Tell Me Lies

by Michelle Lindo-Rice

  “Yes, he’ll be on the air in two weeks,” Sydney confirmed. “Can you believe it?”

  “A full-time TV show might be next.” Belinda pointed out.

  Sydney’s chest expanded. She knew her grin was wide and big.

  Belinda’s eyes widened. “Jumping Jehoshaphat, you’re in love.”

  “Jumping Jehoshaphat?” Sydney giggled. “Who says that?”

  “Whatever. Are you in love?”

  “In love?” Sydney sputtered. She waved off the question. “It’s much too soon to be in love.”

  “If it sounds like a duck and looks like a duck, then guess what, it’s a duck.” Belinda’s voice carried. A gentleman at the other table heard her wise crack and laughed.

  Sydney’s shoulders shook. “You could have just said one plus one equals two.”

  “Same difference.”

  The young man took Belinda’s friendly demeanor as a cue to stop by their table on his way out. “Hi, I wanted to leave my card with you. Call me?” He handed the business card to Belinda. She nodded and slipped his card into her purse.

  “That was bold. Are you going to call him?”

  “Probably not.” Belinda shrugged.

  Sydney furrowed her brows. Belinda hadn’t flirted or provided a cheeky response.

  Suddenly, the quiet Belinda was back. Sydney held her fork to point as she talked. “I see the hair, the color, and I wonder. Are you seeing someone? There’s something going on. I can’t put my finger on it, but something is in the mix. So ‘fess up. Tell me, who is he?”

  Belinda’s neck snapped back and forth. “What’s with the twenty questions? I told you nothing was wrong. Why do you keep pushing the issue? I’m not on the witness stand. So don’t interrogate me.”

  Sydney fell back into her chair. Tears stung her eyes. Belinda had chewed her out for caring. Sydney knew Belinda was not being truthful. She rebuked the nasty comeback and held up her hands, “Help me, Jesus.”

  Belinda grabbed her bag. “Let’s go.” She stood and walked up to the counter.

  They paid for their meals and left tips. Sydney remained silent as left the restaurant and returned to Belinda’s car. Belinda unlocked the doors and both women slipped inside. The air inside the car was taut and tense.

  Belinda started up the car and gripped the gearshift. “I’m sorry I lashed out at you.” She put the car in gear and began to drive out of the parking lot.

  Sydney nodded. “I didn’t deserve that. I care about you or I wouldn’t ask.”

  Belinda rolled her eyes. “Give me a break, Sydney. You have everything you want.”

  “What?” her voice rose.

  “You do. You get to have a great job, a great man, and what do I have?”

  Sydney furrowed her brows. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were jealous. But you have no reason to be because you could have been an attorney as well, but you quit law school. You could’ve been married, but you’re the one who refuses to be in a relationship. Why are you taking this out on me?”

  “I’m not taking it out on you. I have regrets. That’s all I’m saying.”

  “Then go back to school. Get a man. Quit making me pay for your poor choices!”

  Belinda slammed the brakes and put the gear in park. Their heads bobbed from the impact. Someone behind them tapped their horn, but Belinda waved at them to go around.

  Belinda spoke through her teeth. “I’m going to drop this argument now before I say something I can’t take back. Are we still going to the site together? That’s all I want to know.”

  Sydney touched her arm. “You’re the driver. I go where you go. I’m not petty. Carmela’s Closet is bigger than any argument we’ll ever have.”

  “I’m sorry for snapping at you. I’m just … stressed. Let’s get Carmela’s Closet ready to go,” Belinda said, and turned out of the parking lot.

  ***

  “I’ve got to speak to you.” Portia’s tone was cryptic.

  “I’m sort of tied up at the moment,” Sydney replied. She strove to keep the edge out of her voice. Belinda had really upset her at lunch. She had to sit in her car and pray before driving in to work.

  “This is important. It’s about Curtis. I went with Jack to lunch to see if he’d tell me anything.”

  “Come on in,” Sydney said. “I could use some good news.”

  Portia came in and took a seat. Her eyes shone.

  Sydney leaned against her desk. She dropped her bag by her feet. “What did Jack say?”

  “He said Curtis is a good worker. He hasn’t had any issues with him. But Jack said Curtis has bad-talked you more than once. He said Curtis asked him for an office key a few weeks ago. He said he saw him coming out of your office after hours on numerous occasions. Each time, Curtis told him he was working on your cases.”

  Sydney slouched. “All that could be true. That doesn’t mean Curtis is guilty.”

  “Jack said the same thing.” She held up a finger. “But what if we planted a camcorder?”

  Sydney lifted a brow. “A nanny cam?”

  Portia nodded. “Yes, I checked out the price on Amazon. It’s about a hundred and fifty bucks for a Phillips Alarm Clock Radio Spy Camera and the thirty-two gig memory card is cheap.”

  “I don’t know if I want to spy on him.”

  “How else are you going to find out?”

  She shrugged. “It seems dishonest.”

  “Not as dishonest as what he’s doing to you. Portia parked a hand on her hip. “I think we should get it. Jack and I’d set everything up. You have Amazon Prime so it would get here in two days.”

  Sydney tapped her chin. “Okay. Go ahead and purchase it. I have two days to change my mind.”

  Portia rubbed her hands together. “I’ll go press the charge button. I placed it in the shopping cart already.” She rushed to the door.

  “Portia.”

  Portia turned around.

  “Thank you for being a friend. You’re always looking out for me.” After Sydney’s fight with Belinda, Portia’s loyalty meant even more to her.

  “You’d do the same for me,” Portia said. “My mother was ready to kick me out of the house when you hired me. Now, she brags how her daughter runs the office in this big law firm.”

  “Your mother’s right. You really should apply for law school.”

  For the first time, Portia seemed to take Sydney’s suggestion seriously. Her brows furrowed. “You think I could do it?”

  Sydney walked over to her. “I sure do. You’re smart enough and you know you’d have a job here.”

  Portia’s eyes glistened. “Thanks for believing in me.”

  “It works both ways. Now, let’s get rid of a troublemaker.”

  Portia’s eyes widened. “You’re in?”

  “Yes.”

  “What made you change your mind so fast?”

  Sydney touched her cheek. “We need to get rid of the pestilence so we have room for the prize.”

  27

  Belinda entered her home and tossed her purse on the couch. She sunk to the floor. “Lord, I know I don’t deserve You, but You’re the only one I can talk to. I don’t know how long I can keep this up.” She rested her head in her hands. Her shoulders sagged under the weight of her guilt.

  Her cell phone vibrated. She ignored it. Lance was trying to call her. Again.

  Belinda held onto her stomach feeling actual pain. Guilt hurt. She couldn’t sleep and she’d lost weight.

  When she closed her eyes, images of what she’d done—was doing—tormented her. When Lance had called and invited her to his hotel room, the still, small voice had warned her not to go. But she hadn’t heeded.

  She read the Bible. She quoted Scriptures. She could resist, she told herself.

  She was wrong.

  Lance had had her down to her underwear in less than five minutes. Belinda did things she had no right doing with him.

  “Lord, how did I get myself into this mess?” she whispered. She hated
her lack of willpower.

  The worst part was that afterwards, Lance had gloated. She felt like a cheap pawn.

  To deceive Sydney once was unbelievable, but to deceive her twice was unforgivable.

  Since that night, Lance had been blowing up her cell phone. He left several text messages, but she didn’t answer.

  She admitted to herself that her not answering was not because of guilt. As they lay next to each other, Lance had turned his body toward her and said, “I talked to Sydney today.” He proceeded to give her a blow-by-blow of the conversation.

  She was naked next to him and he was talking about Sydney. Belinda felt like the fool he’d summoned to his bed. Without a word she’d gotten dressed and fled, even as the tears fell. Her chest hurt. Lance had used her and the worst part was she’d let him.

  Belinda deleted every message and voicemail from him. She was done with Lance Forbes. While she was dubious about confessing to Sydney, she had no qualms if Lance decided to confront Sydney. Let him tell the whole Port Charlotte. She couldn’t feel any worse than she felt right now.

  Belinda dropped to her knees. She needed to lean on His strength. She needed His forgiveness, though she knew she was unworthy of His mercy. “Lord, I need Your help. I’m confused. And I feel like a fraud. Here I am trying to help other women when I need help myself. I d—”

  A loud banging on her door interrupted her prayer. Grabbing some tissues to wipe her eyes, Belinda opened her door to find Lance on the other side of it. She swung it closed, but Lance wedged his foot into the crack and pried it open. She pushed to keep him out, but he was stronger. He entered the house.

  Belinda rushed for her cell phone. “If you don’t leave, I’m calling the police.” Her voice sounded shaky, but she meant what she said. She held the phone like she would a knife.

  “I’m not here to frighten you.” Lance eyed the phone in her hand the way one would a weapon. “I’m sorry for barging in, but I really have to talk to you, to clear the air.”

  Belinda’s hand trembled. Her eyes bounced around the room. A part of her wanted to hear him out. Another wanted to toss him out with the use of a well-placed heel.

  “Please. I replayed my words and I realize how you could jump to the wrong conclusion. You misunderstood me.” His eyes pleaded with hers.

  Belinda’s shoulders sagged. She lowered her hand. She hated how even now she allowed Lance to get to her. She needed to hear he didn’t view her as a toy, a plaything for his pleasure. She wanted to be more than that. “You have five minutes.” She walked to the couch and motioned for him to take a seat across from her.

  “Finally, a woman who is willing to give me a chance to explain.” He chuckled and sat across from her.

  “You wouldn’t be so misunderstood if you weren’t such a jerk.”

  He let out a long sigh and didn’t come back with a barb. She waited while he played with his shirt collar and then cleared his throat. Belinda bit her lip. What was the matter with him? If she didn’t know his arrogance, she’d think he was nervous.

  “I didn’t invite you over to sleep with you. I did want to discuss my conversation with Sydney,” he said. “It wasn’t my original intention. But then you came in looking so …” He groaned, as if remembering. “That orange baby doll dress should be banned. Your perfume… when it hit my nose, I just …” Lance wiped his brow. He waved a hand in Belinda’s direction. “I mean you’re hot. All those years I knew you…I didn’t notice your fineness. But now that I’ve seen, I can’t un-see. You know what I mean?”

  Yes. She did. All too well, but where had it gotten her, except being used? She didn’t respond to that. She wasn’t going to let him suck her in, again. She crossed her legs. “Why are you really here in Port Charlotte, Lance? Sydney is at a good place in her life. She’s dating. She’s in love.” Belinda studied his reaction to her words. His face gave nothing away.

  He shook his head. “You and Sydney have low opinions of me. I only want to set things right.” He shifted his gaze away from her eyes and then back. It was the nervousness again. “I’ve been talking to someone. He has been a big help to me this past year.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “You mean like a shrink?”

  He nodded. She could see she’d made him uncomfortable. “You don’t have to look at me like that,” he said. “A friend of mine is a therapist and he’s good. We talk from time to time.”

  Guilt engulfed her. Shrink wasn’t the nicest choice of words. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with therapy. I just didn’t peg you as the type who would open up to someone.”

  “Sometimes God sends people in your path and they change you.” Lances eyes saddened. “Even strangers can impact your life.”

  He sure was right about that. Belinda tilted her head and looked into Lance’s eyes. They shone with sincerity. “What happened?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t want to burden you with my drama. I didn’t come here for all that.”

  “Tell me,” she said. “I want to know.”

  Lance looked at her with tortured eyes. “When I first started at Fawcett, my first patient was a woman in her early fifties. She came in complaining of a cough. Her husband spoke for her. She barely said a word. My gut told me something was wrong. But I ignored it. I was more interested in becoming chief.” He rubbed his head.

  “What happened?”

  “I got a page that Marie was acutely unconscious and on a ventilator. She’d been badly beaten and had lost a lot of blood.”

  “Oh, no,” Belinda cupped her mouth. “Could you help her?”

  “I paged the on-call surgeon for a consult.” He didn’t meet her eyes. “When the surgeon came, she ordered a pelvic scan then raced her into surgery.”

  Belinda didn’t understand his medical jargon. He must have seen her confusion because Lance said, “Basically, I did all I could to save Marie’s life.”

  “Is she alive?” Belinda’s heart raced.

  “She’s in a coma. The prognosis doesn’t look good.” His voice sounded tortured. “I keep saying to myself, What if I had reported the abuse? Would that have made a difference?”

  “You have no way of knowing,” Belinda whispered.

  “Yeah, but I’m required by law to report suspected abuse,” he said. He was quiet for a moment. Belinda waited for him to find his words.

  “Anyway, I dismissed it from my mind, told myself I had other cases. I was too busy trying to make Chief of Staff to help someone.” His shoulders dropped. “I don’t know when I became so heartless.”

  “You’re not heartless,” Belinda said. “The fact you’re affected shows you care. You can’t do anything for her, but you’ll have more patients. Next time you’ll know what not to do.”

  He shook his head. “I seem to hurt everyone who comes into my path.”

  “That’s not true and you know it. I’m sure there are many people living longer, healthier lives because of you. Forgive yourself and move on.”

  “I have to live with knowing I failed Marie.” He wrung his hands. “Belinda, I know I’m a handful. I know that, but I need for someone to believe in me. See something good in me.”

  She straightened. “God does.” Now it was she that was nervous. She licked her lips. “I believe in you. For what it’s worth, I accept your apology.”

  He exhaled. “Thank you. I’m not the manipulative scumbag you think I am. I didn’t intend to sleep with you.” He looked away. “I’m not going to lie and say I didn’t enjoy it…” he let his words hang.

  Belinda rolled her eyes.

  “I need peace. Please think about helping me. I need one more conversation with Sydney.”

  Back to Sydney, his request punctured her heart. But Belinda nodded. She wouldn’t deny him. “I’ll help. Tell me what you need from me.”

  “For now, I need a friend. I’ve told you things I’ve never told anyone. I haven’t forgotten how we talked that night.”

  She knew he meant the night before the wedding
.

  “We talked until sunrise.” He held out his hand.

  Sydney wouldn’t like this. Belinda’s friendship with Lance would be high treason. But he was vulnerable and he moved her heart. And then there was the real truth. She wanted to be around Lance for her own selfish reasons. In a tiny crevice of Belinda’s heart, she liked Lance. Liked being around him, even when he aggravated her.

  Belinda stood and walked over to where he sat. She rested her palm in his and whispered, “I can do that.”

  28

  Her man was going live on the airwaves.

  Sydney dashed into her condo and turned on the radio. Noah would be live in five minutes. This was hopefully his first of more to come. She put a tray of frozen Chicken Rigatoni in the microwave and grabbed her Bible.

  With the benefits of surround sound, Noah’s voice reverberated through her home. The doorbell rang. Noah stood outside with Chinese takeout.

  “I forgot it was prerecorded!” Sydney jumped into his arms. She abandoned the microwave meal for chicken with broccoli and chicken lo mein. Noah went into her kitchen and gathered utensils and silverware. He dished them both a plate.

  They ate their meal side-by-side.

  She held her hands up to ward off any further comment, not wanting to miss any of the sermon.

  “I recently met someone who loves to make lists,” Noah said. “She has a list to keep herself organized.”

  She turned to Noah with wide eyes. “That’s me.”

  He covered his lips with his index finger.

  “That got me thinking. God did something miraculous when He wrote the Bible. If you’re a dreamer, he has the story of Joseph. If you’re a poet, He has the Psalms and the Proverbs. And, if you like organization, God has created His own set of to-do lists.”

  Sydney’s ears perked.

  “He has the Ten Commandments. Before the Ten Things I Hate About You movie, God had the Seven Things the Lord Hates list.”

  Sydney’s mouth popped open. She gave Noah a high-five.

  “Then He has the most important list of all; The How to Be Saved list. There is a formula clearly outlined in Romans 10 verse 9. It says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” So here is what that means in list format. One: Confess Jesus is Lord. Two: Believe God raised Him from the dead. Three: You shalt be saved.”