She hadn't forgotten her baby obsession, obviously; she had Yuri describing every single detail about what was going on with the baby. If the waiter hadn't interrupted them and taken Yuri and Reuben's orders, they would have happily talked baby for the next few minutes.
Slater was left with a suspicious feeling about Amoy. What if Amoy was befriending him, humoring him, talking about his sexual relationships, vetting him because she still wanted that baby and he was still a candidate? This would be like a job interview and he was falling for it like a chump.
"I was going to stop by your office today, Amoy," Reuben said before Amoy and Yuri could go back into their baby talk.
"Oh," Amoy said, focusing her attention on Reuben. She did it so easily too, like something she practiced, giving people her full attention, making them like her even more, trapping them in her web.
Slater struggled not to narrow his eyes while he watched her suspiciously.
"I am getting married in a month—when Zack and Terri get back from Janna. Apparently, I can't get married without Terri being around. Lola won't have it and my aunt and uncle think I should never commit such a cardinal sin. I wanted to drop off the invite for you."
"Ah, thank you for inviting me, Reuben." Amoy grinned. "It will be my delight to visit Treasure Beach again. I am assuming that is where the wedding will be?"
"Oh yes," Reuben nodded, "at sunset, Lola's choice."
"Treasure Beach?" Slater looked between Reuben and Yuri. "That's where Lovers Leap is, isn't it?"
"Not quite but near there. I actually live very close to there." Reuben grinned. "At least, I have the same view. The reception will be in my backyard."
"Am I allowed a plus one?" Amoy asked Reuben.
"Yes, definitely." Reuben grinned.
"Well, that's you, Slater." Amoy grinned at him.
Slater forced a smile. Was she planning to seduce him there so that she could have her precious baby?
Yuri glanced at his watch. "I have a meeting shortly. I have to go. Take care, guys. Slater, it was nice to meet you. Amoy, I am sure we'll see each other shortly somewhere. Ru, I don't know any musicians, I could ask around but I have this meeting..."
"Go," Reuben said. "I know where your office building is. I can come and get my car."
Yuri nodded and left them.
Reuben turned to Amoy and Slater. "I am really up here to support a group from my church who is supposed to be recording a quartet. Their musician is MIA; he told them that he would meet them at the studio at eleven but he didn't show. They'll be so disappointed that they couldn't record today. You should hear them; they are really good."
"I am sure they are." Amoy looked at her watch. "I too have a meeting. I should get going. I didn't realize how the time had gotten away from us."
"Wait, I'll walk you back," Slater offered.
"No," Amoy smiled, "I am fine. It was not a long walk."
She left him at the table with Reuben.
He studied Reuben for a minute. "I can help your friends out. I am a musician. I play a few instruments, so if you need help, I get off work at four."
"Cool, thanks." Reuben grinned. "Yes, I will very graciously accept the offer. Thank you, Slater. Now this is divine intervention."
*****
Slater agreed to meet Reuben at the Palm Studios at four-fifteen. And when he got there, Reuben was sitting in the lobby with four nervous-looking young people.
"Ah guys," Reuben stood up when he entered the building, "this is Slater, er..."
Slater shrugged, "Just Slater."
"And these are the Raymonds. Kai, Kevon, Kevina and Kerona. Four siblings from my church choir."
Slater nodded to them. "The K's--so how may I help?"
"You two could be brothers," Kai said, looking between Reuben and Slater.
Reuben chuckled. "Okay then."
"I don't think so," Kevon said, adjusting his glasses. "The only similarity is that you are both the same height. You both have that shade eye; his," he pointed to Slater, "is a little darker than yours." He pointed to Reuben. "You both have that little cleft in your chin. You both have the same frown. Apart from that, there is nothing remarkably alike with you two."
"Brother Reuben looks better," Kerona said loyally.
"Nah," Kevina batted her eyeslashes at Slater. "Just…Slater looks better, like a Calvin Klein model."
"To the studio, all of you," Reuben shook his head at Kevina, "and say a prayer before you start singing to have the Lord…cure you of lustful thoughts."
Kevina laughed. "But he'll be right there playing. I'll be seeing him and I wasn't lustful, just observant."
"Move it," Reuben urged them.
Slater chuckled when the young people left the lobby. "I played at the Lee Chang wedding and Amoy's grandmother said we resembled too. I didn't know who she was talking about when she told me, but now I know. Your father has a lot to answer for. You should ask him if he had a stop in the ghettos in Kingston twenty-six years ago."
He had meant it as a joke but Reuben didn't laugh. He was staring at Slater in a brooding and uncomfortably long way.
"It was a joke." Slater shrugged. "I am sure your father is an upstanding Christian fellow who would never cheat on your mom. I am sorry!"
Reuben laughed. He was laughing so hard he had to wipe tears from his eyes.
"Sorry." He looked at Slater, who was standing there completely missing the joke. "My father and my mother were never married. It's a long story but needless to say, I dont know him. I heard he was a womanizer though. It's possible that as you said, he has a lot to answer for."
"Oh," Slater smiled. "Now I get it."
"What about you?" Reuben walked toward the studio door. "Where are your parents?"
"My mom is dead. My dad was a deadbeat like yours. I never knew him either."
"But you survived it." Reuben looked at him warmly. "Like I did."
"Yes." Slater nodded. "I did. So let's go play some music."
"Yeah." Reuben nodded. "Don't worry about the whole resemblance thing, okay? My fiancé looks a lot like my cousin and they are not related. We did a DNA test to rule her out as being family; that was how much they look alike."
"Weird," Slater said, "really weird."
"You'll see when you come to the wedding," Reuben murmured. "Do you play the sax?"
"Yes, pretty well. My second favorite instrument."
Reuben grinned. "I hope this is not an imposition, but can you play at my wedding?"
"Sure." Slater shrugged. "No imposition. I can do it."
"Great." Reuben grinned. "Lola will be surprised."
"Looking forward to helping you surprise her, then," Slater said. "Your family sounds like a fun bunch of people. The way you and Yuri spoke about them at lunch, it seems like there are a lot of you too. You are a lucky man. Blessed."
Reuben nodded. "Having them is a huge blessing. I intend to follow their example and not my dad's."
Slater frowned, remembering Amoy's animated baby talk at lunch. "I don't want children. My examples were less than perfect."
Reuben raised an eyebrow. "But you were on a date with Amoy Gardener..."
"So the whole world knows that she has this children thing?" Slater groaned.
"Not the whole world." Reuben lowered his voice as they approached the studio doors. "I know because she has a bit of history with my family, that's all, and she's not exactly hiding it. Does she know that you don't want children?"
"No." Slater sighed. "But maybe I should tell her."
"Maybe you should." Reuben nodded and pushed open the studio doors. "And soon."
Chapter Twelve
"These days you've been smiling wider, looking less grouchy," Lydia said as soon as Amoy entered the lobby.
Amoy grinned. "Stop fishing about my life, Lydia."
"At least tell me how it is going with your delivery guy. I can't be entertained if you conduct your romance away from the office."
Amoy grinned. "Ah, t
oo bad."
She walked toward her office and Debbie accosted her. "Your mother is in your office. And word in the corridors is that you are dating a certain blue collar worker."
"Word travels fast, doesn't it?" Amoy said nonchalantly.
"I can't believe you didn't tell me; you tell me about everybody else." Debbie shook her head. "I had to find out from your father's secretary, Constance, that you are dating this guy. She says your father finds your latest news about your love life really funny."
"Hold on," Amoy frowned, "why would Constance—? Know what... never mind."
"They are betting about you and Slater. Harrison's secretary Julianne is the one taking bets. The pot is getting bigger. Some people are saying that you wouldn't last a week with him but apparently it's going on for two weeks, so this is looking like a serious moneymaker."
"For the love of all that's holy." Amoy stopped walking. "Are you serious? This is an office thing?"
"Yup." Debbie clutched the files closer to her. "All the partners, Willis, Harrison, Lincoln, Beauforth, Douglas and Maiz, find this hilariously funny. There is a rumor going around that the delivery guy is much younger than you."
"So they think I am desperate?" Amoy raised an eyebrow. "Is that it?"
"I don't know." Debbie pointed out with a hurt expression on her face, "You don't tell me anything. They say he is so poor, he rides a bicycle and is a handyman on the side," Debbie continued blithely, "and that he is one of your students in your adult learning classes."
"Where'd they get this from?" Amoy stopped walking.
"Again, I don't know," Debbie said eying her boss and friend warily. "Definitely not from me. Is this a sex thing, scratching an itch, or it serious?"
Amoy exhaled. "No sex, we talk on the phone. We go to lunch at Cassandra's. He's entertaining and sweet and I am acting like I have a schoolgirl crush, and maybe this is just a phase but I haven't felt like this in forever."
"He's younger than you," Debbie hissed. "I can't get over that part. The poor part, yes. The young, handsome part makes me squeamish."
"He is not a player. He is a levelheaded and serious guy. I am not his sugar mommy and I like him a lot." Amoy sighed. "And frankly, I am finding that I don't care what anyone thinks about him.
"He has a learning disability, yes, but he is not dumb. He comes from really humble roots but he is making an honest living, a lot more honest than some of us white collar folks, and he is handsome and sexy as hell.
"Please convey to the rumor mill that I, Amoy Lee Chang Gardener, am really smitten with the delivery guy and I don't care what anybody in this building thinks. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to repeat the same thing to my mother."
She opened the door to see Sharon Baker Lee Chang sitting in her chair and sipping tea from her attorney-at-law mug.
She put down the mug with a click. "Really, Amoy. I am not here because of the fact that he is a delivery guy. I am shocked that you think so little of me."
So she had heard her through the door.
Amoy sighed. Her mother was in a militant mood.
"My parents scrimped and saved to put me through law school. My mother was a household helper at one point in her life; my father sold fruits in the downtown market. I am from humble beginnings. I am not class conscious in the least.
"I am here about this whole having a baby outside of wedlock and not wanting the father's involvement business that Eugenia told my mother about. Call me old fashioned. Call me outdated. Call me whatever but this is not how we conduct our family affairs."
She was giving Amoy the frosty look. Sharon never gave her the frosty look unless she was really angry. Her dark eyes were flashing in her narrow, elegant face.
This morning she was flawlessly made up in her bronze cosmetics to suit her dark brown skin which was still looking dewy and fresh, even in her late fifties.
Amoy closed the door and then closed her eyes. "I was quite cheerful today. I spent an hour on the phone last night with Slater just talking; I went to sleep with a smile on my face. I woke up and now I am swamped with my personal business being the topic of conversation everywhere."
Sharon harrumphed. "Just assure me that you really were going through a mad phase and I will leave you to your happy day."
"I was serious about it." Amoy sat opposite her mother. "And may I remind you that I am a big girl. I make my own decisions."
Sharon squinted her eyes. "So you are going on the defensive. Quite a novel tactic there, Miss Gardener. I have never heard you use it before in all your years of growing up."
"Mom, come on." Amoy sighed. "It's first thing in the morning."
"Are you using this guy to give you a baby?" Sharon asked as she calmly and deliberately folded the napkin beside her tea cup.
"I did ask him." Amoy grimaced. "He said no. But I like him and we are seeing each other currently. Does that answer your nosy question?"
"Well," Sharon got up, "sort of. Now I am very curious about this guy. What's his name?"
"Slater. "
Sharon shuddered. "Sounds like slaughter."
"Mom, respectfully, please leave my office. I will be taking Slater to Sunday brunch this week. Please be nice to him."
"I will be nice." Sharon threatened, "But if what I hear about this guy is true, that he is young, broke and can't read, then prepare him for your father."
Amoy frowned. "Grandma Baker will be there. Dad is always nice around her."
Sharon chuckled. "Your granny canceled for this Sunday, if that was what you were banking on. Sorry."
*****
Slater checked his appearance for the fortieth time. He was going to lunch with Amoy and her family. What was that word in Noah Ess' book again—bourgeoisie. They were bourgeoisie.
An impossible to pronounce word. It didn't sound like it looked in the book and it had in so many unnecessary letters. But he knew what it meant—upper class.
He was going to dine with them. He was grateful now for Edwin's insistence that he know which knife and fork to use and all of the other proper stuff. Edwin had drilled him like a soldier, ensuring that he knew all the basics of formal dining.
So he wasn't concerned about that. He wasn't even concerned about his clothes, basic black pants and a striped black and white polo shirt. He looked semi-casual enough; surely nobody would be pointing him out as coming from the wrong side of the fence, like they did with John in Noah Ess' book, Wrong Side of the Fence.
The male protagonist, John, had the audacity to show up at the big house still dressed in his dirty clothes to ask the father for his daughter's hand. He was doing nothing of the sort.
Amoy had him on a trial relationship because they were so different. And maybe the most striking difference between them, above their socioeconomic differences, was the fact that she wanted children badly and he didn't.
He knew as soon as he told her that he wasn't enthusiastic about children that this would be the shortest trial relationship on record, but he would still show up at her parents’ Sunday brunch.
He expected to be hit over the head with their wealth and breeding. He expected to feel like an outcast. He was preparing himself for it.
He glanced at his watch. Amoy should be here any minute now. She had insisted on picking him up, probably very curious about where he lived.
He had given her clear directions to Mrs. Perry's house. He went to the front door and checked outside. She was just driving up. He wondered if he should let her in or if he should go out to meet her. In the end he chose to go out to her. She wound down the window and smiled.
As usual, that smile got him. Seeing Amoy always messed with his head. He was a levelheaded thinker when he was apart from her but when he saw her he forgot things like the fact that he had no business doing a trial relationship with her in the first place.
"Hey," Amoy looked around, "nice place."
"Thank you on behalf of Mrs. Perry. Her husband built the place for her after their sixth child. They needed m
ore space and..." He realized he was babbling. "Sorry."
Amoy grinned. "You look good today."
"So do you. You look nice and sunshiny."
"Yeah. I am going to need to be sunshiny after our trip to the lion's den."
"It's that bad?" Slater shook his head. "Now I am nervous."
"Don't be. It’s just that my dad can be a little bit on the tough side. He is a very good lawyer and he practices at home, just remember that."
Slater realized as soon as they drove up into the palm-lined driveway and entered the heavy oak door that he was going to be in serious trouble with Douglas Lee Chang. He greeted him cordially, of course, pumping his hand in a friendly manner, and her mother was more reserved but very watchful.
The place was bigger and more fashionable than any he had been in. They went outside to a shaded area in the garden, which looked far better than the functional garden that he took care of for Mrs. Perry.
"Lovely to have you over," Douglas said before he could even sit down. "You've been following the football lately? I was really hopeful that Jamaica would win against Honduras."
Slater glanced at Amoy, who as looking at her father suspiciously.
"Well, er, I do follow it. I played in high school. For that game though, I don't think they had their best players in that game."
"Me either." Douglas snapped his fingers. "Why are they leaving out the better players from the premier league teams in exchange for brand name players? I don't get it."
The conversation continued for a while, with Slater warming up to Douglas so much that he wondered why on earth Amoy was holding herself so taut, like a guitar string that one more strum would have her bursting.
Douglas was cool. Really cool and not stuffy like he had imagined that he would be.
And though Sharon was mostly silent as they discussed sports, she smiled at him and made him feel comfortable too.
And then they moved on from sports.
"So what have you been reading lately?" Douglas asked, as relaxed as you may please, twirling his glass in his hands.
Scarlett Love (The Scarletts Page 10
