Miss Independent (15 page)

“Damn it!” said Vanessa, being sent to voicemail again. She called back one last time, but was pressed to finally leave a message when her mother kept hollering for her across the room. “Girl, if you don’t call me back…! Listen, I need to talk to you, Nicole, you need to call me back as soon as you get this message--”

“Vanessa, what the hell are you doing over here?” asked Alexis, who had made her way over. She was nearly fuming, she was so angry at her daughter appearing to be so rude. “Is this how you treat our guests when I’m not around?”

“
Callmebacklaterbye
.”

She immediately clicked off her phone and dropped her hand to her side.

“I’m not treating her any such way. I only needed to make a quick phone call, since you wouldn’t let me leave.”

“Unless you had a secret meeting with more of our publishers, who are going to chew us out if we don’t get these issues out on time--”

“It wasn’t. But it doesn’t matter. I’m here, I’m back in the game.”

“Good.”

They watched a gleeful Melanie as she was being positioned for lighting. She couldn’t stop smiling as a stylist began fussing with her hair while another tried adjusting her clothes. She was offered everything from Alexander McQueen to Oscar De La Renta. She chose a red Valentino gown.

Vanessa leaned in, whispering. “Do you really think it’s such a good idea to have her on the cover? No one knows who she is.”

“That’s the point of this whole thing,
girl
, all of which was always your idea in the first place. This woman in particular is exactly the kind that other women need to know about. She tells men what to do on a daily basis and they bow down to her every word and command, whether they like it or not. That’s damn near every woman’s dream come true.”

“Yeah, but… I don’t know, maybe we should just think about somebody else as a backup, in case something unexpected comes up with Melanie.”

“What are you expecting to come up where she’s concerned, Vanessa?”

“I don’t know. It could be any number of things. Remember the model who ate the lobster for breakfast and got sick the day of the shoot?”

“We’ll make sure she’s not allergic to shellfish.”

Vanessa began fiddling with her hands. This wasn’t going as well as she had hoped.

Alexis turned to her daughter and stared at her, curiously. “What is going on with you? And why do you suddenly want someone else for the cover of this issue? Did you know this woman prior to all of this?”

“No.” She swallowed hard and rattled her head. “I don’t… Whatever, it was just a suggestion.”

Alexis grew even more suspicious, but didn’t say another word. Vanessa fidgeted more and kept her eyes on the clock on the wall across the room.

Back at their townhome, Maurice was making his way back from a hectic workday. He managed to get his ads done on time, but his boss mentioned that they could’ve been better and needed more work to be ready for Friday’s meeting with Oscar Meyer’s representatives. He brought his work home, planning to finish up before the night was over and turn the ads in the morning, but felt it could wait until he spoke with Vanessa first.

When he walked inside, he went to the den and tossed his briefcase in a chair. He loosened his tie and looked around the room, immediately noticing another man’s jacket laying over the arm of the couch. A small rage suddenly built up inside him.

Nathan must be back
, he thought.
And she fell for it again. Son of a bitch.

“Vanessa!” he roared, ripping his tie from his neck and racing upstairs. “
Vanessa
!”

Nikki and Oscar stopped making love long enough to hear Maurice’s voice echoing throughout the house.

“Oh my God!” she said, covering her mouth. She looked up at Oscar, who sat above her, and shoved him back. “You have to get out!”

“Why?” he whispered. “He doesn’t even know it’s you. He’s calling out for Vanessa.”

“I don’t care – I don’t care, you have to go!”

“I’m not going out there like this.”

“Vanessa!” Maurice hollered again.

“Fine!” she said, panicked. “Get inside the closet.”

She shoved him from the bed with her hands and feet. He nearly fell to the floor trying to grab for his pants and belt.

Maurice raced down the hallway and came banging on her door. “Are you in here, V?”

“No!” she shot back, jumping up from bed and reaching for her robe. “This is
my
bedroom!
Estupido
.” She frantically pulled it around her, searching for the sleeves.

He jerked his head back and soured. “Nikki? What the hell are you doing home so early?”

“I had my audition this morning, remember! And I don’t work tonight.”

“Oh, right.” He smirked. “The famous audition. How did
that
go?”

“Terrible. You were right, okay! I sucked.”

“What are you doing in there now, wallowing?”

“Just leave me alone, Maurice, I had a shitty day and all you’re doing is making it worse.”

“But I bet the guy inside is making you feel better, right?”

“Get out of here, pig!”

“Just be sure and tell him that he might want to stop by the clinic later instead of his regular doctor. I hear they give you discounts on penicillin.”

“You would know, right?”

“No, but I have friends who do,” he said. “You don’t have one of them in there with you, do you?”

“Vete,
Maurice
!”

“Alright, alright, I’m gone.”

He walked away from her door, laughing, ecstatic that it wasn’t Vanessa and Nathan instead.

She dropped back and looked down at herself, realizing she was completely exposed the entire time, and immediately wrapped her robe around herself again.

Oscar emerged from the closet now wearing his pants, but searching for his shirt on the bed. Nikki saw it on the floor and went to pick it up. She balled it and tossed it to him. He caught it midair.

“We can’t keep doing this,” she said in a panic. “Now I’m hiding you from Maurice of all people. Imagine if Vanessa walked in, I’d probably try to throw you out of the window and not even care if you were still naked or hurt until she was gone.”

“It won’t be like this all of the time.” He slipped on his shirt and began adjusting the buttons.

“No it won’t, because we’re done.
Acabado.
I can’t keep doing this to myself, or to you and your wife.
We
can’t keep doing this, it’s not right.”

“Most things in life that feel good may not seem right, but it doesn’t mean they’re not. If it were so, nobody would ever find love, or have sex--”

“Which is what we should stop doing.” She flipped her locks of hair from beneath the collar of her robe and sat down on the chair near her door. “I think I need to find another place to work.”

Oscar went over to her and dropped to his knees. He pushed her robe back and placed his hands on her thighs to feel her skin, and looked up at her face. He noticed she was trying to avoid looking into his eyes, but he wouldn’t turn away.

“Is that what you want?” he asked.

“It’s what needs to happen. What I want doesn’t matter.”

Maurice banged on her door again. “I’m going for a run,” he said, adjusting his shorts and wiping down the sweat that was already building on his chest. “If Vanessa comes home asking where I am, tell her I’ll be back soon.”

“I’ll be sure to tell her as if she cares.”

Maurice clinched his jaw and put his earbuds in as he made his way downstairs and out the front door.

When they heard it shut, Nikki stood up. “Come on,” she said. “You should probably go.”

As they headed downstairs, she went over to the door, peeking out a little to make sure Maurice had really gone.

Oscar waited a moment, looking around. “My jacket,” he said.

He went back to the den. She closed the door and followed.

He slipped the jacket on his shoulders with ease and she slapped her hand against her face.

“He saw your jacket,” she said. “He saw your jacket and thought you were with Vanessa. That’s why he was acting like that. Then he realized you were with me and didn’t care. He’s probably going to tell her about it later just to make fun of me.
Oh my God
.” She dropped her face in her hands.

“Nik--”

“No!” she screamed. She was becoming more and more frantic by the second. “Don’t you see?! We can’t keep doing this, we can’t DO THIS anymore! I’m hiding you from my friends, your wife is in town probably roaming the streets looking for you because you’re not back at work. I wouldn’t be surprised at this point if she knew where I lived and came looking for you here. You need to go!”

“Nik. You need to calm down so that we can talk about this.”

“There is NOTHING to talk about anymore! Nunca mas. You are
married
! All we are is sex, so it shouldn’t be too difficult for you to break the habit with Melanie back in town.”

He knit his brows. “Is that all you think this is, or ever was?”

“I didn’t before, but what else am I supposed to think now? I’m exotic and you wanted to know what it was like.”

“It was never like that for me, ever, and you know that. Nik--” He stepped forward.

“Nikki?” Vanessa’s small voice came from the foyer, interrupting them. She removed her key from the door after realizing it was already unlocked. It made her slightly apprehensive and she stepped inside with caution. “Nicole?” she called again.

Nikki opened her eyes wide and stopped breathing. She was still in her robe with nothing on underneath. Oscar’s jacket was crooked and his belt buckle was hanging loose. He stepped back and quickly fixed it as she turned away from him completely.

When Vanessa walked into the den, she saw Nicole standing on the opposite side of the room, facing the window. Oscar stood in the corner with his head down and his hands buried deep inside his pockets.

Vanessa looked at both of them and narrowed her eyes. “What the hell is going on? I could hear screaming from outside my front door. It made me nervous when I realized it was unlocked.”

Nikki turned to look at her with tears in her eyes. “It’s okay, V,” she said, wiping her face. “Oscar and I were talking about my work schedule for next week. He won’t let me off for an audition that I really feel like I could nail--”

              “So he needed to come here for you to discuss this? And in your robe?”

“I just woke up from a nap,” she said, wrapping the cloth even more around her waist and tying it tight. “He came over unexpectedly.”

And I’m the Queen of Sheeba
, she thought.

She turned to Oscar and furrowed her brows. “No offense, but this seems a little strange to come all the way out here over a work schedule. Couldn’t this have been discussed at work or over the phone?”

              “I tried talking to him at work, but he was busy.”

              “Well, maybe you shouldn’t talk about it
here
, either. Or maybe you should get dressed first before you do.”

              “Nikki?” Oscar said, staring at her as she tried avoiding both he and Vanessa.

              “You should go,” she finally said. “We can just discuss my schedule some other time.”

              “I really think we need to talk about this now.”

              “Well, she doesn’t want to,” Vanessa said, “so maybe you should go now, like she said.”

              “I don’t mean to be rude, V,” he said, “but I don’t recall asking you.”

              “I don’t give a damn
what
you recall asking
anyone
. This is
my
house in case you have forgotten that little fact, and I think you need to get to steppin’ right out of it. Now.”

              He stared at Nikki, who once again refused to look at him.

              Realizing where he currently stood with her, he turned for the door.

              “I’ll see you at work tomorrow,” he said.

              “I may not be coming in. I need a day or two to think about some things.”

              He glowered and nodded, then headed for the foyer and out the door.

              Vanessa watched him go before returning to Nikki. “He came off like a complete asshole.”

              “V.” She plopped down on the couch and covered her face with her hand.

Vanessa tossed her purse in a chair and rested her hands on her waist. She eyed Nikki up and down and cocked her head. “You look like shit,” she told her.

“Thank you for that, Vanessa.”

“I’m just being honest.”

“Ok then, in all honesty you sound just like your mother.”

“That was a low blow…” She stopped. “What the hell was he really doing here anyway, Nicole?”