“Sorry!”
“You should sleep over. You know Demini, my niece from Florida, she will be out next week!”
“What part of Florida is she from?”
“Do you know, I think it’s somewhere over by Key West?”
“I have a good friend in Miami,” I said.
“Good, we have something booked for you toward the end of the month in Miami. You should stay a day extra and visit your friend.”
“She’s in Paris for the summer with her mom,” I said.
“That’s the way to do it. Maybe we can do a spa day next weekend with Demini.”
“I’m in.”
“Demini is going to take a summer writing class in the city in August. She’s not going to college. Instead, she’s moving to Los Angeles this fall to get into the business,” Lisa said.
“She sounds very fun!” I really had no idea what to think. I wasn’t giving up college. I was gung ho about NYU. Mom went there. Daddy was a Dartmouth guy. Mama had dated another Dartmouth guy before Daddy. At first, she didn’t even like my Dad. My mother happened to be visiting my grandmother the week she met my father. My grandmother told me she had to convince my mother not to be so narrow-minded. She coaxed her into answering his calls. And now look how he remembers Mama. He doesn’t!
“Do you tweet?” Lisa asked.
“No.”
“Do you have an account on Twitter, sweetheart?”
“Yeah. MilanParkAve.”
“Great. We have a new PR unit and we want to focus on you. They are launching social media campaigns for our top clients.”
“As long as it doesn’t involve me blogging. I don’t want to write about what I’m doing every day.”
“They will take care of everything.”
“Dessert is served at the window seat. Lemon meringue tarts with handmade strawberry ice cream. A pomegranate, blackberry, banana smoothie at your request,” Cook smiled at Lisa.
“This is the best smoothie, sweetheart. A must try!” Lisa smiled.
“How are things going?” Merek texted. I hadn’t gotten back to him since he asked me to dinner.
“Still awake. Seriously—kind of fun,” I texted. The window seat had a view of her huge, beautiful backyard and the new garden she’d been working on. Lisa started talking on her cell phone.
“Milan, where are you? Today I would like to take you for burgers at this cool place near my house?” he texted. Cece and I checked his Tracebook page last night. The video he took of me at the party was on there.
“No. Rain check. Monday or Tuesday,” I texted.
“Stewart will be here any minute,” Lisa said.
“Busy girl. I hope you can find time to see poor Merek.”
“You can always play that video of me if you miss me,” I texted.
“I have.”
“Uhh!”
“Are you mad?” he texted.
“Can you take it off your TB page?”
“How did you see? It is private,” he texted.
“I don’t know, I just searched.”
“Uhh!”
“You mad?” I texted.
“Not really. Just making fun of you. I will take it down if you agree to go to for burgers tomorrow night.”
“Why at night?” I texted.
“Stars.”
I noticed Lisa taking a piece of my pie. “Hey,” I said.
“You didn’t look like you were eating it.” Had she totally finished her own piece already? I remembered my mother once telling me that nice girls never inquired about what others had eaten. Something about the smell of that pie reminded me of Noel. He loved pie. The first summer he came with us to SH we swam every single day. Then we’d get a slice of pie at the club after. Whatever they had on special. His favorite was sweet potato.
Noel was a really good swimmer, I remembered. We’d swim at the club and then go get lunch together. Mama would pick us up afterward. One day he said to me, “If my Mom hadn’t died, I just wish she could be with me and I could be here with you. We could all be together doing things like how we do things with your mom. That would be like heaven.” I held his hand then put my head on his shoulder. I remember wishing for him that his mother were there too. Now I knew too well how he felt. He was so funny. He had these all-American swimming trunks. They had red, white, and blue stripes on the sides.
“Where did you get those swim trunks?” I asked him.
“They were on a major, major sale at an outlet. The greatest part is that my trunks are green. One hundred percent bamboo.”
“Whoa,” I said.
“Forget my trunks. Let’s practice your backstroke some more. I’ll spot you.”
“I don’t, I can’t.” I was so nervous I couldn’t even think straight. “No deep end.”
“Stop it, Milan,” he said.
“I can’t go past five feet.”
“No, just relax. I’ll be with you the whole time. Come on, just turn onto your back and move your arms like I showed you,” he said. Every day he made me practice my backstroke. Now it was my favorite way to swim freestyle. I felt a smile on my lips. That’s when I started reading Lisa’s lips.
“I bought Stewart season tickets to the Knicks for his birthday. You kids can go,” Lisa said. Back to reality, I had to remind myself.
“Maybe.” Yikes! Lunch was amazing, but if Lisa was trying to add another boy to my list I would have to kindly decline. I was beginning to question my love. What was love made of? Was it possible for me to love again if I was already in love? Was I in love with Noel still? Everywhere I looked something in South Hampton reminded me of him.
“S.O.S.,” I texted Sierra. I was on my last bite of the most decadent Southern-style lemon meringue pie, second only to my grandmother’s. If the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach, Mama’s mom could definitely show me how to win Noel.
“Oh, I have to show you my new office space.” There was more.
“Okay.” Anything other than Stewart was a topic of interest—although he could’ve been nice, like a nice guy to be friends with. I followed Lisa upstairs. The glass panes that lined the stairway made you feel like you were in a modern museum. We swung a right at the top of the stairs. The walls were painted a cool blue. Upon them hung pictures of flowers, most in color and one in black and white. The prettiest framed work was a montage of outdoor scenes: trees, flowers blossoming, petals falling, and the sun shining through the green grasslands.
“Did you make this collage?” I asked.
“Yes! I get this wildlife magazine, riddled with or—should I say—embedded in the pictures of wildlife are these wonderful photosynthetic creatures.” I watched as Lisa’s eyes lit up.
“What type of plant is this one?” I pointed out the flower floating on top of a body of water, with almost tentacles in the water.
“This one is called bladderworts. Then, of course, this is a Venus flytrap. This one is also a carnivorous plant. It’s called a sundew.” Lisa was like a different person. “You see the tree here. There are forests of these in Canada that are mined daily for the purpose of creating toilet paper. This mining releases a lot of carbon dioxide into the air because the forests are replete with C02. If we use green toilet paper, we can help reduce the demand for the type of toilet paper that these trees are used to make.”
“I try to be green. I recycle and I’m the one who makes sure Edna buys organic foods, green cleansers, and items made from recycled paper. Too bad we can’t compost in the city.”
“I compost at the townhouse. It was Stewart’s idea. He came home for spring break last year and had this idea of composting in the garden in the back yard. I said, ‘You know what? Why not?’”
“Where are you now?” Sierra texted. I sent her the address. “Will GPS and get on it.”
“The office is down at the end here.” Lisa slowly opened the door. My eyes sought retreat.
“The light!” It was simply stunning. The whole room was surrounded by floor-
to-ceiling walls of glass.
“I want to come work in here.”
“Anytime, Cookie. Our spiritual guru suggested the windows so I could be reminded of the joy that surrounds me at all times. I think spirituality is inspirational. God is all around us.”
“I believe in God. I grew up Christian. But I haven’t been back to church.”
“I’m 15 minutes away, according to GPS. This place is far out in the sticks, M!” Sierra texted. I didn’t reply.
“Oh.” Lisa whisked out of the room and down the hall. I followed her. She turned to me and smiled. “Love, Stewart is home.” I glanced at my watch. She grabbed me by the shoulder. “I have dinner in 45 minutes. I need to get dressed.”
“My Dad asked me out to dinner,” I said.
“You guys don’t get out much.”
“No.” I followed her into her bedroom. It was all white with a red accent wall. Something told me to turn around. A guy stood at the door, taller than any I’d seen around. He was six-foot-seven, at least. He was cute in an offbeat pop band-boy type of way. He had on a suit vest, a white tee, jeans, and Converse.
“Mom,” he said.
“Hi, Stew. This is Milan.”
“Cool. I know the face. Very nice to meet you.”
“Likewise,” I smiled. “Lis, my friend’s going to pick me up in 10.”
“Oh, I can drop you wherever you need to go,” Stewart said.
“Thanks. I have a ride, though.”
“I was telling Milan you guys can go to a Knicks game sometime.”
“Sometime,” I hugged Lisa. “I should wait on the porch.”
“Oh no, sweetie. Stewart can show you his new roaming rover gadget. It’s like a baby tank with a camera for spying. Guy stuff.” Odd.
“Okay.”
Lisa gave me a kiss. I went downstairs, with Stewart right behind me. “Could you bring the rover outside?” I asked.
“Sure! Wait up,” he touched my arm.
“Approximate Arrival Time?” I texted Sierra.
“0:02:15. Roger that!”
“Over and out!” I laughed to myself.
“What’s funny?” Stewart asked.
“Nothing.”
“I’ll get the door.” He touched my back as I walked outside.
Sierra pulled up in the Prius, looking like trouble. She came so close to the porch, I jumped a little. Another tube-top dress. This was the theme of summer. I guess I didn’t get the memo. Me in my flowery sundress and flip-flops.
“So, uh, maybe sometime we could get a game. Or … even, um, a bite,” he said. I smiled. I glanced to see if Sierra was going to get out of the car. Just my luck. She was playing around with her radio.
“Maybe. Your mom has my number. Text me sometime.” I waved bye. He blushed. I made a mad dash for the car. I tripped on the last step of the porch. My skirt rode up. I pulled it down and played things off.
Then I jumped into the car. “Graceful as a ballerina,” Sierra said.
“Gosh. Just burn out.” I said. She jammed the gas like a racecar driver. I held on for dear life. “What are you doing that for?” Sierra said.
“In case my seatbelt bails.”
“You are on a streak with the cuties,” she said.
“Stewart is nice. But I have a full plate right now.”
“Wish I had a full plate. It would be a first.”
“Don’t be too impressed. At 12 o’clock, I turn back into a geek. Far better to be smart than pretty,” I said.
“Only someone blessed with your face could take that seriously.”
“You and Frenchy are gorgeous! What are you talking about?” I said.
“I just want to fall in love and live happily ever after.”
“Me too! Except I was in love once.”
I looked back at Lisa’s cottage as it shrunk against the purple sky. “Sierra, can you do me a favor?” I asked.
“What’s on your mind?” she asked.
“Can you call this place up for me to find out if they have contact information for a friend of mine?” The word “friend” just slipped out. No point in being coy now.
“When?” she asked.
“Tomorrow.”
“Who’s the friend?” she asked.
“This guy.”
“Old beau?”
I paused for a moment. I didn’t really want to keep things from her. “Not any regular beau,” I said.
“First love?” She was a good guesser.
“Something like that.”
“You have the info on you now?” she asked.
“No. I’ll send it in the morning.”
“Righteous! My dad taught me how to skip search on LexisNexis when I was seven. If there’s intel, I can find it!” she giggled.
Four dark roads, two stoplights, and a stop sign later, we pulled up to the house. It was all lit up at night. The air jets in the front ponds were turned on. I had barely noticed the landscaping Grandpapa had done yesterday until my eyes fell upon the beautiful white tulips and lavender lilies. How pleasant, I thought. We pulled up to the first garage.
“Check this out!” Sierra said. Cara and Dimitri were rolling around in the grass under a tree at the side of the house.
“Move up a little,” I said.
“No, no. I know what to do.” Sierra mashed her foot on the gas. “Purr, baby, purr!” she said. Dimitri and Cara stopped rolling around. He looked out at the driveway. I could tell he was a little embarrassed.
“Oh, my God! Is she smiling?” I said.
“Isn’t this a little sudden?” Sierra said.
“She’s strange. Why would anyone want to date Dimitri?”
“He’s fly, but he is really mean. Either way, she’s all in your family now. Ewu! We don’t know her like that!” Sierra said. I noticed it was 7:30, according to the clock on the dash. I needed to get inside before dinner with my grandparents. “She was just asking about your brother at the Saloon on Friday. Now she’s hooking up with him. Wow!”
“I will text you in the morning.” I hugged Sierra. Forget Dimitri! I was going to find Noel.
The next morning, I woke up bright and early. I did the deed. The phone number was on its way. I looked at my cell anxiously every two minutes, awaiting some news. It was the first Monday in a long time I wasn’t at work or at school. If Noel had gone off to college, this would be a lost cause. In my heart, I didn’t believe he would go off to college without seeing me. Frenchy always saw things differently than I did. She was a little strict, but she would know better.
I went into the bathroom and splashed some cold water in my face. That’s when I came face to face with myself in the mirror. I studied my eyes. Would he even recognize me? I was trying my best. In the back of my mind, I knew that if he found out he would have a few thoughts about it. I felt shame whipping through my veins. Things were just snowballing every day I continued to pretend. Love was supposed to be unconditional.
At the thought of that, I went back to check my phone.
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Chapter 7 The Hotel
We had been home from SH about a week. Two days ago, things had gotten a little serious. I realized how close we were to something serious. I remembered saying, “I want it to be special.” And he said, “I have an idea, princess.” And, like that, today was the day. I looked at myself in the mirror. This was me. I was a little excited. Over the summer, things just kept building. I kind of looked forward to his texts and visits. I was sure I didn’t love him yet. That was dangerous territory, I thought. Too complicated for today. There was something rapturous about the way he called me “pr
incess.” I would never tell anyone, though. Plus the jury was still out on the information on Noel. No word, no sign, just absence! This wasn’t making my heart grow any fonder.
“Are you ready?” Merek texted me.
“I’ll be down in a minute,” I texted. I ran out of the bathroom.
“I’m in the elevator,” he texted. I didn’t want Dimitri to know I was going off for a secret rendezvous to a part of town where no one would notice us. I put on my most discreet baseball cap, my biggest black sunglasses, nude lipstick, and a tennis jacket zipped up to my collar. I took a big handbag and filled it with my cosmetics, some pretty undies, and my first lingerie one-piece.
“Don’t ring the doorbell,” I texted.
“I just did,” he texted.
I felt a jolt of blood rush through my heart. Daddy wasn’t home yet. On Fridays, he usually worked late at his office or went out. It was impossible not to think of how different things would be if—no thoughts of Mama, I reminded myself.
I rushed to the door. I was walking so fast the wind was in my hair. Dimitri seemed to be following me. “Get off my case,” I said to him. He said nothing. I turned around and opened the front door. Merek kissed me.
“Excuse me?” Merek asked Dimitri.
“What?” I asked. Merek stared Dimitri down. Dimitri brushed past us and rung for the elevator. He got on the elevator ahead of me. Merek rolled his eyes in disgust. I walked to get in the elevator. He jumped in front of me.
“We’ll get the next one,” he said. I just stood there, thinking. I grabbed a hold of the back of his shirt. He was pretty cute when he was being chivalrous.
“You let him call you a witch? I wanted to say something to him. I should smack him, but he’s your brother. He does not know how to treat a lady,” he said. I had never seen him call me a witch. I felt tears coming to eyes. There were so many times when my back was turned. Had he been saying things like that? Merek put his arm around me. He held me all the way to the cab downstairs.
I asked the driver to drive by the Park. Merek held my hand the whole way. I told him to surprise me and I kissed him on the cheek. Midway, once we passed 34th Street, he put his hands over my eyes. I just hoped he wasn’t talking. I put my finger over my lips.
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