When Love's at Work (8 page)

“
Feel better?” Alex
McCallister asked.

She couldn’t look at him. What could she
possibly say? She had questioned his integrity. Well, he shouldn’t
have laughed, Pure thought, knowing the weight of her judgment was
slim at best. She had been at fault and she would need to be the
one to make amends, even if she didn’t get her job back.

“
Yes and no,” Purity
replied, still facing her car. “I’m sorry. I was way out of line.
Actually, I couldn’t even see the line.” Purity took a deep breath,
then forced herself to turn and look into Alex’s eyes.

“
I’m sorry,” Pure said
again.

“
You said
that.”

Purity felt her back straighten at his
remark. “Well you could say you forgive me.”

“
Nothing to forgive,” Alex
said matter-of-factly. “Want to go get a drink?”

“
What?”

“
I said, do you want to go
get a drink?”

“
I just yelled at you and
quit my job and you want to go for a drink?”

“
Yeah. It’s damn hot.
Everybody’s nerves are on edge. They’re supposed to get the AC
fixed this afternoon.”

“
Not to beat a dead horse
or anything, but what about all the things I just said to
you?”

“
Everybody needs to let
off a little steam now and again.”

“
So, I still have my job?”
Purity asked, not realizing she was holding her breath while
waiting for his reply.

“
If you want
it.”

“
I do. Really, I do.”
After a brief pause and a sigh, Purity said, “Can I take a rain
check on the drink? I really have a lot of work to do.”

“
Sure.”

“
Alex,” Purity said,
putting her hand on his arm. ‘I really am sorry.”

“
It’s okay, Purity,” Alex
said, placing his hand on top of hers.

With her head clearer and her body less
tense, Purity headed for her office. She made a mental to-do list:
the flowers were the wrong shade, but no one at the event would
know they weren’t supposed to be that color, they could borrow
chairs from the cafeteria on site, she’d make a guess at the number
of RSVPs, and she’d call Tapestry and get Chance’s number as he
played guitar in a blues band. Sometimes good enough just had to be
good enough.

“
I found it!” Sheila met
Purity at her office door.

“
Found what?”

“
The RSVP list. Our total
is 374.”

“
Will you call Marsha
Persimmony and…”

“
I’m on it,” Sheila
replied before Purity could even finish her sentence.

“
And, will you call the
cafeteria and see if we can borrow their chairs?”

“
Consider it done,” Sheila
answered as she continued to dial the number for Persimmony’s
Catering.

“
We’re throwing us a
Garden Party!” Purity said aloud as she headed back to her desk and
reached for the phone.

It was almost 10:30pm when all the loose
ends that could be tied up were tied up. Purity knew there would be
more tomorrow, the day before the Garden Party, but for now, all
was well.

The night air felt thick and muggy. The
weather had been so unpredictable this year. Pure put her key into
her car lock and got inside.

She knew Alex McCallister wouldn’t still be
hanging around The Kids’ Place, but she wished she could take him
up on his drink offer. She had all the board members home phone
numbers. She could call him.

Pure knew a relationship with Alex wasn’t
wise, and yet he must like her, too, at least a little. She
remembered the way his hand felt on hers earlier in the day and the
way her skin sang from his touch.

She reached into her briefcase and found the
list of board members home phone numbers, then grabbed her cell
phone. “He’s probably asleep,” she muttered to herself.

“
Hello?” Alex answered on
the second ring.

“
Hi, Alex, it’s Purity
Zyetta. I know it’s a bit late, but I’m just leaving the office and
wondered if you still wanted to have that drink?” Purity was
thankful he couldn’t see her face at the moment.

The pause was too long. Pure knew he was
going to say no.

“
Sure. I’ll swing by and
pick you up,” Alex replied, surprised and delighted to hear
Purity’s voice on the other end of the line.

“
Oh no, that’s okay. I’ve
got my car. I can meet you some place.”

“
Okay,” Alex relented, his
thoughts of having a moonlit kiss dashed. “I’ll meet you at Big
Shotz. It’s just a few blocks from The Kids’ Place. You go up a
block to Lexington and then take a right and it will be on your
left.”

“
Got it. I’ll meet you
there in a few minutes,” Purity responded, smiling uncontrollably
as she hung up her phone.

“
I’m going to have a drink
with Alex McCallister.” She said his last name slowly, allowing the
syllables to melt on her tongue.

Purity arrived at the club within five
minutes of their conversation. She was glad she had time to visit
the ladies room and check her appearance before Alex showed up.

She found a table in eyesight of the front
door and to the right side a bit. The club had that haze all clubs
seem to get from too much liquor, cigarette smoke, desperation deep
in the night and band members filled with dreams of making it
big.

She knew when he arrived immediately. She
felt his presence. Her eyes followed the feeling. He was dressed in
jeans and a black t-shirt. Purity didn’t need to be within
breathing distance of him to know his scent would send shivers down
her spine.

“
I’m glad you called,”
Alex began, pulling a chair out from under the table and sitting
down.

“
I wasn’t sure you’d be
home, or awake,” Purity said, suddenly feeling as if Alex could
read her thoughts.

“
I’m usually in bed by
11,” Alex said, his gaze shifting as the waitress approached their
table. “What would you like to drink, Purity? Are you
hungry?”

“
Rum and Coke, and some
mozzarella sticks. I just realized I really am hungry. Sheila and I
worked right through dinner.”

“
I’ll have whiskey with a
beer chaser,” Alex told the blonde in the too-tight outfit. “Is
everything coming together for the party?”

“
Yes, I’m happy to say. A
lot of things needed to be changed at the last minute, but it seems
like it’s all going to work out. I’m so glad we didn’t print
specifics about the band on the invitations, since they ended up
getting food poisoning and we had to change from jazz music to the
blues.”

Alex was eyeing her closely. It was making
Purity uncomfortable. Pure gathered up her courage. “Alex, may I
ask you something?”

“
Shoot.” Alex’s fingers
had begun to itch. If he hadn’t made that promise to stop smoking
back when his brother quit, he’d light one up right now. You quit,
I quit. He remembered the words vividly. That was almost seven
years ago.

“
I like you. I liked you
from the first moment I saw you.” Purity wanted to look away from
those intense eyes, but she felt hypnotized. “I think we could have
something, maybe something amazing, between us.” This was sounding
so incredibly stupid. She should have thought this through, written
it down and memorized it before just trying to lay her heart out
there on the spur of the moment. She’d started the conversation and
she was going to finish it. It was already out there
now.

Alex leaned forward until their bodies were
only inches from one another. “I like you, too,” he said, as the
fingers on his right hand caressed Purity’s cheek.

She couldn’t breathe. It felt as if their
world had stopped, even as the rest of the club had turned to
colors and sound and a lovely dizzying blur.

Alex moved closer and Pure leaned into the
invitation. As their lips met, warm sensations flooded her body and
she finally breathed in the air that surrounded them. Such a hunger
had been building inside her, it threatened to overwhelm them both.
Purity had longed to run her fingers through Alex’s dark curly hair
and now she was.

Alex’s lips blazed a trail down her throat
to her neck and all thoughts were gone. Only feelings existed in
this place.

The drinks arrived, as did the mozzarella
sticks, but neither noticed. When their lips finally parted, they
each felt a bit dazed and their breathing had deepened.

Alex downed the whiskey in one shot as Pure
sipped her Rum and Coke. She had started it. When all was said and
done and they had gone their separate ways, she only had herself to
blame. She was terrible at relationships. The whole trust thing was
always her downfall. It was so much easier to trust women. Her
alcoholic father had let her down so many times. She reached for a
mozzarella stick. The four men she had been in serious
relationships with had all let her down.

Jeremy had cheated on her. One strike and
you’re out, that was Pure’s motto when it came to cheating. Andrew
had lied about, well, everything. Pure hated liars. Sidney, he
could have been “the one” but he clung to her like dirt on the
bottom of your shoe. She needed to breathe, to have space. And then
there was Derek, of course. Purity wondered how Derek’s mother was
doing and if she really did have a stroke like Derek said.

“
Care to join me?” Alex
asked.

Purity’s eyes found Alex’s and she shook her
head, “Sorry. Lost in thought.”

“
I could tell. From the
look on your face I hope those thoughts weren’t of me.”

“
No, definitely not
thoughts of you.” She leaned over and gave Alex a not-too-quick
kiss of reassurance.

“
Want to dance?” Alex
asked.

“
I’d love to.”

The soul-stirring sounds
of
Summertime
were being played by the band and the feel of Alex’s warm,
taut body against hers banished all rational thought from Purity’s
head. She breathed him into every nook and cranny. They stayed on
the dance floor until the band wasn’t playing any more.

“
When did they stop
playing?” Purity murmured into Alex’s shoulder.

“
I have no
idea.”

They continued dancing, although no audible
music could be heard.

Purity felt a vibration on her left hip. It
took a few seconds for the sensation to register. She reached into
her suit pocket and retrieved her cell phone. The caller ID
displayed Angela’s name.

“
Something wrong?” Alex
asked.

Pure let the call go to voice mail, but she
couldn’t shake the gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach. They
rarely spoke, so it must be something important.

“
I need to check this
message,” Purity said to Alex, as she removed her arm from around
his neck.

Since no music was playing in the club, she
could easily hear her voice mail: “Hey, Pure, Mom’s in the
hospital. They think she had a stroke. I called Bobby. He said he’d
be on the first flight out he could get. Okay, bye.”

Purity stood still, taking the information
in and letting it settle in her bones. Her sister hadn’t said if
the stroke was major, like the one her father had two years
ago.

“
Is everything okay?”
Alex’s words broke through her reverie.

“
My Mom had a stroke,” she
replied. “I need to go to the hospital.”

“
I’ll drive you,” Alex
said, taking control of the situation.

“
No, no, you don’t need to
do that. I don’t know how long I’ll be at the hospital and it’s
already late.”

“
I’m taking you,” Alex
stated firmly, he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

Alex placed his hand on Purity’s elbow to
guide her off the dance floor. The contact seemed to bring Purity
out of her stunned state.

“
No, Alex, really,” she
said, pulling her arm out of his grasp. “I’m fine to drive.” What
she didn’t say was that she didn’t want Alex anywhere near her
dysfunctional family.

“
You’re not fine, Purity.
You’ve just heard some startling and upsetting news. You shouldn’t
be driving.”

Purity put her hand on Alex’s arm. “Really,
Alex, I’m okay. The hospital is only 15 minutes away. I appreciate
that you want to help, and you’ll be of more help to me by letting
me handle this on my own.”

The words stung Alex. He was only trying to
help. Women always said they wanted a sensitive, caring man and
then when you were exactly that, they pushed you away.

“
Whatever you want,” Alex
said, giving in to Pure’s wishes. “Will you call me when you reach
the hospital?”

“
Yes. I’ll call,” Purity
replied, relieved that he wasn’t going to fight her on the
issue.

Purity gathered her belongings and Alex
walked her out to her car. The two hugged and shared a brief,
tender kiss. “Call me,” Alex reminded.

“
I will. I promise,”
Purity said, then got into her car and headed for Hope.

Pure’s family had a slew of health issues,
so the path to St. Mary’s Gracious Hope Hospital was a familiar one
for her to travel. She knew her mother had a carotid artery that
was 75% blocked and she wondered if that had been the cause of her
stroke. She might need carotid artery surgery. It would reduce her
chances of having another stroke in the future. She sighed deeply.
Every time she received one of these telephone calls, Pure felt
like she aged another three years. Before long, she’d be older than
her parents.