Setting her things aside, Brooke reached out and gently touched the petal of one perfect bloom, then she reached for the card on the flowers and opened it, still not really believing that the bouquet was meant for her.
“Thank you for a lovely evening. I can’t wait to see you on Saturday. And I can’t believe I’m admitting this because I truly loved that car, but I’m glad you crashed into me.”
She read the note three times before she realized that she had a goofy grin on her face. And when she did, she quickly tried to squash it. But it was no easy feat.
“Well, there’s no mistaking that smile,” Cleo said as she watched her. “Whoever he is, you really like him!”
“No! I don’t,” Brooke protested. And she felt a bit startled at her friend’s words. Why would Cleo assume she liked him simply from her smile? Of course she would smile at such beautiful flowers. Anyone would, no matter who they were from. Right? “I mean I … well, I don’t know how I feel, to be perfectly honest. I mean, I’ve really only just met him. We went to dinner last night.”
“Yeah? Who is he?” Cleo asked, smiling at her.
Cleo De Luz was an incredibly sweet woman, and a gifted dancer. She was also an easy person to work for. Nearly twenty-five years Brooke’s senior, Cleo had danced with several major companies all over the world, most notably with the Joffrey Ballet. When she had been forced to stop dancing because of a heart condition, she had been devastated. But she hadn’t let the diagnosis sit her down completely. Instead, she had come home to California and opened up a small dance studio where she could teach a whole new generation of budding dancers the beauty and wonder of ballet.
The De Luz Studio wasn’t a large operation, but it was highly respected and quite successful, earning a reputation for excellence in giving young dancers a solid education in the basics. They taught children from ages six to sixteen. Mostly girls, although they often had a handful of boys in their midst as well. There were four dance instructors, besides Cleo herself - Brooke, plus three others - and they each had their regular schedule of classes. Brooke taught the beginners, both the older students who were just getting a late start and the littlest of the angels, and she loved it.
“He’s …” She rolled her eyes at her hesitation. “Oh, Cleo, he’s someone famous.”
“Well, that’s okay. I won’t hold it against him,” she joked. Cleo had met a lot of celebrities in her time.
“Don’t be too sure,” Brooke smirked, and Cleo laughed. “It’s … Otis Ivory.”
The older woman blinked at her for a moment. “Otis Ivory? The rocker guy whose car you hit the other day?”
“Yep.
“The one in the news with the sex video?”
“Yeah, that’s him,” Brooke sighed.
“Okay,” Cleo nodded. “Wasn’t expecting this turn of events, but … if he can put that smile on your face, I like him already.”
“Cleo, I was smiling at the flowers, not at the thought of him! I don’t even know him,” Brooke said.
“Mmm,” Cleo mumbled, nodding her head again. “And when are you seeing him again?”
“Saturday.”
Cleo smiled as she stared at her.
“What? That doesn’t mean I like him!”
“Means you like him enough for a second date,” Cleo shrugged. Then she turned and started for the door. But she stopped halfway there and turned around, walking back toward her. “Brooke?” she began, looking around almost conspiratorially. “I don’t mean to pressure you, but … have you thought any more about our conversation?”
Brooke took a big gulp of air as she steadied herself for this discussion. It was the reason for her preoccupation the day of the crash, the culprit responsible for her collision with Otis in the first place.
“Yes, I have, Cleo. I’ve thought about it a lot actually,” she answered. “It is such a generous offer. But I’m still not really sure why me.”
“I explained why you,” Cleo said, looking her in the eye. “Brooke … Talia’s dream is the stage, and she’s going to get there. Probably sooner rather than later, and I’ll have to replace her anyway. Miriam has so much on her plate with overseeing the arts committee and her various charity work. I’m lucky she’s as devoted to this place and to teaching as she is. Otherwise she would never find the time. And Eleanor, as much as I love her, she simply doesn’t have the backbone for the job. She is an amazing dancer, and she does a very fine job here. But she doesn’t have the passion for teaching that you do. You and I have talked many times about that, Brooke. I know that it’s a passion we share. And I know that if you say yes, then I can rest easy.”
Brooke smiled as she listened to the woman’s explanation. Teaching was a passion they shared. It was one of the reasons they had such a great working relationship. “Cleo, I would love to say yes. I just … I’m not able to swing it right now. I’m still paying off old student loans and other things. I have some savings, but … nothing like what I would need for this. I could take some extra shifts at my second job, but that would mean less time here. And I’ve thought about trying to get a loan. I just … I would need a little time to try and work out the financial aspects.”
She felt so inadequate right now, trying to explain that she just didn’t have the money for what Cleo was proposing. All she had was a dream. But unfortunately, turning dreams to reality didn’t come cheap.
“I understand,” Cleo was saying. “And I can give you some time to weigh your options and to really think about it. How much time, I can’t say exactly. Dr. Jobson is predicting I won’t be able to teach in another six to twelve months. He thinks I’ll be bedridden by then.”
“Cleo …”
“Shh … don’t,” she smiled, giving a wave of her hand. “We’re not going to talk about that. But we are going to talk about this place, and its future. Okay?”
Brooke stared at her for a moment, trying to return her smile. Then she nodded.
“Okay,” Cleo repeated. “You keep thinking about it, and looking into your options, and we’ll talk some more.”
Then she turned and left the room, leaving Brooke watching after her. She frowned as she thought about the woman’s words. Six months to a year? Was her heart really that bad? Surely if it was, she would be in a hospital already, wouldn’t she?
She shook her head as she glanced at the time and remembered that she had a bus to catch since her car was out of commission. Quickly she sat down to untie her ballet slippers and pull them off. Then she pulled a pair of sweats on over her leotard and put on a pair of sneakers and packed her slippers into her bag. Gathering her things, she picked up the bouquet of roses and left the building.
She walked to the bus stop, her mind a jumbled mess with thoughts of Cleo and her health and her generous offer. And somehow, that made her think of Otis. She hadn’t mentioned to him that she had two jobs. When he asked her what she did, she told him that she taught ballet. She said nothing of her night job. But now, as she stood waiting for the bus and inhaling deep the scent of the beautiful roses he had sent her, she couldn’t help but wonder if she should have told him that. Was she purposely hiding that information from him? She wasn’t proud of the fact that she danced at Sparkles, but she wasn’t exactly ashamed of it either. Although none of her coworkers at De Luz knew about it. Except Cleo. And she had hid it from her for a long time, afraid that her boss might worry about the children’s parents finding out somehow. But Cleo had been surprisingly supportive, and Brooke appreciated it. But why had she hidden the truth from Otis? It wasn’t like she wanted him to be impressed by her.
She frowned as she remembered meeting his friend, the actor, at the restaurant, and how relieved she had been when he couldn’t place her. She knew with certainty that’s where he had seen her before. Jeffery Fremont had been to Sparkles many times, and the other girls always went nuts whenever he came in. Brooke was just lucky he hadn’t recognized her with her clothes on.
She rolled her eyes at the thought as she
waited. She hated waiting for the bus. She would much prefer taking a cab to this, but that was no way to save money. Especially with no idea of how long it would take to get her car fixed. When the bus arrived and she climbed aboard and found a seat, she noticed that her roses were getting a few smiles, and she couldn’t help but smile in response. And that only made her think about Otis more. Cleo had said that she obviously liked him enough for a second date, and that statement had been dancing around in the back of her mind ever since. And as she thought about it now, it made her think about her conversation with Shelly.
Could she really be like Pepper and Kitten and use him as a sugar daddy? Could she be that calculating? Trading sex, and her company, for gifts. Last night when she was arguing with Shelly, she all but implied that she could. Now she wasn’t so sure. And even if she could, she was pretty sure it wouldn’t help her with the dance studio dilemma. Even she knew that you couldn’t count on a sugar daddy for that kind of money. But the night job…
The night job could actually be the answer to her financial quandary with Cleo. If she were willing to work the VIP den at Sparkles she could have the cash to take Cleo up on her offer in no time. Maybe within just a few months. And then she really could quit working at the club. Walk away and never look back.
“I may take my clothes off for money … but I am not a prostitute.”
Her hurt words to her sister came back to her, silently screaming inside her head. And they whispered to her the entire ride home.
*****
“Oh, they’re so beautiful,” Shelly exclaimed, bending to smell the large bouquet of roses that now sat on Brooke’s bedside table. And she actually squealed when she read the note. “Aww, how sweet is that? He really likes you, Brooke!”
Brooke rolled her eyes and tried to ignore her sister as she searched the Internet, trying to learn all she could about the ins and outs of small business loans. Though she doubted anyone would ever give her one until she could make a dent in her personal debt. She sighed at the realization that this was probably a pointless exercise.
Closing her laptop in disgust, she looked up at Shelly, who was still drooling over her flowers.
“If you like them so much, you can take them to the living room or something,” she told her.
“What?” Shelly asked, looking at her in surprise. “You don’t want to keep them here, where you can see them all the time?”
Brooke shrugged her shoulders. “They’re just flowers, Shell.”
“Just flowers? Brooke … Otis went out of his way to do something nice for you! They are more than just flowers. I think he’s really interested in you! Why can’t you stop being so cynical for one moment and simply admit that he’s a nice guy?”
“A nice guy, Shelly?” Brooke questioned. “Have you even been listening to the things they’re saying on the news? About how he goes through women like tissues, using them once for a ‘good time’ and then tossing them aside for the next one? Do you know that the father of that poor girl in the sex tape is looking into rape charges?”
“Do you know that ‘that poor girl’ as you called her is the one who made the sex tape in the first place, and that she sold it to the highest bidder? Sold it, Brooke. For money! Along with ‘exclusive’ interviews so that she can tell her story. So that she can try and keep her name and her face in the news. She’s a blood-sucking leech who’s trying to make a name for herself by bringing someone else down. And you should get your facts straight before you go condemning someone for something they had no control over!”
Brooke was slightly shocked at her sister’s defense of Otis, but she found herself secretly hoping that Shelly was right, and that Otis had been the victim of circumstance. And she mentally kicked herself for not Googling the scandal to get the full story like she started to the other night. Still, she couldn’t let Shelly’s words go unchallenged.
“Okay, so what?” she said. “So, he didn’t actually make that sex tape himself. And maybe he didn’t even know that he was being filmed. But he certainly had control, Shelly! Maybe not of the situation, but definitely over himself. And he could’ve chosen to act like a grownup instead of an over-sexed pig!”
“Wow. You really don’t think much of him, do you?” Shelly asked quietly.
Brooke was silent as she thought about her question. She had no clue how to answer it, because the truth of the matter was that she had no idea exactly what she thought of Otis Ivory anymore. Her first impression of him at the crash site was extremely unflattering. He was a mean, arrogant, self-absorbed ass to her that day. But since then, she had learned that he could be charming, interesting, funny and downright sexy. He was obviously talented, and endlessly fascinating. And altogether infuriating. He could be so smug and pompous sometimes that it angered her. But to her horror, at times she actually found his cockiness a turn on.
“Hasn’t he been a perfect gentleman to you?” Shelly asked. “I mean, he helped you out of a ticket, and out of losing your license for six months. He took you to an amazing restaurant and sent you roses with a sweet note attached. And politely asked if he could see you again.” She shook her head for a minute and then continued sarcastically, “Yeah. What a pig!”
Brooke avoided her sister’s eyes as she stood up and walked toward her closet door. “I have to get ready for work,” she said, referring to her night job.
Shelly took the hint and moved toward the door. “Your pig sounds kind of dreamy to me, Brooke. Be careful that you’re not cutting off your nose to spite your face.”
*****
“Hey, Otis, what'd the insurance company say about your car, man?” Cory asked.
Otis smirked at him. “All the money I shell out for them to insure my exotics, they didn't say shit,” he replied. “I called my guy, Jerry. Same agent I've had for the last five or six years. I told him that I had crashed it into a post and that I didn't call the cops because I didn't need the publicity or the headache on top of the mess I'm already in. He said they'd take care of it,” he shrugged.
“Nice,” Cory replied.
“How’d that date go the other night, O?” Benji asked.
They were sitting in Buzzy’s backyard, exactly where they had been for most of the day, swimming and eating barbecue and just hanging out, enjoying each other’s company. Buz and Janie were getting married in exactly two days, and things had been hectic for them for the past week or so. So today, they had invited everyone to their house to chill out before their family flew in for the wedding, and the activity really kicked into high gear.
The girls were all still sitting at the patio table talking about things like whether Janie planned to wear her hair up or down for the ceremony, and how many women Donna should expect for the impromptu bridal shower she and Mercy and Fae were throwing for Janie the following evening when the guys took Buzzy out for a bachelor party.
The guys had retreated to the benches that surrounded the patio’s stone fire pit, where they watched the flames and the setting sun as they talked.
“Date?” Buzzy questioned, looking from Benji to Otis with raised eyebrows, and Otis chuckled a little.
“It was cool,” he said, trying to downplay it and move on.
“Cool? What does that mean exactly?” Noah asked.
“It means it was cool,” Otis repeated, trying not to smile so much. “It started out a little awkward, but … what first date doesn’t? It got much better as the night wore on.”
“Yeah? Where’d you take her?” Benji asked.
“We just went to dinner at The Little Door,” he answered. “We had a nice conversation … we cleared the air.”
“Wait a minute,” Cory spoke up. “Is this the crash girl you’re talking about? The one you and Noah are betting over?”
“Yes, this is Crash Girl,” Otis smiled. “But her name is Brooke. And we had a very nice time.”
“How nice, brother?” Noah asked, smiling at him.
“Nice enough that the Hendrix Fender Strat is on its
way to becoming mine, alright! That’s all you need to know,” he smiled.
“Yeah, we’ll see,” Noah smirked.
Buzzy laughed at them. “You two find the weirdest shit to turn into a competition sometimes.”
“Hey, he started it,” Noah said, sounding like a six-year-old, and Buz laughed some more. “So, what’s the game plan for tomorrow, man?” Noah asked, turning to Otis again. “You still haven’t said.”
“Well, I haven’t said anything because I’ve been trying to work out a deal. But I finally got a call back from Teddy Denver a couple of hours ago saying that we’re good.”
“Teddy Denver?” Cory asked. “Man, that’s a name I haven’t heard in a while.”
“Yeah, me either,” Noah agreed. “Man, you did do some fancy plan making, didn’t you? I’m surprised.”
“Well, that was the idea,” Otis smiled. “To surprise you all.”
“Wow,” Buz whispered. “Otis, I’m touched, brother. The five of us have not been to Sparkles in a few years! But, I still don’t really feel right about a bachelor party, man.”
“Buzzy, your dad and your brothers will be here tomorrow, and everybody is expecting some kind of bachelor party experience,” Otis said, looking him in the eye. “And as I just said … I’ve gone through some hoops to rent out an entire strip club on a Friday night. The place where the five of us used to hang on a regular basis back before our first album dropped. A very popular spot that is always hopping on the weekends. You know, Teddy was not happy to close the place to the public tomorrow night; I had to make it worth his while.”
“I know; I get it,” Buz replied. “And I appreciate it, man. I just …”
“Just what?”
“I just really don’t want a bachelor party,” Buz said, repeating what he had been telling them from the beginning.
“Buzzy …,” Noah sighed, not bothering to finish his sentence.
“Well, it’s too late, man,” Otis said, looking him in the eye. “I’ve already paid Ted, so … even if we did cancel it now, I’d still be out a shitload of cash. With nothing to show for it.”
The Essential Jagged Ivory (Jagged Ivory Boxed Set) Page 83