A Husband by New Year's

by Sean D. Young

I do too, but you don’t see me cancelling an expensive dinner. Next thing you know, you’ll be asking me to pay for it.

  “You are going to at least try some of this delicious looking Wagyu sashimi and have a sip of the champagne before we leave?” Renee tried to sound as encouraging and as unruffled as possible, when what she really wanted to do was throw the champagne in his face. If she’d turned out not to be what he’d expected, she would have rather he’d told her and not play this game. It was only eight-thirty and he had to have known about his morning meeting before he asked her out. William was full of bull.

  William gave her a big smile. “You’re right, we’ll at least have the appetizers, and if you want to take your steak home, we can ask for a doggie bag.”

  That’s it. Her appetite had disappeared and all she wanted to do now was go home. Renee had officially withdrawn from the date emotionally because it wasn’t worth the aggravation. She couldn’t even get through half her steak, sitting across from a man who clearly wasn’t interested in being with her. They ate the rest of their meal quietly and William paid the check.

  He made a short call, which Renee suspected was to his driver because by the time they walked out, the driver was standing at the car waiting for them with the door opened.

  Renee climbed inside first and William followed, sitting next to her. At this point, Renee didn’t care, because as far as she was concerned the date was over before they left the restaurant.

  William’s phone rang and he started whispering to the person on the other end as soon as he answered it. Renee tried not to eavesdrop on the conversation, but she couldn’t help but overhear the other person’s loud voice since she was sitting right next to him.

  William completed his call and dropped his cell phone into the inside pocket of his coat. He scooted forward and said to the driver, “Patrick, take me home first, and then you can take Ms. McClendon to her residence. I need to get home.”

  Renee jerked her head in his direction and raised an eyebrow before looking forward. She was so embarrassed that William wasn’t thoughtful enough to make sure she made it home safely.

  She didn’t know if it was her imagination, but when she looked forward she thought she saw the driver frown at her in the mirror. Or was he frowning at William?

  William glanced over at Renee. “You’ll be in good hands with Patrick,” he said as he adjusted the sleeves on his coat.

  Renee had never been struck speechless in her life. Yet there were words swirling around inside her head that if she’d spoken them aloud, she would in no way act like a lady, so she decided to keep quiet.

  The entire evening had been a waste of time. She could be at home watching Empire re-runs instead of being ignored by a guy she hardly knew. If she never saw William Jamison again, it would be too soon.

  William’s cell phone rang once again and Renee released a frustrated sigh, then she thought better of it. There was no reason for her to be upset with him because the date would be over soon. She just needed to further disconnect herself from the situation, so she stared out the window at the night sky as they traveled down the Dan Ryan.

  Since he was so engrossed in his conversation, she’d leave him to it. Before long she could feel the car slowing down, and she noticed the towering buildings where she guessed William lived. As they rolled to a stop, Renee started to feel a sense of relief. She watched the driver start to get out, but William stopped him.

  “No need for that, I’ll see myself inside,” he said, pulling on the door handle. Leaning over to Renee, he said, “We’ll have to do this again some other time, without all the distractions.”

  Not in this life, buddy. I don’t play baseball, so you don’t get three strikes with me, Renee thought to herself, but she gave him a big smile. She didn’t want to waste any more of her time, breath, or energy on him. She hoped he had a nice life, and as her grandmother used to say, “Joy before you and peace behind you.”

  “Bye, bye,” she said.

  William tapped the back of the driver’s headrest. “Patrick, just put her fare on my bill.”

  Patrick nodded and tipped his hat as William got out and slammed the door. As the car slowly pulled away from the curb, Renee was happy that Patrick didn’t wait to watch William go into the building. She was sure that whoever had called him was waiting for him anyway.

  * * * * *

  Patrick Dunlap couldn’t believe his ears when he heard his client’s request. How could a man ask a beautiful woman out on a date then dump her on the chauffeur? Who did that? But this was already his third time driving William and he had only started driving a month ago. The women that William kept company with were similar to the beautiful girl with him tonight.

  Patrick had checked out his client’s date as she’d walked toward him to the car that evening. Judging by her designer outfit and freshly styled hair, not to mention the expensive necklace around her neck, he figured that she was the type of woman that had to have the finest things in life. He’d eyed her soft leather designer handbag as she climbed into the back seat.

  He’d have to ask the other drivers if what happened with William tonight was a regular occurrence. He was only driving because he needed to learn all aspects of his father’s business. Understanding where the company was failing had been his priority since returning to Chicago.

  It’s A Stretch Limo Service had been around since 1978, when his father James Dunlap started the business with one limousine purchased from the owner of a local funeral home. With James’s hard work, the business grew, and now they had ten stretch limos, a fleet of private Lincoln Town Cars, and five Mercedes Benz 550s.

  Once his father became ill, he handed the reins of the business over to his sons. But because Patrick had started a career in New York after college, his older brother Robert was running the business.

  Both boys wanted for nothing because their father provided them with a good life—palatial home, a great education, and anything they wanted. All Robert wanted to do was live the good life, and in Patrick’s opinion, he wasn’t as responsible as he should be.

  When James found out that the business wasn’t operating at the level it had in the past, he contacted Patrick. After hearing his father’s plea for help, Patrick agreed to come back to Chicago to help his brother get the plummeting business back on track. Armed with an MBA from Howard University, Patrick urged his father not to worry.

  In order to fix what was broken, Patrick needed to do some investigating into the company’s business practices, forecasts, financials, and spending. How did their business fare against others in the same category? He’d have to ask some tough questions, which he knew his brother would not appreciate, but it had to be done. He needed to get out there amongst the other drivers and clients to get first-hand experience being a driver for the car service.

  As the holiday season was fast approaching, Patrick thought it would be a great time to get this done. They needed the help anyway, since several of their employees had family emergencies and vacations out of the state. So instead of hiring other part-time drivers, Patrick had volunteered to fill in for the duration.

  Getting behind the wheel, making sure their clients arrived to and from their destinations on time, was different from his life on Wall Street. He wasn’t new to the responsibility, since he’d driven for the company every summer while he was in college.

  As he drove, Patrick glanced into the rearview mirror a few times to see the woman’s aggravated facial expressions when William answered the phone. Even though he couldn’t hear exactly what the other person was saying, he was sure that the woman did.

  At first, he felt bad for her, but after he glanced back in the mirror again, he noticed that she acted unflustered by the conversation. She was very cool and calm about it until William suggested he be taken home first. Then she had a “how dare you” look on her face.

  He’d had a chan
ce to check out her long legs as she’d climbed into the car. She had glowing caramel-colored skin and beautiful eyes. Their gazes had met briefly, but he was sure she probably didn’t notice him as much as he did her. She was well put together, with stylish clothing, and a trendy haircut. He wondered if she would be like all the other women whom he’d met that only thought of him as the help. Would she change her mind about him if she found out that he was a partner in the private car service company?

  Pulling away from the curb after dropping off William, he looked back at her as she stared out the window while they moved past the buildings and houses on their way back to her place.

  “Ma’am, I would like to verify your address if you don’t mind.”

  She leaned forward. “No problem. And you can call me Renee.”

  “I picked you up at 4543 West 59th Street, correct?”

  “Yes, that is correct.”

  “We’re on our way there,” Patrick said. “Would you like to listen to some music?”

  “No, I’m fine,” Renee said, leaning back.

  Patrick was about to say something else to her, but he had to hit the brakes because the traffic was slowing down. He didn’t know what was going on, but with everyone moving at a crawling pace, he figured it must be something serious.

  “What’s going on, Mister…” Renee asked.

  “Please, call me Patrick.”

  Renee smiled. “Okay, Patrick. Why are we slowing down?”

  “It seems there’s been an accident or something ahead on the interstate.”

  “Oh no, does it look bad?”

  “We haven’t gotten close enough yet, so I can’t tell. Traffic is backing up, so we may be here for a while,” Patrick said, bringing the car to a complete stop.

  “Okay, there isn’t anything we can do about it anyway. I just hope no one is injured.”

  Patrick tried to maneuver so that he could see ahead, but there were cars surrounding their vehicle.

  “Do you enjoy driving, Patrick?”

  “I meet a lot of interesting people this way,” he said.

  “I’m sure you could tell me some unbelievable stories,” Renee said.

  Patrick nodded. “Oh yes, some I still can’t believe myself.” He hadn’t driven a limo in years, but he still remembered those times.

  He heard Renee giggle.

  “You’re my last client for the evening, or should I say, your boyfriend was.”

  “Oh no, William isn’t my boyfriend,” Renee replied.

  “That’s good to know,” Patrick said before he realized it.

  He looked in the rearview mirror to see Renee’s raised brows. He didn’t want to be too forward, but she was a very attractive woman. She didn’t need to be with a man like William who ignored her most of the time.

  They hadn’t even moved a half mile, so Patrick put the car in park and decided to engage in a conversation with his passenger in hopes of getting to know her better.

  “So, Renee, if you don’t mind me asking, what do you do for a living?”

  “I work in marketing.”

  “Marketing. That’s an interesting field. So you help companies brand their business?”

  “Yes, among other things. I really enjoy what I do and try to be of help to as many people as I can.” She paused for a moment. “Have you ever thought about doing something other than being a driver?” Renee asked.

  Traffic started moving again, so he shifted into drive and gave the accelerator some gas. He was relieved to be turning onto her street, so he didn’t have to answer her question. He didn’t want to lie to her, but was hesitant to share the truth of his situation with her.

  Patrick pulled up to the curb and assisted Renee from the vehicle. “Have a good night, Renee,” he said, watching her walk from the car to the main entrance of her apartment building.

  “Good night, Patrick, and thanks so much for the ride,” Renee said.

  Chapter Three

  In the elevator, Renee reflected on her evening. She’d never been a violent person, but tonight she wanted to throw her drink in William’s face while they were sitting at the table. All his complaining, answering the phone, and being dismissive got on her nerves. To top it all off, he asked to be taken home first, and she wanted to kick his ass out of the car.

  In the end, she was glad that despite her feelings, she was able to handle the situation by being courteous and respectful even though her companion didn’t respond in kind. She would never go out with William again.

  Renee stepped off the elevator and walked to the end of the hall to her place. She unlocked her apartment door and went inside, not stopping until she got to her bedroom. She kicked her shoes off, changed her clothes, cleansed her skin, and eyed her new journal on the bed.

  Since she’d been on the perfect man journey, she’d filled several books. She slipped on her pajamas, opened the top drawer of her nightstand, and pulled out a black Sharpie. Picking up the book, Renee plopped down on the bed, crossed her legs, and broke the sealed wrapper.

  Renee flipped to the first page and wrote in big, bold letters “A Husband by New Year’s: Book 4”. Renee giggled. This is crazy, but hey, I think I can do it. Even though she knew her list by heart, she wanted to be sure that she didn’t miss anything, so she picked up one of her old journals, flipping to the page with the list. Turning to the next crisp, gold-leafed page, she picked up her Sharpie and copied her list.

  Done with that task, on a clean page, she wrote William’s name and jotted down her thoughts about the date.

  I had such high hopes for William because it seemed like he had a lot going for himself. Being an attorney is hard work, but a tax attorney has to have a special kind of skill.

  Once I met this guy, I was so disappointed, and I should have known better after he had me waiting over an hour for lunch. Our second date, he made it clear that he didn’t have any room in his life for me.

  If I had to rate William on a scale of one to ten, ten being the best, he would be a zero. I mean a big, fat, funky zero. I don’t want that sort of man in my life, so I’m scratching William off the list. I’ve got to keep moving. It’s already November, so I don’t have much time. But I know my perfect man is out there somewhere.

  Note2Self: Make sure you delete your profile from RealPeopleMingle.com.

  Renee flipped back to the front of the book where she’d written her list. She stared at the letters for so long, that after a while, they started to look like scribbles. She closed the book and rested her head on her pillow, weighing how well the list had served her thus far. She was getting tired of dating, but found nothing wrong with wanting to find the right guy for herself. She closed her eyes just as the phone rang.

  Turning onto her side, she reached over to the nightstand and lifted the cordless phone from the base.

  “Hey, Cara,” she said.

  “Uh oh, what’s wrong?” her friend asked. “I don’t like the way you sound. The date must have been a bust.”

  Renee exhaled loudly. “Terrible. Girl, that man was a hot mess, I’m telling you. I couldn’t wait until he got out of the car.”

  “What do you mean, got out of the car?”

  “I mean he used a car service to pick me up, but on the way home, this dude asked to be dropped off first.”

  From the silence on the line, Renee could tell that her friend was trying not to laugh, but at this point she didn’t care.

  “Yes, he did. Sure did.”

  “Oh, my,” Cara said.

  The less than reassuring silence on the other end of the phone was deafening. Renee knew that Cara had more to say.

  “Go on and say it, Cara,” Renee admonished her friend.

  “Say what?

  “Say what you’ve been wanting to say to me since me and your girl started this crazy bet.”

 
“Both of you are my girls, but you’ve really resorted to going out with some unsavory folks just to win a bet. It’s not like you, Renee.”

  “I know, I know,” Renee said, understanding exactly what her friend was telling her. She didn’t have any good explanation as to why she’d accepted Julia’s challenge.

  “I guess this is what I get for allowing a computer to play matchmaker for me.”

  “I can imagine you feel defeated,” Cara said. “Listen, Renee, you’re a beautiful, smart, and witty woman with a lot going for herself. Who cares about a stupid bet? I’m sure Julia isn’t thinking about that bet.”

  “The hell she’s not. That girl brings it up every time I talk to her,” Renee said.

  “All I’m saying is that when the right person comes along you’ll know it, and you won’t need that list either.”

  Renee didn’t have a comeback or a comment. She was exhausted from the evening, so she wanted to end the call. “Listen, I’ll see you at work tomorrow so that we can go over the numbers for the gala.”

  “Okay, talk to you later,” Cara said.

  Renee pressed the end button and placed the phone back into the charger. Lying back, she thought about how she had been focusing on the wrong things. Winning a bet with Julia wasn’t as important as the gala was to her family. This year her parents had given her the opportunity to chair the event. The only thing was, the deadline for the bet and the gala were on the same day…New Year’s Eve.

  * * * * *

  The next afternoon, Renee sat at a small conference table so that she could sort through the new information that Cara had just sent her concerning the McClendon Cares event. She lifted the lid on her laptop and opened the file as she waited for Cara and her sisters to arrive for their meeting.

  Russell and Myra McClendon had been sponsoring a benefit for the Chicago Children’s Charities since the late 1980s. Philanthropists at heart, they wanted to help the organization raise money to support the children of the city of Chicago. Each year they’d choose a different area of focus, and this year they decided it would be the Brain Injury Association of Illinois’ Camp Fun Zone.