Miss Independent, Volumes 1 - 4

by Kiki Leach

  Sheila shook her head. “Just a voicemail from someone.”

  “Whatever they said has you tickled. What was it?”

  Sheila looked up and squint. “Why do you want to know?”

  “Because if you’re going to snort and giggle like that throughout the entire meal, then I’d like my food to go because I don’t want to listen to it.”

  Sheila exhaled through her nose. “It was Nathan.”

  Her heart sank a little. “Oh. Did he know about this brunch, thing? What was he trying to do, make sure we weren’t killing each other again?”

  “He didn’t say anything about this.”

  “Then you didn’t tell him?”

  “I told him,” she said, “but that’s not what he called me about.”

  “Hmm.” She paused. “Well, then I assume the giggles are you plotting something heinous, like his death.”

  Sheila guffawed. “What would make you say something like that?”

  “You two got into a fight, right? Nikki said you sounded excited on the phone and I thought you sounded completely manic.”

  “I was powerwalking with shopping bags in my hand, V.”

  “Yeah. But now we’re out to breakfast and you can’t stop giggling like some kind of lunatic after listening to his voicemail, and I’m just wondering if you’re only using me as some kind of alibi if he were to end up dead on a street corner later.”

  She pulled back, making a face. “It’s really disturbing to hear you talk like that, Vanessa.”

  “Well--”

  “I wasn’t giggling because I want him dead. It was just hearing his voice that made me…” She trialed off and looked aside. “I just like hearing the sound of his voice.”

  She rolled her eyes far back into her head. “Oh.”

  “He also mentioned that since he’s taking a job at that law firm that we’d have to finally find a place to really settle--”

  “Wait a second, back up. What job at what law firm?”

  “McManus, Mann and Gallagher. I told you when I called your office last night that we’re staying longer than planned; that’s the reason why. Eddie’s father offered him a position at his law firm.”

  “Eddie Gallagher? His father offered Nathan a job, as what? Actually, never mind that, because I don’t care. What I DO need to know is how long the job is for? Is it temporary, permanent?”

  “I guess it’s up to him if he chooses.”

  “Chooses what?”

  “Chooses whether or not he likes the job, Vanessa.”

  “No, no, see, that’s not how it works in corporate America. I know the concept of a job is foreign to you as are its policies. But he was either offered a permanent position such as resident mail clerk or something, or he wasn’t.”

  “Why are you being so hostile about this?” Sheila asked.

  “I’m not,” she snapped. She exhaled and clinched her jaw. “Whatever. You know what, it doesn’t even really matter. You live your life the way you want and I’ll live mine the way I have since senior year, the hell away from you both.”

  “We could go back to things like they were before if you just tried.”

  “Tried what? An exorcism? Because that is the only way I will ever consider us to be friends again.”

  “Don’t you miss having someone to talk to? Because I miss that. I miss having you listen to me talk about my problems until three o’clock in the morning. If you and Nathan can get past this, why can’t we?”

  “You keep saying that, but Nathan and I aren’t past anything.”

  “You’re past everything, Vanessa, no matter what you keep trying to tell me or yourself. I saw it all over your faces when you two danced together, and before that when you were at the--”

  “Let it GO, Sheila!” she snapped. “Let it go. You wanted him, you have him, so let. It. go.”

  She grimaced. “Alright, Vanessa, okay. The thing is, I had a lot of fun last night and had planned to have more with you this afternoon, but--”

  “Fun? When and where was THAT?”

  “I was referring to after the reunion, the time I spent with Nathan,” she snidely replied.

  “How much fun could you two have had? He was huffing and puffing in anger and you called me in damn near tears while he was gone.”

  “We had sex last night,” she blurted. She dropped back in her chair and turned her head aside, resting her hand against her chin.

  Vanessa’s blood ran cold, her breathing became hallow. She blinked extremely slowly, trying to process what she had just heard. “You two had sex after he left…” She shut her eyes and breathed in deep. “After he came back to you?” Her fingers tightened around the fork, bending it. She dropped it on her plate and sat back, covering her mouth with one hand while holding her stomach with the other. “I think I’m gonna be sick.”

  “V--”

  “You try to kick my ass, he tries to kill Maurice and then you two fight it out and have sex like wild hyenas? Is that what you’re telling me?”

  She averted her eyes downward. “V, I know how you feel about this, and I didn’t mean to--”

  “Yeah, you never do.”

  “I didn’t--”

  “Save it. Save the ‘I’m sorry’s’ and ‘I didn’t mean to’s’ or whatever the hell else you feel the need to say, because it’s all bullshit. You have never given more of a single shit about anyone else’s feelings aside from your own. I’ll bet on every single dime I have in the bank that the only reason you even brought me here in the first place was to eventually brag to me in person that you got screwed good and hard last night and for no other reason.”

  “That is not true, V, I came here to--”

  “Make amends? Right.” She yanked the napkin from her lap and tossed it onto the table.

  “You’re leaving?”

  “Hell yes. Have sex and be merry together for the rest of your fucking lives. I’m outta here.” She grabbed her bag and got up as quickly as she could from her chair, racing to the curb and waving down a taxi.

  “Vanessa!” Sheila hollered out.

  She didn’t turn around. When a taxi finally stopped, she jumped inside and gave him the address for The Palace.

  When the waiter returned to offer Sheila another drink, she declined. Vanessa’s reaction was too over the top for her liking. She expected her to be upset if she learned the truth, but to throw a fit and leave in the middle of a meal? Something was off with both she and Nathan that afternoon and she was determined to find out if her fears of them together were coming true.

  Part Six

  Nikki and Maurice managed to make it to the bank at least fifteen minutes before they closed. She strolled inside first while he lagged behind, hoping that they would be turned away before he even made it to the counter.

  “Come on, Mo. Vamonos.” Nikki waved her hand at him. When he didn’t move, she pulled him by the arm, practically tossing him inside. “We don’t have all day.”

  “We could’ve done this tomorrow,” he said. “I wasn’t going to cheat you out of helping me.” He reached inside his pocket for his ID and turned to look at her. “Did you help me?”

  “She’s still not interested, just like I thought and told you.”

  “She’s interested. I know damn well she’s interested, she’s just afraid our friendship will be compromised because of it. I’ve got to convince her otherwise.”

  “Maybe you don’t need to because maybe she’s right, and maybe you just need to back off.”

  “Maybe you need to stop sleeping with your boss.” He moved around her and went to the first open teller he saw, a small brunette woman who lit up with a bright white smile the moment he approached. Nikki glided up next to him and leaned back against the counter. Maurice stared at her from the corner of his eye and clinched his jaw. “You mind waiting for me on the other side?”

  “Other side of what?”

  “The bank, Nik. I need to make a private withdrawal.”

  She laughed. “
You don’t trust me standing here?”

  “You didn’t trust me coming here.”

  “We only came because I dragged you,” she replied. He stared at her, never saying another word. “You are such an asshole.”

  “One who’s paying you two-hundred and fifty dollars for a fucking favor.”

  “Asking Vanessa to give you a chance was a soul sucking experience, Maurice. You’re not paying me for a favor because it wasn’t a favor. You’re paying me because I would be dead now if you didn’t otherwise. And you’re still an asshole.”

  She jerked herself away from the counter ignoring him as he returned to the teller, shaking his head a little and smiling as he apologized for her attitude and his language.

  But the teller didn’t mind. She was so captivated by Maurice’s good looks that nothing else he said seemed to matter. She leaned forward to showcase her breasts as they protruded above the rim of her white tank top and winked at him several times as she wrapped her hair around her finger, asking him what she could help him with on that bright, Sunday afternoon. Maurice glanced down at her out of habit before remembering why he was there in the first place. He shut his eyes and pressed his fingers against his lids in the hopes of turning off his brain. He nodded and placed his license on the counter and asked for a man to help. Confused, she left him while retrieving her boss.

  Nikki moved across the lobby and stopped to admire an eight foot fish tank that sat in the corner. It was filled with nothing but tropical fish from all over the world, and a few sea turtles that swam around eating food that had been placed inside. She wondered for a moment if they had it easier in the water than she did on land, then thought back to the events that occurred in The Little Mermaid and figured probably not.

  She tapped the glass with the tip of her finger and watched them swimming back and forth, almost as if they were in a race with each other. As she bent over to get a good look at the few resting in the back, a man walked up next to her with his hands placed deep inside his pockets.

  He cleared his throat to catch her attention. “My daughter has a tank just like this in her bedroom,” he said, his voice deep and cool, like a stream of water flowing down the peak of a river. Nikki stood up to get a view of his face. He was older than she expected him to be upon hearing his voice, but still handsome, tall. His skin was smooth, the color of deep chocolate and his eyes were an electric cocoa brown that seemed to shine as bright as the sun the more he stared at her. His lips were wide and full and his face, chiseled and hard. He was like a dream come true, the answer to a prayer on a warm summer day, but Nikki wasn’t so sure she was impressed.

  She looked him up and down and smirked. “Your daughter?”

  “Mm-hmm. But she only has a few fish to fill the tank.”

  “Why is that?”

  “She never wants too many in there at one time. She’s afraid they might start eating each other.”

  Nikki’s eyes widened. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard that before.”

  “My ex-wife,” he started, “used to let her watch the Discovery Channel when she was younger. She said it helped with her education. I think all it’s done within the last few years is scare her to death. She’s ten now, but things haven’t really changed much where that’s concerned.” He turned and stretched out his hand. “I’m William, by the way. William Grant.”

  She took his hand, though still questioning of his approach. “Nicole.”

  He waited a moment and chuckled. “Were you born without a last name?”

  “No, but you might have to work a little harder to receive it.”

  “Okay.” He laughed, impressed with her feisty demeanor. “I can work with that. Well Miss Nicole ‘With no Last Name to Give’, I would love to get to know you better, outside of discussing fish tanks that is. I’d offer to take you out to lunch, but that might seem a little forward.”

  “It might.”

  “Okay. How about a late dinner then? And by late, I mean sometime later this week. If you’re into going out, there’s a restaurant opening on Thursday that a friend of mine owns, and I’d love to have a beautiful woman such as yourself on my arm to accompany me there.”

  Butterflies filled her stomach; she didn’t know how to react to his attention. It was the first time a man who wasn’t Oscar, or one just looking for sex, had shown legitimate interest in her in over a year.

  William sensed her hesitancy and straightened himself. “If that’s still moving too fast, we can start with McDonald’s and the Cineplex.”

  She laughed aloud and looked to the speckled floor. “It’s not that I wouldn’t appreciate going out with you,” she said, returning to his eyes, “I’m just not so sure that I can.”

  “What’s stopping you?”

  She looked aside and made a face, arching her brow and pulling her lips back into the form of a question. “Uh-”

  “I’m sorry, you don’t need to answer that question.” He placed his hand on his stomach and bent forward. “I apologize. Listen.” He reached into his pants pocket for his wallet and pulled out a business card. “I may be moving too fast, but I also don’t want to miss an opportunity to get to know someone like you better, so why don’t you take this as a ‘just in case’.” He grabbed a pen from the pocket of his jacket and began writing something on the back of the card, then lifted it to show her. “That is my cell number. If you change your mind about the dinner, you just call that number anytime, day or night and I’ll answer.”

  She clutched it between two fingers and stared down at it, nodding. “And if I don’t?”

  “If you don’t, you might just be the one that got away.”

  “You’ve been married before, wouldn’t the one that got away be your ex-wife?”

  “No.” He shook his head while staring at her with admiration. “I have to meet someone soon, but… it was a genuine pleasure to meet you Miss Nicole ‘With no Last Name to Give’.”

  “It’s Sanger.”

  “Sanger… I’ll be sure to remember that.” He pointed down at the card. “And I’ll be looking forward to getting that call.”

  He smiled at her one last time before backing away and heading out the door. She watched him confidently stroll down the sidewalk and looked down at the number again, trying to calm the roaming nerves as they still fluttered around her stomach and moved up into her chest. She had become so enamored in what had happened that she never noticed the woman who approached her from behind.

  “He seemed like a nice person,” she said.

  Nikki almost jumped out of her skin as she whirled around, clutching her chest in a panic as she looked up to see Oscar’s wife standing there. “Melanie,” she said in a gasp. She tossed her hair behind her and stood straight, trying to catch her breath.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you like that.”

  “You didn’t. I just wasn’t paying attention.”

  “Nonetheless, I didn’t mean for it to seem like I did.” She tucked her blond locks behind her ear and tilted her head. “I just so happened to finish up some business with my personal banker in his office and saw you standing over here with that man when I came out. I wanted to wait until you two were finished so that it didn’t seem like I was trying to interrupt a private moment.”

  “It wasn’t private, we just met.”

  “Oh.”

  Nikki suddenly became anxious and looked around the lobby, hoping to see her husband. “Are you here by yourself?”

  “Yes. Oscar’s working at the coffee shop today, I just came in for a few papers he needed to sign. I don’t know if he’s told you, but he’s planning to open another shop inside of Vanessa’s office building. There was a vacant space he noticed one day and I encouraged him to buy it. Unfortunately, he may not have the time to take care of it while it’s in its early stages which is where I’m coming in to help. Being here also gives me a better idea of if I need or want to move back here permanently.”

  Nikki gulped, recalling last nig
ht’s conversation with Oscar, and now realizing the circumstances surrounding Melanie’s sudden decision. “Permanently.”

  “Yes. I want to get a good feel of what the city is like again. I can’t have that experience in just a few weeks or just a month’s time, so helping Oscar get the shop off the ground is just the thing I need to help make my decision.”

  “What about your film company in Los Angeles?”

  “That’s what employees are for.” She winked. “If I were to move here, I would still be living bicoastal in some ways and taking care of things via satellite when allowed. But for now, this is where I’ll be most of the time until the shop is open and I make my final decision.”

  “So in moving permanently, that means the children would be here all of the time too?”

  She chuckled. “Yes, they sort of come as a packaged deal.” Nikki frowned, never realizing the expression on her face was a reminder for Melanie of what she was up against in choosing to stay. It was starting to help make her decision a lot easier. “What exactly are you doing here today? Cashing in on another paycheck?”

  “No, I’m here with my roommate, Maurice.”

  Melanie looked over at him as he was bent over the counter to sign something and arched her brow. “You two live together?”

  “Three. Vanessa lives with us too.”

  “That’s right, I forgot she mentioned that.” She refocused on Nikki and lowered her eyes to her short skirt, questioning. “How is Vanessa doing, by the way? I saw the cover of the Daily News this morning, and--”

  “She’s doing a lot better than she was last night. I don’t think she’s going to let this get to her, she’s been through worse.”

  “I see. I was thinking of calling to see if I could do anything, maybe give her a few words of encouragement, but I should probably wait until tomorrow after she’s settled in at work. Or maybe later in the day for the dinner we’re supposed to have in honor of my cover.”

  Maurice came over and slapped the bills into the palm of Nikki’s hand. “Next time, I’ll just ask Vanessa myself and save the two-fifty,” he said.

  Nikki tightly folded the bills and pressed them against the business card still tucked inside her other hand.