You would’ve left New Orleans and went to Harvard and,
Would have stumbled into Malcolm at the Starbucks on Tremont St. during his Christmas break from Yale. And,
He would have asked to share your table and,
You two would have talked and laughed and caught up and,
Then you would have smelled him and,
You would have recognized him for who he was. Then,
Eventually, you two would marry years later and,
You’d be walking into Part 2 of your life with a clean slate.
Yeah, this mess, all of these broken hearted and crazy people, is my fault. I singlehandedly altered the fates of at least four people: Malcolm, Jon, Marla and Nicky. Chances are Jon and Marla were supposed to have met in college, stayed together, never married (since Jon is against marriage) and have been perfectly fine with that. Nicky wouldn’t have to pack a bag just to spend a day with his dad. Malcolm wouldn’t be running around trying to fan out the flames of my fire.
“Yeah, I messed this up.” I say, thinking out loud. The thought of it stings my throat. “I really messed things up.”
“How?” I look to Jon who appears to be completely lost. Were you not just in my head just now? Did you not just see how life would have ended up had I not stole you from Marla?
“I shouldn’t have interfered with you and Marla in college.” He gives me smile. “Everyone would be much happier now.”
“You’re the only woman I will ever love. It wouldn’t have been healthy living my entire life having never felt that type of love.” Wow. I nod and drift my eyes down towards my glass of scotch. Damn. Yeah, we’re over Jon. I knew that we were over but we’re really over. Both of us are moving on. Our story is done. Over.
Jon
8:25 p.m.
“I haven’t told Nicky about the move, I figured you’d want to.” She says to me as she looks up from her scotch glass.
“I plan on telling him when everything’s finalized. I’m not sure what all Jasmine told you but I’m starting my own tech firm, I even have clients waiting for me so hopefully it’ll be an easy transition. Considering what’s going on, I hope this doesn’t turn they’re business away from me.” I’m glad we’re off of the Marla subject. I just want this moment to be about Nicky, Danny and me. That’s it. No Marla.
“He’ll be happy.” She smiles. “I’m happy you’re moving to Boston, Jon and whatever I need to do to make this go away for you, I will. I don’t want your business to suffer over this.” I nod and then we both take sips of our drinks. We’re having a ceasefire. Once again, it’s easy … peaceful … chill … This feels good. Funny, I remember wanting to do this with Danny for years, drinking and taking it easy, and she fought me tooth and nail. Now here we are divorced and she’s drinking with me, taking it easy, and I’m dreaming of a life with a big house, kids and home cooked meals. With the hell is wrong with us?
“Glad everything worked out for you. You know, with the divorce decree.” I say to her. She shrugs. It’s a little strange that we both know she cheated on me, that we both know the divorce decree is a fake and yet neither one of us has brought up that fact today. What’s even stranger is that no one else has brought up that fact either. In all honesty, I’m actually pissed that Malcolm got Danny out of the adultery story with that phony divorce decree. It’s not that I didn’t want Danny to be cleared, after all she’s my son’s mother. But clearing Danny means Malcolm’s cleared too. Unfortunately, he couldn’t go down without Danny going down with him, but still … if I had a way to take his ass down, trust me, I would. I won’t lie, my dreams are filled with visions of the devil rotting in hell.
“I’m expecting a few straggler photographers in Boston when I get back, but nothing like there would have been.”
“Give it a couple of weeks and it’ll all die down.”
“Yeah.” She takes another sip of her drink.
This news story wasn’t only embarrassing for Danny, it was mortifying for me. This Blair incident is all anyone’s talking about, since Laura Blair is Senator Rossi’s daughter. Had Senator Rossi not be rumored to be running for the presidency, this issue would have remained local. But now this is a national news story with Danny and Malcolm right in the center of it. And that’s where you’ll find me: right in between them, too embarrassed to even call back home to check in with my mother. Danielle cheated on me. She did. And to know my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and my bum ass father all know that … it’s humiliating.
“Business still going okay?” I ask. I know this all happened over the weekend but, I’m secretly hoping that these past few days have been financially fatal for her. Even if that means I’d have to shove out more money for Nicky to pick up her slack. (Though you wouldn’t believe how much I have to pay for child support; almost as much as the annual income for the average American.) She shoos me away with her hand.
“It’s too soon to tell but in the end, people want book deals, I give book deals, case closed.”
“And the feminists?”
“How do they feel about the news calling me an adulterer and not Malcolm?” She smiles. “I believe they’ve planned a rally.” She lets out a light laugh.
“What about Rossi’s daughter. Laura. What’s she saying?”
“I have no idea. Why does everyone keep asking me about her?”
“Just for argument’s sake, I’d be interested to see what she has to say about this. You know, with her being called a mistress.”
“Who cares about her?”
“Just saying … well I’m glad this all worked out.” I’m really not. Danny, I hate to say it but maybe I would risk seeing you go down if it meant destroying Blair. Damn, I wanna destroy Malcolm.
And then we continue to sit in peace. Quiet, peace, no music, just the sounds of waves, the smell of salt water, hushed conversations, the candles quietly popping in the center of the table and … this muthafucka. He’s like a gnat that won’t go away, just as bad as a damn nightmare. Malcolm and his crew just walked in, their eyes stuck on Danny’s back and then my face. Lola and Winnie are with them, Winnie’s holding a kid, smiling and laughing with him. They have no clue that I’m two seconds away from flying over this table and pounding Nat, Jacob and Malcolm six feet under. I will never forget New York. They may have hands, but guess what? I’ve got Red. Funny, huh? The tables have turned. I smile at Blair, grab my drink, raise it … and see murder in the devil’s eyes.
“Ignore him.” Danny says, her words floating out her mouth before she takes a sip of scotch.
“Huh?” She grins and then looks at her watch.
“He’s early, you and I are enjoying a few moments alone. Ignore him. We’re having a nice time, don’t ruin it.”
I nod and then place my drink back on the table. I look back at him and see that he’s seated now, clenching his jaw. That’s a bad habit of his. He always does that when he’s pissed. He did that at Plantation Kitchen this summer, he did that outside on the streets of New York on Friday, and he did that at Sands Bar yesterday. That’s his thing. It’s funny that a man as ‘powerful’ as Malcolm Blair isn’t wise enough to break a habit that shows everyone his hand. Seems he does have a weakness. Her name is Red. But guess what? I too have a weakness, her name is Danny.
“Toast?” I say to her and watch a grin come across her face.
“You don’t toast.”
“I’ve picked up the habit.” I shrug. She raises her glass.
“What are we toasting to?”
“My moving to Boston.” She smiles.
“I’m glad for it.”
“Yeah, me too.” We clink our glasses together, smile at each other and then we each take a sip of scotch and rum.
And I watch Mac clench his jaw. Good.
I’ll admit that I invited Danny here, hoping that Blair would come in and see us together. I used Danny to get under his skin. But I’m no fool, let’s just be honest here, she’s using me to do the same thing.
&nb
sp; “Well,” She says as she checks her watch and then looks towards the door, “there’s Jasmine and Marlon.”
“Rena and Matt are right behind them.”
“I guess we should head on over to the table.” She gives me a sly look and then proceeds to get up. “You plan on being good?” I look over to Malcolm who’s whispering to Jacob.
“Sorry Danny, I can’t make any promises.”
“Well this should be a blast.” And as Jacob is whispering into Malcolm’s ear, Malcolm glances up and locks eyes with me. Damn, I want to destroy Malcolm Blair.
Jon
8:30 p.m.
“I’m hoping we can all act civilized here.” Malcolm’s mother says as she looks around the table at us men. We all nod without looking at each other.
Let’s see if I can explain the seating correctly. We’re at a rectangle table and we’re seated like this:
Jacob Lola Cadence Ralphie Winnie Danny Me Jax Nicky
Malcolm Elise
Nat Georgie Matt Rena Marlon Jasmine Wynston Angie
Notice my position.
“Our guys feel absolutely horrible about that fight, don’t you guys.” Elise says as she looks at Marlon, Matt and me. Yes, we all mutter together. “I’ve known all three of them since they were eighteen.” Elise says to Angie with a smile and a shake of her head. “Jon and Marlon were college basketball players and roommates. Danielle met Jon and then introduced Marlon and Jasmine.”
“Oh and they’re married now!” Angie says with a smile as she looks at Jasmine. “And my dear, those pearls are gorgeous.” She says to Jasmine as she points to her necklace. Jasmine touches her pearl necklace, something she’s worn every day for years, no matter if she has on a dress or jeans and a tee. She’s sure to have those pearls on. She even wore them on her wedding day. I remember that because I really couldn’t imagine seeing her without them, since she wore them day in and day out, and I wondered if she’d have them on then. Sure enough she did.
“Thank you.” Jasmine says with a smile. She touches her earrings and pearls before reaching for her water glass.
“Oh, you’ll never find Jasmine without her pearls.” Elise says. “She received them as gift a few years ago and I don’t believe I’ve seen her take them off since.” Jasmine smiles, nods and takes a sip of water.
“Be careful with them, you don’t want the strand to break.” Angie says to Jasmine.
“I take them in for checkups.” Jasmine almost whispers.
“Checkups!” Elise says. “She treats that necklace like they’re her baby.” Elise smiles at Jasmine and takes a sip of her brandy.
“Well they’re absolutely beautiful. Now, Matt, did you go to school with Marlon?” Angie asks.
“No I went to Columbia. I ran track and happened to have a meet in New Orleans. I met Jon and Marlon at a frat party. We all pledged the same fraternity. I ended up keeping in touch with them and then I met Danny. She introduced me to Rena.” Matt answers in his work voice. I look at Marlon and he and I catch eyes with each other and smile. Matt is funny as hell; Roxbury boy one minute, corporate killer the next. We all laugh at “The Voice”, the stuffy ass tone he puts on for clients and white people.
“So Danielle’s the love doctor, I see.” Angie says with a smile. The table gives a respectful laugh. But I don’t.
“Athletes have a way of finding each other.” Jax says with a nod. “They’re their own frat.”
“I agree.” Wynston says. “I played baseball in college with Nat’s father. We ended up best friends and then our sons ended up best friends.” He points and nods at Malcolm and Nat in approval. I don’t even look at those assholes.
“Oh that’s special.” Elise says.
“It is.” Angie agrees.
“Very good.” Jax adds.
Silence.
So … where do we go from here?
“Uh, Nat’s wife,” Angie says, “Dena, is a little under the weather about the whole fire thing.” Angie gives an ‘eek’ face.
“Poor thing.” Elise says. “She and Laura must be close.”
“Very. Such a pity.”
“Is Laura safe? Her family hasn’t released a statement.” Elise looks at Lola.
“Oh she’s fine.” Angie waves her off. “Oh! And that’s little Ralphie, Jacob and Gwyneth’s son.” Angie smiles and waves at Ralphie. Ralphie smiles and waves back. Damn, he looks like Jacob’s twin.
“Gwyneth?”
“Oh, that’s my real name.” Winnie says with a wave and a smile of her own. I look at her and she seems like the cool as hell type: dark hair, red lipstick, smiling ear to ear. I can tell Danny really likes her. When Danny came to the table, Winnie yanked her into a big hug and then pushed Lola out of the way so that she could sit next to her. They were whispering with each other as I sat down and the only thing I could make out was Winnie saying: Come on ‘D’, ignoring my calls for two days? Family’s got to stick together. So Danny went from being Danielle to being Danny to being D. Pretty soon she won’t have a name at all. And I guess she’s graduated from being part of the ‘the crew’ to being family. I tuned her ass out after that. Because as much as I want to hold on to this fantasy of getting Danny back, the reality is that when she came to this table, Malcolm’s crew was all over her. Jacob and Cadence bear-hugged her, Nat hugged her politely, Malcolm’s parents kept saying how beautiful she is and Malcolm wrapped her in his arms and buried his face in her neck. That was hard to watch. It was hard to watch him do that, it was hard to watch her eyes close when he did that, it was hard to hear him whisper ‘I love you baby’, it was hard to see her look up through her lashes after he said it, and then nudge him away. She was playing coy with him. She likes him. It’s obvious. Why am I still fighting over her? Marla would cross the seven seas for me, Danny is looking up at Malcolm through her lashes. Danny doesn’t want me anymore. Why am I not with Marla right now?
“Now Winnie, how did you and Jacob meet?” Elise asks.
“Actually, we were a hookup as well.” She smiles at Rena who smiles back. “Nat’s wife introduced me and Jacob when I was a junior in college and Jacob was in his first year of law school.” She looks at Jacob and smiles. I look over to Jacob who gives a small smile back, nods his head and then takes a sip of his scotch.
“And how long have you two been married for?”
“Are you asking when did I rescue Jacob from his wayward ways?” Jacob gives another small smile and nod while evading all eye contact. What the hell is wrong with this dude? The whole table, besides Matt, Malcolm, Jasmine and me, laughs. Malcolm hates me, I hate Malcolm and Matt hates the fact that Jacob was holding Georgie yesterday. Jasmine is highly pissed about Marlon’s face; Elise had to damn near threaten her to come. So it’s no surprise that she’s not even pretending to enjoy herself. “He and I married when he was in his third year of law school so for six years.” She gives a small happy clap and the ladies say Oh … that’s sweet. Well, everyone except for Jasmine who’s still mad about Marlon’s face.
“And then you had your baby.” Elise says with a dreamy look on her face.
“We do and he’s a year older than Nicky. They were actually born a month a part, Ralphie was born on March 7th and Nicky was born February 7th.” Winnie turns to Danielle and smiles, proud that she remembers Nicky’s birthday. Danielle smiles back and blows her a kiss. They both laugh.
“Malcolm was born February 8th.” Wynston says.
“Oh really?” Elise says.
“He sure was.” Angie says that as if Malcolm being born on February 8th is an achievement. I was born January 2nd, who gives a shit?
“And Danielle, you’re birthday just passed.” Wynston says. “December 1st.” He says with a politician’s smile.
“It did.” Danny says with a smile of her own. “I turned twenty-eight.”
“Oh, to be twenty-eight again.” Angie says.
“Tell me about it.” Elise answers. “Apparently Halle Berry wishes she was twenty-eight too.”
“Oh I heard about that baby of hers, how tacky.” Angie shudders.
“Very.”
“Now Marlon,” Wynston says, “when did you and Jasmine marry?”
“This past summer.” Marlon says with a smile. Marlon has the remarkable ability to act happy in times of turmoil. I both admire and hate this trait in him.
“Nice wedding, at the Ritz.” Jax says.
“Oh it was and Jasmine was stunning.” Elise says. “Dressed in a beautiful Vera Wang gown, what was it called, my love?”
“Lisette.” Jasmine answers and then reaches for her water glass again.
“Yes, Lisette. Vera likes to name her gowns.” Elise says with an eye roll and shrug. “But it was beautiful on Jasmine with her coloring and her hair was pulled up … she was just breathtaking.”
“Oh, I can only imagine. A wedding at the Ritz in a Vera? That says it all.” Angie says. “Now Jasmine, did you go to college with Danielle?”
“Oh no, Danielle and I have known each other since we were babies; our families both go to the same church. But eventually we did go to St. Bernadette’s together.” Jasmine adjusts her pearls around her neck and then tries to give a polite smile.
Over. (This. Is. Not. Over. #2) Page 18