by Katie Dowe
“Yes,” Gina murmured. She had to remember to call both of them and tell them thanks. “I am so happy it worked out.”
“Now we can add the spa we always talked about.” She gave the unsuspecting Gina a hug before she hurried away.
Gina went to get her phone and called Milton. “You could have told me.”
“And spoil the surprise?” he asked her lightly. “How did the meeting go? Did you wow them with your beauty and charm?”
“More like with my intellect and know-how.” She teased him. “Have you eaten?”
“Have you suddenly become my mother now?”
“I am the only friend you have got, so show some appreciation.”
“You are right. I was thinking of ordering Chinese later. How about ditching your dad and coming over to keep me company?”
“You have just helped to save my job so I kind of owe you,” she said with a laugh.
“See you later, I have things to do.”
She hung up from him and her smile widened as she heard her class coming in.
******
Milton pressed the button and sent the chair into his office. It was almost ten o’clock and he had had a pretty rough night. Sometimes the pain in his lower legs became unbearable no matter what he did. The doctors had told him that even though there was no life there that he would still feel pain, which he thought was something that was more than cruel considering that it gave him hope that he would walk again. He had a housekeeper who came in for three hours and did the housework, leaving his lunch and dinner for him to warm up. He could do everything else for himself and had designed his bathroom in a way where he could bathe himself. He was thinking about Gina more and more and realized that he needed more than friendship from her, but he knew that he could never jeopardize their friendship, it meant too much to him! With a sigh of frustration, he buried his head in his hands and stayed that way for a while.
*****
“I understand I should be thanking you.” Gina said as soon as his secretary put her through.
“I did not do it for you,” he told her coolly. “You were right. It is a place that is tied in with the history of the town and it should remain.”
“And the people need it.” She added.
“You are very persuasive, Ms. Phillips.”
“So I am told.”
There was silence for a moment and then he said. “Goodbye, Ms. Phillips.”
“Thank you again, Mr. Brady.”
Gina plopped down onto the sofa and sighed. She was supposed to have called him yesterday but she had gone to dinner with Milton and had forgotten until today. She opened her eyes as soon as she heard her dad coming into the living room. He had stopped at a reenactment of the civil war at school and had come in a few minutes ago.
“I ate at school, honey, so you don’t need to worry about me.” He told her as he sat in one of the small sofas and reached for the TV remote.
“Dad how long did it take you to get over Mom?”
He put away the remote and looked at her. “The death of a loved one is not something you really get over, honey. You just learn to live with the loss, and the intense feeling of severe pain gets easier to bear as the years go by.”
“Do you think you would ever love anyone the way you loved her?”
He stopped and considered for a moment. “The love that your mother and I shared was a deep and comfortable one that touched our souls, so no I don’t think I could love anyone the way I did her. I would not want to.”
Chapter 3
Paul accepted the glass of champagne from the passing waiter with a nod and wondered how soon he could make a graceful exit. It was the annual charity event for women with breast cancer and he was obligated to be a part of it because of what had caused his wife’s death. The First Lady Melore Hawkins along with his mother and several other powerful and influential women in society were a part of it and it was always kept on the second Saturday in September at the Royal Palm Hotel. He would much prefer to write them a check, but his mother had told him that he had to at least show his face. He had spoken to Leesa and a few others of her friends including Carrie and Deidre, but he felt as if he had done his duty and it was time he left. He was just about to let his mother know he was leaving when he noticed her. Regina Phillips, the woman who had not been afraid to speak her mind at the meeting a few weeks ago. She was sitting with a few others and he noticed her smile. She was wearing an odd combination of silver skirt and blush pink top that left her arms and shoulders bare. Her hair was twisted into a coil and pinned on top of her neck. He had had the oddest sensation as he stared at her long neck and drifted down to her cleavage before he tore his gaze away from her. She was beautiful and he had noticed that the first time he had seen her.
She looked up then and saw him and their eyes met and held. He stared at her mesmerized as she made her way over to where he was after whispering to the group of women. She plucked a glass of champagne from the tray on her way and came to stand in front of him. “I figured you would be here,” she said softly smiling at him. “I get to tell you thanks again in person.”
“I have never seen you here before,” he commented feeling slightly uncomfortable at the exotic scent coming from her.
“My first time. I felt as if it was my duty to come. Several of the patients at the place I work at on Thursdays and Fridays asked me to represent them and I was given an invitation. Is it hard for you?”
Paul looked at her for a moment and then shrugged. “It has gotten better over the years.”
“My Dad said the same thing. How about a dance?” she asked him with a twinkle in her brown eyes.
“What?”
“You look as if the last place you want to be is here and what I do look the way you do I try to cheer them up. Life is too uncertain to spend it being sad. So let us dance our troubles away.”
“Ms. Phillips–”
“We are not in the office now, Paul, so we can dispense with the formalities,” she was actually pulling at his hand so he had no choice but to go with her to the middle of the floor. The song was a slow one and he had no choice but to put his hands around her small waist and move with her. “I love this song,” she murmured dreamily as she put her hands around his neck. She was wearing stilettoes and came to just his shoulders. He was trying his best not to make his chest come in contact with her breasts but he was not doing a very good job of it. She kept brushing up against him. He was holding her close so he could see the shape of her full lips made pronounced by the deep crimson of her lipstick. Her brows were well defined and her skin was flawless. He was surrounded by the scent of her and he could not think straight. He was being suffocated by her and he had to get away from her. Fortunately, the song ended just then and he let go of her instantly, moving away from her. Gina sensed the change in his mood and the tension and did not stop him as he walked away without saying a word to her.
She went back to where she had been and watched as he said something to a woman who looked like him and left the room. She was glad he had let her go because she had had the insane desire to snuggle up against him and feel the solidness of him against her skin!
*****
He dreamt about her that night much to his horror! He had stopped dreaming about Linda for almost a year now and he had been secretly relieved about it because he always felt as if she was accusing him for not really being there for her. He dreamt that he was taking off the rose pink top she had on and was cupping her small breasts in his palms. He jumped up right when he was about to take a nipple inside his mouth and felt his heart thundering and the erection weighing heavy in his underwear. He swore softly and got out of bed hurrying into the bathroom to get himself a drink of water. He stared at himself in the mirror. His hair was tousled and his eyes were a sleepy grey. He never wears a top to bed, but at one point his skin felt hot and then cold. He drank down the water and went into his closet to get a T-shirt to put on over his naked chest. He went back into the r
oom and realized with frustration that he was not going to get any sleep now. With a sigh, he went into his office and decided to read some reports that had been sent to him by email earlier in the day.
*****
“What’s this?” Gina asked looking at the check he had handed her.
“Your stipend.”
“I thought you said five percent.
“I gave you eight instead.”
“I can see that, Milton. Why?” she asked him impatiently.
“Would you accept the damned money and stop looking a gift horse in the mouth?”
“Can you afford this?”
“You really know how to make a man seem much smaller, don’t you?” he asked her dryly as he guided his chair over to the table to rest his laptop on it.
“I was kidding when I told you about a raise, you know that.”
“Gina, I got a big commission and I am trying to share it with my friend. Is that so hard?”
“In that case, I should get more than eight percent.” She said in a mischievous tone.
He sent her a retiring gaze liking the way the simple blue top fitted her against the snug fitting denim pants she was wearing. She had braided her hair and it fell over her left shoulder, making him think of some sort of fairy princess. “How was the function?”
“A blast. I have never seen so much glitter in my life.” She told him about the dresses and the jewelry, but for some reason she omitted the part about the disturbing dance she had shared with Paul Brady.
“So you had fun?” he wished he could be the one to take her out to some of those functions.
“Not really my style, but it was not bad.”
“Why are you here with me?” he asked her abruptly. “Today is Friday and you should be out in town with a man who has the use of his two legs dancing the night away.”
“You promised me that you would not go back to having the pity parties you had in the past, Milton,” she uncoiled her long legs and moved to the edge of her seat. “I am here because you are my best friend and I love spending time with you.”
“You need to get out there and find Mr. Right.” He muttered.
“Mr. Right, as you put it, will find me in due time. Now let’s get to spending some of your hard-earned cash. I am suddenly feeling like Thai food today.”
******
Pauline Brady brushed her luxuriant cloud of blue black hair slowly as she stared at herself in the mirror. Her slate grey eyes so much like her son’s gazed back at her reflection pensively. She had tried her best to throw women at him to no avail. He was too young to be in mourning for so long and she was getting a little bit worried that he was using work as a means of getting by. She had liked Linda, but the girl had been no match for her strong-willed son. She had sighed with impatience the several times she had seen her sitting by the window patiently waiting for him to return home. She had barely made a ripple and people hardly knew her. She was just contented to be Paul’s wife and Pauline had hated her subservience. She had said it one day to her and the girl had dissolved into tears saying that she did not like her.
“Darling, of course I like you, but you need to grow some backbone!” she had told her impatiently and that had caused the woman to cry even harder. She had not said anything like that to her again.
She had mentioned something like that to her son, and he had told her that Linda was just a sweet soul who did not like to make waves. She wanted someone so much stronger for her son, someone who was not going to take any flak from him or anyone else, and she was hoping fervently he found someone like that!
******
“Darling, we are having a small get-together at my place on Saturday and would love it if you came.” Leesa Wellington called her up one day in early October as she was about to leave the rec center. She had met Leesa at the cancer benefit and they had started talking and exchanged numbers.
“Do you mean small like a thousand of your closest friends?”
Leesa laughed in delight. “I knew from the time I met you that we were going to get along. “It’s small, darling. Several of the girls and their husband and some others.”
“Am I going to be the only single woman there?”
“Of course not! The weather is still mild enough for a barbecue, so it’s casual. Say you will come.”
“I will come.”
“Good. Saturday night. I will email you the address. Come prepared to spend the night.”
Gina hung up the phone slowly. She had never had a close girlfriend since college and she had never missed the girl-to-girl talks, preferring the company of males. She always thought they were less complicated as long as you set the ground rules. But Leesa and the other wives she had met recently seemed to be pretty cool. She was well aware that they were super rich, but she never let that bother her. Money was just a means to an end and she never forgot that.
“Dad?” she called out as soon as she made her way inside. Her father did not own a car, preferring to take the bus to and from the school where he taught.
She went into the kitchen and saw the note pinned to the fridge. “Gone to see a movie with some friends, honey. I left some chicken in the fridge for you.”
She opened the door and took out the bottle of wine instead, taking it with her to the living room. It was time to lose herself into some chick flick.
*****
The place was crawling with people when Gina got there in the late afternoon. She had puzzled over what to wear until she had decided on a fairly new denim skirt and checkered blouse and combined it with leather ankle-length boots. She had put long dangling brown earrings in her lobes and a chunky brown necklace that reached almost to her waist. She had braided her hair tightly and wrapped it into a bun at the nape of her neck. Leesa spotted her the minute she handed her car keys to a smiling young man who came over to park the car. “Darling, you made it!” the extraordinarily beautiful former international model had on a flowing printed caftan and huge silver earrings in her lobes as she came forward to hug the surprised Gina and took her arm to lead her forward. “The gang’s all here.” She said with a carefree laugh. “My husband despairs of these get-togethers, but a number of us women are married to members of the Elite Club and we try to come together to mingle and socialize otherwise from the many functions we have to attend.”
“This is nice,” Gina murmured looking around the huge and spacious grounds with its many trees and flowers blooming in spite of the slight coldness of the weather. “And the air is so clean.”
“I took my husband here before he had any idea that I was planning to buy it for us.” Leesa told her with a grin. “I have to tell you the story of how I convinced him that he could not live without me.”
“So in other words you browbeat him into seeing things your way.”
“Exactly darling,” Leesa said with a laugh. “You already met Carrie, she is married to Patrick, the gorgeous man sitting over there with their sons and there is Diana who is married to Jeffry, the hot looking black haired man in the pool and there is Felicia and Andre, Deidre and Jeremy, Mikhail and Deandre and several men from the club. My husband, Bradley, is over there manning the grill and our children, the twins Leigh-Ann and Lucas, and Andrew is the baby of the family. He is totally spoilt.”
Gina found herself staring at the beautiful children and could not take her eyes off them! They could be posing for magazines. But looking around at the other couples and their children, she realized that they were like people from beautiful country! “So this is like a clique?” she asked in amusement as she looked around at the different couples.
“We have extraordinary stories darling and we tend not to take it for granted. I always knew I was going to end up with Bradley and I knew I wanted no one else.” The woman spoke with a confidence that Gina admired. “Come on, I am putting you with Carrie and the rest. They will take good care of you. Let me have your overnight bag. I will give you the tour later.”
The women welcomed her as if they
had known her for ages. She found herself warming up to them and watched the way they were around their children and spouses. At one point, Patrick came over and cried excuse, lifting his wife and taking her towards the pool. Then she saw Jeffry rubbing cream on his wife plus-sized model Diana’s skin and the looks they exchanged. It was there, a touch and a look that spoke volumes with the men and women who were husbands and wives; it left a feeling of envy and wonder inside her.
She looked up later that afternoon when it had gotten dark and she was drinking wine and saw Paul Brady standing to one side talking to Andre Wainwright. He looked so solitary and alone that she wondered if he was thinking about the wife he had lost. It must be hard coming to functions like these and being reminded that you were facing such a loss! As if her thoughts had traveled over to where he was; he looked up and their eyes met and held. She felt it again! The pull of attraction between them. She shivered a little bit but continued looking at him before he turned away and continued his conversation.
Leesa came to get her at some point in the night and took her on a tour of the magnificent split level house. She saw expensive artwork, colorful throw rugs and delicate furnishings and a huge fireplace with a picture with the entire family posing next to a beautiful man made stream that she had seen when she was outside. “You look like a postcard for a happy family,” Gina murmured as she stared up at the portrait.
“We are in spite of the fact that sometimes I want to strangle Leigh-Ann for being so much like me and Andrew with a penchant for being stubborn and his father for being so carried away by work that he forgets that we have dinner plans.” Leesa said with a laugh as she looked up at the portrait. “But we are happy, not because we are perfect but because we are not and because there is love and respect there, and that’s what makes a family works.”
******
There were several people who were staying over, and Gina was put into a lovely rose and peach bedroom suite that had a great view of the meandering stream and the gazebo perched on top of the hill. She had enjoyed herself immensely watching the antics of the men as they pretend wrestling much to their children’s delight! Paul had just briefly said hi to her, but she had not allowed that to damper her fun. She had also seen his mother who looked very much like him but was very upbeat and lively. She had seen the comradery among the husbands and the friendship among the wives and thought it was commendable.