Destination D (34 page)

Overpriced Ticket

C
'mon, Dee. I know she didn't do that. That doesn't even sound like Pam.”

“I thought the same thing, but she is, and she did.”

“Well, when I spoke with her she said she was just considering taking the offer.”

“Well, she considered it and now she's taking it! And I'm stuck with trying to find a roommate within the next two weeks.”

Sedrick kept shaking his head as he thought about how Pam left Dee in the lurch. “Man, I just came by to see how the two of you were doing. I had no idea it had come to this. I just can't believe she would leave you hanging like that.”

“I know, and I can't afford this place by myself. The lease on this condo is two grand a month! Where am I going to find someone who wants to pay that kind of rent in two weeks?” She was lying again and to Sedrick of all people. Dee knew it was wrong, but she was hurt and angry and wanted Pam to look bad in Sedrick's eyes.

Sedrick scratched his head, trying to come up with some type of solution. He knew that making Dee an offer to move in with him would not be a smart move. Besides, even if she wanted to, he didn't really have the space for two people. Then there was Miranda.

“Hey, take it easy. I'm sure we can come up with something.” Sedrick searched through his briefcase and pulled out his checkbook ledger.

“What are you doing?”

“Let's see here. I've got some money saved up and I was just trying to see…”

“No, Sedrick, I can't.”

“Okay, if you won't let me give it to you, what about your folks?”

Dee immediately shook her head. “No way! My father is still pouting that I'm a flight attendant. I could hear him now, ‘If you hadn't wasted my money on going to law school to become a flight attendant then maybe I would have some left to help you!'”

Sedrick started writing out the check. “Look, take this…”

“Sedrick! This will cover Pam's half for two months,” she said, wishing she had the backbone to take back the lie about the rent.

“Listen, I'm not going to need that money for a while.” Now he was lying. He knew he was tapping into the money he had put aside to pay his contractors for his building.

“Oh, Sedrick, I don't know what to say.”

“Hey, just pay me back when your new roommate gets here. In the meantime, I'll post some flyers up around the breakroom at the hospital. Something will turn up, you'll see.” He hugged her and wished he could hold her in his arms a little longer. Dee grabbed him and held him close while her heart raced and the curves of her body melded into him.

“Hey, you wanna grab some lunch?” Sedrick asked.

“Sure, let's go over to that little bistro around the corner.”

“There are 500 bistros around the corner in Buckhead,” Sed laughed. “Which one are you talking about?

“How about the French one called Francais Élégant. They have the best food. I had it when I was in Miami. You know the one next to the W Hotel?”

“Oh, yeah, that one. You wanna walk?”

“Sure, I'm up for the exercise.”

“Ah right, then. After you,” he said, as he opened the door. She locked the door behind them and they went on their way.

“Hey, isn't that Chris Dickerson?” Sedrick said as they got closer to the restaurant.

Dee felt her stomach do a backward cartwheel. “Where?”

“He just went into Francais Élégant.”

No, it can't be,
Dee thought.

“Hey, I know this sounds crazy, but I'm a Chris Dickerson fan.”

Great. Dee's face went flush as she watched Chris walk out to a table on the patio. Shortly after he sat down, a beautiful petite woman with long dark hair came up from behind him and started nibbling his ear. She firmly planted herself on his knee and planted a kiss on him that was so seductive that it should have been saved for a room at the hotel next door.

“Well, I can see that he hasn't wasted any time letting the grass grow under his feet!” Dee mumbled.

“Do you know this guy, Dee?”

“Yeah. Unfortunately.”

“All right then, introduce a brotha.”

“Listen, Sed. It's very complicated. I used to go out with Chris and we just recently had a bad breakup.”

“Get outta here! Are you serious? You and Dickerson?”

“Is that an insult?”

“No, wow! I mean, the guy's a playa. I mean look at him. Everybody knows about Dickerson. How long had you two been seeing each other?”

“Long enough to know that he was not Mr. Right.”

“Gee, don't get mad at me. Look at him and that girl. He's going at it with that tongue!” Sed said, as he took a closer look at the woman. Her hair was covering the side of her face until she pulled it behind her ear and gave Sed a clear view.

“What the fu—?”

“What's wrong?” Before Dee could get a response from Sed, he had stormed over to the patio. Dee moved from the sidewalk to hide behind a nearby tree.

“Hey, Miranda,” Sed said coolly. “How ya doing?”

Miranda's face looked like she had just seen a ghost.

Dee watched in disbelief. It was like a scene straight out of a soap opera. She couldn't believe this was the girl Sed had been seeing, and she hoped Sedrick would not make an embarrassing scene.

“So, you two know each other?” Chris motioned to the two of them.

“You can say that,” Sedrick spoke up first. “Hey man, I'm Sedrick Henderson. And I know who you are,” he said, giving him a firm handshake. “The question I have is how do you two know each other?”

“Miranda, who is he to you?” Chris queried.

“Yeah, Miranda, why don't you tell him who I am,” Sedrick answered sarcastically.

“Sedrick is my b-b-boyfriend.”

“Oh my God! I'm not believing this,” Dee said, totally stunned. She didn't know if she should walk away to totally avoid Chris, or be a good friend to Sed and stay put for moral support.

Chris backed up his chair immediately and surrendered his hands up in the air as if he were being held at gunpoint. “No disrespect, man. I didn't know. One of my teammates introduced us. She's a doctor at Crawford Long Hospital and he was in the emergency room. They exchanged phone numbers and that's how we met.”

“Yeah, how long ago was that?”

“Hey man, it's been about a week.”

Sedrick was beyond pissed. Miranda had just met this man and was already tonguing him like she had just had his first child. “Well, Miranda, you don't waste any time now do you?”

Miranda pulled Sedrick by the arm. “You should talk! I saw you the other night with your friend! You thought I was asleep, but I heard and saw everything! You'd rather be with a nutcase than me?”

Now Dee was really ready to go. She had no idea that Miranda was the one who had heard her conversation with Sedrick. Thanks to her little impromptu visit with Sed, all of her private business about seeing the psychiatrist was out. There was nothing for her to do except leave and spare herself any more humiliation. She would explain later to Sedrick.

“Dee, come over here!” Sedrick yelled just as she was set to leave.

Dee decided to be strong and walked to the patio. She was now in full view of Chris, Miranda, and Sedrick.

“Dee, what the hell are you doing here?” Chris questioned.

“She's with me, man,” Sed said, coming to her defense.

“Shit, Miranda, you are right about one thing. This woman is definitely a nutcase! Damn, what on earth have I done to deserve this?” Chris shouted out to the sky.

“I'm not a nutcase!” Dee shouted.

“The hell you're not! “Chris shouted back.

“See, it's obvious, Sedrick. You are the only one who doesn't realize who you are dealing with!” Miranda said defensively.

“Oh, that's where you're wrong, baby,” Sed said confidently. “I know exactly who I'm dealing with thanks to this little tête-à-tête between you and Chris. And you better stop calling Dee a nutcase,” Sed said threateningly. “And to answer your question as to what you did to deserve this, Chris? This is just called fate, my man.”

Dee's eyes darted between Chris and Sedrick, as Sed continued with the drama. “And Miranda, this is who you saw in my apartment the other night, correct?”

“Yes!” Miranda said in a huff. She wanted so badly to call her another name, but she didn't know how far Sed would carry his threat, so she hastily folded her arms across her chest.

“But, what you didn't see was this,” Sed said. He pulled Dee toward him and pressed his lips up against hers, his tongue entering her mouth with a slow and deep thrust. Dee was breathless as he began to release her. “But, this is what should have happened, but never did.” He pulled her toward him again and slowly and forcefully repeated the same motion with his tongue one more time, leaving Miranda and Chris speechless.

Dee's thoughts were rambling.
Why is Sedrick doing this to me? Oh my goodness, this man can kiss! Why am I feeling like this? This isn't happening. Sedrick and I have been friends for years.

“I've been waiting to do that for some time now. Thank you, Miranda. And thank you, Chris for being here today because if it weren't for the two of you coming here all hoed up like this, I don't know when I would have admitted my true feelings for this woman. Now, I'm going to leave you with some advice my brotha.”

“What kind of advice could you possibly give me? If you hangin' with Dee, anything you say to me is questionable.” His words were arrogant and filled with bitterness as he laughed sinisterly.

“Well, I've hit that plenty of times man,” he said pointing to Miranda.

“Yeah, so? And I've hit that, too” he said, pointing to Dee.

Dee and Miranda both looked as if they wanted to find a hole and crawl up in it together.

“Well, that may be true. But Dee ain't been around like girlie girl here has, man.”

“Why, you double crossing arrogant son-of-a-bitch!” Miranda began to lunge toward Sed as Chris pulled her back.

“Just make sure you use about two to three raincoats if you gone git with Miranda, cause she sho' has been around!” Sed warned.

Miranda picked up her glass of water and threw it at him, but missed. Sedrick gave Miranda a smirk then turned to Dee and placed his arm around her waist. “C'mon baby, let's find us another place to eat. This restaurant has a really bad smell and I've completely lost my appetite!”

Unexpected Passenger

P
am was dressed in a one-shoulder black-beaded evening gown that hung straight around the hips and flowed effortlessly to the floor. She looked as if she were walking on air with her head raised high above the clouds. Her double-tiered diamond necklace and matching earrings glistened against her skin as she paused for a moment to open the door for Marc.

“Wow! You look stunning! You are going to be the envy of a lot of women this evening.”

Pam blushed. “Glad I meet with your approval.”

“Yes, I do very much approve,” he said.

“I had to make sure I represented you well tonight. After all, you are one of the American Medical Association's prestigious honorees,” she said, trying to control her jitteriness.

“It's no big deal really,” he said humbly.

She gently kissed him on the forehead. “Keep telling yourself that if it will make you feel better, okay? May I get you something to drink?”

“No, I don't want to get too relaxed before the awards dinner. I think I need to continue to look as stiff as possible in this boring tuxedo,” Marc laughed.

“Well, you look very handsome to me, sir. And you're wearing that Armani well this evening.”

He laughed again. “You're very kind, but I hate monkey suits, no matter who the designer is. On second thought, how about some water?”

“All right. One bottled water coming right up,” she said as she walked toward the kitchen, watching him casually make his way around the living room.

“Beautiful place you've got here,” he said, as he walked over to the fireplace mantel and picked up a picture of Pam with another attractive woman in a flight attendant uniform. He took a second look at the photo and immediately recognized Dee. He almost dropped the picture before he could put it back in its place. Pam walked back in the room and handed him a glass and a bottle of water.

She looked at him warily. “That's my roommate.”

Marc quickly took a sip of the water from the bottle, loosened his tie, and sat on the sofa. Suddenly all of his sessions with Dee flashed back like a bolt of lightning. This was Dee's roommate. The attorney. The one that made Dee feel so inadequate. The one that…damn it, he couldn't believe he never put this together.

Pam sat down next to him and placed her trembling hand on top of his. She could tell by the perspiration that was forming on his brow that he had figured out her and Dee's relationship.

“I know you're her psychiatrist.”

Marc nodded hesitantly. “I am.”

“She was at the restaurant that night. And she saw the two of us together and ran scared.”

Marc only nodded and gulped down the rest of his water, wishing he had asked Pam to get him something stronger. He cleared his throat and managed to form a complete sentence. “How did you find out that she was my patient?”

Pam pulled her hand back and held it with her other one, trying to stop it from trembling. “It was a coincidence. I was in her room and your number came up on the Caller ID. Your assistant assumed I was Dee when I answered the phone and—”

“And that's when you found out? When Rebecca said that she was calling to confirm Dee's appointment?”

“Yes, Rebecca was calling about Dee canceling her sessions with you,” Pam responded, almost incoherently.

“This is extremely troublesome for me, Pam.”

“Yes, I know. It is for all of us.”

“Where is Dee now?”

“She's flying. We haven't been on the best terms since all of this happened, but I looked at her calendar and she won't be back until late the day after tomorrow.”

Marc breathed a sigh of relief. “That's good, because this would really put even more of a strain on our professional relationship if she were to see me in her home with you.”

“I know. I wouldn't do that. But I didn't know how else to bring this up. I knew if you came here, you would see the picture and figure it out. And that's what I need to talk to you about.”

“Pam, I can't discuss my relationship with my patient with you.”

“I'm not asking you to. But she told me that she discussed me with you.”

“All right. That's her decision. I still can't talk about our sessions.”

“Then tell me this. Whatever she told you about me—is that going to change how you feel about me?” Pam paused and looked up at him cautiously. “Can you tell me that much? I need to know because I can't move into your apartment if I know that you are uncomfortable with my past—and me, for that matter.”

Marc got up nervously from the sofa and walked back toward the mantel. He looked at the picture again and shook his head as he looked over at Pam. He took in a deep breath and let out a loud sigh as he stared at the picture one more time and then placed it back on the mantel.

Pam held her breath as she waited on what was obviously the inevitable. It was okay. She was a big girl. They had a good time while it lasted. Marc paced around the room, then sat back down. His eyes seemed filled with regret, as Pam remained silent.

“So, you had decided to take me up on my offer on my apartment in New York?”

Pam nodded as he caught her chin just before it went down again. His eyes interlocked with hers as he kissed her, sucking her lips as if they were ripened fruit. This was his way of saying goodbye. She just knew it. And as much as she hated to let go, she understood it completely. Pam's heart fluttered as he smiled lovingly and then kissed her long and slow.

He paused and looked straight into her eyes and whispered, “Does that answer your question? Come on Cinderella, let's go before our chariot turns into a pumpkin. ”