Forever Love (Arabesque)

by Norfleet, Celeste O.

  “Good, that’ll work,” Keith said as he walked past the reception area and down the hall toward his office, “but not at an official press conference. Let’s find a venue that’s more informal.”

  Megan nodded and followed Keith while still texting on her cell phone. Kate, Keith’s administrative assistant and the office’s senior manager, followed close behind with her computer pad in her hands. “Keith, you have a teleconferencing meeting in half an hour with Senator Kingsley. Your mail is on your desk and the contracts you were expecting just arrived,” she said, handing him an unopened overnight express package.

  “Thanks,” Keith said, taking the package, “and, Kate, I need you to get my mother on the phone. I’m working here late this evening. She may be in court. If so, leave a message for her to call me when she’s free. Also, I need you to pull a few hard-copy files before you head out. Check my email in-box for the list.”

  She nodded, turned and went back to her desk. Keith and Megan continued into his office. “Okay, I have that information you wanted on OCC,” Megan said. “It’s not complete, but it’ll give you an idea of what we’re up against.”

  “Let’s hear what you have,” he said, sitting at his desk and opening his laptop.

  “Okay, Organization of Community Change, OCC, is a nonprofit. According to the information I have so far, and from their website, it was organized in the late seventies to bring attention to the political corruption and unlawful police brutality stemming from the Powelton Village incident. From there it grew into a political action and community service organization. Julia Banks was the primary listed until three years ago when her granddaughter took over.

  “The organization became more focused on political policy and eliminating political corruption during the last administration. They took an aggressive stance and led the recall. They are also noted as being responsible for outing a few political figures in the eighties and nineties. Their endorsement can carry a lot of weight in some circles. The older constituents still rely heavily on them. Right now they’re critical of the mayor. We could use a bump in the polls, and they could give it to us.”

  “I agree. We need to connect with them. No, I need to connect with them. I want you to follow the money trail. Who are their leading contributors?” he asked, pulling the tab from the overnight express package and taking out several contracts.

  “Their main funding is unknown and I haven’t been able to track it so far. But they get a considerable amount from the Emma Washington Foundation headed by—”

  “Louise Gates.”

  Megan looked up from her computer pad. “Yeah, that’s right, your grandmother and her older sister.”

  “Tell me about Julia Banks’s daughter.”

  “Audrey Duncan grew up lower middle class and married rich. She had one daughter out of wedlock, Gia Duncan. The birth certificate lists Gia’s father’s name as Samuel Duncan of Duncan Real Estate Development. Audrey and Samuel married later. She died of bronchial pneumonia and myocardial fibrosis when Gia was twelve. Gia was at the community center today.”

  “Wait, Samuel Duncan is Gia Duncan’s father?” he questioned. Megan nodded. “So that means Lawrence Duncan is her—”

  “Yes, Lawrence Duncan, who owns almost an eighth of the city’s prime real estate, is Gia’s paternal grandfather.”

  Keith nodded, smiling. “Interesting, she’s got some serious money behind her. So that’s her unknown funding.”

  “Actually, I’m not sure about that part. Rumor has it there was some kind of family feud a few years ago and she was cut off.”

  “There’s cut off and then there’s cut off. What about Julia?”

  She nodded. “Julia Banks had a major heart attack three years ago. That’s when Gia moved here from Boston and took over. Then six months ago she had a stroke. She’s currently in a nursing home in west Philly. Gia Duncan is heading the OCC with her lead associate, William B. Axelby the Third. There are also a number of lower-level associates, including Axelby’s half sister, Bonnie. OCC’s main focus and objective is to hold accountable the procedures and practices of local politicians and to...”

  Keith continued listening as he read through emails and updated his father’s planner for the following day. He cleared the morning for last-minute news feeds, an online video promo he planned and any Q&A from local news agencies. He didn’t have to do any major damage control since the OCC had basically shot themselves in the foot with the last few questioners, but he needed to be ready for the next time. They’d tipped their hand too soon. Now he knew exactly what to expect.

  “Dating...single and lives on—”

  “Hold up, hold up, stop,” Keith said, paying attention again. “Go back.”

  “As for Gia Duncan’s personal life, she dated a stockbroker, before that a businessman, both very wealthy. Before that she dated a lawyer who turned out to be married. She ended it when she found out. It doesn’t look like she’s dated at all since she’s been here in Philly.”

  “She hasn’t dated in three years?” he questioned.

  “No, no one we can find. All she does now is work twenty-four-seven.”

  “Sounds like she needs some excitement in her life. I think that’s my in,” Keith said, smiling, knowing the exact approach he’d take. “What else?”

  “She’s twenty-eight, single and lives on Delaware Avenue—actually not too far from your city apartment. She went to boarding school, college and grad school in Boston, then returned to the area to work with her grandmother at OCC three years ago. She has a law degree from Harvard and was top of her class in the LLM Masters of Law Program with a focus on human rights.”

  “Harvard LLM, impressive. So she’s a lawyer,” Keith said as he went through the contracts in the package.

  “Yes, she was in Boston, but she obviously doesn’t practice now. As a matter of fact, the OCC has used this law firm several times in the last few years.”

  “Used us?” he questioned. Megan nodded. “Assigned to whom?”

  She shook her head. “Closed records. It doesn’t say.”

  Keith’s private office phone rang. Megan stopped reading as soon as he answered. It was his secretary informing him that his mother was headed back to court and would call him back later. “Megan, we’ll finish this up later. Send me what you have.” She nodded, got up and walked out.

  Keith sat at his desk a few moments thinking about the events of the day. Gia’s last comment in particular made him smile. He shook his head, intrigued. She had no idea what she’d started.

  He had felt the burn instantly, and her crooked little sexy smile sealed his interest. He opened the file his associate had emailed him and read through it quickly. She was still working on it, but what she’d sent him so far made him even more curious. She was a Duncan and that meant deep pockets. She was the only granddaughter of Lawrence Duncan and that meant power. He wondered what a presumably wealthy woman, as Gia obviously was, would be doing in a nonprofit organization policing politicians. There had to be something more to this.

  Seeing the OCC’s phone number, he opened his cell phone, then closed it and smiled. Just calling OCC wasn’t the definite impact he wanted to make. His smiled broadened. Showing up in their office was. He chuckled to himself, closed his laptop, got up and headed to the office door. He stopped at Kate’s desk. She looked up as he approached. “Kate, check with the firm’s records. I need to know who handled the OCC account. I’m not sure when.”

  “It was three years ago. Drew caught the case.”

  Keith smiled. He should have known that Kate would know. When it came to the law practice, she knew everything. “Thanks. Is Drew in today?”

  “Yes, he should be in his office.”

  “Let me know when the conference call is ready. I’ll be with Drew.”

  She nodded. “I’ll have t
hose files pulled,” she said.

  “Thanks,” Keith said, turning and headed toward his brother’s office a few doors down. He knocked at the slightly cracked door. He opened it a bit more and stepped inside. Drew was on the phone. He looked up, saw his brother and motioned for him to come in. Keith walked in as Drew ended his phone call.

  He grabbed the remote control and turned the sound up on the TV across from his desk. “Hey, what happened today? Dad’s all over the news.”

  “An unfortunate miscalculation of intent,” Keith said, sitting down in the seat across from the desk. “We were upstaged by a few members of a group called OCC. But Dad handled it admirably as usual and came out on top.”

  “Organization for Community Change,” Drew said.

  “You worked with them?” Keith asked.

  “Yeah, I did a few pro bono jobs for them a few years ago. I worked with Julia Banks. I understand she had a stroke a while back. I heard that her granddaughter’s taking over.”

  “She has. What do you know about her?”

  “Not much. She wasn’t around a lot at the time. It was during her move down from Boston. I know she’s attractive, intelligent, distant and a half minute from being openly hostile.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean she has a chip on her shoulder that’s the size of a giant sequoia.”

  “Why’s that?”

  Drew shrugged. “I don’t have a clue. I assumed it had something to do with her father and grandfather. I heard they disowned her since she didn’t go into the family business.”

  Keith smiled. “So she chose working with her grandmother at a nonprofit over making millions with Dad and Granddad.”

  There was a knock on Drew’s office door and then it opened. Kate poked her head inside. “Keith, your conference call will begin in four minutes.”

  “Thanks, Kate, I’ll be right there.”

  She nodded and left. Keith looked across at Drew. “I think Gia was the mastermind behind this afternoon’s sideshow.”

  “What are you gonna do?” Drew asked.

  “Get them out of the way until after the election.”

  “How?”

  “I have a few ideas. Either way, I think it’s time Gia and I got better acquainted,” Keith said, standing to leave. “Oh, any words on the arrival date?”

  “No. Jeremy and I were just talking about that. Neither of us has heard anything. We were thinking it was a false alarm. Maybe she’s not coming.”

  Keith shook his head. “Nah, she’s coming. The question is when.”

  “You’re that sure?” Drew asked. Keith nodded. “Okay, I’ll be at the courthouse in a few hours. I’ll try to catch up with Mom and see if she knows anything. Either way I’ll let you know what I find out.”

  Keith nodded again. “Good, I’ll talk to you later.”

  Drew chuckled and shook his head. “Hey, good luck with OCC. I have a feeling you’re gonna need it.”

  Keith waved his hand as he walked out the door. He knew he didn’t need luck. She was a woman and that’s all he needed.

  Chapter 4

  Gia placed her elbows on her desk and rubbed her temples. Her head was pounding. The headache she had felt coming earlier was now here. It had been a long day and right now all she wanted to do was lie down, close her eyes and rest, but she knew she couldn’t. She’d made a dozen calls and was now waiting to get information in order to plan the organization’s next move.

  “Hey, are you coming back out to the party?” Bonnie asked as she walked into Gia’s office.

  “Yeah, I’ll be there in a few minutes,” Gia said without bothering to look up.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah, fine, just a little headache. I’ll be right there.” Bonnie nodded and left. Fifteen minutes later Gia was still sitting at the desk in her office. Now the television was turned on and she was watching the latest news report. An ice-cold half-eaten slice of pizza on a white paper plate sat in front of her. She glanced at it and crinkled her nose, then picked up the bottle of water, forgetting she’d emptied it an hour ago.

  Optimistically, she’d watched the news reports over and over again. Of course nothing ever changed. They all rolled the same footage repeatedly, and each time she hoped to see something different. She didn’t. She grabbed the remote control and changed channels—more of the same.

  She took a deep satisfied breath and decided that by all accounts it was a good day. She’d succeeded and done exactly what she intended—she got OCC noticed. They had had their fifteen minutes of fame and now she needed to make sure they stayed in the spotlight, front and center. People were interested and the office phones had been ringing all evening. They’d made their point and they planted the idea that the people of Philadelphia needed and deserved more than lip service and politics as usual from their mayor and city council members.

  The news report continued with Keith Washington standing outside the community center. A reporter asked him a question about OCC and what had happened inside. His answer was respectfully dismissive of OCC while still on point with his father’s campaign message. The reporter’s eyes seemed to haze over as she smiled up at him. It was exactly as she expected—after all, he was a lawyer and a Washington. His charm and charisma sparkled right through the television. Gia wondered how long it would be before he threw his hat in the political ring. The crowd around him cheered and she knew right then she would be taking on two consummate professionals, father and son.

  She heard a cheer and applause from the front, then looked up at the slightly cracked office door. She could see that a few of the organization’s volunteers were still there even though the main celebration had long since wound down and most volunteers were already gone.

  A news clip of Keith speaking repeated on a different channel. She muted the volume and just watched his face as he spoke. He was everything any woman could want, beautiful white teeth, long dark lashes, dark sexy eyes and lips that could very likely send a woman through the roof. Yep, Bonnie was right, he was gorgeous. Everything about him screamed sexy. And right now having a little sexy in her dull, boring life wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

  She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a date or had even gone out to have fun, for that matter. Like with her grandmother, the OCC had taken up all of her life. She’d pushed everything back for the greater good and right now that greater good was holding Blake Washington accountable to his constituents. Her thoughts eased back to Keith and his broad shoulders, sexy smile and gorgeous eyes. She wondered what it would be like to be with him.

  She reached over and picked up an envelope on her desk. It was an invitation to the mayor’s Initiative Conference. It had come two weeks ago. With everything going on, she had completely forgotten about it. It was a new program that was started by the mayor’s office three years ago. The OCC had never once been invited. Now they had. She originally had declared she was going, but now she wasn’t sure. But seeing Keith once again might be interesting.

  She opened her laptop and RSVP’d the invitation. Then she typed in Keith’s name and added the Washington & Associates Law Firm of Philadelphia for clarification. His profile came up along with a few thousand other hits. She clicked on the Wikipedia hit and waited a split second to see everything there was to know about his life. He was born in Philadelphia. He was a few years older than she was and he practiced legislative and regulatory law, specializing in politics. He had represented numerous politicians and stood before the Supreme Court. The more she read, the more impressive he appeared.

  Then curiously, she checked out the images tab, seeing Keith photographed with numerous people, senators, military people, businessmen and of course women—lots of women. All were beautifully stunning in gowns, suits, dresses and even a few in bathing suits. Some of them she recognized as models
and actresses.

  “Hey,” Bill said quickly as he poked his head into her office. Gia jumped like a kid with her hand caught in the cookie jar. “You all right?” he asked.

  She nodded. “Yeah, just a headache, what’s up?”

  “I’m headed out. Remember, I have that interview taping in the morning. And just to let you know we’re all set for the press conference Friday at City Hall.”

  “Wait, I need to talk to you about that,” she said, closing her laptop and turning the television off.

  He stopped. “What about it?” he asked.

  “We have to regroup. We can’t just show up and do what we did today. It’s a press conference and I’m sure they’ve tightened security. It worked this afternoon because we sponsored the event and were afforded the element of surprise, but I don’t see that happening again.”

  “And that’s exactly why it will work. They won’t expect it.”

  Gia shook her head, disagreeing. “No. I spoke with Keith Washington. He’s no fool. We just can’t walk into a closed press conference without media credentials and start asking questions.”

  “Wait, you spoke with Keith Washington about what?”

  “What do you think? About the town hall meeting, of course.”

  “So you told him it was us,” Bill said disappointedly.

  “No, of course not, I didn’t have to, he told me.”

  “What do you mean he told you? How did he know it was us? You must have said something to him. He couldn’t just know without being told.”

  “I don’t see why not. He’s an intelligent and perceptive man.”

  “It sounds like you actually admire him.”

  The day had been one trying irritation after another. She’d been confronted by Keith Washington and now she was being interrogated by Bill. Enough was enough. “Look, like I said, the man is no fool. We’re not going to do it. If we do, we’ll be put out and that’s not something I want on our record. Who’ll take us seriously then?”