“What does that mean?” I immediately felt like I had to put up the defenses.
“A rapper? And one from a troubled background? That ex-wife of his? All those girlfriends? I’m not sure any of them owned an entire outfit that covered the basic body parts.”
“Well, there’s a reason she’s an ex, and that all those other women are also exes, Momma. I am not one of them, and he seems just fine with that.”
“Did you sleep with him?”
“Is that any of your business?” I was pissed now.
“Yes, darlin’, it is. You’re barely separated, and your whole life has been turned on its ass. All the things you thought were good and right are neither, and while Royce is a grade A bastard, I know this hurts. When have you ever been interested in this sort of man?”
“I have been a fan of his since college, Momma.”
Silence, and then, “You listened to his music in my home?”
“Yes, Momma, and somehow, I managed to not be a devil-worshipping slut!”
“There is no need for such language, or that tone, missy,” she began.
“No, Momma, you are absolutely right. I cannot believe you’re making assumptions about me, about Xavier, and you haven’t asked me one thing that might be based on fact versus something that you can read in some tabloid rag! As if we don’t deal with that sort of nonsense regularly from our clients! You know how much lies and trash are put out there as truth! I can’t believe you’d assume it of me, even though you don’t know Xavier! I’ll talk to you later, Momma.”
I hit End on the phone. My anger chased away the earlier feelings of exhaustion. I got up and collected my bag, muttering to myself as I emptied it and sorted laundry.
Then I went around the house, cleaning up and making sure that things were in place for me to start back to my regular life.
Damn her. I’d have to see Momma at work tomorrow. She’d be fuming, and ready for a fight because I sure wasn’t talking to her again today. I’d left my phone in my room. She could leave another message since she was so fond of them.
I threw myself on the couch and turned on the TV. This was going to be a day of camping out and watching all my favorite chick flicks.
To hell with the world right now. Well, at least the world that had Marguerite Meroux in it.
9
Xavier
I thought about her all the way back to the plane, and then all the way back to New York.
For the first time, I wondered if I should introduce her to Tibby. I’d never bothered before, not in making time to set it up or anything.
But Olivia was different.
And she’d texted me kisses and hugs. I wondered if she got the meaning of my X’s and O’s comment. When I’d been working on the song about her last week, I kept hearing a refrain of X, X, X—X’s and O’s in my head. Part of the chorus. But along the way, X’s and O’s had become the title of the song. I liked it. The more I thought about it, the more I felt it was right.
Like her.
The thought startled me.
I knew this had been moving differently than anything else I could remember, but I hadn’t moved past that.
Until now. Was this really something that I could say, This is it? This is the one for me?
Did it happen like that? Because as far as I knew, it didn’t. Even Tib, who had the best marriage I’d ever seen, had gone through hell with dumb ass guys.
Like I hadn’t?
As the plane took off, I couldn’t sit still. I got up, walking back and forth in the small cabin. Byrne came in.
“Can I get you something, sir?”
I held up a hand. “No—wait, yeah. How about some of that fancy coffee?”
He smiled, and I grinned. I wasn’t a coffee person in that I went to the local shop and engaged in a dissertation to get a cup of coffee. Regular, cream, sugar. That was me. But I found that I really liked Olivia’s coffee. What was it? Community?
“What’s so special about that coffee, Byrne?” If anyone would know, he would. And I could ask him without feeling like a turnip that just fell off the truck. He was a foodie, and ever on the alert to enlighten and share with the rest of us. It’s why all four of us kept him as the steward no matter which one of us had the plane.
“Community is made in New Orleans, and this flavor has chicory in it. Chicory is a root that the French first used to make their coffee last longer. Café du Monde, which is a famous café in New Orleans, makes their café au lait with chicory, and it’s delicious. This would be better with beignets, but it stands on its own.”
“Do I want to know why there is something other than coffee in coffee?”
“We have some time before we land,” he said with a small laugh.
“No, no, I’ll just have some coffee, and consider myself as educated as I need to be for the time being,” I said.
“Of course.” He turned toward the galley.
Normally, I enjoyed talking with him. I grew up on Hamburger Helper, so it was nice to have someone I could ask about food that didn’t come out of a box. Not that there was anything wrong with Hamburger Helper—it was just that I didn’t realize, until Tibby started inviting me over for dinner, that there were dinners that could be cooked from scratch.
Speaking of which, I wanted to call her. I needed her advice. I hoped she wasn’t too mad at me over the whole manager mess.
Since it was the middle of the day, she ought to be in her office. She answered on the second ring.
“What?”
“You don’t sound like someone who just had a blissfully naked honeymoon.”
“Stay away from my nakedness,” she snapped.
“Seriously, Tib, is this a bad time? I can call back.”
She was silent for a moment. “What’s wrong?”
“What do you mean?”
“Who are you and what did you do to my friend X?”
“What the hell?”
“That’s more like it. Since when do you care about my mood enough to change the subject?”
“Are you saying I’m kind of a dick?”
“Oh, just with me. So what’s wrong?”
“You first. You okay?”
“I need to get together with you sometime, but other than that, I’m good. Great, in fact.”
“Married life good?”
“It’s fan-fucking-tastic, X,” she said, and her voice lightened. “I didn’t realize I could be this happy.”
“I am really happy for you, Tib. I mean that.”
“Since I’m all sorted over here, what’s up, X?”
“Uh…” I found that I wasn’t sure where to start.
“I already know this is somehow involving a woman. So let’s start there.”
“How did you know?” I hadn’t said much to her.
“Because it’s always a woman with you, and you had even worse examples of how to have a relationship than I did,” she sighed.
I’d never thought of it like that, but she was right. While Tibby and her family literally saved me, Tibby hadn’t had it much easier. Her parents drank too, but they were able to function, and they didn’t beat the hell out of their kids. So it was a big step up for me.
But their relationship wasn’t what anyone who was remotely sane would call healthy.
“Stop stewing,” she said. “What’s up? What’s going on? You didn’t get married again, did you?”
“Hell no,” I said reflexively.
Her sigh of relief was audible.
“I met someone last week.”
“Where?”
“Will you let me talk?”
“Oh, please, do.” Her sarcasm dripped through the phone.
“I met her when I was flying back from firing Preston.”
“We need to talk about that, too. I have news, but not right now. Carry on,” she interjected.
“I asked her out, and then I wussed out, and didn’t call her until she’d left New York. She wasn’t happy, but she didn’t tell
me to fuck off, so we started chatting. Just texting, nothing big. But she’s funny, and there’s something about her—so, well, I invited her to San Francisco.”
“You took her to the benefit?”
I could hear the surprise. Tibby knew that I kept my involvement in the Y low key. I’m not exactly the best role model for kids. I know that, and I’m cool. It’s another reason I don’t advertise the things I do with them.
“I did, and I asked her to be casual. She was, and she was brilliant.”
“What does she do?”
“Some kind of consulting for… I don’t know. People who are trying to get ahead? She was kind of vague. She said she works with people in the Grand Old Opry.”
“Where’s she from?”
“Nashville. Anyway, we had a great time, and I just dropped her off at her place.”
“And you’re calling me because?”
“I don’t know! She’s not like anyone else I’ve ever dated—”
“You’re dating her? And you just met her?”
Was I? “I would like to date her, but I don’t know if she wants that yet.”
“It’s good that one of you has sense,” Tibby said.
“She’s got her own business, and she’s in the middle of a divorce—”
“Oh dear baby Jesus, please do not get involved in that! If she’s still legally married, you can be named in some states!”
“Well, it would certainly toss a big monkey wrench into the rumors I’m just hiding out in the closet, refusing to come out, wouldn’t it?” I grinned.
“Or make them worse. That doesn’t matter, X. You do not need to be in the middle of someone else’s marriage issues.”
“I know. But it’s not the middle of anything. He cheated, he bounced, he has a new piece, and he’s trying to take Livvie for everything he can.”
Silence again, and then, “So she’s the one with the money?”
I could practically hear her brain working.
“It sounds like it. She dresses nice. When I met her, she was on her way to a week at the…” what the hell was that place called? “The Red House spa? In New York? Elizabeth something or other?”
Tibby laughed. “You’ve spent enough money there, although you don’t realize it. The Red Door. It’s a nice place. A little old lady for her, but a nice place.”
“She’s not old. She’s younger than us, thirty-one.”
“X! I’m impressed. She’s not right out of college, and she has her own business! You sure the pod people didn’t come and take you away?”
“Shut up,” I said with no heat.
“So you like her. She sounds the divorce aside, like a nice woman. What’s the problem?”
“She’s not like anyone else I’ve met, that’s obvious. She is nice, Tibby. I actually thought about asking her if she wanted to go to DC so you could meet her. What if…what if she doesn’t want to be part of the circus that’s my life?”
I’d said it. Not only did I just commit myself to wanting something more than sex with Olivia, but I also went ahead and said what it was I was afraid of. Out loud.
“If she is as nice as you say, and she doesn’t see you, the real you, for who you are, then as nice as she is, she’s not the best person for you,” Tibby’s voice broke into my thoughts.
“Yeah, I’m such a catch.”
“You totally are, in spite of being an ass sometimes. Everyone is an ass sometimes. I’ve been an ass. So has Seth. And Bryant, regularly!” Her voice rose to almost a shout.
Bryant must be nearby. Listening to the two of them in their office was hilarious. They yelled at each other from their offices. I’d been sitting in the waiting area, and I could hear them, and their staff laughed quietly when it was happening.
“So if she can’t see that, then let her go, and move on,” Tibby finished.
“Not so easy,” I muttered.
“I know, but I know you, and you deserve nothing but the best.”
I smiled. ‘Thanks, Tibby.”
“Don’t bring her here, not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because if you’re still getting to know her, don’t drag her to your family for inspection. Let her get more comfortable with the XTC circus.”
“That makes sense.”
“Now go work. Oh, and I heard from your ex-manager again. I happened to mention your recording, and after some thought, he’s decided he’ll make a basic statement that you two have decided to part ways and wish each other nothing but the best.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. He was an asshole when I needed him to be cool.”
“You over your freak out?”
“Enough. I still need a manager.”
“I am working on it,” she said, and the business-like tone was back. “Don’t nag. I’m cleaning up your mess for free, even though it meant that I had to get out of bed and haul your drunk asses home.”
“Come on. You laughed your ass off almost as much as we did.”
“No, I did not.”
“Liar,” I said.
“Whatever. Love you. Go away.”
“Love you, too.”
She hung up on me.
I felt better.
Best friends did that for you.
Olivia
I woke early, probably because I went to sleep early after refusing to get up last night other than for the delivery guy. I’d ignored my phone until I went to bed. A couple of missed calls and texts, but even though I wanted to talk to Xavier, I thought I needed the time alone.
So when I rolled over to turn off my alarm, I picked up the phone. Three calls from Momma, and one from Xavier, along with texts.
‘Hey figured u r busy but call me if u want to talk.’
‘I miss you even more.’
‘Night Ms. Livvie’
Now I felt bad. It wasn’t his fault that I was in a foul temper. That honor belonged solely to my mother.
‘Sorry that I didn’t reply last night. Life got in the way.’
I figured that he didn’t need to know that Momma was hating on him.
‘Life does that. Everything ok?’
‘You know how it is. Life always looks harder after a great vaca.’
‘IKR? My list of to do is friggin insane. Talk tonight?’
‘Definitely!!’
‘Have a great day, Liv XO.’
I loved that he wasn’t afraid to show affection even in text. I was glad that I’d taken the chance yesterday—God, was it only yesterday? It felt like a lifetime.
‘You too. XO’
There was no getting around it. I needed to get up and face the battle. Since I hadn’t called her back, Momma would be on the warpath.
Unlike our normal patterns, I would be armed and waiting for her.
I didn’t stop to think about why I was willing to fight her so hard on this.
* * *
When I got into the office, it was still early. I’d gotten ready so fast I’d surprised even myself. But I wanted to be waiting for when Momma came in. Hopefully, she was mad enough to haul ass in here too so we could fight before the rest of the staff got in.
I’d made a cup of coffee and was at my desk when I heard the door slam open.
Momma.
“In here,” I yelled. Might as well get it over with.
She came in, and boy, she was like a train, huffing, and puffing. I could practically see the steam coming from her.
“Why didn’t you call me back?”
“Because I didn’t want to talk to you.”
Her mouth opened and closed. I forced myself not to laugh, looking down at my coffee. That would only make things worse.
“I did not raise my daughter to talk to me this way.”
“I didn’t think my mother would be so disrespectful toward me. I’ve always done the right thing, always thought of others. Now I am thinking of me, and doing something for me, and I’m not hurting anyone else, and you call me names—”
“I d
id not call you anything at all!”
“Momma, you insinuated, and girl, please, your insinuations are as good as taking out a billboard.”
She glared, and then sat down in the chair across from my desk. When she looked up, she had a rueful smile on her face. “Well, I am good at it, aren’t I?”
Oh, no. I knew this sneaky side attack routine. “Yes, you are. And you basically said I was a tramp who wasn’t thinking straight or at all.” I crossed my arms and glared.
She looked down again, and I knew that I’d won that small round. My mother was very skilled at conversational warfare. It’s what made her such a fierce advocate for clients. But I wasn’t a client.
When she looked up, the warrior was gone, and she was just Momma. “I did, and I’m sorry, Livvie. I love you. I admit I looked up your…friend. There are a lot of less than…” she stopped, obviously debating what sort of adjective she could choose that would keep the fight tamped down, “Savory tales about him online.”
It was my turn to look down now because only Momma could say ‘savory tales’ and not sound silly.
This was why we didn’t fight often, and when we did, it was short-lived.
I looked up to see her studying me.
“I am gonna ask you, and I want you to answer me truthfully, Olivia Anne. Did you sleep with that man?”
I hesitated for a moment, and then said, “Yes. More than once. It was absolutely sinfully amazing. In fact, I can’t wait to do it again.”
It wasn’t often I stunned her, but I did. She opened her mouth, closed it, and then crossed her fingers together in her lap and looked away.
The urge to laugh got stronger as I thought I heard her take a few deep breaths.
“Sweet baby Jesus, please give me the strength,” she muttered.
I gave in and laughed.
“Don’t you laugh at me, Olivia Anne! That is no way to start a relationship!” She shook her finger in my direction.
“Momma, I’m not sure there is a relationship. It’s too soon,” I said, as my brain yelled, Liar!
“But you’ve already slept with him!”
“Momma, I am so glad that I did. So glad. Not just because the sex was amazing but because it was a revelation to be with someone who wasn’t a selfish prick.”
Forgotten Wishes: Djinn Everlasting Book Two Page 13