“Patrick Dunlap is here to see you.”
“Thanks,” Renee responded. Pushing away from her desk, she stood. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a client waiting in reception,” she said, walking toward the door.
Julia still didn’t respond, but followed her out into the hallway.
Renee ignored the fact that Julia was walking in the same direction as she. She needed to get in the right headspace in order to have a successful meeting with Patrick. She pasted a smile on her face because she didn’t want him to know that Julia had upset her again.
Renee was proud of the way she’d handled herself with Julia. Before the day was over, she’d have to sit down with Priscilla to get more information about whatever was bothering Julia.
As soon she rounded the corner, Renee could see Patrick sitting in the reception area. He seemed to be engrossed with something that was on the twenty-four-hour news channel that streamed on the flat-screen on the wall.
Renee was proud of Vine’s clean lines and bold colors in the modern décor. The green-and-orange Vine logo mounted on the wall next to the set of double glass doors that served as the entryway into the office space made a bold statement.
Patrick stood when she saw her coming. Renee looked slightly to her right, and to her displeasure, Julia was right behind her. Renee felt a sliver of irritation run down her spine. There was no reason for Julia to be in that space. She and Renee had no further business to attend to, but there she was.
Once Renee was within shouting distance of Patrick, she realized that she’d left his file and her notes in her office. Her intention had been to go straight to the small conference room from the reception area. Julia’s interruption had caused her to get turned around. Taking a deep breath, she made sure her smile was still intact.
“Patrick,” she said, extending her hand to greet him.
“I wanted to call you this morning, but didn’t get the chance to,” Patrick said.
Out of the corner of her eye Renee could see Julia walking to stand in front of Patrick.
“Isn’t this the guy that was with you at the PRSA event?” she asked, her gaze roaming Patrick’s body. “I was trying to remember where I knew him from, because his face looked so familiar.”
Renee rolled her eyes. You don’t know everybody. Now leave, please!
Patrick smiled. “Nice to see you again.”
“So does he fit your list, Renee?”
Renee saw Patrick frown, and she could have popped Julia in the mouth for that comment.
After a long period of silence, Julia turned on her heel and walked away. Suddenly, she stopped and rushed back over. “I remember now, you’re Patrick Dunlap.”
Patrick nodded. “Yes, I am.”
Renee looked between Julia and Patrick, wondering where the woman was going with the conversation. Julia must have heard the receptionist say his name when she buzzed Renee.
Julia shook her finger at Patrick. “My girlfriend Felicia who lives in NYC used to date a wealthy guy named Patrick Dunlap.”
Renee took a step forward. “This is a different Patrick Dunlap, Julia.”
“No, I don’t think so, because she would always talk about his caramel-colored skin, the wicked smile he had, and his curly hair. She talked about other things too, but I think we should be in a different place to discuss them.”
Renee didn’t want to tell Julia that Patrick was a limo driver. Maybe Patrick could squash the whole thing and they could get on with their meeting. “Patrick, please tell her that she has you mixed up with someone else.”
Renee still couldn’t believe how unprofessional and vulgar Julia was acting. The woman had no business in the reception area with her and Patrick in the first place.
Julia pushed forward. “Doesn’t your family own a limousine company or something?”
Renee watched Patrick carefully as he nodded. As the words came slowly out of his mouth.
“Yes, that’s me.”
Renee froze. She couldn’t move or even blink.
Somewhere, deep inside, humiliation was just waiting to swallow up Renee, but she’d be damned if she would give Julia the satisfaction while the receptionist and others watched. Julia didn’t know that Patrick had lied to her or that they were dating, so she had to play it cool.
“I told you that I knew him.”
Renee’s face was a blank mask. She managed to calm herself enough to make it look like nothing was wrong. Inside, her mind was swirling with thoughts of betrayal and laden with questions, one right after another. She didn’t understand why Julia was being so loud.
Renee’s eyes landed on Patrick, who stood there like a statue, not saying a word. Silence stretched between them for a bit. She had been wrong about Patrick, so wrong.
“Well, I hate to cut this trip down memory lane short, but we have some business to discuss,” Renee said, walking in the other direction.
Not saying another word, she headed for her office, and hoped that Patrick followed her. With every step she took, she realized that there was no way she could meet with him. Confusion, sadness, and disappointment all had a grip on her and she needed to get it under control in order to make a sound decision. She didn’t need to be with a man who was a liar. Plus, she needed some physical and emotional distance from him.
Moments later, Patrick closed the door to her office as Renee stood in front of him. She couldn’t have the conversation that she needed to have with him here. She was sure that the folks whose workstations were right outside her door had heard her and Julia earlier, and she didn’t want a repeat.
Patrick reached out to her and Renee recoiled. “Don’t touch me,” she said, trying to keep her voice down. She was livid. “You’re just like all the rest. You’re a liar.”
“Please, let me explain this to you.”
“Julia handled that for you, don’t you think? She even wrapped it up in a pretty package.”
“I don’t know Julia, I promise you that. But I do know Felicia.”
Renee nodded. “Good for you. Now, I hate to cut this short, but we won’t be able to meet today.”
Patrick reached out to her again, but she turned her back on him.
“We need to talk, baby,” he said, walking behind her.
Renee really wanted to lean back into him and let him explain, but she couldn’t. She loved him, but she didn’t want to be in love with a liar.
“Renee, baby. Turn around and look at me,” Patrick pleaded with her.
After several moments, Rene finally cooperated, but didn’t look him in the eye.
Patrick picked up her hand and squeezed it gently. “Promise me that you’ll talk to me later. We can meet at your place or mine.”
Renee shook her head.
“I know that we can get past this once I explain everything to you,” Patrick said.
As Patrick spoke to her, he was getting closer and closer, so close that his lips were merely inches from hers.
She stared at them, but still didn’t look into his eyes until he raised her chin, forcing their gazes to meet.
“Promise me you’ll contact me later, baby,” he said, his voice soft.
Finally, Renee agreed by giving him a nod, hoping his next action would be to leave her office.
“That’s all I want along with this,” he said, leaning in for a quick kiss on her lips.
The kiss, she admitted to herself, was one that made her tingle on the inside. But she had to push that out of the way and focus on the fact that he hadn’t been honest with her from the start.
Patrick walked out, and when the door to her office closed, she continued to stand for a moment, her thoughts racing.
Chapter Nineteen
Damn. Patrick had blown it this time. He knew he’d taken too long to tell her the truth. Now he just looked like a liar. He’d gone to Ren
ee’s office determined to finally tell her the truth. He wanted he and Renee to have the same kind of relationship his parents had. But he never expected in a million years that their relationship would blow up right in front of his eyes like it did today.
Julia was a piece of work, and Patrick could tell she had gotten joy out of making Renee squirm, although Renee put up a great front.
As Patrick sat in his SUV and reflected on what had happened, he really couldn’t put all the blame on Julia. If he’d told Renee the truth from the beginning, Julia’s words wouldn’t have hurt Renee because she’d have already known about him.
He chastised himself for just standing by silently while Julia outed him. His heart broke at the thought of hurting Renee, but it was too late. He had to give it to Renee, remaining classy and poised.
Patrick had wanted to say more to Renee once they were alone, but he could see that she had removed herself emotionally. She stood quietly looking everywhere but at him.
His actions were not representative of a man with integrity. He loved Renee and the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her. At this point, he had to wait to see if she’d call. He hoped she’d give him a chance and not cut him out of her life for good. Only time would tell.
* * * * *
Renee put out an emergency 9-1-1 text message to her sisters telling them to meet her at her place before she slipped from her office and out of the building. She needed to be surrounded by her sisters, because their love would ease some of her terrible heartache. They were the only people she knew that she could totally trust.
On the drive home, Renee felt like she was moving in slow motion. The traffic flowed fairly well, but it seemed like it took her forever to get to her apartment. Patrice and Jennifer were both sitting in their cars waiting in the parking lot when she arrived.
All three women got out of their vehicles at the same time, following Renee up to her apartment.
Renee was quiet as she unlocked the door. She pushed it open, throwing her keys on the counter as she strolled past it to the closet. Chucking her purse onto the barstool, she turned to her sisters.
“Where’s Faith?” Renee asked.
“She’s on her way,” Jennifer responded, rubbing Renee’s back.
Renee was about to say something else, but the buzzer sounded.
“That must be her,” Patrice said, walking over to the press the button.
A couple minutes later, Faith walked in the door. “What’s going on, you guys?” She rushed over to Renee. “What happened?”
Renee went to the sofa and plopped down, resting her elbow on the arm and her head in her hand.
Faith came over to sit with Renee and Jennifer next to her, while Patrice sat on the floor at Renee’s feet.
“Can you tell us what happened?” Faith asked, pushing Renee’s hair from off her face.
Renee looked over at her sisters. She never wanted to appear weak and needed to be in control. “Patrick lied to me.”
Jennifer got up from the couch. “I’ll go fix some tea. Maybe that will help soothe you.”
“Wait,” Renee said.
Jennifer stopped in her tracks. “Why?”
“Are you feeling okay? I don’t want you on your feet, if you’re not feeling well.”
Jennifer waved at her. “Girl, I’m doing fine.”
Renee shook her head. “I don’t want any tea. There’s some wine in the fridge; bring me a glass of whatever’s in there.”
Jennifer nodded, heading toward the kitchen.
“Do you want to start from the beginning?” Faith suggested.
“Crazy-ass Julia came in my office today accusing me of throwing her under the bus. I couldn’t get straight of the situation.”
Patrice sat up on her haunches, placing her hand on Renee’s knee. “Why would she think you, of all people, would throw her under the bus? As much as you’ve done for her since she’s been at Vine? She’s got a lot of nerve.”
“Wait,” Faith held her hand up. “Let Renee finish.”
Jennifer came back, handing Renee a wineglass filled with golden liquid. “Y’all know that Julia is full of drama. She always has been.”
Faith put her forefinger against her lips. “Shh, let her finish. We need to get all the facts before we start tearing Julia down.” She leaned into Renee. “Keep going, sissy, tell us the rest of the story.”
“She wanted me to go with her to talk to our supervisor, but I refused. I wasn’t going to barge into Priscilla’s office with some nonsense,” Renee said, watching her sisters’ expressions. “In the meantime, the receptionist buzzed me and said Patrick was in the lobby waiting. I got up from my desk and left my office, but Julia followed me.”
“Does she know that Patrick is your man?” Patrice asked.
Renee hunched her shoulders. “I don’t know. I didn’t think so, but she’d met him once before at a PRSA event he was attending with me.”
“How long have you been dating this guy?” Patrice wanted to know.
Renee knew that Patrice would be the one who would be asking the questions. “Not that long, but he went to an event with me.”
“I’m sorry, but I need you to get to the good part, Renee,” Patrice said.
All the sisters glared at Patrice.
“If you would shut up, Treecie, the girl could finish,” Faith said.
Renee and Jennifer chuckled.
Patrice rested her hand on Renee’s knee. “I don’t mean any harm, sissy, I just need to know what he lied about.”
Renee knew that Patrice didn’t have any patience, so she didn’t allow her sisters remarks get to her.
“Julia wanted me and the rest of the office to know that she knew somebody who knew Patrick.”
“Huh,” Jennifer said.
“Evidently, one of her girlfriends who lives in New York dated Patrick.”
“How long did he date this girl?” Faith wanted to know. “Is he still dating her and that’s why Julia wanted to out him?”
Renee shook her head. “Couldn’t tell you. I can only assume that he isn’t. I told Julia that she had the wrong person.”
Patrice gave Renee a sidelong glance. “What was homeboy doing while Julia was telling his business to everybody?”
Tears filled her eyes. “He just stood there looking at her.”
“What?” Patrice said.
Renee shook her head.
“Why did that bother you so much? If she knew an old girlfriend of his, so what?” Jennifer said.
Renee took a sip from her wineglass. “Here I am thinking that the man drives a limo for a living, and come to find out, his family owns the company.”
“I meant to ask you what company he drives for,” Faith said.
“It’s A Stretch,” Renee replied.
Renee heard Jennifer gasp. “He’s a Dunlap?”
Renee turned in her direction. “Yes. You know them?”
“I’ve heard people in the shop talk about the company. They use the limos for their weddings and events. I’m surprised that you hadn’t heard about them before.”
“From what Julia was saying, Patrick’s family is wealthy, and he was some sort of playboy in New York.” Setting her wineglass on the table, Renee sat on the floor, dropping her head.
Her sisters followed. Faith stroked her head. “Sissy, it’s going to be okay. I promise you.”
“He’s a liar, Faith,” Renee sobbed.
Jennifer crawled over to her and rubbed her back. “Not to worry, I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation for it all.”
Patrice scooted over to her. “I don’t see the problem.”
Renee looked up at her as Faith and Jennifer glared.
“Really, Treecie?” Faith said, shaking her head.
Patrice extended her hands and shrugged. “Well, I�
�m just saying. You should be happy. I was surprised when you said that the guy you were dating was a limo driver. You usually date men that have a gazillion degrees and such. He sounded like a regular guy.”
“He is a regular guy. It’s just that he could have corrected me at any time, but he didn’t.”
Renee tried to take comfort from her sisters. She stretched out on the floor. Jennifer and Patrice joined her.
“I think we need a little music, girls. What do you think?” Faith said.
“Sure,” the others said in unison.
Faith pulled her smart phone from her purse and walked over to the counter where Renee kept her iPod dock. Placing the device in the slot, she pressed the button to start the music before joining her sisters on the floor.
There was silence for a moment as the sisters lay side-by-side listening to the lyrics of the song.
The harmonizing sounds of the R&B group the Emotions came blaring through the speakers. All four of them loved old-school R&B music.
As the music played, Jennifer propped her head up on her hand. “Has Patrick tried to call you?” she asked.
“No, not yet, and I’m glad,” Renee said.
“I think you should talk to him, Renee. You seem to care about this man more than you have any other guy you’ve dated recently.”
Patrice nodded. “Yeah. I’ve never known you to feel this bad about a breakup so I know he’s really special to you.”
“I understand Renee not wanting to talk to him after he lied to her. She can’t trust the man,” Jennifer said.
Renee gave her sister a sidelong glance. She’d expected Patrice to say those kinds of things, but it was out of Jennifer’s nature to speak in that manner. There must be something going on with her, but Renee just didn’t have the strength to ask.
“You know what? We should sing for the gala,” Faith suggested.
Renee was happy for the change in subject. “We’ve already got Selena Johnson and Charlie Wilson as our entertainment,” She said.
“Yeah, but we’ve been talking about doing a demo since I got back,” Faith said.
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