Wrong Way Renee (30 page)

The waitress returned with the appetizers and three plates. They each took some onion rings and fries, eating in silence for a few minutes. Becky took Renee's hand and looked into her eyes.

“You want me to wait outside?
”
Renee asked.

Becky nodded.

“No problem.
”
She
grabbed one last onion ring then strode
outside, glad to be free from the intensity of the scene inside
. After sitting on a bench for ten minutes, she got up and alternated between pacing and leaning on the hood of Becky's Volvo. Every few minutes she discreetly
glanc
ed in the window. Becky and Justin were talking, smiling and occasionally holding hands.
It was nice to witness something happy after wallowing in her own misery for the past day.

Forty minutes later,
mother
and son emerged, arm in arm. Becky walked him to his car, then she hugged him for a long moment.
“I'll call you next week after I se
t something up with my family.”

He nodded.
“Goodbye, Becky. I'll talk to you soon.
”
He
waved to Renee.

As the women watched him drive away, Renee put her arm around her friend. She'd never been more proud of her. “Thank you for bringing me along. It means so much that you trusted me wi
th this. I knew you'd be fine.”

Becky's eyes
misted
.
“Yeah. It was
good
. It was
…
great.”

They hardly spoke the entire way home. Renee knew her friend had lots of things to process. She turned on the radio a few minutes into their trip.

An hour later Beck
y dropped her at her apartment.
“I don't know how to thank you for coming along with me
.”

“That's what friends do for each other. I'll see you tomorrow.
”
She climbed the stairs to her apartment. When she went inside, she
noticed
the answering machine light flashing. Hoping it was Joe, she pressed the button.

“
Renee, it's
Cleave
. Just checking to see if you
were feeling better. Call me.”

She slumped and
decided she'd call him back later. The emotional experience of the day, though vicarious for her, had exhausted her. She lay in bed watching TV.
But nothing eased the ache in her heart
and she had a feeling nothing ever would
.

* * * * *

Tuesday morning, Renee could hardly get out of bed. All she wanted to do was sleep. But she forced herself to get dressed and go to work. Melissa's mood mirrored
hers
They commiserated wi
th each other about their woes.

“The doctor said I probably won't be able to carry a pregnancy to term. Our next option is adoption. But that could take years,
”
Melissa
said
.

Renee's heart went out to her.
“Maybe you'll get lucky and find a baby sooner. I've heard that going the priva
te route can be a lot quicker.”

“
We have an appointment to see an adoption lawyer tomorrow. I guess we'll know more then.
” She let out a sigh. “
So, what are you going to do to win your boyfriend back?
”

Renee
shrugged.
“I don't know that there's anything I can do. He told me I was the first woman he asked out since his fiancé broke his heart, two years ago. Now I've broken it all over again. If I were him, I wouldn't speak to me either.
”

“W
hy were yo
u with this other man, anyway?”

“I've sort of been seeing him too.
”

Melissa raised her brow.
“Oh.”

“I know
, I know. It sounds bad.”

“Do you like the other guy?”

“Cleave is
very good to me. He's a lawyer who works with my father and brother-in-law. He has lots of play money and a beautiful house.
My family would be thrilled if things went further with us.”

“Oh, it's serious then?”

Sh
e shrugged.
“M
or
e serious for him than for me.
I was going to break up with him the other night.
”

“If you don't mind me saying so, Renee, you were playing with fire. It was inevitable that you'd get b
urned.”

Why did it sound so obvious to everyone else?
“
D
idn't seem like I was doing anything
so
terrible at the time. I think both relationships got more serious at the same
time
.”

“
Why are you staying with the lawyer when you
don't sound
particularly excited about him?
”

That question kept popping up.
“Well, he’s not Joe, but
I told you, I really like him. He's got it all.
”

“For you or for your family?”

She wished
people wou
ld stop saying things like that. Cleave was a wonderful man and she did have some feelings for him
. It had nothing to do with what her family wanted. Did it?

“If this guy is as
great
as you say, you should be straight with him. I mean, I wouldn't tell him about the other guy, since that's apparently over. But it's not nice to string him along if you know he
has certain intentions, especially if
it'll never be very serious for you
.”

“I didn't say I couldn't be serious about
Cleave
. Sometimes it takes mor
e time to build that…intimacy.”

Melissa shrugged.
“
If you say so.”

She finished the manicure, then got Melissa situated at the drying table.
Her
cell phone rang
as she returned to her station.
“Hello?”

“Hi. It's
Cleave
.”

She tried to smile.
“
Hey.”

“I was calling to see how you were feeling. I've been worried about you. I didn't hear f
rom you yesterday.”

“
I had to go to Daytona Beach to help a friend with something. I'm feeling much better. I think it was a bug or something.
”

“I'm glad to hear you're doing better. Do you have any time free to go look f
or some antiques this weekend?”

She didn't have to save a night for Joe anymore. The black cloud returned with that thought.
“
I'm free Saturday after
work or any time Sunday.”

“
Don't sound so excited.”

“Sorry, I'm pretty busy here right now.
”

“Okay. I'll let you go. But please, think about what I asked you at the club. You wouldn't even have to go to work at all. You could go shopping and have lunch with yo
ur friends.”

“My friends all work. They can't have lunch during the week.
”
The
conversation was beginning to irritate her.

“You'll make more friends who can. Most of the
women at the club don't work.”

Just what she wanted—a bunch of spoiled, bored housewives.
“My next client just walked
in
. I have to get back to work.” She waited for a
pang of guilt for the lie
but it never came
.

“
I'll see you Satur
day. We'll do dinner too. Bye.”

“Bye.
”
She laid her head on her nail table. He was trying to run her life.
Was that
what princesses h
ad to endure? Other people planning every aspect of their life?
Maybe it wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

Antoine walked by and
stopped at her table
.
“Hey, Eyore. Snap out of it, girlfriend.
”
He snapped his fingers.

“What?
”
She sat up and
narrowed her eyes
at him.

“You remind me of Eyore, that sad, sorry ass donkey from 'Winnie the Pooh' who keeps losing his tail. It can't be that bad.
”
He sat down.
“Give
me
a manicure and tell
me
all about your problems.
”
He patted her head.

Sh
e managed a weak smile. Why not? She was free for another hour until her next appointment. She pulled a file and a buffer out of her drawer.
“
Well, you know I was dating Joe, the cop who you gave a haircut.
”
She absently filed his nails.

“Right. Cutie pants.”

She nodded.
“Right when
I started seeing him, I met this lawyer at my parents' house. He asked me out and we started seeing each other. Casually, I thought. 'Cause I didn't have any commitment to either guy. So I kept seeing both of them. But I couldn't choose between them. I liked them both. I finally decided I was going to tell the lawyer I couldn't see him anymore. He took me out to this fancy dinner he'd planned. I couldn't tell him during dinner, after all the trouble he'd gone to. So I was going to do it when he brought me home. But then I got caught by Joe's step
mom with him.”

“Color me busted.” He crossed
his legs.

“
So, now Joe won't speak to me. And it's breaking my heart.
”
Tears pooled in her eyes. She tried to blink them away, but had to wipe them with a tissue instead as they spilled onto her cheeks.

“You want Sergeant Joe Friday back, huh?
”
He regarded her with sad eyes.

She swallowed past the lump in her throat.
“Yeah.”

He shook his head.
“But he won't speak to you.”

“Nope.
”
More tears
.

“My mama always says
make the best of what you got.
You got to pick yourself up by your boot straps and
ease on down the road, honey.”

“I suppose I have to.”

“It's not like you don't have Mr. Lawyer man waiting in the wings
. Give him a fair shot, honey.”

She managed a weak smile.
“I'm going to.”

“Because if I hadn't given my D
wayne a chance
…
well I don't even want to think about it.
”
He shuddered.
“I
was dating Trevor when I met D
wayne. And, honey, I liked Trevor. But he dumped me for some highly processed
brown
sugar, if y
ou get my drift. Anyway, when D
wayne and me first did the Cha-Cha, I said 'Sugar, you are way too much for this skinn
y boy. ' I was in pain, honey.”

Sh
e held up her hand for him to stop.
“Antoine, no offense meant here. But tha
t is way too much information.”

He giggled.
“All right, sugar.”

She buffed his nails to a shine,
then pronounced him manicured.

He looked at his hands and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
“You the bomb, babe.”

Her mood brightened a bit. Antoine had the power to make her smile. And she needed to smile.
Desperately. Some days it felt like she’d never be truly happy again.

* * * * *

Saturday afternoon, as Renee ate her lunch, she
mulled over
telling Pam that
Pablo
had gotten married.
After witnessing how her own duplicity had screwed with her relationships, she felt compelled to turn over a new leaf.
Yes, she would set Pam straight
when she came for her fill in a few minutes
. Hopefully
she
wouldn't shoot the messenger.

Hon
esty was her new best policy.
And when she went antiquing with
Cleave
later, she'd tell him ab
out Joe. Well, m
aybe.

“Sorry, Renee,” Pam called into the kitchen. “
I was shopping and the time got away from me.
”