstairs, perhaps to get something to drink.

  He liked the idea and started to bob his head at the logic behind it. He turned to retrieve his clothing so he could make sure another man didn’t detain her from returning, but his clothes were gone.

  “No, she didn’t,” he whispered. He turned up the lighting in the room and searched every inch of the place. The only things he could find were his shoes, his briefs and one high-heeled sandal by the French doors.

  “Damn.”

  Chapter 24

  Diana and Jimmy returned the limousine without incident and he promptly drove her home in his old beat up Ford Ranger. Whatever magic the night had provided earlier had long disappeared.

  Diana told the truth about her clothes and the button that had snapped off. Thankfully, he was too much of a gentleman to ask where the tuxedo came from. By the time she made it home, it was close to 3:00 a.m.

  She knew before she opened the door that Tim and her grandmother would be up in the living room with a barrage of questions. However, as wonderful as her time with Marcel had been, she wasn’t in the mood to rehash the night’s events.

  Giving Jimmy a final wave, Diana quickly rushed to her apartment. When she entered, she was surprised by the darkness and the silence. She closed and locked the door behind her, and then walked to the living room to make sure that no one had waited up for her.

  It was empty.

  Since it was so late, maybe they just assumed that she wasn’t coming home. She wondered why she was so bothered by that. Moments ago she was dreading seeing them, and now she was disappointed.

  “I’m just tired,” she mumbled, and then headed off to bed. Minutes later, stripped of Marcel’s suit, and her face scrubbed clean, Diana stared up at the ceiling with a broken heart.

  Now that she’d indulged in her fantasy, what was next? How could she go back to just being Marcel’s dutiful secretary? The answer was obvious: she couldn’t.

  “Why didn’t I just dance with him and leave like I was supposed to?” she continued to question herself. Her original plan was for harmless flirtation. She had no idea how she made the giant leap to being a shameless hussy.

  She eased onto her side and realized she was being too hard on herself, but turning off the voice of her worst critic became damn near impossible.

  After roaming the second story of Uncle Willy’s large home wrapped in a silk sheet, Marcel kept thinking that someone hovering in the shadows was catching all of this on video. He made it to Willy’s master bedroom and found a pair of sweat clothes that were too short and too large, but he crammed into them anyway.

  He thought about putting his shoes back on, but thought the outfit with dress shoes was a little over the top. The next problem was getting out of there without being seen. It was nearly 4:00 a.m. and the party was still in full swing. His mind filled with questions about where Solomon was at the moment, and he had no plans to search for him in his present getup.

  Instead he picked up the phone next to Willy’s bed and dialed the limousine’s mobile number.

  When Charlie’s gruff voice came on the line, Marcel had no doubts that he’d woken him up. He quickly instructed Charlie to meet him on the east wing of the house with the limo and then left the bedroom through the French doors.

  Racing down the long balcony, he hoped no one roaming the grounds or, worse, someone using one of the bedrooms saw him. He found a spot to climb down and threw his leg over the banister.

  That’s where his luck ended.

  One minute he was balancing his weight on the ledge, and in the next he hit the ground with one of his ankles folding like paper.

  Diana woke the next morning to the rich aroma of Folgers coffee wafting throughout the house. Glancing over at the clock, she saw that she’d only been asleep for a couple of hours. She groaned and snuggled deeper beneath the covers.

  Her brief sanctuary crashed to a halt at the sound of the light rap on her door. She squeezed her eyes shut and prayed her visitor would go away. However, the door’s slow creak told her that wasn’t happening.

  “Diana, are you awake?” Louisa’s soft, lilting voice floated to her.

  Diana didn’t answer, but instead of her grandmother leaving, she grew louder. “Diana?”

  Sighing, Diana tossed the covers back from her head. “Yes?”

  “Oh, good. You’re awake.” She crossed farther into the room and sat on the corner of the bed. “I want to hear everything. Don’t leave anything out.”

  “Is she awake?” Tim asked from the door.

  Diana groaned. “Guys, not now. I need to get some more sleep.” She grabbed the covers again and buried her head.

  Louisa was having none of that and dragged the covers back from Diana’s body. “Come on. We’re dying to know how our work paid off. Though I suspect it went well. We waited up until two.”

  “Yeah. I thought Jimmy had to have the limo back by twelve-thirty?”

  “We were late.” Diana grudgingly sat up. It pained her to see their eager faces because they clearly wanted to know more than she was willing to share.

  “Here, I brought you some coffee.” Tim held out a mug.

  Flashing a smile of gratitude, she accepted the warm mug. She took a few sips while Tim claimed another spot on the bed.

  Their anxious faces slowly showed signs of impatience.

  “We’re ready whenever you are,” Louisa said, patting Diana’s leg. “What happened when you made your grand entrance?”

  Diana recalled the moment with a smile. “All eyes were on me.”

  Louisa giggled. “Ah, if it was anything like the old days, I bet you felt fabulous.”

  “Yeah, I did.” She continued grinning. “That was the first time anything like that has ever happened to me.”

  Her grandmother reached for her hand. “I’m so happy to have helped passed this torch.”

  Diana laughed. “I can’t say you’ve never done anything for me.”

  “Okay. So what happened when Mr.
Gorgeous spotted you?” Tim wanted to know.

  “The world melted away,” she admitted without thinking.

  Tim and Louisa glanced at each other and smiled.

  As for the rest of the evening, Diana recalled everything but the private tour of the Bassett mansion. As far as her makeover team was concerned the night was a success.

  By some miracle she was able to suppress her melancholy while she told them what they wanted to hear.

  After breakfast and when Tim had gone home, Louisa approached Diana and tried to get to the bottom of what she wasn’t saying.

  “It’s nothing,” Diana said, donning her sweat clothes.

  “You’re going jogging?”

  “I need to clear my head.”

  Louisa crossed her arms. “Why can’t you tell me what’s bothering you? You had fun last night, right?”

  “I had a wonderful time,” Diana said, avoiding her gaze. “It was perfect.”

  “Right up to the moment you slept with him?”

  Diana’s gaze snapped up.

  “Oh, don’t look so shocked.” Louisa waved her off. “I can read you like a book.” She winced and then clutched at her stomach.

  “Are you all right?” Diana reached to steady her. “Come on, let’s go in the living room where you can sit down.” She dutifully helped her grandmother to the sofa. When she reached for the phone, Louisa stopped her.

  “I’m okay.”

  Diana wasn’t buying it.

  “Really, I’m fine. I want to talk about you.”

  “My problems aren’t important.”

  “You’re important to me.” She squeezed her hand. “Now, tell me what’s going on with you.”

  They held each other’s gaze for a long while before Diana finally gave up.

  “It was a mistake. I shouldn’t have slept with him.”

  “Didn’t you use protection?”

  Diana rolled her eyes. “Yes, but that’s not the issue.”

  “What is the issue?”

  “I’m just another notch on Casanova’s bedpost. Sleeping with him wasn’t what I went there for. A man isn’t interested in a woman he can get in the sack within two hours of meeting her. I came off as easy.”

  “Now, you don’t know that.”

  “Oh, come on, Nana. I blew it.”

  “We don’t know that yet. I say we move into phase two. When you return to work, let’s see what happens. I’m sure this morning he’s interviewing half the people at that party trying to find out the identity of the mystery woman in red.”

  “Return to work? Are you crazy?” Diana jumped to her feet and began pacing. “I can’t go back there.”

  “Why not?”

  She stopped and frowned down at Louisa. “What gives you the impression that I’m some great actress? I can’t go back to working beside him every day or even looking him in the eye without remembering what happened last night.”

  “That good, huh?”

  Diana’s hands balled at her sides.

  “All right, all right,” Louisa said before her granddaughter exploded. “Then just tell him it was you.”

  Stunned, Diana stared at her. “Is that supposed to be a joke?”

  Louisa sighed. “You were planning to tell him eventually, right?”

  “Yeah, but that was before I left my dignity next to a Jacuzzi.”

  Her grandmother’s eyes lit up. “A Jacuzzi? Wow.”

  “Focus, Nana.”

  “Fine. So what do you plan to do?”

  Diana crossed her arms and lifted her chin with determination. “The only thing I can do. I’m quitting my job.”

  On Monday, Marcel hobbled into work with crutches and his right leg in a cast. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that he was the reason women were whispering whenever he passed them in the hallways.

  The racket he had made at the Bassett estate when he broke his ankle drew a lot of unwanted attention. Then, of course, there was the outfit and the missing woman in red. Bottom line, the rumor mill was in full swing with him taking center stage.

  “Marcel,” Solomon called out and quickly caught up with him before he was about to escape into his office. “Your father is in there.”

  It’s going to be one of those days. “How long has he been in there?”

  Solomon glanced at his watch. “A few minutes.” At Marcel’s pained expression, he added, “If it makes you feel better, I think he’s in a good mood.”

  “Well, that makes one of us.” Marcel swung his crutches into gear and continued limping to his office. As he passed Diana’s empty desk, his heart contracted painfully, but he ignored it.

  As he entered his office, both his father and mother jumped to their feet with wide smiles, but they quickly disappeared when their eyes fell to Marcel’s leg.

  “Oh, honey. What happened?” Camille rushed over to him.

  “I’m fine.” He stepped into his mother’s embrace while he balanced on his crutches. His mother’s beauty never ceased to amaze him. She was a five-foot-five knockout with beautiful silver hair whose active lifestyle helped her remain fit.

  “Been playing ball again, son?” Donald asked.

  Son? He was in a good mood. “What are you two doing here?”

  “We came here to thank you,” his mother said.

  “Thank me?”

  Donald moved over to Camille and draped a loving arm around her shoulder. “You putting me on that plane to France saved our marriage.” He kissed her.

  An instant smile caressed Marcel’s lips. “That’s great. So everything is okay?”

  “Everything is wonderful.” Camille stretched her arms around Donald’s waist.

  “I just realized that I was being an old fool and if I didn’t straighten out I was going to lose the best thing that ever happened to me,” Donald said.

  “That’s great to hear.” Marcel’s smile beamed and his chest swelled with pride. This was one load off his mind. Maneuvering his way around his glowing parents, he hobbled over to his desk.

  “Anyway, we came by to ask you a question,” Camille said, and then nudged Donald to talk.

  “Yeah. I came by to see if you’d like to be the best man when your mom and I renew our vows.”

  Marcel fell into his seat. “You’re renewing your vows?”

  Donald’s face ballooned into the widest smile Marcel had ever witnessed, but there was no doubt that it was genuine.

  “We have you to thank,” Donald said.

  Marcel didn’t know what to make of so many compliments from a man who’d been so stingy with them throughout his life. “I’m glad I could help. What kind of compromise did you two work out?”

  “Your father is going to find a hobby. He’s thinking about trying golf again.”

  “That’s an expensive hobby,” Marcel reminded him.

  Donald winked. “I can afford it.”

  Marcel stared at them, completely stunned by what a jaunt around the world could accomplish. He was also a little jealous.

  “For a man who knows so much about relationships,” his father began, “maybe you really should stop playing the field like you said and settle down.” Donald winked.

  “Oh. Grandchildren,” Marcel’s mother added. “That would be wonderful.” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “You know, I’ve always liked that Diana. Where is she, by the way?”

  “A leave of absence,” Marcel said as Diana’s image floated to mind and his heart squeezed again. What was going to happen when she returned to work? If she returned.

  Every woman in the office had one question on her mind: who was the mysterious woman in red? Nora was no exception. The woman had pulled off an incredible feat that included placing Marcel Taylor in a compromising position. At least that’s what everyone thought since Taylor apparently misplaced his tuxedo.

  Nora was ready to throw in the towel. She couldn’t remember working so hard to win a man. It was embarrassing. On her way back to her office, she stopped in the break roo
m for a coffee refill. Casually, she passed the company’s bulletin board and looked at the many pictures pinned up from picnics and Christmas parties.

  When she came across a picture of Diana, she couldn’t pull her eyes away from the shape of her face and mouth. Before long, Nora mentally placed the mask of the femme fatale over the docile secretary. “I’ll be damned.”

  The glass slipper

  Chapter 25

  Long after his parents left, Marcel answered all calls on the first ring hoping each time it would be Diana on the other end. When Solomon popped in toward the end of the day, Marcel held Diana’s letter of resignation in one hand while nursing a rum and Coke in the other.

  “You really need to get a temp for Diana. There’s a pile of paper stacking up on her desk.”

  Marcel nodded absently.

  Solomon eased into the chair across from the desk and propped his feet up. “Plus everyone is running around naked out in the office.”

  Marcel nodded again.

  “Damn. You really have it bad.”

  “Huh?” Marcel finally pulled his gaze away from the letter.

  Solomon laughed. “You haven’t heard a word I’ve said.”

  “Sorry.” Marcel lowered the letter onto his desk and, after only two sips, pushed his drink aside. “I got a feeling she’s not coming back.”

  Lost, Solomon frowned. “Who? Diana?”

  Marcel’s eyes fell to the letter again. “Yeah. Don’t ask me how I know.”

  “Well, that was going to be my next question.”

  “I don’t want her to leave me,” Marcel confessed, and then slowly dragged his gaze up to meet Solomon’s. “I’m in love with her.”

  Solomon’s mouth sagged open. “But what about the woman from the party the other night? I thought you had a strong connection with her.”

  “She fooled you, too?”

  At the knock on the door, Marcel yelled for the visitor to enter.