Debra and Big Boy came back. They had obviously been fighting, because Debra rolled her eyes at him and made a point of sitting as far away from him as was possible in the tiny space. Adrienne watched as Lillian again murmured to her children. They both nodded obediently and walked over to stand in front of Mel. The taller one piped up. “Hello, Mr. Jordan. Mama wants to know when you comin’ back to our house.”
No one was talking. Adrienne’s eyes met Lillian’s, and the woman’s chin went up. She gazed back at Adrienne in open defiance. Adrienne started to think the unthinkable.
“The little girl asked you a question, Mel. Why don’t you answer her?” Adrienne said calmly. “She wants to know when you are coming back to her house.”
Mel gave the child a smile. “I don’t know, sweetheart.” The children skipped back to their mother. Mel glared furiously at Lillian, and the woman stared back. There was malice in her gaze.
Debra leaped to her feet. “Let’s play some cards y’all, and turn up the music—it’s too quiet in here!”
Adrienne watched as everyone started moving around, taking plates to the kitchen and mixing drinks. Big Boy grabbed Lillian and started dancing.
Adrienne looked at the little girl and wondered what Mel had been doing in her mother’s home. The child had big eyes like Delilah. She remembered one night when Delilah was about three weeks old and wasn’t sleeping well at night. She kept waking up and crying until Adrienne finally took her out of the crib and into the living room. She settled into an armchair with the infant in her lap. “Shush, sweetie, Daddy has to get up at six. He only has two more hours of sleep. Be a good girl for Mommy. Don’t wake Daddy up.”
She had been so exhausted from taking care of the baby all day and most of the night that she was close to tears. She must have fallen asleep, because the next thing she knew, Mel was gently taking Delilah from her arms. “Go get some rest, baby,” he said. Adrienne gave him a kiss of gratitude, and Delilah just stared at them both with big brown eyes that matched her father’s.
Adrienne rubbed her temples. “Mel, what were you doing in that woman’s house?”
“Putting up kitchen shelves with some of the other guys.”
“I don’t believe that.”
Mel shrugged. “If you want to cause a scene for nothing, I can’t stop you. Just go on over and ask her.”
Adrienne’s pride would not let her do it. “The only place I’m going is home. Right now!” Her head was starting to throb. The pain was so intense, she just wanted to go home, take some aspirin, and lie down in her bedroom with the lights off.
“Sure, baby,” Mel answered easily. “Let’s get our coats.”
Adrienne stood up and followed Mel. She turned her nose up at Lillian as she passed. The look told the cheaply dressed tramp that if her game plan had been to cause trouble in Mel’s marriage, it had failed. It told the floozy that all she had done was make a fool of herself.
Over the next two days, Adrienne kept thinking about Lillian and her two little girls. As she walked out the door for work one morning, she wondered for the hundredth time if Mel had slept with Big Boy’s cousin. No, Mel would never be physically unfaithful to her, but he hadn’t told the whole truth, either.
By the time she sat down at her desk, Adrienne had faced a cold, sad fact. Her marriage might not last, and if they were headed for divorce, she shouldn’t be thinking about getting pregnant. It was time to start using some sort of birth control.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Mel drove along his route, thinking about Easter dinner. If he could have wrapped his hands around Lillian’s throat and choked her to death without fear of going to jail, he would have done so without hesitation. What kind of funky shit was that she had pulled on him? How could she use her kids to get even with him for not sticking around to be her man? No matter what Debra said, she had willingly climbed into bed on the first date with a man she knew was legally tied to someone else. He thought about going to her house and telling her stupid ass exactly what he thought, but then he decided that such a step would only make matters worse. She would make sure that Adrienne found out, and how would he explain that? Not that Adrienne had bought his story anyway. He had seen the truth in the grim set of her jaw the following morning.
Mel felt that Lillian’s antics had forced the hidden tension between him and Adrienne out into the open. Now it was just a matter of time before war was officially declared. Until then, he could only do just what he was going to do now: drive the bus, grab a drink after work at the bar, and go home to wait for the inevitable explosion. A drink would calm his nerves, slow his thoughts down to a pace where he could handle them. Slow them down just enough to help him stave off the other desire that seemed to be getting stronger. No, what he needed was a stiff drink, not no more of that coke. Mel concentrated on the black road ahead of him, on the hellacious New York traffic and taxi drivers, and tried hard to steer his thoughts away from that pretty white dust.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Adrienne selected a black Italian two-piece pantsuit from her closet and a Valentino scarf from her dresser drawer. She had purchased both at an upscale discount boutique called Le Firme, on Fifty-seventh street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. The suit had been marked down from twelve hundred dollars to six hundred dollars, and the scarf had been a steal at only thirty-five dollars. She wriggled into the suit, feeling a delicious sense of anticipation. As she pulled her Bleecker Satchel coach bag from the top shelf of her closet, she glanced at another pile of bills that were stacked neatly beside her accessories, and hastily closed the door. Mel had worked the night shift and wasn’t home yet.
She walked quickly through the chilly morning air and reached Parton, Webster & Elliott a few minutes early. Sherry was already there, sipping coffee and reading the newspaper.
“Good morning,” Adrienne said as she pulled off her coat.
Sherry looked up. “Hey! That suit is fabulous!”
Adrienne smiled. “Thanks.”
She hung up her coat in the hall closet and settled down at her desk. There was a note from Regina Belvedere asking about the status of several projects. There had been no further word from Lloyd Cooper, and Adrienne didn’t know if he had spoken to Mallory Guest about her or not. After she booted up her computer and retrieved the information for Regina, she e-mailed Lloyd a message that was deliberately worded to conjure up memories of senior year. She really needed the extra money that a promotion would bring so that she could pay off her bills.
Girl voted Most Likely to Succeed still waiting for the chance to prove it.
Never mind that she was hardly a girl and hadn’t been for a long time. She clicked Send and waited several minutes but there was no answer. Feeling disappointed and foolish, Adrienne settled into the morning’s work. At 11:00 A.M., a little box appeared on the screen.
Adrienne Jordan has one unread message.
She clicked on her E-mail. The message was from Lloyd Cooper.
Are you available for dinner tonight?
Adrienne chuckled.
“Are you all right?” asked Sherry.
“Yes,” Adrienne said quickly. Sherry was entirely too nosy.
Sherry pressed for more information and even walked over to look at Adrienne’s computer screen. Adrienne waved her away before she could read the message and then typed her reply:
Yes, as long as the food is well done. No sushi.
Regina Belvedere bounced into the bull pen and smiled warmly at the two of them. She was wearing a dark-green suit that set off her red hair and pale-green eyes. Adrienne thought that her supervisor’s skirt was a little too short for the office, but at least she had shapely long legs to carry it off. Regina placed a hand on Adrienne’s shoulder and glanced idly at the screen.
“Is that Lloyd Cooper’s name that I see?”
Adrienne sat angrily as Regina read the message and Sherry watched them both with frank curiosity.
“Can I see you in my office?”
Adrienne sighed and followed Regina past Sherry and out of the bull pen.
As Adrienne took the visitor’s chair and Regina settled in behind her desk, she noticed that Regina’s smile was still frozen in place but that there was wariness in her eyes.
“Adrienne, what is that e-mail all about?”
“It turns out that Lloyd Cooper and I went to the same high school. He has invited me to dinner for old times’ sake.” She didn’t try to hide her annoyance at Regina’s prying questions. Now that she knew Regina’s true character, it was hard to treat her with respect. “May I go now?”
When Regina nodded, Adrienne went back to her desk and started working on the status report that Regina had requested. Adrienne sighed, wishing that she had been less frosty with her manager. Even though Regina had turned out to be a scheming tramp as far as men were concerned, she had been very understanding when Adrienne returned to work after the accident. It had been hard for Adrienne to venture out into the world after her isolation. Regina had been kind, thoughtful, and compassionate about her terrible loss.
Adrienne went back to Regina’s office to explain that her interest in their new president was strictly professional.
“Why didn’t you tell me when you found out who he was?”
It was a good question. Adrienne just shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Regina grinned. “It doesn’t matter.”
The two women smiled at each other and the crisis was past.
For the rest of the day, Adrienne did her assignments like a woman on automatic pilot. Her mind churned with reflections on the mystery that was LaMar Jenkins/Lloyd Cooper. I’m going to really press him about the new job tonight, she decided.
Adrienne thought about how she would approach the subject as she ate lunch at her desk. The ham sandwich she’d brought from home tasted like cardboard. When the phone rang, she jumped to answer, thinking it might be Lloyd.
“Hey, baby, it’s me,” said Mel.
“Oh.”
“Damn. I’m glad to hear your voice, too,” he answered irritably.
“I’m sorry. It’s been a busy morning.”
“Okay.” He changed the subject. “What do you want for dinner tonight? It’ll have to be something quick and easy, because I’m already tired and I’ve got four more hours to drive that damned bus.”
“I have to work late. I won’t be home for dinner.”
“Okay. I’ll miss you, though. See you when you get home.”
“Bye.”
“Adrienne, before you hang up, there’s something I have to say.”
“What?”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Adrienne didn’t hear from Lloyd until 4:45 P.M. He called from the company limousine, and his voice was low. “I’m parked right outside the building. Let’s not talk about the past in the car, okay?”
Adrienne agreed. Lloyd was obviously a man who liked to keep his private life undercover. He was probably worried that the driver would hear something embarrassing about his youth and mention it to another executive.
They drove out of the city in silence. Lloyd seemed to be in a bad mood. His brows were drawn together, and his bearing was stiff. Adrienne stared out the window feeling uncomfortable while Lloyd sat beside her, reading Advertising Age. She could tell from the sound of the paper rattling that he was having difficulty concentrating.
“Where are you taking me?” she finally ventured timidly.
“A town called Hastings-on-Hudson. There’s a nice quiet restaurant there with excellent food. I think you’ll like it.”
It occurred to Adrienne that Mel might call the job. “I have to call my husband.”
He gave her the phone without saying anything. The line rang a few times, and then the answering machine picked up. “Mel,” Adrienne said, “you won’t be able to reach me at the office. My boss and I are taking the project with us, and we’ll work on it over dinner. Don’t worry, I’ll take a cab home.”
When Adrienne gave Lloyd the phone back, his mouth was twisted into a sardonic smile. “Women,” he spat. “You’ve changed, Adrienne. I can remember when you were a terrible liar.”
“I’m not lying,” Adrienne snapped. “You are my boss, and I’d like to learn more about what is going on at PWE Multicultural.”
“There are different ways of lying. Your husband will think that you’re out with Regina Belvedere. Am I correct?”
Adrienne smarted under the criticism. “I don’t think you’re in a position to lecture me about how I’ve changed, Mr. Whatever-your-name-is.”
He chuckled. “Touché, my dear.”
Le Chateau was an elegant French restaurant tucked away on a side-street between a florist’s shop, which was closed, and a posh boutique for children. The doors of Le Chateau were mahogany with solid-brass door handles. Lloyd opened the door for Adrienne and she gasped at the sheer loveliness of the interior. The color scheme was slender ribbons of pale blue and soft ivory. This pattern curled intricately throughout the marble floors and on the walls. There were only ten tables in the place, and the damask-covered chairs were ivory to match the tablecloths. Two ivory candles burned at each table.
After the waiter took their orders, filet mignon for Lloyd and coq au vin for her, Adrienne unfolded her napkin, laid it across her lap, and smiled engagingly at him. “It’s been so long since I heard from you. I thought you’d forgotten all about me.” Her remark was just supposed to be a coquettish icebreaker, so Adrienne was surprised at Lloyd’s emotional response.
“It’s funny, Adrienne, but I feel like you and I have somehow changed places.”
“What?”
“You come across as lacking confidence and fearful of life in general. Like I used to be long ago.”
Adrienne felt like going home and leaving Lloyd to his stupid thoughts of yesteryear, but it would only hurt her in the end. Lloyd was wealthy. All she had was a depressed husband whom she needed to pay half the household expenses while she dug herself out of a mountain of personal debt.
“I can’t be a seventeen-year-old girl anymore, Lloyd,” she said gently.
“I didn’t expect you to be. But you were so strong-willed, vivacious, and ready to take on the world. I refuse to believe that the old Adrienne has disappeared forever.”
Adrienne knew that if Lloyd had come back into her life just a year earlier, he wouldn’t be so disappointed. It was as though Delilah’s horrible death had removed the stuffing from her insides. But that was not a story she was ready to tell him.
“It’s like you’re surrounded by some kind of mist.”
“We’re different people now, Lloyd, and that is as it should be. Now, stop talking crazy like that and let’s talk about something else, like why you changed your name.”
The waiter came back with their dinner. Lloyd didn’t answer until the waiter had arranged their plates and departed.
Lloyd grimaced. “Your tone is very judgmental. How many black men with low-class ghetto names like LaMar Jenkins have you ever seen running a Fortune five hundred company?”
Adrienne shook her head. “None, I guess. But you shouldn’t have to give up such a big part of who you are to get ahead.”
His brows were furrowed again. “Nonsense. People do it all the time in show business. Cary Grant’s real name was Archibald Alexander Leach. If a record company had presented you with a five-million-dollar contract, and the only condition was that you change your name to Patti Pularski, what would you have done?”
Adrienne couldn’t think of anything to say. Lloyd had made his point. They both knew what her answer would have been.
“That’s what I thought.” Lloyd sounded triumphant.
“Eat your food,” Adrienne said gently. “It’s getting cold.”
She searched her mind for something pleasant to talk about, but she was so surprised by what Lloyd had said that she gave up and just ate. After a while she said, “This is delicious.”
Lloyd took another bite of his filet mignon. “They cook a mean steak, too.”
“How did you find this place?”
“John Elliott and his wife bought me here my first night in town.” Lloyd grimaced. “Speaking of John, he isn’t very happy with me these days.”
So that’s why she hadn’t heard from Lloyd in so long. “Why not?”
He sighed and wiped his mouth. “On the day Mallory Guest was supposed to sign our contract, she asked me a question and didn’t like the answer I gave her. So now Ms. Guest is thinking things over. She isn’t sure about the job anymore.”
Adrienne’s heart sank. That’s why he was in such a bad mood. It looked as though she was going to stay stuck in the secretarial bull pen. “Can you tell me about it?”
Lloyd shrugged. “Why not? Mallory read the contract and then asked if PWE Multicultural will use the art, production, and writing personnel that we currently have on staff. Her voice sounded edgy but I ignored it. I told her that the person I hire will have to recruit a whole new staff of talent.”
“What did she say?” asked Adrienne.
“She said that the new creative director would have to raid the staffs of African-American-owned advertising agencies to find the qualified people.”
Adrienne frowned. “That’s terrible.”
Lloyd was clearly taken aback, but he recovered quickly. “Raid is a pretty strong word,” he replied smoothly. “I prefer to think that PWE Multicultural will simply invite interested parties to join our team.”
“I’ll bet she didn’t like the sound of that any better than I do.”
“No, she didn’t,” Lloyd admitted. “She said if every mainstream ad agency follows this trend, the African-American-owned ad agencies will cease to exist.”
“Would you really let that happen?”
A Mighty Love Page 14
