Slick (4 page)

I shamefully dropped my head and rubbed my face. “I am so, so sorry. I made myself a note yesterday about ordering your flowers, but it totally slipped my mind. Please forgive me,” I said, getting up and walking over to her. I kneeled down beside her and placed my hand on top of hers. “Please know that I appreciate everything you do for me. You are everything I can ask for. Without you filling in when you did, I would be truly lost. If you let me, I'll make it up to you.”

Sylvia glared at me with a blank stare and didn't crack a smile. “Don't you ever hurt me like this again. If you do not appreciate me, I will leave, Jonathan, I mean it.”

“Again, I'm sorry. I'm entitled to some mistakes, aren't I?”

When my door came open, we turned our heads. Dana came in and looked at me kneeled down beside Sylvia, and I still held her hand.

“Did I interrupt something?” she asked, closing the door behind her. I stood up and walked up to give her a kiss. She turned her head to avoid it. “Like I said, Jonathan and Sylvia, did I interrupt something?”

“No, you didn't.” Sylvia shot up from the chair. “Thanks for the pep talk, Jonathan, but I'm going home.” She walked past Dana without saying a word. Dana called her name, but Sylvia ignored her, gathered her belongings and left.

“What's with her?” Dana asked and followed behind me as I sat in my chair. She eased on top of my lap.

I puckered for a kiss, and then put my arms around her. After she kissed me, I told her what Sylvia's and my dispute was about.

Dana cocked her head back, appearing to be in disbelief. “She's mad at you over some gotdamn flowers? The nerve of her after all we've done for her.”

“Dana, I'm not going to defend myself this time. I was wrong, baby. Sylvia is the best secretary I've had, and for me to forget about her wasn't even cool.”

“Please. Sylvia is looking for some attention and if she thinks that she's going to get it from my husband, she is out of her mind. It's bad enough she be wearing all that revealing and provocative stuff around you, but trying to get you to feel sorry for her is taking things too far.”

“Baby, calm down. Let me deal with this, okay?”

“Just like you deal with Britney and Beverly, right? I bet you haven't even called to straighten things out like you said you would, have you?”

I rubbed my forehead because I was starting to get a headache. “Damn, I forgot about calling Beverly. I had a busy day, and I've been trying to reach you all day. Where were you?”

“I was out,” she said, standing up.

“Out where?”

“You know, the usual: browsing the malls, going grocery shopping, getting my nails done, whatever.”

I looked at Dana's nails and could immediately tell they hadn't been recently done. “The usual, huh?” I got up and stood in front of her. “Usually, you have your phone on so I can reach you. Lately, though, I know you've been lying to me, Dana.” I grabbed her hand and put it in her face. “Whoever recently did your nails, they did a shitty-ass job. And as for Saturday night, like today, again, you were missing in action.” I let her hand go and removed my jacket from the chair. “Whoever he is, Mrs. Wifey, you'd better damn be sure he's worth losing me.”

I walked out and left Dana behind.

On the way home, I called Beverly and told her I'd stop by on Friday night so we could talk about what to do with Britney. And when Crissy, Mr. Duncan's daughter, rang in, I told Beverly I'd call her back. Crissy asked if she could stop by the office tomorrow and talk to me about her father. Mr. Duncan, my partner, had been out of the office for months, trying to fight his battle with prostate cancer. I told her to come by as early as possible so we could talk.

When I got home, as usual, and as I had expected, no dinner had been cooked. Little food was in the refrigerator, and if I looked hard enough, I could see dust particles floating around the rooms.

Trying to relax myself, I took a lengthy hot bath and changed into my burgundy silk pajama pants. By then, Dana had already made it home and was in the hearth room with her legs crossed, while paging through the newspaper. I pretended as if she wasn't even there, grabbed a beer from the refrigerator, and went into the bedroom.

Before falling asleep, I called May's Florist and paid for them to deliver Sylvia ten dozen yellow roses by tomorrow morning. The florist put me on hold to make sure they had enough in stock, and after she told me they did, I ordered ten more dozen for every day up until Tuesday of next week. I asked for different colors, and when she provided me with a total, I was shocked. Knowing that Sylvia was worth it, I didn't trip, but the florist offered me a discount for ordering so many. I thanked her. Afterward, I closed my eyes, thinking about what Sylvia would do, and wondered what tomorrow would bring.

 

As I was coming through the door with my groceries, the phone was ringing off the hook. I put my groceries on the kitchen counter and hurried to answer it. It was Dana. By the sound of her voice, she wasn't too thrilled to talk to me.

“Sylvia Marie McMillan, I don't care how hard you may try, but you will not get my husband to lay you!”

“And Dana Yvette Taylor, I don't know how naïve you are, but one of these days, he will!” I hung up.

I ignored Dana's phone calls until I finished putting up my groceries. After that, I called her back to see if she was ready to talk to me like she had some sense.

“So, Miss Thang,” I said. “Are you ready to talk about what you walked in on today?”

“Jonathan already told me. And I think you really need to grow up and stop trying to get him to notice you.”

“Dana, don't make me go off on you, all right? I'm in no mood to argue with you tonight, especially after what kind of day I've had.”

“So, you didn't get any flowers. Get over it! Jonathan has missed our wedding anniversary before, he's missed my birthday before, and, sometimes, I do get passed over on Valentine's Day. For you to be crying over something like Secretary's Day is ridiculous.”

“Well, I'm sorry that you allow your man to miss important days like those, but I will not allow him to forget about me when I bust my butt for him every day of the week. Maybe even more than you do and you're his wife.”

“Whatever, Sylvia. No matter what, you really need to back off. I don't ever want to walk in on him holding your hand and comforting you again. My feelings were truly hurt, and just so you know, I don't like it one bit.”

“I don't expect for you to like it, but you know better than anybody that Jonathan is a caring man. He realized his mistake and made me feel better once he apologized. I know how much I joke around with you about being with him, and even if you're worried about me snatching him up, don't be. He's the type of man who will never let that happen.”

“And you're the kind of woman who's hoping something will evolve from your friendship with him.”

“Dana, you know that since Derrick's been gone I haven't found happiness with anyone. Fortunately, Jonathan has been there for me. He makes me laugh, he talks to me when I'm feeling down, and anything I need he'll do for me. Sometimes I can't help myself from being attracted to him, but our friendship means a lot to me. I've been frustrated with you for a very long time for cheating on him. He deserves so much better, and more than anything, I hate to be caught in the middle.”

“Then step out of the middle. Quit your job and find somewhere else to work. Bottom line is I'm not going to stop seeing Lewis because there are things Lewis gives me that Jonathan does not.”

“Like what, Dana, a disease? What in the hell does Lewis give you that Jonathan can't? Tell me because I'm lost.”

“It's none of your business.”

“It is my business when you lie on me and tell your husband that you're with me and you're not. I wish you would stop including me in your mess and find somebody else to use.”

“I don't be using you. I hate the way our friendship is diminishing, but you need to mind your own business. This bitterness between us didn't start until you started dipping into my Kool-Aid.”

“I'm going to continue to dip because not only do I care, but because I don't want to see Jonathan get his feelings hurt. As for you, your mind is so twisted that you can't even think straight. Dick got you all fucked up, and if you want it to mess up your life, you go right ahead.”

“Good-bye, Sylvia. Are we still on for lunch tomorrow or what? If we are, I don't want to spend our entire lunch talking about my amazing life.”

“I'll see you at noon, and if you're late, I'm leaving.”

After we ended our call, I stayed up until two o'clock in the morning watching TV and playing Uno with myself. It wasn't that I couldn't ask someone to come over and entertain me, but the men I had in my life were pathetic. Marlin was on hold because of the restraining order, Cory was a one, two, three o'clock in the morning brotha, and I was getting sick of that shit, and Bryan was in a half-ass commitment with another woman and lying about it. I was so much better off without any of them, but when my needs had to be met, I for surely knew who to call. That was Jonathan. All he'd have to do was remind me how gorgeous I was, encourage me to stop settling for less, and remind me to never play second best to another woman. After talking to him, I'd usually call Lorenzo with the big dick over, let him shake a sista down, and send him out the door with a smile on his face.

Since I stayed up so early in the morning, I was running extremely late for work. I didn't roll over until 7:30 a.m. By the time I showered, got dressed, and drove to work in Clayton, it was almost nine o'clock.

Jonathan leaned against his doorway with his arms folded and looked spectacular with his suspenders on, a white crisp, clean shirt, and some gray pinstriped slacks that hung over his square-toed leather shoes. I rushed toward him because I could tell he was waiting for me.

“I'm coming,” I said, taking my purse off my shoulder and walking abruptly to my desk. As I neared my desk, I noticed him smiling. I looked inside my cubicle, and it was filled with yellow long-stem roses in beautiful crystal vases. I screamed, and then covered my mouth because it was so loud. Jonathan said good morning to me, then went into his office and closed the door.

Truly overjoyed, I sniffed several of the roses and sat down in my chair. Audrey and Jackie came over and gazed at the roses.

“Who in the hell did you screw last night, Bill Gates?” Audrey laughed.

“Girl, please. These are from Jonathan.”

Jackie's eyes widened and Audrey's mouth dropped. “Don't tell me you and him . . .” Jackie said.

“No, Jackie. Yesterday, he forgot about Secretary's Day and he made it up to me today.”

“Shit, I wish he'd make it up to me,” Audrey said. “With something else, of course.”

“Don't we all,” Jackie agreed. “Sylvia, you are so lucky. If he were my boss, it would be on! I know his wife is a good friend of yours, but how do you keep yourself from going in there and ripping off his clothes?”

“Trust me, it's hard, but y'all know Jonathan don't mess around like that. If he did, we'd all be running around here with wet panties on. If y'all looking for action like that, I suggest y'all find Lewis. He's sharing with everybody these days.”

Audrey cleared her throat and looked at Jackie. “He sure is, isn't he, Miss ‘I'm not even feeling him like that' knowing damn well she was.”

“Jackie, no,” I said in awe. “You didn't, did you?”

She rolled her eyes at Audrey then looked at me. “I was curious, okay?”

“Curiosity killed the cat, and a dick like that can damn sure kill the woman. What in the hell were you thinking?” I questioned.

She threw her hand back at me. “Girl, I don't know. I got caught up, I guess. Caught up in that sizzling, hot sex he be dishing out.”

I folded my arms and pursed my lips. “Don't tell me because I don't even want to know.”

“Yes, you do, Sylvia.”

“No, I don't.”

“Yes, you do,” Jackie said, again. “Doesn't she, Audrey? She'd wanna know about this, wouldn't she?”

“Yeah, you would,” Audrey said, looking at me as if it were interesting.

“Fine, go ahead and tell me.” I laughed.

Audrey and Jackie moved in closer to me, and just when Jackie started to tell me about the strawberry gel he slurped up between her legs, Jonathan opened the door and cleared his throat. They spoke to him and quickly walked away.

“Sylvia,” he said in a stern tone. “Where's the file on the Anderson case?”

I walked to the file cabinet to get it. “Thanks for the flowers, Jonathan. One dozen would have been enough for me to forgive you.”

He took the file from my hand then went back into his office and closed the door.

Since today was Wednesday, normally he'd be in a better mood. I could tell things were getting a bit more complicated between him and Dana because his bad days were starting to outnumber his good days.

As I was typing and trying to think of something I could do to repay him for the flowers, I looked up and saw Crissy coming my way. She was one white girl I hated to see coming. Prissy Crissy was what I called her because she acted as if her shit didn't stink. She was always looking down on people, and I assumed that she couldn't wait until her father kicked the bucket so she could take over the company.

So, there she was swinging her blond long hair from side to side, sticking out her breast implants, as if they were really hers, and moving her flat, pancake ass from side to side. By the time she reached my desk, I leaned down, picked up some paper, and pretended as if I didn't see her. She hummed so she could get my attention, and when I didn't lift my head, she slammed her briefcase on my desk.

“Shanequa,” she yelled.

“Sha what?” I shot back at her, and then sat up in my chair. I didn't care if she would someday be the boss or not. I treated people the same way they treated me. “It's Sylvia, Crusty, so get it right.”

“Crissy,” she said. “Crissy Duncan and I'm here to see Jonathan this morning.”

I looked at Jonathan's calendar and didn't see her name. “Darn, I guess you're out of luck, Crusty. Your meeting is not on his calendar, and he throws a fit when I try to squeeze people in.”

“Listen, Shanana, if you'd just tell Jonathan I'm here to see him, I'd appreciate it. I already talked to him yesterday so do your damn job and get him for me, please.”

“For the last time it's Syl-ve-a, bitch! Can you pronounce that? If not, I'll be willing to walk you through it again.”

“You are such an evil bitch,” she said, snatching her briefcase off my desk. She walked over to Jonathan's door and knocked.

“I am a bitch, Crissy. One who will mess you up if you keep coming in here disrespecting me.”

Jonathan opened his door and smiled at Crissy.

“Gimmie gimmie hugs,” she said, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her implants against his chest. His eyebrows rose as he looked over her shoulder and grinned at me. I rolled my eyes.

Crissy was in Jonathan's office for about two hours. When they came out he said they were going to lunch and told me he'd be back by one o'clock. I reminded him about my lunch plans with Dana and told him I'd see him when I got back.

When Dana came in, I put the finishing touches on a letter I'd typed for Jonathan. She was on her cell phone, but when she saw all the flowers at my desk, she told whoever she was talking to she'd have to call them back. Her eyes searched the flowers and she stood with much attitude.

“I know he is not responsible for all these flowers.”

“Well, I sure in the hell ain't responsible, so let's go, I'm hungry.”

“I can't believe him,” she said, standing with her mouth open.

“Get over it, Dana.”

“Get over it my tail, Sylvia! I don't like this mess at all. Is he in his office?”

“No, he's at lunch.”

“With who?”

“With Prissy Crissy.”

“I'll be sure to confront him about this later. A few dozen are fine, but he don't need to go all out for you like this.”

“Chile, jealousy will get you nowhere. Now, my stomach is calling me all kinds of bad words for not putting nothing into it. Can we go?”

We walked toward the elevator and Dana continued to rant about the flowers. As we stood waiting for the elevator to open, Lewis came out of the men's restroom and saw us. I turned my head, but, of course, Dana had to get his attention.

“Hey,” she said, twirling her fingers in the air and waving. He smiled and walked up to her. Before he said anything, he looked around to see if anyone was near. Noticing that there wasn't, he put his arms around Dana's waist and kissed her cheek.

“Say, baby,” he said. “Damn, you're smelling good.”

She blushed and backed away from him. “It's Issey Miyake. And thanks, but why didn't you return my phone call yesterday?”

As the elevator opened, I wanted to tell her that he hadn't returned it because he was too busy fucking Jackie. But when I turned around, Lewis had pulled Dana over to the door that led to the staircase and opened it. She looked at me and shrugged. “I'll meet you downstairs in about ten minutes.”

“Twenty minutes,” he said, as he continued to pull her by the arm.

“Look,” I said with anger visible on my face. “When you get finished just meet me at CJ's across the street. If you show, fine. If you don't, that's not a problem either.”

Disgusted, I pushed the down button on the elevator and went to CJ's by myself. I asked the waiter to seat me for two, just in case Dana decided to show. No sooner had I sat down, I noticed Jonathan and Crissy at another table having lunch. I was sure he hadn't seen me, and hoped that if he did, he wouldn't come over and ask where Dana was.

When the waiter came back, I ordered a salad and some hot wings. Twenty minutes had gone by and Dana was still a no-show. I looked at Jonathan, as he and Crissy seemed to be wrapping things up. And right when he stood up and walked toward the door to leave, then Dana came in. She looked startled to see him, and after they embraced each other, they headed my way.