by C. C. Wood
Charles held my car door open for me. “See you at the office.” He winked, shut the door, and went to his own car.
Thinking this had to be the second best day of my life (Carolena’s birth was the first), I left my driveway. Nothing could ruin my mood. Even though traffic was a mess and it took me fifteen minutes longer to get to work, I was still smiling as I parked in the lot at my building. I hurried inside the lobby, with only five minutes to spare before 8:00 a.m.
As I climbed the stairs, my cell phone rang and I discovered there was one thing that could dampen my happiness. Coop’s name was on my screen. I almost ignored the call. My attorney would have advised me to do just that, but I couldn’t. Instead, I answered.
“Hello?” I tried to keep my voice even and neutral. I didn’t want Coop to think for a second that he had any more power over me.
“Hi, Yancy.” He paused, waiting for me to say something. When I didn’t, he sighed. “Look, I want to apologize for last week. I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that.”
Since I was familiar with Cooper’s tactics from past experience, I didn’t take his apology at face value. However, instead of calling him out, I merely said, “It’s fine, Coop. Is that all? I’m just on my way into the office and I don’t want to be late.”
He hissed under his breath. “No, I wanted to talk to you about Carolena.”
“Then you should have your attorney call mine and we’ll set something up.”
“Yancy, I just want to see my daughter.”
I sighed. He sounded so sincere, so upset, but I knew Cooper better than that. “I know about the Attorney General’s office and that they intend to start garnishing your wages if you don’t pay the child support you owe me. I know exactly what you’re up to, Coop. If you want visitation with Carolena, have your lawyer call Delinda and set up a meeting with me, with my attorney present.”
“Why are you being like this?” he asked.
I was sure he intended his voice to sound sad, pained, but he sounded like a spoiled, petulant brat instead. “Because I know who you are and what you are. I can see straight through you.” With that statement, I disconnected the call and stuffed my phone in my bag.
There was one more thing for me to lay at Cooper Stevens’ door; he ruined the second best day of my life.
THE DAY PASSED quickly and I never could regain my buoyant mood. In fact, my attitude took another hit when I called Delinda to tell her about Coop’s call and she explained that she would have to miss today’s meeting because she had the flu. While I understood and didn’t resent the fact that she was sick, I was disappointed that we weren’t going to be able to further our discussion on the custody case today. Our court date was still a couple of weeks away, but I wanted to have everything in order well in advance and contingency plans in place.
I had a meeting with Judith about several accounts and also let her know that I would need to take some personal time in a few weeks because of Coop’s custody suit. As usual, she was great. She also didn’t pry, which I appreciated.
I left work at 5:00 and drove home on autopilot. I was ready for my yoga pants and a shot of tequila. I remembered Charles was coming over later and decided to call him after I achieved physical comfort and a pleasant buzz. A hug from him would go a long way to erasing the stress of the day.
Since I knew I would be home early, I called Kathy before lunch and told her not to worry about making dinner, that I would handle it when I got there. Now, I was regretting that. I decided that it wouldn’t hurt Carolena or I to order a pizza.
Once I got home and changed, Kathy gave me a rundown of Carolena’s day and left. Less than two minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Thinking it was Kathy coming back because she’d forgotten something, I didn’t check to see who was standing on the other side. Huge mistake.
Cooper stood on my porch, arms crossed over his chest.
I sighed. “What are you doing here, Coop?”
“I want to see my daughter,” he demanded.
“I’m not having this argument with you on the front porch. I told you what you needed to do if you wanted to see Carolena. Considering what you pulled when you left last year, I think you can understand why I don’t trust you.”
“She’s my daughter too and I want to see her,” he insisted.
“No.” That was all I said. I could see that it was beginning to sink in. Cooper couldn’t manipulate me any longer and he was rapidly recognizing that fact. I realized that he actually thought he could come back and I would happily go along with his plans to reconcile. Either he honestly thought I was that stupid or he was actually that much of an idiot.
I started to shut the door, but Coop stuck his foot between the door and the frame. I braced myself for him to push his way inside but he merely moved his face closer to mine. “If I have to, I will stand out here on the porch all night, yelling, screaming, and banging on your door until you let me see her.”
“Fine,” I said. “You do what you have to. If you feel that’s what’s necessary, go ahead. Just know I’ll be calling the cops. Now, you should move your foot unless you don’t mind a few broken bones.”
Once again, I’d called Cooper’s bluff. He blinked at me, disbelief clear on his face. I threw my weight behind the door and, with a yelp, he yanked his foot out of the tight space. I slammed the door and threw the locks. I stepped away from the door, grabbing my phone off the table in the foyer in case he tried to break it down or started pounding and screaming as promised. I could see his silhouette in front of the narrow windows on each side of the door.
He stood there for a long time before he finally turned and walked away. I released the breath I didn’t know I’d been holding. I glanced in the living room to check on Carolena, but she was watching SpongeBob Squarepants with a rapt expression on her face.
I went to my chair in the reading nook where I could see my daughter but still maintain a little privacy and texted Delinda. I would have called her, but I knew she was probably asleep in bed since she sounded horrible earlier that day. I told her what happened so that we could document it. Then I called Charles.
“Hi, Yancy. Did you get finished early?” he asked.
“Delinda is sick and cancelled our appointment.” I paused, unsure how to verbalize what I was thinking. Finally, I simply said, “I need you, Charles. Coop was just here and he had to be watching the house because he knocked on the door less than five minutes after Kathy left. He wanted to see Carolena and, for a second, I thought he was going to push his way into the house.” I hated the way my voice shook. Maybe it wasn’t very liberated of me to call him and tell him I needed him, but I did. I needed to feel his arms around me and I wasn’t going to be ashamed of that fact. I could be strong, I had been strong for a long time. It was comforting to know that I had someone to lean on.
Without hesitation, Charles replied, “I’ll be there in ten minutes. Don’t answer the door unless it’s me on the other side. If your ex comes back, just call the cops. Don’t stop to think about it, just call. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”
All day, after Coop’s phone call that morning, I felt adrift in a situation beyond my control. Tonight I stood up to my ex-husband and let him know that I would no longer be manipulated, but I was still scared. In our entire marriage, I never thought that Cooper would lay a hand on me. Now, I wasn’t so sure. He was obviously getting desperate and desperate people were the most dangerous. Things would likely get very ugly before we were through and the thought sent a chill down my spine. I honestly didn’t want to see how bad it could get.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Two Weeks Later
ON FRIDAY, I came home angry, yet again. My entire life, I was hard to rattle. It took work to make me lose my temper, but, when I did, it wasn’t pretty. Unfortunately, my ex knew exactly how to push my buttons. He also knew that I despised poor planning or no planning at all. What does he do? He has his attorney throwing motions at Delinda and the judge, which
delayed our initial hearing. Now, two weeks later, he was still stalling. It was pissing me off. The good news is that it was also pissing off the judge.
I heard Carolena babbling and laughing as I entered the house and couldn’t hold back a smile. The sound of her giggles worked wonders on my anger. I walked into the living room to find Charles and Kathy playing on the floor with my daughter.
“Mama! Mama!” she cried when she saw me and ran toward me.
I scooped her up and squeezed her tightly. “Hi, baby. Are you having fun?”
Her arms came around my shoulders, clenching the fabric of my shirt in her little fists.
“How’d it go?” Charles asked, his eyes full of concern.
The look on my face must have given him the answer because I saw the muscles in his jaw tighten as he ground his teeth.
I tried to give my attention to Carolena as she babbled at me, only understanding a few words. Still, she was smiling and gesturing with her arms and that made my heart lighten and a grin spread across my face. A few minutes later, Kathy came over and held her arms out for the baby.
“Ready for dinner?” she asked.
Apparently, Carolena was because she lunged toward Kathy. “Yummy!”
They left the room and I went to the sofa, collapsing next to Charles. He brushed my hair away from my face.
“You look worn out,” he commented.
I sighed. “I am. All I want is a hot bath, a glass of wine, a massage, and to sleep for twelve hours.”
“Well, I can help with one part of that right now,” he said. “Sit on the floor and I’ll rub your shoulders.”
He dropped a throw pillow on the floor between his feet and I slipped off the couch to sit on it. Charles dropped his hands on my shoulders and began to rub the tense muscles of my neck and back.
My head fell forward and I groaned softly. “That feels great.” I winced slightly as he dug his thumb into a particularly tight muscle.
He continued to stroke my shoulders and neck until my muscles felt limp and almost sore. I tilted my head back, resting it on the sofa between his knees, so I could look up at him.
“Thank you.”
He leaned forward and kissed me. “You’re welcome. Feel better?”
I nodded.
“Good, because Lucy will be here to pick you up at seven for Girls’ Night Out.”
I blinked up at him. “What?”
“I ran into Tanya in the lobby yesterday and she commented on how stressed out you were and casually mentioned you needed a night out. She said that y’all discussed Girls’ Night a couple of weeks ago. Somehow, by the end of the conversation, it was decided that I would watch Lena while you went out with your friends and had some fun.” He paused, smiled, and shook his head. “She’s something else.”
I had to smile in return. He was absolutely right. Tanya was something else. That woman could talk me into things and I could walk away convinced it was all my idea until I thought about it a little more. She was brilliant and sly. If she didn’t use her skills for the betterment of society, she probably could be the dictator of her own country and still have her subjects adore her.
While I was exhausted, I knew that Lucy would dress me herself if I wasn’t ready when she arrived. With a sigh, I rolled to my feet.
“Are you sure you’re okay with watching Carolena?” I asked him. “She’ll need her breathing treatment before bed.
“Yeah. We’ll drink some beer, eat some wings, and watch the game on TV.” When I rolled my eyes, he said, “I told you, I’ve watched my niece and nephew almost every week since they were born. Lena and I will be fine and I’ve watched you give her the breathing treatment before. I think I can handle it.”
“Okay, okay. I’m going to get dressed.”
Charles chuckled and headed into the kitchen, probably to see if Kathy made enough dinner for him too. I glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost 6:20. I needed to get moving if I was going to be ready.
Thirty minutes later, I came back downstairs, wearing knee-high black boots over dark skinny jeans, a silky purple tank top with a handkerchief hem, and a black leather jacket. I’d washed my face and reapplied my make-up since most of the light cosmetics I’d used that morning had rubbed off anyway.
When I walked into the living, Charles looked up at me and whistled. “You look great, Yancy.”
Carolena was sitting next to him on the couch, entranced by the basketball game on the TV. It seemed there was constantly a game on and Charles somehow managed to watch them all.
I leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Have fun with Charles, baby. Be a good girl, okay?”
She grinned up at me, her nose crinkling. “Car.”
I repeated the action with Charles, only I kissed his lips instead of his forehead. “I want updates via text every half-hour until she goes to sleep. No sweets before bed either. You can skip her bath tonight and I’ll do it tomorrow morning.”
“Yes, Mother,” he said dryly.
I tugged his hair lightly. “And be a good boy.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Do I get a present if I am?”
I sighed in mock disgust. “Being good is its own reward.”
When I started to straighten, he grabbed the lapels of my jacket, pulling me back down so he could kiss me again, more thoroughly this time. “So is being bad.”
I chuckled and rubbed my thumb across his bottom lip, which was smeared with my lipstick. “We can continue this debate when I get home later.” I watched his pupils dilate and laughed again. “Now, I have to go reapply my lipstick because a bad boy ruined it.”
As I walked from the living room to the foyer, where a decorative mirror hung over the table, he called over his shoulder, “Maybe you should go change into a burlap sack and wash your face. You look too gorgeous and guys are going to be hitting on you all night.”
I stuck my head around the open archway between the reading nook and the foyer, catching his eye. “Worried I’ll ditch you for a boy toy?”
He pretended to think it over. “Nah. You love me.”
I laughed. “True.”
His face grew serious. “I love you too.”
Since the day he’d spoken those words to me, he’d said them fairly regularly. Not daily, but close. I’d never been with a man who was so open with his emotions before. When I mentioned it, Charles merely replied, “I learned the hard way that the people we love can be taken in a blink of an eye, and I decided that I would say what I was feeling from then on, because I would rather make myself vulnerable with you than live with the regret of unspoken words.”
His open attitude made it even easier for me to share my thoughts and feelings. I felt comfortable with his feelings and my own. It was a first for me. Before Coop, I’d never told a man I loved him. I had boyfriends that said it, then grew angry when I couldn’t or wouldn’t return the sentiment, but I refused to say things if I didn’t mean them sincerely. As a result, I was uncomfortable with discussing my emotions. Charles had helped me open up.
I smiled so broadly that my cheeks hurt and Charles did as well. Before I could say anything, the doorbell rang. I glanced out and saw Lucy standing on my porch.
“Bye, Charles. Bye, Carolena.”
Carolena’s head popped up over the back of the sofa and she waved. “Bye!”
Charles winked at me before turning to face the TV again.
I grabbed my purse and opened the front door.
“Damn, girl. You look hot!” she said.
I stepped out of the house, shutting and locking the door behind me. “Thanks. You look great too.” We walked to her car and I was surprised to see Chris in the driver’s seat. “Is Chris coming to Girls’ Night Out?” I asked.
Lucy growled under her breath. “No, though he would try if he thought he could get away with it. He insisted on dropping us off and picking us up. The bossy ass still thinks he can tell me what to do even though I don’t work for him anymore.”
I laughed. �
��I think it’s sweet. He wants you to be able to enjoy yourself.”
She sighed. “I know, but I have to at least pretend to put up a fight or he’ll take over my life completely. Why couldn’t I fall in love with a man who wasn’t a complete control freak?”
As we opened our doors, I replied, “Because a man like that would let you walk all over him and that would drive you nuts.”
“True.”
I climbed into the back seat. “Hi, Chris. Thanks for picking me up.”
“Good evening, Yancy.”
The drive to the restaurant was filled with small talk. When he pulled up at the front door, I grinned when Lucy leaned in to give him a quick good-bye kiss and he pulled her back and kissed her deeply.
When he released Lucy, I said, “See you later, Chris. Thanks again for the ride.” Then I climbed out of the car.
Lucy seemed a little dazed as she stepped out onto the sidewalk and shut the door. The girls had decided we should go to Cyclone Anaya’s tonight for dinner and drinks and the place was packed. The food was delicious and the cocktails were strong, so it was crowded almost every night anyway.
Tanya, Chelsea, and Grier were already seated when we walked in and waved us over. After we exchanged hugs and greetings, everyone settled into their seats and we ordered our drinks and some appetizers.
As soon as the waiter left, Chelsea turned to me. “How’s it going, Yancy? You had a hearing scheduled today, right?”
Desperately wishing for an alcoholic beverage, I sipped my water. “I did, but Coop’s attorney is throwing paper at us left and right. Delinda and I are sick of it and it seems as though the judge is as well. We’re hoping to get another hearing scheduled early next month.” I looked around the table at my friends and said, “I appreciate that you are all concerned about how the custody suit is going, but, can we talk about other things tonight. I need to get away from it for a little while.”
They all nodded. As the drinks came and were consumed, conversation began to flow. While we ate, we talked about everything from our jobs to television shows. I managed to control myself and only text Charles three times to check on Carolena. However, by the end of the meal, everyone was more than a little tipsy and the topic moved to men.