Betrayal (14 page)

“You can let me out at the next corner,” she told the driver.

The second he pulled over, she tossed a ten-dollar bill through the Plexiglas partition, gathered her briefcase and purse, and jumped out without waiting for her change or a receipt. Luckily, she had worn flats with her pantsuit instead of pumps, and she began to trot down the street. She was moving so fast that she covered two blocks
in less than two minutes. Ariel was so preoccupied with making it to her destination on time that she bumped the shoulders of several people as she whisked by, barely saying “excuse me” as she passed. She had tunnel vision, and barely noticed the other pedestrians walking alongside her, as she whisked past.

“Somebody’s in an awfully big hurry.”

Ariel stopped in her tracks at the sound of the voice, focused on the face in front of her, and stared. She was at a loss for words.

“So … how have you been?”

“Fine,” she said, finally finding her voice.

“Ariel, this is Mason. Mason, this is my stepmother, Ariel,” Trey said, making introductions.

She automatically extended her hand. “Nice to meet you.” She looked at Trey’s friend and couldn’t help but notice how strikingly handsome he was. He was about six-four, with a bald head. A goatee framed his smooth, cocoa-brown complexion. He and Trey resembled each other, as if they were related. He looked familiar, and she tried to place his face. Then it occurred to her where she knew him from.
He’s the escort I hired to take me to the Lancaster benefit last year
. Mason had been the perfect gentleman, and no one at the party knew that the man on Ariel’s arm was a date for hire. At the end of the evening, he gave her a business card for the Black Door, and told her to call the number on the back in the event she needed more than an escort.

“Nice to meet you too,” he said, giving no hint that they had met previously.

The way Trey introduced her as his “stepmother” Ariel assumed that he hadn’t told Mason about their affair. Standing in the presence of Trey and Mason was making her nervous and she began to alternate her briefcase from one hand to the other. Ariel tried not to look at Trey, but she couldn’t keep her eyes from darting up to his gorgeous face; she then quickly diverted them back to the ground before he caught her staring. Though he was her stepson, there was no denying that he was one handsome man. His hair was cut to perfection; it was extremely low and resembled a five o’clock shadow. He
stood there smiling for no apparent reason, and his matching dimples pierced his smooth chocolate skin. Trey looked as if he were sculpted from a giant Hershey bar, and she wanted to sink her teeth in and take a savory bite. Ariel hated that she still harbored feelings for Trey, but as much as she tried to erase their love affair from her memory bank, the images of them fucking at the Black Door were permanently etched in her brain. Ariel wondered if Trey reminisced about their liaison as well. The way he was smiling at her, made her think that he was having a private flashback of his own.

“So what brings you to New York?” Trey asked, still smiling like he was happy to see her.

“I’m here on business,” she replied and looked away, trying to avoid eye contact. She was afraid that her eyes would reveal her repressed feelings, and the last thing she wanted was to get involved with Trey again.

“How long are you going to be in town?”

“For a week or so. I’m here working on a case.”

“Oh, I see. Well, maybe we can get together for a drink or dinner while you’re here.” Even though their tryst was over, Trey still admired Ariel. She was a smart, classy woman, and he wanted to keep her as a friend, if that were at all possible. The few times he’d seen her in Washington, she was pleasant, and though they hadn’t really discussed how their affair ended, he assumed that she was okay with his decision to stay with Michele.

“That would be fine. As a matter of fact, how’s tonight?” She needed to tell him about her run-in with Michele. “Can you meet me at Olives at the W, on Park Avenue South?” Ariel figured meeting at a public place like Olives, a popular restaurant and bar that stayed crowded, was much safer than meeting him at the Black Door.

“Sure. What time?”

“Five-thirty.”

Trey thought for a second. He had to run back uptown to the club and wouldn’t be back by then. “I can’t do five-thirty. Is six o’clock okay?”

“Sure. Six is fine. I’ll see you then,” she said, and quickly walked
away. She wanted to turn around to see if they were still standing there, but decided against it, just in case Trey was watching her.

Ariel was only five minutes late to her meeting and would have been on time if she hadn’t run into Trey and Mason. She blamed her tardiness on the traffic, which was an acceptable excuse for New Yorkers, since everyone in the city had gotten caught up in the mayhem at one time or the other.

She was meeting with a client to discuss new developments in their case. The senior partner also working on the case was out of town so she was spearheading today’s meeting. The client was a
Fortune
500 corporation involved in a class-action lawsuit. Former employees were suing, claiming that the company was guilty of unfair labor practices. Initially, there were fifty litigants, but after Ariel hired the best investigator in the city to do background checks, twenty people dropped their claims. The PI discovered that nearly half of the plaintiffs had filed discrimination lawsuits in the past, and she had a sneaking suspicion that the entire suit was bogus.

The investigator was also in the conference room, going over his findings in explicit detail. Ariel was grateful that he was basically running the meeting, since she was distracted with images of Trey.

She thought back on the evening when Michele had caught him feasting on her boobs. Michele was in shock at catching her man with another woman, and quickly fled the scene, with Trey following close behind. At that time, Ariel wanted him to choose her, and not run after Michele, but he didn’t. Ariel knew that their affair was wrong, but when it started, she had no idea that her lover was Preston’s son. Once she learned of his identity months after their first encounter, it was too late. By then she had already fallen in lust with him. Ariel knew that Trey had made the right decision in choosing Michele, but it didn’t make dealing with the rejection any better. She had been rejected by her mother at birth and put in the foster care system, so any type of denial stung like a stingray’s barb. Had she met Trey in another time and place, there was no doubt that they would be together, but that wasn’t the case. She was committed to Preston.

An hour later, the meeting was adjourned, and she made a beeline straight out of the building. She hailed a taxi; unlike earlier, traffic was sailing smoothly and she arrived at the W fifteen minutes early. She took a seat on an oblong velvet cushion near the window and waited.

As she was waiting for the server so that she could order a drink, Todd English, the owner and chef of Olives, spotted her sitting by the window. Ariel had met Todd a few years ago, when her firm did some work for one of his restaurants. Todd was tall and strikingly handsome, with thick dark hair and a killer smile.

“Hello, beautiful,” Todd said, sitting next to her on the window seat and giving her a smooch on the cheek.

“Hey there,” she said, giving him a friendly kiss in return. “Looks like business is booming.” She looked around the crowded lounge.

“Yes, things here at the W have been good. I can’t complain,” he said, smiling modestly. “Are you hungry? Why don’t you come in the dining room and let me treat you to dinner,” he offered.

“Thanks, Todd, but I’m waiting for someone, and I’m really not hungry. I had a late lunch,” she lied. Ariel hadn’t eaten since breakfast, but her stomach was tied up in knots at the thought of meeting with Trey, and she couldn’t eat a thing.

“Oh.” He looked disappointed. “Well, at least let me have the waitress bring over a plate of hummus, flat bread, and an assortment of olives.”

“Hmm, that sounds delicious.”

“And, speaking of delicious, the bartender is shaking up a new drink called the Velvet Cane.”

“The Velvet Cane, that sounds interesting. What’s in it?” Ariel hadn’t been out for cocktails in a while and wasn’t hip to some of the latest martinis.

“It’s Moët and Chandon White Star, poured over a raw sugar cube, and drizzled with Ten Cane rum. It’s refreshing. I think you’ll enjoy it.”

Ariel wanted to tell him to bring over an entire tray. She needed to calm her nerves before Trey arrived. “Thanks Todd, that would be great.”

“No problem, Ariel. I hate to run off, but I’ve got to get back to the kitchen and make sure the osso buco is braised according to my brilliant recipe.” He chuckled, and kissed her on the cheek again before rising to leave.

A few minutes after Todd left, the waitress came rushing over with the appetizers and a Velvet Cane. Ariel took a sip and loved the martini instantly. She sat and enjoyed her cocktail while waiting for Trey.

The hotel was located across the street from Union Square. She sat at the huge picture window and watched people rush in and out of the small park. Some of them were going to the cafés and restaurants that dotted the perimeter of the park, and some were headed toward the subway station. In the distance, Ariel spotted a tall man, wearing a black leather coat, jeans, and a black turtleneck. The coat swung open in the breeze, and the way he strutted confidently with his head held high, reminded her of Samuel L. Jackson in
Shaft
. When the man came into focus, she realized that it was Trey, and her heart began to race from nervous energy. She took a big gulp of the martini, and turned so her back was against the window, so he wouldn’t see her ogling him. Ariel put the drink on the table, then quickly retrieved her cell phone from her purse, flipped it open, and dialed her voice mail.

Trey breezed into the lobby looking like a movie star, and scanned the room for Ariel. He spotted her and walked over. He stood there for a second as if waiting for an invitation to sit down; when she didn’t acknowledge his presence, he sat across from her on the cushion anyway.

Ariel pretended to be on an important call, when in actuality she was just listening to her old messages. She finally looked in his direction and mouthed, “Just a minute.” Ariel nodded her head up and down, as if she were listening intently. She wanted to buy a little more time to compose herself. Outwardly she appeared calm and collected, but inside, she was an emotional wreck. She hadn’t been this close to Trey since that episode in her apartment. After the last message played, she flipped the phone shut, cleared her throat, and said, “Hello.”

“Hi, Ariel, how are you?” he asked, with sincerity in his voice.

Ariel looked into his small, seductive eyes, and felt a tug at her heart. He was so damn sexy that she wanted to lean over and kiss his full lips. There was no denying that a part of her—a big part—still wanted Trey.
What are you thinking? He’s your stepson, for crying out loud! What happened at the Black Door is ancient history. GET A GRIP!!
“I’m good, thanks. Listen, Trey, the reason I wanted to meet with you is to tell you about a conversation I had with Michele,” she said, getting right to the point. Ariel then went on to tell him about the confrontation that transpired between her and Michele the morning she left for New York.

“That’s probably why she called me this afternoon.”

“Really?” Ariel looked surprised, but should have known that Michele would have gone blabbing to Trey. “What did she say?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t talk to her.”

“What do you mean? I thought you just said that she called you today.”

“She did, but I sent her calls to voice mail,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Calls?” Ariel asked, alarmed. “How many times did she call?”

“Twice before I turned off my phone, and—”

She cut him off. “Oh no!” she nearly shrieked. “Trey, you have to call her back right away. What if she told Preston about us?” Ariel asked, panicking.

“Clam down. Michele isn’t stupid, and she wouldn’t tell my dad anything without talking to me first. You made a good point by telling her that it would be her word against ours,” he said, putting his hand on top of hers.

Ariel should have snatched her hand away, but she didn’t. Even though she knew it was a comforting gesture, their skin-to-skin contact felt good, and she wanted to relish the moment, even if it were fleeting. “What are we going to do? Should we tell Preston the truth before Michele does?” she finally asked, breaking the spell.

Trey removed his hand, rubbed his chin with his thumb and index finger, and thought for a moment. “Well, the truth would be
better coming from us. At least we could soften the blow by explaining that we didn’t know each other’s identity at the time, and that our affair was innocent.”

“Isn’t that an oxymoron? Who ever heard of an innocent affair? Anyway, that would explain away the Black Door, but what about the incident at my apartment? We could talk until we used every word in the dictionary, but there’s no way of explaining why you were at my place, sucking on my—” she stopped mid-sentence, and shook her head as if she were disgusted with herself.

He knew exactly what she was about to say, and jumped right in. “You have a point.”

“All I can say is that we got caught up in the moment, but Preston will probably want to know why I went to the Black Door in the first place. Had I never stepped foot inside the club, none of this would be happening,” she said, nearly on the verge of tears, wishing that she could turn back the hands of time.

Trey wanted to know the same thing. He had never asked Ariel that question, because their affair took him off guard, but now that it was over and he had a clear head, he finally asked, “Why did you come to the club, since you were in a relationship?”

Ariel looked down in embarrassment. Her sins had caught up with her, and she felt like a scorned woman with a bright red
A
tattooed boldly across her chest. “Basically, I went there just to look around and relieve my sexual frustration, nothing more. Preston was preoccupied with securing the nomination for the Supreme Court, and I was lonely. It all started off innocently enough, until I met the man in the black mask. Had I known that that man was you, I would have never allowed myself a moment of weakness,” she said, with the tears that had welled up in her eyes earlier falling slowly down her cheeks.