Where are you?
And for the first time (at least in my memory) my husband’s reply came right away:
Sweetheart, I meant to call. Not gonna make it. One of the partners didn’t show up last night and we had to do it tonight. We have to close this deal. So sorry. But…
His text stopped there. I glanced at the clock. It was almost seven-thirty. This was something that not only he had known all day, but he could have taken care of today, too. Why did he have to do that dinner tonight? In the middle of my gala? On a date that I’d chosen to specifically fit him and his calendar?
I blinked and blinked and blinked back all the disappointment that I could. I needed to focus on the girls, not on my hurt. So, I turned off my phone because clearly Preston was going to send another text and I couldn’t read another excuse that would bring me to tears.
I was still blinking when Delinda said, “And now, ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming the woman behind this magical event, the woman who had the foresight to put together a program to build our young ladies, the woman whose commitment to these young women is never-wavering…let us all welcome, Mrs. Angelique Mason.”
The room erupted in applause and I stood, pausing for a moment to allow the disappointment to drain from my head and flow to my feet so that I would be clear. With as much of a saunter as I could muster, I made my way to the podium.
When the hundreds before me quieted, I began, “Thank you all so much. I thank you all for coming, not only tonight, but for the whole conference. You know, I started Black Girls Magic because I wanted to make a real difference. In truth, I want every young black girl to know that she can soar.”
My glance traveled from the left side of the room, to the right. Then, when I came back to center, I began again. Only this time, words did not come out of me.
I blinked because clearly I was so upset by Preston that I was having a reaction. I think they called this a mirage.
I blinked until I was sure that what I saw was real. I blinked until Blu came into full focus, leaning against the wall in the back, wearing a tuxedo, and watching me.
And then, I blinked, I smiled, and I continued.
“I…ummm…excuse me,” I began again. “This is just so overwhelming.”
“Take your time,” someone shouted as if we were in church.
Laughter rang out through the room, just enough to help me relax my shoulders and move on. “There are few things that touch your soul, that you know you were put on this earth to see to fruition. Black Girls Magic is one of those things for me.....”
Even from as far away as he was, I could see the way Blu beamed. And all of that pride he had, he had for me.
I completed my speech, then, we recognized the girls who were graduating out of the program and distributed the scholarships. After that, it was all about photo ops — with the graduating girls, with the girls and their families, with the sponsors…I stood in the middle of hundreds of photos.
And the whole time I kept my eyes on Blu. At first, he stayed in place, at the wall where I’d first noticed him, and later, as the photos began, he moseyed to the bar. As he sipped his drink, I watched him, watching me.
The room was almost empty by the time I was able to make my way over to him.
And before he said hello, he gave me a hug. “You’re beautiful and you were so wonderful up there.”
“Thank you,” I said. “But what are you doing here? I thought,” and I lowered my voice, “you didn’t want to be recognized as a sponsor.”
“I didn’t. I didn’t come here as a sponsor. I came here…as your friend.”
“Because I told you that Preston wasn’t here?”
“Is he?” The way he asked, he already knew the answer.
So, I didn’t bother to acknowledge my husband. All I said was, “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Hey, Angelique,” Sheryl’s voice called out behind me. “What are you going to….” She stopped as Blu came into her full view. Leaning back a little, she said, “Well.” She held out her hand to him. “You must be Blu.”
His eyes widened as if he were a little surprised and I guess he should have been. Sheryl had just committed a major girlfriend violation. She’d just told Blu that I’d been talking about him.
Oh, my God. How embarrassing was this? Because I was sure he hadn’t mentioned my name to anyone.
“Uh, yeah,” he said, looking from Sheryl to me and then back to her. He took her hand. “Yes, I’m Blu…Logan. And you have an advantage over me because I don’t know your name.”
“Really?” Sheryl said, feigning surprise. “So, she doesn’t talk about me to you as much as she talks about you to me?”
My face filled with horror. No, not just my face, all of me. No, not horror. Horror was on my face, the rest of me warmed with complete humiliation. In fact, humiliation wasn’t a strong enough word. I had to find a new one so that I could explain it to the judge when he asked me why did I kill my best friend.
Blu chuckled. “Ummm, I can’t say that she’s spoken a lot about you,” he said. “But it’s probably because when we’re together, I only like to talk about Angelique.”
Sheryl placed her hand across her chest and…sighed. I snatched her hand away from her heart and said, “Excuse me, Blu,” and then, I dragged that six-figure earning dummy out of the room.
“Hey!” she exclaimed. “Where’re we going? I wanted to talk to Blu.”
Inside the hallway, I asked, “Have you lost your mind?”
“What?”
“Telling him that I talk about him?”
“Oh. That.” She shrugged. “Sorry. But girl, you didn’t do that man any justice. But I’m not sure that there are words that could describe him properly. That man is….”
“Married,” I reminded her.
“Dammit. Cassidy done got to you.”
“Sheryl, please. I just want to go back in there, talk to Blu for a little while, then, send him home and I’ll go to bed, thinking about how my husband stood me up.”
“Okay, bad decision, but your decision.” She sighed. “Well, let’s go say good night to Blu.”
“No. No ‘let’s’. Just me.”
“Awww man.” And then, she grinned. “I knew you were gonna say that. Smart decision.” She winked, gave me a hug, then whispered some crap about she wanted to hear all about tonight tomorrow.
I waved her away and then walked back into the ballroom. It was just about empty except for Blu who sat at one of the back tables now, two flutes of wine in front of him.
When I approached, he held up one of the glasses and handed it to me. “Thank you,” I said, then sat next to him.
He clicked his glass against mine, then said, “Congratulations to a soaring success.”
I grinned my thanks before I took a sip.
“So, tell me all about it.”
“The conference?”
He nodded.
“Here?” I glanced around the room filled with hotel staff, clearing the tables, stripping them of the cloths, moving out the chairs. I had a feeling that any moment, we’d be carried out, too.
“You’re right,” he said. “Do you want to go out somewhere? I mean, since we’re all dressed up and everything.”
“But it’s late. It’s almost eleven.”
“Well, it’s early somewhere in the world. Come on.” He stood up and took my hand. “Let’s go celebrate a little. I won’t keep you out long and I’ll bring you back here to pick up your car.”
“We don't have to worry about that. I'm staying here.” And that was the moment when I decided. We needed to get out of this hotel. “Okay, let’s do it.”
I felt like a school girl sneaking out at night the way Blu and I tiptoed and exited through the hotel’s back door. Not that I was concerned about anyone seeing me. Most of the girls and their parents had left — we’d only had the girls staying over last night. But even if someone saw me, I just didn’t care. I wanted to go out and celebr
ate this big night. I wanted to be with Blu.
CHAPTER 18
Blu
From my peripheral vision, I saw Angelique’s hair blowing in the wind. I’d traded in my Tahoe for my Mustang tonight, my 40th birthday gift to myself that I hardly had a chance to drive.
But tonight, my Mustang had been perfect, though I didn’t know how perfect until this moment. Angelique seemed to love it, not having a single care about her hair. Damn, she’d never looked more beautiful to me and that was saying so much because not only had she always been beautiful, but last Friday right before she kissed me, I’d had one of those angel visions again.
But tonight, there was something more than her physical beauty. It was everything about her as she’d stood behind that podium. She stood, so innocent, so vulnerable, looking like she was all alone. From that first moment when I saw her after I stepped into the ballroom, I was so glad that I’d made the rash decision to come.
It hadn’t been hard to get out of the house. Monica was asleep — she would never notice. And though Tanner had plans, the fifty-dollars I’d paid him to change them put a smile on both of our faces.
So, I’d grabbed my tux from the back of my closet, dressed in the guest bathroom and rushed over to the Westin. As I dressed and as I drove, the whole time I imagined what I would do when I got there — and saw that her husband had finally shown up. But the way she looked when she walked up to the podium and began speaking — I knew he had failed her again.
How could her husband not see what he had with her? Damn, if she were my woman….
I sighed because she was not. And she could never be. Not even with what happened last Friday. Not even knowing that if I’d stood there a moment longer after we kissed, we would have found a place to do so much more.
If it makes any difference, I still love you, girl.
You’re my weakness, you changed my world.
I bobbed my head to Kem, deciding to change up my music a bit. He may not have been of the eighties, but he was bringing it in this new millennium. ‘Cause this song right here — I wanted to hit repeat, and play this part over and over.
You’re my weakness, you changed my world.
I kept the music from my phone playing at I sped down I-45. Angelique hadn’t even asked me once where we were going. She just sat back, let the wind mess up her curls and bobbed to the music like me. I guess it didn’t matter to her where we were headed as long as we were together — and that pleased me.
Although when I finally turned off I-45 and onto Broadway, she sat up. “Wait a minute.”
I gave her a quick glance and she gave me one of her smiles that seeped through to my soul. All kinds of desire rose up in me and I had to swallow it all back. It took a moment for me to get my words together. “Yup. I’m taking you to the beach.”
“In the middle of the night?”
“Yup!” Then, I added, “Are you okay with this? I mean, dressed like that?”
She grinned. “I’m more than okay. This is perfect.”
Just minutes later, I parked the car on the street, then, jumped out. Even in the dark, I could see her eyes on me as I rounded the front of my Mustang. Even in the dark, I felt her stare, warming every part of me.
When I opened the door and pulled her up, I had to hold in my gasp. We were so close, just like last Friday.
I slipped my jacket from my shoulders, then wrapped it around since her spaghetti straps would do little to fend off the night breeze, though I hated covering her up in any way.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“You know what?” he said. “We’re gonna have to strip….”
Her eyes widened.
“Off our shoes.”
She gave me a playful glare and I laughed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t play like that.”
“No, you shouldn’t.” Her tone frowned, but her face…she glowed.
“Come on.” I kicked off my shoes and socks, and then stood back as she leaned on the car and unhooked each of the ankle straps on her shoes. God, I wanted to do that for her, but I didn’t trust myself. I couldn’t be that close.
She handed her shoes to me and I popped open the trunk before I dumped our shoes and her purse inside. Then, I pulled out the backpack that I’d packed in my trunk for such a time as this. I’d packed this bag awhile ago, not knowing when or even if, I would ever use it with Angelique. And now, the perfect time was upon us.
I slung the strap of the bag onto my shoulder, then reached for her hand. When she intertwined her fingers in mine, she squeezed my hand. I fought to keep my sigh inside. By the time we got to where the ocean met the sand, my heartbeat settled and we began a slow stroll, she in her red gown, with my jacket and me, hopefully looking some kind of dapper, though I’d unhooked my tie.
I didn’t want to venture too far from the boardwalk. The half-moon was bright, but I preferred even more light.
“So,” she said, “Galveston beach.”
I chuckled. “I know this isn’t Tahiti.”
“What? This isn’t Tahiti? I can’t tell. Look at that crystal water,” she pointed to the darkened ocean, “and this sand.” She looked down and wiggled her toes and I did the same.
“Ouch!” I shouted.
“Oh, my God, what happened?”
“Something in the sand cut me.”
“Oh, my God. We need to get you to the hospital.” She grabbed my arm as if she needed to assist me walking.
I buckled over with laughter.
She frowned, stepped away from me, and folded her arms.
I said, “I’m sorry. I was kidding. I didn’t know you would take it so seriously.”
Her face softened as she moved back toward me, then, she punched my arm like she’d taken boxing lessons and this time I said, “Ouch,” for real. “What are you doing?”
“Don’t play like that.” She pouted. “I would be so upset if something happened to you.”
Her voice was so soft, her tone, so gentle. I couldn’t help it. I pulled her into my arms. But even though I wanted to, I couldn’t hold her for longer than a few seconds. If she’d continued to stand so close, she would have felt just how much I wanted her.
Taking her hand, we strolled again, moving only a few more feet.
I said, “Let’s stop here.” I dropped my backpack, unzipped it, pulled out the blanket, then flung it high into the air, before it drifted down to the sand. “Have a seat, madam.”
She giggled as she hiked up her gown a bit, then flopped down on the blanket.
“And I have something special just for you.” I pulled out a bottle of Stella Rosa. “Did you say this was your favorite?”
“I did.” I smiled at the surprise and delight in her voice. She said, “I think we talked about it during one of the games. Where I was beating you and I asked if you were drunk, remember?”
I squinted at her. “Why you always have to bring up old stuff?”
“Old stuff? Didn’t I beat you like…this morning?”
I waved my hand in the air, erasing her words and making her laugh, which is all I wanted to do. Well, it wasn’t all I wanted to do, but it was enough to make me happy.
Inside my backpack, I had everything that we needed — a corkscrew, and two glasses. I filled both glasses and then handed one to Angelique.
I held up my glass. “To a successful conference, fantastic evening, and a beautiful woman.”
She tilted her head. “Didn’t we already do a toast back at the hotel?”
“You are always so technical. Don’t you know that you can never have too many toasts nor too much wine.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“And now you do.” I clicked my glass against hers and we both sipped. Then, I sat down, close to her so that our shoulders touched. It took everything in me not to pull her back, not to have her lean against me or rest her head in my lap.
We sipped in the quiet for a few moments before I said, “So…tell me about the conference.”
> If this hadn’t been a moonlit night, and if we hadn’t been right by the boardwalk, the way Angelique beamed right now would have been enough to light up the whole beach. She talked and all I did was listen. It was easy to do because her voice…she sounded like she was singing to me.
She talked and talked and I felt like she wasn’t leaving out a thing. She started with the social last night, which she said was a mix and mingle event, though some of the girls stood up and performed. She told me about the poets and the singers and the praise dancers and how the girls were all loaded with such talent.
“Then, today was filled with workshops.”
Talking about the conference seemed like a shot of adrenaline for Angelique. It was like the more she spoke, the more excited she became. She told me about the workshops, the ones for the girls and then the others for their parents. She told me about all twelve that the girls had to choose from.
“It was just an amazing day.”
As I refilled her glass, I said, “And then, the gala tonight.”
“Yes, it was so special.” But then, her smile dropped from her voice. “Until….”
I waited a moment and said, “Until I got there, and then it got better.”
She turned toward me and again, her lips were right there. All I had to do was lean forward. All I had to do was kiss her and then this time…I shook my head.
“What?” Her voice was a whisper, but I heard her clearly because her lips were still right there. She said, “Why did you shake your head?”
“Nothing,” I said. I let moments pass, then, “Can I ask you something?”
“What?” I looked at her for a moment, but then, turned my eyes out to the blackness that was before us. It was difficult to tell where the night ended and the ocean began. But that was a safe place for my glance. Because if I turned back and looked at her….
But right before I asked her the question, I did face her. Because I wanted to not only hear, but see her answer. I asked, “So, you told your friends about me?”
And then, I had to fight to hold back my laughter. Because the way she squinted, the way she pressed her lips together, I knew the thoughts in her head. She was going to kill her friend, Sheryl…a couple of times. But then, she smirked. “Yeah, I mentioned you a little. I had to tell them about the new guy in Words With Friends that I beat all the time.”
If Only For One Night Page 15