Peyton had succeeded in his quest. The only tangible thing Reyna had left was some money in her secret bank account. The measly amount would last only a week, if that. The salary increase she’d hope would solve her money problems would now have to be used to purchase some form of reliable transportation. Her self-esteem had gone out the door with Peyton and his new woman. She literally had nothing left.
For the first time, Reyna walked into her workstation and appreciated the small space. At least she had a job, and eventually she’d recover from the mess Peyton had made of her life.
“Good morning, Reyna . . .” Paige stopped in the entrance to greet her but didn’t finish. “You look sick. Are you okay? Cramps again?”
Reyna swallowed the bitter words she had for her Holy Roller boss. No doubt Reyna’s appearance had fueled Paige’s reaction. For the first time in months Reyna wasn’t wearing makeup. The “always in place” spiked hair was gelled back. According to Reyna’s own evaluation, she looked a mess, but she didn’t care.
“No. I’m okay. I had a rough night, but I’ll be fine.”
“Can I bring you some tea?”
On any other day, Reyna would have enjoyed Ms. High-and-Mighty serving her, but today worthlessness had sucked her so deep into despair that taking advantage of Paige lost its appeal.
“No, thank you. Once I drown myself in work, I’ll be fine.” Reyna booted her computer, hoping Paige would recognize the dismissal tactic. She didn’t.
“Reyna, may I pray with you?”
Paige asked the simple question with such sincerity, Reyna would have yielded had the throbbing in her head not returned.
“Look, Paige, I hope this doesn’t affect my employment here, because I really need this job, but I don’t believe in God. And I don’t care much for prayer. I assumed Tyson shared that with you.” She paused for Paige to confirm this.
“No, he didn’t. He did tell me you were the most remarkable woman he’d ever met.”
Reyna’s mouth hung open. How could Tyson know all the senseless things she’d done and say that about her? Technically, he knew very little, but that was enough to tarnish her record.
“It doesn’t matter what you believe,” Paige continued. “You don’t have to say a word. I’ll pray on your behalf. I don’t mean to push, but I sense you could use some divine guidance.”
“No offense intended,” Reyna lied, “but I don’t need your prayer. I know what I’m doing.”
For the first time Reyna witnessed sadness resting on Paige’s stoic face, and she didn’t care.
“No offense taken,” Paige uttered so low, Reyna barely heard her. “Enjoy the rest of the day.”
“How am I supposed to enjoy my day with Tyson on the brain?” she mumbled after Paige had cleared the entrance. For a brief moment Reyna permitted the truth to flood her pores and seep out. Thoughts of Tyson hadn’t surfaced minutes earlier, when Paige mentioned him. Every time Peyton disrespected her, thoughts of Tyson’s concern and gentleness comforted her. He was her one true friend. He said he would always be there for her, and she really needed him right now. She needed to do what she should have done months ago, when she discovered Peyton had stolen his belongings.
An hour later she made up her mind to drop by his law office during her lunch break, but first she needed to stop by the store for a bag of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
“Excuse me,” Reyna panted after she bumped into Tyson’s secretary. The two had collided when Reyna rushed into the reception area as the secretary was leaving.
“Ms. Mills? I haven’t seen you in a while. What are you doing here?”
“I was hoping to catch Mr. Stokes before he left for lunch, if he’s not in court. I would have called, but I wanted to surprise him,” she explained.
“Oh, he will be surprised,” his secretary responded after she recovered from the collision. “He’s in his office, as usual, working through lunch. It was good seeing you again, but I have to go. I’m meeting my husband for lunch.”
Reyna couldn’t be sure, but she thought she heard the woman chuckle as she went out the door. She repositioned the shoulder strap of her purse and picked up the bag of candy that had fallen upon impact. To her surprise, little flutters filled her stomach with each step she took toward Tyson’s office. She attributed the anxiety to fear of how he’d respond once he knew she had watched passively as a drug addict destroyed his property. She knocked on Tyson’s door, then opened it and timidly stepped inside.
“Lois, I thought you went to lunch,” he said without looking up from the computer. “Did you forget something?”
Her mouth ran dry, and her heart rate instantly accelerated at the sight of him. Instead of a tailored suit and collared shirt, he wore a polo shirt and what appeared to be khakis. Had his upper body always been that chiseled? It had been so long since she’d seen him, and for a brief second Reyna entertained the idea that she might have made a mistake by pushing him away.
“It’s me,” she said, walking to his desk and trying to keep from running to him.
Tyson’s head jolted around. In seconds his facial expression changed from shock to pleasure to confusion. He looked down at his desk calendar. “Do I have an appointment with you today?”
It was not the response she’d hoped for, but certainly the one she deserved.
“No. I needed to talk to you.” When he didn’t respond, she held up the orange, brown, and yellow plastic bag. “I brought your favorites.” When he didn’t reach for the candy, she followed his eyes to the crystal bowl on the corner of his desk. It overflowed with the chocolate peanut butter candy. “For when you run out,” she said, then laid the bag on the desk.
“What can I do for you, Reyna? Is everything in working order at the town house?” he asked before she could sit down.
Reyna changed her mind and decided to stand, just in case she needed to run. “You look good,” she said honestly, stalling for time.
“Thank you. So what’s up?”
“Well . . . um . . .” She stammered not from fear, but from the fact that for the first time Tyson didn’t comment on her beauty. Then she remembered her appearance and didn’t blame the man. “First, let me say—”
“Surprise.”
Tyson jumped up and Reyna whirled around at the sensuous sound coming from the doorway.
“Lois told me you planned to work through lunch. So I brought you something to eat,” Mylan said, holding up the picnic basket. She looked at Reyna. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were with a client.”
“Sweetheart, you’re fine.”
Reyna’s head snapped around. Sweetheart? Her jaw dropped as she watched Tyson walk around the desk and take the large basket from the woman, who could easily win the Miss Universe Pageant. Her flawless makeup-free skin had a natural glow, and her long, thick hair reminded Reyna of what her gelled-down spikes used to look like. Feeling inadequate, she wrapped her arms around her body. Her breath caught when Tyson leaned over and kissed the woman on the lips.
“She’s not a client. This is my tenant, Ms. Mills.” He turned to Reyna. “This is Mylan.”
Reyna’s mouth moved to speak, but she got distracted by the toned arms wrapped around Tyson’s waist.
“Hello, Ms. Mills.”
Reyna acknowledged the greeting with a nod.
“Give Lois a call later and schedule an appointment, and then we can discuss the town house,” Tyson said. “I think I have some time free on Friday.”
It wasn’t until Tyson called her name twice that she realized he’d just dismissed her for the beauty queen. She didn’t miss the smirk on Mylan’s face, either.
“Sure. Enjoy your meal,” Reyna said in resignation.
Before exiting, she paused and looked back at the happy couple preparing to eat, and her heart sank even further. She was no longer the object of Tyson’s affection. He had moved on to someone much prettier and smarter. An empty, hollow feeling engulfed her as she left the building. She had lost something
valuable but refused to identify the true emotion. Thanks to the bottle of vodka tucked inside her bag, which she’d picked up at a corner store along with the candy, she wouldn’t have to anytime soon.
Reyna spent the afternoon scheduling inspections and posting rental listings. After clearing her to-do list, she rearranged the file cabinet and dusted. Anything to keep thoughts of Tyson and his newfound love at bay. Tyson was a good man, and she should be happy for him, but a gloomy sadness consumed her. Except for the few tears that managed to escape, the strategy worked. At quitting time, she locked her desk, changed into her Nikes, and prepared to make a dash for the bus stop. Unfortunately, her mother and Pastor Jennings were waiting in the reception area.
Reyna smirked. “Let me guess. The happy couple is coming out of the closet and buying a house together.”
“Satan, the Lord rebuke you!” Pastor Jennings exclaimed, waving an index finger in Reyna’s face.
Reyna rolled her eyes. “Whatever. What are you doing here?” She directed the question to her mother.
Jewel went to hug her daughter but retreated when Reyna scowled at her. “I’ve been worried about you, and I miss you.”
“And you couldn’t say that with a card?” Reyna started for the door. “I don’t have time for this. I have a bus to catch.”
Jewel gripped her arm. “Reyna, please. It’s been six months since you left my house, and you still won’t tell me where you live. You won’t even return my calls. Please have dinner with me. I really need to talk to you.”
Reyna looked down at her arm. The bony hand gripping her didn’t belong to the woman she’d grown to hate. She stepped backward and studied Jewel. Her mother had lost at least thirty pounds. The weight loss gave her face a sunken look, especially since she didn’t wear makeup. Jewel had also abandoned her monthly Miss Clairol treatments; she now had more salt than pepper covering her head. Although she didn’t care, Reyna couldn’t help wondering if her mother had contracted an illness.
“What do you want to talk about? I don’t have anything to say to you,” Reyna replied. “Or you,” she added, scowling at Pastor Jennings.
“Reyna, please hear us out.”
Oddly enough, hearing her mother beg for her attention didn’t give Reyna the satisfaction she’d imagined it would. The idea that her mother might be stricken with a terminal illness piqued her interest. Jewel’s life insurance policy would provide her with a way out of the financial mess Peyton had created. She looked up at the wall clock; the interaction had already caused her to miss her bus. The next one wasn’t scheduled to arrive for fifteen minutes. Since she’d skipped lunch to meet Tyson, she was hungry.
Reyna snatched her arm free. “Fine. I’ll hear what you have to say this once, but then I don’t want to see you or talk to you again.” She glared at Pastor Jennings and added, “That includes you.”
“Okay,” Jewel agreed, but Reyna didn’t miss the tear sliding down her cheek. She just didn’t care.
“So where are we going? I have a taste for prime rib and lobster.” If the two women who had ruined her life wanted to spring for dinner to ease their conscience, the least she could do was help them by going to an expensive restaurant. “Horatio’s sounds nice.” She waited for a protest but didn’t get one.
“Whatever you want,” Jewel agreed.
Reyna huffed and brushed past the women. “Let’s go. I don’t have all night.”
“Do you want to ride with us, or would you like us to follow you?”
At Pastor Jennings’s question, Reyna stopped mid-stride. Eating a free meal in a public restaurant with her nemesis was one thing, but being enclosed in a compact car for the forty-five-minute drive was another. Reyna didn’t doubt for a second, she would be bombarded with personal questions and would have to endure that wretched gospel music the hypocrites played constantly.
“On second thought, let’s have pizza at Zachary’s,” she suggested. The popular Chicago-style pizza parlor was located within walking distance from the town house. “I’ll meet you there in an hour.” That would give her enough time to catch the next bus and change into casual clothing and walk the short distance to the restaurant. It would also give her time to indulge in some of the happy juice tucked away inside her bag.
“We’ll be there,” Jewel answered. “Please show up.”
“Don’t get your panties in a wad. I said I’ll be there.”
Chapter 23
Reyna practically floated down the street and into the pizza eatery. A pint of vodka plus orange juice had rendered her joyous enough to sing to the birds along the street and bob her head to music no one heard but her. Over the past few months she’d developed a tolerance to alcohol that rendered her functional. She’d meant to take only a sip to calm the anxiety the last twenty-four hours had piled on her. First, Peyton and his drugged-out piece on the side had chopped her car. Then Tyson had dumped her for a new and prettier model. He hadn’t actually dumped her, but that was the story she fed her psyche to avoid facing the truth. Now her mother wanted to have a heart-to-heart chat, but the problem was that Jewel didn’t have a heart and Reyna’s heart had hardened too much to care. At least she’d get a few meals for the inconvenience; she planned to order enough chicken and spinach-stuffed pizza to last the two days until payday.
Reyna slid into the booth in the back left corner. “All right, Jewel, Rosalie, what’s up?”
“Thank you for coming,” Jewel began, then sniffed. “Have you been drinking?”
“Have you been lying?” Reyna countered. “I said I’d hear what you had to say, but that doesn’t include telling you my business. The last time I checked, I was a grown woman.”
“Do you have to be so disrespectful? I know we taught you about respecting your elders and honoring your parents.”
Pastor Jennings’s rebuke fell on deaf ears. “You also taught me how to manipulate and use people.”
“I will not—”
“Rosalie, please let me handle this,” Jewel said, cutting in.
Reyna didn’t miss the glare Pastor Jennings shot her mother. This marked the first time she’d witnessed Jewel stand up to her.
“Reyna, I ordered that chicken and spinach pizza you like and a diet Pepsi. I ordered a large so you’d have enough to take home for later.”
Too ornery to say thank you, Reyna opened her mouth to say something derogatory but couldn’t think of anything. Not only had Jewel remembered what she liked, but she’d robbed her of the pleasure of draining her wallet.
“Reyna, earlier you said you had to catch the bus. I don’t mean to pry, but where is your car?”
“Mother Jewel, you are prying, but since you’re paying for the meal, I’ll answer. I don’t have a car anymore. It was stolen and stripped.” Reyna gave enough of an answer to keep Jewel from asking more questions, or so she thought.
“Have you contacted the insurance company?”
“Now you’re asking too many questions that are none of your business.”
The waitress delivering the drink order silenced a rebuttal from Jewel.
Reyna sipped the diet Pepsi and wished it were something stronger. “What’s so important you had to hunt me down at my place of employment? Oh, by the way, don’t do that again.” She didn’t miss the nervous glances her mother and Pastor Jennings exchanged. Her mother’s hands shook so much, lemonade dripped from her glass when she attempted to drink. She had a bombshell, all right. Even semi-drunk Reyna could see that.
“Reyna, I need to tell you something I should have told you long ago,” Jewel began after cleaning up the spilled liquid.
“You’ll have to wait a few minutes longer to clear your conscience. I gotta pee.” She covered her mouth and giggled. “Oops. I mean I need to use the ladies’ room.” The only negative about drinking for Reyna was alcohol sent her bladder into overdrive.
Reyna left the table and sideswiped a waiter carrying a hot pizza. The man’s quick reflexes and steady hands saved the pizza from kissing
the floor.
“Sorry,” she giggled, then stumbled toward the restroom.
When she returned, Jewel and Pastor Jennings were waiting to bless the food. “I don’t do that no more,” she said, then loaded her plate with a pie slice. She’d eaten half the slice before noticing her mother and Pastor Jennings weren’t eating. She wiped off the cheese dripping from her mouth. “What? Y’all don’t like stuffed pizza anymore?”
“We’ve been fasting all day. I have some soup back at the house for us,” Jewel explained.
Reyna rested the knife and fork against her plate and folded her arms. “All right, spill it. What’s the big news flash?”
Jewel played with the folded napkin and sipped lemonade.
“Come on, Jewel,” Pastor Jennings said, encouraging her. “You can do this.”
“Do what?” Reyna wanted to know.
“Please promise to hear me out,” Jewel begged.
Reyna didn’t like it, but the dread in Jewel’s tone pulled at her heartstrings, which caused her to sober some. “I’ll try.”
Jewel’s eyes closed, and her mouth moved. Either she was praying, speaking in tongues, or both.
“Come on, I don’t have all night,” Reyna said, pressing. She needed to get back home to pack and throw Peyton’s clothes into the trash bin for the garbage pickup in the morning.
“Reyna, I was a sheltered teenager,” Jewel began. “When I went off to college, I ran wild. For the first time I was free from my overprotective father, and although I enrolled in college for an education, my number one objective was to find a man and have fun.”
“I could do without the history lesson, but this one might be interesting,” Reyna grumbled. “I can’t imagine your sanctimonious self looking for a man.” Giggles poured from her at the absurd thought.
“My friends and I would dress up and use false IDs to get into the local party spots. One night I met this man. He was so fine, I fell in love instantly. His name was Reynard. Sophistication and class radiated from him, and I wanted what I thought he could offer me. I didn’t ask how old he was, because I didn’t want him to know how young and inexperienced I was.”
Doin' Me Page 14
