The Company We Keep (19 page)

“W
hat the hell are you talking about—sexual harassment? I have never harassed a woman for sex! I get more pussy than I can handle! What I need to be sexually harassing some dumb little secretary for? People all over the world know me! I got women from Japan to Timbuktu lined up waiting to be with me!” Young Rahim was talking so loud his voice cracked. He turned to Freddie. “You better talk to this woman!”

Freddie, with an irritated look on his face, was about to speak, but Harrison spoke first.

“Brother, can I say something?” Harrison asked in a gentle voice. He decided to position himself between Young Rahim and Teri. “A real man wouldn’t treat a woman like that.”

“And whose side are you on, dude?” Young Rahim hollered, looking Harrison up and down as if he was inspecting him.

“I’m on nobody’s side. But it wouldn’t hurt if you apologized to these sisters and do what you really came here to do,” Harrison said. He was so close to Teri she could smell his aftershave. She liked his smell. It brought back some warm memories. “Come on, man. These ladies have to work here. This kind of activity can make a person not want to be here. They have to be here, you don’t.”

“Look, I’m sorry!” Young Rahim said, glaring from Teri, to Nicole, to Harrison. Trevor stood off to the side, watching in amazement. Despite his arrogant ways, he was glad that he had enough sense to conduct himself in a more gentlemanly manner than this obnoxious rapper. Yes, he flirted with the ladies everywhere he went. But that was all he did in public. He knew where to draw the line. He did his other more intimate business behind closed doors. He had seen so many talented performers rise and then fall flat on their dumb asses. And it was all because they thought their shit didn’t stink and that they could conduct themselves any way they wanted. On one hand, he was glad they did. It made serious artists like him look even better.

“Now if you said it and meant it, I am sure that Teri and Nicole would both be more inclined to accept your apology,” Harrison advised. He was speaking in a low but firm voice.

“Shit!” Young Rahim snarled. Then he waved his hands above his head and started to laugh. “All right. I am soooo sorry I got loose up in here.” He paused and turned to Nicole. “I really didn’t mean any harm out there, but beautiful women bring out the worst in me. You know how we can get.” He grinned, looking at Harrison for confirmation. “Right, man? Tell these foxes how hard it is for us bad boys to be good boys around lovely ladies.”

“Do you still want me to call security?” Nicole asked Teri. Harrison couldn’t have been happier that Nicole spoke when she did. The last thing he wanted to make a comment on was what Young Rahim had just said. The truth was, Harrison was just as overwhelmed as this uncouth rapper. It was hard for him to stand so close to the woman he loved and not grab her.

“I don’t think that’ll be necessary now,” Teri said, looking directly at Young Rahim. “What do you think?”

“This ‘meeting’ is over and I’m out of here,” he said. He whirled around so fast he almost fell to the floor. “You folks have a blessed day.”

“Damn!” Trevor said, his eyes still on the door after Young Rahim and his manager had departed. “I hope you don’t have to deal with shit like this too often.”

“We don’t, thank you,” Teri said, turning to Harrison. “Thanks
for having my back. I don’t think anybody could have handled that situation as well as you just did. I owe you.”

“You sure do,” Harrison said, pursing his lips.

“Uh, Teri, Eric called a few minutes ago,” Nicole announced. “He said he left some paperwork in your office the last time he was here and wanted to know if it’s all right for him to stop by on his way home to pick it up?”

“I don’t see why not,” Teri said with a shrug, knowing damn well that if she’d said no, Nicole would have pouted like a two-ear-old.

“I’ll call him back,” Nicole said, looking as eager as a child who had just received a new puppy. She left the room in a flash, and as soon as she made it to the hallway, she trotted back to her desk. She couldn’t dial Eric’s number fast enough. Even though nobody was close enough to hear, she practically whispered into the phone when Eric answered. “Eric, what time did you want to come by?” Her voice had never sounded this husky. For a moment, Eric thought it was a man.

“I can be there in twenty minutes,” he told her, hoping she’d still be there when he arrived. “If you have to leave, you can leave my property on your desk. It’s just a few sheets of paper in a manila folder with my name on the front.”

“I’ll be here,” Nicole assured him, speaking in her normal voice now.
I’ll wait here all night if I have to
, she thought to herself.

Teri was still in the conference room with Trevor and Harrison. “Would either of you like some coffee or something cold to drink?” she asked.

Harrison was about to speak, but Trevor beat him to it. “You ready to roll, man?” He started moving toward the door before Harrison could reply. “Thanks for the offer, but we’ve got a few more stops to make,” Trevor explained, looking at Teri.

As much as Teri was enjoying Harrison’s presence, she was relieved to hear that they were leaving. With Trevor in the way, the timing and location were not in her favor. What could she and Harrison talk about in front of Trevor with his self-centered self? She knew that no matter what Harrison tried to talk about, Trevor would steer the conversation back to himself.

“Sure,” Harrison mumbled. “Teri, you take care of yourself,” he said, gently tapping her on the shoulder. “I’ll see you around?” he said with a hopeful look on his face. She was glad that he had made it a question.

“…Yes,” she replied slowly, trying to prolong the bliss she was feeling at the moment. She decided that he deserved one of her biggest smiles before he left.

“What a day,” Teri said, walking up to Nicole’s desk. She had just returned from escorting Harrison and Trevor to the elevator. She glanced at a large stack of telephone messages for her on Nicole’s desk and moaned.

“I hope you don’t mind me leaving a little early today,” Nicole said with a sniff. She was straightening up her desk with both hands. It took Teri a few moments to realize that Nicole was shutting down for the day.

“Of course not. I don’t even want to think about all the hours you’ve stayed late without getting paid overtime,” Teri replied. “Do you have an appointment or something like that?”

Nicole took her time responding. She sat up straight in her chair, clasped her hands, and looked Teri in the face. “Something like that.”

“Uh-huh. Well, just be careful.” Teri turned to go into her office.

“Why did you say that?”

“You know what I mean. You’re going to meet Eric, right?” Teri stopped and faced Nicole with a concerned look on her face.

“He called again and invited me to meet him for a drink. He didn’t want to come all the way back down here just to pick up his papers,” Nicole said, almost with a pout. “Look, this was his idea. If Yvette meant that much to him, why would he be inviting another woman out to have a few drinks?”

“He is a man, Nicole. That’s what they do,” Teri reminded.

“T
hank you for your advice, again. Now if you don’t mind, I need to run to the little girls’ room to freshen up my makeup,” Nicole told a subdued Teri with a smug look on her face. She then proceeded to remove her purse from a drawer. “I hope you don’t plan on working late again.”

“No, I’m going to close up shop in a little while myself. I’ve got plans, too,” Teri mouthed, forcing a smile.

Nicole gasped. “It’s about time. I wondered what you and Harrison were talking about in that conference room after I left!”

“It’s not what you think. I’m spending the evening with…my grandparents, not Harrison,” Teri admitted, looking embarrassed. She immediately felt guilty about feeling embarrassed. She loved spending time with her family. “Grandma saved some bread pudding for me.” Nicole gave her the most pitiful look she’d ever received before in her life. “Oh,” Nicole said. “Well, I hope you have a good time. With Victor being out of the office, I hope you take some time to catch your breath.”

“I will,” Teri assured her. She closed the door as soon as she got into her office. Then she sat at her desk staring at the wall in front of her for the next twenty minutes.

Teri focused on things in her office that had been present for
years. Things that had never bothered her before but did now. Especially some of the large, framed color photographs on the wall facing her desk. There was one of Young Rahim standing with his legs spread slightly apart, his hand gripping his bulging crotch. Two half-naked young women were in the picture with him. The two women looked as though they wanted to kiss his feet. He had a grin on his face that made him look like a shark.

But the picture that bothered Teri the most was one of Victor posing with Ike and Tina Turner. She had always thought that it was hideous and would have been more appropriate on display in a rock museum. She didn’t know how old the picture was, but from Tina’s long, straight wig and miniskirt, Ike’s bell-bottom pants and Beatle wig, she knew it had to be old. Hell, if she remembered correctly, Tina had left Ike’s crazy ass decades ago.

She could have removed the pictures and other things in her office that irritated her, but most of this shit had already been in place when she got hired. She kept it around as a reminder to herself of how far she had come. Besides, she had her large live plants in every corner, her own water cooler, and a mini-fridge that Victor had given to her two Christmases ago; on her desk were pictures of her beloved grandparents, and one of Nicole and her son.

She picked up the telephone to call her grandmother to let her know she was coming over. But before she dialed the number Miguel quietly opened her door and leaned in. Peeping over his shoulder behind him was John, Victor’s secretary.

“It’s kind of slow. Do you mind if I shut up shop?” Miguel asked with a pleading look on his face.

“No problem,” Teri said, dismissing the two men with a casual wave.

“It’s my dad’s birthday,” John said anxiously. “I need to pick up the cake.”

“Good night, you two. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Teri said with a light chuckle, dismissing them with an impatient wave. “When the cat’s away, or in this case, the lion, the mice will play,” she said to herself. “Well, since I can’t beat ’em, I’ll join ’em.” With that, Teri grabbed her purse and briefcase and practically ran out of her office. Two other people had suddenly gotten “sick” and had
to leave work an hour ago. Teri didn’t even know about the folks in offices on the floor above her. But half of them had fled early, too. That was what happened whenever Victor was not around. Under normal circumstances, she did not condone this type of behavior. But with Victor for a boss, she felt it was justified, as long as everybody got their work done and as long as it didn’t happen too often.

Teri called her grandmother from her cell phone as she navigated her way through the heavy commuter traffic. “I meant to call you earlier,” she said as soon as her grandmother picked up. “I’m on my way. I should be there in about ten minutes. If I ever get out of this mess on the freeway.” She knew, and had known for years, that I-405 was to be avoided like the plague during this time of day. “Keep a plate warm for me.”

“Don’t rush. I didn’t have time to cook dinner today. I’ve been packing for the past hour,” her grandmother told her, sounding cranky. The tone of voice concerned Teri.

“What’s the matter?” she asked, her heart thumping like a beaver’s tail on a log.

“Nothing is the matter. All this packing is nerve-racking, that’s all. I better make sure I pack my Dentu Grip…” the old woman mumbled.

“Packing for what? Are you and Grandpa going somewhere?”

“We’ll be on the red-eye when it leaves LAX tonight. I don’t know why in the world they call it a ‘red-eye’ flight. It would make more sense if they called it the ‘midnight flight’ because that’s what it is.”

“Sure enough.” It was the voice of Teri’s grandfather in the background.

“When I talked to you yesterday morning you didn’t say anything about going anywhere.” Teri didn’t like to talk for more than a minute or two when she was driving. “Let me call you right back.” She took the next exit and stopped in front of a Chevron station. She redialed her grandparents’ phone number and this time it was Grandpa Stewart who answered. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing’s going on. Me and Mother are just going out of
town for a few days,” he mumbled. Teri waited for him to continue, but he didn’t. A full minute passed in silence. This not only annoyed her, it gave her something to worry about. The way her grandparents liked to run off at the mouth, she was surprised that they were being so closemouthed now.

“Going where? And why didn’t you tell me before now?” she demanded. An Asian attendant inside the gas station was peeping at her out the window. There was a frown on his face that Teri found disturbing to say the least. The last time she had stopped in front of a place of business to make a call from her cell phone, the merchant had called the police, claiming she’d been “casing the place.”

“Can you hold on for a few minutes?” Teri didn’t wait for a response. She pulled her BMW up to the pump closest to the station. She had filled her tank on her way to work that morning so she didn’t need any gas. She went inside the station and started to randomly grab merchandise. She’d donate the Fritos, bottled water, gum, and a small bottle of Rémy Martin to the first homeless person she encountered.

Something told her that she was going to need a drink or two when she got home so she would probably keep the alcohol for herself. By the way the clerk was grinning and nodding, the fact that she’d made a purchase seemed to satisfy him. As soon as she walked out the door, he returned his attention to a small black-and-white TV on the counter featuring something in a foreign language.

“Where are you two going?” she asked as soon as she got back on the phone.

“Sister Etienne Conroy passed away this morning,” Grandpa lamented. “Me, her, and Mother all grew up together. We all had the same godmama.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. She’s the lady back in Louisiana, right? The one with the lazy eye that played with my ears so much that time you took me back there for a visit when I was fourteen?”

“That’s her. Been gooch-eyed all her life. Born and raised in Slidell. I swear to God, Sister Conroy just about died when we up and moved to California. If she didn’t call us at least once a week
after we got here, we called her. She was more like family than some of our family. You’d have loved her to death.”

“I’m sure I would have. And isn’t she the lady whose husband died two months ago?”

“Uh-huh. We didn’t make it to his funeral on account of I was down with the grippe, remember? But grippe or nothing else could keep us from missing out on saying bye to Etienne. You know where we hide the key. Come by and water the plants and take the mail out the box. Don’t worry about the newspapers. I’ve already taken care of that. Now you go on and don’t worry about us. I’m sure one of your friends would love to spend this evening with you, doing whatever you young people do these days. You got a boyfriend?”

“No, I don’t have a boyfriend. Uh, I’m going to swing by anyway,” Teri said, starting her motor.

“Well, you’d better hurry. Brother Pickett is driving us to the airport and you know how he is. We don’t need to be there until ten, but he drives the way he walks, slow as a snail. We’ll be lucky if we don’t miss that red-eyed plane.”

“I’ll take you to the airport,” Teri insisted. She hung up and sped back onto the freeway.