by Kiki Leach
He straightened his tie and suit jacket and rose to his feet. “Joan Hopkins.” He looked over her ‘Plain Jane’ wardrobe, appreciating that not much had changed with her since high school except for the hair, which was a nice shade of blue now. The top of her head looked like a blueberry bouncing off the sun.
She fixed the large framed glasses on her face to get a clear look at him and his very expensive suit and smiled sweetly, but cautiously. “What are you doing here?”
“Having lunch. Or something like it.”
Joan adjusted the baby on her hip and anxiously looked around the area while clutching a stroller with her other hand. She expected to see Sheila walk out from the restaurant at any moment and when she didn’t, she eyed Nathan with an increasing amount of curiosity. “Did you know that I was supposed to be meeting--?”
“Me, here. Why don’t you sit down?” He gestured to the chair in front of him.
She looked at her surroundings again and rattled her head. “I don’t think so, I was supposed to be meeting Sheila here for lunch.”
“Sheila’s not coming. I texted you last night pretending to be her because I needed to talk to you about something important.”
“Does she know that you’re here or what you did?”
“No. And as far as I’m concerned, she doesn’t need to. All I want to do is talk.”
“About?”
“You’ll find out if you just have a seat.” He showed his hand to the other chair again and sat back down in his own. She waited for a few seconds until the waitress returned and asked her if she wanted something to drink. She looked down at Nathan who raised his hand. “Whatever you want, it’s on me,” he said.
It gave her more of an incentive to stick around. “I’ll start out with a coke and water with a few slices of lemon for now.” The waitress smiled and headed back inside the restaurant. Joan turned her baby toward the table and sat him on her lap. He smacked his hands against the edge and she pulled them back. Nathan thought back to his long ago desire to have children with Vanessa. It wasn’t until he became more serious with Sheila that the idea of having children became less and less of an option in his mind. Joan cleared her throat to catch his attention. “What is this about?”
He moved closer to the table and pushed his phone aside. “It’s about Sheila. And this Professor Adrian Samuels.”
“She finally decided to tell you about that?”
“No,” he said. “And now that you’ve said it like that, I’m starting to wonder why.”
The waitress returned with Joan’s drinks. She thanked her and said it would be all she needed for the time being. As she turned back to Nathan, he peered. “What exactly did Sheila tell you?”
“Not much of anything until I found his information inside her purse.”
“That must have been pretty awkward.” She peeled the paper from her straw with one hand and stuck it in her drink, taking a sip.
“It was more or less strange as opposed to awkward. Apparently, this man was meant to be helping her with her writing – which was interesting, seeing as she never said a word about it to me until last night. She also mentioned that you knew him as a professor at NYU.”
“What’s so strange about that?” she asked.
“Nothing, except that I know after doing a little research before coming here that you never actually attended NYU during the time he supposedly worked there.”
She pinched her lips to the side. “I took online classes for half of a semester.”
“Only recently. And you were never on campus – but that’s beside the point. She said you knew him and I thought, ‘okay, fine’, and planned to leave it at that. But then I started thinking about it, and I realized I didn’t believe a single word coming out of her mouth. I did at first, in spite of learning that she called him. But then he called her back while she was sleeping.”
“And you talked to him?”
“Yeah. I didn’t like what he had to say, or the way he said it. And he seemed to know about me. Not just for some short time, but from the way he sounded--”
“You three covered the tabloids pretty regularly during that last year of high school. I’m sure anyone in this city probably knows you just by name or face alone.”
“It didn’t sound like he knew me just from ‘tabloids’. It sounded like he knew me on more of a personal level.”
“You got all of that from a thirty second phone call?”
“It wasn’t thirty seconds,” he said with a sly grin. He took a sip of his coffee and sat it back down, steadying the cup. “I know that there’s something more going on than what Sheila is unlikely to admit.”
“And you want me to tell you what it is?”
“Exactly.”
“I’m sorry, Nathan, I can’t do that. I’m not your wife, which means I owe you nothing.”
“Sheila and I aren’t married yet.”
“Then I guess she owes you nothing either.” She readjusted herself in her chair and switched her baby to her other leg. “Are you going to buy me lunch too or am I going to have to fend for myself on that one?”
“You might be fending for yourself if you don’t tell me what else is going on.”
“I really don’t need this shit today,” she snapped. “I’ve got enough problems happening in my own life and I don’t need either one of you adding to them over a bunch of nonsense.”
“I’m not trying to add to whatever problems you’re having, Joan. I’m just trying to get to the bottom of what’s going on.”
“Try asking Sheila about it since she’s the one you’re getting married to.”
“I did ask her, and she’s been lying to me, so now I’m asking you.”
“And you’re a patron of sainthood?” She lifted her baby higher against her and noticed Nathan’s patience wearing thin. “I didn’t know him all that well, okay?”
“But you knew him well enough to lend out his name to Sheila?”
“I didn’t lend his name to Sheila, I just happened to mention it a few times when we were talking. Have you really never heard of Adrian Samuels? He was a child genius who zoomed through high school at fifteen.”
“He was never on my radar before last night.”
“That figures,” she said to herself. “He taught at NYU for maybe two years. I never knew him personally, but I had heard of him because a friend of mine took his class.”
“So the friend is who knew him?”
“Yes, the friend.”
“And you got this number from the friend?”
“I never gave Sheila any number, only his name and just to tell her that--” She stopped and averted her gaze.
Nathan became suspicious of her immediate silence. “Then how did she get his information?”
“Maybe his number is listed.”
He was becoming agitated and pressed his fingers directly above his eyebrows to cool down. “Alright, help me to understand this.” He sat up in his chair and bent down on the table. “She tells me that she got the information from you because she needed help with her writing. And now you’re telling me that you didn’t give her ANY information about him and that she might have gotten it all from what, an online directory?”
“I never said I didn’t give her any information, I said that I didn’t give her his phone number--”
“Or address,” he interrupted.
She was thrown. “What?”
“Sheila had his phone number and address listed on a piece of paper inside her purse.”
Joan nervously exhaled. “Well, I’ll be--”
“You’ll be what?”
She moved her head about and tried to remain in control as her son began to fuss. “Adrian Samuels was one of Vanessa’s professors. That friend I told you about? They were in the same class together. Anything else, you need to talk to your future wife about, okay? I have to get him back home for a nap, anyway.” She got up from her chair and grabbed onto her stroller again.
He jumped up, k
icking his chair back. “Wait a minute, wait a minute. So what you’re telling me now is that this guy was Vanessa’s professor?”
She stopped struggling and sighed. “Yes.”
“If that’s true, then why would Sheila need to go through you to get to him?”
“Like I said, Nathan” – she settled her son into the stroller – “that’s something you really need to ask her about--”
“I’m still asking you.” He pointed. “I know that Sheila’s relationship with V is still rocky, but some of the things that you’re telling me are just not adding up to make any sense in my head whatsoever.”
“How much was ever there to begin with?”
He glowered. “Did Sheila know that this guy was her professor?” She nodded. “Then it once again begs the question why she went through you, especially since she’s been looking for a way back into V’s life. As far as I’m concerned, that would’ve been her best opportunity.” He paused and took a breath. “What kind of relationship did they have back then?” he asked. “Strictly teacher/student or did she know him well enough to the point that maybe she could’ve been the one to contact him on Sheila’s behalf?”
“Not that she would’ve,” she murmured. “But as far as I know, he and Vanessa were very close at one point, if you know what I mean.” He appeared aloof. “Clearly you don’t – it means that they were screwing.”
His entire body stiffened at that point and he swallowed back a lump of bile that was building. “And just how do you know that?” His voice was deeper now, gruff and more solid in tone.
“The friend, in the class?” she said. “She found Vanessa bent over Adrian’s desk in his office.” Nathan felt the vomit erecting in his chest but held it back. “He paid my friend off to keep quiet but she managed to tell me and maybe one other person about it before she enrolled in a graduate program and left the city. I let the information slip to Sheila.”
“When did you tell her all of this?”
“Around the time of the reunion.”
He looked around the area and took a few steps back, disbelieving. “Alright. Now I’m trying to understand why exactly I should trust anything that you’re telling me right now.”
“You believe every single word of what I’m telling you, Nathaniel,” she said through a snarl. “I can see it written all over that smug face of yours that you believe them right down to the dirtiest of details. But you’re just so desperate to cling onto some kind of hope that it might not be true, that you refuse to come to terms with it. You of all people knew Vanessa better than anybody back then and you knew just how wild she could get. After you two called it quits, she became destructive and you knew that too. Things didn’t change much after you left either. It wasn’t until a few years ago that she finally started to get her act together and take her life more seriously. I think finally being in charge of the magazine helped out a lot and she wasn’t in as many of the papers for her ‘rowdy’ behavior. That didn’t start back up until you and Sheila came back to town.” Her baby made a wild nose in the stroller and she pushed it back and forth.
“Are you’re saying that I’m the one responsible for her behavior back then and now?”
“I never said a thing,” she replied.
“You implied that I’m the reason she started screwing this guy in the first place.”
“I never implied anything.”
He flared his nostrils and arched his brows. “How long did this…” He stopped, feeling sick again. “How long were they intimate?”
“That’s not exactly something that I would go around asking people. ‘Hey, by the way, have you had sex today with someone that you probably shouldn’t be sleeping with in the first place?’.”
He clinched his jaw. “What’s going on between him and Sheila?” She remained quiet, which enraged him. “Joan, you can either tell me or I’ll find out my own way, and it won’t be in talking to her.”
“So now you care when another man calls your fiancée? Sheila didn’t think you ever would.”
“I care when he happens to speak to me as that one did. What’s the truth in why was he calling her?”
Joan’s baby leaned forward on the stroller and she softly pushed him back. “After I told her about Adrian and Vanessa, she wanted to use him as a way to keep you two apart. She thought he could distract her for the time being, but that was all before she found out about V and Maurice.”
He thought back to his conversation with Vanessa at the opening for Angelino’s and grimaced. “I’ve heard.”
“About them restarting their relationship?”
“Restarting? As in they were together once before already?”
She chuckled under her breath. “Sheila was right. You really did keep out of the loop in California, didn’t you?” He didn’t answer. “No one really knows what’s going on with those two now, just like none of us ever really knew too much then, aside from what we read. But I guess she doesn’t want something public to ruin yet another relationship, and who can blame her?” She continued pushing the baby in his stroller until he fell asleep.
“Do you have any idea why Sheila would’ve called him first last night?”
“My only guess is to get him to steer clear. If Vanessa now has Maurice--”
“Then his services were no longer needed.” He ran his hand down the front of his face and to his throat. “Is there anything else I need to know?”
“Yes. If she finds out that you learned any of this from me, she might never speak to me again. You may not care about her Nathan, but I actually do. The only reason I even told you any of this is so that you would leave me alone about it. Because I know you, and you’re like a dog with a bone until you get what you want, especially when it comes to learning something about Vanessa. You’ve always treated her like your possession. I’m actually surprised you’ve managed to leave her alone for as long as you have since you’ve been back.”
He felt the guilt creeping up on him and focused his attention elsewhere. “Thanks for telling me what you know.”
“Don’t thank me,” she countered. “I didn’t do this as a favor to you. But don’t ever contact me again after this, alright?” He agreed with silence. She reached for her stroller and whirled it around to head off in the opposite direction.
Nathan stood there all but flabbergasted, wondering what the hell to do with the information he had just learned.
Part Twenty
Nikki walked into William’s bedroom still wearing his shirt from the night before and carrying two giant tubs of ice cream that she had gotten downstairs from the freezer. She lifted them into the air as high as she could and weighed each one evenly. “I’ve got cherry and chocolate with two spoons,” she told him. It was the first time she had been out of bed all afternoon. “Which one do you want to try first?”
“I think you’ve got your chocolate right here.” He smiled wide and opened his arms, welcoming her back to his bed.
She recoiled at the words he chose to use and turned her head. “Por favor, no vuelvas a decir eso.”
“I’m not sure what that means yet, but I’ll learn.”
“It means, please don’t ever say that again.”
He laughed. “Okay, okay. Why don’t you leave the chocolate over there with the spoons and bring the cherry.”
A playful grin arose on her lips and she sat the tub down on the dresser, carrying the other over to him with both hands. When her thumb slipped inside, she pulled back to taste the flavor. “It’s good.”
He grabbed the tub from her and sat it next to him on the bed, then took her by the hand and keenly watched her climb on top of him. She adjusted herself directly on top of his dick and he lay back against the headboard, pushing himself against her. She dipped two fingers inside the ice cream and placed them in front of his mouth. “Want some?” She drew the cream around his lips and his tongue emerged as he licked it from her fingers. “How does it taste?”
He moved his head this way and
that, then reached for the collar of her shirt and pulled it down her arm. He leaned in and swirled his tongue around her shoulder. “It’s not as sweet as you.” She chuckled, but almost immediately stopped when she recalled Oscar saying something similar once. The time she had spent with William was supposed to be about them, but it seemed she could barely go a second without thinking about the very man who remained the distinct reason she was so determined to give herself to him last night. She wondered for a moment if Oscar had never called, would she have been so willing, so eager to bring William up to his room, to allow him to do the things he did to her, to allow herself to like it all and ask for more of the same? She wasn’t sure and wanted to push the thought of it from her mind in order to avoid such curious wonder.
William stared at the sadness that crept upon her face; he could tell that something was bothering her, but didn’t want to pressure her about it. He was excited that she seemed to finally be opening up to him and moving on from her past with Oscar. He didn’t want to take any chances in pushing any further than he had already to take their relationship to the next level, or stepping over any invisible boundaries. He liked spending time with Nikki as much as he could. And he liked that she seemed to like it to.
When his phone started to ring, he reached over on his nightstand to answer it. Nikki remained on his lap and slowly gyrated against him while digging her fingers back into the cream.
His dick swelled and he ran his hands inside her shirt and across her stomach. “Hello?” he asked, though he wasn’t truly concentrating on who was on the other end of the phone.
Unfortunately, the other person happened to be Oscar, and he was taken aback by William’s answering, as well as the soft grunting sound that seemed to come along with it. Though he knew he had called the direct number to William’s home, it was strange of him to even have to do so in order to get through to Nikki, who continued to either delete or ignore his calls.
The shop was busier than ever that afternoon and Oscar was lacking on help. Melanie was suffering from both a hangover and migraine and had no way of checking on the progress of the other shop, let alone, making it in there. And Max had apparently resigned via Skype just two hours before the store opened up due to wanting more from his life than being someone’s ‘bitch’ in a coffee shop. Oscar was in hell and needed assistance badly. He knew the only person to relieve him of a growing burden until things calmed down would be Nikki. He was always certain that he could rely on her if for nothing else, having his back where it mattered to him most: his business.