Nobody Girl (19 page)

“I brought you some flowers,” he said as he approached his wife and kissed her on the cheek.
“Orchids.
Twenty dollars apiece.”

Delia coughed then gasped for air. After tossing the orchids on the ground, she reached for her night stand and fumbled around in the drawer. Chase leaped from his chair to help her but sat back down when he noticed she had finally found her allergy medication.

“What? What’s going on?” Jason asked.

“She’s allergic to orchids, jackass,” Chase quipped from the chair in the corner.

“What is it with this guy?” Jason’s perfectly tanned cheeks reddened as his hands balled into fists.

“Delia, why don’t you ask
him
what Promise Stone is since he just used its services this afternoon?”

Jason blanched as his mouth fell agape.

“What is he talking about?” she asked after blowing her nose for the fifth time.

“Yeah, why don’t you tell her how you hired a prostitute today, just like you have every day for the past eight years? It’s your little lunch time treat. How the hell can you go to a prostitute then try to win your wife back?”

It couldn’t be true. It couldn’t possibly be true. Why would Jason need a prostitute? He was always good with women. He didn’t have to pay for sex.

“Your little
boytoy
is making up lies. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” Jason’s voice didn’t exude its normal confidence.

“I don’t?” Chase stood up and approached him. “Well, why don’t you tell your wife the real reason you want her back. The
only
reason you want her back.”

Jason was painfully silent and brimming with anger as he entered another testosterone laden staring match with Chase.

“Have you ever met your father-in-law?” Chase asked Delia while still staring at Jason. She shook her head. When Jason didn’t provide any further comments, he continued, “That’s because he’s an eccentric millionaire recluse that gets his jollies from yanking his son around.”

Jason bit his lip, but didn’t deny anything Chase was saying.

“You see, Jason was guaranteed his inheritance upon his completion of college, which is probably why he singled you out in the first place. You were smart and impressionable. He needed you to pass his classes. But then daddy changed his mind and added marriage to the requirements. That’s why he was so eager to marry you.”

Delia felt her knees weaken. She figured Jason was initially drawn to her for the cheating, but she’d hoped that during their time together he had grown to love her and that is why he married her. But really, he just wanted his inheritance. She sat on the bed to keep from falling to the ground.

“And now, there’s a new clause. If he ever gets divorced, he loses everything.”

She saw the tears fall upon the lilies before she realized she was actually crying. He never loved her. He only cared about himself and his money. Why had he chosen her? Why couldn’t he have married one of his many other women?

“Is this true, Jason? Am I just your meal ticket?” she asked, brushing away streams of tears.

“Look, we can work this out, Delia. My dad never has to know. We just won’t get a divorce and … and we can split the money. Just think about it, okay?” He knelt in front of her and pleaded with his eyes.

“I will not think about it! I deserve more than that. I deserve to be loved.” She shook her head like a stubborn three-year-old as she noticed Chase removing his jacket, loosening his tie and rolling up his sleeves.

“And you think this … this child can give you that?” He said, pointing to Chase. Chase grabbed his wrist and began a repeat of their last encounter. Seconds later, Jason was out of the door.

***

Chase came back into the apartment and held her in his arms as she wept.

It wasn’t the way he had planned the evening to go. He had imagined that they would spend the evening making love then reminisce about their first date as they held each other. But that was not what happened. Instead, Jason James had succeeded in shattering her self-image once again. Chase knew he shouldn’t have blurted out the truth like that. It just killed him to watch her be manipulated time and time again by that man. He was happy he was at least there to pick up all the pieces.

Delia cried herself to sleep as Chase lay beside her, stroking her hair. “I’ll never hurt you,” he whispered. “I’m going to make you happy. I promise you.”

When a 29-year-old hockey player retired just a year after his team won the Stanley Cup, questions abounded. Every reporter, journalist, and sports analyst in the country speculated as to why left wing Brad Sharp would make such a rash decision. Some thought he’d found religion and wanted to live out his life as a zealot on some compound.  Others thought he just wanted to end his career while at the pinnacle of his success. Apparently only Donna Lee knew the truth. A professional hockey player with HIV would rock the sports world. With the amount of fighting and bleeding that took place during a hockey game, he could have already infected other players.

Donna Lee had the exclusive exposé written and saved on her flash drive. It was the kind of story that would skyrocket her career into the stratosphere. She would probably be able to quit
The Sports Guy
and get a job with
Sports Illustrated
or
ESPN
magazine.

But in going public with this story, she would be exposing a former friend and lover to extreme ridicule and disparagement.  His public persona would be completely ruined forever. Sitting in her car outside of her office, Donna Lee guiltily fingered the flash drive. She hated the fact that she even considered doing this to Brad just to further her career.

She really needed to analyze her life and think about what type of person she was and what type of person she wanted to be. And she wouldn’t be able to do that in a stuffy cubicle under the scrutiny of an annoying jilted lover. So, she flipped open her cell phone, called in sick, then drove toward the mall. She could think better in a new pair of shoes.

***

Delia sat across from her sister in what had become their favorite booth in the Black Cat. She tried to resist, but she noticed herself scanning the crowd for any signs of C.J./Chase. After twenty minutes, she gave up and finally looked at her sister as if for the first time.

“Why aren’t you doing your ‘sexy shoulder dance’?” Delia asked of her unusually quiet sister.

With a shrug, Donna Lee said, “I don’t feel like dancing.”

“Then why are we here?”

Donna Lee stared at her drink like it was an alien life form. “I don’t know. I guess I’m just so used to the routine of clubbing and picking up guys that … Let’s just go.”

Throwing on her coat, Delia had to hurry to catch up to her sister, who seemed to be fleeing the club. She wondered if the HIV scare had somehow changed her forever.

Once out of the club, they each walked, lost in their own thoughts until Donna Lee said, “So Marcus and I have a theory about Chase. We think he may have Multiple Personality Disorder.”

“Marcus?” Delia came to an abrupt halt.

“Yeah, the baseball player.”

“Um, I know who he is. What I don’t know is why you’re telling him about Chase.”

“Relax, Dee. He’s not
gonna
tell anyone. He’s just so easy to talk to. And that’s basically all we did while we were at the beach house.” Donna Lee continued walking as if it was no big deal that she was spreading her sister’s secrets to strange men.

“Beach house?”
Delia made a few quick steps to catch up to her sister. She grabbed Donna Lee’s arm and made her stop. Glaring at her, she waited for further explanation.

“Marcus saw how stressed I’ve been so he took me to his beach house in South Carolina for a few days.”

“Whoa, wait. You traipsed off to some random guy’s house in another state without telling me?” Maybe her sister hadn’t changed, Delia thought. She was still throwing herself into dangerous situations.

“Marcus is not just some random guy. He’s different, he’s special.”

“I don’t care how different and special he is,” Delia replied mockingly. “You have no right telling my private business to one of your
— ”

“
Sexquests
?”
Donna Lee said, offering the term she’d invented several years ago.

Delia was a bit taken aback by Donna Lee’s nonchalance. Due to recent events, she thought her sister would take offense to the use of the term, which was why she had censored herself.

“I know what you’re thinking, Dee. And you have every right to feel that way. If Marcus was just another ‘
sexquest
’ I would agree with you. But I told you, he’s different. I haven’t had sex with him. We’re just friends.”

“You stayed with him at a beach house, alone, and you didn’t have sex?”

“Nope.
Believe it or not, he’s a virgin.”

“Um, excuse me?” Once again, Delia stopped cold.

“Yep.
I’ve stumbled upon possibly the world’s only gorgeous, twenty-eight-year old, superstar baseball player virgin.”

“What?”

“I know it seems hard to believe, but it’s true. His very religious grandmother raised him and that is one of the things that stuck. He believes true Christians should wait till marriage.”

“So, are you a Christian now?”

After sighing, Donna Lee said, “I don’t know what I am. But I do now know that God’s name is Jehovah. He showed it to me in my own Bible. It’s even in my Korean Bible. And I also know that I really like this guy. I really, really like him. And when I’m with him, I like myself.”

Just when Delia was about to ask for further explanation, Donna Lee’s cell phone rang.

“Hi, Marcus,” she answered with a goofy grin Delia had never seen before. “I was thinking about you, too...
Really?
... Okay, I’ll see you in twenty minutes.” Donna Lee closed her phone and said, “He says he has a surprise for me. I’m meeting him at the ballpark.”

Slipping off her four-inch heels, she ran toward her car like a giddy teenager. Suddenly, she stopped short, turned around and came back to Delia. “Love
ya
, Dee. I’ll talk to
ya
later,” she said, giving her sister a quick hug.

Delia watched as her sister made a mad dash to her car that was parked over a block away.
Hmph
, she thought. Could Donna Lee be in love?

Smiling to herself, she finished the short walk to her building. She couldn’t wait to hear more about this Marcus person. She had to remember to call Donna Lee before she went to sleep.