At nine-thirty, Emily opened the door to the computer room. Mitch was intent on a case he was reading and didn’t even look up. Emily closed the door. "Hellie’s asleep."
"Then you are a miracle worker. She’s a crazy little monkey."
"Mitch—look at me." Mitch did as he was told two seconds later, then sat back with a smile as he stared at his wife in her new lingerie.
"Wow," he said appreciatively. "When did you get that?"
"A couple of days ago," Emily shrugged as she walked over to him. She put her hands on his shoulders as she sat on his lap. "I thought maybe you needed a little extra encouragement."
"That’s not fair, Em. You know how crazy everything is right now."
She leaned back but kept her hands on his shoulders. "Crazy enough to justify not having sex for two weeks?"
Mitch opened his mouth to say something, then just blinked. He put his hand on Emily’s back and rubbed her skin under the silky garment. "No, I can’t think of anything that would justify that."
Emily kissed him. She was relieved—it was nice to know they still had that spark when they touched. "Then, Mister Graham, I think you have some amends to make."
Mitch smiled and slid off her robe. "I think you’re right."
CHAPTER 3
Miranda and Richard came in to the office that the next day and found Emily at her computer, humming to herself and smiling. "Good morning," she sang when they walked in. "Thank you again for such a lovely party. Can I pick you up something for breakfast?"
Miranda waited a moment before she could answer. "Um, no," she said with a straight face. "Jessie made us breakfast this morning."
Emily stopped what she was doing. "Really? Richard, when did you teach her how to cook?"
Richard shuddered a little bit. "I didn’t. But I know she was trying to be nice."
"Wow," Emily said appreciatively. "I guess this new therapist really is doing the trick, huh?"
"Something like that," Miranda said as she took off her jacket.
"Regardless, Em, I think I’ll take you up on your generous offer to pick up some coffee."
"No problem—" Emily’s phone rang. "Hello? Oh, good morning sweetheart."
Miranda laughed. "Richard, I’ll get you some coffee. Anything else?"
"Whatever they have that’s edible."
Two minutes later, Miranda was in the coffee shop. There was a line. Mental note: next time, pick up coffee before you get into work. She hummed to herself. Emily’s good mood—or whatever—must be catching.
She’d been in the line for two minutes before she realized that she was humming along to the next song. She knew this song. She blinked. She knew the first song too. They were playing Thelonious Monk, her favorite jazz musician. But he didn’t get a lot of play usually. Her lucky day.
"Excuse me ma’am, I can help you here." Miranda was startled out of her reverie and apologetically placed her order. She waited to pick it up, still humming, rubbing the back of her neck unconsciously. She floated as she made her way out of the crowded coffee shop. Music—that was one thing that helped, if only for a little while.
As Miranda came up the stairs, Richard was walking out. "Thanks," he said, grabbing a coffee and Danish from her.
"Uh, you’re welcome?" Miranda said, but Richard didn’t turn around. He walked down the stairs and disappeared from view.
Miranda shook her head when she saw Emily. She handed her a soy almond steamer. "Did I miss something?"
Emily shook her head and sipped her beverage. "Um, yeah, but I don’t know what it was. I asked how Jessie was liking her classes so far, and I told him that if Joanna was giving her a hard time she should let me know."
"I didn’t know Jessie was taking a class with Professor Hazlett."
"Yeah, she is. I didn’t know it was a secret! But if you could have seen the look on Richard’s face when I confirmed that Jessie was...whoo." She shook her head. "I don’t think I’ve ever—" And then she looked up at Miranda.
"What?"
"I have seen him like that, actually. Once. And I didn’t see him." She nodded to herself as she remembered. "It was the day I got the job with Joanna. We were on the phone, and he—" She sighed in frustration. "He knew her first name. He said he’d had a class with her, but I didn’t believe him. He seemed upset. But I didn’t have a chance to ask, because that was the night he met Zainab." She shook her head. "What’s up with Joanna Hazlett and Richard?"
"I don’t know," Miranda said, genuinely confused. "I don’t think I’ve ever heard him mention her name."
Miranda was wracking her brain when the phone rang. Vijay picked it up. "Just a second please. Miranda, it’s Alex Sheldon for you."
Miranda sighed. "I guess I need to take that. He’s our biggest investor."
Emily put her hand on the phone. "I can take those calls too, you know."
Miranda shook her head and grabbed the receiver. "But he asked for me." She pushed the correct button for his line. "Good morning, Alex. Did you sleep well?"
CHAPTER 4
Jessie threw her notebook onto the desk and sat down into the chair. She absently rubbed her pen between her hands. Why did she still feel guilty? She’d made breakfast this morning for Richard, Zainab and Miranda. Miranda said thank you. Miranda smiled. Miranda gave her a kiss on the cheek as she left, just like she always did. Jessie sighed. Always, as of two years ago. Before that she hadn’t come out of her room. Before that she’d been tormenting herself with her own loneliness. Miranda, who had always been so good to her, who went to the mat with Alex and Lucy. To protect her from Michael.
Jessie flipped her pen in the air and caught it. She’d been out of it when that had happened. She couldn’t understand. But Emily didn’t understand either. And Zainab, who had seen so much of it, hadn’t given a better explanation than a shrug and an acknowledgement that they’d loved each other. Jessie scowled. Sometimes she hated Zainab for being so God damned nonjudgmental.
"Careful with that," someone said. Jessie jumped and her pen crashed to the floor. A man with red hair and a wicked smile bent over and picked it up. "Careful. You might poke your eye out."
Jessie smiled back and grabbed the pen. "That’s if you’re running. With a pencil."
"I stand corrected. So let me guess, you’re the class know-it-all?"
"Not yet—it’s just the first day."
"Oh, so I’m going to have to watch out for you."
He had to be at least twenty-five. "Well, if you play your cards right, I might let you look at some of my work." She winked conspiratorially. "We’ll make sure you finally graduate."
"Oh, I guarantee I’ll be looking at all of your work."
"Wow, aren’t we overconfident? Don’t you think you should at least buy me some coffee first?"
He leaned in, still smiling. "I’m Professor Hazlett’s teaching assistant for this class," he whispered.
She looked up. "I never would have guessed," she said honestly. "Lucky me. I guess that means I’m going to have to come in for a lot of extra help." She stuck out her hand. "Jessie Bartolome."
His hand went limp. "Bartolome?"
"Oh, Jesus!" Jessie rolled her eyes. "Yes, that Bartolome. My great-grandfather was one of the founders, my grandfather had some building dedicated to him, and then my aunt went and had another one built after he died. But don’t worry, I haven’t gotten anyone fired for flirting with me—yet."
"Good to know," he mumbled as he moved to the front of the room.
Before Jessie could get up, Joanna Hazlett walked into class. "Good morning! Glad to see all of you made it on time today." The door opened and two people walked in. "Or just about," she smiled. "Please be on time from now on. Attendance is part of your overall grade, and tardiness will count against you." She clapped her hand. "Okay, onto the good stuff. This is Greek Mythology, Level Three. We are way past who was an Olympian and who was a Titan. We have moved on from the Odyssey and the Trojan War. I’ve picked just a few epics and
myths, but now we are going to dig deep. I don’t just want you to know our myths by the time we’re out of here. I want you to understand them. I want you to see the archetypes. I want you to be inspired. And that, dear friends, is part of your grade too. Not just for my class—I’m the only one telling you about it though. How am I going to judge inspiration? By reading your papers. And just to make sure that I catch everything, I have a new teaching assistant for this class. Everyone, this is Bobby Lester, and he’s pretty sharp."
There were a couple of quiet groans, but no one left while Professor Hazlett gave out the initial assignment and preliminary lecture. Jessie took notes, but she kept stealing glances at Bobby. A couple of times, she was sure he was looking at her too, but he always looked away. Jessie smiled throughout the class.
Professor Hazlett asked Jessie to stay back when the class was over. "Miss Bartolome, I see from your records that you’re only a sophomore. Did you miss the note that said that this class was for third-years and up?"
Jessie took a deep breath. She wasn’t going to be coquettish with her professor. "I didn’t miss it, Professor Hazlett. But your class came highly recommended to me, and I really wanted to take it."
"And of course the registrar’s office isn’t going to use the same fine-toothed comb that they should against someone whose last name is Bartolome," Professor Hazlett said sternly.
"I suppose not," Jessie said simply. "I didn’t realize I needed to use an alias when I registered."
"I’m sure you would have found a way in no matter what," Professor Hazlett said. "But now that you’ve found your way in, I don’t care what your last name is and I don’t care whether you’ve had the prerequisites. You’re going to be held to the same standard as everyone else in this class. Is that clear?"
"Perfectly."
"But just in case, I’d like you to set up some time during my TA’s office hours. I’ll let him be the one to determine whether or not you’re up for this class."
Jessie could hardly restrain herself. "If you think that’s best," she said quietly.
"I do. Please make an appointment—tomorrow. He and I have a couple of things to go over now."
"Thank you Professor," Jessie said as she gathered her books. She didn’t look at Bobby, but she smirked when she passed him. She practically skipped out of the building and dialed Emily’s number. "Oh my God, Em—you didn’t tell me Hazlett had such hotties for her TAs!"
As soon as the door closed, Joanna turned to Bobby. "Do you know her, Bob?"
"I just met her today," he said, holding up his hand as if taking an oath.
"That’s good. Because I think I’ve made my expectations quite clear."
"You have. But you have to understand, I’ve got to have a certain amount of latitude, or this isn’t going to work."
"Just keep it professional, that’s all I ask."
"Thanks Joanna, but I know how to do my job." He gathered his things, then walked out. Joanna sighed when he left. It was too late to reconsider. She just hoped that she hadn’t made a mistake.
CHAPTER 5
Tom Bartolome invited Alex Sheldon out to dinner shortly after Alex’s graduation. Tom had been Alex’s sponsor in their fraternity. Alex had thought it would be a good place to meet people. Stephen had joined for a little while, but he left when even he thought it got out of hand.
Stephen didn’t approve of Tom and Alex didn’t blame him. Stephen had a wild streak which Alex frequently found amusing. Tom, on the other hand, had a mean streak which both of the younger men found repulsive. It was one thing to earn a slap at the end of an evening. It was another to make a woman cry—and like it. It was only later that Alex understood why Tom unnerved him. As for himself, he decided that someone like that could still be useful—as long as he could be controlled.
Tom, tall and blonde, slapped Alex on the back when he saw him. "So, how does it feel to finally be out?"
"As if life is finally ready to begin."
"Out to conquer the world now?" Tom asked. Alex chuckled and ordered a drink. What could Tom appreciate about having to work for anything when everything had been handed to him?
"Let’s talk about your latest conquests," Alex said lightly. "Anything new?"
Tom smirked as he picked up his second drink. "Yeah, you could say that."
Alex was intrigued. Tom seemed unusually satisfied with himself. "Care to give us a name?"
"Just guess."
Alex thought for a moment. He looked at Tom through the corner of his eye. "Are you serious?" he whispered at last. Tom shrugged and smiled. Alex was genuinely impressed. "Well, it took you long enough," he teased. "Haven’t you been trying to nab her since your freshman year?"
"Sophomore year," Tom corrected. "She was a freshman."
"And I bet you put on the full court press didn’t you?" Alex marveled. "The flowers, the chocolates, the expensive gifts? But she didn’t want any of it. She was the one woman who could resist your legendary Bartolome charm." Tom said nothing but took another sip. "What finally won her over?"
"The L-word," Tom said smugly.
"She realized she’s in love with you?" Alex was more confused than surprised.
"Wrong L-word. Leverage. Never forget it, and always make sure that you’re the one who has it." He drained his drink. "Because it can make all the difference."
They ordered their food, then Alex leaned in. "Alright, Tom. What have you got?"
Tom started in on his third drink. "You have to promise," Tom said with a little wink, "that this will stay our little secret."
"That good, hmm?"
Tom smirked. "That good."
Alex nodded. "Go on."
Five minutes later, Alex could not stop grinning, but he did try not to laugh. "Wow. And of course, you weren’t supposed to tell a soul, right?"
"Of course," Tom said. "As far as I’m concerned, you’re just a pink elephant I started talking to, and I’ll deny everything if it ever comes up."
"Just call me Dumbo," Alex said before he and Tom clinked glasses.
CHAPTER 6
Martin waved to Zainab when she came into Princess Cappuccino. "Hey," she smiled as she put her bag down. She grabbed a latte and sat down. "What's up?"
Martin shrugged. "Just wanted to see how you were doing. Since we're both Hellie's godparents, I figure we have a responsibility to look out for each other. You know, just in case."
Zainab laughed. "You mean in case Emily kills Mitch and spends the rest of her life in prison?"
Martin smiled. "Is there anyone that would give Mitch the upper hand in a struggle between those two?"
Zainab shook her head. "She could freeze his heart with one look, so no."
Martin opened his hands. "So you see, it's really important the two of us are on top of our game."
Zainab smiled and leaned back. "Alright, so tell me about you. How's grad school treating you?"
Martin sighed. "A lot of reading, a lot of writing, but I can't really complain. Better than college—at least it's what I want to study, not just a bunch of core requirements." He smiled. "How are you?"
Zainab shrugged. "Work is challenging, but I like it. I still feel like I have a lot to learn, but my supervisor is very open to all of my questions. And I like that it's busy."
Martin leaned forward. "Uh huh. But how are you?"
Zainab's smile wavered. "I'm fine, Martin. Thanks for asking."
If Zainab had been Emily, she would have snarked at him by now about Jessie to get him to leave her alone. But Zainab wasn't Emily. "Is fine the same as happy?"
Zainab inhaled. "It is sometimes."
"It wasn't at Hellie's party."
"Were you listening in at the door when you should have been making sure Hellie didn't take flying leaps off of Mitch?"
"I kept Hellie and Richard's house extremely safe, thank you, all while letting Mitch get some well-deserved rest. Anything you guys were saying about your sex lives was completely safe from me." Zainab's eyes widen
ed. "What?" Martin laughed. "What else would you three have been talking about for so long?"
Zainab laughed which made Martin smile. "Good, Zainab. I haven't seen you laugh in a while."
Zainab took a sip of her latte. "Well, thank you. It feels good to do it."
"Any time," Martin said with a smile. "And any time you want to tell me what's going on, I'm a good listener."
Zainab knew then why Emily had always thought Jessie and Martin would make a good couple and why Jessie had, unbeknownst to her, immediately agreed. "I appreciate that." She sighed. "And if I could put words around it, I'd tell you."
"How about using some of mine? You and Richard are way too polite around each other. My grandparents aren't as formal as the two of you are sometimes."
"Well, he's very old money," she deadpanned.
"Yeah, but he hasn't always been that way." He paused. "The honeymoon's over?"
She looked away. "I suppose so, but it just ended…so abruptly." She turned back. "As soon as I started this job, he started pulling away, which is exactly the opposite of what I thought…" She bit her lip. "I was so sure that we'd start making plans for, well, you know."
"The M-word?"
She nodded. "Yes, and not because it was wishful thinking. He used to talk about it too, but it was understood I should start my job first. And then…nothing. I thought it was because he was working longer hours, but they're not any longer than they've ever been. He used to talk to me about his work, but now…nothing."
"What do you think's going on?"
Zainab looked down at the table for a moment, and slowly looked back up. "I think he's seeing someone else."
Martin looked surprised, then abruptly looked away. "Oh, Jesus."
Zainab leaned forward. "Martin, what? Am I right? Do you know who it is?"
"What? No. I mean, I don't know. I just…I wouldn't expect that from him."
The China Doll Page 3