Money Can't Buy Love

by Connie Briscoe

  Alise picked up on the third ring.

  “Hello, Alise,” Lenora said. “Got some time to talk?”

  “A little,” Alise said. “I’m meeting a client to show a house and I have to leave in a few minutes. What’s up?”

  “I’m sorry if I was short the last time we spoke,” Lenora said. “I was going through a rough spot.”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  “Good. Glad we got that out of the way. Guess what?”

  “What?” Alise asked.

  “I bought a BMW.”

  “Really?”

  Lenora nodded into the phone. “I’m about to pull off the lot.”

  “How exciting for you. Which model did you get?”

  “The 750Li,” Lenora said. “Same one you have.”

  “Ah, no,” Alise said. “I’ve always had the 500 series.”

  “Really? For some reason I thought you drove a 750.”

  “Nope, not me.”

  “Well, the 750 drives like a dream, girl,” Lenora said.

  “No doubt.”

  “Now I know why you like them so much, Alise. I think it’s spoiling me for anything else ever.”

  “Lucky you.”

  Lenora thought there was something odd in Alise’s tone. Normally Alise had so much to say—often too much. Today she hardly uttered more than a sentence at a time. “Where do you take it for service?” Lenora asked.

  “Always to the dealer.”

  “Even for small jobs like oil changes?”

  “Yes.”

  There it was again. The ultra-short comment. So unlike Alise. “Thanks for the advice.”

  “Of course. I’m so sorry to have to cut this short, Lenora, but I really have to go meet this client.”

  “No problem,” Lenora said. “We’ll talk another time.”

  Alise didn’t even bother to say good-bye. She just hung up. Lenora stared at the phone for a second. What was that all about? Could Alise still be upset about their last telephone call, when they had the spat about Gerald? Or maybe Alise really was in a rush or had some personal things going on. Lenora shrugged. She wasn’t going to let this drag her down. Not now. She had already spent too much time since winning feeling depressed.

  Forty minutes later Lenora pulled into a parking lot in Silver Spring near Gerald’s office building. She drove around the lot until she found a spot near the wall situated so that only one car would be next to hers and the chances of someone nicking this beauty would be lowered.

  When she walked into the restaurant, Gerald was already in a booth waiting for her. He stood and waved, then gave her a warm hug and kiss before she sat across from him. He motioned for her to move closer and she slid across the leather seat. Lenora liked the new positive energy she felt coming from Gerald.

  “You look gorgeous,” he said as he placed his hand over hers on the table. “You look happy.”

  “I am. I feel relieved, refreshed. It’s thrilling to realize that you don’t have to worry about money. I feel fifty pounds lighter, even though I’ve only lost about five.”

  “That much? Five pounds in a week is nothing to sneeze at.”

  She didn’t tell him that she had some extra help with the diet pills. “I don’t know why I waited so long to go to the lottery office. It was so silly of me.”

  “Don’t beat yourself up about it. Better late than never. You needed some time, that’s all.”

  She nodded as the waiter approached the table with a bottle of champagne. “I already ordered this,” Gerald said as the waiter popped the cork and filled their flutes. “I hope you don’t mind.”

  “I would have preferred wine,” she said. “Or a glass of Baileys.”

  “Come on,” he said. “This occasion begs for champagne. Don’t you think?”

  “You’re right,” she said. Even though she wasn’t crazy about it, if ever there was a moment for champagne, this was it.

  He raised his glass and she followed suit. “To Maryland’s cutest, smartest, sweetest millionaire.” He said it with lots of enthusiasm but not so loudly that others in the lounge would hear above the faint music in the background.

  She laughed. “I’ll drink to all of that.”

  “So tell me more about what happened when you went down there,” he said.

  “Well, I decided to take the single cash payment instead of getting annuity payments over the next twenty-five years. It’s a lot less money, but you get it all now.”

  “How much less?” he asked.

  She leaned close to him and whispered in his ear.

  “I don’t know,” he said. “I might have taken the annuity payments. I’d have to do the math.”

  “The idea is to invest it so it can earn interest,” she said. “I’ve been reading up on this.”

  “Hey, it’s your money. You wanted to handle it on your own, and I’ll support your decisions whatever they are. What color is the car?”

  “Cashmere silver,” she said with an uppity air.

  “How much?”

  She leaned close again and filled him in with a whisper.

  He nodded knowingly. “That’s about what I thought.”

  “I could have ordered something more customized, but I was too excited to drive one off the lot today. And I can always afford to order another one later if I want.”

  “Baby, you can order up a Bentley or Rolls if that’s what you want.”

  Her eyes grew big. “Ooh,” she said. “Don’t put ideas into my head.”

  Gerald laughed.

  After lunch, they decided that he would walk her to the BMW and they would ride around downtown Columbia a bit before he went back to the office. They approached the BMW 750Li and Gerald circled around it, nodding admiringly; then he sat in the passenger seat and looked it over inside.

  “You like it?” she asked from the driver’s seat.

  “What’s not to like?” he asked. “Although I might have gotten a different interior color, this is a beauty in any color.”

  She dangled the keys in his face. “Want to take it for a spin?”

  He took them from her. “I was wondering when you were going to ask me that.”

  They switched sides and Lenora could see how pleased he was as he sat in the driver’s seat. He removed his cell phone, placed it in a small compartment on the dashboard, and started the ignition. He smiled and nodded with approval as the engine purred.

  “Nice,” he said. He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the lips before he carefully put the gear into reverse.

  “What I wouldn’t give to drive something like this every day,” he said as they exited the lot and headed down Colesville Road.

  She smiled. “Let’s go pick something out for you next weekend.”

  “Whoa,” he said, clearly surprised. “I’m not expecting anything. No, you wait until you get your finances in order. You got a few bills to catch up on, don’t you? We have plenty of time.”

  His cell phone rang as he was attempting to make a left turn into traffic. So she picked it up. The moment she saw the caller’s first name, she stiffened.

  “It’s Robin Lewis,” she said as he completed his turn. He took the phone from her, pressed a button, and put the phone back in the compartment. Rarely did Gerald let his phone go unanswered. He would sometimes tell the person on the line that he would have to call them back later, but he almost always picked up.

  “I’m shocked you didn’t pick up,” she said. “You never do that.”

  “It can wait until I get back to the office.”

  “That the Robin who answered your phone when I called earlier?”

  He nodded reluctantly.

  “Is that why you didn’t want me to hear the conversation?”

  “Not at all,” he said. “I just want to be careful. I’m driving a brand-new, very expensive car that I’m not used to handling. I don’t want to mess it up.”

  Something about this was really starting to bother Lenora. Who was this Robin? And why
was she popping up all over the place? “Is she going to be there when you go back?”

  Gerald took her hand as he pulled up in front of his office building. “Yes, she’s going to be there. We work together. Look, Lenora, it’s been two years since that happened. When are you going to learn to trust me again?”

  She smiled thinly. She really wanted to do that. He had done nothing to cause serious suspicion. But she was having a hard time putting his cheating to rest. Obviously it didn’t take much to dredge the memories back up to the surface. A simple phone call from a female coworker and it was as if it had all happened just yesterday. “You’re right.”

  “I’ll come by your place after work for dinner,” he said. “That is if you still want me to.”

  She nodded. “Of course.”

  He exited the car and she came around and climbed into the driver’s seat. It was a high traffic area lined with No Parking signs, and they kissed quickly on the lips. Then she drove off.

  Chapter 22

  When Lenora heard Gerald enter the condo that evening, she was in the kitchen mixing apple martinis. The drinks were to lighten the mood after the tense lunchtime drive in her new BMW. She wanted them to relax and enjoy the meal she had prepared of blackened salmon, grilled corn and peppers, and frozen yogurt topped with fresh strawberries for a lightweight dessert.

  She peeked around the corner from the kitchen and saw that he was changing into shorts and a T-shirt. He winked at her and sat down on the love seat in the front room to change his shoes. She went back to her cocktail shaker and filled it with ice, followed with vodka. She added apple juice and Sour Apple Pucker and shook. Then she filled two plastic martini glasses. This would be the last time she used these cheap martini glasses. Later this week she was going to shop for some kick-ass crystal.

  Gerald came and stood behind her at the sink. “Mm, that looks delicious,” he said.

  She picked up one of the flutes, turned, and lifted it to his mouth. “What does it need?” she asked.

  “Tastes fine to me,” he said, smacking his lips generously.

  She nodded in agreement and they took their glasses and sat on the couch in front of the television. They were about halfway through their drinks when Gerald turned the volume down on the TV, then took her flute and placed it on the coffee table next to his. He removed his eyeglasses and she knew exactly what was coming. Their once-weekly alphabet-soup lovemaking. A, nibble on ear. B, get naked. C, enter, missionary style. D, catch breath.

  This time there actually was a little more variety to the routine. As she lay face up, one leg thrown over the back of the couch, a little black beetle of some kind slowly crossed the ceiling above them. Lenora stared as it stopped and started repeatedly in its trip to the other side of the room. She made a bet to herself that Gerald would wrap up his business before the beetle finished its journey.

  She won the bet. The beetle was a little more than halfway across when Gerald lifted himself up off her and pulled his boxer shorts back on. She sat up and giggled uncontrollably as she slipped her clothes back on.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Gerald asked, staring at her in puzzlement.

  She shook her head. “Nothing.”

  “No one laughs at nothing,” he said.

  “You are so right,” she said. “Must be the martini.”

  “Half a martini and you’re drunk?”

  “Empty stomach.” She couldn’t bear to tell him the truth—that watching the bug cross the ceiling was more suspenseful than sex with him. She exhaled deeply.

  “So tell me,” he said. “What’s it feel like to be rich?”

  She leaned back on the couch. At least talking about the money should be interesting. “It freaked me out at first.”

  “So you admit that now.”

  She nodded. “I was scared to death.”

  “I know.”

  “Everyone else was thinking and talking about all the good things the money would bring me, but I was thinking about what I could lose.”

  “You mean like that beat-up old Honda?” he teased.

  She laughed. “Or a job with a boss I always complain about anyway.”

  He lifted his brow. “You’re thinking of quitting?”

  “I’ve thought about it. But thinking is the operative word. At least now.”

  “Not before you find something else, I hope,” he said. “You won a lot of money, but it won’t be enough after taxes to live on forever unless you’re real careful about how you spend it. A BMW doesn’t fall under ‘real careful.’ ”

  “Oh, I’d start something of my own. Like a business selling my photos to greeting card companies or a photography studio. What do you think?”

  “I like the idea, but that kind of thing takes a lot of time and work to set up,” he said. “You can’t rush it. You need to plan carefully before you quit your job. And it wouldn’t hurt to wait a year or two for the economy to come back.”

  “But with the money I won, I could afford to set up a photography studio, even to buy a small building somewhere in Baltimore and support myself while I build the business slowly. That’s something I’ve dreamed about. And now I can do it.”

  “No doubt that’s exciting. All I’m saying is to take some time to think it through. Look at the numbers. I can help you there. Talk to other photographers who have done this and ask the hard questions. Be realistic about what they tell you, because once you take the plunge, it’s difficult to undo. You see what our firm is going through. We’re even starting to talk about shutting down.”

  Lenora’s eyes widened. “What? You never told me things were that bad. When did this come up?”

  “We’ve discussed it, but not seriously until we lost the client last week. That was a huge blow after all the effort we put into trying to hold on. With the way things are going recently, we have to put that on the table as a real possibility.”

  “I’m so sorry to hear this. Why didn’t you tell me before?”

  “You were going through your own stuff when all this was going down. You weren’t feeling well, and I didn’t want to burden you further.”

  Lenora shook her head with disbelief. “I’m shocked that it’s come this far, Gerald. Now I understand why you’ve been putting so many hours in. I’m sorry I was such a nag about it.”

  He nodded with appreciation.

  “What about taking out another business loan?”

  “Normally that’s what we would do. But that’s not going to happen in this financial climate. Banks aren’t exactly scrambling over each other to make loans to struggling PR firms.”

  “Maybe I can help. How much do you think you all would need to keep going until the economy turns around?”

  He put his hands up, palms out, in protest. “Absolutely not. I’m not expecting you to do anything like that. That’s your money, not mine.”

  “We’re a couple, Gerald, and we have been for years. I’m happy to help if I can.”

  He shook his head firmly. “This is my problem. I’ll work it out with my partners.”

  “Don’t be so stubborn,” she said. “If I can help, you should let me.”

  “Let me talk it over with my partners,” he said. “They may not even want to go forward. And the only way I would accept such an offer is if we considered it a loan. We would pay you back every cent. That’s the only way.”

  “Fine,” she said. “Just let me know. I would do this for you even if we weren’t a couple. We’ve known each other for so long, and I know I could depend on you to pay me back.”

  That was Gerald, she thought as he picked up the remote and turned the volume back up. Reliable, dependable. Boring. Let’s face it. They got along, and she enjoyed his company well enough. He would make a good business partner, a great friend. But did she really want this man as her lawful wedded husband for the rest of her life? It was something to think about.

  Chapter 23

  Monica called on Friday night to tell her that she was meeting Alise fo
r lunch on Saturday afternoon and suggested that Lenora join them. Lenora wasn’t sure that was a good idea, given the way Alise had acted so cool when they last talked. But she agreed to meet them and even offered to treat her friends to dinner.

  “Did you tell Alise that I was going to be here?” Lenora asked Monica from across the table at P.F. Chang’s China Bistro.

  “I tried to reach her this morning but couldn’t,” Monica said. “I left her a message.”

  “So she might not know I’m here, depending on whether she checked her messages.”

  “Is that a problem?” Monica asked.

  “Last time I spoke to her she was real chilly. It was like she didn’t want to be bothered with me.”

  Monica frowned. “Why would she act like that?”

  “Beats me,” Lenora said. “I have no idea.”

  “There she is,” Monica said, waving toward the entrance. “I think you’re probably imagining things, Lenora.”

  “Maybe,” Lenora said as Alise walked up to the table.

  “How’s it going?” Alise asked as she slid into the booth next to Monica.

  “Fine,” Monica said. “It’s good to see you.”

  “Sorry to be late. I had to take Junior to the ballpark this morning. Hello, Lenora.”

  Lenora smiled. “Hi, Alise.”

  After the three of them ordered, Alise shook her cloth napkin out and placed it in her lap. Lenora buttered a roll. Neither spoke and they avoided each other’s eyes. That was when Lenora knew for certain that something was going on with Alise, although exactly what she wasn’t sure.

  “So tell us what you’ve been up to since you won the lottery, Lenora,” Monica said.

  Lenora swallowed her bread and cleared her throat. “It took me more than a week to claim my winnings. I was freaking out.”