The Cocktail Club (9 page)

“Don't get up,” she said, as she walked in.

The white, jewel-embedded pencil skirt she wore fit as if it was made specifically for her thin frame. She had on a matching silk top trimmed in black, and a pair of sky-high Michael Kors, pointy-toed pumps.

“Geneva.” I rose ever so slightly.

She waved her arms, and dismissed my greeting as she moved behind her desk. Geneva always looked so fresh and easy breezy that she could lure you into a false sense of comfort. I knew better. I understood the unspoken seriousness of being summoned to her office.

Despite how much her Russian, red-matte lips smiled, it was always high-stakes poker with her, and that smile could lead to the kiss of death. When the smile vanished, and her pretty features twisted into a frown, I braced myself for the worst.

“Oooh, a little too much Belvedere last night?” She giggled.

If my skin were pale, I would've turned several shades of crimson right where I sat. I was more than a little embarrassed.

“That obvious?” I asked sheepishly. I wanted to say,
“You wouldn't
have been assaulted by my fumes had you left me to my work at home.”

“It's seeping through your pores,” she joked. “A woman after my own heart.” She reached for a thick folder, and dropped it onto her desk.

She had not called me in to discuss my drink of choice, but I couldn't rush her, despite how badly I wanted to.

“Carson Liam is making some serious allegations of negligence on your part. He's demanding a meeting, and I need to know what I'm walking into Monday morning.”

Negligence.
I allowed her words to roll around in my head before I responded, but the main one that stuck, cut deep.

“Geneva, Carson is impatient. He doesn't understand that any campaign needs time. He wants instant returns.”

She stopped what she was doing, and eyed me closely.

“Ivee, you are very talented and more than capable. I am not going to lecture you about how to do your job, but the bottom line is, we are here to give the clients what they want, and that isn't necessarily what they need.”

I was even more vexed with Carson. He had basically put me on Geneva's radar unnecessarily. While I was confident my work more than spoke for itself, I enjoyed being complaint free. When a client complained, regardless of who was right, it cast a negative shadow. I'd seen it happen with others, and we all talked about it. When someone received that mark, it seemed to hang around forever. Whispers around the office about who had a client switched to another colleague was a sure sign that one shouldn't expect any kind of bonus or pay increase.

Geneva and I talked, and although she kept it lighthearted, I didn't trust the false sense of security she tried to shower on me.

By the time I left her office, I felt like the kid who had been silently reprimanded by parents who had unrealistic standards.

As I walked into the elevator, I murmured to myself, “Well, if that bitch thinks I'm gonna sit and wait on her to strike, she's got another thing coming.”

PETA

I
made it a priority to have dinner with Kendal at least three or four times a week. The boutiques kept me busy, and I loved it. However, it was easy to fall into the trap where my focus was solely on work. And as a single parent, I couldn't afford to neglect my girl.

Gordon and I texted back and forth, but I didn't call him. I had plans. After dinner, Kendal and I popped in a movie. I listened as my daughter rambled on about which of her classmates were no longer friends, and who said what about whom.

“So, Mom, Heather was like, you can't be friends with me if you're gonna be friends with Leslie. And, like you will not believe, Shelly totally said she was not gonna talk to Leslie anymore!”

“Wait. Right there in class?” I asked.

Kendal's eyes grew to the size of saucers. A massive grin spread across her face. That was when her dimples really set in, and she reminded me so much of her father. I shook that thought from my mind, and focused on our conversation. It may have been mind-numbing to me, but the middle school drama seemed crucial to her. I walked back to the sofa, and got comfortable again.

“So, lemme get this straight.” I grabbed a fist full of popcorn, and prepared to stuff my mouth. “You're telling me that Shelly stopped talking to Leslie right there on the spot because Heather told her to?”

My daughter slapped her palms against her thighs and nodded. “Mom, it was totally wild! I was like, this is totally not happening! And right there, right in front of everyone, too.”

“What were you doing when all of this was going on?” I asked.

“Mom, I sat there with my mouth like super wide open. I couldn't believe it.” My daughter sipped from her soda. “I felt like totally bad for Leslie. I mean, she's a mean girl, too, but remember like just yesterday she was like BFFs with Heather and Shelly.”

“What would you have done if Heather had said that to you?”

My daughter gave me a cockeyed look; then she smirked.

“C'mon, Mom! You know those girls don't like me, and besides, I'm a leader. I ain't no follower. I woulda told Heather, ‘You might think you're all that, but you don't tell me what to do!' ”

I smiled at her.

That's my girl,
I thought. We eased into our comfortable spots on the sofa, cuddled, and watched our movie.

Nearly two hours later, the vibration from my cell phone woke me up. Kendal had curled into a ball near the foot of the sofa.

When I saw Kyle's number on my screen, I was tempted to ignore his call, but he'd simply call back. I got up from the sofa, and ran my finger across the screen to accept his call.

“Hello?” I whispered.

“Damn, Peta, why's the deadbolt on?” Kyle's irritated voice asked.

I whipped my head in the direction of the front door. I nearly lost my breath when I saw his shadow on the other side of the door's glass panel.

Once I made certain my daughter was asleep, I got up, and made my way to the front door. I tried to calm myself before I came face-to-face with him. He had been a complete ass since I didn't drop everything I was doing and make time for his emergency.

At the door, I took a deep breath, and tried to calm down. I unlocked the deadbolt, and cracked the door open.

“Kyle, what's going on? You've been blowing me up, and now you're here. What gives? You didn't even bother to call before you popped up. I could've had company!”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry about that. But, Peta, I really wanted to talk to you about what happened after happy hour.”

I was a bit caught off-guard, but my shock didn't last long. Images from the other night flashed through my mind in bits and pieces. I hadn't noticed it before, but when he moved forward, and I saw a massive blue bottle he clutched in his hand. He eyed me like a lost puppy.

“I was thinking we could have a nightcap and talk, you know, about the other night,” he said. “I can't seem to get ten minutes of your time.”

Despite how hard I tried not to smile, I couldn't resist. Kyle had brought my friend, Skyy, and he knew that would definitely win him major points with me. It also told me that he was up to something. I wasn't sure what he wanted, but his tactic told me it was gonna be something serious.

I glanced over my shoulder when I thought I heard my daughter stir. When I looked back, I realized that Kyle's eyes had followed my gaze. He looked good.

“She ain't sick or nothing, is she?” he asked.

There weren't many things I admired about Kyle, but the unshakable love he always showed for his daughter made my heart soften.

I frowned. “No, she's fine. We fell asleep watching a movie. Since she's asleep in the family room, you're gonna have to be real quiet,” I whispered.

I stepped aside, and Kyle entered the house. He handed me the bottle of liquor. I accepted it, and walked toward the kitchen.

I sighed.

He gently picked Kendal up, and took her upstairs to her bedroom. I wanted to tell him to stop treating her like such a baby, but I held my tongue. When he came downstairs, I had two drinks waiting. At first, we sat quietly and enjoyed our drinks. That was when I realized how tired I was. Still, somehow, he convinced me to play strip poker.

By the time we finished the fourth round, I was two hands away from being as naked as the day I was born.

I stopped making drinks after the second round, and Kyle took over.

I smacked my lips after I took a sip from the drink Kyle made.

“Damn, did you put any juice in here?” I balked.

“Oh, I know you're not complaining. I'll bet if we were at happy hour, you'd be singing my praises!” Kyle joked. “You and your girls would be tryin' to tip me, and y'all would be begging me to keep 'em coming.”

I felt it. I was good and gone. Kyle could've probably gotten any and everything he wanted out of me at that moment.

And I'd learn soon enough, that was exactly what he had planned.

DARBY

T
he gloomy and ominous clouds that hung overhead should've been an indication that misery was nipping at my heels, but my mind was preoccupied. It had been that way since the call from Roger, nearly an hour ago. Now, as I walked back from the mailbox, I thought about the conversation I'd had with him.

“Aunt Saundra is here. Mom wants you to come over to the house,” he had said.

I rolled my eyes, and released a deep breath. Strained couldn't begin to describe my relationship with my mother and the rest of my once close-knit family. I never thought I'd see the day when I'd ignore my mother's calls, and basically alienate myself and my kids from the close clan, however that's exactly what had happened over the last few years.

So when my brother called to tell me that I was being summoned home, I wasn't the least bit motivated to make a move. He knew I wasn't going anywhere near those judgmental hypocrites.

“How could you?” I asked.

“How could I what?” he asked, feigning innocence.

Something in his voice told me he had revealed my secret, and now he was trying to set me up for one of my family's infamous interventions. Well, I didn't need a damn intervention. I knew exactly what I was doing, and my plan was going to be far more
effective than theirs. I was still committed to getting revenge for Darlene. A plea deal had ended their crusade, but mine was still ongoing.

“You said something, didn't you?” I barked into the phone.

“Darby, why are you tripping? Mama and Aunt Saundra say they haven't seen the kids in almost three years. We need to come together as a family, and work this thing out. Besides, what's wrong is wrong, and you know it, too.”

“You told them, didn't you?” I asked again.

When he didn't answer my question right away, he didn't have to say anything else. His silence told me everything he couldn't bring himself to say. I was beyond mad. It was really by sheer accident that Roger had even discovered my plan, and there was still a part of me that hadn't come completely clean. When I realized that he had found out, I quickly tried to lie my way out of it.

I still remember the day. I was so preoccupied on the computer that I didn't even notice that Roger had walked into my house. I'd signed for a package, and Carla came in at the same time. When she left, she obviously didn't lock the door.

“Is that who I think it is?” Roger had asked over my shoulder.

Startled, I jumped at the sound of his voice. “I didn't hear you come in.”

“Your neighbor was leaving when I came in,” he said.

“Oh.” I tried to log off the Facebook chat, but the look on his face told me he had already seen the picture of Chandler.

“What are you doing on his page?”

“I was keeping up with him, that's all,” I stammered. I had done more than kept up with him. Over the years, I had frequently passed by his family's business and, a few times, I had even followed him. When I thought enough time had passed, I searched for him on
social media sites. When I first reached out to him, I thought for sure it was a long shot. But, he stunned me with a quick response, and we'd been communicating ever since. My mind left the past, and returned to the phone call at hand.