Inner Circle (30 page)

Eve watched Amber walk away, promising to let bygones be bygones. Although she was trying to accept Amber’s sudden change of heart bit, something about her recent decision didn’t sit well with her.

Sudden my ass,
Eve thought. She knew shit when she smelled it, and something was definitely rotten in Paradise.

Jai returned. “All right, ladies, let me give you a quick tour of the place, and the food should be ready when we finish. Follow me.”

Eve quickly finished her drink and placed it on the bar. She had a lot to consider, and it was starting to bother her that between the secret she was keeping regarding Jackie, the defense she was preparing for Callie, and now this bullshit of an excuse she was receiving from Amber, she was slowly finding herself back in a place of feeling completely overwhelmed. As she followed Jai and the others down the hallway, through the foyer to the staircase, Eve chose to focus her attention on Amber. If Amber was lying, it wouldn’t take her long to find out why. If Eve was confident about anything, she was confident in her ability to uncover the truth. And with the web of lies that seemed to surround her at the moment, she was determined more than ever to eventually get to the bottom of it all.

27

“Noooooo,”
she groaned, kicking the covers frantically. Eve rolled over and squinted at the alarm clock. It read 6:30
A.M
. The plan was to have the moving party start with breakfast at seven-thirty, and then begin moving Amber at eight-thirty, but as she tried to focus on actually waking up, she realized that morning had come too soon.

Normally six-thirty in the morning would not have been considered early, but she and Amber had been packing boxes until eleven-thirty the night before, and by the time she had showered and climbed into bed, it had been after midnight. Eve could hear Amber and Olivia laughing and talking across the hall.

“How the hell did she do it?” Eve asked herself.
Maybe when you have a kid God gives you extra energy or something,
she thought, forcing herself to roll over and place her feet on the floor.

“What was I thinking?” Eve said stretching as she made her way to the bathroom. She flipped on the light and closed her eyes instantly. Immediately, she turned off the light realizing it much too bright and her eyes weren’t ready to make the sudden adjustment.

Eve made her way to the toilet as she yawned and scratched her ass. She pulled down her pajama pants, allowing them to fall to her ankles, sat, and enjoyed the relief of her first morning piss. With
her eyes still closed, she started going over the plans for the day and nearly fell asleep on the toilet until she heard a faint knock on her bedroom door.

“Just a minute!” Eve shouted out while quickly pulling a wad of toilet paper from the roll and wiping herself. She pulled up her pants, flushed the toilet, quickly rinsed her hands, and dried them on her pants as she made her way to the bedroom door.

She opened the door to see Olivia hugging her American Girl doll with a broad smile. “Good morning, Auntie Eve.”

“Good morning, baby.” Eve playfully tugged on one of Olivia’s neatly combed braids that hung down her back. Olivia had thick, curly hair like Amber, hair that Eve didn’t envy Amber having to comb every day.

“Livie! I thought I told you not to bother Auntie Eve.” Amber appeared from the guest bedroom wearing jeans, a sweatshirt, and tennis shoes, and carrying Olivia’s jacket.

“It’s okay,” Eve said stretching and yawning. “I should have been up half an hour ago.”

“I feel bad keeping you up all night,” Amber said helping Olivia on with her jacket.

“Don’t worry about it. As soon as we finish getting you moved, I have made plans to date myself tonight.”

“Are me and Mommy are going home today?” Olivia asked excitedly.

Eve grimaced, then made a fist and bit down on the knuckle of her index finger as Amber made an accusatory face. She had forgotten that going home was supposed to be a surprise for Olivia.

“Let’s go, Livie. Daddy’s waiting,” Amber said as she led Olivia down the hallway. She looked back and made a fist at Eve.

Eve shrugged apologetically. “Bye, Livie!” she yelled after them. As she made her way back into her bedroom she could heard Olivia’s faint good-bye followed by “Mommy, are we going home today?”

“Shit!” Eve said flinging herself onto the bed. She rolled over on
her back and sighed heavily as she stared at the ceiling. “With all the secrets I’ve been keeping, you would think that I could keep a secret from a seven-year-old little girl!” she said scolding herself.

Eve grabbed a pillow and hugged it tightly against her body. She missed Chase. He was already in San Francisco for the game, and she had booked a morning flight to join him. She glanced at the alarm clock which now read 6:50
A.M
.

Eve leaped up and made her way back to the bathroom where she washed her face and quickly brushed her teeth. She glanced in the mirror and was glad to see that she didn’t look as tired as she felt. She quickly dressed in jeans, sweatshirt, and tennis shoes, and pulled her hair into a ponytail with a rubber band she plucked from her vanity tray.

She trotted down the hallway then galloped down the stairs taking them two at a time. She kept trotting until she was in the kitchen. She stopped for a moment with her hands on her hips and took a deep breath as if she was about to run a race.

“All right,” she said giving herself a pep talk. “You can do this!”

Eve quickly spooned coffee into the coffeemaker, filled the reservoir with water, and pushed the brew button. Then she grabbed a bag of frozen hash browns from the freezer and a package of bacon and a carton of eggs from the refrigerator. She pulled three skillets and a bowl from the cabinet and balanced them precariously as she shuffled to the stove.

Eve went to work layering the hash browns in one skillet and lining the bacon in another. She had chopped bell peppers and onions the night before and quickly added them to the hash browns. Then she cracked the entire carton of eggs into the bowl, added milk and butter, and then scrambled them furiously. She turned on the burner under the third skillet, rubbed butter in its center, and waited, allowing it to warm.

The smell of fresh coffee began permeating the air. She pulled the pot from the base and poured herself a cup before it was finished
brewing. After two sips she could feel her body start to warm, and she stood still for a moment, allowing the hot liquid to do its job.

She turned and looked out the kitchen window just in time to see her neighbor appear in her panties and bra. She watched her crouch down and look from side to side until she was convinced that the coast was clear, then quickly darted across the lawn, retrieved her newspaper from the sidewalk, and dashed back inside. Eve saw the look of triumph on her face and could tell she thought she had accomplished the mission unseen.

“She’s crazy as hell. Why doesn’t she just put on a robe?” she asked herself. She guessed some people just liked the excitement of taking unnecessary risks, laughing as she remembered how she and Chase had slipped into the movie theater once without paying, strictly for the thrill of it.

Eve checked the skillet by splashing it with a few drops of water before pouring the eggs in it to scramble. She glanced at the clock on the microwave which read 7:20
A.M
. Eve gave herself a mental pat on the back after whipping out a complete breakfast quick enough to impress the Iron Chef. She added a plate of bagels and an assortment of cream cheeses, poured a large pitcher of orange juice, and had completed setting the table when the doorbell rang.

Eve opened the door to find Jai and Jackie waiting together. “Did you guys come together?” Eve asked, and immediately realized it was a stupid question.

“Not exactly,” Jackie laughed.

“Jackie got here first, and I caught her sleeping in her car in your driveway,” Jai joked.

“I was making phone calls!” Jackie retorted.

“Whatever! Come on in. I’m just glad you’re both here and hopefully ready to work,” Eve said giving them a once-over. She was glad to see that they at least knew proper moving attire. “Jai, what’s with the do-rag?” Eve asked referencing the yellow cotton scarf Jai had tied around her head.

“Girl, I just got my hair done yesterday. Need I say more?”

They all laughed as Eve led the way into the kitchen.

“Damn, Eve, you sure you want us to help move? If I eat all this, I won’t be able to move anything, including myself!” Jai plucked a bagel from the plate and began spreading it with cream cheese.

“It will give you energy,” Eve said. “And I know damn well somebody had better eat because I was in here running around like Aunt Jemima trying to have it ready before you guys got here.” She grabbed a plate and scooped on a large helping of hash browns.

`“Looks like you’re celebrating,” Jai said starting to fix a plate. “Where’s Amber?”

“She took Olivia home so she would be out of the way. Sean has a whole day planned for the two of them. By the time they get home later this evening, we should have Amber and Olivia settled back at home. It was supposed to be a surprise, but I opened my big mouth this morning and ruined that.”

“What’s the matter? Can’t wait for them to be gone?” Jackie asked pouring a glass of orange juice. She glanced down at her cell phone and frowned as she read an incoming text.

“No. Actually, it hasn’t been bad, but it will be kinda nice to have my house back,” Eve said.

Jai wiped cream cheese from the corner of her mouth. “Well, it wouldn’t be soon enough for me. Just like you have a rule about only hiring the ugly, I have a rule about friends living in my house with me and my husband. I don’t care how close I am to a bitch, she can’t stay at my house. I’ll help her get a hotel room or something, but my house is off-limits.”

“Please, the last thing I have to worry about is Chase and Amber,” Eve said chewing slowly.

“You mean you wouldn’t let your best friend stay at your house if she needed to?” Jackie asked, looking up from her cell phone.

“No, and my best friend already knows the rules and respects my feelings. That’s why we’re such good friends,” Jai said.

“Sounds like you’ve been burned,” Eve remarked.

“Yep! I had a friend stay at my apartment with me and my boyfriend during spring break when I was in college. I told her to make herself at home and that she could have anything in the apartment that she needed. Turns out she needed some dick.”

“Damn, just like that?” Jackie laughed.

“Yep, just like that. I lost a best friend, boyfriend, and a real nice apartment. I learned quickly, though, and that was the last time I let a bitch live with me and my man.”

Eve heard the front door open and smiled as she saw Amber appear in the doorway of the kitchen.

“Good morning, ladies.”

“Hi, Amber, come and join the party.” Jackie tried to take a piece of bacon from Jai’s plate, but Jai slapped her hand away.

“Get your own plate,” Jai pointed her fork at Jackie in a threatening manner.

“No need to get violent,” Jackie said. She glanced at Eve’s plate.

“Don’t even try it, bitch. All this food, I
wish
you would touch my plate.”

“What did I walk into?” Amber asked, hanging her bag on the back of a chair and taking a seat.

Eve handed her a plate. “Here, eat.”

“No, thanks, I’m not very hungry. I’ll just have some coffee and a bagel.”

“Girl, you better fix a plate and eat.” Eve was still holding the plate for Amber.

“Really, I’m not hungry. Guess it’s nerves,” Amber insisted.

“Then eat. You’ll feel better.” Eve shoved the plate into Amber’s hand.

“Damn! Eat the cake, Anna Mae,” Jackie laughed as she began fixing a plate of her own.

Amber took the plate and began scooping scrambled eggs just as her cell phone began ringing in her bag.

Eve glanced at the bag wondering if the call was for her. She watched as Amber retrieved the phone, glanced at the caller ID, and shrugged without answering. “That can wait,” she said out loud.

“What’s that?” Eve asked.

“What’s what?” Amber asked, confused at the question.

“That?” Eve said pointing to Amber’s phone.

“Oh, my cell phone. Sean gave it back to me this morning when I dropped Olivia off.”

Eve held out her hand. “Then you won’t be needing mine anymore.”

“Oh, right,” Amber said, reaching into her bag and retrieving Eve’s BlackBerry. “Thanks. It turned out to be a lifesaver. We don’t realize how much we rely on these things until we don’t have one.”

“That’s why I have two,” Eve said, making her way into the adjoining family room and tossing the phone into her bag.

“Does Chase know about that?” Jackie asked as she texted, not bothering to look up.

“Please, I had two phones when Chase met me,” Eve said boldly as she returned to the kitchen. “In your line of work I’m surprised you don’t have two.”

Jackie looked up. “One phone is enough for me. The line that separates my personal life and my job is very thin. Sometimes I can’t tell one from the other,” she said.