Secret Liaisons (9 page)

Chapter Twenty-Three

Mona watched the scene play out. She looked at Sara and asked, “Aren't you going to go check on him?”

“Terrance is just throwing a tantrum. He'll be alright.”

“Terrance is a thirty-two year old man. He's far from being a child.”

Sara looked at Mona with fiery brown eyes. “I don't need you to tell me anything about my son.”

“Apparently you do. Can't you see what you told him upset him? Instead of trying to be bitchy with me, you should be going to console your son.”

“William, are you going to let this woman come into my house and disrespect me?” Sara shouted. She batted her eyes for dramatics.

Mona stood. “I'm going to find Terrance.”

Mona walked out while hearing Sara complain to William about what she deemed was her rude behavior.

Mona looked from room to room until she found him. He was standing in a room staring at a big portrait hanging on the wall. The portrait looked like an older version of Terrance.

Mona stood close and looped her fingers with his. “He's handsome.”

“That was my dad.”

“You look just like him.”

“That's what I've heard all my life.”

“Your mom, I'm sure she's been lonely without your dad.”

Terrance turned and faced Mona. “You just don't understand. The Reverend was my dad's friend. How could he try to get with his friend's wife?”

“Not sure of the dynamics of the relationship but Tee, your dad's gone. Your mom is still a woman. If the Reverend makes her happy, then why not be happy for her?”

“But...” Terrance voice trailed off.

“Don't you want her to be happy?” Mona asked.

“Yes, I do,” Terrance responded.

“Problem solved. Your mom doesn't need your blessing but it would be nice if her son gave it to her.” Mona squeezed his hand.

Terrance looked in Mona's eyes. “You're a wonderful woman. My mom was rude to you but yet you're being a voice of reason in this mess.”

“We can talk about that another time. Right now, you and your mom need to talk.”

Mona looked and saw Sara walking into the room.

“I'll be in the dining room if you need me,” Mona said. She released Terrance's head and walked away.

Sara frowned at her when she walked by her.

“Next time leave the hired help at home,” Sara said as she walked nearer to Terrance.

“Mona is her name and she's more than the hired help.”

“I don't like her. She has no class.”

“If you're going to continue to insult my guest, then I can leave.” Terrance headed towards the door.

Sara grabbed his arm. “Son, don't. We need to discuss my engagement.”

Terrance jerked his arm away. “If you were so concerned about my input, you would have talked to me before you accepted the good Reverend's proposal.”

“William's a good guy. Don't be like that.”

“He's taking dad's left overs. Now that's a stand up man for you.”

“Terrance, I want you to be happy for me. You don't know how lonely I've been since Freddie died. When he died, a part of me died with him. I thought I could never experience happiness again. William's been there with me every step of the way. We didn't set out to fall in love, it just happened.”

Terrance could see the sincerity in his mom's eyes. He didn't want to argue with her. Like Mona said, his mother was grown. She really didn't need his permission.

“But don't you think it's kind of weird to be with your husband's friend?”

Sara laughed. “Yes. But your dad's no longer here. I'm free to date who I please.”

“Please spare me the details. If you want to marry him, I won't stand in your way.”

Sara hugged Terrance. “Thank you, baby. I knew you would come around.”

“Don't thank me. You should be thanking Mona. She helped me realize you deserved a second chance of happiness.”

“I guess she's not all bad.”

“No, mom. She's not bad at all.”

Terrance hugged his mom again. “Love you.”

“Love you too,” Sara said, as she squeezed Terrance tight.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Three hours later, Mona was sitting on her couch in her apartment. After they left Terrance's mom's place, she'd decided to go home instead of hang out with Terrance. She needed time alone to think about a lot of things. She'd explained to Terrance that she needed to do some things to get ready for the coming week.

She wasn't hungry but wanted some banana fudge ice cream. She threw on a jogging suit and drove to the corner store.

She was in the process of getting back in her car when she heard someone call her name.

“Mona, is that you?” a familiar male voice said.

“Garrett?” Mona couldn't believe that the man who broke her heart so many years ago was standing right in front of her.

“I'm so glad I ran into you. There's so much I need to tell you. Can I get your number so I can call you later?”

“I think you said it all nine years ago.” Mona didn't wait for him to respond. She jumped in her car and sped away.

She saw Garrett running behind the car in her rearview mirror. How dare he think she would want to speak to him after he broke her heart? She thought back nine years prior. He didn't have the courage to break up with her himself, instead he had his mom do it. Emotions from the past resurfaced.

Hours later, Mona tossed and turned in her bed as she dreamed of Garrett and relived the break up over and over. She woke up the next morning feeling as if she hadn't slept in days. She noticed she had several missed calls from Terrance.

Mona glanced at her puffy eyes in the mirror. She slipped on a pair of sunglasses and headed to work.

Terrance didn't sleep well the night before. He kept dreaming about his father. He wished Mona had stayed and spent the night. His mom called him right before he got to the office but he decided he wouldn't talk to her until after his meeting with the network executives. He blocked out his personal issues and concentrated fully on the job.

He heard a buzz sound indicating someone was coming through the door. He yelled out, “Mona, is that you?”

“Yes, boss, it's me,” she responded.

He perked up at the sound of her voice. He got up from his desk and went to greet her.

She placed her purse and keys on her desk. She looked at him. “You're here bright and early.”

“Today is the day or have you forgotten?” Terrance asked.

“Of course not.” Mona took a seat behind her desk.

“Oh, I don't get a kiss or at least a hug,” Terrance teased.

Mona put a finger out in front of her and moved it from one side to the other. “Not in the office.”

Terrance pouted. “Just one little peck. Please.”

“I'm only doing this because you have that meeting.” Mona left from behind her desk and placed her arms around his waist.

Terrance didn't wait any longer and kissed Mona with an intensity rendering them both breathless. Terrance's hand roamed over Mona's body. He felt himself getting aroused so he stopped.

“Now I can go to the meeting with confidence,” Terrance said with a huge smile on his face.

“Give me a minute to catch my breath,” Mona responded, with a huge smile on her face as well.

“Are you sure you don't want to come with me? I could always use your support.”

“I think me being there would be a distraction.”

“I disagree.”

Mona ignored his comment. “I heard your pitch. It's perfect. You've done this type of thing before and I haven't. Maybe once I get some experience, I'll feel more at ease about doing it.”

“You have to start somewhere.”

“Terrance, I appreciate you having confidence in me, but this is too important to take any unnecessary chances. You got this. I'll be here when you get back.” Mona kissed him lightly on the lips and then took a seat.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Terrance left the office early just in case he ran into bad traffic. He would rather be early than late. Charlotte's assistant Felicia had already called to make sure he hadn't forgotten about the meeting.

Terrance couldn't seem to get Mona off his mind as he weaved in and out of traffic. His lips still tingled from the kiss they'd shared earlier. He smiled thinking about how she made him feel. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the horn coming from behind him.

“Oops,” Terrance said out loud. The light had turned green and he was still sitting there.

Less than an hour later, Terrance was seated in the receptionist area waiting on Charlotte.

He heard Charlotte before he saw her. She seemed to know everyone working in the office. He heard her voice greeting different people as she made her way around the corner.

“Hi, Terrance. I'm sorry I'm a little late.” Charlotte extended her hand out revealing freshly manicured nails and a huge, sparkling engagement ring.

“I'm just glad you're here. I'm normally not this nervous.”

“Let me do the negotiating. You just concentrate on the stories. I got the rest,” Charlotte assured him.

Terrance sighed with relief. “I wish Mona would have come.”

“I spoke with her while on the drive over. She's confident that you will represent her story well.”

Terrance smiled. “Has she told you anything else?”

He knew how close Mona and Charlotte were so he was curious to know if Charlotte knew the extent of his and Mona's relationship.

Charlotte smiled. “I like you Terrance. You have great ideas. You love your community and it looks like you love my friend, but for now, we'll table this discussion.”

Before Terrance could respond, a woman dressed in a designer, two-piece, beige pants suit walked over to them.

Charlotte stood first. Terrance followed suit.

“They are ready for you now,” the woman said.

“Great,” Charlotte responded.

Terrance followed the two women. They were led towards an office. The office was surrounded by glass. Terrance noticed there were ten people seated around a conference room table before he walked through the door.

Charlotte slowed down and said to him right before going in. “Don't be nervous. You got this.”

Terrance hoped so.

They entered the room and introductions were made. Charles Osgood, the man he'd met at the dinner party led the meeting. “Terrance, we were just discussing how excited we are to be working with you. We've allotted the next two hours so the floor is yours.”

Although he'd pitched show ideas before, it didn't erase the nervousness he felt. Terrance said a silent prayer. The prayer gave him the confidence he needed. He walked to the front of the room with all eyes on him as he pitched the two story ideas.

Mona kept checking to make sure her phone was working. She wondered how things were going with Terrance. Did the network executives like his ideas? Did they specifically like hers? Those questions and more kept running through her head.

She went through the normal Monday morning routine of checking emails and returning messages. She'd even forgotten about the phone call from her ex-fiancé Garrett.

The door opened. Mona looked and saw a delivery guy holding a huge bouquet of flowers. “Is Mona Johnson here?” he asked.

“I'm Mona.”

“These are for you. Can I get you to sign this to confirm delivery?” The delivery guy handed her the colorful bouquet.

Mona moved things around on her desk with one hand while holding the bouquet of flowers with the other. She placed it down on her desk.

The delivery guy held out a form requiring Mona's signature. Mona signed. She reached into her desk drawer and pulled out some money from her purse and tipped him.

Once the delivery guy was gone, she removed the card from the plastic stick to read it.

She read out loud. “These flowers are beautiful but not as beautiful as you. Thank you for being a ray of sunshine.”

She smiled when she saw Terrance's name written at the bottom.

She wanted to call him but wasn't sure if he was still in the meeting. The door opened again. The delivery guy returned, but this time with a bouquet of red roses.

“I just realized I had another delivery for you,” the delivery guy said.

Mona stood and received the roses. “These are beautiful.”

“Is it your birthday?” the delivery guy asked.

“No. But I love flowers so I'm not going to complain.” Mona took the vase of red roses and placed them on the other side of her desk.

The delivery guy cleared his throat. Mona looked at him with a “what” look on her face. She'd given him a nice tip the first time. It's not her fault that he had to return a second time. Her tip for him was, “Thank you. I hope you have a good day.”

The delivery guy stood there for a few seconds and then left.

“That's what I thought,” Mona said out loud.

Terrance is really pouring it on thick
, she thought to herself when she located the card attached to the vase. The flowers were from her friends, Charlotte and Kem.

Mona smiled and sat down behind the computer. She sent the girls a quick text to thank them for the roses. She was about to call Terrance to thank him for the flowers he'd sent, when her cell phone rang.

“Mona, it's Garrett,” she heard from the other end of the phone.

“How did you get my number?” Mona asked.

“Your sister gave it to me.”

“My
sister
? I can't believe her. I'm going to kill her.”

“Don't be mad at her. She understands my need to see you. Please, give me the opportunity to speak with you in person,” Garrett said.

“I probably shouldn't but there are a few questions that I want to ask you. Questions I deserve the answers to.”

“Great. When can we meet?” he asked.

“Not sure. How long will you be in LA?”

“I'm here for good. You're one of the reasons why I've come back.”

“Garrett, you can save the BS for another woman. You fooled me once. I'm not falling for it again.”

“Mona, I don't want to argue with you. Once you hear me out, you will sing a different tune.”

“I doubt it. I got your number on my phone. You've called enough times. I'll call you and let you know when I'm available to meet. When we do, it will be in a public place. Is that understood?” Mona asked.

“Of course. We'll meet at a place of your choosing. Thank you for giving me an opportunity to make things right,” Garrett said.

“Yeah, whatever. I'll call you.” Feeling a little frazzled, Mona disconnected the call without waiting on a response from Garrett.