“Then why bring up Angela?”
His grin told her he still believed she was jealous. She took a deep breath. “Look, Jackson. I’m going to say this once. There’s nothing between us. There has been nothing between us.” Jackson started to interrupt, but she didn’t let him. “Boston was a mistake. It should never have happened. It’s the best proof I have that we should stay strictly professional in our dealings with each other. Nothing is going to happen between us.”
“I hear your words, Christina, but I also remember how you felt in my arms in Boston. I don’t want to complicate your life, but we have to deal with what’s between us.” He paused to let his words settle around them. “For now, I’m going to play it your way. I’m going to keep it professional. I want you to remember that this is the way you wanted it. And don’t ever tease me again. A man can only take so much.”
She would not be intimidated. “I guess we understand each other then?” At Jackson’s nod, she said, “Let’s get to work. We need to go over the agenda for the meeting.”
***
“Have a rough day, man?” Ellis asked.
“That’s an understatement,” Jackson answered.
“What’s up? Work or women?”
Jackson laughed. He was glad he’d met Ellis for drinks after work today. He needed to talk to somebody. “How did you know?”
Ellis took a swallow of his drink. “That’s easy, man. What else causes us trouble? Work because we have to eat, and women because we have to sleep. What gives?”
“I think I’ve screwed up.”
“I thought you and Angela were getting along well. If there were any problems, I’m sure Betty would know. That leaves work.”
Jackson shook his head. “It’s not Angela. It’s Christina.”
“Christina, as in your boss Christina?”
“Yeah, man, one and the same.”
“I feel for you, buddy. You’ve managed to wrap up women and work in a single problem. How’d you get involved with your boss, anyway?”
“I’m not exactly involved with her. It’s complicated.”
“I bet it is. There’s no way sleeping with the boss couldn’t be complicated.”
“I’m not sleeping with her,” Jackson clarified. “I just want to really badly.”
“I advise you not to go that way. There are plenty of available women without you going after your boss.”
“You sound like Christina. You make the word ‘boss’ sound like ‘monster.’ God, it’s a job, a title. You’d think we were living in the Dark Ages.”
“Regardless of how it sounds, you’d better be careful. You’re screwing with your career. What if this relationship doesn’t work? She’s in a position to wreck your career. And if it does work and everybody finds out, what will it do to office morale? No matter how you cut it, you can’t win.”
Jackson had heard all the arguments before. They didn’t help. He took another swig of beer. “What if Christina is the one?”
“You’ve got it bad, haven’t you?”
“There’s something that draws me to her. I’ve told myself to leave her alone. She’s told me to leave her alone, but I can’t. I dream about this woman, man. It’s like I’m obsessed.”
“Damn.”
“It’s not that bad. She has no idea how she affects me. She knows I want her, and she knows that I know she wants me, but she’s determined to keep it professional. She’s doing a damn good job, too. She let her guard down when we went to Boston, but she threw it back up so fast that I thought I had dreamed the whole thing.”
“What happened in Boston?” Ellis asked.
“Nothing. We came close, but she backed down.” Jackson remembered how it felt to hold Christina in his arms. Hell, he’d done nothing but think about it since it happened. The woman haunted his nights and his days. It seemed the more he tried to get over her, the more she ruled his thoughts. He was going to have to do something—soon.
“Consider yourself lucky, friend,” Ellis said, interrupting Jackson’s thoughts. “Leave it alone. Aren’t you and Angela getting close?”
“I like Angela. If Christina weren’t in the picture, more might be happening with her. But I can’t get Christina out of my mind.”
“Angela’s a good woman, Jackson. Don’t lead her on if nothing can come of it.”
“We’re friends,” Jackson explained, but he wondered how Angela would react to his description of their relationship. “I think Angela feels the same way. I don’t think she’s ready to get serious.”
“Make sure you’re right. Angela is a friend and I’d hate to see her head get messed up in this.”
“I hear you, man. I’ll make sure things are on the up and up with her. Now, let’s cut this talk. What chance do you think the Braves have this year?”
***
“We need to talk,” Jackson said. He and Angela had finished dinner at her place and were settling in to watch television.
“Sounds serious,” was Angela’s response. “What do we need to talk about?”
He pointed his finger from her to him. “Us. This relationship.”
“Oh. One of those conversations.”
He touched a hand to the back of her neck. “Help me out here, Angela. Be serious.”
“Okay.” She closed the TV Guide she was reading and gave him her full attention. “I’m serious.”
“I like you a lot, Angela,” he said, taking her hand in his. “We have a lot of fun together, but I’m not ready for anything more than that.”
She blinked twice. “And you think I am?”
Jackson wasn’t sure. He knew she liked him, but he didn’t know how much. “No, but we’ve never really talked about it and I wanted—no, needed—to get it all out. I’d like for us to be friends a long time. I don’t want to screw it up by getting our signals mixed up.”
Angela was silent.
“So, say something,” Jackson prompted. He hoped he hadn’t hurt her feelings.
“Is there somebody else?” Angela asked.
“Not really,” Jackson responded. His thoughts went immediately to Christina.
“Does ‘not really’ translate to ‘not yet’?”
Jackson smiled. “How come you’re so smart?”
Angela removed her hand from his. “I got the impression early on that there might be somebody else.”
Jackson wondered at the signals he was sending. Angela couldn’t know about his feelings for Christina, could she? “And what impression was that?”
“I thought you had a thing for Christina.”
“Christina? What makes you think that?”
“Something I picked up on the day you introduced us. I was more convinced after that Sunday evening we spent with her and your friend Reggie.”
Jackson remembered that he’d been especially careful that day. What could Angela have seen? “I didn’t show any special interest in her either time. And I know she didn’t show any in me.”
“Maybe that was it. You were both trying too hard not to pay attention to one another.”
So much for his being careful. It was Jackson’s turn to be silent.
“Am I right?” she asked. “Is there something going on between the two of you?”
“Would it matter if there were?”
“Look, Jackson, it’s okay with me if we’re just friends. There doesn’t have to be anything romantic between us. But you’ve got to make up your mind which it will be. Sometimes I think you want romance, and at others I think you want a buddy. If we’re going to be friends, you’ve got to be straight with me.”
She was right. He had been trying to play it both ways, but he would stop that today. “I’m sorry, Angela. Can you forgive me? I really value your friendship.”
She pursed her lips in a pout. “I don’t know if you deserve forgiveness.”
Jackson sighed in relief, knowing her pout was done in jest. “We can be friends, then?”
She picked up the TV Guide again. “Only if you let me choose what we watch tonight.”
***
Christina received an unexpected call from Angela the next week. She was making notes from a lunch meeting she’d just attended.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about what you said the last time I saw you,” Angela said.
Christina closed her folder. “I’m sorry, Angela, but I don’t know which thing you’re talking about.”
“How we can be more supportive of our colleges.”
Christina remembered now. After learning Angela was a graduate of Clark Atlanta, she’d wondered aloud about what more they could do to support their schools. “What have you come up with?”
“I have a great idea for a fundraiser.”
“The schools always need money. What’s the idea?”
“I’d rather not get into it over the phone. Are you free tomorrow night? Maybe we could meet for dinner and I can tell you about it.”
“That’s a good idea.” Christina flipped the pages of her appointment book. “Tomorrow night looks good. Can’t you tell me more about your idea now?”
“Wait until tomorrow when I’ll have time to lay the whole idea out for you. We can meet at the Pelican Club on Peachtree. Let’s say six.”
“I hope my curiosity doesn’t get the better of me between now and then.”
Angela laughed. “It won’t. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“See you then,” Christina said, and hung up the phone. She was curious about Angela’s fundraising idea. Her curiosity was cut short by her ringing phone.
“Christina, it’s Liza,” her friend said when Christina answered the phone. “I called to get your flight schedule for the weekend. We’re lining up rides.”
Christina flipped open her appointment book again. “Right, Liza. I arrive at four o’clock. I can always take a limo, if that would be better for you.”
“No, four is great. My dad would have a fit if he thought I was making people take limos. He’ll be there to get you.”
“Okay. I’ll look for him when I get there. How are you holding up?”
“I can hardly believe I’m still functioning. Panic won’t set in until the rehearsal Friday night.”
“I’m excited about it, too. I’ve told you before, but I’m honored that you asked me to be a bridesmaid. God, I hope I don’t fall and ruin your whole wedding.”
Liza laughed. “You won’t, but even if you did, it wouldn’t ruin this wedding. Robert is determined to get married this Saturday.”
“How’s he holding up?”
“If he says one more time that we should have gone to the courthouse, I’m going to bash him over the head.”
Christina laughed. “Men! You’d think they’d understand why the ceremony is so important.”
“Actually, Robert is more excited about this than he’s letting on. We haven’t had sex in three weeks. You’d think the man was going without food!”
“Liza!” Christina admonished. “I guess the abstinence was your idea.”
“It was my suggestion. We wanted to go on a fast, I guess you could say, before the wedding. Don’t be surprised if we leave immediately after the ceremony and don’t come back.”
Christina burst out in giggles. “Liza!”
“Robert has threatened to do that. Let’s hope he’s joking.”
“God, I’m so envious of what you and Robert have. You’re so good together. I know you’ll be happy.”
“Thanks, Christina. I believe we’ll be happy, too. It feels so right. It’s making me believe in destiny. But enough of that, I’m going to hang up now. See you Friday.”
“See you Friday.”
***
Christina left work the next day at five-thirty to make her dinner date with Angela. The other woman was waiting for her when she arrived.
“Let’s get a table,” Angela said. “I’m starved.” A hostess seated them in a booth. “I don’t even have to see a menu. I’ll take the salad bar.”
“I’m with you. Let’s go for it.”
Both women got up. When they had filled their plates and were seated again, Christina said, “Now tell me about this fundraising idea.”
Angela took a bite of macaroni salad. “We can have a radio-thon.”
“A radio-thon?” Christina repeated.
“Yes, a radio-thon. We’ll do it in conjunction with a phone- a-thon. We’ll plan a variety talk show format for the radio and couple it with a phone-a-thon.”
“I’m familiar with phone-a-thons. Spelman has one every year, but this radio-thon idea is new. Is WAOK giving us the airtime?”
“I wish,” Angela said. “We can use the Clark Atlanta station.”
“How’d you manage that?”
“One of my old professors is still in the communications department. Well,” Angela continued, “I talked with him. He thought it was a good idea and has agreed to give us a twelve- hour block of airtime.”
Angela gave Christina the details of her plan as they ate. Once they had agreed on the major points, Christina asked Angela about her job at the radio station.
“I started as a gofer,” Angela said. “My mom thought I had lost my mind. All through college she kept telling me to get a teaching certificate, get a teaching certificate. I thought she’d die when I took the job at the radio station.”
“I bet she’s proud of you now though,” Christina said.
“You’d think it was her idea.”
“That’s mothers for you,” Christina agreed. Louise had encouraged her to become a teacher or a nurse. But once she’d settled on being an engineer, Louise had supported her.
“Your mom’s like that, too?”
Christina nodded. “That teaching certificate was the key to success for their generation. They wanted us to have that security.”
“In my business there is no security, but I love the work. How about you?”
A few years back, Christina would have answered with a resounding yes and meant it. Things were different now. “Yes,” she answered, “I like my work a lot.” Which was true. Amazing that a person could tell the truth and still not be honest.
Eleven
“Thanks, Jackson,” Christina said. “I’m glad you could meet with me this morning.”
“It worked out well for me, too,” he responded. “I’m planning a long weekend for myself.”
“Good. Let’s move forward with the marketing projections.” She wondered what his plans were but didn’t dare ask. It had been her suggestion to keep their relationship professional and she was determined to stick by it.
Jackson sat next to Christina and placed the graphs in front of her. He leaned in to talk through the findings. His eyes met hers and he shifted in his chair.
“Maybe you should use the projector,” Christina offered. “That might be more comfortable for both of us.”
Although Jackson didn’t ask what made her uncomfortable, he was sure he knew. He took her suggestion and used the projector to display the charts that he had drawn up. “All the numbers indicate that we should start first in semiconductor manufacturing. It’s the growth industry for the next decade. The market now has two giants, as you can see, and hundreds of small-time players. That means the competition is fierce. They’ll be open to Optima.”
Christina studied the charts in front of her. “The numbers look good, and as usual, your research is thorough. Let me think on this and we’ll talk about it again at next Friday’s meeting.”
“Okay,” Jackson responded. “But I don’t see what there is to think about. The numbers are clear.”
“To you, maybe,” Christina said, without looking away from the charts. “But I need to study them for a while.” She had to be firm with Jackson sometimes. He seemed to think she should fall in line with every recommendation he made without evaluating it for herself. “Now, is there anything else?”
Offha
ndedly, he asked, “Why did you need to move up the meeting?”
Christina looked up at him then. It was none of his business. “I’m leaving for Boston today.”
“More meetings?”
“Not this time. Liza’s wedding is Saturday. Why all the questions?”
“No reason. Just wondering. I knew it had to be something important.” He stood up and prepared to leave. “Have a good trip.” He stopped when he reached the door. Looking at Christina’s wastebasket, he asked, “What’s this?”
Christina wasn’t looking at him. She turned around. “What’s what?”
“Those.” He pointed to the red roses that had been thrown in the wastebasket.
“What do they look like?” Christina had hoped the incident would pass unnoticed. She’d already called security.
“What are they doing here? Since they’re in the garbage, I guess they’re not from Reggie.”
“You guess right. They aren’t from Reggie.” She could see the wheels of his mind turning.
“What did the card say this time?”
“That’s none of your concern.”
He asked directly, “It was like the other card, wasn’t it?”
“If you really must know, yes, it was.”
“Have you called security?”
“Of course. By now they expect a call.”
“What do you mean by that?”
She mentally kicked herself for even opening up this conversation with Jackson. “I’ve been getting the roses every week since the first delivery.”
“What!” Jackson exclaimed. He strode toward her. “You’ve been getting these roses every week?”
“Yes,” Christina said. She moved from the conference table to her desk. “Don’t overreact. It’s probably someone I let go when I first came here.”
“I’m not overreacting. How did you come to that conclusion?”
Christina shrugged. “It wasn’t difficult after I settled down. I just thought of people who had a reason to get back at me.”
“How many people did you let go, Sherlock?” Jackson asked.
“About twenty were let go and fifty more were reassigned. Security is checking into all of them. It’s only a matter of time before we uncover the culprit.”
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