Alicia's Folly (20 page)

As she stood there, silently imploring Justin to stay out of it, something in his expression shifted. Butterflies danced in her stomach as a glimmer of hope suddenly sparked in his eyes. Even though he’d been honoring her request to be strictly friends and nothing more since Judge Michaels’ death, she knew he was still hoping for something permanent between them.
 

“You already told him, didn’t you?” he asked quietly. The butterflies intensified. Unable to form the words to answer him, she bit down on her bottom lip and kept saying, “Please” with her eyes. He pulled in a slow, deep breath. “All right then. So… What? Status quo for – How long, Alicia? How much
more
time are you giving him?”
 

“A week at least. He might be away on business. I – Maybe,” she finished in a whisper. How else did she tell him she was willing to try, but that didn’t mean things would go the way he was hoping?
 

“Maybe more than a week?” Justin asked, misunderstanding. Alicia heaved a shaky sigh and went for broke.
 

“Maybe it will work between us. Maybe it won’t. Don’t assume it will, just because you want it to,” she said. She waited for him to argue, to insist things would be good between them. When he didn’t, she released the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.
 

“It’s a start,” was his answer. Then he kissed her quickly, full on the mouth. It was over so fast she didn’t even have time to react. Slightly dazed, she simply shook her head “no”, indicating he shouldn’t push things. He ignored her.
 

“I’ll win you over yet, Danvers,” he said instead. “But for now, I need to get Cassie to her piano lesson. I’ll call you later.”
 

* *
 

Alicia slid into the tub with a sigh of relief. What a crazy day. From the moment she woke up to this one, she’d been on tenterhooks. Memories of last year’s party kept plaguing her and she hadn’t been able to shake the feeling something bad would happen to someone.
 

If not for the boys being hopped up on sugary treats, she would likely have packed them up and brought them over to Justin’s after Cassie’s piano lesson. Then she wouldn’t have to be alone with her memories. As it was, it took a dozen rounds of dancing to The Hamster Dance song to settle them down.
 

As the bubbles soothed her aching legs and back – she really wasn’t used to being on her feet for so long anymore – she started to think about where her life was at. She’d been doing that a lot lately; ever since the cupboard full of letters she’d written to Nate emptied onto her head. She’d made duplicates of every single one she sent. The sheer volume of
paper
coming down on her had caused her neck to go out. The resulting migraine had laid her low for two and a half days. Thank God the stack of log books wherein she’d catalogued every phone call and email attempt hadn’t come down too.
 

When she could think clearly, without feeling like she was going to puke, she decided she was done with waiting and wanting. She would take one final kick at the can, a week-long spam-attack of sorts of combined calls, emails and letters. And she didn’t just call once per day. She tried calling four, five and six times per. So far, she’d not had success because she kept reaching Marjorie. The woman and her attitude were like an impenetrable fortress.
 

She was a witch of a woman was Marjorie. Every single time Alicia got her on the phone, she was reminded that Mr. Langston would return her calls “if and when he decided to give a damn”. It took all of Alicia’s will to not scream at the woman.
 

On a lark, she picked up the phone and dialled the number for the Langston switchboard. It was after hours, but maybe, just maybe, she would be able to catch someone who would put her through to Nate’s direct line. At this point, she was willing to bribe the cleaning staff, if that was what it would take.
 

Alicia almost swore when the off-hours operator put her through to Witch Woman’s extension again. Angry, she hung up and re-dialled, hoping to catch a different operator. It was just her rotten luck to get the same woman. Once again, she was put through to “Reception”.
Third time’s a charm?
She thought, trying one last time. When the same operator answered yet once more, frustration welled up. This time, when she was put through to Witch Woman’s extension, she fully intended to leave a scathing, ear-blasting message.
 

“Nate Langston’s office. Can I help you?” a deep male voice said, stopping Alicia short. She damn near dropped the phone into the tub, she was so shocked. Then her vocal chords locked up and she couldn’t speak. “Is anyone there?” the man asked.
 

It was on the tip of her tongue to say Nate’s name, but then her brain started to function again and she realized were it Nate at the other end of the line, he would have answered differently. Taking a deep breath for courage, she introduced herself.
 

“My name is Alicia Danvers. Nate – Mr. Langston and I met almost three years ago in Trinidad. I have been trying unsuccessfully to get in touch with him ever since. If you could please leave him a message, preferably one Marjorie the Dragon Queen won’t find, I would greatly appreciate it.”
 

The whole was said in a mad rush and by the time she was finished, Alicia’s voice was shaking. In fact, she was almost crying.
Please, please, please!
she thought, her whole body rigid with tension.
 

“Marjorie? Dragon Queen?” the man asked, disbelieving. She almost groaned. If this man was fond of Witch Woman, she was sunk.
 

“Please believe me when I tell you she can be one nasty piece of work. If I received a penny for every time she told me Nate would get back to me, and I quote, ‘if and when he decides to give a damn’, I’d be rich. Heck, I’d have been able to afford to come to Miami and speak to him face to face a year ago, rather than deal with her.”
 

Alicia had to take a deep breath to quell a sudden spark of anger. Just talking about the obnoxious secretary made her want to scratch someone’s eyes out. When the deep breath became two, then three, then sobs, she very nearly hung up.
 

“Please. I’m sorry. I know it sounds crazy. Some strange woman trying to get in touch with your – What is he? Is he your boss? Your friend? What?” She blushed. What if this man was a friend or a family member? She really didn’t know much about Nate.
 

“Nate is my business partner. My name is Dimitri Marek, Miss Danvers. And you’ve been trying to reach him since - ?” Alicia pulled the handset away from her ear and frowned at it.
 

What the heck?
she thought. Was it her imagination, or did Dimitri Marek’s voice suddenly get louder when he said her name? Thinking she was probably just hearing things as a result of stress, she answered his question.
 

“Since the day I left Trinidad. I had to leave unexpectedly. A friend – died. I - ”
 

“Why did you hesitate on the word?” Dimitri Marek asked, cutting her off. Nonplussed, she nearly told him it was none of his business. But then a very important life lesson her mother taught her came to mind. It was the one about catching flies with honey rather than vinegar. With a frustrated sigh, she decided to be nice. If she snapped at him, he might not pass on her message.
 

“My friend killed himself,” she explained. “Though he was terminal with cancer, it wasn’t what killed him. He was also in Trinidad at the time and I was charged with getting him home.”
 

“I see. What other means did you employ in your efforts to reach Mr. Langston?” Dimitri Marek asked. Alicia felt like she was at a pre-trial hearing. All of a sudden, being naked in a tub of bubbles didn’t feel so good.
 

“Primarily calls and regular post. The only email address I had for him generated a virus-laden auto-response. The virus killed my phone,” she said, pulling her knees up to her chin and hugging them to her. It was creepy how she felt the need to hide her nakedness, even though he
was tens of thousands of miles away. “Can you please have him call me?” she added, before he had the chance to interrogate her further.
 

When Dimitri Marek said “yes” and asked for her contact information, Alicia had to fight to keep from breaking down. Her relief was so great, she felt dizzy. At the same time, she felt nauseous. This was it. The moment of truth was nigh and she had to wonder just how upset Nate would be to learn the boys were two years old. Even worse, what if he didn’t even care they existed?
 

As she hung up from her call with Dimitri Marek, all manner of scenarios were playing through her mind. From thrilled acceptance to enraged denial. Her mind was a whirl of conflicting emotions as, suddenly, she began to wonder if she’d done the right thing after all.
 

“No,” Nate said quietly, shaking his head. It was all he could say as Dimitri sat there on the corner of Marjorie’s desk, a puzzled expression on his face.
 

“She said she’s been trying to get in touch with you since the day she left Trinidad. Mentioned that virus we were fighting for nearly three damn months. Apparently it crashed her phone too,” Dimitri explained. Nate swallowed hard. He couldn’t believe his ears.
 

“No,” he said again. “She had a fat severance package from her boss. If she wanted to see me that bad, she could have come to Miami.”
 

“And what? Risk the chance you would think she was some desperate, gold-digging head-case? She left suddenly and without explanation. You were angry. No woman in their right mind would lay down a decent-sized lump of money on air fare for a “maybe”, especially not a woman who’s as financially responsible as you say she was.” Nate ground his teeth. Dimitri’s argument was sound, damn him. Still, he shook his head.
 

“To coin a phrase,” he said, “what woman in her right mind would still be trying to call, nearly three years after the fact? It doesn’t make sense.” It was Dimitri who shook his head this time.
 

“For a smart man, you can be really dense sometimes,” his friend countered. “Did you have sex with Alicia Danvers, Nate?”
 

Images of Alicia moaning and writhing beneath him as he loved her popped suddenly into his mind. The sound of her moans and cries, the sweet, sexy smell of her filled his senses with painful clarity. Nate sucked in a harsh breath as, even after all this time, his body reacted. Then the logical parts of his brain homed in on the implications of Dimitri’s question and his cock went from rock-hard to retreat in less than a heartbeat. He staggered back, feeling like someone had just slammed their fist into his face.
 

“Tell me exactly what she said,” he growled, his jaw clenched.
 

* *
 

“I don’t care if you’re on a date, Ira,” Nate snapped. He felt only the smallest pang of conscience as he paced the length of his office. “It’s critical you come in and retrieve all of the calls to and from Marjorie Stevenson’s phone.”
 

“I’ve been working crazy hours. If I cut this date short, I will be single. Guaranteed. I’m sorry, sir, but your ‘critical’ situation will have to wait until morning,” Ira argued. Nate could hear a woman’s voice in the background. She sounded pissed. Desperate for answers, he did the only thing he could think of to sway his top tech’s girlfriend.
 

“Tell her you’ll take her on an all-expenses-paid trip to wherever she wants to go. I will give you two weeks paid time to spend with her. You have a company credit card, right?” he asked. There was a long pause while Ira processed what was being said. Nate listened while the tech explained his request. She stopped arguing almost instantly.
 

“Yes, I do have the IT department’s company card,” he said.
 

“Good. Consider it your own for the next two weeks. I know you’re dating the dark-haired girl with the funky glasses from accounting. Getting time off is not a problem for her either. Come in tonight and retrieve the data I need. The two of you can figure out where you’re going on the way home then leave in the morning. This is not a joke, Ira. I am dead serious.”
 

With the sudden increase of background noise and the way his voice echoed, Nate realized he’d been put on speaker. He could almost hear Ira and whatever-her-name-was looking
at each other in shock. He gave them five seconds to answer. When they didn’t, he prompted them.
 

“Well? What’ll it be?”
 

“Why – ?” the woman began. She stopped short. Then, her voice filled with emotion, she said something that made his insides twist. “If it means Stevenson and her gal pals get busted, I’m all for it. And Mr. Langston, thank you for the offer of a paid vacation, but it won’t be necessary.”
 

* *
 

“Play it again.” Nate was seething. His blood was boiling. He wanted to rend Marjorie Stevenson limb from limb. Ira looked worriedly at Dimitri for permission. He nodded and Marjorie’s voice filled the room once more.
 

“Alicia Danvers’ tenacity borders on the terrifying. She’s called six times already today. I don’t think she’s ever been this pushy.” Another, unknown voice responded.
 

“I wonder if this might be her last salvo. If it is, then I’ve – we’ve – won.” The unknown person laughed then and the sound was purely evil. Nate’s skin crawled, as did everyone else’s. Turning to Marcie, Ira’s girlfriend, he demanded to be told what she knew.
 

“I only know that Marjorie is really tight with Eileen Gellar from the mail room. Oh and Debbie Stinson on switchboard. The three of them are thick as thieves. And nasty. There is no limit to their cruelty toward others. Your turn over rate in the mail room and the secretarial pool are a direct result of their sheer bitchiness,” Marcie explained. “Beyond that, I know nothing.”