Read Almost Doesn't Count Online
Authors: Angela Winters
Almost Doesn't Count (2 page)
“I was hoping I could ask for a proâ”
“I know what you want,” Jackson interrupted her. “And I think you've earned it.”
“Billie is getting a pro bono case?” Richard asked, smiling proudly at her.
Jackson nodded. “It's about time, don't ya think?”
“Yes,” she said. “I do. I'mâ”
“No problem,” he said. “I'll have Allison give you the file when we get back. Look it's . . .”
He jumped up from his seat to greet an older man walking by in a suit that had to cost at least five thousand dollars. The older man barely acknowledged him, but Jackson, the ever-eager networker, returned to his seat with a smile of pure joy and accomplishment.
Billie smiled, thinking that Sherise would like this guy. He was a lot like her; at least how she used to be. “You were saying?”
Jackson took a moment to focus before adding, “Yes, the case is some guy who . . . I don't know . . . He runs a homeless shelter or something and got hit with some violations that he needs to fight.”
Billie's eyes widened with anticipation. She was excited. Finally, she could get a taste of the life she used to have, fighting the power. At one point, she was going to ride that life to political office. Now, she wasn't so sure where she could go with it, but this news warmed her heart. She was going to do more than get paid to do her job. She was about to do some good.
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Twenty-six-year-old Erica Kent was rushing like mad through the communications department of the Pentagon building. The director, whom she worked for as an assistant, had a press conference in ten minutes and had just demanded several changes to the release that would accompany the conference. The job had been slapped on her desk and she typed at her computer as fast and furiously as she could. She made sure not to make a mistake because she had made one beforeâa spelling error that caused the director to accidentally mispronounce a word. After being yelled at for an hour, Erica learned her lesson fast. No more mistakes.
Rushing over to the printer, she leaned over the machine, waiting for the release to print out perfectly on letterhead. She caught a glimpse of herself in the window's reflection. You could tell she'd had a hectic day. While her fair skin still looked fresh and vibrant, her large brown eyes look tired with dark circles underneath. Her natural curly, auburn hair was going in several directions. She raised her hand to smooth it out a little, but the first copy was printing and she forgot all about herself. She snatched it and read furiously as she rushed back to her desk.
“Erica!”
The familiar voice of the director's main assistant, Jo Lemmons, got on Erica's nerve, but she was ready for her.
“Is it ready?” she asked, more in the tone of a demand, as she reached Erica's desk. “Now.”
“It is,” Erica said confidently as she handed the press release to her. “I'll print off twenty-five copies rightâ”
“Fifty,” Jo said. She turned to leave, before turning back. “Bring them to the conference room ASAP. And if there is a mistake . . .”
“There are no mistakes!” Erica yelled after her as she rushed down the hallway.
In less than a minute after printing, Erica had delivered the press releases and returned to her desk. Her healthy, curvy frame made a thud as she fell back in her seat, sighing. She wanted to rest, needed to rest, but knew she had to e-mail tons of copies of those releases out.
She had been in this job for almost six months and it wasn't getting easier. She knew she'd rather things be crazy than boring, but sometimes she was just so exhausted. At least she had tonight with her girls to look forward to.
Leaning forward on her desk, Erica noticed something new. Despite the madness that this department was, she always kept her desk orderly. It was essential to her staying focused and not getting tripped up. A neat desk was an error-free desk. But now there was a little off-white envelope laying in the middle of her desk with her name written on it in cursive. It hadn't been there before she left, so someone had placed it there in just the few minutes she had run to deliver the releases.
Erica looked around. No one was paying attention to her. Everyone who wasn't at the press conference was focused on their work. She had worked at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, for years in different departments, and this was the most professional one she'd ever been in. Usually, the assistants would gossip and take coffee breaks to give them a rest from their demanding directors, but not this group. Everyone was all work, all the time. Erica actually preferred it this way. She didn't want to be all up in people's business and she didn't like people all up in hers. Especially considering the secrets she had.
Erica opened the envelope and noticed the handwriting looked familiar.
Jonah would like to have lunch with you in his office tomorrow.
âJenna
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Jenna was the main assistant to Jonah Dolan, the deputy assistant secretary of defense. He was also the man who, just six months ago, Erica found out was her father. It had been a disaster.
Erica had been happy with her life. She was dating Terrell Nicolli, her boyfriend of four years. He had proposed to her the same day she'd found out she was getting a new job with Dolan's office. Dolan was a powerful and influential man, one that many people thought could be president if he wanted to.
Erica never suspected Jonah was her father. She had been told by her mother that her father was an absent man in the lives of her and her brother, Nate. She had seen the man once, whom she knew now to be only Nate's father. Her mother died from cancer when Erica was only nineteen years old and Nate was twelve. She had been struggling ever since, but was making a life for herself and Nate, and eventually Terrell. The position in Jonah's office was more money and a great opportunity for her future.
Jonah was too nice to her from day one and he seemed to like her very much. At first she thought he might have some sexual interest in her, but he made it clear that was not the case early on. But his interest in her future and his disapproval of Terrell in her life still seemed a bit too personal, especially for someone like Erica, who had problems trusting others.
Terrell, angry at Jonah's attempts to cut him out of Erica's life, was the first to find out that Jonah was Erica's father. He'd found out that Jonah and Erica's mother had a brief affair the summer before Jonah left for the military. They had not kept in touch. Earlier that year, Jonah had found out about Erica and made an attempt to bring her into his life without letting on who she was to him. Only his wife, a cold woman named Juliet, knew and she demanded that Jonah keep this relationship a secret.
Erica's heart was broken when she found out that Terrell had gone back to his old ways of hustling any chance he got when he tried to blackmail Jonah over his affair with Sherise. This led to the discovery of Jonah's real relationship with Erica. Erica was dismayed and beyond upset when she realized that Jonah wanted to keep her a secret as if she were something to be ashamed of. Not to mention, he had threatened both Terrell and Sherise with unspeakable acts if they told the truth.
She wanted nothing to do with him, but he continued to reach out to her. She quit her job immediately. Jonah had not allowed her resignation to be formally entered and had her instead transferred to another department, the communications department. Erica didn't want to accept, but because of her financial situation now that Terrell was not going half in on their rent and expenses, and the realities of the tough job market, she agreed to take the position on the condition that Jonah leave her alone and not do another thing for her ever again.
He agreed, but immediately started to try to reconnect with her. She didn't want to hear it. She had broken off her engagement with Terrell and was alone again. She had only Sherise and Billie to confide in. She threatened to tell the media that she was Jonah's daughter if he didn't leave her alone, and for a while that had worked. But lately, Jonah was trying to reach out to her again. This was the second lunch invitation she'd gotten in the last week.
“Fuck off,” she said under her breath as she ripped the invitation up and tossed it in the garbage.
She was just trying to get her life back on track. She was letting Terrell back into it one step at a time, and now Nate was giving her problems. The last thing she needed or wanted was to play an active role in being Jonah's little shameful secret.
Sherise was in a good mood. She was on her way to her favorite nightclub for a drink with her girls. Most importantly, she was out of the house and she needed to be out of the house. Justin was watching Cady and she would be back soon, but having a drink with her girls made her feel like things used to be when they were all three career women discussing their jobs, their men, their lives.
She had just stepped out of the cab when she heard her name being called. Expecting to see Billie or Erica, she was surprised to see Ameena Nixon. Ameena Nixon was a member of some of the most powerful social circles of DC. Thirty years old and Ivy League educated, she was a lobbyist like Justin. A native of Oklahoma, she worked for the powerful agriculture conglomerate and had married a rich corn-oil executive, had two kids right away, promptly divorced him, and was living well off her divorce settlement. Last Sherise had heard, she had a twenty-five-year-old Cuban boy toy helping her spend her ex's money.
“Sherise Robinson?” Ameena rushed toward her. “What a surprise!”
Ameena looked attractive in a fitted dark gray midthigh dress with black lace trimmings at the neck and around the waist. Still, Sherise knew she looked better in her Rachel Zoe brown and white print dress. She looked better than most women, which was why they usually avoided her. At least they used to when she not only looked better, but was more successful. Now that she wasn't a career woman, Sherise had fallen in stature amongst the DC power set, where the rule was that if a woman wanted to be considered top tier, she had to have a family and career.
“Ameena!” Sherise could see the look of condescension on Ameena's face before she air-kissed both her cheeks. “So nice to see you.”
“I had thought you'd fallen off the face of the earth,” Ameena said with a saccharine smile.
Sherise kept her sweetest smile despite the obvious dig. “No, I'm just as around as I've ever been. What about you?”
“Really?” Ameena feigned confusion. “I haven't seen you at any recent events. I would have noticed you.”
It was true that Sherise hadn't been to as many social events as she usually was. She had gotten tired of being asked what she did or where she'd been. She'd gotten sick of hearing of all the big projects and exciting things people were doing. Politics were like a drug, and it was no fun being the only sober person around a bunch of users.
“Life has kept me busy,” Sherise said. “I've been dipping my hands in a lot of different pies.”
Ameena looked as if she didn't believe it for a second. “Well, I know being a mama is taxing work. I have two and they kill me.”
“I know.” Sherise knew that Ameena was rubbing it in. She was letting her know that she can have the career and two kids, but Sherise could only manage one kid. But all wasn't lost. “I don't know what I'd do without my husband. Husbands are life savers, don't you . . . Oh, never mind.”
Ameena's expression temporarily went flat at the dig. “They can be a great help, if you need help. Obviously you do, so it's worked out great for you.”
“Everything has,” Sherise said. “I'm really happy.”
“You look happy,” Ameena responded with a biting tone. “Well, I have to be heading out. I've got a cocktail hour at the Capital Hilton. Those foreign dignitaries don't like to be kept waiting.”
“Have fun,” Sherise said, ending that with “bitch” in her head.
Ameena took only a few steps before turning back. “You know, in case you're interested in staying relevant, the Breast Cancer Ball at the White House this October is probably looking for some volunteers. You do have time for charity, don't you? That's a big housewives thing, right?”
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