Moments of Clarity (22 page)

“Yes,” Sasha responded curtly.

“Then go. We gave her a combination of ativan and haldol, so she'll be sedated for some time. We usually keep people in these cases for only seventy-two hours but because she's your friend I can pull some strings and keep her under wraps and let her remain here until you get back if you like.”

“No thanks.” Sasha slammed the folder into Anita's hand and said, “Send her home whenever you want. I'm going on vacation.”

Anita said as Sasha turned to leave, “I've been meaning to call you in regards to that other matter we discussed. I hit a wall and wasn't able to find out any information other than what you already knew.” She touched her shoulder consolingly. “I'm sorry.”

“That's okay, Anita. I appreciate you trying.”

Chapter 17

Sasha hit the palm of her hand on the steering wheel in frustration as she inched her car little by little along the outside lane. A three-car accident had traffic in every direction crawling at a snail's pace.

Once she was free of the congestion, she drove towards the airport as if the devil himself were on her heels. As she sped up the circular loop of the parking area, she began to frantically search for a parking place in the garage. She wound up on the roof in an obscure corner.

The sun was blinding as she searched for the position of the elevator.

Chewing nervously on her bottom lip, she became even more irritated as the last person to enter the elevator ran over her toes with a baby stroller.

“I'm sorry, ma'am.”

Sasha's response was to merely grunt in the woman's general direction and look at her wristwatch.

“The plane should be taking off in about five minutes. I just pray that it's a few minutes late,” she muttered to herself. Sasha crossed all her fingers, all the while praying for a miracle.
If you help me to make this flight, I won't be stupid again, I won't be stupid again!
She reiterated the words in her head several times. Once the elevator doors opened she ran towards the terminal. With every step her pocketbook hit her side. Finally clutching it in front of her, she ran to the screener.

Sasha tapped her teeth together in agitation as the screener dumped all of her belongings into a grey plastic container. Then she barely held her tongue when she saw her open her round tube of lip gloss to see if anything was hidden inside. When the screener tried to replace the cap, she dropped it and it fell on the floor and rolled out of sight.

The girl started to bend to try to retrieve it and Sasha said tersely, “For heaven's sake, forget it. It's not that important.” After her body was scanned from head to toe several times, she approached the departure board. Her heart sank when she read Flight 1211 to Las Vegas had departed.

A hard knot formed in her stomach and she felt nauseous. Stumbling over to a chair she sank into it and dropped her head between her knees. She remained in that position for about five minutes, and when she weakly lifted her head, she realized to her chagrin that she'd aroused the somewhat nervous curiosity of several onlookers.

Gathering her wits, she went to the customer service window at the Delta counter and said with a slight tremor in her voice, “I missed my flight to Las Vegas. Can I exchange my ticket for a later flight?”

Sasha fumbled around in her pocketbook and then she felt nauseous again when she realized that Sexton had her ticket. “I don't have my ticket. Check under my name, please.” Sasha wheedled. “It's Sasha Diamond.”

The ticket agent quickly typed in the information. “I'm sorry, ma'am, but there's no ticket under the name Sasha Diamond.”

Sasha frantically searched her brain. “Is there one under Sexton Johnson?”

The clerk typed in the information in the computer and said, “Yes ma'am there is. However, the ticket reads Sexton Johnson and passenger.” The clerk then gave Sasha a look of sympathy. “I can't prove that you're the passenger he's talking about so I can't let you use it.” The attendant saw the look of despair on Sasha's face and said, “Let me see if there is anything I can do for you.”

“Never mind. How much is it for a one-way ticket?” Sasha asked, reaching for her wallet.

“Six hundred and ninety-three dollars for a last-minute one-way express ticket. However, there's not another available flight until tomorrow morning at eleven-thirty.”

“Damn!” Sasha's nightmare of a day was complete.

“You can try stand-by starting at six o'clock in the morning.”

“Thank you,” Sasha replied weakly and turned to make the long trek back to her car.

Once she got back into the mainstream of traffic she pulled out her cell phone and punched Sexton's cell phone number. It went straight to voice mail. “Sexton, I missed the plane by ten minutes. I want to come in the morning. You have my plane ticket so I have to fly stand-by. Please call me and let me know if that's okay with you.” Her voice sounded nervous, and she knew it.

Hours later, Sasha emerged from the shower and checked her voice mail. A lump formed in her throat when she realized that Sexton still hadn't called. An image of Tiara came to the forefront of her mind once again, and she was consumed with anger.

Later that evening, Sasha sat in front of an uneaten South Beach diet frozen dinner. She looked at the clock and picked up her cell phone, hit redial for his private line, and found herself once again listening to his voice mail. The background music of Stevie's “All I Do” played and she had to blink back tears remembering the night he'd downloaded it and let her listen. “Sexton, I've been waiting to hear from you. I'm sorry I messed everything up. Please call me back if I can come in the morning.”

That night Sasha slept fitfully. Every hour on the hour, she awoke and looked at her cell phone as it lay on the empty pillow next to her. She almost felt overcome with an unfamiliar loneliness that she'd never ever experienced before Sexton Johnson had entered her life.

* * *

The phone rang, and Sasha eagerly jumped off the couch before the caller I.D. had a chance to activate. “Hello,” she said in a deliberately sexy voice.

“Good morning, this is Island Getaways notifying you that you have the chance to win a four day, three night cruise for two.” Frustrated, she slammed down the telephone. She hadn't been out of the house for two days straight and still she hadn't heard from Sexton.

The game was due to be televised in an hour and she took a moment off from mentally kicking herself for her stupidity to send up a prayer for Sexton that he would play well and would be recognized in front of millions for his remarkable talents.

Sasha knew that Sexton had been angry with her when she had insisted on going to see Tiara, but still she was surprised by his lack of response to her phone calls. It was out of character for him to sulk. As a couple he had always been the more level headed one, so she knew that his lack of response meant that he was really angry. She couldn't wait for him to return, and even though she knew that she couldn't change how she had let him down, she could reassure him that she would not let history repeat itself.

That evening, Sasha sat mesmerized in a room illuminated only by the television as she watched the East Coast battle the West in the All-Star game. It was the fourth quarter and the score was tied. Whenever Sexton ran or dribbled down the court, she sat up even straighter on the loveseat and watched his every move. He wore a white jersey with the name Johnson and the number twelve embossed in large, red letters.

Sexton had gotten playing time every quarter, and every time the announcer said the name Sexton Johnson the crowd in Las Vegas echoed the screams she emitted in her living room.

Sexton was being closely guarded by point guard Oscar King. He was the lankiest basketball player that she'd ever seen. Sasha already knew of him because Sexton had told her that they had played together overseas. He had been picked up by the NBA one year earlier than Sexton and had already established himself as one of the newer players in the league to watch.

Sasha glared at him, channeling her anger on him. He covered Sexton with an aggressiveness that seemed to cross the line. Even when Sexton wasn't in possession of the ball he was all over him. However, when the cameras gave a close-up of Sexton's face, his expression showed only concentration not annoyance.

The east coast players continued to feed Sexton the ball throughout the game. Sexton was ambidextrous; even though the other team's players knew it, he was still able to catch them off guard and get a clean shot.

The last ten minutes of the game, Sexton's team was two points ahead. They had made the last six baskets while the west had made only three. The tempo of the game had slowed slightly and it was obvious that the players on both teams were tired because they had both fought tooth and nail throughout.

Pride coursed through Sasha's veins as she watched Sexton play. Not only had he contributed by scoring over seventeen points, he had managed to make two out of three baskets at the foul line. She admired the fact that he was a team player. Instead of taking every shot when he had the ball, he passed the ball to teammates who appeared to have a cleaner shot.

In the last five minutes of the game, the east coast's score was up by three points and they bounded down the court towards their goal. Sexton was running parallel with his teammate who was in possession of the ball when suddenly the ball was passed to him. Easily catching it, he dribbled down towards the basket and Oscar King. Switching the ball from his right hand to his left, he went for the lay-up. Just as Sexton released the ball, Oscar King slapped it and instead of it going off to the side, the ball hit Sexton directly in the face with such force he went down and was sprawled out flat on his back on the basketball court.

A gasp of fear mixed with excitement rose from the crowd. The referees' whistles went off as they motioned that the move was a flagrant foul. The east coast coaches ran to the court.

Sasha craned her neck trying to see what was going on. Finally, she spied Calvin as the first person to reach Sexton. The other players deliberately shielded his body from view and Sasha's heart dropped when she saw a stretcher being wheeled out. She wasn't aware that she was now standing. As if from a distance, she heard a voice announce that Sexton Johnson remained unconscious and he was being rushed to the hospital.

Calmly, almost as if in a robotic trance, Sasha stiffly walked over to her kitchen counter, picked up her handbag and walked out of her loft to begin her journey to Las Vegas.

The trip in the taxi was a blur, and when it came to a stop at the terminal, she blindly reached into her pocketbook, withdrew a fifty dollar bill, and walked through the glass doors to the ticket counter. By the grace of God, she managed to secure a seat on the next plane out. There had been a last-minute cancellation, and even though she was in the last seat of the plane by the bathroom, she thanked God to be sitting there.

Once they had leveled off, she used the plane's telephone and tried to contact Calvin. She got no answer so at the sound of the beep she said in a voice bordering on hysteria, “Calvin, this is Sasha. Call me on my cell phone with an update on Sexton's condition as soon as possible. Right now I'm on a plane on my way to him.”

Then she called Sexton's cell phone, praying for him to answer. She hit redial over and over again and then finally she decided to leave another message. “Sexton, if you get this message, I saw what happened and I'm on my way to you. Stay strong. I love you so much.”

Chapter 18

When she emerged from the airport, she gasped and almost toppled over from the wave of heat that hit her. The temperature sign on the bank across the street was flashing 107 degrees. Wiping the beads of sweat off her face with the back of one hand, she hailed a cab with the other. After sinking gratefully into the back seat she said, “Please take me to the Paris Hotel.” She felt like ordering him to step on it, but gazing at the bumper-to-bumper traffic she knew that it would be a waste of time. Taking a stab in the dark she asked the driver, “Did you see the All-Star game?”

The driver looked in his rear view mirror and said, “Yeah, it's a shame what happened to that guy.”

Sasha's heart dropped and even though she was afraid to ask she did. “Do you mean Sexton Johnson?”

“Yes, ma'am. He was really putting on a show until that guy put him out of commission. I'm glad the east coast won the game even with that Johnson guy being carried out.”

Swallowing hard she asked, “Have you heard a recent update on his status?”

“Sure. I heard on the radio he's at University Medical Center with a mild concussion. They say he's going to be okay.”

Sasha felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders. “Please take me to University Medical Center instead of the Paris Hotel.”

The driver looked at her and curiosity was written all over his face. “Of course.”

Once she was in the lobby of the hospital, she clipped on her nurse's badge from work, which coincidentally was the same color worn by the receptionist who had given her directions to Sexton's room.

She strode down the hallway and halted her steps in front of room 517. Remembering the last conversation that she'd had with Sexton and the fact that he had ignored her numerous phone calls, she tried to still the butterflies in her stomach. With trepidation, she pushed open the hospital room door.

It was a private room and Sexton lay back against the pillows. His eyes were closed and the contrast of the white sheets against his dark skin made him look vulnerable. She went to stand at his bedside.

Sensing the presence of someone else in the room, his eyes fluttered open. The first expression that crossed his face was one of joy, but it was quickly masked with an inscrutable one.

Sasha took his hand and lifted it. Gently turning it over, she kissed the inside of his forearm the way he had done hers so many times during their relationship. At the feel of her touch, a smile began to form and his lips twitched.

Without speaking, Sasha walked to the end of his bed and opened his chart and began to read it. Feeling relieved, she slid it back in place. Then she pulled an empty chair next to the bed. Very softly she began to speak. “Sexton, I don't know how to make this up to you or if I can ever make this up to you, but I'm sorry. I should have been here for you, the way you have always been there for me throughout our whole relationship.”

Sexton opened his mouth to speak but Sasha held up her hand to stop him. She spoke slowly, not knowing how much his medication would affect how he processed information. “When we parted, I didn't feel as if I was choosing Tiara over you, but I did feel that she needed me and you didn't. You're so strong, Sexton. There's an inner strength that I see in your eyes when I look at you and it makes me feel safe and warm. I feel protected when I'm with you and I realized while we were apart that I need to start having your back the way that you have mine. When you didn't return my calls, I was bereft. You were right, Tiara was just playing games and I fell for it.”

Sasha hypnotized him with her eyes. “I know that you love me, Sexton, but I have never been as afraid or lonely as I've been the last couple of days, thinking that maybe you had decided to throw in the towel on us as a couple.” She placed her hand over her heart, looked into his deep chocolate brown eyes and said, “I promise that I will never choose another person's welfare over yours again.”

Sexton lay motionless in bed, not saying a word.

“Do you still love me?

Mutely he searched her face with his eyes and nodded yes.

“Do you still want me?”

Again he nodded yes.

Nervously she cleared her throat, but her words were loud and clear, “Will you marry me, Sexton?”

Finally, after an endless time, he murmured softly, “Sasha, get my small suitcase from out of the closet.”

He pointed to a set of closet doors on the other side of the room and Sasha went to do as she was told.

When she turned back around Sexton was sliding out of bed and she protested, “Don't get out of bed. You're still recuperating!”

“Hush, girl. You're my woman, not my nurse.”

A mixture of happiness and optimism surged through Sasha when she heard his words. Crossing back to him, she handed him his small overnight case. After rifling through it, he pulled something out, but because his hands were so huge, she couldn't see what he was concealing.

Then he dropped to one knee and took her left hand in his. “Sasha Diamond, I love you with all my heart.”

He opened the box. Inside was the largest princess cut diamond engagement ring she had ever seen.

“Will you marry me?”

Tears coursed down her cheeks and without wiping them away she dropped to her knees in front of him. “Please,” she answered before she was enveloped in his embrace.

That night, Sasha sat at Sexton's hospital bedside and smiled wryly at him as he slept in his usual manner. The bandage was gone from his head, and he was lying on his back with his legs spread eagle, exposing himself to any and everyone who might enter the room. She knew from previous experience that he was such a deep sleeper that she could make all the noise she wanted and he would not wake. As she slid in the bed next to him and gently pulled the sheet up to his waist, he still didn't stir.

* * *

The penthouse suite at the Paris Hotel and Casino was gorgeous. Even after a night's sleep, she was still so tired from overwrought emotion during her plane ride that after taking a quick shower and making sure that Sexton was resting comfortably, she had fallen into a deep sleep.

Now that she had time to give her surroundings a closer inspection, she gave a very unladylike whistle. On one wall there a mural that replicated a Paris scene. The other walls were a light mauve, and the matching carpet was so plush she hadn't felt the need to put on her bedroom shoes.
To think that I almost missed this. God works in mysterious ways. Sexton's accident not only got me my man back for a minute, but for a lifetime.

She had always wanted to travel to Europe, and as she craned her neck and looked out the window she stared at the scaled replica of the Eiffel Tower and felt as if she were in France.

Crossing to a full length mirror, she placed her left hand over her heart. “Sasha Johnson, Mrs. Sexton Johnson, Mrs. Sexy Sexton Johnson.” As she spoke the words aloud to her reflection in the mirror, a thrill went through her. Her engagement ring fit to a tee, and she hadn't taken it off since Sexton had put it on her finger when they were at the hospital.

The sound of the suite's doorbell shook her out of her reverie, and pulling on Sexton's shirt and boxers, she looked through the peephole. She couldn't see the person's face, but she recognized the body posture as that of Calvin. Hurriedly she opened the door and the look of happiness when he saw her eased any fear that she might have felt because he was Tiara's brother.

“I see you made it after all.” He gave a knowing grin.

“Damn skippy!” Sasha replied with a saucy tone and smiled as she thrust out her hand and showed the ring.

Calvin gave a whistle that was identical to the one Sasha had uttered moments earlier. “Homeboy really goes all out, doesn't he? I knew he planned to ask you to marry him while you guys were here in Vegas but when you didn't make the plane,” Calvin paused and gave Sasha a sideways look, “I didn't know that it would happen.”

“I know you didn't think that I would let Sexton go so easily, did you?” Sasha stood with her hand planted on her hips.

“I know that I wouldn't.”

She gave Calvin a questioning look and then he explained. “I know from traveling with the team what some of these guys do. Even before the two of you hooked up, he didn't pick up a woman in every city we visited. Don't get me wrong, he was no monk. But a man like Sexton is hard to find. He has some real old-fashioned scruples. ” As he spoke these words, Calvin had a somewhat wistful expression on his face.

“I know. His parents did a good job with him.”

“Many a night, he'd just hang out in the room, watching tapes of the team he was there to play, trying to hone his craft.”

“I always knew I could trust Sexton while he was away on the road because I knew in my heart what kind of man Sexton is. Still, sometimes I would grow fearful that this would end, so when Sexton agreed to marry me I felt that all was right in the world.”

Calvin gave her an earnest look. “Then seal the deal with a marriage, Sasha. Las Vegas is the marrying capital of the world. What are you waiting for?”

On his way out the door, he gave Sasha another perceptive look. “By the way, I talked to Tiara today and she's fine, or should I just say she's the usual.”

After Calvin left, Sasha sat in the rocking chair by the fireplace and thought about Calvin's advice. She was deep in thought and didn't realize that Sexton was awake and lying there watching her.

“A penny for your thoughts.”

“Marry me, Sexton.”

“I know that I got hit in the head, but I distinctly remember going over this with you already.” He looked at the ring on her finger. “In fact, I'm positive that I did.”

“I mean marry me here, in Las Vegas.”

“I would, Sasha,” he smiled at her softly, “but I know your family will be expecting us to have a really big wedding with all the frills. And I promised my mom that when I got married I would have a church wedding.”

Sasha sat quiet and her expression was contemplative. “We can do that on our one year anniversary. That way I'll have enough time and enough of your money to turn it into a real party,” she teased gently as she gazed into his eyes. “Sexton, I don't want to wait to be your wife.”

He touched his forehead with his index finger. “Are you sure that you want to marry a man with an egg like this on his head?”

“I'd marry you with two eggs on your head,” she affirmed.

A broad grin spread across his face and then he responded with, “All right then, Sasha. We'll get married. My mom also told me that a gentleman never keeps a lady waiting.”