Live & Learn ~ A Miss Independent Novel

by Kiki Leach

  Alexis gave her daughter once last stern glance, then shoved past Nikki without even looking in her direction.

  “I don’t think I have much of an appetite anymore,” said Vanessa.

  Nikki stepped up and placed her hands in front of her. “I take it your mother knows about Adrian?”

  “Yeah.”

  “And she didn’t try kill you for that?”

  “No, but she’s being blackmailed for it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that if you were actually home sometimes, you would know what the hell was going on with me instead of having to find out here of all places.”

  “At least I’m asking, V. Since we’ve been to the beach, you haven’t asked me once what I’ve been doing over the last few weeks.”

  “I know what you’ve been doing, and who. I don’t need direct details of your love life, Nik--”

  “It’s not just about that. It’s about my work life too.”

  “At The Bean?”

  “No.” She groaned. “I auditioned for Wicked last week and now I’m an official understudy for the role of Glinda.”

  “So if the Good Witch keels over at some point, you get to take her place on stage?”

  Nikki chuckled. “It’s not a guarantee, but it’s something more than I’ve ever gotten before now.”

  Vanessa appeared unfazed, but attempted to show support for her friend. “Then I’m happy for you,” she said. “How did it come about?”

  “William,” she started.

  Vanessa’s face fell. “Oh.”

  “I know what you are most likely thinking about all of it, but this was legit.”

  “I never said it wasn’t. Planes, trains, automobiles, a ‘Wicked’ understudy. He can buy you all of that, and I’m happy for you if it’s what you really want.”

  “It’s not just about the money and you don’t sound very happy.”

  She slapped her arms against herself and dropped back. “What the hell do you want me to say, Nik?”

  “Nothing,” she told her. “Nothing at all.” She headed back into the dining room hoping to avoid another fight.

  As everyone gathered around the table, with Nathan at the head of it, they noticed place cards sitting on top of each plate. Maurice was seated at the corner end of the table near Nathan, while Vanessa was seated alongside him at the right. Adrian was placed at the other end near Nikki and William, but couldn’t take his eyes off of Vanessa, who did her best in avoiding his entire presence. She wanted to ask why he was there and he knew the question was just edging at the tip of her lips, but she couldn’t bring herself to say a single word to him that wouldn’t involve public swearing and showing out. Maurice stared at them both and continued to take mental notes of their strange behavior.

  Once Sheila finally returned to the room, Vanessa slid her chair back from the table and stood up. “Before you get too comfortable, I need to talk to you in private.”

  Sheila looked down the table at Adrian, and then back into Vanessa’s eyes. “But--”

  “This can’t wait. Sorry.”

  Sheila made a face to her fiancé before following Vanessa down the hallway and into another room.

  Nathan glanced over at Maurice, who remained perplexed by the entire situation. He cheerfully slapped him on the back and rattled his shoulder. “How’s it going over there? Are you two alright? Things seem pretty tense all of a sudden.”

  Maurice repressed the urge to slug him across the face and jerked himself away. “We’re fine.”

  “You don’t look fine. In fact, I think you looked a little bit ‘green’ with something when you saw Adrian walk in.”

  “It’s her former professor,” he replied. “I don’t have anything to be green about.”

  Nathan leaned back in his chair and raised his glass to his lips, mumbling, “You will.”

  Once they entered one of the more private rooms of the house, Vanessa gently shoved Sheila in the back and slammed the door. Sheila spun on her heels and scowled. “Please don’t slam my door like that.”

  “I won’t once you actually pay for it,” she snapped. “In the meantime, why don’t you tell me what the HELL Adrian is doing here? When I asked you to stay away from him, that wasn’t some joke or request -- it was a fucking demand. You agreed to my face then went behind my back and what, had Nathan call him up anyway?”

  “I never agreed to anything, Vanessa, okay? And secondly, I never had Nathan call anyone--”

  “Bullshit. You know, I came here tonight for Maurice’s sake. I came here to try and keep the peace and lessen the animosity that’s been between all of us since the day you two came back, but you just had to keep it going.”

  “I didn’t keep anything going, I didn’t invite him here!”

  “That look on your face back there told me that you knew he was coming.”

  “I didn’t.”

  “Then you knew something!”

  “I was as surprised about it as you were, I just hid it better. What is the big deal about it now, either way? So what, you had a fling with him in college, what does it matter now?”

  “It DIDN’T matter until you went to see him in the first damn place. It’s only gotten worse now that he’s shown up here tonight! You have no CLUE as to why I’ve wanted to keep my distance from him all this time, why I refused to contact him and only did so because he threatened to show up at BOTH my house and place of business if I didn’t. I absolutely loathe that man, more than you and Nathan combined. But you wouldn’t know that because all you cared about was trying to keep me away from ‘your man’.”

  “I asked ya what happened, Vanessa. Ya didn’t wanna talk about it.”

  “YEAH and for a damn good reason!”

  “And what reason was it?!

  “I was PREGNANT, SHEILA!” she blurted out. Sheila’s mouth fell open and she stood as frozen as a block of ice. Vanessa lowered her hands and moved her eyes around the room. “I was pregnant.”

  “With whose baby?”

  “Chewbacca. Who the fuck do you think?!”

  She turned her eyes to the floor and lowered her head. “I don’t… When?”

  Vanessa tightened her jaw. She felt the tears forming but closed her eyes to keep from displaying too much emotion in front of her rival. “I found out before he told me he was leaving and a week later, I had a miscarriage. The doctor told me it was due to stress.”

  “Adrian doesn’t know?”

  “No one knows. Especially not Maurice. I had pushed all of that out of my life the moment he was gone and now he’s here and has brought back every single memory with him, good, bad and possibly worse.” She placed a hand on her head. “And now I feel like I’m gonna be sick.”

  “You’re not pregnant again now, are you?” she asked. Vanessa looked at her as if she wanted to rip off her entire face. “I had no idea about any of this, V.”

  “Of course you didn’t. But if you had, would it have kept you from inviting him here?”

  “I didn’t invite him, Vanessa – not on my own and not through Nathan, I’m not lying to you about that.” She folded her arms.

  “Then why would Nathan go out of his way to invite him here on his own? What the hell does he know about ANY of this anyway?!”

  “He doesn’t know everything, exactly. He doesn’t know about the two of you. He found Adrian’s information in my purse and started asking questions. I told him that everything was referred to me by Joan, and belonged to a former NYU professor who was really smart and could probably help to improve my writing skills. Maybe he brought him here to see how I would react to him because he didn’t believe me like he said he did.”

  “I wouldn’t believe you either, considering Adrian was a professor of PHILISOPHY, not English or Journalism – which HE apparently now knows. I have to ask you this now because I didn’t before, but what in the hell is the matter with you?! You’re getting married, for fuck’s sake! You’re supposed to be THRILLED about it! Why ca
n’t you just keep your nose the hell out of my business and continue living your own life without systematically trying to screw up mine?! The same goes for Nathan! I just want to know where the FUCK it will end with the both of you. With my death?!”

  She tilted her head and soured. “You don’t need to go that far, V.”

  “Maybe I do. Maybe by saying that, it’ll get you to finally wake the hell up!”

  A few minutes of silence passed between them while she stared at Vanessa from across the room. “Are you going to tell Maurice about any of this?”

  “I hadn’t planned on it, but I might have no choice in case Adrian decides to unconsciously blurt out something about our relationship during dinner.”

  “He doesn’t seem like the type to do that,” said Sheila.

  “And after a few meetings in Queens, you know him so well?”

  “I obviously don’t know him as well as you do,” she said, “but I don’t think he’s like that.” Vanessa eyed her curiously, wondering what the hell she was really thinking when it came to yet another of her exes. “What about the baby?”

  “There is no baby.”

  “There was one,” Sheila replied.

  “What did I just say about minding your own business?”

  “It’s not like you have anybody else to talk to about this, Vanessa, since I’m the only one who knows.” She shrugged. “You telling me and not the others kind of makes this feel like old times.”

  “No it doesn’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I only told you in order to get you to back off. I wasn’t confiding in you about it.”

  “Confide in me now.”

  “I did that once. You took everything I ever said to you and used it against me to land Nathan and for no other reason. Forgive me if I choose not to make that same mistake again.” The two women looked away from one another. “What I said in here does not go beyond this room, understand? I plan to tell Maurice on my own time and in my own way. You say nothing to Nathan about this, or anyone else, do you hear me?”

  “Loud and clear,” she replied.

  “Good--” She turned to the door and rested her hand on the knob.

  “But.” Sheila stepped up and raised her hand. “You know that I never get something for nothing out of it.”

  She spun back around and stared her straight in the face. “You’re such a bitch, that’s blackmail.”

  “Not if we’re both getting what we want out of this. You want me to keep quiet about your past until you’re ready to speak on it, and I want my wedding profiled in your magazine. I also want us to become closer again and I think us working together on a regular basis might help that.”

  “Yeah, great, we can sit around the conference table and discuss Nathan’s dick size while picking out what colors you’ll be wearing for the September cover.”

  “I’m serious.”

  “So am I,” Vanessa snapped. “I’m sure there are hundreds of women just waiting for articles like this to be written.”

  “I won’t say anything about this to anyone, but you have to give me what I want.”

  “You and Nathan are like two fucked up peas sharing the same demented pod – my mother has been right from the very beginning.” She thought a moment and shook her head. “I’ll give you the cover and an article to go along with it, written by someone with some actual talent. Until then, you can send me some samples and I’ll put you on a trial basis, but… IF you fuck up or say one thing that doesn’t vibe with my readers, you’re done.” She turned halfway, then stopped. “By the way, since you’ll be in MY magazine, you’ll be doing and wearing what I say.”

  “That’s not how it goes if I’m the one blackmailing you.”

  “Oh. It doesn’t? Then I guess we’re changing up the rules a bit. This is my world, remember? The one you’ve been so eager to be a part of once again. Have the samples at my office by Monday morning at 9:30, or the deal is off.” She slammed the door and returned to the dining room. That hadn’t turned out nearly as well as Sheila had hoped it would.

  When Vanessa returned to the dining room and took her seat, Nathan leaned forward and made a face of feigned distress. “Maurice went to grab something from the kitchen, but he’ll be back soon.”

  “Great.” She removed her utensils from the napkin and placed it in her lap.

  “Everything alright?” he asked. “I was a little concerned after seeing you drop that glass to the floor like that.” He took another swig of his drink. “It was as if you had seen the Ghost of Christmas past.”

  “That thing slipped from my hand.”

  He grinned while watching her fretfully pick at her food. “Did I mention how good you look in that dress tonight? Damn good, sexy – whoof! Bet Maurice can’t wait to rip it off of you when you two get back, huh?”

  She swallowed back what she had eaten and turned to look him in the eyes. “Fuck off.”

  “That’s a little difficult with me sitting right here,” he said.

  On her way back to the table, Sheila heard a light knocking at the front door. She made a face and glanced around the corner at Nathan. “Did you invite somebody else here that I don’t know about?” she asked. He shook his head. She went to answer the door and almost fell over from shock at who was standing before her.

  “SURPRISE!” Melanie said, reaching her arms out for a tight hug.

  From the other room, Nikki immediately recognized her voice and dropped her fork to her plate. She began coughing as she choked on a bite of her food and reached for her champagne, drinking it until there was none left.

  Sheila gently pulled away from Melanie and wrapped her fingers around the collar of her dress as Oscar came up behind his wife. Melanie frowned when she realized Sheila hadn’t said anything. “You don’t look very happy to see us.”

  “No, I am!” Sheila insisted. “I am. I just, completely forgot I had invited you all to come out here. Where are your kids?”

  “At our beach house with Oscar’s parent’s. We didn’t think the dinner would be too kid friendly, so we came alone. Do you mind if we come in?”

  “No – Yes! Of course, come on in,” she said.

  Melanie shoved her way inside the house. “Where is the food? I was practically sticking my nose out of the car like a dog, it smelled absolutely delicious!”

  She rested her hand on the side of her face and plastered an uneasy grin across her face. “It’s in the dining room. Just straight ahead and make a left, you can’t miss it.” Oscar closed the door behind him and had intended to follow after his wife, but Sheila pressed her hand against his chest, stopping him. “I, uh… ooh,” she said, before immediately snatching her hand back. “I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but I know about you and Nikki.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Cut the shit, alright? Melanie told me everything. I’m just warning you because she is here with William.”

  “I know that, thanks.” He tried moving past her, but she held onto his arm.

  “That’s great. Then you should also know that this is my parent’s house and if anything gets broken, I won’t be the one paying for it.” She released him and he stared at her for a few seconds before heading off to join his wife in the other room.

  Everyone was stunned upon seeing first Melanie, and then Oscar following behind her. But no one was more dumbfounded, or pissed off, than Nikki. When Sheila came back, Nikki immediately jumped up from her chair and threw her napkin on top of her plate.

  Sheila groaned. “Here we go again.”

  Nikki maneuvered around the table and pulled Sheila off to the side.

  Nathan started laughing and got up to offer Melanie and Oscar two glasses of champagne.

  Nikki pulled Sheila into the kitchen and crossed her arms. “Why are they here?” she asked.

  “Because I invited them.”

  “Why?”

  “Melanie and I are sort of like friends now.”

  “You�
��re not friends with this woman, you’re not friends with any woman! You invited them to be spiteful. She knows about Oscar, doesn’t she? And she told you.”

  “There wasn’t much that she had to tell me that I didn’t already know about you myself, Nik. You weren’t exactly the cleanest of teens back in high school.”

  “Maybe not, but you were the queen bee.”

  “Ooh! Hit me where it hurts, why dontcha? Listen, they’re here, so just deal with it, alright?” She turned away, but Nikki grabbed her by the arm and slammed her into the wall.

  “No, not alright.”

  Sheila bugged her eyes in fear. “What the hell is your problem?!”

  “You are, puta. From day one, it’s always been you. And I’m not going to let you screw me over like this, not again.”

  Sheila tried squirming away and scrunched her face in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

  Nikki released her but didn’t say another word as she exited the kitchen. Sheila reached down for her wrist, attempting to massage it with her other hand. Just as she turned the corner to give Nikki a verbal piece of her mind, she literally bumped into Adrian and bounced back. “Sorry,” she said.

  He moved around her and smiled. “No harm, no foul.”

  She thought of leaving him there alone, but decided against it and whirled around. “Can I ask you something?” He nodded. “Did Nathan call you from the information that I had?” He nodded again. “And he invited you here tonight?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Why did you decide to come?”

  “I didn’t know that Vanessa was going to be here until the very last minute,” he said. “If that’s what you were wondering.”

  “I wasn’t…” She paused. “Obviously, I was, but why did you decide to stay? You knew she wasn’t going to suddenly take you back once she saw you again.”

  “I didn’t stay because of her. I stayed because of you,” he said. Sheila’s heart leaped into her throat. She tried swallowing, but everything inside of her seemed to close up. “I hadn’t heard from you in a few weeks. I tried calling, but--”