Scarlett Secret

by Brenda Barrett

  Solji saluted her and grinned. "I hope it's not my interruption of you guys earlier."

  Lola inhaled. "No, it wasn't."

  "Godspeed." Solji nodded to her, a knowing smile on his face.

  Reuben came out of the house shortly after, car keys in hand. "When I said that you had to go, I didn't mean this minute."

  "I know but I really need to get out of here," Lola said hoarsely.

  "Listen." Reuben took her hand in his. "We can do this.

  Lola's lips trembled. "Reuben, we shouldn't have..."

  Reuben placed a finger on her lips. "We are not going to talk about can'ts and shouldn’ts. I am convinced that the reason we are still single is because we should be together. Once we get past all of this unfamiliar territory we've found ourselves in, we can work things out."

  Lola licked her lips and he groaned.

  "I am sorry that you have to leave so soon."

  "Maybe we can have clearer heads when we are apart."

  "I doubt that," Reuben groaned, holding the car door open until she got in. He closed it and leaned into the car. "I liked your brown eyes."

  The drive to Treasure Beach was mostly silent. Reuben had his radio on one of his favorite gospel stations. He sang along to it, glancing at her occasionally.

  At least he looked happy, Lola thought resentfully. She was feeling miserable. She wished she could confess to him that she was not Terri.

  What if when Terri came back he felt this way about her?

  Jealousy gripped Lola in a vise. What if she was the catalyst for Reuben to finally express his feelings to his cousin?

  What if she and Terri were interchangeable in his emotions?

  When Reuben stopped at a supermarket in the town, she was feeling pretty mad at him.

  He helped her with the shopping bags and frowned.

  "What's wrong?"

  "You love Terri," Lola spat. "You have a thing for your own cousin!"

  Reuben looked at her as if she had grown two heads. "You are talking about yourself in the third person now?"

  "I could just scream!" Lola went around to the car and slammed it hard.

  Reuben entered the vehicle cautiously.

  "Terri..."

  "Don't call me that," Lola said angrily. "And don't talk to me!"

  Reuben nodded like he fully understood her tantrum.

  When they reached the house, Lola had simmered down enough to realize that she was being irrational.

  Reuben had taken it in stride though.

  He glanced at her when he stopped at the gate.

  "Ah, here we are...what should I call you now?"

  Lola smiled wanly. "Sorry, Reuben. Thank you for the last couple of days. It was really good to get to know you. To know you is to love you."

  She reached across and kissed him hard. "Goodbye."

  "Wait, Terri!" Reuben got out of the vehicle and followed her to the door. "Why are you sounding so final? This is not an ending; it’s a new beginning."

  Lola looked at him sadly.

  "Come on, you are scaring me," Reuben said. "Maybe it was selfish to ask you to leave but I can't live with you, not when I’m feeling the way I do. I have to go back; the guys are at the house. Listen, I'll call you tonight."

  Lola touched his cheek and opened the door.

  "I don't understand." Reuben looked at her in exasperation. "I will call you. Can I get your new number?"

  Lola shook her head. "The old one should be working fine when I charge it."

  "Okay. I'll call." Reuben left her standing there and she watched him walk away.

  *****

  Something woke her up at two o’clock in the morning. A bright light beyond the curtain as if a high floodlight was on. Voices.

  The slamming of a car door.

  Lola jumped up and looked through the window and her eyes widened in consternation when she saw Terri and Ajmal and some more of Hamad's men in the driveway.

  They had found her out. It was over. Her life was over.

  Her heart hammered in her chest like a booming drum and she sat on the bed with her head in her hands.

  It wasn't long before Terri opened the front door and headed for the room.

  "Thank God you are here," Terri said, crouching down beside her. "Lola..."

  "I know." Lola trembled. "It's over."

  "Paravina will help you," Terri whispered, "Hamad is coming back tomorrow, so you need to be there."

  Lola shuddered. "Terri, how did they find out?"

  "The phone call. We talked too much."

  "It’s okay." Lola sniffed. "I should be fighting my own battles. You did more than I expected, actually. Three days of pretending to be each other was enough."

  Terri hugged her. "I’m sorry, Lola. I really wanted to help."

  Lola wiped her eyes. "You are my bestest friend in the whole wide world."

  She got up and went for her bag. Her shorts and jeans wouldn't do now. "I have nothing to wear."

  "Trust me, you will have more hijabs to wear than you can manage."

  Terri opened her bag and withdrew a thick, heavy scarf and covered Lola's hair.

  "Hey, it's not that bad." Terri kissed her on the cheek. "I just spent the last couple of days in the most luxurious hotel in the world."

  Lola smiled tremulously. "Thank you, Terri."

  Terri hugged her and walked with her outside. Ajmal looked at Lola and nodded with satisfaction.

  She got in the vehicle and watched as the house disappeared from view.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Terri spent the morning after Lola left worried about her friend, and of course she relived every single second she spent on Emerald Island with Zack. They had almost gone too far, rolling around in the queen-sized bed on the island, touching each other, kissing each other, until he had put a stop to it.

  Anything worth having should be done right, he had whispered to her in the half-dark.

  It hadn't been her who had called a halt, she was ashamed to admit. Where Zack was concerned her usually impeccable self-control was below zero.

  When she couldn't stand the worrying anymore she called her mother, confessed about the switch and had her mom start to pray for Lola.

  After she got a sound and well deserved lecture from both her parents, she then called Yuri, who had called her a whopping twelve times over the past four days.

  "Why didn't you answer my calls?" he asked a worried tone in his voice.

  "Because I wasn't here. I went to an island called Jannah."

  "Never heard of it," Yuri grumbled.

  "Because you are not among the super rich."

  "You are not spending your inheritance foolishly, are you?" Yuri asked, concerned.

  "Nope. I went to Jannah free of cost."

  "Why?" Yuri was interested now. "Something to do with your job hunt?"

  "No. You won't believe why. I'll have to see you and give you the whole tale. I'll be coming up there and staying with you and Marla for a while."

  "Not a problem. I don't know if this will be of interest to you but Chang and Dubois are looking for a receptionist. Temporary job. Their current receptionist is on maternity leave. I mentioned to Amoy that you were job hunting."

  "You two still talk, huh?" Terri asked interestedly. "How does Marla handle that?"

  "She is fine. Well, fine-ish. It’s not as if I deliberately called her. I called the office for Zack but Amoy is the one handling the account. He is away on business."

  "Ah." Terri could imagine how surprised Zack would be if she ended up working at his workplace. Would he know it was her, Terri Scarlett, that he had a thing with in Jannah?

  "I am interested in that job," she said to Yuri urgently. She would love to work near Zack, get to know him better.

  "Okay. I'll give you Amoy's number, and you can work it out with her."

  He hung up after a bit more chitchat and Terri called Amoy immediately.

  "Yes, we have a position," Amoy whispered; she was in a
meeting. "Send your resume. Tessa leaves on Friday, so if you can come in tomorrow morning for an interview that'd be great. The job is practically yours if you want it. The interview is a formality."

  Terri hung up the phone, beaming. She would spend the day with Troy and then leave for Kingston in the morning.

  She called Troy. He offered to come and pick her up in an hour.

  Terri hugged him tightly when he got out of the car and then she hugged her niece Dahlia and her nephew Todd, who had come along with him.

  "Chelsea is cooking up a storm," Troy said. "We are having a couple and their son over for lunch today."

  Terri made a face. "Some of your stuffy church friends."

  "No." Troy grinned. "I have no stuffy church friends. This couple is new to the school. They are from Guyana. The lady and Chelsea hit it off and now they are BFF's. Their son, Gervaise, is about your age."

  "No." Terri shook her head. "I am fine guy-wise."

  "Really?" Troy frowned. "How come?"

  He started the car. "What have you been up to?"

  "This and that," Terri said, avoiding his assessing stare.

  Troy glanced at her doubtfully. "I don't trust that tone; you've been up to something."

  "It's a long story." Terri stuck her tongue out at him. "I might tell you and I might not."

  Troy kissed his teeth. "We are grown people, Terri. I shouldn't have to be begging you for news."

  He looked over at the children in the back. "And I don't want them to hear me hounding you for details. I don't want it to be a learned behavior. I imagine Todd will suffer in a few years with Dahlia. Just like you made me suffer."

  "Good." Terri smiled. "The legacy continues and I must say I admire your newly acquired restraint."

  Troy laughed.

  "Aunty Terri, Daddy said you love to play ball. Will you play with us on Sunday?" Todd asked.

  "Sorry, honey buns." Terri looked around at her nephew sadly. "Sunday I will be in Kingston. I am staying with your Uncle Yuri.

  "Boy, he is one handsome dude. You are going to have to build an extra fence to keep away the girls."

  Troy chuckled. "You are so vain; you know he looks like you."

  Terri laughed.

  "You know what you need is your own car," Troy said after a Veggie Tales song was finished playing. Dahlia and Todd had sung along with it.

  "That is so true." Terri nodded. "I am going to have to consider all of those things now that I am back home."

  "You can use Chelsea's in the interim. She uses my car more than hers these days."

  "Thanks," Terri said. "I will take you up on that offer."

  Her phone rang at the same time and she answered it. It was Reuben.

  "Hey," Reuben said gruffly. "Feeling better?"

  It took Terri all of two seconds to realize that he thought that she was Lola.

  "Yep." Terri chuckled. "Ru, it is so good to hear your voice. I am on my way up to Troy's for the day."

  Reuben sighed over the phone. "Really? I thought you would have wanted us to do something today. You know, just the two of us."

  His voice sounded different, intimate, when talking to her. What had Lola done?

  Terri almost chuckled. She glanced over at Troy and then whispered, "Reuben Scarlett, are you asking me out on a date?"

  "What?" Troy yelped before Reuben could respond.

  Terri started laughing.

  Reuben sputtered. "Who is that, Troy?"

  "Yes, Troy, a very mad Troy."

  "Good, so you are telling the family about us." Reuben sounded satisfied. "Though I thought we could do it together."

  "Good Lord." Terri groaned. "Reuben, we need to talk about the past couple of days."

  "Okay." Reuben sounded disappointed. "When?"

  "I'll be going to Kingston for a job interview tomorrow. If I get the job, I'll be at Yuri's place but I'll be coming back down this evening. I'll call you for directions to your place."

  Terri hung up the phone contemplatively. It was three days! What had Lola done to convince her cousin to be having feelings for her?

  She started to laugh. Three days was a lot of time if there was overwhelming chemistry. Look at her and Zack.

  "This is not funny," Troy said huffily. "You cannot date Reuben. It is against the law."

  "Which law?" Terri asked between chuckles.

  "The Scarlett law," Troy muttered. "It’s just not happening. We are not royalty."

  Terri found the term Scarlett law funny too and by the time they had reached the house and Troy had sputtered through why she couldn't date Reuben, she had given in and told him about the switch with Lola.

  "That explains a lot," Troy said dryly. "And believe it or not, I am happy that it wasn’t really you that Reuben had a thing for. It would be uncomfortable."

  Terri nodded. "You can say that again. Reuben is like a brother to me."

  "You have to put him out of his misery," Troy urged. "Clear this up pronto. Where is Lola now?" Troy asked.

  Terri sighed, "Jannah, and I honestly don’t know what will happen there. I am waiting on her call."

  *****

  Terri maneuvered her way down the hill that evening in Chelsea's car. She called Reuben and asked him for directions twice. He slowly told her as if she had missed a screw. He must have been thinking that she had been at his house before.

  And when she ended up at his place, he was at the front waiting for her. His hair looked high and tousled, as if he was running his fingers through it.

  He looked adorable.

  Heartbreakingly handsome. Sweet. Her precious cousin whom she had not even an ounce of romantic feelings for.

  She tensed up when she got out of the car. What if he really had feelings for her after the switch with Lola?

  "Terri?" He asked, looking at her doubtfully, as if he couldn't quite believe it was her.

  "Yes," Terri said slowly, "it's me. The authentic, genuine article."

  Reuben looked her over. "Your hair is back to curly. You went back to normal."

  "Actually, I didn't change," Terri said, opening the back door and taking out a huge carton of food.

  "Chelsea sent dinner for you. She does awesome brown stew fish! You'll love it. I had two big ones for dinner. I can hardly move."

  "You hate fish!"

  "I could never hate fish!" Terri exclaimed in horror. "Not in this lifetime. Fish should be had in all ways, every day, every night."

  She was toying with him; she saw the helpless confusion in his eyes.

  She handed him the carton of food.

  "My friend Lola, on the other hand, hates fish if it looks like fish."

  Reuben shook his head. "Who? The girl who is supposed to be married to a prince?"

  "Yes. Her." Terri batted her eyes at him. "What's the matter, Ru? You are looking at me kind of disappointed like."

  "It's not there. It's gone." Reuben's voice was regretful.

  "What the chemistry? The love?" Terri chuckled.

  Reuben sighed. "I must be shallower than I thought."

  "No, you are not," Terri said sympathetically. "Ru, before I explain to you what I did, I am going to have to give you a cussing."

  "What?" Reuben was confused.

  "You have been around me for years," Terri said mock seriously, "and you couldn't tell me from another girl?"

  "Explain," Reuben said, still examining her intently.

  Terri explained and Reuben exhaled in relief. "Thank God. I thought I was losing my mind. Now that you say it, it is so obvious. You, I mean Lola, had a completely different effect on my libido. I could tell you apart in the dark," Reuben said, opening the front door. "I saw you in the driveway just now and you did nothing for me. No spark, no nothing."

  "Gah, I feel very unpretty right now," Terri snickered.

  "No, don't—you know you are pretty. It's just that there is much more to attraction than looks. I should have figured that it wasn't you from day one. The minute I met her I was drawn
like a moth to a flame. I have never been drawn to you like that. It didn't make sense and I have been driving myself crazy trying to come up with some explanation as to why I suddenly changed."

  Terri rolled her eyes.

  "Seriously," Reuben headed for the kitchen. "Her brown eyes are her own real eyes? They looked so right on her. I always wondered how contact lenses could be so authentic looking."

  "Yes, they are her eyes," Terri said, "and this conversation is giving me a complex."

  "Sorry," Reuben apologized. "Terri, this is awesome and weird at the same time. It’s just that I..." he sighed and slumped on the counter, "I love her. I looked into her eyes and I was sure, like everything came together."

  "Oh Ru," Terri murmured. "At least one good thing came out of this switch. You got to meet somebody you can say that about."

  "Where is she?" Reuben asked anxiously. "I mean, is she really married to a prince?"

  "Yes," Terri nodded, "they came for her last night. Only a miracle can get her out now."

  Reuben looked appalled. "That's crazy. Where exactly is Jannah?"

  Terri shook her head at her cousin. "You are going to wait until she contacts you."

  Reuben opened his mouth to protest.

  "Nope. Wait. If you really want to help her, you pray about this. Maybe God will work out a way according to his plan and not ours. Our plan didn't even get off the ground."

  Reuben slumped his shoulders. "I should do something. I mean, if she really wants to get away..."

  "You do nothing. Just stand by," Terri said sternly. "We Scarletts are done with meddling in Lola's life. Let God work it out now."

  Chapter Eighteen

  Zack's phone rang and he picked it up groggily. He had been in a dream, where he was celebrating the birthday of his first child, a girl with hazel eyes like Lola's. He had been happy; he never wanted that feeling to end.

  He picked up his buzzing cell phone with vestiges of the dream still cocooning him. He was smitten, well and truly smitten, with the mysterious Lola. He didn't even know her last name and yet he had been almost intimate with her.

  Luckily, that still small voice that he was learning to listen to had stopped him. How on earth did he allow his emotions and his restraint over his body to get so far out of control?