by Donna Hill
“Impressive.”
Ms. Daniels led them back inside. “The first floor has the classrooms. No more than ten students per class.”
“I imagine that you have an incredibly long waiting list.”
She gave a short chuckle. “Long fails to describe it. Unfortunately ninety percent of families that apply will never get in. Not because we don’t want them, but we don’t have the room or the staff.”
Alexis blew out a frustrated sigh.
“Down here is our creative arts department. We do everything with the children from music and dance classes, drawing, pottery making, to singing. Our reading and movie room is over here.” They peeked in through the half glass door. “During the week each of the classes come in and listen to a reading by a teacher or a guest, or they can read a book out loud from something that they have selected from the library, or they can create their own stories as a group. On Friday, we have movie day, complete with popcorn.”
They walked to the end of the hall and took the stairs up one flight. “Here are the more formal classrooms.”
Each of the ten rooms had Smart Boards and computer stations. There were images being flashed on the board while the teacher spoke to her enthralled students.
“We all have breakfast and lunch together in the school cafeteria in the basement. And they have an afternoon snack, usually fruit.”
“Where was this school when I was growing up?” Alexis said.
Ms. Daniels laughed. “I know what you mean. I feel the same way.” They returned to her office.
“I am beyond impressed,” Alexis said. “It’s one thing to see it on paper but it’s quite another to witness it first hand.”
“Mr. Stone’s vision is our vision, Ms. Montgomery. Anyone who is a part of this mission understands that and so do the parents. Parent participation is part of our success. We insist on parent engagement. Attendance at the quarterly PTA meetings is a must. Volunteering, donating, sitting in on classes...parents are involved.”
Alexis nodded. “So, with all that being said, what do you need? What more would you like to see here?”
“I wouldn’t necessarily want to see more students in our building. That would greatly impact our effectiveness, unless we expand with more space and more teachers. What I would like to see is another school like this one in the community. There are so many needy kids out there.”
Alexis stood and extended her hand. “Thank you so much for your time, Ms. Daniels. You are doing an incredible job here. These children are very lucky.”
* * *
Alexis’s trip uptown to Harlem took about forty minutes, but the ride on the fabled A train was worth every minute of it. She couldn’t help but wonder why the train was so crowded in the middle of the afternoon. Where in the world was everyone going?
She arrived at R.E.A.L. Harlem on One Hundred Twentieth and Amsterdam blocks from Columbia University. This location was middle school through grade twelve. It was a former six-story turn-of-the-century apartment building that had been renovated, and was the first “green” school building in the area.
This was a far cry from anything she’d ever seen before in terms of setup and design for a school. It looked more like a think tank for Apple or Google. There were a row of classrooms along one wall. It was an open floor plan concept, in what would have otherwise been the wide hallway, with beanbag seating, overstuffed pillows, circular chairs and low tables. Young people were everywhere in the open space, engaged in a variety of projects, listening to lectures in small conversational groups, studying or working at computer stations.
The head of school, Mr. Fleming, gave her a tour of the six floors, which included classrooms, more open seating, two cafeterias, labs, a gym, a state-of-the-art theater, and a video and audio editing suite. There was a maximum student body of 350. Since the school had opened, its first and only graduating class to date had all received either partial or full scholarships to some of the best colleges in the nation, and the next graduating class was on track to do the same.
Mr. Fleming attributed the success of the school to small class size, committed teachers and parents, and innovation in teaching.
When Alexis left and was returned home she was more committed than ever to ensuring that Graham’s vision was realized.
Seeing what she saw and knowing more now than she knew before, and understanding that all of this brilliance was the brainchild of one man was such a serious turn-on she couldn’t wait to get home, take her clothes off for him and get wrapped up in his arms. Brilliance and caring for others—especially young people—was a crazy aphrodisiac for her. There was nothing hotter than a sexy man with brains and a good heart.
Chapter 16
“When are you heading back out of town?” Graham asked. He picked up his mug of beer and took a swallow. The hum of conversation at the local after-work bar buzzed around them.
“Looks like the end of the week. I’ll be going to D.C. for a few days and then out to Phoenix for a conference. Then I’ll be back.” Blake scooped up some peanuts from the bowl, tossed his head back and dropped them in. He chewed thoughtfully. “I’m probably going to slow down a bit on the traveling.”
Graham angled his head toward his friend. “Oh, yeah, why?”
Blake was a bit slow to answer. “If she’ll have me, I plan to ask Sydni to marry me. Not right away. But soon.”
Graham nearly spilled his beer. “Whoa! What?”
Blake chuckled a bit from nerves and relief after actually having said the words out loud.
“I had no idea it was like that with you and Sydni. I mean I know you two were kind of seeing each other but...damn, man, you sure can keep a secret.”
“It kind of hit me like that, too. I mean we’ve been seeing each other off and on for about a year now. But we are never in one place long enough to make a real go of it.”
Graham hummed in agreement.
“I’ve been thinking about it for a while. In the end I always arrive at the same place. I want to be with her.”
“Be with her enough that you want to spend the rest of your life with her or be with her enough to get through a full week together?”
“Very funny.”
“But very real. The day to day is a whole different ball game. You two don’t even live in the same city.”
Blake nodded his head. “Which is the reason why I’m moving to New Orleans at the end of the month.”
Graham’s eyes widened. He opened his mouth but no words came out.
“It’s the first step. I know it seems out of the blue but, yeah, I do want to be sure. The first step is to at least be in the same city. My job is mobile. She is second in line at her father’s company with headquarters in Louisiana. I couldn’t ask her to leave. I wouldn’t.”
Graham didn’t know what to say. He was still trying to process the idea that his mate was planning on getting married, and now the added surprise of his moving out of New York. “So you haven’t asked her yet,” he said, finally finding his voice.
Blake shook his head, no.
“How do you know she will even say yes?”
“I don’t. But I know that I’m in love with her, man, and that she loves me and if we had a chance we could make it work. I’m willing to take that chance.”
Graham was silent for a moment. “I hear you, brotha.” He shook his head and grinned. “I never thought I’d hear those words come out of your mouth. She must be some kind of special to get the kid to slow down.”
Blake laughed. “No one could be more surprised than me. I wake up and all I think about is talking to her, seeing her. I wonder what she’s doing during the day...”
Graham listened mildly amused as his good buddy waxed poetic about his feelings for Sydni even as his gut slowly began to twist. He’d experienced those same feelings about A
lexis. His jaw clenched. But that was different. That wasn’t love, it was sex. Good sex and nothing more. And good sex didn’t translate into love and marriage. Besides, he wasn’t the marrying kind. There wasn’t a woman out there that would ever be able to fill all the holes that had been dug out of his heart and soul. Not even Alexis Montgomery.
* * *
So that night and all the nights that followed, even while he moved deep inside her and listened to her cry out his name and felt overcome with something he couldn’t put a name to, he kept reminding himself it was only good sex and nothing more.
* * *
“I have to go to L.A. for a few days,” Graham said as they jogged along First Avenue.
“Yes, I saw it on your schedule.”
They turned the corner onto their street.
“I was hoping you’d come with me.”
Her heart jumped and not from running. She took a quick glance at him. The conversation that she’d had with Claire weeks earlier played back in her head. She was building a strong rapport with her staff. Although Tracy remained stiff and aloof, they were at least cordial. The last thing she needed at this important crossroads in her position with the company was for rumors to start flying. She would lose all credibility and without her self-respect she would have nothing.
“I’d love to,” she said as they came to a slow stop in front of 10 Sutton. “But I can’t. Or rather, I won’t.”
Glen opened the front door and they walked in wiping their faces with the towels that they had hanging around their necks.
Graham literally stabbed the elevator button. He waited until the doors had closed behind them. He turned to her. “Why won’t you?”
She looked up at him and for an instant she couldn’t remember why she wouldn’t go with him anywhere he wanted. “Graham, it’s the middle of the week. When you’re not there, I’m the next one in line. There would be no good reason for the both of us to go. It would only give the staff something to talk about and I don’t want that.”
He placed his hand on her waist. “We were together in D.C.,” he said, his eyes darkening with the lusty memories.
“D.C. was different. This trip isn’t even business related. You’re taking some vacation days for a naval reunion.”
“No one has to know that we’re going together.”
She tilted her head to the side and gave him an “oh really” look.
He chuckled. “All right, all right, I get it. Not this time but next time.” The doors opened on her floor. “I’ll be down in about an hour. I have some calls to make first.”
“Sure.” She kissed him lightly on the lips and stepped off the elevator.
As she stood under the beat of the shower she wondered again for the countless time what she was doing being involved with Graham. She was in a relationship that she couldn’t talk about to anyone other than her closest friend. She couldn’t really be seen with her lover in public. He didn’t seem as if he had any intention of it becoming anything more than what it was. Where was it all going? And why was she still in it? She had a sinking feeling that it was all going to explode all over the both of them and not in a good way.
The question, why am I still in it, played in the background of her thoughts, even as she wrapped her legs around Graham’s back and raised her pelvis to meet his demanding thrusts and listened to him whisper in her ear about how good she made him feel, that he didn’t want anyone else, how beautiful and important she was, while his body emptied into hers and shuddered with release, and they held each other and kissed and laughed and talked well into the night; that is why, she reasoned as the sun began to rise over the Manhattan skyline and she studied the outline of his body beneath her sheets. She’d rather be with Graham, under whatever circumstances they could manage, than to be with anyone else.
* * *
The three days and then the weekend that Graham was in California were the longest five days of Alexis’s life. The office seemed to have lost its sparkle without his presence. She lost count of how often she would check her cell phone during the day for any messages from him and how her heart would sing when there were. But her nights were the most unbearable. Loneliness couldn’t begin to describe how she felt as she tossed and turned in her big empty bed.
Her only ray of sunshine was that she’d planned to visit Naomi in Virginia for the Fourth of July holiday. Planning for her mini-getaway and seeing her goddaughter for the first time in months was just the medicine she needed to purge Graham, temporarily, out of her system.
* * *
“I’m going to fly down. It’s an hour flight and although I love taking the train, I don’t want half of my time away to be taken up by traveling.”
“Makes sense. Getting away will do you good,” Graham said, over the roar of loud male laughter in the background.
“Sounds like you’re having a ball.”
He laughed. “These guys are crazy. But it’s great to see everyone,” he shouted over the noise. “I miss you.”
Her heart nearly stopped. She wasn’t sure she’d heard him with all of the whooping and hollering in the background. Someone was calling him in all the chaos of sound. “What did you say?”
“Gotta go, luv, duty calls. I’ll try to catch you before you leave.”
“Sure. Enjoy.”
“You, too.”
The call disconnected. Slowly she put the cell phone down on the bed. Maybe she’d only imagined that he’d said that he missed her. In the months that they’d been seeing each other they’d never shared any words of commitment or intent. So maybe she simply needed to hear something so badly that she only imagined that she heard him say that he missed her. Her eyes stung for a moment. This was why this relationship was so very wrong. She pounded her fist into the mattress.
Chapter 17
“I cannot believe how big this baby has gotten,” Alexis said as she marveled at her goddaughter. “You used to be a little chicken nugget, a chicken nugget,” she repeated in that voice that adults take on when they talked to infants. She nibbled on her toes, which brought on heart-warming baby laughter.
“Four months has flown by,” Naomi said. “I see her every day and I can’t believe how much she grows and changes in the blink of an eye.”
The two friends sat out on Naomi’s back porch taking in the warming rays of the fading sun. As soon as the sun was down the fireworks display would begin in earnest. In the distance one could hear the pop of firecrackers and see the intermittent bursts of color that would shoot toward the heavens.
Alexis leaned back in her chair and quietly sipped on her glass of iced tea.
“You know I love you, right?”
Alexis blinked and turned her attention to Naomi. “Yeah, girl, and right back at ya.”
“And you know I love having you here.”
Alexis slowly put her glass down on the circular table that separated them. “Yes,” she said warily.
“You want to tell me the real reason why you’re here and not with Graham on a long holiday weekend?”
Her stomach rose and fell. “It’s a long uninteresting story.”
“I’m interested and we have plenty of time. What’s going on?”
Alexis looked away. She pushed out a long sigh. “Outside of the bedroom our relationship doesn’t exist,” she finally said and the out-loud admission shook her to her core.
Naomi was quiet for a while. “Do you really believe that?” she gently asked.
Alexis’s throat was on fire. Her eyes clouded with water. “It’s true. We are never seen in public together unless it’s business. We jog together in the evening but that’s about it. We’ve never been on a date. We don’t hold hands. We can’t acknowledge our relationship at work.” She bit down on the inside of her bottom lip to keep it from trembling. “This i
sn’t me, Naomi.” She turned pained eyes on her friend. “I’m not used to living in the shadows. I feel like a mistress or worse a ‘side piece.’”
“Aw, Lexi, you know better than that.”
“Do I? I don’t know what I know when it comes to him that’s the problem.”
“I’m going to ask you something and you’re not going to like it but I need you to answer me. Why are you in a relationship that doesn’t reflect you being treated like the amazing woman that you are? Are you afraid that if you tell him how you feel, you’ll lose him?”
Her throat worked up and down. She blinked away the water in her eyes. “Yes,” she finally managed.
“If you didn’t care about him it wouldn’t matter if you lost him or not,” Naomi said, softly. “Would it?” The wise words hit Alexis right between the eyes.
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that maybe it’s time that you admit how you really feel about him and tell him. Put your cards on the table. It’s the only way you’ll ever know if he’s worth it.”
“Listen to you giving me advice,” she playfully chastised, “Ms. Pretending-to-be-someone-else. Where did you tell Brice you worked when you met? What did you tell him you did for a living?”
Naomi huffed. “Now, you know that was a whole different ball game. Besides, if I remember correctly that whole ruse was your brilliant idea. And it wasn’t until he knew the truth that we were able to have a real relationship.”
“That man was crazy about you. He wouldn’t have cared if you told him you were a circus clown. He would have still been all over you.”
Naomi giggled. “Don’t try to change the subject,” she said, wagging a finger at Alexis. “How do you feel about him?” she asked softly.
Alexis looked at her friend from beneath her lashes. She gazed up at the heavens and slowly shook her head. “Hooked. I can’t breathe when I think about him. I can barely get through my days until it’s time to see him at night. My insides feel all gooey whenever I hear his name or when he walks into a room.” She scrunched up her face. “And did I ever tell you that I have to keep extra panties in my desk drawer?” Naomi bit back a laugh. “I feel like I was tossed out to sea without a life raft whenever we don’t spend the night in the same bed. I live for our moments together.” She released a breath. “It sounds crazy.”
