by Tyora Moody
Olivia waved at her secretary. “I’m fine.” Looking back at Toni, she said, “Follow me back to my office.”
Toni trailed Olivia down the hallway in the opposite direction of the gallery. When she walked into Olivia’s office, she was impressed with the size. There was a mini conference area on one side and on the other side there was a couch and chairs. Behind Olivia’s expansive desk was a view of Charlotte’s downtown. “What a great view. I love your workspace.”
“Thank you. The owner of this building and the interior designer were both friends of my mother. My mom hasn’t been with us for about five years now, but so many people who knew her have helped us build this foundation in her name.”
“I’m sure she’d be proud of all the work you’ve done with the foundation.”
“I hope so. It certainly has been rewarding…until now. I don’t know what happened last week.”
Toni hedged, “The robbery and assault?”
Olivia looked at her. “Yes. I feel bad for the volunteer. I don’t know who would have targeted my gallery. I mean we have the best security system.”
“If you don’t mind me saying, you’ve been really nice and forthcoming with me and we don’t even know each other. Are you always so nice?”
Olivia blushed. “It’s the way I am. My mom used to tell me I’m too trusting. Too nice.” She shook her body like she was trying to shake away something hanging on her. “Enough of me and my issues. I knew there was something about you when we met last week. It felt like we’ve known each other forever. Let’s see your collection. You can lay it on this table.”
Like she’s known me forever.
Toni stalled for a minute, took a deep breath and walked over to the table. She opened the case and stepped back, standing with her arms crossed as Olivia flipped through the portfolio observing each painting.
“My, my. Toni, these are breathtaking. I can really feel the pain in these first few pieces. I love the use of the various tones of blue. They feel so personal.”
Toni looked at Olivia. It was time to come clean. At least a little. “They’re very personal. I was assaulted by a man I thought I loved. He hurt me pretty bad. I spent a few days in the hospital and months afterward recovering from my injuries. As soon as I could handle a paintbrush, that’s how I tried to get through my healing process. I don’t think I was ready at the time to show anyone so I stored them away.”
Olivia stared at Toni. She spoke quietly. “I’m so sorry to hear about your ordeal. Men can be really cruel. Are you sure you’re ready to share these with the world?”
Toni wasn’t sure about the world part. Her assault and trial were in the news. She was happy when it was over despite the outcome. “I’m ready. Maybe they will speak to someone else’s pain.”
“You know it would be so wonderful for you to share your story. I can see us doing an event, but I would want you to be a part of it. Hearing your story like you just told me with the paintings hanging in the gallery would be perfect.
Toni wasn’t expecting all of that. “I’m not much of a public speaker.”
“Oh, we can coach you. Most of the women we work with are not public speakers and they have a lot of hesitation too. Just think about it. I usually like to start planning six to nine months in advance. We start planning our breast cancer awareness fundraiser in January, even though the event is in October. I could do something on a smaller scale as a start probably towards the end of October for domestic violence. What do you think?”
“Can I think about it?”
“Sure, but don’t take too long. Once we get the ball rolling, I want to do some photo shoots probably in late July so we can pull the promotional pieces together and have them out in September.”
Toni’s face warmed. This was not going to go well and she knew it. She’d come to meet Olivia under dual purposes.
Would Olivia be this enthusiastic if she knew her fiancé was responsible for the creation of these paintings?
Toni remarked, “I can learn a lot of business marketing from you.”
“That’s right. You’re self-employed. Do you make all your business from your paintings?”
“Oh no. I’ve adapted some of my paintings to prints and those have merchandise behind them. Last week, I launched a jewelry line.” Toni held out her arm. “This is one of my bracelets.”
Olivia leaned over. “Oh my! You are quite the artist. That’s beautiful.”
“You can look me up on Instagram. I have plenty of samples. Speaking of Instagram, Jade does a great job with the foundation’s account.”
Olivia frowned. “Jade? You mean Carol. I hate to say this but Carol, our social media manager, is so good I pay her to manage my personal social media accounts too.”
“That’s interesting. I talked to a woman named Jade. I believe she volunteers here.”
Olivia’s smile disappeared. “Um, I should know her, but I get super-focused with our donors. Annie has more of a relationship with our volunteers.”
“I see. Does Carol work with other people? Maybe she outsources?”
Olivia frowned. “I don’t know. Carol is such a powerhouse. It’s possible she could have a small team that she delegates to. I wouldn’t know. I’m just grateful for her keeping me relevant online.”
“Does she take other clients?”
“I’m sure she does. I’m not sure how she keeps up with all the accounts, but she’s really good. Here, let me give you her information. Most of the time she works remote from her home. She has three year old and a one year old so how she keeps it all together is her secret.”
Toni folded her portfolio as Olivia jotted Carol’s information on a yellow legal pad. She was puzzled that Olivia didn’t seem to connect Jade to being the volunteer who was assaulted last week inside her offices.
Or was this another effort to keep the incident low key?
Olivia ripped the paper off the pad and handed it to Toni. “I hope Carol can help you. I do keep her pretty busy.”
Toni reached for the paper. She folded the paper and placed it in the side pocket of her bag. “Thank you. I appreciate your time.”
“My pleasure. I’m so excited for the opportunity to introduce you and your work to others. I appreciate your willingness to share your healing process after what happened to you. Did the man who hurt you ever get charged?”
Toni grimaced. “He got a light sentence. Rehabilitation. Restraining order. Hopefully, he learned from his ways and won’t hurt anyone else.”
Something flickered in Olivia’s eyes. Toni couldn’t tell if it was fear or empathy for her story.
Whatever it was, it passed as Olivia extended her hand. “I’ll be in touch in a few weeks to see if you want to pursue the event.”
Toni shook Olivia’s hand. “Thank you for your time. I’ll give the idea some thought.” She grabbed her portfolio and turned to leave the office.
She nodded at Annie as she walked over to the elevator and punched the button. Toni wasn’t sure if her visit was worthwhile.
When the elevator door opened, her hands turned icy cold as she gripped her portfolio case.
Oh no, I knew I shouldn’t have done this.
Toni exchanged stares with Paul Lambert before he stepped out of the elevator.
“Toni?” His voice sounded surprised. “It’s been a long time.”
“Yes. It has. Excuse me.” She moved past him into the elevator and stabbed the button for the lobby floor. She prayed the elevator doors would close quickly. Toni wouldn’t look in his direction, but she felt the intensity of Paul’s stare. Before the doors closed, she caught a fleeting glimpse of Olivia walking up behind Paul.
When the elevator doors shut, her body began to shake.
Stirring up trouble was precisely what Cam had warned her not to do.
Chapter 11
Tuesday, June 13 at 12:06 pm
Toni drove back to her apartment in a panic. She was still in shock at seeing Paul in person. There was no reaso
n for him to think that it was anything other than a coincidence about her being there. Still, she wondered if he would say something to Olivia.
Would that be so bad? Maybe Olivia needed to know who she was engaged to marry.
Toni pulled up to her apartment and sat in the car with the air condition running for a while so she wouldn’t suffocate in the summer heat. She didn’t like deceit. The whole point of showing her collection to Olivia was so she could share her healing process with others. She really didn’t want to lose that opportunity now. She slapped the steering wheel and turned the car off.
Once inside her apartment, she leaned her portfolio against the coffee table, dropped her bag on the floor and plopped on the couch. She sat in silence with her arms folded for several moments before glancing at her bag.
Toni reached into the side pocket and pulled out the paper Olivia had scribbled Carol Landers’s contact information on. She may need to drop the foundation opportunity for now to avoid Paul, but she still had lingering questions. Her whole intention for going to the Niles Foundation last week was to talk to Jade again. Here Toni was running into people she didn’t need to be seeing and she still hadn’t made contact with Jade.
So what was her story?
It appeared Carol Landers was the connection to Jade.
She reached back in her bag and pulled out her phone. After staring at the paper for a minute, she tapped the numbers. Toni waited as the phone rang on the other end.
“Hello.”
Toni sat up. “Hello, is this Carol Landers?”
“Yes, this is she. Can I help you?”
“I’m in need of a social media manager. Olivia Niles referred me to you.”
“Oh wow. Well certainly, if Olivia referred you, you’re good people. Olivia rarely sends me clients.”
“She said you’re really good.”
“I do what I can. What type of social media platforms are you on?”
“Facebook and Twitter, but I really need help with my Instagram. I have tons of photos that a friend helped me take and it’s just hard to remember to post them. I have a Pinterest account I started, but I never remember to update it.”
“Well, I can certainly help you with that. I manage a few Instagram and Pinterest accounts. Are you a photographer?”
“An artist. I have photos of my artwork and jewelry designs. So, how do we get started? Do we need to meet in person?”
“It’s not necessary. I do everything remotely, but I don’t have anything against meeting in person as long as you’re local. ”
“I’m in Charlotte and I’m free anytime this week.”
“Awesome. How about we meet on Friday at Park Place Mall. Let’s say 11:00 am?”
“Perfect.”
“What’s your usernames for your accounts so I can take a look?”
“All my accounts are under my name Toni with an ‘i.’ My last name is Reed. Toni Reed.”
“Okay, great. I will take a look tonight and I look forward to talking to you on Friday.”
“Sounds good. Goodbye.”
Toni hung up the phone and laid it on the table. She wasn’t sure where anything was going lately. What she did know was she had her own business to run. Even more importantly, she needed to feed her stomach. She got up, went into the kitchen and opened the fridge. Empty. She should have taken time to go to the grocery store. There was only so much eating out she could do.
After scrounging through her cabinets, she settled on peanut butter and crackers. No wonder her mom and sisters complained about her weight. She didn’t eat worth two cents.
She grabbed a water bottle. As she chomped on her crackers, she noticed her phone screen had lit up.
Who is calling me?
With a mouthful of crackers, Toni went over to the phone and picked it up. Whoever had called left a message. She didn’t recognize the phone number though.
Maybe it was Carol calling back on another number.
Toni placed another cracker in her mouth and pressed the voicemail.
She froze as she listened to the familiar voice.
“What do you think you’re doing? Haven’t you done enough to me already? Now you’re going to show up in my life again. Stay away from ‘Liv. Leave me alone!”
Paul!
His voice was tight with anger. Just like that day.
Her mouth felt like it was stuck. She forgot she’d been chewing and found herself trying to swallow. She wrenched the cap off the water bottle and guzzled the water. With shaking hands, she held onto the kitchen chair until she caught her breath. Her heart was beating so fast.
Did Paul forget? He wasn’t supposed to contact her. Just because they ran into each other today, didn’t give him the right to violate his order.
As she calmed her frazzled nerves, it occurred to her that Paul seemed awfully focused on her not having contact with his fiancée.
Did that mean Olivia was really clueless about Paul’s past?
Toni always prayed that no one else would feel Paul’s wrath. Now she wondered if there were other reasons why she had crossed paths with Olivia.
Chapter 12
Thursday, June 15 at 12:06 pm
Toni stayed to herself after getting the voicemail from Paul. If anything came of her meeting with Olivia and her foundation, maybe she would at least get a social media manager. Toni gathered her accounts and emailed them to Carol. She left the paintings sitting in the corner of the living room, although she was tempted to stick them back inside the closet again.
Her parents had returned to town late Wednesday afternoon. Determined to get out of the house on Thursday, she headed to her childhood home. There was nothing quite like sitting in her parent’s kitchen. As she watched her mom and dad banter back and forth, Toni felt the most normal she’d felt in a few days. It was good to have them back home.
“That’s the last time I’ll be getting out on the water again. My legs still feel funny.”
Toni smiled. “Dad, you’ll be fine. Your legs are adjusting to being back on land. You both looked so tanned and rested.”
Vanessa Reed smiled. “Don’t listen to him. We had a great time. I must admit I had reservations about being on a big boat and we did have a rocky ride one night, but I enjoyed myself.” She winked. “We will be doing another cruise.”
Justice Reed grinned. “She was like a wild woman. We were on the go all day and all night. I’m glad to be home and now I’m going to rest these old sea legs.”
Vanessa turned to Toni. “So, how have you been? I’m surprised I didn’t hear a peep from my baby girl while we were gone.”
Toni frowned. “Mama, I wasn’t going to bother you on your vacation.”
Her mother peered at her. “But something is bothering you. You have that look you had when you were a little girl and you were worried about something.”
Toni shook her head. It was impossible to keep anything from her mama. Still, she didn’t know if she wanted to reveal anything about last week. If anything, she wished she could just move on. “I don’t know where to start, Mama.”
“Just start with what’s on your mind or better yet what I hear about these secret paintings.”
“I guess they’re not a secret anymore. I just didn’t want to reveal them for awhile.” Toni pulled up the photos of her collection on her phone and showed them to her mom. She sat, anxiously awaiting feedback.
Her mom looked at her. Her eyes glistened. “These are beautiful. Just to think so much beauty from so much pain. It’s like that verse, “Beauty for ashes.”
“Thanks, Mama. I don’t know why I put those in the back of the closet all this time.”
“Because maybe you needed time to forgive yourself. It’s like you’ve been beating yourself up over being with that man. None of us know what we’re walking into when we start a new relationship.”
“Yeah, but you and everyone else tried to warn me. I knew there were times God gave me warning signs and I ignored them.”
“We’re all guilty of not wanting to see what’s in front of us. The point is, I think now you’re listening, really listening to God. He’s trying to draw you out so you won’t miss what He has for you. What seemed like a really bad thing is going to be for some good now.”
“I hope so. This past week has been a bit confusing.”
“You were on my mind while we were away. Not that I wasn’t thinking about my other children too, but I sensed something was going on. You ready to talk about it?”
Her mother may have been thousands of miles away, but the radar was clearly working.
Toni leaned back in the chair and crossed her arms. She’d only really shared details of her reaction to the composite with Cori. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to share everything else that had happened, but if there was anyone she usually spilled her thoughts too, it was Mama.
There weren’t too many secrets in the Reed family either.
She sighed deeply. “Okay. It all started last week when Cam asked me to draw a composite for an assault case. I’m sure he regrets asking me now.”
Her mom smiled, “I doubt Cam regrets anything that concerns you, Toni. He’s pretty protective.”
Toni rolled her eyes. “Mama, no matchmaking.”
“I’m just saying.”
“Anyway, I have probably been sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong, but I know something’s not right with this case.”
“That just means you’re a Reed. All of you have those inquisitive minds. When something is bothering any of you, you become a bit obsessed with figuring out the pieces of the puzzle.”
“Well certain pieces aren’t fitting together.” Toni paused. “You should know my first reaction to the composite after it was completed was that the face reminded me of Paul.”
Vanessa’s eyes shot up. “Paul Lambert? You’re saying he assaulted this woman. He didn’t learn?”
“Wait, hold up. Paul supposedly has an alibi, but that’s not all.”
“Oh?”
“His alibi is from his fiancée, Olivia Niles. She created the Niles Foundation.”
