Pleasure Seekers (37 page)

Two Years Later…

E
nid uncapped her pen and opened her journal to a blank page.
December 28th—Today Marcus and I will celebrate our second anniversary. It has been an incredible two years filled with love, laughter and lots of passion. My husband still complains about me being controlling in bed, but he wouldn’t have me any other way.

Business is wonderful. I now have more than a dozen exotic jewels, much to the delight of my clients. Next year I will focus more on fund-raising for my favorite charities and leave much of the day-to-day operation of P.S., Inc. to Marcus and Astrid.

I got a telephone call this morning from a former client, now an appellate state judge, who is asking for my assistance. He has received word that he may be disbarred because as a former Queens County prosecutor he deliberately withheld evidence in a high-profile rape case. Evidence from the rape kit revealed DNA from not one but two men. Parker McCain suppressed this evidence, and when independent investigators questioned the victim she
finally admitted she hadn’t been raped but had had sex with her boyfriend and estranged husband. When her husband found out that she had been sleeping with another man he raped then beat her. She subsequently perjured herself, and an innocent man went to jail. This case would not have been of interest to me except that the innocent victim is Faye Ogden-Houghton’s brother, Craig Ogden. I told Parker that I am unable to help him because Craig Odgen’s attorney, Rooney “the Barracuda” Turner, has filed lawsuits against McCain and the state of New York. As a nonpracticing attorney, I know when to bow out.

I have kept up with my first three exotic jewels: Ilene Fairchild gave birth to a daughter this past summer, and when Marcus and I went to Pine Cay for vacation we found Ilene changed. She was more relaxed and appears to be enjoying motherhood.

Alana Gardner sent me an updated photograph of her son with her letter. I find him a little too beautiful for a boy. All I can say is Alana is going to have trouble in another ten years when the girls come looking for her son. She’s doing very well with a bestselling novel that has been optioned by a cable network for a made-for-television movie. She said she’s dating an elementary-school principal. They’d attended the same high school but were dating others at the time.

I get to see Bartholomew and Faye Houghton several times a year at social functions. Their family is growing by leaps and bounds. Their son had just celebrated his first birthday when Faye made Bart a father again at fifty-
three. He was ecstatic because he had a son and a daughter. They have also adopted two school-age boys who are brothers and are the mirror image of the male supermodel Tyson Beckford.

The Houghtons invited Marcus and me for dinner, but I believe I will wait until their daughter is out of diapers. I’ve never been very good around babies. The last time I held a baby on my lap he ruined my Chanel suit.

Marcus and I decided to celebrate New Year’s Eve with his parents. I invited them to our place for dinner. Dining on the rooftop terrace should add a festive touch. Afterward we will open a bottle of champagne and watch the ball drop on television.

The year has been good to me because I find myself more in love with my husband. The older I get the more I realize life is about choices and chances. That is the way it has been with Pleasure Seekers.

I took a chance, made my choice and won!