Ivy's Twisted Vine Redux (16 page)

“But,” she said moving closer to his chest. “You can come and see me at work tonight if you like, and we can celebrate your birthday afterwards.”

“Sounds like a plan. Where do you work?” It was pathetic that he was so good at this pitiful game of cat and mouse, but someone had to play it.

“I work at the Black Tie Gentlemen’s Club. Have you ever heard of it?” She watched his face light up as men usually did when she told them about her profession.

“Have I heard of it? Miss Kitty, I am a preferred VIP customer.” His chest stuck out a little. “But I don’t recall seeing you there.”

“They call me Masquerade,” she said proudly. “Now, do you remember me?”

“Oh yeah, you’re amazing in that little
kinky
green costume. I hardly recognize you without your Mardi Gras mask,” he said picturing what she looked like on stage.

“No, you just don’t recognize me with clothes on.”

“That too,” Nicola said amused. “But I have to tell you, I don’t think it’s fair that I’ve seen what you can do, but you haven’t seen what I can do.” Was she a smart enough girl to read between the lines?

“Well tonight we’ll just have to do something about that. Won’t we?” Touching his lips with her index finger, she blew him a kiss and walked away. There was no need to turn back. She knew that he was watching her closely now, analyzing her small waist, large bust and shapely legs. He had struck gold, and they both knew it.

Returning back into the gym with ego of Zeus, Nicola smiled at Brooks proudly preparing to boast on his good fortune. “Good looking out. It appears that I’m going to spending my birthday with Masquerade.” He leaned against the treadmill and looked at his watch.

“Masquerade? You mean the girl from the Black Tie.” Brooks was a regular as well, and prided himself on knowing each exotic dancer by stage name and all equivalent aliases.

“That’s exactly the one,” Nicola said returning to his weights.

“Ain’t that some shit.” Brooks was loss for words. He should have gone over and talked to her on his own instead of worrying about Nicola.

“She wants me to meet her down at the Black Tie tonight. You feel like going?”

“When do I not feel like going to the Black Tie, man? But I’ve got to get some rest. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. My folks are going to want me and Trina at their place early.”

“Well, I’m going to head down at about ten. So meet me down there.”

“Why don’t we just ride down there together?” Brooks could always use a designated driver.

“Because I won’t be going home alone,” Nicola said winking at Brooks. “Ms. Kitty is definitely going to have to call a chiropractor in the morning.”

“Whatever you say, man. Are you finished making a fool out of yourself over here on these weights.” Brooks asked getting off of his treadmill.

“Yeah. I think it’s time to head out. Where are we eating today?”

“Let’s go to that new Chinese buffet out on Perkins. I heard they have 202 different items on the menu.” This was Brooks’ favorite part of their workout.

“Sound good,
but
do they have beer?” It was the most important part of Nicola’s well-balanced meal.

“Alright. Applebee’s it is.” Brooks said forgetting the Chinese food. “I don’t know why we even bother to work out, if we’re going to have a beer right after.”

“You don’t have to have a beer. I’ll drink it for you,” Nicola said already beginning to enjoy his birthday. “You know, today could be a good day.”

An hour later, Nicola and Brooks walked into the Union Avenue Applebee’s showered, hungry and seeking refuge from the sleet and snow. Taking seats at the bar, they ordered a couple of beers and settled down to the watch the highlights of the Tennessee Titans game they missed the night before. As Nicola was about to get up and walk to the restroom, he caught a glimpse of a woman in a booth who closely resembled Ivy. Hitting Brooks on the arm, he pointed her way.

“Isn’t that Ivy?” he asked sitting back down.

“Where?” Brooks turned hesitantly from his beer.

“There. Right there in that last booth.” His heart began to pound like a schoolgirl.

“Yep. That’s her.” Brooks smiled. “Why don’t you go over and say hello.”

“You think I should?”

“Better than standing over here gawking at her all day. Go on over there,” he said nudging Nicola in the arm. “Get your scary ass up and go.” He had never seen his partner like this over a woman before.

“I’m not scary,” Nicola said taking a deep breath.

“Come on, man. I’ll go over with you and speak to Trina.”

*

It had already been a long day for Ivy. Even though she didn’t appear pregnant on the outside, she felt nine-months pregnant on the inside. Almost every food and drink that she used to love, she now could not bear to smell. Her prenatal vitamins gave her monstrous gas and her dizzy spells came and went throughout the day, complicating her already tenuous life.

To make Ivy feel better, Trina suggested that they step out for a bite to each at Applebee’s, which was her favorite hangout and only minutes from the dorms. The only torturous part of it all was that Ivy couldn’t order a house margarita, and Trina already sucked hers down and had ordered another. Still sulky, but feeling better, Ivy sat in the booth looking through her menu.

“You know what you want to get yet?” Trina asked putting her purse in the far corner of the booth.

“No. I guess that I’ll stick with something safe like soup and a salad.”

“Well, just make sure that you take your prenatal vitamin after you eat. You didn’t take it this morning.”

“Okay, momma, “Ivy said cynically. “You know I hate those things. I’m going to ask the doctor to give me a different kind…something with Phenegran.”

As Nicola approached, Ivy looked up at him and stopped her conversation in mid-sentence. Feeling her stomach tighten and little beads of sweat form on her forehead; she kicked Trina under the table and bucked her eyes.

“Nicola’s here,” Ivy said smiling fretfully.

“Nicola’s where?”

“Right here,” Nicola replied as he walked over and kissed Ivy on the cheek. “So good to see you.”

“Good to see you, too.” Ivy moved over in her booth to make room for Nicola. “Please have a seat.”

“We don’t want to interrupt your lunch. We were just stopping to say hello.” Nicola said declining her offer to join them.

“Yeah, but since you offered, I think that we should join you.” Brooks sat down beside Trina. There was no way he was going to let Nicola back out of this.

“Please, it’s no trouble,” Ivy said patting the seat for Nicola to sit down. She smiled gently at him.

“Did you order food already?” Trina asked kissing Brooks on the cheek.

“Yeah at the bar. Why?” Brooks felt Trina pinching his side with her free hand.

“Because we should go down there and get it.” Trina pushed Brooks out of the seat. “We’ll be back.”

Ivy looked up in disapproval. Again she was left alone with Nicola. This time they were more than familiar with one another, yet the discomfort seemed almost too much to stomach.

“You look great,” Nicola said acknowledging the strange but vibrant glow that Ivy possessed since last he saw her.

“Yeah, I get a little heavy during the winter months. I don’t look fat, do I?” she said looking at her swollen fingers. He was surely to detect that there was something wrong with her like the fact that she was knocked up.

“No, you look radiant, perfect…you know, all the good words,” Nicola said remembering their time together. She also still looked engaged judging the huge diamond that she sported on her left ring finger. Grey was evidently still in the picture.

“You look good too,” she said trying not to break out in a cold sweat.

For Nicola this chance meeting was a perfect time to confront all of the things that he had been battling for over a month. He looked through her with his penetrating eyes and smiled bashfully causing Ivy to swallow hard and feel a tight knot in the middle of her throat.

Why must he be so beautiful
, Ivy thought as she tried not to smell his cologne…tried not to focus on the fact that he was sitting so close to her. But she couldn’t ignore his undeniable presence. She exhaled heavily feeling nearly deflated. What was it about this man that she could not fight?

Nicola was far to engulfed in his own feelings to detect what his mere existence was doing to Ivy. As he tried to gather his thoughts, he looked around to make sure that Brooks was out of earshot for what he was about to confess. Then he took her hand and turned to her.

“You…never called.” He felt himself trembling but continued. “And I really wanted you to…call.”

“I know,” Ivy said sighing. If she gave into the Nicola again, she would surely loose Grey. It was better for everyone that she keep her distance although everything in her wanted to reach out for him. “Really, I am truly sorry, but I just didn’t’ see a need to call once Grey and I got back together.” She looked down at her engagement ring.

“You didn’t?” Her words fell on his ears like hot needles. He was almost a hundred percent sure that she had felt something that night, but at this very moment he wasn’t sure.

“No,” Ivy said trying to be strong. If she could just be spiteful enough at that very moment, she could force him away forever. He would never have to know about the baby. He would never have to know that she had thought of him a thousand time since the moment he was last out of her sight.

“You’re lying,” he said searching her face. “You mean to tell me that all of that was just an act.” He saw right through her.

“No, it wasn’t an act. I’m not a slut, Nicola. I just realized when I left there that I was better off with Grey that trying to have something with you,” she said looking away from him. “After I made up my mind about it, there was nothing left to say. We had our moment, and it was then it was over. Please tell me that you didn’t think it was anything more than that.” It was the most painful thing that Ivy had ever made herself say, but feeling the need to push one of the men out of her life, she knew it was her only option. “You were a great release. You helped me clear some things up in my head.” She smiled at him crossly. “It was fun though, right?”

“Right.” Nicola had heard enough. The warmness of her hand was now cold, and he let go with sudden disgust. “Well, if you don’t mind. I am going to go and finish my lunch at the bar.” He stood up. “It wasn’t nice seeing you.” He turned and walked away.

Ivy tried in a frantic desperation to hold her tears back as he turned his back to her. She felt herself collapsing inside. The wounded look in his eyes, accompanied by the impairment in his voice was enough to make her heart stop. And for a moment, it did. She gathered herself and managed to get to the bathroom before her emotional nausea overtook her.

Storming into the stall, Ivy leaned against the wall and began to cry. She had done what she set out to do. She had driven him far away but the absence of his love was tearing through her heart so fiercely that she became weak at the knees. It was true. He did care. She could see it in his eyes. Only there was nothing she could do. Nothing. She held her aching stomach and cried aloud, holding her hands over her mouth to muffle the moans that leaped from her throat.

“Man, I’ve got to get out of here.” Nicola said interrupting Trina and Brooks at the bar as he threw a twenty-dollar bill by his untouched food.

“Are you alright?” Brooks asked concerned.

“No. I’m not,” Nicola said walking off. “I’ll meet you at the truck.”

“Well, I guess she told him,” Trina said eating one of Nicola’s French fries.

“Guess so. What a birthday present, huh?” Brooks said kissing her on the cheek. “Eat this for me, will you. I’ll grab a little something later.”

“First, I better go and check on Ivy,” Trina said seeing the empty booth were Ivy was suppose to be sitting.

“Alright. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

Searching for Ivy, Trina walked into the restroom where she found Ivy kneeling over the toilet in the back stall throwing up the little food she had managed to keep down that day.

“You finally told him?” Trina asked rubbing Ivy’s back sympathetically.

“No. I couldn’t. I just wanted to push him away for good,” Ivy said wiping her mouth.

“Why would you want to do something so stupid?”

“I told him that he was just a release and that night didn’t mean anything to me.” Propping herself up on the toilet seat, she wiped her mouth and cheeks. “But it did, Trina. It meant something to both of us. I could see it in his…his face.” She began to cry again.

“But no mention of the baby?” That was all Trina cared about.

“No, absolutely no mention of the baby.”

“What! What the hell are you thinking?”

“I don’t want to be tied to that man strictly out of obligation. If the child is not Grey’s then I will raise it alone,” Ivy said still sobbing.

“What about the child? Doesn’t it deserve to have a father?” Trina recalled instantly growing up without a stable male figure.

“Yes. But it will just have to accept what I can offer. That will have to be enough.”

“You don’t have that right!” Trina said stepping out of the stall.

“At this point, I don’t have a choice,” Ivy said flushing the toilet. “It’s already been done. Plus, it could very well be Grey’s baby. All of this could just be a very hard lesson.”

“For that baby’s sake, I pray that you’re right.” Trina said handing her a baby wipe from her purse. “Come on. We better get you somewhere where you can lay down.”

*

Slamming his door as he got out of his truck at the precinct, Nicola hit his alarm on his key ring taking all his frustration out on the small button. For over a month, he had thought about Ivy day and night just to find out that he had only been a one-night stand to her. All that talk was just a way to get him into bed. Hell, she probably had been with plenty of men and was just lying about Grey being the only one. What a fool he had been!