“Actually, the bride,” Samantha said, smiling. “Gigi and I work for the same company, and we’ve known each other for years. She helped me get my job with Lancôme, and we’ve been tight ever since.”
Victoria nodded, making the connection. Samantha was younger by several years, but she was a Spelman graduate as well. And even though Gigi led a crazy, drama-filled personal life, she was very active in business matters with their alma mater. She volunteered with the career services office on campus and had helped several graduating seniors get jobs over the years.
Samantha spoke up again, feeling the tension that was building in the air. “I flew in last night,” she continued. “My best friend, who lives here, was supposed to come with me, but she had to care for her mother, who isn’t doing well. I didn’t want to come alone, so I asked my knucklehead cousin here to tag along.” Samantha gave Parker a slight jab in the side. “Listen, Victoria, if I had known you were involved in this wedding, I wouldn’t have brought him with me and—”
“Don’t worry about it,” Victoria interrupted, not looking in Parker’s direction. “You’re here to help Gigi and Gary celebrate their special day, and I know they’ll be happy that you came.” She smiled, trying to put a good face on in an uncomfortable situation. “And it’s certainly good to see you again, Samantha. The ushers can show you to your seats.”
Samantha nodded and smiled as Victoria motioned in the direction of an usher who was standing nearby.
Parker’s eyes never left Victoria’s. “It’s good seeing you, Victoria.”
Again,Victoria gave him no response, only a blank stare.
As she watched Parker and his cousin walk away, she felt a slight tingle in the pit of her stomach. Damn! she shouted in her head. She knew the day was going to be filled with drama, after all.
You Like Learning the Hard Way... .
Back in the present, Victoria tried to take her mind off of Parker, because she knew that more pressing issues were at hand. She sat up in the middle of the king-size bed in her hotel suite as her thoughts turned to her husband and what he must be going through. She’d talked to Ted an hour earlier, when she first came up to her room. He had said that his mother was still holding on, but that the doctors had told them it was doubtful she’d make it through the night.
Victoria couldn’t imagine the sadness he must be feeling. During their conversation he’d tried to be strong, but his tone told her that he was in pain. After they ended their conversation, she had to gulp down two Tylenols in her quest to bury her growing headache.
She knew she couldn’t hide out in her room for the rest of the evening, so she finally rose from the bed and headed to the door. On her elevator ride down to the ballroom, where the reception was still in full swing, she prayed that Debbie and Stan had exercised good judgment and left the scene. She also hoped that Parker and Samantha were long gone as well.
Victoria entered the room and spotted Debbie and Stan. They were joining in on a line dance that had just started. I don’t believe this! As she scanned the room, her mood worsened. “Just my luck,” she whispered aloud. Parker’s gaze was fixed on her as they locked eyes. His stare made tiny beads of sweat pop out on her forehead. She tried to play it cool as she walked over to where Denise was standing.
“You okay? You were up in your suite for a while,” Denise said, with concern.
“I’m fine. I had to get away so I could talk to Ted,” she responded, telling a half-truth.
Denise nodded with understanding. She knew what it was like to lose a parent. “What’s the latest?”
“His mother is still holding on, but it’s just a matter of time. Alexandria and I will probably fly out tomorrow,” Victoria said, trying not to look across the room in Parker’s direction.
“If you need me to do anything, just say the word and it’s done.”
“Thanks, but you’ve done enough already, holding things together down here. How’s it been going since I left?”
“Girlfriend, this wedding is really bringing out some strange happenings.What’s the deal with Debbie and that man she’s cheezin’ with?” Denise asked as she and Victoria watched the two work up a sweat while they danced off-beat to the lyrics of Ludacris.
Victoria had been anticipating this question and hoped that she could throw Denise off Debbie’s adulterous scent. “Well ... ,” she began.
Before she could form her words, Denise cut her off. “How stupid is she? If you’re gonna cheat, at least be smart about it.Why in the hell did she bring her lover out in public? And I’ll be damned if he doesn’t look just like Rob.”
Victoria knew there was no need to even attempt to try and clean it up. “I said the same thing,” she sighed, shaking her head. “I don’t know what’s gotten into her.”
“From what I can see, about six inches, maybe less ... Whatchu think?”
Victoria snickered. “That’s hardly enough for the risk she’s taking.”
“Humph. Sometimes that’s all it takes. You never know what makes folks do the things they do.”
Victoria wrinkled her face. “I guess.”
“I’m gonna leave that one alone and put it in God’s hands,” Denise said, wiping her hands, as if she was done with the matter. “And by the way, did you see who else is here?” She glared, rolling her eyes in Parker’s direction.
“I know. I saw him earlier at the church.”
“How’d he manage to get an invite? I looked, and I didn’t see his name on the guest list, but one of Gigi’s hostesses obviously let him in. He probably smiled real hard and charmed his slick ass through the door.”
Victoria shook her head. “He’s here with his cousin. She’s one of Gigi’s guests.”
“Humph. If she’s a friend of Gigi’s, she’s probably no damn good, too, which would explain why she’s related to Parker.”
Victoria wanted Denise to go easy on Samantha. “She’s actually very nice. As a matter of fact, that’s her over there.” Victoria pointed toward the back of the room, where Samantha was sitting at a table, talking with Tyler.
“I hope she’s as nice as you say she is ... for Tyler’s sake,” Denise said with skepticism. “They’ve been cuddled up in that corner ever since you went upstairs.”
Victoria took a closer look, noticing the way Samantha and Tyler appeared to be flirting with each other. Samantha’s long, thin body was nestled close to Tyler’s, and his arm was draped over the back of her chair, as if they were ready to embrace. Both of their faces were brimming over with smiles and something that looked close to lust.
Tyler hadn’t dated much since Juliet’s death. He’d thrown all his energy into YFI. And when he did meet someone of interest, it never went beyond one or two casual dates. Victoria had been wanting him to find someone for quite some time.
When Victoria thought about her best friend going through life without someone special to share it with, she was filled with sadness. Tyler was a kind, good-hearted man who had suffered many losses, yet he’d never surrendered to bitterness. He deserved happiness, and Victoria prayed that it would finally come his way.
But even though she liked Samantha, she wasn’t sure that Parker’s cousin was a good match for her best friend. While Samantha was smart, attractive, and had a good sense of humor, Victoria also remembered that for someone who was raised in D.C.’s affluent Gold Coast community, by parents with a very distinct pedigree, in a family with deeply embedded roots in the city’s closely knit black elite, Samantha had a rough edge that she sported like a worn leather belt, loose and ragged. She favored men who boasted prison rap sheets rather than sheepskin diplomas. She’d had a brief run-in with the law several years back, the result of a wild night of partying that had spiraled out of control. Had it not been for her father, who happened to be one of the city’s top attorneys, she would’ve no doubt served jail time.
As Victoria continued to study the two, she couldn’t imagine what they had in common besides their libidos. Yet they were engrosse
d in what appeared to be a fluid and engaging conversation.
“Well, if you don’t mind, I’m gonna head out,” Denise said, looking in Gigi’s direction. “I see that the blushing bride is starting up again, and I want to leave before she turns this reception into a burlesque show.”
Gigi was flicking her tongue, seductively licking the icing off of Gary’s fingers one by one as they fed each other wedding cake, turning the time-honored tradition into a soft porn spectacle. A few of her cousins were cheering as their camera phones flashed, capturing the moment.
“Go ahead,” Victoria said. “I’ll call you if we fly out to-morrow.”
“Okay, I’m outta here. And, girlfriend, watch yourself with him,” Denise said, rolling her eyes again in Parker’s direction.
A few hours later the reception had finally started to wind down. Debbie and Stan had left shortly after their uncoordinated attempt to dance on beat. Their departure made Victoria glad that at least one headache was gone for the evening. Tyler had left an hour later, inviting Samantha to have a late dinner with him. And to no one’s surprise, Gigi and Gary were pissy drunk, along with the rest of their ghetto-fabulous wedding party. When Gary’s best man announced there was a fleet of stretch Hummers out front, ready to take everyone to the after party at one of Atlanta’s hottest nightclubs, the remaining party-goers cleared the ballroom as if someone had waved a gun.
All in all,Victoria was pleased that no one had gotten cursed out, injured, or arrested. She’d feared something bad might happen, given a few questionable characters in attendance.
After she signed the final paperwork with the banquet manager,Victoria headed back up to her room. She was looking forward to a peaceful night’s rest, and since Alexandria was sleeping over at Susan Whitehurst’s house, she planned to take advantage of an evening alone in the serenity of her hotel suite. She needed the peace and quiet because she knew the next few days were going to be somber ones.
She inserted her room key into the elevator, which gave her access to the floors above. She pressed the button for the nineteenth floor, and just as the doors were about to close, Parker stepped in.
“What are you doing?” Victoria asked in a startled voice. “Why are you still here?” She thought he’d left some time ago, because she hadn’t seen him in the ballroom when the crowd began to disperse.
“I want to talk to you.”
She stared at him with a silent, heavy glare.
“I sense that you’re still carrying hostility toward me.”
Victoria didn’t open her mouth. Instead, she merely looked at him, unable to focus her thoughts. They rode in silence as people stepped into and out of the elevator on each floor. When they reached Victoria’s floor, she made a beeline for the hallway, with Parker following close on her heels.
“Go away and leave me alone,” she hissed as she hurried down the plush corridor.
“Why won’t you talk to me? You can at least give me that courtesy.”
“I don’t have to give you a damn thing,” Victoria answered with irritation, not bothering to slow her gait or even look at him. “Now, leave me alone, before I call hotel security.”
They reached her room, and she was about to insert her key card into the lock. “My husband is on the other side of this door, so you better leave now if you know what’s good for you.”
Parker shook his head. “No, he’s not. He hasn’t been around all day, not at the church or at the reception. Are you two having troubles?”
Victoria knotted her brow and pushed against the door, intending to step inside and leave Parker out in the deserted hallway. But when she slipped into the room, Parker walked in behind her.
“Are you crazy? Didn’t I tell you to leave me alone?” she hissed again.
“Nice suite,” Parker said and smiled, looking toward the window across the room. “You’ve got a great view.”
Victoria couldn’t believe his casual attitude, but she wasn’t surprised by his bold audacity. “I guess you like learning the hard way,” she said, walking over to the phone on the nightstand. “When I tell hotel security that a big, six-foot-three-inch black man just barged his way into my room, they’ll have you out of here before you can blink. Now, you have five seconds to get the hell out before I pick up this phone.”
It was apparent that Parker didn’t think much of her threat, because he strode up to her in the same casual manner that he’d exuded when he entered her room. “Victoria, you’re not seriously going to call security on me?”
She picked up the phone. “Try me.”
“Put it down. We need to talk.”
“Get out. I mean it!”
Parker reached for Victoria’s hand that held the phone and gently coaxed it back to its cradle. When his fingers touched hers, she stood stock-still, unable to move a muscle. His touch was warm and exciting, making her think about things that created a small tingle below her waist. She could feel her weakness growing from the inside out, and she knew that she couldn’t trust her body’s reaction to him. She had to do something to back him down, something to break his spell and prove to him, if not to herself, that she was unaffected by his presence. But as much as she tried, she was frozen in place.
They looked at each other, their breathing becoming more rapid, yet perfectly in sync. “Parker, why are you doing this?” Victoria finally said. He was standing so close, she could feel his body heat and smell the wonderfully intoxicating scent of his citrus-spice cologne. “This will accomplish nothing but some hurt feelings and a possible arrest.”
Parker took one step back. It was a small step, but a step nonetheless, and it gave Victoria some breathing room. He gazed upon her with an intense stare that made her heart jump in her chest.
“Parker, I’m not playing with you. Please leave before this turns ugly.”
“I didn’t realize how much I missed you until I saw you last weekend, and I thought ...”
Parker couldn’t finish his sentence, because he was caught off guard by the way Victoria seemed to recoil from him. He’d been so sure about the chemistry he’d felt between them, and he thought it was mutual. He couldn’t believe he’d been so wrong. Feeling defeated, he turned to walk away but then paused and spun around to face her. “I’m sorry for the way I’ve behaved. I apparently misjudged things. I thought there was still something left between us, something I thought I saw in your eyes when we were at Hilda’s,” he admitted, shaking his head. His voice was steady, and his words were sincere. “I was obviously wrong. Please forgive me,Victoria.”
This time when he turned to walk away, he didn’t look back.
Live and in Living Color ...
After Parker took a quick peek into his son’s room and paid the babysitter, he settled in for the night. “Damn,” he mumbled. He kicked PJ’s Tonka truck to the side as he walked through his living room and headed to the extravagant gourmet kitchen, which he never used. He loosened his silk tie and opened the refrigerator in search of relief. He popped the cap of his favorite ice-cold beer and turned the bottle up to his mouth. It didn’t quench his real thirst, but it was a good temporary distraction.
He polished off half the bottle in a few long swigs as he walked upstairs to his home office and settled into his worn leather chair, ready to check his e-mail. He looked around the mahogany paneled room and thought about his encounter with Victoria. It had been the third time he’d seen her in one week. He shook his head and smiled, thinking about how, despite the fact that so many years had passed between them, she still managed to take his breath away.
When he first saw her a week ago at Hilda Barrett’s house, during his son’s Jack and Jill playdate, he’d been shocked when she entered the room. She was the last person he had expected to see. At first he thought his eyes were deceiving him, repeating the same cruel trick they had played on him countless times over the last six years. There had been several occasions when he thought he saw Victoria walking down the street or sitting in a restaurant, only to fi
nd that it was a look-alike, who, upon closer inspection, never measured up to the genuine article.
But when he saw the tall, beautiful woman standing in Hilda’s living room and then looked down to see the little girl standing beside her who was a cream-colored version of her spitting image, he knew it had to be Victoria. He wanted to go over to her and speak, but she was engaged with another group of women, one of whom was his friend’s wife, Roberta. And knowing Roberta the way he did, he was sure that she was giving Victoria the lowdown on his life. He decided to approach her once the meeting ended, but she scurried away, as though someone were chasing her. He knew her pattern, and he knew that she was avoiding him.
Then, a few days later, he was standing in the admissions office of his son’s new school when he heard the door open and smelled the undeniably sexy scent of the only woman who’d ever made him want to settle down and recite vows in front of an altar. When the admissions officer called out Victoria’s name, he turned around to find her standing in front of him, looking as beautiful as he’d ever seen her. He could tell that she was shocked to see him again, too, but he also saw a soft glimmer in her eyes when he shook her hand. He purposely hung around so he could talk to her after her meeting, and that was when he knew that the fire was still there. It wasn’t what she did, but what she didn’t do, that gave him hope.
He knew from past experience that Victoria could be cold and distant if she was pushed to the edge, and considering the way their relationship had ended, he knew she was perfectly capable of treating him like yesterday’s leftovers. But she didn’t do that. She wasn’t welcoming, but she didn’t completely push him away, either. And being a methodical thinker, he sensed an opening and took it. He handed her his business card, and to his surprise and delight, she took it.
It had only been recently that he’d finally given up hope of running into Victoria one day. He’d thought about her on many occasions since the last time he’d seen her—a time that even today he knew she was completely unaware of.
Keeping Secrets & Telling Lies Page 11
