Ian looked down at his work-roughened hands. He had come a far way from the dusty construction sites that his dad used to drag him to back in the day. Those days they had lived in the modest Cedar Hill Heights housing scheme. His mother, Aimie, was a dressmaker of some repute and he was their only child.
Now he was one of the big guys competing for a very huge contract. And this contract he would probably have to work twice as hard to get, because Boris Lee would chew over everything he said today because he knew that he was in a band with Aaron and that they were friends.
Ian didn't understand the dynamics of the relationship between Aaron and Boris. Most times it was fraught with intrigue, but there was definitely a huge power struggle going on.
Ian and Ruby were only children but they wished that they had other siblings—siblings they would get along with and have family memories to share with.
Maybe because of his only child status he had grown to appreciate the brotherhood of his friends. They were more than just people he played with in a band or went to church with; they were family and he would do anything for them—anything legal, of course. He was a bit closer to Carson because they were both men who worked with their hands and through the years Carson had needed his help more than anyone else.
He was brought out of his introspection when the receptionist said, "Mr. Scott, Mr. Lee will see you now, in Board Room 1." She led him down a long carpeted hallway and opened a door marked Board Room 1.
Ian took a deep breath and entered. As he had expected, there were five suits in there, with Boris Lee sitting at the head of the long polished table.
He waved him in. "Ian Scott. Come on in." He spoke in the cultured tones of one who was confident of having his commands attended to immediately.
It must have been a hard pill to swallow when Aaron was favored ahead of him to become Executive Vice President. Boris' heading of this particular project was probably Aaron's or the elder Lee's way of seeing what he could do.
Ian nodded at him; he resembled Aaron so much that he almost felt like he was in a comfortable atmosphere. That is, until he saw the skeptical raise of Boris' eyebrows, even though he hadn't spoken yet.
Instantly he was reminded that he was going to have a tough time. He set up his computer and made his presentation. It took him almost an hour, after which he was pelted with some tough questions from Boris and the company lawyer, a slim man who had a permanent sneer on his face.
"Well, thank you, Ian. You have given us some things to ponder," Boris said when he was finished rubbing his chin. "Can we get some digital copies of those plans?"
Ian nodded. He had come prepared for that. After all, Aaron had reminded him of that yesterday when he was preparing. After shaking their hands and leaving the office, he let out a sigh of relief.
He fidgeted with his phone. He wanted to call Ruby but she had been busy all of yesterday and had been up at the crack of dawn today, arranging for an all-day event on Wednesday. They were both busy people. He didn't expect his phone to buzz as he headed through the hallway and toward Aaron's office.
"How did it go?" Ruby asked breathlessly.
His heart warmed. As moody as Ruby was these days and as busy as they both were, she still cared enough for him to check up on how he had done on what she knew was an important event for him.
He looked around before answering. "It went okay. I didn't stutter or anything…Want to go to dinner today?"
"Are you asking me on a date?" Ruby asked coyly. "Because I want you to know that I am married."
Ian chuckled. "Your husband won't mind. Meet me at Pelican Grill tonight, at seven." The Pelican Grill was their restaurant. It was less than a mile from where they lived and sometimes they would park at home and take a leisurely walk to the eatery.
"Cool," Ruby said. "See you there."
She sounded like the Ruby he knew and wasn't afraid to talk to lest she blew a fuse. Things were looking up, and if he got this contract it would be icing on the cake.
*****
Ruby kept glancing at the clock in the office. She drummed her fingers on the papers strewn across her desk and sighed. She had to confirm the steel band before she left the office, and she was really looking forward to her dinner date with Ian. She liked when they did spontaneous stuff like this.
"That's the sixth time," Cynth said to her. Cynth's desk was opposite hers in the spacious office.
"Sixth time for what?" Ruby glanced at the clock again.
"Seventh," Cynth said. "You've been looking at the clock obsessively since it hit five o'clock."
"I have a date." Ruby looked at her business partner and friend. "I don't want to be late."
"You won't," Cynth said, getting up from around her desk and stretching. "I'll confirm the steel band for you."
Cynth was in a white dress with a slim black belt, emphasizing her flat belly. She had the height of a fashion model, the body of a lean lingerie model and the face of a woman who was closer to twenty than forty. Her skin was smooth, had a mahogany shade and was flawless.
"I can't let you do it," Ruby said, shaking her head." The head of the band, Jawayne, doesn't like you, as it is. I had to practically call up every favor he owes me to get him to do this gig on such short notice. If he spoke to you, we would never get them on Wednesday and Farrah Knight said that she wanted a steel band."
Cynth shook her head. "I should have never dated Jawayne. See what happens when you mix business with pleasure?"
Ruby shook her head. "I mixed business with pleasure and got married."
"Oh yes," Cynth said. "There are exceptions to every rule. If only Ian had been attracted to me first, I would be married now and five years later I would be going on romantic dates with my husband, as if we just met. I envy you guys. You two are the real deal. You did it the right way. You courted in a nice Christian way, which is so sweet in this day and age, and then you had your wedding night and your honeymoon and then you moved into a gorgeous apartment with a view to die for, and the two of you still go on dates. I bet you get weak in the knees when your uber-handsome hubby walks around in his towel at home."
Ruby laughed. "And though I have all of these things, I envy you sometimes. You have Ella, the sweetest baby on the planet, and a successful business, and the kind of shape that bounces back after childbirth in just a few short weeks."
"Have you forgotten, Ruby, that Ella was conceived in one of the most turbulent relationships in history? Well, that is, if you can call the couple of months of dating and lust I shared with Evon a relationship. There is something to be said for doing relationships the Christian way."
She crossed her arms. "And the business has been successful since a rookie named Ruby offered to be my partner, fresh out of college. And don't for one minute mention my physique. You eat anything and still look hot. I have to work out at the gym like a demon to look good."
Ruby laughed and picked up the phone and dialed Jawayne's number. He gave her a hard time but she finally convinced him to ditch his previous engagement, reminding him that this gig was for the Knights, and that any sensible vendor would see that future dividends would flow from doing this one event.
She hung up the phone and started tidying her desk. They had rented a shop on the top floor of a two-story building in the middle of the town. The businesses on their plaza were not retailers, but had mostly insurance agents, lawyers, a few doctors, and a pharmacy. There was an available shop space because the hairdresser had left. She made a mental note to call Alice and let her know. She had already asked the building manager to reserve it for her friend, just in case Alice wanted the space. Her building was a stone’s throw from Carson's garage. That would certainly be a plus for Alice.
She still had a long list of things to do but she didn't want to forget to tell Alice, so she pulled out her personal planner and wrote it in.
She grabbed her briefcase. "Talk to you after my date," she said to Cynth, who was back on the phone.
"Yes." Cynth
covered the receiver. "Enjoy dessert for both of us. Get something chocolaty."
Ruby waved and walked out to the small reception area. Their receptionist and secretary had left a long time ago. She went to the restroom, filled a plastic cup with water, and fed the wilting potted palm that they had put at the entrance to the shop. Unfortunately, nobody had thought to water the poor thing after they bought it.
She hurried out, anticipating dinner. She was not joking when she told Cynth that she envied her. After five years with Ian she wanted to start a family. Since she saw Rory at church, the thought that he had managed to start a family with Sue-Ann before her and Ian had her in full competition mode.
Chapter Four
Thursday morning Ruby was a wreck. She hadn't come in until midnight after seeing to it that the very last vendor had returned the great house to its pristine condition and left the property.
She shuffled to the kitchen where Ian was eating breakfast and sat down in his lap. "I am so tired," she groaned in his neck.
Ian rubbed her back. "Sorry about that. It was a rough couple days, wasn't it?"
"And profitable," Ruby said, chuckling. She moved her head and looked into his face blearily. "We also got a boost from this. Let's Party is going to be the proud wedding planners of the wedding of the year when Farrah Knight marries Jason Cavendish."
"Hey, that's great." Ian kissed her on the tip of her nose. "That's really good news. Apparently we are going to be performing there, as well."
"Oh yes. I must call Carson and thank him for the link," Ruby said. "No, better yet, I am going to buy him flowers. Apparently he and the Knights have a relationship and he recommended Let's Party to Farrah Knight."
"That's what friends are for," Ian said smugly.
"Why do you look so happy?" Ruby squinted at him.
"I was called by a sullen sounding Boris Lee this morning, who requested that I meet him on the site of their new location in Hanover next week Thursday."
"You got the contract?" Ruby grabbed him by the lapel of his robe and kissed him deeply. "Congrats, contractor!"
Ian grinned. "Thank you."
"Ooh today is a great day." Ruby hopped off his lap and then she frowned. "Next week Thursday is our anniversary. I had plans; I even bought this negligee in anticipation."
"Sorry about that, honey." Ian stood up beside her, his robe opened to reveal his six-pack abs over his smooth chocolate skin.
Ruby licked her lips suggestively. "That's okay, let's celebrate now."
"No can do," Ian said regretfully. "I have a ton of things scheduled to be completed. I have to wrap up my current project and meet with Patsy Henry about landscaping."
"Patsy Henry." Ruby made a face.
Ian grinned. "Are you jealous of our church sister, Ruby?"
"No," Ruby said, "but her firm recently moved to my building. She has this way of acting superior that gets my hackles to rise, though."
Ian shrugged. "Well, I have to deal with her today. Say a prayer for me?"
Ruby laughed. "Okay, I will."
When Ian drove out, Ruby went back to bed. She slept fitfully. In one of her dreams she was sitting in class in her green and white school uniform. She had on her requisite dark blue sweater because Manchester was chilly in the day and besides she was just recovering from a particularly bad flu.
The classroom looked fuzzy, not sharply focused. She looked over and saw her friend Freddy grinning.
She pointed to a white paper in Ruby's hand and when she looked down at it, it was a question in Freddy's curly cursive handwriting: If you could choose one boy on the entire campus to love, who would it be?
Ruby rolled her eyes. She had a late start to the semester because of an influenza attack just after the new school year begun.
She frowned at her friend. Her first week back after a nasty bout of the flu, and she had already found out that the school year was going fabulous without her. Life had gone on and the biggest and most newsworthy thing that happened was that there were two new boys in the senior class. One was Rory Panton.
He had just arrived from Trinidad and he had the cutest accent. The other boy was Orville Levy. He did not have an accent but he was really cute, with his adorable puppy dog eyes. They were the object of study for many of the female students, including Freddy, who was sitting beside Rory Panton. She heard that Freddy had to fight for that place at his side in Literature class.
She looked over the piece of paper again and wrote, Danny Gore.
She sent the note back to Freddy and watched as she blanched with repulsion. Obviously Freddy hadn't expected any other name but one of the two new guys: Rory or Orville. Besides, Danny was not considered swoon-worthy material. He was a nerd who found mathematical jokes funny and who laughed with a snort.
She looked back down at her syllabus. They were required to read Animal Farm. She had already read it twice and knew that the book was satire. This class would be a breeze for her.
She zoned into what the teacher was saying to the class and was jolted out of her attentiveness again when Freddy, her eyes filled with mischief, pointed at her. She tried to avoid looking in Freddy's direction, but then she saw that Rory was holding a strip of paper and was looking at her oddly.
What had Freddy done now? For the rest of the class she saw Rory glancing at her occasionally, his chocolate velvet eyes almost fastened to her side of the classroom.
She rolled her eyes at Freddy. After class she hurriedly took up her bag and almost sprinted out of the classroom.
Rory was still glancing her way and she packed up her backpack slowly. She still had a little weakness in her limbs from the flu. She hadn't even realized that he came over to the desk beside her. They were all alone in the classroom now.
"Hi," he said. He barely had a trace of the much-admired Trini accent. She slowly raised her eyes to his face.
He was a cute fellow, completely warranting the fawning whispers about him.
"Hi," Ruby said. "What did Freddy say about me?" She pointed to the paper in his hand.
"Oh this." He looked at the paper and then laughed. "I know you didn't write it. I have never seen you before today. Are you new?"
"Nope," Ruby said, "but you'd know that if you weren't new."
"That's right." He grinned. "Want us to have lunch together?"
Ruby shrugged. "Where's your fan club? "
"Probably waiting for me outside," he said with a longsuffering sigh.
"I don't usually eat the food here," Ruby said ruefully. "My mom prepares healthy stuff for me. She is super healthy these days after a cancer scare." Ruby pulled out a wrapped sandwich from her backpack. "Want a piece?"
He looked at the wrapping doubtfully. "What is it?"
"Probably vegetarian dinner roast or something like that."
"Okay." He nodded and she shared her sandwich with him.
"So why did you change schools in your final year?" Ruby asked him curiously.
"My mom's from here," Rory said. "She and my dad are getting a divorce, so we moved from Trinidad. She wanted to be near her family here in Manchester."
"Sorry about the divorce," Ruby said ruefully. "Welcome to the single parent household club."
"Your parents divorced too?" he asked as he bit into the sandwich.
"No. My dad is dead. He died before I was born."
"Sorry," Rory said. "Is that why your mother named you from a gemstone? To signify how precious you are to her?"
Ruby giggled. "No. My mom's not that sentimental. I think I was called Ruby because my Mom is Pearl, my grandma is Beryl, my great-grandma was Opal. It's a family tradition. The girls are all named from gemstones."
"So your daughter will be called what? Sapphire, Topaz, Gold, Bronze, Silver?"
Ruby laughed. "Onyx, Jade, Amber. I don't know. That's way... way into the future, Rory Panton."
Rory grinned. "I like it when you say my name like that."
Ruby sobered up quickly. She liked him too and she wishe
d she could just sit and talk with him for the rest of the day.
Something changed, though. He put down the sandwich and was staring at her accusingly. He was no longer schoolboy Rory with the innocent face of a boy. He was in a suit, the one he wore to church the last time she saw him, and he was looking at her, accusation blazing from his eyes.
"You were the one who walked out on me, Ruby! I loved you! I still love you but you left me."
Ruby jumped up from her dream. Her heart was speeding as if she had been running. She looked on the clock in the room. It was eleven o'clock. That's what you get for sleeping in the day; past memories coming to haunt you when you least expect it, posing as dreams. She hadn't thought about how she met Rory in years. The attraction had been instant and from that day they had been almost inseparable.
She got up and shook her body. She felt groggy and weak in her limbs, as if the dream had really wrung some vital force from her.
She headed for the shower on heavy-laden legs. She needed to refresh herself and to keep her mind squarely in the present. She seriously contemplated not going to church this Sabbath. Maybe she could convince Ian to go to other churches but he would want to know why. She couldn't really tell him that she didn't want to meet Sue-Ann, and see her acting like an innocent first lady, parading around with a sense of entitlement with the child that should have been hers, could she?
*****
Ruby and Ian drove into the church's parking lot at almost the same time as Alice and Carson.
"Hey guys," Ruby said happily. It was always a pleasure to see her friends.
"Hey neighbor," Alice said, hugging Ruby. "Yesterday I heard that I got the place, thanks to you."
"Cynth and I will spend an inordinate amount of time in your shop," Ruby laughed, hugging Alice back.
Duet on Fire Page 3