I Take This Woman

by Chamein Canton

  “Hello, all.” She said as she walked in.

  “My, don’t you look nice.” Kelly smiled. “Is that a new outfit?”

  Abby looked down at her black slacks and striped black and white shirt. “No. I’ve worn these pieces before. Though I don’t think I’ve worn them together.”

  “Oh, but there’s something different about you,” Kelly pondered aloud. “I can’t put my finger on it.” She turned to Candy. “You see it too. Don’t you, Candy?”

  “Yes. It’s like you have this little glow or something.”

  “Please,” Abby scoffed. “I haven’t glowed since I was pregnant. And by the way, that wasn’t an announcement.” She quickly added.

  “You know my mother always says that women glow when they’re pregnant, falling in love, or in love.” Leo piped in.

  “Since you’re not pregnant is it love, Abby?” Kelly asked grinning.

  “It isn’t anything. Now while I have thoroughly enjoyed our witty repartee, we need to get back to work.” She paused. “Was everything quiet up here?”

  “It was business as usual.” Reed answered. “Oh but Sam Best called for you a couple of times. He wants you to give him a ring back.”

  Abby’s heart leaped into her throat for a moment. “Okay. Thanks, Reed.” She said as she went to her office.

  She sat behind her desk. I guess I should call him back. If I don’t call and he calls back, everyone will be suspicious. She sighed. This is what I get for being someone who’s known for returning calls promptly. She dialed the phone.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi, Sam. It’s Abby. I’m returning your call.”

  “Thanks for calling me back. After last night I wasn’t sure if you would.”

  “Well I did. So what’s up?”

  “I wanted to let you know that I broke off my engagement.”

  “You what?” Abby’s jaw hit the floor. “Why?”

  “When I really looked at it, things haven’t been good for us in a while.”

  “Please tell me that I wasn’t a factor in this.”

  “You didn’t cause the break up, but…” he began.

  “But?” she said anxiously.

  “Being around you reminded me of what I wanted out of a relationship.”

  Abby turned her chair around and faced the window. “Now I feel like a homewrecker.”

  “You’re not a homewrecker.”

  She felt her head spin. “I feel like I’m going to pass out or something. I have to talk to you later.” She hung up. I never thought I’d see the day when I was on the same level as Beebe. Abby rubbed her eyes. “Hey, Shana.”

  “You are brilliant, girl. Botelli just agreed to sign with us for four years, and we’re handling all his company’s PR. That means all his divisions. We are golden.” Shana said excitedly.

  “That’s great.” Abby sounded less than enthusiastic.

  “What’s wrong with you?”

  “I can’t take it anymore. I have to tell someone.”

  “You’re beginning to scare me.”

  “Do you have time to go upstairs?”

  “No. But I’ll make time. Let’s go.”

  Abby got up and she and Shana walked out.

  “Okay everyone I’ll be in the residence for a little while but I’ll be back. Hold down the fort, okay?”

  “Sure thing, Abby,” Kelly said.

  Abby and Shana were in the hall headed for the elevator.

  “Come on, no one can hear us now.”

  “I’ll tell you in the elevator.” Abby said as she pressed the call button.

  The doors opened and they stepped in.

  A few moments later the doors opened to Abby’s apartment.

  “Oh, my God,” she brimmed with excitement. “You’ve been making out with Sam Best and you didn’t say a word to me? I can’t believe it.”

  Abby sat in one of her wing chairs. “I haven’t been making out with Sam. It was a couple of kisses.”

  Shana sat in the adjoining chair. “You’re calling it a couple of kisses?” She folded her arms. “Were your eyes closed?”

  “Yes.”

  “Was there tongue involved?”

  Abby paused. “Yes.” She answered quietly.

  “I know it’s been a while Abby, but it hasn’t been that long. You, my dear, were making out.”

  “Well I shouldn’t have done it. He’s engaged. At least he was engaged.”

  “Wait a minute. He was engaged?”

  “Sometime between when I saw him,” she started

  “And played tonsil hockey with him,” Shana interjected.

  Abby scrunched up her face. “He called to tell me that he broke off his engagement.” She shook her head. “This is not good.”

  “Do you think that you’re the reason it happened?”

  “I don’t think I’m the main reason but he was a happily engaged guy a couple of weeks ago.”

  “Who’s to say what goes on in a relationship behind closed doors? This may have been a long time coming for all you know.”

  “Do you suppose that’s what Beebe’s rationale was?”

  “You’re not comparing this with what she did?”

  “It’s awfully close to me.”

  “First of all, Beebe knowingly slept with a married man. There’s a big difference between hitting the sheets and kissing.”

  “Tell that to Sam’s former fiancée. I’m sure she wouldn’t be able to see the difference. I know I wouldn’t. Betrayal is betrayal.”

  “Any other time I would agree with you, but we aren’t talking about the ultimate betrayal here. Nothing happened beyond kissing. Did it?”

  “Of course it didn’t.”

  “I’m just kidding. I’m trying to get you to lighten up on yourself.”

  Abby shrugged.

  “So what happens next?”

  “I don’t know. I’m not going to be able to work with him anymore, that’s for sure. I don’t know how I’m going to tell Reggie.”

  “That’s it?” Shana asked in disbelief.

  “What do you mean? That’s it? What else is there?”

  “How about how you feel about Sam?”

  “How I feel about Sam? I can count on one hand how many times we’ve been together. What feelings are there to talk about?”

  “How about how you felt when you were kissing?”

  “Like you said it was just a kiss. No big deal.”

  “Oh, my goodness,” Shana said as she sat back in the chair. “You really like him.”

  “He’s a nice guy.”

  “Leo’s a nice guy, but you don’t like him the way you do Sam. He made you feel something and you’re scared to death.”

  “Oh don’t be silly. I’m not scared of anything.”

  “Usually I would agree with you but I know you’re scared of love. Besides if you didn’t feel anything for Sam you wouldn’t be so quick to say you’re not working with him anymore.”

  Abby rubbed her forehead. “I feel a headache coming on.”

  “Take some Advil and get a Coca Cola later, but we’re going to talk about this now. What else did Sam say when you talked to him?”

  “He didn’t have the chance to say anything else. I got off the phone.”

  “That figures.” Shana nodded.

  “Shana, I just can’t go through it again.” Abby sighed when she realized the words had left her lips.

  “You’re talking about what you went through with J.J., aren’t you?”

  When J.J.’s relationship came to light, some papers painted Abby as the wronged wife while the tabloids attacked her body. For months, Abby endured comments about her size and weight, with some rags going so far as to say that if she lost weight, J.J. wouldn’t have cheated on her with Beebe in the first place. It was a dark period for the usually confident Abby, and one she felt she’d barely escaped from with her sanity.

  “Yes. Maria Carrangelo is practically perfect. She’s younger than me, brunette and thin. If
I get involved with Sam, it will be the whole Beauty and the Beast thing all over again.”

  “You know that things are different now. We’re doing a show for full-figured women at New York Fashion Week with Cedi. Five years ago that would have been unheard of so we’re making progress.”

  “That’s fine and well until you find your picture in the tabloids with the caption ‘fat’. How many times have we seen tabloid at the supermarket checkout with celebrity fat and cellulite photos up close and personal. Things have changed, but not that much.”

  “Abby you can’t let that keep you from taking a chance on love. Eventually the two of you are going to have to talk and you can take it from there.”

  “I know.” Abby stood up. “But right now, I’d rather it be later than sooner.” She looked at her watch. “We both have departments to run and I think we should get back to it.”

  Shana stood up. “I know. But can I say one more thing? Then I’m done for now.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “While I do feel sorry for Sam’s former fiancée I don’t think you should close the door on him. Love doesn’t always come in the way we expect it to. So just keep an open mind and heart. Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “Don’t say okay to shut me up. I want you to mean it.”

  “Have you ever known me to say things I don’t mean?”

  “You have a point there.”

  Satisfied with Abby’s answer they headed back to the elevator.

  ***

  Like the Colossus of Rhodes, The Four Seasons ascended over Manhattan’s Park and Madison Avenues. It beckoned both staid New Yorkers and tourists to enjoy the premier shops that flanked its elegant façade.

  Sam sipped a martini as he sat in TY, The Four Seasons’ elegant and intimate lounge on the west side of its East Fifty-seventh Street lobby. Though he usually preferred The Garden, he decided to opt for the comfort and privacy TY offered.

  Bo entered the lounge and looked around until Sam waved him over.

  “Hey, Sam,” he said a little out of breath. “I came as soon as I could.” He sat down.

  “Thanks. Do you want a drink?”

  He looked at his watch. “It’s only three o’clock. Isn’t this a little early for you?”

  “It’s five o’clock somewhere.” He raised his glass and then motioned for a waiter. “What are you having?”

  “I’m still working. So I guess I’ll have a Coke.”

  The waiter walked over. “Yes, sir. What else can I get you?”

  “He’ll have a Coke. I’d also like the Kobe beef sliders with roasted onion mayonnaise. Do you think I could get fries, or should I say pommes frites, with that?”

  “Yes, sir. I’ll be right back with your drink.” He walked away.

  Bo studied his friend. “I will say that you look better today than when I saw you last.”

  “I’m glad I look better.”

  “So now you’re feeling like hell instead of looking like hell.”

  “I’d say that sums it up.” He sipped his drink.

  The waiter placed Bo’s drink on the table.

  “Thanks.” He said. “Now that you got me to come down here, are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

  “I broke off the engagement.” He said bluntly.

  “You did?” Bo was flabbergasted. “What happened? Did you have another fight?”

  “No. I really had to take a hard look at our relationship. Things have been strained between us for a while now.”

  “Then why did you get engaged in the first place?”

  “As crazy as this sounds I thought it would make things better.”

  “It never does. It’s almost tantamount to having a baby to save a marriage. Are you sure this isn’t a reaction to all the wedding stress? Planning a wedding can test the best relationships.”

  “Ironically planning the wedding made me realize just how much Maria and I had grown apart. I can’t tell you the last real conversation we had that didn’t involve the wedding or something wedding-related.”

  “I see your point.”

  “Then there’s something else.” He said as he put his drink down.

  “It’s the editor, isn’t it? Did something happen between you two?”

  “We kissed a few times.”

  “Is that all that happened?” He asked softly.

  “Yes. We kissed and nothing more.”

  “That must have been some kiss.” He sipped his Coke.

  “It was more than just the kissing. It was how I felt, how I feel, when I’m around her.”

  “Do you know how she feels?”

  “I think she feels the same way.”

  “Have you talked to her since you broke off the engagement?”

  “Yes. I think she freaked out a little.”

  “Naturally she freaked out,” Bo said. “The two of you kiss a few times and the next thing she knows, you’re a single man again. Remember she was married to J.J. Stokes. The man had more assists getting women into bed than he ever had on the basketball court. She might be feeling a little like the other woman.”

  “She’s not the other woman.” Sam scoffed.

  “That might be true, but most people are going to assume she is. Not the least of whom will be Maria and her family.”

  “So what’s the proper waiting period?”

  Bo shrugged. “I have no idea, Sam. I’m just playing devil’s advocate. Frankly I think it’s up to you and Abby. It’s no one else’s business. However there is going to be some fall out personally and professionally for you. I just want you to be aware of it.”

  “My father said the same thing.”

  “I assume your parents took the news of the broken engagement well.”

  “I wouldn’t go as far as saying they jumped for joy. After all they like Maria.”

  “It’s her family they could do without.” Bo added.

  “Right.” Sam nodded. “My father said I needed to be prepared for anything.”

  “He’s got a point. Once Big Bill hears about his little girl’s broken heart, I really wouldn’t put anything past him. Remember that D.A. that was dating Maria’s middle sister, Kim?”

  “Oh yeah,” He nodded.

  “He was an up-and-coming star at the courthouse. Then he and Kim broke up. The next thing you know he’s in the public defender’s office assigned to night court. The word around town was that Big Bill made some calls and made sure he was bussed down the ladder.”

  “Thanks for telling me,” Sam said sarcastically.

  “I’m sorry. I’m not saying he can do that to you. The fact is you’re a multi-millionaire in your own right, but beware that he will be on the lookout for something to use.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” The thought jarred Sam.

  “Do you know how Abby feels about you?”

  “Yes. I’m going to have to pace things, but I know she has feelings for me.”

  If she needs more time than you expect, would that change your decision about Maria?”

  “No.”

  “Then that’s all I need to know. Technically you have a perfectly logical and acceptable reason to spend time with Abby. She is the editor of your book.”

  “I like the way you think, Bo.”

  “I guess I do know diddley.” He laughed.

  The waiter returned with Sam’s food. “Here you go, sir. Can I get either of you gentlemen a refill?”

  “Yes. I’ll have another martini.”

  “Yes. And I will have what he’s having.” Bo grinned.

  “You know they call this a shared plate.”

  Bo’s eyes twinkled at the sight of the sumptuous burgers. “No. I don’t want to share. Do you?”

  “No.”

  “Case closed.”

  “I’ll put your order in and I’ll be back in a flash with another Coke.” The waiter walked away.

  Bo and Sam parted ways after their late lunch. As Sam walked down East Fifty-seventh towards Mad
ison Avenue, he noticed all the luxury shop windows all decked out in red for Valentine’s Day. He got his cell phone out and dialed.

  “Hello, Cassie? It’s Sam Best. How are you?”

  “Hello, Sam. I’m well. Thanks. How are you?”

  “Good. I called to ask you a question.”

  “Sure.”

  “Do you know of a good store for high quality pens?”

  “Yes. Venture on Madison carries a big selection of high-end pens from Mont Blanc to Cartier.”

  “Great. Do you think you could get a special pen for me?”

  “Of course I can. That’s what a personal shopper is for.”

  “My only real requirement is that it be a red pen.”

  “Do you have a price range in mind?”

  “No, but I don’t want it to be too over the top expensive.”

  “No problem.”

  “Please have it wrapped and sent to me at the W Hotel in Union Square before Valentine’s Day.”

  “I will. Is there anything else?”

  “No. I think that covers it. I’ll talk to you later. Thanks again.”

  “It’s my pleasure. Have a good evening.” She said cheerfully.

  Sam hung up. He smiled to himself. She did say that red is her signature color. He braced himself for the cold and continued down the street.

  Chapter 14

  Abby settled in to read a magazine on the sofa. As she flipped through the pages the elevator doors opened and out walked Sam.

  “What are you doing here?”

  Without a word, Sam went over to Abby and took her into his arms. As the hands that thrilled millions on the football field caressed her body, Abby felt a thrill she hadn’t felt in years. The feel of his breath on her neck as he kissed her made her weak in the knees. Her passion reawakened, she pulled Sam closer to her. He’d lit a fire in her and she was prepared to burn.

  “Abby,” he moaned softly as he opened her blouse and kissed her breasts.

  “Abby.”

  Jolted, Abby opened her eyes.

  “Are you all right?” Shana asked.

  “I’m fine. I just dozed off.”

  “That must have been some dream you were having.”

  “Why would you say that?”

  “You were smiling.”