Path of the Wicked

by Jennifer Stanley

  Cooper was wrong about the cat carrier. She met Nathan at Can Can’s bar, where they shared half a bottle of white wine and an artichoke-and-goat-cheese tartine. Even though it was a Sunday evening, the restaurant was packed. The café chairs set around white-clothed tables and all of the tall barstools were occupied. The noise of the boisterous diners echoed loudly throughout the eatery as the sound of laughter, clanking silverware, and raised voices bounced from the mirrored wall behind the bar to the dark wood paneling separating the dining areas, and finally roosting in the high, chandelier-covered ceiling.

  “Not really a place for quiet talks, huh?” Nathan shouted.

  “Good thing you made a reservation,” Cooper yelled in return.

  A glamorous young hostess approached the bar and made hand signs indicating that their table was ready. Cooper and Nathan were fortunate to be placed right against the front windows, where they could watch passersby whenever they needed a respite from the escalating energy within the restaurant. In turn, those strolling on the sidewalk, enjoying the refreshing late-September air and the pumpkin-glow of a full harvest moon, could pause and gaze at the entrées Nathan and Cooper had ordered. Nathan chose the Sunday special, which consisted of Salmon au Poivre accompanied by roasted root vegetables, pickled beets, and horseradish potato purée.

  “You’re welcome to my beets,” Nathan offered when his artistically displayed entrée arrived.

  “No thanks. I’m mighty pleased with mine,” Cooper said with a smile, observing the beautiful arrangement of her own dinner—grilled lamb chops with beans, roasted red peppers, olives, and garlic sausage.

  “I love a woman who drinks wine and eats red meat.” Nathan raised his wine glass in her honor.

  Nathan talked about how time-consuming his project involving Big Man Products had become and admitted that he had seriously been considering bowing out of his Saturday volunteering.

  “But after this morning, I know I’ve got to be there,” he said, laying his fork onto his plate, which had been completely cleaned with the exception of the pickled beets. “We need to get to know the other volunteers and quickly.”

  An idea came to Cooper. “Maybe we should host some kind of party and invite all of them. We don’t really have enough time to talk to one another on Saturdays.”

  “That’s a great plan! What kind of party? A potluck or something?”

  “I’ll ask my sister for suggestions. She’s the queen of organizingsocial events.”

  As the waiter removed their plates, Nathan gestured to the dessert menu. “Want to split one?”

  Cooper nodded. Although she was stuffed from her dinner as well as multiple glasses of wine, she didn’t want the evening to end. “You pick, though. I like all sweets.”

  Nathan deliberated over his choices for several moments. “How about the apple split with maple ice cream and praline sauce?”

  The dessert was smooth and rich and Cooper enjoyed every sugar-laden mouthful. Finally, their decaf coffees were drained, their table was cleared, and Nathan insisted on picking up the check. The noise level in the restaurant had dropped several decibels as though in tune with the deepening darkness beyond the front window.

  “Guess we should roll our full bellies out of here,” Nathan said and held Cooper’s chair for her as she rose.

  Outside, he took her hand in his. “There’s something different about you tonight,” Nathan whispered as they walked through the parking lot. “You’ve got this glow.”

  Throughout the meal, Cooper had been keenly aware of the silky material of her new lingerie against her skin. Every time she moved and her arm brushed against the swell of her rounder breast, she blushed, wondering whether Nathan had noticed her plumper cleavage. Wearing only a simple black dress and Grammy’s butterfly pin, Cooper had tried to sit up straight and carry herself as gracefully as possible all evening. It had been a long time since she had set out to seduce someone, but she was determined to claim Nathan Dexter as her own.

  Fortunately for her, Nathan seemed eager to take over the role of seducer. For when they reached her car, his hand suddenly grew tighter around her own. “I don’t want you to go,” he said, his voice thick with unspoken desire.

  Cooper turned and wordlessly pressed her body against his. Immediately, his arms encircled her back to pull her in even closer, and she released her breath into his open mouth. Their kiss was strong and filled with hunger. It bore no resemblance to the tender, hesitant kisses they had shared up to this point. Before Cooper knew what was happening, her hands buried themselves into Nathan’s thick hair and his lips began to travel down the side of her neck. She moaned softly.

  “Get a room!” someone yelled from the sidewalk across the street and Cooper sprang away from Nathan, her face flushed. When she realized that the voice belonged to one of two teenage boys on skateboards, she began to laugh.

  “I felt younger than those kids for a moment there,” she said as Nathan’s baritone laughter mingled with hers.

  “Why don’t you leave your truck here?” he asked her, growing immediately serious. “This lot is patrolled regularly but my car’s in a dark parking area behind the shopping center. I can always bring you back . . .” he trailed off and began to fidget with his keys.

  “In the morning?” Cooper whispered and was pleased by her own forwardness. It must have been the empty canvas of night sky, the crackle of the autumn air, and the way her blood was warmed by wine and Nathan’s touch that allowed her to speak with such confidence.

  Silently reclaiming her hand, Nathan led Cooper to a narrow alley behind the restaurant. A sense of awkwardness settled between them as they passed the rear entrances to stores and several groupings of parked cars.

  Being caught in the moment is one thing, Cooper thought. Postponing it until we can resume it in privacy feels mighty different.

  Suddenly, a dark, four-legged shape darted in front of Nathan. The animal tried to scamper up the nearest tree, but it couldn’t hold onto the bark and slid down to the bottom. Blinking at the pair of humans with frightened yellow eyes, the black kitten mewled and then slunk into the shadows created by a tower of cardboard boxes. Unable to help herself, Cooper pulled her hand free from Nathan’s and followed the kitten.

  The frightened feline had run into one of the overturned boxes. Cooper slowly knelt on the ground and peered inside the recesses of the damp box. She noticed two pairs of wide eyes staring frightfully at her from within the dark shelter.

  “Will you get the cat carrier from my truck?” Cooper laid the keys gently into his palm.

  Nathan sprinted off, returning less than a minute later with the carrier. “Do you always carry this around with you?” He stooped down next to her, breathing hard.

  “No,” Cooper whispered. “My grammy said I’d need it. She was right again.” She opened the carrier and noted that Grammy had lined the bottom with the unused grocery store circulars from the Sunday paper. “She says that all women who have widow’s peaks, which are kind of V-shaped hairlines, possess a generous helping of intuition.”

  “I take it she’s got a widow’s peak. Do you?” He peered at her in the dim orange light cast from the streetlamp at the edge of the parking lot.

  Cooper pulled back her bangs. “Guilty. Now, hold this open and get ready to close it up again quick. I think these kittens will freak out when I touch them, so I’m going to try to move as fast as I can.”

  She was right about the kittens being less than receptive about being handled. As she grabbed one by the scruff of its neck and prepared to hoist it into the air, the second one tried to shoot past her, sticking close to the side of the box. Using her free hand, Cooper pinned it down, feeling guilty about the cries of terror emitting from the tiny creatures.

  Just as she raised them over the open carrier, a man walking an enormous dog passed within a few feet of the pile of cardboard boxes. The dog spied the kittens, began to bark, and stretched his retractable leash to the limit. The kittens squirmed and
jerked in Cooper’s hands and she accidentally kicked the carrier out from under them. Panic seemed to grant the tiny cats the slippery skin of a jellyfish, and they writhed and bucked in her hands, their claws bursting from their paws and raking whatever surface they encountered. As they flailed wildly in the air, Cooper found that the only way she could avoid dropping them was to press their little bodies against her chest. Finally, the dog’s owner dragged his reluctant canine away and Cooper was able to push the kittens safely into the carrier.

  Nathan quickly closed the top and then they both sat back on their heels as the agitated meowing of the kittens echoed down the alley.

  “Are you okay?” Nathan inquired hesitantly.

  Cooper examined the scratches on her forearms and shrugged. “Yeah, thanks.”

  Nathan stared at her chest dubiously and then met her eyes, looking utterly dumbfounded. Cooper glanced down at her dress, which had been punctured by claw marks in about thirty places. Suddenly, she realized why Nathan wore an expression of complete puzzlement.

  To her horror, the contents of her water bra, which, according to its label, contained forty-five percent water and fifty-five percent body oil, was draining out over the surface of her breasts and staining her dress with a shadow of slimy moisture.

  “Um.” Nathan averted his eyes and then stated the painfully obvious. “I think you’re leaking.”

  7

  If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor,

  he too will cry out and not be answered.

  Proverbs 21:13 (NIV)

  When Cooper opened her locker at Make It Work! the following Tuesday, she was surprised to see a gift-wrapped box sitting on the top shelf. She picked up the package, taking note of the leopard-print tissue paper, the clumsy wrapping job that utilized unnecessary amounts of tape, and the handwritten note that read: For Cooper, my wildflower.

  She stared at the unfamiliar handwriting, heat prickling her neck, and then hesitantly tore the tissue paper. Examining the cellophane-covered fuchsia box, which contained a fluid ounce of Wild Orchid Musk Perfume, Cooper shook her head. Was this a surprise from Nathan? She didn’t think so, for she had seen Nathan’s handwriting in his Bible study workbooks and it was not nearly as serpentine as the messy script on the gift tag.

  “What ya got there?” Ben asked as he hung his jacket in his locker.

  Startled, Cooper attempted to shove the perfume out of sight, but Ben’s arm shot out and grabbed the pink box from her hand.

  He took a quick glance at the perfume and then smiled. “Never saw you as the Wild Orchid type,” he teased.

  Cooper blushed. “I’m not.”

  “Never thought of you as the perfume type at all,” Ben added with a smirk and Cooper couldn’t tell whether he was being playful or not.

  “And why not?” Cooper grew irritated. “Just because I don’t bathe in it doesn’t mean I don’t wear it sometimes. You wear a lot of cologne for a gym addict, by the way. Maybe you should shower more often.”

  Ben’s eyes grew dark with anger and Cooper took an uncertain step backward. She immediately regretted having uttered such a nasty retort. After all, she was the one who suspected that Ben’s wife was battling alcoholism and now, instead of being sensitive to what he was going through, she had offended him.

  “Don’t ever use that word in a sentence about me!” he snarled and Cooper knew that he was referring to the word “addict.”

  “I’m sorry.” Cooper did her best to infuse her voice with apology.

  Ben slammed his locker shut. “You’ve got no idea what an addiction is until it tears your whole life apart! I’m not the one with the addiction. I just go to the gym to get away from it!”

  “Oh, Ben. I’m truly sorry.” Cooper grabbed his arm. “I was hoping things were better for you at home.”

  Inhaling deeply, Ben looked at the floor. “They are. We’re working on it.” He ran his hands through his unruly hair. “It’s a process, though, and not an easy one. I guess I thought we could just talk to some folks and she’d be done with booze, but it’s not that simple.”

  Cooper nodded vigorously to show that she was listening carefully and that his willingness to confide in her had meaning. “I can’t imagine what you’re going through, but if you ever want to talk about it, we could grab coffee or lunch sometime.”

  “Thanks, but I’d rather just have you on stand-by, if that’s okay.” Ben shrugged. “You know, this is the only place that’s still kinda normal in my crazy life. Well, except for the addition of Ape-Man Emilio. So I’d prefer not to talk about what’s going on at home if I don’t have to. Is that cool?”

  “It’s cool.” Suddenly picturing Emilio as King Kong reaching out to grab beautiful blondes by the fistful, Cooper laughed. She slapped Ben good-humoredly on the back and collected her toolbox while he teased her about her perfume some more. After exchanging some light-hearted jibes, she wished Ben a pleasant day and then stopped by Angela’s desk for her work order before heading out to her first assignment at Wachovia Bank.

  Angela’s pencil-drawn brows were bunched together as she frowned over a work order for one of Ben’s completed jobs. “Even when that man is here he’s not all here,” she complained to Cooper and jabbed at the paper work with a red pen. “He’s called out three times in four weeks. He comes in late, leaves as early as he can, and goes to jobs without the right parts more than I’d care to mention. I can’t think of what is goin’ on in that boy’s mind!”

  Cooper stared out the front door as Ben drove by in a Make It Work! van. “We can never tell what’s happening in people’s lives after the work day’s done, can we?” she said enigmatically. “He only talks about this job and the gym, so those are the things we’re familiar with when it comes to Ben.” She added the latter phrase in order to discern whether Angela was aware of the issues Ben faced at home.

  “Well, I can tell you a thing or two more about him, like who wears the pants at his house. I’ve answered the phone when he’s callin’ in sick,” the secretary huffed. “And his wife’s got a set of lungs on her, let me assure you.”

  Disconcerted by Angela’s comment, Cooper shoved aside images of Ben’s wife as a screaming harpy and opened her toolbox. She showed her friend the bottle of Wild Orchid. “What do you think of this perfume?”

  Angela’s crimson lips curled in distaste. “Well, hon. If you wanna smell like flowers and kerosene, that’ll do the job. That’s the problem with most of them drugstore perfumes. They always come on a little too strong.” She took the box from Cooper. “Since you haven’t opened it yet, why not run back to CVS, get your money back, and get somethin’ nice from Macy’s or Dillard’s? Shoot, Bath & Body Works has a real sweet perfume called Midnight Path. It’s about twice the price as that there perfume but’ll work double the magic on your man.”

  Cooper shifted. She didn’t want to have to tell Angela how her last date with Nathan had ended, but Angela didn’t seem interested in her coworker’s love life at the moment. Running her ruby nails over her cheek, she frowned again and quickly removed a compact from her top desk drawer. After applying a layer of powder over her smooth skin, she beamed at her reflection and held out her wrist. “Smell this scent, Cooper. I’d been wearin’ warm vanilla sugar ’cause I thought Mr. Farmer had a sweet tooth and would find it irresistible, but lately I’ve taken to wearin’ wild honeysuckle instead.”

  “Why?” Cooper placed the perfume back into her toolbox.

  “ ’Cause Emilio says he likes his girls a bit unpredictable. If I’m gonna catch his attention, I’m gonna have to prove I’ve got me a wild side.”

  Cooper looked at a pile of work orders on the far side of Angela’s desk. “Is that Emilio’s handwriting?” she inquired.

  Angela grabbed the top sheet from her metal tray and stroked the meandering letters that formed Emilio’s full name. “His signature’s so manly, isn’t it?”

  Feeling slightly nauseated, Cooper nodded. The handwriting on the work order ma
tched the scrawl on her gift tag. Why had Emilio given her a bottle of perfume? What message was he trying to send her?

  “Yes, indeed. Every single thing about Emilio is manly. I bet every inch of him is red-blooded, American male.” Angela licked her lips and uttered a sigh of longing.

  It was then that Cooper became aware of the presence of their boss.

  Mr. Farmer stood in the hallway behind Angela’s desk as though he had been struck in the chest by a heavy implement and was too stunned to move. Angela, who couldn’t see him until he rounded the hallway’s corner, prattled on about Emilio’s physical attributes. In vain, Cooper tried to interrupt her, but it was too late.

  With a bowed head and a slump to his narrow shoulders, Mr. Farmer shuffled silently back to his office.

  “Penny’s got pink eye,” Lali informed the Saturday volunteers as they packed the black Door-2-Door dinner coolers for the day’s delivery. “Can anyone stay and help with her route? It’s only four stops, so one person can do it alone.”

  Nathan raised his arm in the air. “I’ll take it!” he shouted and Cooper smiled at him in admiration. She knew that he was as reluctant as she was to visit a group of strangers, but he had assisted with a route last weekend and was now taking one alone. Between the two of them, Nathan had come a lot further toward placing the needs of others above his own doubts and fears.

  Thinking about his selflessness caused something to stir inside Cooper and she found that she suddenly wanted to step out of her comfort zone. “I’ll help you with your route,” Cooper said to Brenda, who was now without a partner as Nathan had agreed to be her route partner that Saturday.

  “Thank you, sweetie!” Brenda’s voice boomed. “And here I thought you was scared!” Her enormous bosom wobbled as she chuckled. “Ain’t nothin’ to worry about from these folks, darlin’. Biggest problem on this route is Mr. Crosby, and since you ain’t wearin’ any yellow, we’ll be just fine.”

  “Yellow?”