Almost Doesn't Count

by Angela Winters

  “She’s probably left, whoever she is,” Billie offered. “Besides—”

  “Sherise! Where have you been?”

  LaKeisha sauntered over to the trio of women, looking as if she’d had more than a few drinks . . . wearing a cocktail dress that seemed a size too big and reached an awkward two inches below her knees . . . and was red.

  Sherise, Erica, and Billie all shared a glance, thinking the same thing.

  “No,” Billie said.

  “No, what?” LaKeisha looked as if she knew she’d interrupted something.

  “Nothing,” Sherise said. “What is it, LaKeisha?”

  “Northman wants to talk to you.” She smiled, but it faded as she did not receive the excited reaction to her news from Sherise as expected. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” Sherise answered suspiciously. “That sounds great. I’ll talk to him soon.”

  “He wants to tell you how much he loved the job you did tonight.” LaKeisha, even a little tipsy, seemed to realize that Erica and Billie were staring at her oddly as she looked at both of them with a little trepidation. “I know he wants you to come on board.”

  No one said anything.

  “Permanently,” LaKeisha added as if she thought it would have a different effect.

  “That’s great news,” Sherise said, still eyeing her with subtle suspicion. “Is there anything else you want to tell me?”

  LaKeisha looked around, clearly having no clue. “Um . . . no. Well, of course, there will be the background check and all that, but we know you.”

  “You mean like with my social security number?” Sherise asked.

  Billie slightly jabbed Sherise with her elbow. She was acting very weird. “She’s just playing with you, LaKeisha.”

  “Of course!” LaKeisha didn’t do a good job of pretending she wasn’t a little weirded out by the scene.

  “Has anyone been asking about Sherise?” Erica asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Tonight,” Erica clarified. “Do you know anyone who’s been asking about her?”

  “That woman!” Sherise yelled out.

  Without thinking, she grabbed LaKeisha by the arm.

  “Sherise!” Billie yelled and tried to pull Sherise off her.

  “What’s going on?” LaKeisha looked terrified.

  “You said a woman was talking about me,” Sherise said. “A few weeks ago. That was what made you remember me! Who was that woman?”

  LaKeisha was looking at Sherise as if she was crazy, but Sherise didn’t care.

  Billie grabbed Sherise’s hand and loosened her grip on LaKeisha. “Take it easy, girl.”

  Sherise tried to take a deep breath so she could calm down. The thought had suddenly occurred to her and something clicked. This was the key.

  “Do you remember?” Sherise asked. “You told me her name.”

  Nothing.

  “Think!” Sherise wanted to strangle her.

  “Oh!” LaKeisha almost jumped up and down. She laughed. “That is so funny. I was like, what the hell is she—”

  “Who?” Sherise demanded.

  “Jennifer Ross,” LaKeisha said. “Do you remember her now?”

  Sherise looked at Billie and Erica. Both women shook their heads. They had no clue.

  “Have you seen her here tonight?” Billie asked.

  LaKeisha shook her head. “I don’t . . . No, I haven’t, but she’s in DC all the time, so she could be here. She is a supporter of Northman, but—”

  “What do you mean ‘in DC’?” Sherise asked. “She doesn’t live here? She lives in Maryland or Virginia?”

  “No,” LaKeisha said. “She lives in Texas. I think . . .”

  “Dallas,” Sherise finished for her.

  “How do you know that?” Billie asked.

  Sherise looked at her, not sure of what she should tell her. Her mind was spinning. There was no way this was a coincidence. It was true. This woman, Jennifer, was after her and she was after Cady. Why?

  “I’ll Google her,” Erica said, reaching for her phone in her purse.

  “You do that,” Sherise said. “LaKeisha, you’re gonna help me find that woman here tonight.”

  “I don’t think she’s here,” LaKeisha said.

  “She’s here,” Sherise responded. “And I’m gonna find this bitch.”

  Standing in the half-circle driveway entrance to the hotel, Erica looked up from her phone just long enough to see Jonah walk outside. He looked like an older male model, his hands stuck in the pockets of his crisply tailored suit.

  What did he want from her? She had already said hello and engaged in small talk for a few minutes with him. That was really the best she could do. It was weird. He made her feel like she was doing something wrong by talking to him and she resented him for that. Still, she was curious about him.

  “It’s a little early to call it a night.” He stopped as he reached her.

  “Some of us have to be at work in the morning.” She smiled awkwardly.

  “Where is your date?”

  “Terrell is getting the car.”

  He frowned. “He didn’t do valet?”

  Not liking the tone of his voice, she gave him a stern look.

  “Sorry,” he offered with a humble lowering of his head. When he looked back up, he said, “You look lovely, Erica. You’re very—”

  “Don’t,” she softly pleaded.

  He frowned, looking somewhat sad. “I was just—”

  “I know what you were doing,” she said, “and I don’t want you to do that. I don’t know you, Jonah. I don’t know if I want to. You’re used to being in charge of everything, including every relationship you have. Not with me.”

  “I just wanted to say good night,” he said. “I apologize if you felt I was being too familiar.”

  “I need time,” she said.

  His expression softened as he looked into her eyes. His hand reached up and gently touched her shoulder. “I’m just grateful you’re giving me this chance.”

  “Someone will see you,” she said as she looked at his hand.

  He sighed before slowly removing his hand

  “Sherise is being harassed by someone,” she said. “If you’re—”

  “I would never do that,” he interrupted. “I feel like we’ve had a breakthrough, Erica.”

  “Don’t assume that much.” This rare, tender side of him touched her, but she knew enough about him to know he usually did this when he wanted something or was up to something.

  “I’ll tell you what I won’t assume,” he said. “I won’t assume you’d forgive me if I went after one of your friends.”

  “She’s more than my friend.”

  He smiled. “She’s made that clear to me.”

  “I didn’t think you had anything to do with it,” Erica said, “but I had to ask.”

  “I deserved that.” He paused. “Erica, I want us to have a—”

  The honk of Terrell’s horn was deep and bellowing, and it made Erica jump. She turned to the car, which was on the other side of the driveway. Terrell was looking through the passenger-side window with a menacing glare directed at Jonah.

  She turned to Jonah. “I have to go.”

  “We should talk soon.”

  She shrugged. “I’ll see. Good night, Jonah.”

  “Good night, Erica.”

  She took a few steps forward before looking back at him. He was still looking at her and she saw a tenderness in his eyes that she wished didn’t reach her. She had to be careful. Terrell was right. Every girl wants a daddy and she was no exception. This man was her father and she had to consider that some relationship, any kind, was better than none. Wasn’t it?

  Playing with Cady in the backseat of her car while it was parked on Eighteenth and M Streets in DC still wasn’t enough of a distraction from the insanity of what Sherise was doing. This was her life now? It wasn’t acceptable for her. She didn’t know how it could be for any woman.

  Sh
e looked out across the street at the office building her husband had gone in for his two P.M. meeting with a client. She had been following him since that morning, but nothing much had happened. At least not from this end.

  Sherise felt like she was in some kind of daze, a nightmare that she might wake up from. She imagined that was the only reason why she hadn’t gone insane after last night’s revelations. Neither LaKeisha nor the waiter, whom Sherise found and dragged around the ballroom in search of Jennifer, could find her. She had gone. Sherise ignored LaKeisha’s request she meet with Northman. Instead, she grabbed a cab home immediately.

  Jennifer Ross was not on Google. At least not the one she was looking for. When found, Jennifer was either some elderly woman, white, too young, or from out of the country. LaKeisha didn’t have much information for her, but Jennifer was a very attractive black woman in her early thirties. She had long, auburn hair and hazel eyes. LaKeisha knew her only through a friend that Sherise did not know, but knew her to be part of the society set in the Dallas area who used to live in the Maryland suburbs of DC for a few years.

  Who was this woman and why did she have it out for her? Was she someone Sherise had stepped on to get to the top? She was a coldhearted warrior when it came to her own interests and had made more than a few enemies, but she remembered her enemies for the sole purpose of being on the lookout for revenge. How many times had someone she’d just screwed over for a promotion or stolen credit from told her she was going to get what was coming to her or karma was a bitch? Or maybe this woman had no idea who she was but was out to get her based solely on the fact that she wanted her husband. That, however, would not explain the message on the napkin. It was so confusing, it made Sherise’s head want to split open.

  Putting all of these elements together, nothing led her to this woman online. This amazed Sherise. In a day like today, how could someone not be traceable online? It was probably just a coincidence but it made her more paranoid. It seemed like the only way for someone to be this hard to find online was because they were purposefully trying to stay hidden. So who was she dealing with?

  And, after nearly tearing her bedroom and the home office apart that morning, Sherise was getting desperate. If she was going to find out what was going on, she would have to follow Justin.

  She had thought herself insane to suspect that Justin was behind the records request from the doctor’s office, but she felt almost certain that the two were connected. The day she received the fax that had been sent to her doctor’s office, she hadn’t put the two together, but she had last night. The fax number showed the fax had been sent from the Fairmont Hotel. What she’d forgotten was that first day, the one when her suspicions began while sitting in the courtyard of the Blue Duck Tavern; the man she’d thought resembled her husband jumping into a cab had been doing that a few steps from the Fairmont Hotel.

  Her mind raced, wondering why Justin and his lover would do this? Was it because she wasn’t getting pregnant that he began to suspect something was up with Cady? Medical records alone wouldn’t prove anything. There had never been a paternity test. If he wanted to know, all he’d have to do is get a sample himself.

  She had checked Cady from head to toe that morning to see if there had been a prick anywhere someone might have taken a blood sample, but there wasn’t. There was no way that could happen to her baby and she wouldn’t know it. So what did they want with the records for and what were they going to—

  “Oh, shit,” she said as she leaped into the front seat of her Lexus SUV.

  Justin had just stepped out of the building and was heading to the corner to catch a cab.

  Just then, the phone rang. It was Billie. She put on the headset so she could talk and drive, and then started her car.

  “What did you find out?” Sherise asked as soon as she answered.

  “Nothing,” Billie said. “I spent all morning on this, Sherise. That woman has no connection to this firm. I can ask around, but . . .”

  “No,” Sherise said. “Too many people will know someone is asking about her. It’ll get back to her. I need to catch her off guard. Justin just left his meeting.”

  Billie suddenly had flashbacks of driving around DC in her car in search of her cheating husband and his girlfriend, the perky, cheerleader stereotype Claire. It was sickening to think of another woman going through that.

  “Just confront him, Sherise,” she said. “This is ridiculous. Demand answers.”

  “I can’t do that yet, Billie. I have to know more.”

  Sherise was at the end of her rope. She needed to let it all out, but couldn’t bear the thought of revealing her sins, even to her best friend. She was too ashamed, too afraid.

  Justin finally caught a cab and Sherise picked up the pace to follow.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Billie asked. “You’re holding out on me. Don’t deny it, Sherise. I know you better than you know yourself.”

  No, you don’t, she thought. If you did, you wouldn’t want to be my friend anymore.

  “No, I’m not. I just don’t like going in blind.”

  The truth was, this was about more than an affair. This was about someone with an agenda for revenge. Most importantly, this was about her baby, and there wasn’t a chance in hell Sherise was going to make her fight public without knowing what was up.

  “Look, honey,” Sherise said. “I appreciate all of this. Call me if you know more. He’s due back at the office, but he’s headed in the wrong direction. I think I have something here. I’ll talk to you later.”

  Sherise was a seasoned DC driver, so she maintained a good distance behind the cab. It took only a few minutes for her to get a feeling in the pit of stomach that it was about to go off. She knew the streets of northwest DC well, and not only was Justin going in a direction away from his office, he was going toward the Foggy Bottom area. After Foggy Bottom was the West End neighborhood. West End and the Fairmont Hotel.

  By the time the cab reached the Fairmont, with Sherise only two cars behind, she was gripping the steering wheel so hard she was losing all the color in her hands.

  “You son of a bitch!” she yelled.

  She quickly passed the hotel as the cab went into its driveway. She reached the alley between the hotel and another building. She was about to pull out so she could find a place to park facing the hotel, but she realized that Justin stopped as soon as he got out of the car.

  He looked around and she panicked. Did he see her? She suddenly realized that she was stupidly driving her own car, which he could recognize in a second.

  “Well,” she said, putting the car in park. “If it’s about to go off, then so be it.”

  She waited for him to notice her. She wasn’t that far away. He wasn’t moving, so she stayed where she was. An employee of the hotel, standing near the side employee entrance to get a smoke on his break, looked at her like she was crazy. Yes, she knew she couldn’t park there and she knew she was blocking the alley, but just try to ask her to move.

  Sherise grabbed her phone to take pictures. Just then, whatever Justin was looking for, he saw. He cautiously put his hand up for a tepid hello and smiled. Following his line of sight, Sherise saw a blue BMW slow down in front of the hotel. She could tell the driver was a woman from the long hair, but the reflection from the windshield was preventing her from getting a good look at her.

  Sherise felt her heart stop and time move at a snail’s pace as the woman stopped in the entrance to the driveway. Justin started walking toward the car. He grabbed the door handle and opened the door. He was blocking her view of the woman as he got in.

  He’s my husband, she was saying to herself. He is my husband! She felt enraged and defeated at the same time. It wasn’t until the woman started backing out of the driveway that she realized she hadn’t taken any pictures. It was too late. She tossed the phone in the passenger seat as she put her SUV back in drive.

  “Dammit!” she yelled as a taxi drove by at turtle speed just as she was trying bac
k out of the alley.

  The woman had already cleared the driveway and was heading back down Twenty-fourth Street.

  “Move!” Sherise honked her horn.

  Finally the taxi cleared the alley, so she backed up. Still, this same car was traveling at a snail’s speed toward the hotel.

  Sherise slammed on her horn as the woman’s car turned right on M Street and picked up pace.

  When the taxi slowed into the driveway of the hotel, Sherise swerved around him and slammed on the gas. The light turned red just as she reached it, but she didn’t care. She turned a hard right and headed down M.

  She searched for the blue BMW and spotted it making a left on Twenty-fifth. She sped up and did the same.

  There was only one car between them when the next light turned yellow. The BMW sped through the light and right down Pennsylvania, but Sherise was trapped. The car in front of her, a van, stepped on the brakes.

  “Mother—” Sherise realized she couldn’t drive on the sidewalk to her right and there was traffic in the lane to her left going the opposite way. She had her baby in her car. She couldn’t be reckless. Not even Justin was worth that.

  “I failed,” she whispered to herself as her head lowered and she hugged the steering wheel.

  She thought she’d meant that because she had been unable to keep up with them, but she realized she didn’t. She had failed in so many ways, and even though she wanted to hate Justin, she couldn’t blame him. She had been an awful wife, a liar, and a cheat. She had regretted her choices before, but suddenly it all came at her like a brick to the face at fifty miles an hour. Regret was crippling and she could feel her knees getting weak.

  She was willing to take the punishment for all of this, but no matter what, she wouldn’t let anyone hurt her baby.

  She took a deep breath and lifted her head. The light turned green, and after taking one quick glance back at her baby, Sherise faced forward and stepped on the gas. She was living the consequences of her own choice and she had to face this head-on. But she wasn’t alone. She was never alone. It was time to lay it all on the table, and maybe if she was lucky, really lucky, she could save her marriage and keep Cady’s family together.