The Prince Charming Hoax (29 page)

D.J. pushed his tongue in her mouth and pinned her against the wall with his frame. Roxie was sure she had changed his mind, until he pulled his back and spoke with his face close to her hers.

“
This is how the night will go,
”
he said.
“
We
’
ll eat a snack now. Go inside and party for a while. Then we
’
ll have breakfast and drive home just as the sun rises.
”

“
I don
’
t want to go in the Party Room.
”
She tried to lighten the tension by running her hand playfully through his chest hair.

D.J. pulled back, surprised.
“
Why not? It
’
s the highlight of the evening.
”

“
D.J., you know I
’
m no prude, but that
’
s just…just…sport fucking! I
’
m not going to roll around with a bunch of people I don
’
t know and screw for the hell of it.
”

“
Believe me, Honey, after tonight, you
’
ll know everyone.
”

“
I
’
m not sure I want to, at least not intimately. Look, can
’
t we go home—or into one of those rooms—and have a private party?
”

Whatever optimism Roxie had that she could change his mind disappeared instantly. D.J.
’
s eyes narrowed and his mouth twisted into a sneer.
“
No, we can
’
t,
”
he hissed.
“
Look, I asked if you were sure you wanted to come, and you told me you were ready for action. Well, baby, it
’
s action time.
”

Roxie instinctively took a step away. D.J. loomed over her, his face dark with anger and muscles tensed as if he might grab her. Her mind raced as she considered different strategies. Confrontation was clearly not the way to go. She needed to diffuse the situation.

“
Look, I
’
m really hungry and tired. Let
’
s have something to eat and maybe I
’
ll feel better. Come with me, D.J., please.
”

D.J. hesitated, looking around. Roxie got the feeling he was containing himself for the benefit of the people around them. She capitalized on his moment of indecision and headed in the direction of the tables.

He quickly caught up with her and grabbed her arm, turning her toward him.
“
Roxie, you can do or not do whatever you want, but I
’
m staying here until closing time.
”

Roxie squirmed out of his grasp.
“
D.J., you
’
re hurting me. What the hell
’
s with you? This was something fun we were going to do together. What
’
s with the pressure?
”

“
I made it clear what we do here. Why are you backing out now?
”

“
Up until now, I was all right with what was going on—sort of anyway. Maybe it
’
s too much all at once. I was surprised, I guess, when I saw what was going on in there. I usually thrive on being adventurous and trying new things, but that didn
’
t turn me on. In fact, it turned me off.
”

Roxie looked for some sign or compassion and understanding in D.J.
’
s face, but his expression was cold.

“
Yeah, well that
’
s too damn bad, because that
’
s the best part of what goes on here.
”

“
That
’
s
the best part? What about what we did before?
”

D.J. shook his head, disgusted.
“
I thought you were different, but you
’
re just like a regular chick. You say you don
’
t need to be with only one guy, but all you
’
re looking for is to hook someone. It ain
’
t me, Babe. Forget that.
”

“
You are so off-base. I just want some say over who I have sex with, and it
’
s not necessarily the person who happens to lay next me.
”

Look,
”
he said, dismissing her with his hand,
“
if you want to eat and then wait for us in the bar, go ahead. You might even meet someone out there to keep you company.
”
D.J. turned around and disappeared behind the partition without looking back at her.

Roxie
’
s mouth opened, but she was speechless. Her voice may not have been working, but her feet were. She strode over to the buffet table, grabbed a pitcher of ice water, and headed into the Party Room. Just as she turned the corner, she ran directly into Belle, who physically restrained her.
“
Roxie, what are you doing? Come here with me a minute.
”
Belle backed Roxie out of the room.

“
Girl, you don
’
t want to do that,
”
she said when Roxie tightened her grip on the pitcher as turned her head and saw D.J. getting on top of some blonde.

“
Oh, yes I do! I don
’
t know what they put into those sex drugs you say the guys take, but it turned D.J. into a crazy man. He just dumped me for not wanting to come in here. What
’
s that about?
”
Roxie shook the pitcher.
“
He could use cooling off.
”

Belle
’
s face grew deadly serious.
“
Roxie, believe me, if you do that, it won
’
t end there, and it won
’
t be good for you. Come over here with me, now,
”
she said as she firmly led Roxie to a corner of the dining room.

“
What happened, anyway? When I left you two minutes ago, everything was fine.
”

“
I guess I wasn
’
t prepared for what I saw going on in there, Belle. No offense, but it
’
s not something I want to do tonight.
”

“
Tonight, or any night?
”

Roxie looked down. She didn
’
t want to offend Belle.
“
Probably not any night. But, listen,
”
she said reaching over to touch Belle
’
s arm.
“
I
’
m not making any judgments. I don
’
t even know most of those people. How can I want to fuck them?
”

“
So, you think you might be more open to joining in after coming here a few times?
”

Roxie shook her head.
“
Belle, it
’
s over between me and D.J. He showed me a side of him I
’
d never seen before, and I didn
’
t like it.
”

“
Honey, you really don
’
t know anything about him. And if it
’
s over, it
’
s better for you that you don
’
t.
”

“
What
’
s that supposed to mean?
”

“
Never mind.
”
Belle glanced over her shoulder as if to make sure no one was watching.
“
You better get out of here quickly. Do you have money for a cab?
”

“
Yes, but—
”

“
I got to go back now. Take my advice and get out while the gettin
’
s good.
”
Belle gave Roxie a nudge.
“
Go, now.
”
She turned and went back into the Party Room, and Roxie was left for a second time standing with her mouth open.

Again, she headed for the buffet table. But this time, she put down the pitcher of ice water, picked up a croissant, and walked out toward the women
’
s lounge.

Chapter
24

The phone rang at 5:10 a.m. Leah was already hard at work. She liked writing this early, especially on Sundays, because she could work in uninterrupted silence.

She looked toward the phone with dismay. Calls at this time of day were almost always bad news. Looking at the call screen, she was relieved and excited to see Roxie
’
s cell phone number.

“
Roxie, I
’
m so glad you called. I wasn
’
t sure that you would. Are you just getting home now?
”

“
Leah, I
’
m downstairs at the elevator entrance in your garage. I can
’
t get in without your card. Come down and get me.
”

“
What are you—?
”

“
Leah, please. Just come down.
”

“
Be there in a sec.
”
Leah ran into the apartment
’
s private elevator. The door closed and she saw herself in the shiny reflection of the door. She realized all she was wearing was a camisole top and bikini panties and groaned.
Why didn
’
t I just give her the code to punch in? Roxie better be alone or I
’
m going to feel pretty stupid.

The doors opened and Roxie practically fell in. A passing car in the garage slowed to get a better look at them, but Leah pushed the button and the doors closed quickly.
“
Geez, Rox, look at us. No wonder that car slowed up. He took one look and probably thought he found a secret entrance to a bordello or something.
”

The two women looked at each other and burst out laughing. They were doubled over with tears rolling down their cheeks by the time the elevator opened in Leah
’
s apartment. Stumbling in, Roxie collapsed in an armchair. She looked at Leah and her breathless laughing turned to sobs. She covered her face with her hands.

“
Rox, what
’
s wrong?
”

Roxie shook her head, unable to stop crying long enough to talk.

Leah kneeled on the floor at the foot of the chair where Roxie sat motionless, except for the sobbing.
“
Sweetie, did someone hurt you?
’

Roxie shook her head.

“
Don
’
t tell me. Some streetwalker mugged you and made you exchange clothes with her.
”

Roxie stopped crying, stared at Leah for a moment, and then shrieked with laughter. She laughed until she couldn
’
t breathe and then slid on the floor and hugged her friend.
“
Actually, it was something like that.
”

Roxie
’
s expression turned sorrowful.
“
Leah, I
’
ve been such an idiot. Why didn
’
t I listen to you?
”

“
Oh my God, Rox. I
’
ve been beating myself up since yesterday, asking myself why I walked out on you.
”
Leah hesitated briefly, trying to find the right words.
“
Roxie, I
’
m so sorry I let you down.
”

“
You didn
’
t. You were trying to warn me. Deep down I knew your instincts were right, but that
’
s not what I wanted to hear, so I got pissed off. How could I have been so stupid?
”

“
Don
’
t beat yourself up, Rox. I had my own eye-opening experience after I left you on Friday. I guess we both needed reminding about the value of our friendship.
”
She gently pushed her friend
’
s hair back off her face.
“
Tell me what happened to you. Why did you come in through the garage instead of the lobby?
”

“
Yeah, right. I could hardly walk into your lobby, even at this hour, and risk having someone like that big mouth Evelyn Fine see me looking like this. I took a cab here and then snuck into the garage when someone drove in.
”

Roxie leaned back against the chair leg and grimaced.
“
This marble floor is killing me,
”
she said.
“
And I need some coffee.
”

Leah jumped up and helped Roxie to her feet.
“
Come on, let
’
s go in the kitchen and I
’
ll fix us some breakfast.
”

Leah cut up fruit and toasted bagels. They sat at the bistro-style table in the breakfast nook watching the sunrise over the ocean as Roxie recounted her story. Leah listened silently, trying to keep her face expressionless while Roxie described the events leading up to her discovery of the Party Room. Leah became visibly upset, however, when she heard about D.J.
’
s behavior and Belle
’
s warning to Roxie.

“
What do you think Belle meant? What is it about D.J. that you
’
re better off not knowing? And why the hell did he get so bent out of shape when you didn
’
t want to join the
‘
party,
’
as he called it?
”

“
I don
’
t know, maybe I read him wrong all together. I thought we
’
d reached some understanding that no matter what we did with other people, our feelings about each other came first. Guess I thought wrong.
”
Roxie shook her head.
“
You know, he definitely had some sort of leadership role in that place. It was weird. With a wave of his hand, he seemed to direct the music, where people stood, and what went on. Maybe my reluctance was an embarrassment to him as the boss or something.
”

“
I had a bad feeling about that man and his club since you told me about your first visit there. And I had a premonition that something was terribly wrong even before I knew what happened. Now I
’
m certain that there
’
s way more to D.J. than you know.
”

A sudden unpleasant thought ran through her mind.
“
Roxie, do you think he
’
ll come after you?
”

Roxie lowered her eyes and stirred her coffee.
“
I don
’
t know what to think. I do know I don
’
t want to go home yet.
”
She looked up into Leah
’
s eyes.
“
Can I stay here until I figure this out?
”
Then, without waiting for an answer, she shrugged.
“
We may be totally overreacting. For all I know, he
’
s forgotten about me all together.
”

“
I doubt that. But, yes, I want you to stay here until we see if there
’
s any fallout from your spat. I
’
ll go with you to your place later, if you want to get some of your things.
”

Roxie nodded.
“
Thanks for not judging me.
”

Leah smiled.
“
Well, I got my comeuppance about judging other people
’
s behavior after I left you on Friday night.
”

“
Why, what happened?
”

“
You look exhausted, so I
’
ll make this brief
“
Leah quickly described how she went to dinner with Jonathan and the incident with Regina in the restaurant
’
s bathroom.

“
Leah, how awful. She had no right to talk to you like that.
”

“
No, she didn
’
t. But the truth is that I never did really think about Amanda
’
s feelings. Or how difficult it would be for Doug
’
s children. You know, we have to start thinking more with our heads than our hearts before we act.
”

“
What do you mean?
”

“
I ignored you when you told me not get involved with Doug again. And, you didn
’
t want to hear my doubts about D.J.
”

Roxie nodded agreement.

Leah continued.
“
I
’
ve been doing a lot of soul searching the last few days—mine and others. I
’
ve practically re-read all my notes from the
Sexcess in the Suburbs
interviews and one thing is overwhelmingly clear. Women have an innate sense of self that we repeatedly ignore in deference to men. And I think that
’
s why we keep coming up empty handed.
”
Leah stopped when Roxie yawned and stretched.
“
You
’
re tired. We can talk more about this later.
”

Roxie took her friend
’
s hand.
“
I
’
m sorry, Sweetie. I agree with you, I do. I just can
’
t think another thought right now. I need to sleep.
”

Leah stood up and reached her arms out to Roxie.
“
Come on, let
’
s get you cleaned up. Go ahead in the master bath and I
’
ll bring you fresh towels and some clean clothes. Then you can sleep in Ali
’
s room. The linens are fresh in there.
”

“
I love you,
”
Roxie said, putting her arm around Leah
’
s waist as the two headed toward the bedrooms.

Leah returned the hug.
“
I love you, too.
”
She grinned at Roxie.
“
Best friends, forever?
”

“
Forever,
”
Roxie nodded, but her expression was glum.
“
And right now, my instincts tell me I
’
m going to need all the friends I can get.
”

* * *

After she tucked Roxie in, Leah surveyed the room as she closed the door behind her. Ali
’
s stuffed animals lined the dresser, bulletin boards full of photos were propped up against the walls, and a salon
’
s worth of hair and bath products spilled over the top of a basket on the floor. Leah retrieved her laptop from the desk where she
’
d been working in the study and plunked down on the couch. Sighing as she sank into the soft, deep cushions, Leah tried to pick up where she left off, but her mind wandered. Mothering Roxie and being in Ali
’
s room reminded her of how much she missed her daughter.

She glanced at the clock. Was 7 a.m. too early to call? Leah picked up the phone, then thought better of it. Debbie, her niece, might be up with the little ones, but she knew Ali was probably still sleeping.
Who am I kidding? With three babies nobody sleeps late.
Leah dialed the phone.

Debbie
’
s husband answered.
“
Baby zoo.
”

Leah chuckled.
“
Hi Ronnie. It
’
s Aunt Leah. Did I call at a bad time?
”

“
Hey, Aunt Leah. If you want to wait for a good time to call here, better call back in about sixteen years. We should have them under control by then.
”

“
Are you kidding? When you have three teenagers, you
’
ll really get to know the meaning of sleepless nights. At least now you know where they are.
”

“
I guess you
’
re right. Listen, I
’
m in the middle of feeding time here. Do you want to talk to Debbie? Ali
’
s sleeping.
”