Scandalicious (35 page)

Exiting the office, Lincoln was at a loss for words. He couldn’t believe that Dr. Lerner would tell him to dip out on his wife, as if more cheating would resolve their problem.

During the drive home, Chevonne would not stop talking. “Have you ever heard anything so absurd? What kind of doctor would suggest that a man cheat on his wife, to make a marriage work? She’s a damn quack! I’m so sorry that I chose her. I should report her to the therapy board. That woman should not be allowed to practice!”

“That therapy thing is nothing but a racket. Don’t worry, sweetheart. We’re going to work this out ourselves.” Lincoln reached over and patted Chevonne’s hand.

Though Dr. Lerner’s advice sounded off-beat and crazy, on second thought, having one night of passion with a stranger might be exactly what Lincoln needed. Maybe she wasn’t a quack; maybe she was a genius.

He decided to take Dr. Lerner’s advice and secretly use that free pussy card. One of these days. Maybe.

“G
uess who the boss is taking to the AIA convention?” Rachel said when Lincoln arrived at work.

“No idea,” he said, trying to sound disinterested, but his pulse was thrumming fast. Five years in a row, Lincoln had gone to the American Institute of Architects convention along with Frank, and it would be a sure sign that his job was in trouble if Frank decided to take one of the so-called young, cutting-edge guys.

Rachel leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially. “The boss is looking for some hanky-panky. He’s taking Amber.” Rachel clicked some keys on the keyboard and turned the computer monitor toward Lincoln.

Dumbfounded, he tried to keep his eyes from physically bulging when he saw the order for two tickets to the convention. One for Frank Clemmons and the other for Amber Ralston.

It almost felt like a sucker punch, but with so many pay cuts, he would have been a fool not to have seen it coming. It was time to make moves. A leap of faith. On the bright side, maybe Frank was doing him a favor by forcing him to free-fall from the ledge.

“I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if those two are getting adjacent hotel rooms. He didn’t ask me to book the hotel. Oh, no. Mr.
Family Man
booked the rooms himself.” She turned the screen back to its normal position. “I told you those two were up to no good. Do you believe me now?”

“Hmm,” Lincoln murmured.

Rachel smirked with self-satisfaction. “Case closed. Mystery solved.”

In his office, Lincoln sat staring at nothing. The world was full of surprises. The woman he loved wholeheartedly had proven with her sordid betrayal that nothing is ever the way it appears. Other than to indulge his sexual cravings, there was no reason for Frank to take Amber to that convention. She was only an apprentice drafter—the last person on the totem pole. Lincoln had always considered Frank to be a straight-shooter…the last of the good guys. Amber was ambitious and devious. Perhaps she and Frank deserved each other.

While he was trying to wrap his mind around the Amber and Frank situation, his cell phone rang. A glance at the screen told him that Michelle was calling again. Instead of clicking the IGNORE button, he picked up. The poor woman deserved to have closure.

“Hi, Michelle. How are you holding up?”

“I’m making it,” she said solemnly. “You could have at least returned my phone calls; I’ve been calling you every day.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that. It gets hectic here at work.”

“Well, I was only calling because you told me to let you know if I heard anything about Crowbar.”

Lincoln swallowed a lump of fear. “Did he turn up?” He grimaced, his imagination working overtime with the details of Crowbar’s fiery demise. Lincoln had never met Crowbar, but he envisioned a charred body discovered in a vacant lot. Burned beyond recognition, it took dental records to identify him.
That man didn’t deserve to go out like that
, he thought, bitterly mimicking his brother’s words. Lincoln conjured up a newfound hatred for Raheem.

“Crowbar’s back home. At least one of those two no-good bums knew how to find his way back to where he belongs. I don’t know what Earl’s problem is. Why would he do me like this?”

“Crowbar’s home? He’s all right?”

“Yeah. He never intended to go back to rehab. He took Sharonda’s money and went on a long binge.”

“Fantastic!” Lincoln blurted.

“What’s so fantastic about that? Crowbar went through the rent money, the electric bill money, the money for groceries. He messed Sharonda up.”

Despite Crowbar’s misdeeds, Lincoln couldn’t stop grinning.
Wait until Earl hears this!

“You need to stop giving me the runaround. You know where your brother’s at!”

“You’re right, I do,” Lincoln said, coming clean. “He hooked up with another woman, Michelle. I was hoping Earl would tell you himself; I didn’t want to be the bearer of that bad news.”

Michelle wailed, whooped, and hollered like she was openly grieving at a funeral. Her response was extreme, in Lincoln’s opinion. Michelle and Earl had only been together for a short time. But he couldn’t judge her. What did he know about a woman’s heart?

After she quieted down a little, Lincoln assured her that he’d tell Earl to call her. But Earl wouldn’t. In Earl’s mind, Michelle was long gone and forgotten, undeserving of even the common courtesy of a phone call. That’s how Earl was. He was the younger brother. While Lincoln was taught to stand on his own two feet, their mother—may she rest in peace—made life easy for Earl and did everything for him. When cancer cut her life short, Earl replaced her with a stream of female enablers. Lincoln hoped that Ivella didn’t allow him to lapse into a former, trifling behavior.

Earl was at work right now, so Lincoln would give him a call later. A load of guilty weight would be lifted from Earl’s shoulders when he found out the good news about his friend, Crowbar.

And Lincoln was somewhat relieved to know that the man that
Chevonne had been cheating with, wasn’t a cold-blooded killer.

Being nosey, Lincoln checked around the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Inmate Locator website to find out if Raheem had been sprung from jail. He keyed in Raheem’s name and…voilà! More good news; Raheem was still locked up. That dude must have had several open warrants to be locked up for this long over an unregistered gun. It served him right!

Lincoln caught a glimpse of Frank and Amber walking past his office, and was reminded that he had to deal with the current issue of reviving his career. No doubt about it, he had to take the plunge and strike out on his own.

Lincoln arrived at the bank fifteen minutes early. As he took a seat on one of the leather benches, a bank representative approached him. “May I help you?”

“I have an appointment with Mr. Wilkes.”

“He’s with a client.”

“That’s okay; I’m early.” Lincoln smiled politely. The rep went back to her desk and Lincoln busied himself, scrolling through his digital contact list. There were so many things to do to get a business started. He was confident that he’d qualify for a business loan. His student loans were paid off; he had an expensive house for collateral. And despite his financial suffering—being already deep in debt, he had maintained A-1 credit.

He was fiddling with his mobile device, but something caught his attention. He looked up, and he saw a stunning woman. She looked oddly familiar. She shook hands with a bank rep and then gathered her handbag, and began walking in his direction. She wore a curve-fitting business suit, a strand of pearls, and sexy
heels. Her stride was confident as she approached, smiling as if she knew him.

It wasn’t until she was directly in front of him, that Lincoln recognized her.

“Fancy meeting you here,” the woman said, extending her hand. “Lincoln, right—the honest architect?”

“Ooh, Solay…from the cupcake place!” He shook her hand, looking her over from head to toe with a roving glance. “Wow, you look spectacular. I’ve only seen you in the shop…in the uniform, and my brain couldn’t make the connection.”

“I don’t know how to take that. Are you saying I look a hot mess at the shop?”

“No, not at all. You look real cute in that apron. But this is different. It’s like…Wow! The clothes…even your hair is different.”

“Thank you for the compliment. You look extra spiffy yourself,” she said, indicating his suit, tie, and briefcase.

He laughed self-consciously. “Yeah, I’m trying to make a good impression.”

“I’m impressed.” She looked him over, and the gleam in her eyes was somewhat flirtatious.

“How’s business?” he inquired, getting serious and trying to ignore his sudden attraction.

“It’s going great. But it’s time to expand, so I’m taking the plunge and going into more debt,” she said with a sigh and a shrug. “Oh, I have a new cupcake on the menu. I know that you don’t like sweet things,” she said with a little laugh. “But I have something new and I guarantee that you’re going to love it.”

“Oh, yeah? What’s it called? Oh, wait a minute…let me prepare myself for a scandalous name.”

“The new addition is called The Ho Cake,” she said, laughing.

Lincoln chuckled in amusement. “Nothing subtle about that.”

“You should stop by and try it.”

“Maybe I will.”

“I’m open until seven.”

“I’ll be there at six.”
Okay, we’re definitely flirting. But it’s harmless. Just having fun.

He watched the slight sway of her hips as she walked toward the exit sign. Pretty woman with nice legs and a cute little round ass. Sweet disposition. But being such a go-getter, she probably had a fiery side, too.

“Mr. Jennings?” a male voice broke into Lincoln’s thoughts.

Lincoln stood and shook the loan officer’s hand.

H
e arrived at Scandalicious at six o’clock sharp. There was a big after-work crowd, but Solay spotted him the moment he walked through the door. Well, it wasn’t hard to miss him; she’d been watching the door.

She waved and pointed to an empty seat in the rear. Lincoln was there by her personal invitation and he didn’t have to wait in line for his ho cake.

“Hold down the fort, Vidal. I’m taking a little break.”

“You’re doing what?” Vidal whipped his head back and forth. “Do you see this long line of pests?”

“You can deal with the after-work rush crowd for a few minutes,” she said and pushed open the kitchen doors. She could have given Lincoln a savory cupcake from the bakery case, but she wanted him to taste one that was hot and fresh out of the oven.

She set the red paper plate in front of Lincoln. The Hoecake was large…the size of a muffin. She placed a napkin, plastic knife, and fork beside the plate.

“Looks good; smells good,” Lincoln said with admiration.

“And it tastes even better,” she said in a slightly seductive voice.

Why am I flirting so hard with this ring-wearing married man? Because I’m lonely, horny, and a married man has responsibilities at home…he won’t complicate my life,
she responded.

Solay was back where she’d started when she’d first called the Rent-A-Man agency—looking for sex without any emotional entanglements. She hadn’t given up on her and Deon, but she refused to live every day of her life, waiting for a phone call or a text. They’d
tried Skyping, but that hadn’t worked out too well. They’d agree to a time to Skype, and Solay would get dolled up and sexy…only to be staring at her blank computer screen…stood up because the film schedule had run later than Deon had anticipated.