The Company We Keep

by Mary Monroe

  The first person Teri called from her landline was Carla. She was glad Carla didn’t answer. She left a brief message, canceling the appointment she’d scheduled for Sunday morning. Then she called Harrison. Her breath caught in her throat when he answered on the first ring.

  “Hi…it’s Teri. You tried to call me this morning?”

  “I did.” He sounded tired.

  “I forgot to turn my phone and answering machine back on this morning,” she muttered. “I like to sleep in on Saturdays.”

  “So do I, but I usually leave my answering machine on regardless,” he stated. “Did you get the note I left?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “I tried to reach you earlier to invite you to my place tonight. This time, I am responsible for dinner. And I promise you, we will leave enough time and energy to eat dinner.” He laughed.

  “I’d like that. I’d like that very much. What time do you want me to be there?”

  “Dinner will be at six.”

  “Do you still live in the same place near the Long Beach border?”

  “I do.”

  “I’ll print out a map from MapQuest. I don’t remember how to get there.”

  “You don’t have to worry about driving, honey.”

  “Oh. Okay. Then you’ll pick me up?”

  “Be ready around five-thirty. I hate to rush you off the telephone but I need to go pick up my car and run a few other errands.”

  “Then I’ll see you this evening.”

  “Teri, last night meant a lot to me. And even though all we did was have a few drinks and do the, you know, it was about more than just sex to me. I truly enjoy your company and I have a lot of feelings for you. I want you to know that you are not just another piece of tail to me.”

  Piece of tail? Did people still use that phrase? Teri wondered.

  “You didn’t have to make it sound so raw,” she said with a forced laugh. “Piece of tail sounds so…old school.”

  “Sounds ghetto, too. But I’m still a homeboy to the bone and proud of it. I think that’s why I can deal with all these youngsters who think they are going to set the world on fire with their one-hit selves. Like that Rahim. He’s had just one major hit and a few minor hits along the way. But the way he carries on, you’d think he was Jay-Z or Kanye.”

  “Tell me about it,” Teri agreed. “Well, I’d better get up and run a few errands myself if I want to be ready for dinner tonight. Is there anything you want me to bring?”

  “Just yourself.”

  Teri’s buzzer went off at five-thirty. When Harrison didn’t respond after she’d hit the buzzer and spoke into the intercom, she got worried. She grabbed her shawl and overnight case and took the stairs to the ground floor, running as if she were being chased by a rogue cop.

  She tried to be nonchalant when she saw a chauffer standing in front of her building holding up a sign with her name on it. She slid into the backseat of the shiny black town car like it was something she did every day.

  Saturday night with Harrison was more than Teri could stand. The man was going out of his way to make a better impression on her this time around and his efforts were greatly appreciated. He was a gourmet cook, preparing steak and lobster like a pro, and he was just as proficient in the bedroom as he was in the kitchen.

  The same chauffer that had delivered her to Harrison’s condo had returned Sunday evening to collect her and return her to her address. But this time Harrison escorted her. The good-bye kiss at her door was so long she had to push him away so she could catch her breath.

  “I’ll call you,” he told her, tapping his lips with his finger, then tapping her lips with that same finger. “And please do not turn off your phone and your answering machine.”

  Teri was so light-headed she sailed right past her answering machine and didn’t notice the “message waiting” red light blinking like a traffic signal. But just before she crawled into bed she checked her messages. All five were from her grandparents.

  “Girl, where in the world have you been? We called and called and called yesterday and couldn’t reach you. We were just about ready to hop back on that airplane and come home to check up on you,” her grandmother sobbed. “You know better than to worry us like this!”

  “You stop that crying right now! I’m fine. I was just busy,” Teri explained.

  “Since when did you get so busy you had to turn off your phone and your answering machine? And you got your cell phone disconnected? Are you not paying your bills, girl?” Grandma Stewart sniffed.

  “I had to change my cell phone number. I just forgot to give it to you.”

  “Whatever. You still didn’t explain what kind of busy you were that you couldn’t accept any calls or messages…” The old woman’s tone had become accusatory. Teri remained silent for a few moments, and this irritated her grandmother even more. “If you don’t answer me I’m going to give up in about forty-five minutes, then hang up…”

  “I’m sorry,” Teri replied, her tone soft and contrite. “I had company and I didn’t want to be disturbed. It won’t happen again.” A mysterious smile crossed Teri’s face and stayed there.

  CHAPTER 44

  “Company?” Grandma Stewart asked, mumbling something unintelligible under her breath. She cleared her throat before she spoke again. “Is that what you just said?”

  The next voice Teri heard belonged to her grandfather.

  “Teri, you got company?” He spoke in a hurried tone of voice, as though he was afraid he’d forget what he wanted to say if he didn’t release the words fast enough.

  “Not now. But, uh, a friend was with me. That’s all.”

  “Well, it must be more than just a friend if you didn’t want to take calls or even get messages. Who?”

  “Who what?”

  “Who was your company? We know all of your friends.”

  “I’ll tell you all about it when you get back home. How was the funeral?”

  “The funeral is tomorrow. Mother helped pick out the burial dress—sky blue. Sister Conroy’s favorite color,” Grandpa Stewart said with a cough. “And let me tell you something, girl. These kinfolks of hers have already looted her house like those devils did after Katrina struck. I hate to think of how those stooges in our family are going to behave when me and Mother cross over.”

  “Well, as long as there’s a breath in my body, you won’t have to worry about a thing. I’ll make sure of that,” Teri vowed.

  For the next ten minutes, Teri’s grandparents took turns beating her over the head with mundane information she had absolutely no use for. What in the world made them think she’d want to hear the details of Brother Broadnex’s gall bladder surgery? Before they released her, they gave her an updated report on their own health. Had she believed everything they told her, she would have started planning their funerals as soon as she got off the telephone.

  When they paused long enough for her to speak, she jumped in and said, “I think I hear somebody knocking on my door…”

  “Sweetie, anybody lucky enough to have you in their life is blessed tenfold. I hope all your friends appreciate you as much as me and Mother do. Bye, baby.”

  Monday morning when Teri returned to work, she was surprised at the stack of mail in her in-box. There were the usual industry magazines; several postcards from Victor, who was having an “awesome” time on vacation with his wife; and battered interoffice envelopes bulging with a lot of office riffraff that went no further than her trash can or shredder. At the bottom of the heap was a small envelope with no return information. She quickly opened it. It was an invitation to another party from Young Rahim and a scribbled “apology” at the bottom for his recent crude behavior in front of her and Nicole in the Eclectic conference room. His writing looked like that of a five-year-old, big and blocky.

  Nicole arrived a few minutes later. She immediately peeked into Teri’s office. “Well, now. The prodigal sister returns,” she teased. “Things were pretty quiet while you were out so you don
’t have to worry about cleaning up any messes.”

  “Did Victor call? I received a few postcards from him.”

  “Haven’t heard a peep from him, thank God,” Nicole said with a look of relief on her face. Then she added in a hopeful tone of voice, “If we’re lucky, the airline will go on strike and he will be stranded for a couple of weeks…”

  “I doubt if we’ll ever get that lucky,” Teri said with a snort. “Hey, what are you doing this coming Friday night?”

  Before Nicole replied, she held her breath, tilted her head to the right, and gave Teri a cautious look. “Why?”

  “Rahim is having another party and the invitation says I can bring a guest.” Teri wanted to invite Harrison to go with her, but she thought it would be a good idea to take things more slowly. Now if he had invited her to go to a party with him, it would have been a different story. From her point of view, she didn’t want to appear too clingy or make it seem like she was smothering him so soon in the relationship. She’d already decided that she would let him make most of the moves until she knew where the relationship was going. However, if and when he made a move she didn’t like she would not hesitate to let him know, and in no uncertain terms.

  “You would think that by now that numbskull would send me my own invitation.”

  “Maybe he doesn’t think he knows you that well yet.”

  “He thinks he knows me well enough to fondle me,” Nicole reminded.

  “Oh, I forgot about that,” Teri said, exhaling a loud breath. “Maybe he wants to limit his guest list by killing two birds with one stone. He knows I’ll be bringing you as my guest, anyway.”

  “Not this time,” Nicole announced. “I’m not available Friday night.” She had a tight look on her face, and that told Teri all she needed to know.

  “You and Eric are going to do something? Again?”

  “Again.” Nicole grinned with a sparkle in her eyes.

  Teri wanted to wipe the look off Nicole’s face with a dirty rag. But since she didn’t want another friend to know that she was slightly jealous of her, all she did was smile and say, “That’s so nice.” Her voice was small and more than a little sad. She hoped Nicole didn’t detect that and feel sorry for her. The last thing she wanted was pity.

  “Eric and me, and Miguel and Louisa. And all the kids, of course.” Nicole gave Teri a wan smile. “Eric’s daughter, Akua, is a little doll, and she and Chris hit it off immediately. Miguel took the kids to Disneyland on Saturday and now I want to repay the favor. I’m cooking dinner for us all this Friday. If you don’t go to Rahim’s party, you can join us.”

  “Oh, I don’t think so. I wear a lot of hats but I never wanted to wear the same one worn by the ‘man who came to dinner.’”

  “The who?”

  “It’s an old movie,” Teri said waving her hands. “It’s not important. Okay,” she mouthed. “I’ll go by myself.”

  “Aren’t we forgetting somebody else? I’m sure that that somebody else you know would probably love to go to Rahim’s party.”

  “Your cousin Lola? I don’t think so. She’s been bugging me for months to bring her to some of the parties we go to.”

  “I was talking about Harrison,” Nicole said, her tongue snapping brutally over each word. There were times when Teri exasperated her to the point of no return. “And you know damn well who I was talking about.”

  “Hmm. Well, he probably received his own invitation, but I’ll mention it to him anyway.”

  Harrison did have his own invitation to Rahim’s party, but he had other plans. That’s what he told Teri when she broke down and asked if he wanted to be her escort. He didn’t reveal to Teri what those plans were and she didn’t ask.

  To her everlasting horror, Teri ended up going to the party with Lola after all. Lola had finally come by her condo to deliver the copies of the magazine article that Teri had been waiting on for more than a week and when she saw Teri all dressed up, she made it her business to find out where Teri was going. As soon as she found out Teri was going alone but could bring a guest, she wasted no time inviting herself.

  “I don’t have time to go all the way back home to get cute, but I’m sure you’ve got something in your closet I can slide into,” Lola had told her, gushing like a teenager.

  She’d had fun at Rahim’s party but she’d left early. She slunk out his back door and trotted across his spacious lawn to get to her car parked on a side street around the corner. Lola had already left with one of the musicians that backed up Rahim. Dwight had also been present, dressed like a tall penguin, with that oversexed Mia clinging to him like a grapevine.

  Teri was glad to know that Harrison had not slept with Mia the night he took her home from the Andrewses’ party after all. At least that was what he’d told her when she asked him that night at his place. And the only reason she’d brought it up was because he had asked her if she would ever get back into Dwight’s bed. And of course she’d told him that she would not. As a matter of fact, she’d told him that she’d climb into a bed of nails before she got back into Dwight’s. Hearing that had pleased Harrison so he’d dropped the subject.

  Teri had danced up a storm with almost every man who asked her, but she had avoided Dwight like the plague. However, he’d still managed to corner her a few times, still trying to get her to agree to another rendezvous with him. His plea now included a “for old times’ sake” enhancement, but that made no difference to Teri. She had no desire whatsoever to see Dwight again. Especially since Harrison was back in her life.

  Yvette had come to Rahim’s party alone, dressed like a low-rent hooker and sulking like a two-year-old. When Teri overheard somebody ask Yvette where Eric was, she said that Eric was at home in bed with a bad cold. Teri laughed to herself when she heard that and couldn’t wait to tell Nicole.

  When Teri got home around midnight, Harrison was sitting in his car in front of her building, lurking like a bounty hunter.

  CHAPTER 45

  When Victor returned to the office he was glad to see that everything was under control. However, he was disappointed when Teri admitted to him that he had not been missed.

  “Are you always so brutally honest?” he wanted to know, glaring at her as she stood in front of his desk updating him. He had spent so much time in the sun that he was almost as dark as she was. And he looked like hell. Even more so than usual. Teri wondered how long it was going to take for white folks to get it in their heads that the sun was one of their worst enemies.

  “Well, you asked.” She grinned.

  Victor gave her a dry look, then a smile. “I trained you well, didn’t I?” He paused and cleared his throat. Then he got serious. “There are a lot of things I’d like to cover in the next few weeks. I hope you don’t have a lot of plans because you are going to be working some long hours for a while.”

  “I don’t have a problem with that,” Teri told him, already wondering how this was going to affect her newly restored relationship with Harrison.

  “I’d like to see the last two reports on the numbers for every artist on our roster.” Victor shuffled a few papers on his desk. “Set up dinner for me, yourself, that blind rapper, and his people. Something exotic as long as it’s not Italian. That dago shit makes me shit,” Victor said with a grimace. “And how are things with that photographer you were so determined for us to work with? Hmm?”

  “Eric’s been working out just fine. He accepted our offer and he’s already signed a two-year contract. He’s a great guy and an excellent photographer. And since he’s just now cutting his teeth, he needs the work.”

  “His work is excellent,” Victor agreed with a nod. “Are we getting a lot of play time on the locals?”

  “Oh, yes. Harrison Starr is still one of our biggest supporters,” Teri said eagerly, with her face glowing like a firefly.

  “Well, let’s keep him happy,” Victor advised. “Now!” He rubbed his palms together and smacked his lips. “I don’t want to be disturbed for the rest of t
he day. I’ve got hundreds of e-mails to plow through. Is there anything else?”

  “Not at the moment,” Teri said, grateful that Victor had decided to conclude this meeting so soon.

  “Then you can go,” he said. With that, he turned his back to Teri and faced his computer.

  Nicole was on the telephone when Teri approached the reception area after she left Victor’s office. Nicole pointed to the small clock radio on her desk, motioning for Teri to listen. With a puzzled look on her face, Teri stopped and leaned over the desk. Now that Teri was involved with Harrison again, she rarely listened to his show. She wanted them to have a real chance and that meant not spending more time than necessary with him, or on him. She knew from experience that “overexposure” could have a devastating effect on a relationship. However, she kept up with Harrison’s shows anyway because it was the only show that Nicole and almost everybody else at Eclectic listened to during the morning.

  Even with the mild static coming from Nicole’s five-year-old radio from a dollar store, Harrison’s voice was as smooth as silk. “And coming up after our station break is Anita Baker with ‘Caught up in the Rapture,’ one of my favorite golden oldies. This one is a very special dedication to a very special lady…Teri, this is the Morning Starr, and I want you to know that you’ve got me caught up in the rapture, too…”

  “No he didn’t,” Teri said, embarrassed. She looked around the reception area. “I hope Victor didn’t hear that.”

  “If he didn’t, he will. Harrison’s been mentioning you quite a bit lately.” Nicole turned her head to the side and gave Teri a look of approval. “In all the years that I’ve been listening to the Morning Starr, you are the first woman he’s showcased like this. Other than the artists, I mean.”