Some Came Desperate: A Love Saga (16 page)

        “I enjoy your company too, Simone, and that’s why I don’t get it.  You should know me well enough by now to know that asking me to help you out would not have been a big deal.  We
are
down like that, you hear me?  We have been down like that for quite some time now, and you should know that.  We haven’t been hanging out as often as maybe either one of us would have liked because I haven’t had that kind of time, but you’ve certainly been on my mind.” 

        To put it mildly, he thought.  She was always on his mind.  Every single day she at least crossed his mind.  Delia, by virtue of the years they’d been together, might have been his woman, but it was Simone who consumed his thoughts, and she often consumed them day in and day out.  Sometimes he had to literally force himself not to go and see her, not to take their relationship any further than he’d already taken it.  Over the phone was safe.  Weekly lunch dates were convenient and about the only way he figured he could keep their relationship as close and as distant as he needed it to be.  That was his plan, anyway, and it apparently had worked too well because not only did he not lead her on, but he had her thinking that she, Simone Rivers, his
heart
, meant so little to him. 

        “Will you accept my help?” he asked her point blank.  It wasn’t that selfish sister of yours that you had phoned tonight, after all, he thought.  But me.  Now let me help you, he wanted to beg of her.

        Simone exhaled.  This was difficult for her.  But Nick was right.  After tonight, it was definitely necessary.  “If you want to lend me the money to pay my tuition, I’ll accept it, yes.  And pay you back with interest.”

        Nick stared at her as if she had offended him further.  “What?” she asked him.

        “I’m not lending you anything, first of all.  I will pay your tuition and books and supplies and whatever you may need for this cosmetology school.  I will also pay for a decent apartment for you to live in while you’re going through school.  If you must work, you can, but you’ll cut out all of these double and triple shifts at that diner, wearing yourself out for what?  Your dream is to be a hair stylist, you told me so yourself.  So that’s what you’re do.   Become a hair stylist.  And you need a car, too, Simone,” he said and before she could object, which she was definitely about to, he held up his hand.  “That’s what friends do, Simone.  Help each other out.  And don’t worry, if I ever need a new ‘do, I’ll be the first to hit you up for a freebie.”

        He said this with such an infectious smile that Simone had to smile, too, knowing good and well that he probably wouldn’t let her within a hundred yards of even thinking about touching his expensive hairdo.  Maybe it was the night, she thought, and the trauma, but she knew she couldn’t turn him down.  She needed to get out of here before her attacker came again, or tried something more daring, or before somebody else tried.  She never dreamed it would be this way, where she would be obligated to another human being, but if it had to be anybody, anybody at all, she was grateful that it was Nick.  But that something within her still fought against it.  Just the idea of being beholden to someone else, even Nick, was the problem.

        “Look, Nick, I really appreciate what you’re offering me, but I can’t—”

        “Yes, you can.  Yes, Simone, you can.  And I really hope you will.  You’ve been a helper all your life, doing for everybody else since you were a child.  Now it’s your time to get a little help.  Because I’ll be damned if I allow you to continue living in this war zone another night.  Do we understand each other?”

        Simone hesitated.  She didn’t know if she liked
this
side of Nick.  But then she smiled.  He was the one, she decided.  “Understood,” she said.

TWELVE

They stood at the airport like four foreigners awaiting the real citizen of their world.  Jules was there, looking gorgeous, Simone thought, in her green suede pantsuit and matching hat.  She seemed more anxious than everybody else, as she kept rubbing her hands and visibly exhaling, over and over again, as if this little reunion was the last thing she wanted to deal with right now.  She and Simone both had been writing to Shay, thanks to Nick’s handy work, but it was the letters from Jules that got any response from Shay.  Simone didn’t understand why, but Nick suspected that it had a lot to do with what Jules was probably telling her in those letters.  She didn’t want her baby sister to ask too many questions about why she didn’t try to get her, Nick suspected.  Simone, however, dismissed such talk, refusing to believe for a second that Jules,
her
Jules, would be that devious.

        Speaking of devious, she thought, as she looked beside Jules.  Jeremy was there, too, which infuriated her, and he stood so close to Jules that she found herself wondering where did Jules end and he began.  She was stunned when Jules had told her that he would show up, especially since he was the main reason why they had to wait this long in the first place, but Nick had told her in the car coming over to forget Jeremy and concentrate on the matter at hand.  So she did that, she did everything she possibly could to ignore his presence.  She, instead, stayed close to Nick, who was also there, who took time out from his busy schedule to make sure he was right by her side.  A fact that only endeared him all the more to Simone. 

        They were undisputed best friends now, closer than close.  She allowed him to move her into a nice apartment in a nice neighborhood, buy her a car, pay her way through school, and she even allowed him to put in a word for her with one of his friends, a friend who happened to own one of the most popular salons in town.  Simone thought it was a joke when he took her to Matt Ray’s and showed Matt her license, as if that was going to impress a renowned stylist like him. 

        “Got your training from Miami-Dade, did you?” he asked her as if he was reciting the name of some prestigious private school.

        “Yes, sir,” she had replied and that was all it took.  Hired her on the spot.  Simone looked at Nick and then looked back at Matt Ray. 

        “Are you sure?” she asked him and both he and Nick burst into laughter.  He was sure because she was still there, with a booth that stayed busy, as she slowly but surely worked her way up from obscurity to becoming one of the most popular stylists in the entire salon, with the exception, of course, of Matt himself.  

        But what was even more remarkable to Simone was the way Nick would come by to pick her up or take her to lunch.  He would always ask Matt how Simone was doing and Matt, in answering, would always refer to her as Nick’s lady.  “Your lady is the cream, Nicky, the absolute star of this show, you hear me?”  And Nick wouldn’t contradict him at all.  None of that “she’s just a friend,” line at all.  Which Simone appreciated because he certainly wasn’t just a friend in her eyes, either.

        The only problem, as Simone saw it, was that, for all of the time that they spent together, Nick had never so much as intimated about marriage or even about taking their relationship to that next level.  Whenever Simone tried to bring it up, he would quickly change the subject, knowing that she wasn’t about to pursue it on those terms.  But she knew it was only a matter of time.  The moment of truth, as she privately referred to it, was bound to come soon, and Nick would finally have to stop his stalling and admit what even a blind man could see: that he and Simone were meant to be together.

        Nick had reached that conclusion, too, a long time ago.  Only it wasn’t that simple for him.  Delia, he knew, had long since suspected that he was probably missed up with some woman, especially since he started spending less and less time with her, but she was too mixed up with her own affairs to question his.    But he knew her well enough to know that just the thought that he could be falling for somebody else disturbed her.  She even mentioned one night, when he told her that he couldn’t come over, that whomever the other woman was “she must be something else” to have his full attention that way, but she never pursued it any further than that.  Probably because she knew like he knew that confronting a situation could change the old situation and Delia, he suspected, wasn’t ready by a long shot to change a thing.  He doubted if she ever would be. 

        What he didn’t doubt, however, was Simone’s love for him.  She had fallen hard, and seemingly every time he looked into her big, green eyes it showed even more. And that was the hardest part of all for Nick.  Looking into her eyes.  Because those eyes told the story.  Those eyes made it clear that she was madly in love with a man she trusted with her very life, and she had not even considered the possibility that there could be someone else in his.

        “She’s coming!” Jules said excitedly, causing both Nick and Simone to come back from their inner thoughts and look toward the gate.  And when Simone saw her, saw this eighteen year old who couldn’t possibly be anybody but little Shay, moving slowly toward them with her carry-on bag, her pretty, cat eyes not changed one bit, her heart pounded against her chest.  She literally had to lean against Nick to keep from toppling over.  Nick, seeing this, took possession of her hand, and looked at her. 

        “It’s a good thing, right?” he said to her and she smiled, but could only manage a nod.

        Jules, however, was animated, smiling and grinning as if she was overjoyed that she recognized her own sister, and began waving her over and calling her name.  And Shay, recognizing Jules, hurried toward her, too, dropping her bag and falling into her big sister’s arms.  Simone couldn’t stop the tears from coming, tears of joy this time, as she looked at the woman who was now Serita Rivers.  She was tall and thin, like Jules, but had plenty of hips and thighs and a mouth that seemed eternally puckered.  That was how she knew it was Shay- by that mouth.

        “Let me look at you, girl!” Jules said, pulling her back and looking at her, unable to stop the tears, too.  “You look wonderful, Shay!  Just wonderful!”

        “Me?  Look at you,” Shay said.  “I thought you were a movie star or something when I first saw you!  Dang, Jules!”  Then Shay’s eyes strayed over to Jeremy. 

        “You must be Jeremy,” she said.

        Jeremy smiled that reptilian smile of his, as Simone looked over and wanted to call it, but Jules beamed.  “This is Dr. Jeremy Druce, Shay.  My fiancé.”

        Shay smiled.  “Yeah, you told me in your letters.  Ain’t that something?  Got yourself a doctor.”

        “A surgeon,” Jules said with a grin, as if they were in a conspiracy together. 

        “A surgeon.  All right now!”

        Jeremy smiled, soaking it up, and he and Shay exchanged a hug.  Nick swallowed hard when Shay looked at Simone.  Although she was still smiling, he could see the contempt in her eyes. 

        “And this must be Simone,” she said.

        Simone was startled, too, by that look in her eyes, but her joy at seeing her sister again couldn’t be dampened.  “Oh, Shay,” she said so heartfelt that it crushed Nick.  Then she grabbed her kid sister and wrapped her into her arms, the tears flowing freely now.  All those years she dreamed of this day.  All those lonely years!  And now, when it had arrived, and Shay was in the flesh, it was almost too overwhelming.  Even Shay’s hesitancy, which Simone didn’t understand, wasn’t enough to ease the emotion.  Shay was alive and well and that was all that mattered. 

        Shay hugged Simone, too, because she did miss her, but it wasn’t nearly the robust embrace Simone was giving to her.  She, instead, looked over Simone’s shoulder, especially since Simone was shorter than her, and saw Nick.  That cut her short.  She looked Nick up and down. And then smiled at him, and winked.  Nick’s heart dropped.

        When Simone finally was able to stop hugging her sister, she looked at her, her tears continuing to flow.  “You look so pretty, Shay, just like you did when you were little.”

        Shay shook her head, still smiling, but firm.  “Let’s not even go there,” she said.

        Simone didn’t understand what she meant.  “Go there?  Go where?  I was just saying that when you were young you had—”

        “You haven’t seen me in eleven years, Simone, what are you talking about?  How in the world could you even fix your mouth to lie like that?”

        “To lie like what?” Simone asked, confused.

        Nick took Simone’s hand again.  “Just skip it, Simone,” he said and Shay smiled.

        “Yeah, skip it, Simone,” she replied, looking at Nick.

        “So,” Jules said, hurt by the tension, “have you had anything to eat, Shay, or would you like us to take you somewhere?”

        “I’m fine.  I ain’t thinking about no food.  I got to keep my figure.”

        Jules laughed.  “I know that’s right.”

        “I see you took after Jules,” Jeremy said, checking out Shay.  “Thank goodness.”

        “Oh, yeah,” Shay said proudly.  “She’s my real sister you know, so naturally.”

        “Anyway,” Jules quickly said, feeling awful for Simone, never dreaming that her little words on paper would make Shay this bitter, “why don’t we go over to my place, you, me, and Simone, and hang out for a change?”

        “Okay,” Shay said, although she didn’t seem thrilled with the idea.  “But first y’all need to introduce me to this gorgeous creature standing next to Simone.”

        “Oh, I’m sorry,” Jules said, taking charge, “that’s Nick Perry.  Simone’s . . . friend.”

        Shay laughed.  “You said that like it’s debatable.”

        “No, I was just, that’s the least that they are.  They’re very close.”

        “I see,” Shay said, moving over by Nick and extending her hand.  “You aren’t Nick the lawyer, are you?”

        “Yes,” Nick said, shaking her hand, staring unblinkingly into her deceptive eyes.

        “Simone wrote me about you.  She said you were the one who tried to help them get custody of me.”

        “I tried to help Simone get custody of you,” he said.  “She had been trying on her own for years.”

        “Yeah, well.  That’s what guilt will do for ya’.”

        “Ready, ladies?” Jules said, interrupting that kind of talk.  “And gents?”   They all seemed more than ready.  “We’ll get your luggage first, Shay, and then be on our way.”

        “Sounds like a plan to me,” Shay said and they all began to leave.  Nick, however, held Simone back.  And looked at her. 

        “You okay?” he asked her.

        She nodded.  “I will be,” she said.  “I’m just sorry that. . . I wish I could have done more.”

        “Don’t do that, Simone.  Stop beating yourself up.  You did all you could do - and then some, you hear me?  Jules has poisoned that girl’s mind, that’s all this is about.”

        “Jules wouldn’t do that, Nick.”

        “Okay.”

        “I mean it.  I’m not gonna let you stand up here and talk about my sister as if she was . . . She would have to hate me to do something like that.  And she doesn’t hate me.”  Simone said this as if she was trying to convince herself.  Nick realized it, too, and placed his arm around her. 

        “You’re right, sweetheart,” he said.  “You’re right.”

        This gave Simone some solace as they slowly began following the others.  But she still didn’t feel assured.  She thought about her mother, and how she used to always draw distinctions between her and her two sisters, as if they were indeed her mother’s children because their father was supposedly somebody important, while she was just an accident, a freak of nature, a child she was forced to have.  That was how she felt whenever Shay looked at her.  They were sisters, all right, but not, Shay’s eyes seemed to say, by choice.