Something to Talk About (7 page)

Before Alicia could utter two coherent sentences they were back in her car and on their way to J. Alexander for a good meal and a nice long chat. They got seated at once and ordered big glasses of iced tea. While they were waiting for their server to return, Alicia finally had a chance to talk.

“So what brings you to Detroit? You never mentioned that you were headed this way, and we talk at least once a week,” Alicia said accusingly. “You could have let me know you were coming so I could plan some things to do. How long are you going to be here, anyway?”

Roxy gave her a smug smile in return. “Well, I didn’t tell you I was coming because that’s the essence of a surprise, is it not? I wanted to shock you,
that’s
why I never mentioned it. As to what brings me to Detroit, it’s a new job. I didn’t tell you this, either, but I’ve had a promotion. You are in the presence of the new vice president of acquisitions for Birney, Pearson and Rawlings Worldwide. I’m going to be working out of the Troy office and as to your last question, I’ll be here permanently. Now how’s that for a surprise?” she finished proudly.

Their server returned before Alicia could properly express her joy at the news. Roxy scanned the menu one last time and then placed her order.

“I’d like the grilled chicken with mixed vegetables and a spinach salad. Do you have a balsamic vinaigrette dressing? I’ll have that and no potatoes at all, please. If there’s anything resembling fresh fruit, I’d like some for dessert and that’s it,” she said with finality.

After Alicia gave her order, she looked Roxy over carefully as the server left the table. “Don’t tell me you’ve succumbed to the low-
carb
craze,” she said. “I haven’t had a chance to get two words in, but you are looking fabulous, girl.” And it was
true,
Roxy looked like a new woman. Her rich mahogany skin glowed, her fashionably short hair glistened, and she had definitely lost weight. Roxy had always been beautiful, but she’d been a cuddly size twenty-two the last time Alicia had seen her in person. “What are you wearing now, a fourteen?”

Roxy gave her trademark laugh that could rouse the dead from a sound slumber. “Let’s not get crazy. I’m about an eighteen and I don’t plan on getting any smaller, not really. I met this tall, good-looking doctor who said the three magic words and I had no choice but to change my lifestyle,” she said with a mysterious smile.

“What three words? I love you?” Alicia leaned forward, breathless with anticipation.

“No,
diabetes, hypertension, and cholesterol!
My numbers were really funky and I finally decided I had to make some lasting changes. Honey, twenty years from now I am
not
going to be the one at the family reunion rolling up in a wheelchair talking about ‘Bring Auntie her pressure pills, baby, and come scratch my stump.’” She paused while Alicia burst into laughter.

“I got real serious about taking off the weight because I’ve worked too hard for too long to let my health destroy my life. So now I’m following a low-fat, low-
carb
diet, I exercise four times a week, and I feel wonderful. I’ll always be thick, but I’m in great shape and that’s what matters most.”

“Well, you look
amazing
,
Rox
, and I couldn’t be happier about you moving here. This is going to be so much fun! Have you decided where you’re going to live?”

Discussing where she might reside took up a large part of their meal. Their intrepid server had indeed found a plate of fresh seasonal fruits to finish their meal, and Roxy was consuming hers with enthusiasm when she noticed a certain look in Alicia’s eyes.

“Okay, give it up. You’ve been dancing around it, whatever it is, long enough, so spill it
.
What’s going on in your life that you need to confide to your old friend?”

Alicia smiled gamely. There w
as no hiding anything from Roxy. T
hey’d been friends since their freshman year at Northwestern, a friendship that continued through grad school with Roxy at the Wharton School of Business and Alicia at M.I.T. She took a sip of iced tea to clear her throat and then set the glass down carefully before speaking.

“Roxy, I’ve done something incredibly stupid. I’ve fallen in love with Adam,” she said glumly.

Roxy patted the corners of her mouth with her napkin and raised her hand as their server hovered nearby. “Check, please.” She gave Alicia a look that dared her to argue and said, “We’re getting out of here right now and you’re going to start from the very beginning and not leave out a single word.
Or else,” she added with
a mock-threat in her voice.

***

A short time later they were lounging in the living room of Roxy’s suite. Roxy looked at her long and hard, and then began the inquisition. “Okay, talk. So how long have you had these feelings and when were you going to let me know about them? And most importantly, have you told Adam how you feel?”

Alicia looked horrified at the
very
thought. “No, no, no! Oh, no way have I told Adam anything, that’s not possible,” she said fervently.

“Why? Is he married, engaged, involved, gay, what? I’ve known him for almost as long as you have and he’s always seemed like a wonderful guy,” Roxy offered. ‘Why haven’t you said something to him?”

Alicia slumped down in her chair staring at her long legs. “Roxy, it’s too crazy. Adam and I have been friends forever, since the day we met in grad school. He’s almost like a male version of you, if you know what I mean. He’s the person I laugh with, confide in, work with, plan with, and we’re incredibly close. Outside of my family and you, there is no one on this earth that I share more with than Adam. I love him from the bottom of my heart. I’d take a bullet for him and he’d do the same for me. But this friendship came at a tremendous cost and I can’t risk it for anything,” she said passionately.

“If we have a fight, or we’re getting on each other’s nerves, we just walk away from each other for a minute and cool out and we apologize and get on with our lives. Friends can do that.
But
lovers?
There’s a big difference between hanging out and shooting pool with each other and being intimate with each other. Once the intimacy starts, there’s a whole other dynamic that takes control. When two people are caught up in a love relationship, things take on another dimension entirely. It’s much harder to shake hands and make up. Look at what happened to my sister and her husband,” she said sadly.

Roxy nodded slowly. “Yes, Marielle did get a rough break. She was married to an idiot. But that doesn’t have anythi
ng to do with you and
Adam,
now
does it? I think we’re really talking about you and He Who Shall Remain Nameless and Die of a Terrible
Disease,
aren’t we?”

Despite her angst, Alicia burst out laughing. That was indeed how she and Roxy always referred to Preston Chalmers, her ex-
fiance
. “
It’s
okay, Roxy, you can say his name. And actually, no, it doesn’t have anything to do with Preston.
That ship sailed a long time ago, girl.
I’m so over him it isn’t even worth discussing.”

Roxy wouldn’t relent, however. “You might be over Preston, as you put it, but I think the fact that you and Adam found him and Adam’s girlfriend in bed together might have something to do with your reluctance to get involved with Adam. It was just a nasty, awful thing to have to deal with, and the fact that the two of you witnessed it makes it pretty indelible.”

Alicia made a face and shook her head at her friend. “No, that’s not it,
Rox
. It was so long ago and so much has happened between me and Adam since then, that incident is just part of the past that we share. In a thousand ways I’m truly grateful it happened the way it did. Suppose I’d married that weasel? What kind of life would I have had with him? He was a ly
ing, conniving, cheating ass
and my life eventually would have been hell on earth. As it was, they deserved each other, because we all know that if someone will cheat
with
you, they’ll cheat
on
you. I’m infinitely better off without Preston Chalmers and I doubt that Adam even remembers what his ex-girlfriend Yvette
DeLoach
looks like.” She picked up a bottle of mineral water and took a deep swallow.

Roxy relaxed fully as she watched Alicia. She smiled to herself as she realized that Alicia was speaking the whole truth, that the sordid way her e
ngagement ended hadn’t permanentl
y scarred her. On the contrary, it seemed to have made her st
ronger. Roxy continued to
smile,
totally
unaware that Alicia was now observing her.

“Okay,
Rox
, what are you smirking about?”

“Excuse me, missy, I do not smirk. I hate that word, it sounds so smug.”

“That’s the point of the word,
Rox
,” Alicia replied.

“Whatever
,” Roxy said with a wave of her hand.  “
I was just remembering the time a bunch of us went down to Key West for a week, do you recall that? It was the year after you broke your engagement
.
”

Alicia’s eyes lit in a smile. “Of course I remember, it was one of the best vacations I’ve ever had,” she said.

Roxy rolled her eyes as she replied,
“
Alicia, that
was the worst vacation I’ve ever had in my
life. Everyone hated that vacation except you and Adam. Let’s start from the beginning, when we flew down to Florida and our luggage flew somewhere else and we had to wait hours and hours before it showed up again. Do you remember that?”

Alicia’s brow puckered.
“Vaguely.
I remember going to the beach,” she said slowly.

“That’s because you and Adam went to some drugstore and bought these funky shorts and these tacky tie-dye tank tops and eighty-nine-cent flip-flops and went to the beach while the rest of us sat around complaining about not having any beach clothes. By the time the luggage got in and we collected it from the airport, y’all were already chilled out and tanned from playing all afternoon.”

Alicia had a faraway look in her eyes as she recalled the fun she and Adam had relaxing on the beach. Roxy continued to talk about the trip, bringing up more memories with every word.

“Do you remember when it rained for two days and we were all housebound and snapping at each other like deranged Chihuahuas? Nobody could agree on anything and everyone was getting on everyone else’s nerves?”

“Not really,” Alicia began, only to be cut off by Roxy.

“That’s because you and Adam were never around. You two didn’t let the rain stop you, you went to every little grimy bar and restaurant on the island, every tacky little gift shop and tourist trap you could find, and you came back laughing like you’d had the best time in the world together.”

“We did have fun on that trip, Roxy, it was a lot of fun,” protested Alicia.

“It was fun for you two because you were in your own little world,” corrected Roxy. “You two were so close it was like you were the same person, Alicia. Everyone was pretty convinced that you two were into something real undercover because you were so blissful together. I was watching you on the beach one day and Adam was wringing the water out of your hair and I have to tell you, girl, it gave me fever. He kind of wrapped your braid around his wrist and brought his hand up and squeezed it and whoa, baby! It was like something off one of those late night music video shows.” She waved her hand in front of her face to indicate extreme heat.
“Very hot, very hot indeed.”

Alicia had the grace to blush and look away. “Umm, okay, yeah, well...” was all she could manage.

Roxy laughed at her discomfiture. She stood up and stretched, and took off her tailored jacket and went to hang it up in the closet. “I’m going to take this suit off, if you don’t mind. I need to
get a little more comfortable. Sometimes I think you have the right idea, dressing business casual for work. I’m jealous. I wish I could dress down,” she said, glancing down at her expensive shoes and smoothing her hand over the costly fine wool of her skirt.

Alicia shook off the memories of the Key West vacation and frowned. “Believe me, today I wanted to be dressed up. I wish I’d had on something chic and wonderful today, boy.”

Roxy stopped and turned around.
“Really?
Why is that
?
”

Alicia proceeded to tell her all about Darcy Hamilton and her interest in Adam, as well as her impromptu visit to the office. “She’s about five
-
one, a teeny lit
tl
e thing, and she wears these fabulous outfits that you only see in
Vogue
or
InStyle.
She has this reddish brown hair and it’s always perfect, one of those haircuts that never seems to move, not to mention perfect makeup. And here I am looking like some sturdy Amish type in my sensible shoes and khakis.” She groaned.