by Velvet
“Judge Hendricks, I hope you’ll be as happy the rest of your life as you are today,” Michele said, looking cuttingly at Ariel.
“Thank you so much.” He hugged Michele. “Hey, who knows? Maybe you guys will be next to walk down that aisle.” He winked.
Ariel wanted to gag, but she just smiled politely, hoping that they wouldn’t linger longer than necessary.
“Excuse me, darlings,” Meri said, interrupting the pseudo-love fest, “but I must kiss the bride and groom.”
Ariel couldn’t have been happier to see her old friend, and she reached out and pulled Meri in closer. “Thanks for saving me. I didn’t know how much longer I could stand listening to Michele’s phony well wishes,” she whispered.
“Anytime, darling, but I need to talk to you privately. You’ve been so busy planning your wedding that we’ve missed our weekly chat sessions. And though I just witnessed you getting hitched, I’m still having a hard time wrapping my mind around everything that’s happened in the past few months,” she said softly, to keep Preston from hearing.
“Okay, just give me a minute and I’ll meet you in the back.”
WHEN ALL THE guests were seated, drinking and chatting among one another, Ariel took the opportunity to steal away.
Meri was seated alone near the rear of the room, far away from the rest of the guests. At her side was a champagne stand with a chilled bottle of Crista!; she handed Ariel a flute of bubbly when she sat down. “Lucy . . . you got some ‘splaining to do!” she sang in a Spanish accent, perfectly mimicking Ricky Ricardo.
“I know. This has been one hell of a crazy whirlwind.” She exhaled, taking a sip of champagne. “I don’t even know where to begin.”
“You can skip all the boring stuff and get right down to the nitty-gritty.” Meri scooted her chair closer and perched both elbows on the table, eagerly awaiting the juicy details.
Ariel chuckled slightly. “But of course. Well. . .” She paused and looked toward the ceiling as if recalling the events that led to this day. “You already know that Preston had a mild stroke, but what you don’t know is that the stroke short-circuited his short-term memory.”
“Are you telling me that he doesn’t remember your blatant confession of fucking his son?”
Ariel had called Meri right after she called the paramedics the night Preston collapsed. While in the waiting room, Ariel told Meri verbatim what happened minutes before Preston’s stroke. After a few hours of waiting, the doctors told them that Preston was stable and sleeping comfortably. Meri insisted that they both go home and get some rest, but when Ariel returned later that day, the doctor told her that Preston had lost his short-term memory. He said it wasn’t uncommon with the type of stroke that he had had, and that his memory would probably return in a few months, if not sooner. Ariel realized right then and there that she had a second chance with the one man in the world who truly loved her unconditionally. She couldn’t believe how stupid she had been to believe that Trey loved her. He may have loved sleeping with her, but he surely didn’t love her in the true sense of the word. Their connection was purely physical and nothing more. Ariel had let her feelings of abandonment cloud her judgment. Her mother had left her as a child, and Preston’s preoccupation with his career had brought back those same unworthy feelings. She got involved with the first person who showed her any attention, and unfortunately, that person was Trey But now the past had momentarily been erased, and she didn’t waste any time getting Preston to the altar before he regained his memory
“Fortunately for me, he doesn’t remember the last forty-eight hours prior to the stroke, but the doctor said that his memory could return at any given moment,” she said, with a sense of panic.
“What are you going to do when he remembers the events that led to his stroke?”
“Deny, deny, deny.” She laughed nervously.
Meri looked at her like she had lost her mind. “You don’t honestly think that Preston will simply take your word that none of this happened, do you?”
“It won’t only be my word.” She raised her brow.
“What do you mean?”
“Trey and Michele have both agreed to back up my story,” she said, matter-of-factly as if they were best friends sworn to a secret pact.
“What?” Meri cocked her head to one side, trying to make sense of what she had just heard.
“I know it sounds bizarre, but once Trey found out about his dad’s stroke, he came directly to the hospital from the airport. Apparently, he and Michele had gone away for a long weekend. Anyway, Preston was asleep when he arrived, so I took the opportunity to tell Trey everything that had happened—”
“What did he say?”
“At first, he was mortified that I had confessed our affair, and saddened when I told him that his dad had lost any chance of sitting on the Supreme Court because of his ownership of The Black Door. Once that information sank in, he became furious and—”
“At you?” Meri asked, interrupting.
“Thankfully no. He was furious at the senator for not recommending his dad for the nomination.”
“Why? It’s not like the senator was the man behind The Black Door. Trey was the one who ruined his dad’s chances, not the senator,” Meri said, without of any remorse for Trey.
“I know.” Ariel nodded in agreement. “That’s why Trey called in a huge favor.”
“A favor from whom?”
“Remember that guy who escorted me to the Lancaster benefit a few months ago?”
“How could I forget the good ‘doctor’?” Meri said, referring to Mason’s cover for the evening.
“Apparently, one of Mason’s clients is none other than . . .” She paused for effect. “Are you ready for this?” she asked, lowering her voice so that she wouldn’t be overheard.
Meri scooted her body closer to Ariel, “Who? Who is it? Wait, don’t tell me. Let me guess,” she said eagerly, as if she were on a game show. She thought hard for a moment, and then said, “Libby Lancaster,” referring to the millionaire matriarch.
Ariel shook her head, but before she could continue, Meri spouted out another name. “Bitsy Reynolds?”
“No, it’s not Bitsy; she’s too busy spending her husband’s money on lavish social events to be involved with The Black Door. Mason’s undercover client is none other than Angelica Oglesby,” she whispered.
“Who?” Meri knew all the New York socialites, but this name didn’t ring a bell.
“Angelica Oglesby,” she repeated. “You know, Senator Oglesby’s wife!”
Meri threw her hand to her mouth, her eyes widened with shock. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” she shrieked softly.
“No, I’m not kidding. It seems the senator’s loving wife has been busy loving Mason. Anyway, Trey used Angelica’s membership to convince the senator that it would be in his best interest to keep The Black Door under wraps and reconsider his dad for the nomination. Can you believe it?” she asked, still finding it hard to believe the story herself.
Meri exhaled. “Wow, what a story! But what happens once Preston regains his memory?”
“Well, that’s the million-dollar question,” Ariel said, with a tinge of sadness in her voice. “Hopefully, when that day comes, Preston will be a justice and he’ll be so ecstatic about finally achieving his lifelong dream that he’ll forgive me and Trey for deceiving him.”
“What about Michele? Aren’t you afraid that she’ll help Preston refresh his memory sooner rather than later?”
“She’s so happy about being with Trey that she’ll keep her mouth shut in order to keep him. Besides, working for a Supreme Court justice is much more impressive than working for a county judge, and we both know that Michele is quite the little social climber. So you see, with Trey, Michele, and me working together on the same agenda, everything should be fine . . . at least for now.” And with that said, Meri and Ariel rejoined the festivities and par-tied like everything was right with the world.
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Velvet, The Black Door
