by Vera Roberts
“End of the year?” Meredith was surprised. “That’s quick, katydid! Besides the obvious, why the rush?”
The real truth was Simone didn’t want to be around to see Nicola’s New Year’s Eve nuptials. “I’m just ready for a fresh start and being around family. That’s all, Mommy.”
****
“Dude, you are in so much trouble,” Joey laughed.
“I didn’t do anything!” Eli defended. “I just only said hi to her!”
Eli greeted a potential bride and her party in the shop. After briefly talking with the bride, she fainted. Marissa called 911 while Eli and Joey cleared space and made room for the bride to come to. Joey elevated her ankles while Eli fanned her as her head rested on his lap.
“Did she eat anything at all today?” Eli asked the bride’s friends.
“She had four cups of coffee,” one bridesmaid shrugged, “I don’t know what else.”
“Oh, and a Red Bull,” chimed in another bridesmaid.
Eli and Joey looked at each other. “High on life,” Joey smirked.
“And not much else,” Eli commented. Just then, Darren entered the shop and stood in a nearby corner. He briefly caught eyes with Eli, who smiled back at him.
After a few minutes, the bride came to and looked up. “What… what… what happened to me?” She asked.
“You fainted,” Eli smiled down at her, “don’t worry. We have an ambulance coming and they’re going to take care of you soon.”
The bride narrowed her eyes together and briefly tried to lift up her head but fell back into Eli’s lap. “I don’t remember anything else.”
“It’s okay, sweetheart,” Eli lightly stroked her forehead, “we’ll take care of you.”
“I wouldn’t mind if you took care of me,” the bride smiled. Sirens soon surrounded the building and a pack of emergency personnel rushed into Madre’s. They took care of the bride and she left in the awaiting ambulance for some more testing.
Darren walked up to Eli and congratulated on him on a job well done. “You did great back there,” he smiled, “you should be proud. You were her Prince Charming.”
“Out of all of the years I’ve been here, I never had a bride faint,” Eli chuckled, “oh well, there’s a first time for everything. Anyway, how can I help you?”
“I heard when it comes to flowers, you’re the man.” Darren inquired. “I have a special request.”
I bet you do, Eli thought. The thought of Darren mounting Faith while she clutched at his arms made Eli’s skin crawl. “I’ll meet you at the table in the corner over there. I’ll be right back.” Eli rushed upstairs to retrieve a notepad. First, he had to calm down. All he kept thinking about was connecting his fist with Darren’s jaw.
“Is the bride okay?” Joey asked.
“Oh, yeah, she’s fine. But I have something more important downstairs.” Eli beckoned his brother to look down at the showroom. “That’s my problem.”
“Ooh…” Joey stroked his goatee. “Hey, can you get me an autograph?”
Eli turned to his brother incredulously. “I know you didn’t just ask me that.”
“Let me go ask for an autograph and a picture.” Joey quickly left and Eli watched him take a picture and hobnob with Darren. Joey then made his way back up to the office. “Man, this is so going on Facebook for bragging rights!”
“Okay, dude, are you going to help me with this situation?” Eli asked.
“You love Faye?” Joey asked.
“What the hell kinda question is that?” Eli shot back.
“Do you love your wife?” Joey repeated.
“Yes, I love my wife.” Eli hissed.
“Then handle your business, bro.” Joey smirked. “Or he’ll handle it for you. Simple as that. Good luck!”
Eli grabbed the notepad and made his way downstairs. He saw the girls had already served tea cakes and tea to Darren, who was looking at the various designs. Eli let out a breath and said a silent prayer. Father God, please keep me from whuppin’ that fool’s ass.
“So how can I help you, today?” Eli asked as he sat down.
“I heard you were the man when it came to floral design and by what I can tell, you are amazing.” Darren clamored. “So, I’m here for a special request for a special lady.”
“Sure thing,” Eli started scribbling on the notepad. “Tell me about the lady.”
“Well, her name is Faith but I call her Faye,” Darren smiled. “Um, she likes pink, that’s her favorite color. She loves to watch all those reality shows on TV. She’s a hairstylist and a pretty good one. She’s known all over New York. She loves chocolate and ice cream. Hmm… what else? Oh yeah, she has a son named…”
“…Nathan.” Eli finished for Darren. He had just about enough of Darren’s mouth.
“Yes! Do you know her?” Darren asked.
“I say I do.” Eli tightened his lips and looked over at Darren. He ripped the sheet from the notepad and handed it to a nearby Madre’s employee. “You’re my wife’s new boyfriend.”
Darren finally got to meet the elusive ex-husband of Faith. He was no longer a figure clouded in mystery. Oh no. The asshole was directly in front of him with a smirk on his face. Darren kept a calm composure and a blank face. “Your ex-wife’s.”
“The last time I checked nothing has been signed yet,” Eli reminded, “legally, she’s still Mrs. D’Amato.”
“Physically, I would say otherwise,” Darren smarted back.
Eli took a sip of his cappuccino and smiled at Darren’s boldness. Was he begging to get his ass beat? It sounded like it. “Spending time between her legs doesn’t make you a Faith D’Amato expert.”
Darren took a bite of the tea cakes. “Oh, I think it does.”
Eli felt his heart pound through his chest. For a brief moment, he was about to throw away the classy reputation of Madre’s for a beat down in the middle of Manhattan. “Is that right?”
“Ask her,” Darren sipped his tea, “she’s not complaining.”
“Well, I wouldn’t complain too much if it’s a temporary situation, neither.” Eli took a bite of his tea cakes.
Darren slightly turned to Eli and smiled. He should’ve known the confrontation was going to happen at some given point while he was with Faith; he just didn’t think Eli was that bold to confront him. “You talk an awful lot of shit for someone who left his wife and son.”
“And you’re awfully confident for someone who’s just a temporary dildo for my wife,” Eli quietly replied back, “You see, that’s the thing about toys. They’re nice to play with when you just need to get your jollies off, but eventually, you’re going to want the real thing.”
Just when Darren was about to say something, a Madre’s employee came with Faith’s dummy floral arrangement. “Please let me know if that is to your liking. We can make any changes as you see fit.” The employee stated.
Despite his hatred for the man next to him, Darren had to appreciate Eli’s fantastic work. “It’s beautiful. When will this be ready?”
“Tomorrow. We’ll work all day on it and will have it delivered to her work.”
“Perfect,” Darren glanced at his watch and saw he needed to make another appointment. “I need to go. Do I pay for it now?”
“Sure do,” Maria pointed to the register “I’ll help you at the front register.” She led Darren to the register and rang him up as Eli watched with a confident smile. Once Darren was done, he walked past Eli and didn’t bother to say goodbye.
Joey entered the main floor and watched as Darren was leaving. He walked over to where his brother was still calmly eating his cookies. “I’m impressed, bro.” Joey sat across him. “I thought I was going have to call Art over.”
“I’m not mad at him.” Eli sipped his cappuccino. “It is what it is.”
“Vaffanculo!” Joey shook his head.
“I’m not lying.” Eli defended himself. “I’m not mad at him.”
Joey knew his little brother too well. If Eli had no
reason to be mad at Darren, it was because he was plotting something against the man. It was another D’Amato trait they all shared: why say something, when you can do something. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”
“Shame on the man who walks into the floral shop of the husband of his girlfriend, ordering flowers for her, and not thinking something might be wrong with that picture.” Eli smiled.
“What are you going to do about it?”
“It’s been done, my man,” Eli had a pie-eating grin on his face. “Darren’s just keeping the bed warm for me. Daddy’s coming home…” He quickly glanced at the delivery date for Faith’s bouquet. “…tomorrow.”
Twenty-Five
“Okay, everyone. We have a very busy day ahead of us. We have head after head coming in. We need to be on point with our game.” Faith instructed her staff at MillionHair. “We can laugh and joke as long we get everything done. Sounds good? Good. Let’s go!”
“Someone’s Ms. Cheerful,” Kimberly had a sly smile, “the only time someone is this cheerful is if something good happened.”
“Tell me something good…” Jocelyn began to sing.
“Tell me you got your back blown out, yeahhhhh…” Cameron added.
“Excuse you!” Faith looked at her laughing staff. “When in the hell did y’all become so crude?”
“When in the hell did you become a prude?” Krista questioned. “I’ve seen your kink closet. Y’all would not believe what she has in it.”
“Oh, I’ll believe it,” Cameron prepared his station, “she didn’t get that five-carat ring out of love.”
“She got it because she wore out her best knee pads,” Kimberly grabbed a cup of coffee.
“Y’all just jealous,” Faith folded her arms, “because I got it like that.”
“Speaking of you getting it like that,” Jocelyn nodded towards the front door, “someone definitely agreed.”
Faith turned towards the front door and saw two delivery trucks from Madre’s. Several employees unloaded the contents of the trucks and began carrying them inside MillionHair. Vases of roses, mainly pink and red, were set around the shop.
“Excuse me, Marco,” Faith approached him, “what’s all this?”
“You have a delivery,” Marco got out his clipboard and checked the order, “from a Darren Matthews.”
“Darren did all this?” Faith smiled as she looked around her shop. There must’ve been fifteen vases already and more were still pouring in.
“Actually, I did.” Eli appeared behind Marco, who stepped aside. “I did all of this, baby girl. How are you?” He gave Faith a long hug.
Heavenly. That’s what he felt like. The smooth scent of his aftershave tickled Faith’s nose. His strong, muscular arms wrapped around her body, protecting her, holding her. “I’m doing great, Eli. How are you?”
“I’m doing much better now that I’ve seen you.” Eli smiled.
“You’re bold, Eli.” A small grin formed on Faith’s face. “I would’ve never thought you would deliver flowers to me from another man.”
“He ordered this,” Eli presented a paltry floral arrangement to Faith. It contained dying and dead flowers.
“Darren ordered this?” Faith asked as she looked at the arrangement.
“To his specification,” Eli blinked several times. “He told me what he wanted and I made sure it was exactly what he wanted. It’s not my fault your man doesn’t have any taste.”
“He’s not my man,” Faith corrected.
“Mr. Man has a big bank account.” Eli surmised. “You chose well for a boyfriend.”
“You know he’s not my boyfriend.” Faith stood up and dusted off her jeans. “Are you intimidated by Darren?”
“That overrated, corny-ass motherfu…” Eli bit his lip, much to Faith’s amusement. “I’m not intimidated by anyone, Faye. You know this.”
“Yeah, I know. I just wanted to say that to get under your skin.” She smiled. “Darren knows he’s not my boyfriend and so do you.”
“I know that.” Eli’s lips slowly curled upward to reveal a big smile. “I just don’t think he does.”
“I guess I need to make it clear then.” Faith sniffed a rose as she studied her husband’s face. Faith looked around her salon. It seemed more flowers were coming in by the second. “Apparently, looking at all the flowers he’s sent.”
Eli pulled Faith closer to him and whispered in her ear. “That’s from me.”
Damn, he felt wonderful. She had forgotten how rock hard his body was. She had forgotten the tingly sensations formed in her belly when he wrapped his arms around her. But she never forgot how much she loved the man holding her, the one begging for a second chance to make everything right, the one she gave it all to and would do it again in a heartbeat. “You always knew how to charm me, Mr. D’Amato,” she whispered.
Eli caressed Faith’s cheek with a thumb. “I’m willing to do whatever it takes to win you back, anima mia.” He kissed her forehead before he left the salon.
Faith watched Eli leave her salon. He smiled at her briefly before he got into his SUV and sped off. “Sooooo….” Krista walked up to Faith and leaned against her. “….wanna fill me in on what’s going on between you two?”
“Nothing,” Faith shook her head.
“Really?” Krista raised an eyebrow. “Nothing at all? We look like we just opened up a damn flower shop in here and you say nothing is happening between you two?”
Faith let out a sigh. “We may or may not be getting back together.”
“And you may or may not be trying to sell me some bull,” Krista laughed. “For real, Faye. What’s going on?”
Faith knew what she was doing when she climbed into Eli’s bed that fateful night. Unlike her emotions with Darren, Faith didn’t feel remorse or guilt about sleeping with Eli. It almost felt like they needed to reconnect that way. The sex was just like how it had always been—feral, passionate, unbridled. Their hands interlocked throughout the night and they snuggled with each other until Eli had to leave for the shop.
It was one of the best sexual experiences she had ever had and she was glad it was with Eli. Even thinking about what happened the prior night made her sex softly contract in anticipation for the next session. Faith knew better, however, and didn’t want to get the feelings between her legs caught up with the emotions her heart had. “I don’t want to get my hopes up. I don’t know what’s going on with him, with us. I just don’t know.”
“Are you afraid he’s going to leave you again?” Krista asked.
“No,” Faith shook her head.
“So, what’s the issue then?” Krista looked around the shop. “Clearly he wants to come back home.”
“I’m afraid,” Faith paused, “I’m afraid if I give him a second chance, I’ll end up regretting it. Can things really be better? Can we really work on everything after what happened? I just don’t know if I can take that chance.”
Krista listened intently. “Would you get back with Eli if Nathan wasn’t in the picture?”
Faith was confused by her best friend’s question. “I don’t understand.”
“If Nathan didn’t exist, or he wasn’t a factor, would you get back with Eli?” Krista asked.
“That’s not a fair question,” Faith replied, “I can’t deny my son ever existed.”
“My point, Faith, was if you’re going to get back with Eli, you need to do it for you, not for Nathan. Nathan will be just fine on his own. He has a great relationship with his father and Eli is very committed to being a part of his son’s life.” Krista plucked a long-stemmed rose from a nearby vase and handed it over to her best friend. “But you need to decide if being with Eli is what you want. I think that’s a chance you have to be willing to take.”
****
After Faith left MillionHair, she headed home. Eli was going to keep Nathan for the weekend and Faith was grateful for that. It was going to give her some much needed time to sort her feelings out.
She c
ould remember being one of those women who vowed to never take a man back when he was unfaithful. One time and it’ll be the last time, was her motto when it came to cheating. If a man strayed, there was no point of giving him a second chance.
Amazing how a child, marriage, and money would make a difference in her point of view.
