Layover (3 page)

“You’re right. So what time is your flight?”

“I don’t have one.”

I went on to explain my problem and Allen began to immediately blame himself.

“It’s not your fault,” I told him. No matter what I said to him, he still felt responsible.

“How could it not be my fault? If I had made sure you had a flight out of here instead trying to wine and dine you, you would be on your way to your big presentation right now.”

“It’s not that, it’s just that so many people got stranded yesterday and they are all trying to get out of here today. They probably stayed at the airport all night and the airlines ensured that they would be on the first flights out of here. You actually saved me from having to sleep in a chair on C concourse.”

“Yeh, but now look at where you are. You’re here, and your meeting is hundreds of miles away.”

“Allen, I have to be honest. When things like this happen to me, I somehow think that God has his hand in it. Maybe he wanted me to be stuck in Denver. Maybe God did not want me to make that meeting. I don’t know what His will is. I just know that he gives us more than enough chances to do the right thing and when we do, he will reward us. I feel that God is pleased with me and missing my meeting is part of his bigger plan.”

“So what are you going to do now?”

“Well, I’m going to get on a plane back to Birmingham. From there, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I will probably have to go back to corporate America. I don’t know how long I can run my business on fumes. My savings is close to depleted and Kenny has categorically stated that he, in no way, will support me while I try to build my company.”

“This was the deal that was going to make you, huh?” he asked, disappointed.

“Yeh, this was the one. They were going to put a big, fat check in my hand at the end of my presentation.”

“Well, what if I just put one in your hand right now?” he asked

“What are you talking about?” I asked, interested.

“What if I just give you the money you need to stay afloat until you can land a huge deal and get your company off the ground?”

“Allen, I can’t let you do that. It could take months before I could pay you back.”

“I said ‘give’ you the money. I don’t want you to pay me back. I want to do something for you to make up for this mess.”

“Like I said, it’s not your fault. Besides, Kenny would have a lot of questions if I come home with a check from his brother.”

“Kenny doesn’t have to know. Look, Nya, I hate to say this about my brother because I love him, but I have to tell you the truth. Kenny doesn’t want you to succeed. He wants you to be stuck behind a desk so you can be as unhappy as he is. He wants to say, ‘I told you that you could not make it in this business.’ He wants you to depend on a job and depend on him. He needs to feel needed. He doesn’t have your best interest at heart. Kenny only has Kenny’s interests at heart. Besides, if he knew I gave you the money, he would try to spend it all before you ever got the chance to do what you need to do for your business. That’s just Kenny. He is my brother, but he is selfish. I’m not telling you anything that you don’t already know. I’m not trying to hate on my brother, but you know I’m telling the truth.”

Allen was right. Everything he said was true. I just wasn’t sure I was comfortable with hiding money from my husband, especially when it came from his brother.

“Allen, I’m going to have to think about it. Why don’t I call when I get back home?”

“That’s fine. Just let me know. I’ll have my accountant write you a check. Is $15,000 enough to keep you from going back to those White people’s job?”

“How much?” I asked in total shock.

“You’re right. Why don’t we make it $25,000? Do you think that will do it?”   

“Allen, I can’t take that kind of money from you.”

“Just think it over, Ny. Call me when you get home. I’ll give you my work number. You can use it anytime.”

“Thank you, Allen. Thanks for everything.”

I reached up to get a hug and this time he lifted me off the ground.

“I love you,” I told him.

He put me down and kissed me on the forehead. I felt like a 17 year-old.

“I’m going to go home and change clothes. Call me when you’re ready to check out and I’ll take you to the airport.”

“I better get back on the phone and see if I can get back to Alabama since they are not letting me go to California this morning. Don’t you have to go to work?”

“I’m the boss. Work starts when I get there. I’ll either go late or just take the day off. I’ll play it by ear. Just call me when you’re ready.”

Allen left and I began to call for a flight back home. I could not help but think about him and all that he was willing to do for me. He wanted to do things that my own husband would never do. Allen genuinely wanted me to succeed. He was right about Kenny being selfish. It’s one thing to know it in your heart, but it’s something else to hear someone else actually say it, especially someone who loves him at least as much as, if not more than you. I wanted to take the money from Allen, I needed the money, but despite how I felt about my husband, I did not want to lie to him. I always tried to deal straight with him and yet it was getting me nowhere. It’s very difficult to be successful in something when the person you trust the most is telling you that you can’t do it.

Getting a flight back to Birmingham was easier than it should have been. I took it as a sign that God did not want me to make it to California. What’s more is that I was starting to think he wanted me to spend the night in Denver with Allen with opportunity and motive to see what I would do. I was proud of myself for not sleeping with him because I really wanted to. My body ached at the thought of him putting 10 to 12 inches of rock-hard dick inside of me. At least that’s what it felt like he was packing when I hugged him. It’s not just the physical part, though. Allen makes me feel safe. He makes me feel like he’s got my back. If ever I were in the most perilous situation of my life, I would want Allen to be the one with me, not Kenny. A woman’s most primitive need is to be protected and Allen makes me feel that way. He satisfies my most primitive, innate desire to be safe. Still, I have to remember my obligation to my husband. If I can just make it out of Colorado without doing something I’ll regret, I’ll be alright.

I called Allen back to let him know that I had a flight out. He told me that he was 15 minutes away. I went downstairs to check out. The clerk at the front desk informed me that my room had already been paid for, but I had a balance because of my phone usage. I was less than impressed with this funky ass, fake-bourgeoisie hotel and their ridiculous charges. He asked if he could just place the phone charges on Allen’s card but I told him not to. I wrote him one of my company checks for the difference and told him everything but “Kiss my ass” as I left. When Allen arrived, he opened the car door for me and placed my bag in the back. He said he was going inside to get an itemized receipt. I waited in the car for him and noticed the music he was listening to:

When you feel it in your body, you’ve found somebody who makes you change your ways, like hanging with your crew. Say you act like you’re ready but you don’t really know, and everything in your past you ought to let it go. I’ve been there, done it, walked around. After all that, this is what I found. Nobody wants to be alone. If you’re touched by the words in this song then baby, you’ve got it, you’ve got it bad when you’re on the phone - you hang up and call right back. You’ve got it, you’ve got it bad when you miss a day without your friend your whole life’s off track. Boy you’ve got it bad when you’re stuck in the house you don’t want to have fun, ‘cause all you think about...you got it bad when you’re out with someone but you keep on thinkin’ ‘bout somebody else.

When you say that you love them and you really know, everything that you used to matter, it don’t matter no more like my money, all my cars, you can have it all..

“You ready?” Allen asked as he got in the car suddenly.

I must have looked startled because he asked me if I was okay.

 “Why do you ask?”

“You looked like you were in a trance. You like my music? It’s Usher,” He told me.

“It’s cool. I can relate to that song.”

“You got it bad?” He asked, jokingly.

I rolled my eyes and turned my head. We drove for several miles without a word between us until Allen decided it was time to establish an alibi.

“Have you talked to your husband since you’ve been here?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“We were on bad terms when I left. I did not want to talk to him.”

“Are you going to tell him what happened? I mean, are you going to tell him that we saw each other?”

“I don’t know. I think that will spark a series of questions that I’m not inclined to answer,” I told him.

“Well, I need to know. I mean, I don’t want to say anything different than what you say.”

“God, imagine if we had actually slept together. We would really be trying to think up a lie. I’m just going to tell him that the airline put the passengers up in a hotel last night and flew us out this morning. If he knows we saw each other, he is going to want to know what we said, what we did, where was Lisa and the baby. Hell, he might think we planned this whole thing and that it was never my intention to go to California. You know how your brother is!”

“You’re right. Let’s just go with that.”

We pulled up at the airport and Allen got out and carried my bag inside for me.

“Call me when you make it home,” he insisted.

“I will. Thanks for everything, Allen.”

I reached up to hug him and he placed one hand underneath my chin and the other on the back of my head. He tilted my head back slightly and kissed me on the lips. I thought I was going to pass out. I mustered up enough strength to pull away before I slipped him some tongue. As I pulled away, he placed his hands on my cheeks and slid them down my face. He was looking at me as if he created me and I was his greatest masterpiece. I shivered a bit as his hands left my face.

“Are you cold?” he asked, concerned.

“A little.”

Without hesitation, he took off his size 2X leather jacket and draped it across my shoulders. I felt like I was in the 12th grade and my boyfriend was the captain of the football team.

“Nya, let me know if you ever need
anything
.”

“I will,” I assured him.

I walked back inside the airport. He stood there, in the cold with no jacket until he saw me get in the check-in line. He got in his car. I watched him drive off and I wished I was in the car with him. After I checked in, I rode the train to my concourse and found a quiet place to sit until my plane boarded. I took Allen’s jacket off and squeezed it in my arms as if it was him. I could still smell his cologne. I pressed it up against my nose and took a deep breath. I closed my eyes and imagined that it was him. I don’t know how long I did that, but the next thing I remember is hearing my row being called for boarding.

Chapter Two

When I got home, Kenny was still at work. I took Allen’s jacket upstairs and hung it safely in my closet. I would think of him each time I got dressed. Just as I promised, I called him to let him know I made it. He did not answer his cell phone, so I left a message. I did not want to call the house because I knew the number would show up on his caller ID. This whole thing was making me uneasy. Why were we being so secretive and slick when we hadn’t done anything wrong? I know people who have affairs who are less careful. Still, I told Allen that I wouldn’t let Kenny know we saw each other so I had to stick to that. I was still floating from his kiss and I wished my lips never had to touch Kenny’s again. I laid across the bed and imagined that I was still in my fancy hotel in Denver. I must have been tired from the trip because I dozed off. I woke up to the sound of the front door opening.

“What are you doing here?” Kenny asked.

“I got snowed in at Denver, I never made it to California.”

“You spent the night in Denver?”

“Yeh. I had no choice. No flights were leaving the ground.”

“Why didn’t you just call Allen and Lisa?”

“I did not want to be any trouble.”

“So what’s going to happen with your mega deal?”

“They are going to reschedule our meeting.”

“Are you still mad at me?”

“Hell yes.”

“Well, I meant what I said,” he said defensively.

“So did I,” I informed him, “and I did not come home for this.”

I hated this house now. I wished I could close my eyes and be back in Colorado. I knew I could not be back in Denver now, but I did not have to be here. I decided to get in my car and drive. I would just drive as far away from this place as I could get. I grabbed my purse and shoes and headed for the door.

“Where do you think you’re going?” He asked, as if he was entitled.

“Away from your ass!”

I ran downstairs and opened the door to the garage. I opened the door to the Jeep and jumped in. I put the keys in the ignition and started the car. Then I stopped. I needed to go back in the house to get something. I got out of the car and went back in the house and walked over to the CD tower. I looked up and down for that CD, but could not find it. I got frustrated. Where could it be? I went back into the garage and opened the trunk to Kenny’s car. I opened the CD changer and pulled out the magazine. One by one I pulled out the CDs until I found it. It was the 4th one in the magazine. I took it out and shoved the magazine back in the changer. I closed the trunk and got back in the Jeep. I took my Peter Cetera CD out of my deck and inserted my new-found CD. I skipped to track #6 and pressed the repeat key. I turned the volume up as loud as I could tolerate and pressed the garage door opener. I peeled out of the garage as fast as I could without flipping the Jeep over. I pressed the button again to close the garage and sped out of the subdivision. I was jamming.