Love After War

by Cheris Hodges

“I just checked the wire transfer and the money’s there. In other words, the answer is yes.”

  “Like I said when we talked before, this is a surprise gift for my boy, so she needs to pretend she’s happy to meet him.”

  “Look, Mr. Easterling, my girls are professionals, and they know how to provide a surprise. But if there is any kinky extras, then expect a bill.”

  “I’ll be happy to pay any additional costs,” he said as he crossed the lot to his car. Looking up, he saw a car speeding his way. Just as he was about to curse at the driver, he saw it was Dana. Hanging up the phone, he flagged her down. Adrian half expected Dana to keep going or drive over him, so when she stopped, he was shocked.

  “Are you stalking me?” she asked after rolling her window down.

  “Glad to see you in a car,” he said. “I think we should talk.”

  “I have to go to Culver City, and I’m not sure that we have anything to talk about.”

  Adrian wanted to reach inside the car and kiss her again. Wanted to tell her that they had a lot to talk about, and he had a lot to atone for.

  “Dana, this is the second time we’ve run into each other by chance. Maybe somebody upstairs wants us to work this thing out.”

  “You’re really bringing God into this?” She shook her head and rolled her eyes. “I don’t think Jesus would’ve dumped me by text message. There would’ve been a bolt of lightning or an explanation.”

  Adrian winked at Dana, then pulled a business card from his pocket. “Dana, why don’t we talk about that later?” He held the card out to her, and she looked at it as if it were the forbidden fruit that the serpent in the Garden of Eden offered to Eve. And just like Eve, she wanted to take it. However, she knew she wouldn’t be able to handle the consequences. Ignore him and this stupid heart of yours, Dana thought. Still, she took the card.

  Chapter 3

  On the drive to Culver City, Dana glanced at the business card in the passenger seat. Why had she stopped? Why had she fooled herself into believing she needed closure with Adrian?

  “Pandora’s box,” she muttered as she turned her attention back to the road. Dana knew she had to clear her mind before she dealt with Lawrence and his photo shoot. He may have been a great actor, but he was a horrible man. If she heard the words Get my good side again, she would bash him with her camera lens. Besides, the man had had so many Botox injections that his fifty-five-year-old face looked like plastic. Shaking her head, Dana decided that she was going to put her foot down and get this shoot done at a decent hour. There would be no diva attitude today, and if Lawrence and the studio didn’t adhere to her schedule, she was going to walk. After all, Imani and hottie Ian Kelly were the stars of the film, not Lawrence.

  As she pulled onto the lot of the Sony studio, she looked at Adrian’s card once again. Lifting it from the seat, she tucked it in her pocket. She needed to try this foolish notion of closure and get an explanation for why Adrian walked when he’d supposedly loved her. Granted, she had moved on, dated again, but a piece of her never allowed herself to open up and give her everything to a man.

  Her reasoning was self-preservation. Yes, it was the easy way out—the punk way. But Dana never again wanted to feel the pain that she felt after Adrian walked out of her life. Some people called it serial dating, but she didn’t care. Even if Imani had taken to calling her a New York player.

  When she walked into the studio, Dana wasn’t surprised to see that Lawrence wasn’t there but his “staff” was. Sighing, she walked over to the set and pulled out her camera.

  “Dana, glad you’re here,” Sasha Mitchell, Lawrence’s overworked and underpaid assistant, said. “L is on his way. He’s having a bad day.”

  “When is he not having a bad day?” Dana snipped as she set up her equipment.

  “That’s funny,” she replied with a nervous laugh. “Please don’t mention his hair, though.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Dana snapped. “He’s holding up this photo shoot because he’s having a bad hair day?”

  Sasha held her index finger up to her lips. “You know L is very sensitive about—”

  “Are we ready to get this over with?” a thunderous voice boomed from the doorway. Dana held back a laugh as Lawrence walked into the studio wearing an ill-fitting toupee. It was shaped like a box and reminded her of Steve Harvey’s old do, which Dana always believed was a bad toupee.

  “Good afternoon, Lawrence,” Dana said, still trying not to laugh as she got a closer look at the hair. “I’m ready when you are.”

  “I’m here, aren’t I? Where’s the little reality TV star? Aren’t you two joined at the hip or something?”

  Dana shook her head and lifted her camera to her shoulder. “Today is all about you. If you would kindly head over here to the backdrop, we can start and finish.”

  He rolled his eyes, mumbling about how every day should be about him and that without his name, this movie would head straight to DVD. As much as Dana wanted to tell him that his five scenes didn’t make him the star of the movie and that his hair was ridiculous, she didn’t. She simply held up her camera to evoke a big smile from his plastic face.

  “Wait, wait, wait,” he said after Dana had fired off a few test shots. “Make sure you get me from my best side.”

  Dana gritted her teeth and made a mental note to shoot him from his right side just on general principle. After three wardrobe changes, one straightening of the toupee, and a shouting match, the photo shoot was finally over. Dana was tired, hungry, and happy to see Lawrence go. Packing her camera equipment, she grabbed her memory card and started to stick it into her jacket pocket. That’s when she felt Adrian’s card. Pulling it out, she was tempted to toss it. But she knew she had to call him, because if she didn’t, it was going to eat away at her.

  Dana plucked her cell phone from her camera bag and dialed his number.

  “Bryant.”

  “Adrian,” Dana said, then sighed. “It’s Dana.”

  “I’m glad you called. Really didn’t think you were going to.”

  “Don’t make me regret it. What do you want?” No need to beat around the bush, she thought as she waited for his reply.

  “We need to talk. I need to talk and I hope you’ll listen,” he said.

  Dana rolled her eyes and blew into the phone. “Talk about what, Adrian? Those two women you flaunted in my face after texting me that I should move on? Or are we going to talk about how you went from loving me to being a block of ice?”

  “I know you don’t believe this, but I was trying to protect you. There was a lot going on in my life.”

  “And I was trying to support you and be there for you,” she snapped. “Don’t you think I know how much it hurt you to lose your mother? I was trying to be there for you and you shut me out as if I’d done something wrong to you.”

  “Can we talk about this at Starbucks? Better yet, the least I can do is buy you a nice dinner and show you a good time.”

  “Whatever,” she said. “Starbucks is fine.”

  “Dana. Dinner and a movie premiere is all I’m talking about,” he replied, then laughed. “Unless you—”

  “That. Is. Not. Going. To. Happen!”

  “And just what is that?”

  “If I decide to go to dinner with you, I’ll call you back. You should be thankful that I’m willing to meet you at Starbucks,” she said, then ended the call. What had she gotten herself into? Why did she fall for that closure bull? All she’d really done was open an old wound.

  Adrian glanced at his phone and smiled. Hearing Dana’s voice almost took his mind off his plans for Richmond Crawford and the call girl. Hearing her voice almost made him forget that his sole purpose in Los Angeles right now was to bring down his father and those sons of his. For that reason, he should’ve walked away and left Dana alone. He didn’t want her involved in this, and he didn’t want her to be touched by any of this family war that he was about wage. That’s why he’d ended their relationship and watched her wa
lk out of his life and go back to New York. Having her back in Los Angeles couldn’t change his plans; he wanted revenge, and he would get it no matter what. But he wanted Dana back in his life in the worst way. He wanted and needed her softness around him more than ever. He’d never loved anyone the way he loved her. He craved her touch, her kisses, and her taste. He hadn’t thought about her much while developing his plan to bring the Crawfords down, but just one kiss from her put Dana back in the forefront of his mind. How could he not yearn for this woman, though? She was sensual, independent, and sexy as hell. When he held Dana in his arms, her sweet kisses and tender touches made him feel alive and needed. How in the hell did he allow her to walk out of his life? Would he be able to convince her to fall in love with him again while he was trying to bring his family down? Would she ever forgive him for that night? Adrian hadn’t thought about the hurt he saw etched across Dana’s face that night, because thinking about it reminded him of what an asshole he’d been. Sighing, he sat on the edge of his desk and squeezed the bridge of his nose. He couldn’t get off track. Richmond, he believed, was his key to getting the inside track to the man who ruined his mother’s life, and once he had the information he needed, he’d rip Elliot’s mask right off.

  For a split second, he heard his mother telling him what he was doing was wrong. He could feel her spirit frowning down on him. If his mother made peace with Elliot abandoning them, why couldn’t he? Easy—he didn’t take kindly to people hurting his mother, and after discovering her diary, Adrian knew that Elliot had hurt his mother deeply. It was only fair that the old bastard felt some pain of his own. Even though Adrian knew one of his mother’s final wishes had been for him to get to know his father, the bitter and disappointed child in him was not going to make the effort. Why in the hell should he? Elliot never tried to know him. He strengthened his resolve and decided that his plan would go ahead.

  Leaping off the edge of the desk, he grabbed his phone and called Richmond.

  “Hello?”

  “Richmond, this is Adrian Bryant. I was just calling to confirm our meeting tonight,” he replied in an überprofessional tone.

  “Ah, Mr. Bryant, I’m not sure if I want to sit in some loud, smoky club tonight.”

  “Then you’re in luck. It’s illegal to smoke indoors here and I run lounges—not just clubs. You and your brother should come check it out.”

  “My brother and I won’t be checking out—You know what, I will meet you and check out your operation. It’s time that I put my mark on this madness,” Richmond said.

  “I’ll send a car for you,” Adrian said, pumping his fist happily.

  “Wow, very classy of you.”

  Adrian gripped his phone and swallowed a caustic reply. “I run a very classy organization,” he replied, deciding that having Richmond set up with the call girl was for the best because he was a pompous jackass.

  After hanging up with his brother, Adrian called the car company and gave them instructions to pick up Richmond and the call girl he’d hired. He wanted the woman in the car before Richmond. Once he’d given the instructions to the driver, Adrian grinned, thinking that tonight would be an evening Richmond would never forget.

  “Hello,” Imani said, snapping her fingers in front of Dana’s face. “Are you listening?”

  “What?” Dana asked as she looked up at her friend.

  “All right, Dana, what’s going on with you? You’ve been acting strange since Raymond and I got here.”

  Dana sighed and lifted her half-empty coffee cup to her lips. “I’m just a little preoccupied with work.”

  “Not buying it. What’s really going on?” Raymond asked as he shared a piece of pecan pie with his wife. Dana grinned at the couple. Raymond had become like a brother to her, and maybe he could offer some advice from a male’s point of view. Setting her coffee cup on the table, she looked up at Raymond and said, “Tell me what you think about this.”

  “Okay,” Raymond said, then took a sip of his coffee. Imani rolled her eyes.

  “Remember when Imani filmed that movie with Bradley Cooper and I came out here with her? I met someone.”

  “I figured as much,” Raymond said. “My wife was really sad when you didn’t come back to New York.”

  “She should’ve come back,” Imani mumbled.

  “Hush,” Dana said. “I’m talking to Raymond. Anyway, things didn’t work out. It was like one day we were in love and the next day I got a text message saying it was over.”

  “That’s cold as hell,” Raymond said as he shook his head.

  “Tell me about it. I knew he was hurting after his mother’s death, but I didn’t think he’d lash out at me, because all I’d done was be there for him.”

  “Not to defend him, but some people deal with grief by hurting the people closest to them,” Raymond said. “I’ve been guilty of that.”

  “At least you had the good sense to apologize immediately,” Imani said.

  Dana flashed her a look informing her to be quiet as Raymond stroked the back of Imani’s hand.

  “Well, it’s been two years but who did I run into twice in the last few days? Adrian.”

  “What did he have to say for himself ?” Raymond asked.

  “That we should talk. I mean, why now?” Dana sighed and toyed with her coffee cup.

  “It takes some men a long time to realize that they made a big mistake. Maybe you should hear him out and see where his head is,” Raymond said.

  “Absolutely not!” Imani exclaimed. “That’s the worst advice you could give her.”

  “Drama queen,” Dana said, causing Raymond to snicker.

  “Imani,” Raymond said. “If they keep running into each other, then maybe—”

  “He’s stalking her?”

  “Imani,” Dana said. “You really should switch to decaf.”

  “If I’d been the asshole to dump you through a text message but had a chance to right the wrong and possibly get forgiveness, I’d try it as well. What could talking to him hurt?”

  My heart, my soul? she thought as she picked up her cup again.

  “Dana,” Imani said. “I wouldn’t do it. If anything, you should text him and tell him where he can go and how to get there.”

  Raymond kissed Imani’s cheek. “I wonder about you sometimes,” he said.

  Dana was wondering as well, wondering if she should call him back and agree to dinner. Yes, she owed it to herself to find out why he’d been so cold and ended their relationship. But did she want to rip the old scab off an old wound? Her mind wandered back to that night.

  Dana waited outside Adrian’s penthouse, wanting—no, needing—an explanation of his text message. Just as she pulled out the phone to read the three-line message again, she heard the ding of the elevator and the laughter. Those were female voices and Adrian’s.

  “And you have a rooftop pool?” one of the voices cooed.

  “Can we skinny-dip?” another asked.

  Dana gritted her teeth as she saw them turn the corner. Adrian was flanked by two half-naked broads, one of whom was actually unzipping his slacks.

  “What is this?” Dana demanded, wishing there was something in reach to hurl at him. This son of a . . .”

  “Dana?” he asked, pushing Thing One’s hand away. “What are you doing here?”

  She shook her head, refusing to let the tears burning in her eyes drop. “Getting the answers I need.”

  “Didn’t you get my text?” he asked.

  Crossing over to him, she slapped his smooth cheek with all the fury inside her. “Damn you.”

  Adrian rubbed his face and snorted. “Look, I told you to move on. As you can clearly see, I have.”

  “And to think I was concerned about you because your mother passed away. I thought . . . Never mind. Enjoy your whores.”

  “Just who are you talking to?” one of the women shouted.

  “Stalker,” the other called out.

  “Stop it,” Adrian said, and nodded toward the doo
r. “I’ll handle this.” He gripped Dana’s elbow and whispered in her ear, “I was trying to protect you.”

  She smiled sardonically, thinking that all she’d done was love him, support him, and hurt for him as he watched his mother die. Dana swiftly kneed him in the family jewels. “Maybe one of those bitches will kiss it and make it better,” she snapped, then dashed to the elevator.

  She couldn’t wait to get away from Adrian, Los Angeles, and everything else that reminded her of his trifling ass. She was going back to New York City.

  Imani watched her friend in breathless disbelief. “I don’t get it. If he dropkicked your heart like that, then why do you want to talk to him at all? This is the one time when I’m going to tell you, don’t listen to him.” She threw her thumb in Raymond’s direction.

  “So, this is the thanks I get for taking time off from work and flying halfway across the country to be with you and you’re telling folks not to listen to me. Maybe I should—”

  “Lean over here and give me a kiss, Dr. Thomas.”

  “Hello!” Dana exclaimed as the couple shared a kiss. “I’m still here, sitting at this table with you two. No one wants to witness your PDA anymore.”

  Imani rolled her eyes at Dana and Raymond while they laughed. “I don’t think either of you are funny. But I will say this—if you do have dinner with him, make sure you go someplace expensive and order caviar.”

  “Why would I do that? I don’t even like caviar.”

  “I know. Just order it and throw it in his face.”

  “That’s cold, babe,” Raymond said.

  Dana shook her head as she rose from the table. “And on that note, I’m out. I have pictures to edit. Thanks for listening, Raymond.”

  He smiled and stood to give her a brotherly hug. “Anytime, and don’t follow your friend’s advice. Tossing caviar at people is never a good idea.”

  “I heard that,” Imani shot back.

  Dana laughed, then headed for the door. Imani quickly caught up with her friend. “You know, if you simply want a dinner date, I could make that happen for you.”