“Home to make sweet love to my pillow.”
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“Court is adjourned.” When the judge banged his gavel, Michelle heard clapping and turned around to see her father applauding her performance. Nicholas Price was Michelle's biggest supporter. When he wasn't on the golf course enjoying his retirement from Roman Realtors, where he had spent thirty-one years of his life selling homes, Nicholas found himself attending many of Michelle's afternoon court sessions. He admired the way she could be firm, yet gentle, when the need arose. Michelle was the type of attorney that gave her clients their money's worth.
“Well done, daughter, well done,” Nicholas said proudly.
Michelle greeted her father with a hug and smile. “Thanks, Daddy. I always do my best.”
“And it shows. After you finished your closing argument, I looked at the defense attorney and could tell by his expression that he knew he didn't have a leg to stand on.”
Just then the defense attorney approached them and spoke to Michelle. “Excuse me, Counselor. It's not often that I do this, but I wanted to commend you on your performance this afternoon. I have to say that you've certainly done your homework regarding this case. I tip my hat to you. Congratulations.”
Michelle often received praise and admiration for her courtroom conduct, but having her father there to witness this man's words, put joy in her heart. “Thank you, Counselor, and might I say that it was a pleasure beating you.” She smiled.
He smiled in return. “And beat me you did. If you don't mind me asking, where did you go to school?”
“I attended Oxford University.”
From his suit jacket pocket, he presented Michelle with his business card. “Oxford, that's quite impressive. If you're ever in need of a job, look me up. I'm sure the partners at Levin & Bell would be interested in knowing what you have to offer.”
Nicholas placed his palm over his mouth to try to conceal his smile because he knew his daughter was about to blow this man's mind and he was glad he could be there for this proud moment.
Michelle couldn't be rude. Though she didn't need it, she accepted his business card. “Counselor, I happen to
own
Price & Associates. I have partners working for
me
. My
performance
, as you call it, was for the benefit of the young lady sitting behind me. She's the newest attorney to join my firm. She was here to see how I want my law firm represented. So, I'll turn the tables and tell
you
that if
you're
ever in need of a job, look
me
up.” Michelle looped her arm through her father's and sashayed out of the courtroom, leaving the defense attorney speechless.
“Baby Girl, you get more and more like me everyday,” Nicholas said.
“What can I say? It's in the genes.”
Nicholas walked Michelle to her SUV and opened the door for her. “So, how's Amaryllis?”
“She's fine, Daddy.”
“Have you told her that you wanted the three of us to have dinner this evening?”
“No, not yet. I'm hesitant a bit. Daddy, Amaryllis thinks you're going to come down on her for the way she lives, but I don't want you to do that. She's here trying to get herself together. So, instead of chastising her, I want you to do the opposite. I know it may be difficult, considering all the things Amaryllis has done, but I really feel the best thing to make your relationship with her better is to encourage her. She's willing to let bygones be bygones if you are.”
“So, The Bad Seed wants to let bygones be bygones, huh?”
“And that's another thing, Daddy. You have to stop calling her that. Why kick Amaryllis when she's already down?”
“Because that's exactly what she does to other people. But I blame her mother for that. Veronica taught Amaryllis to behave that way. And I'm gonna be honest with you, Michelle, I don't think it's a good idea for her to stay in your house.”
“Daddy, Amaryllis is my sister. Why would you say something like that?”
“Call it a hunch, but if I were you, I'd put her up in a hotel. Las Vegas has plenty to choose from.”
“That's ridiculous. I have four bedrooms, what reason do I possibly have to put my own sister in a hotel?”
“Look, Baby Girl. You know your sister's track record as well as I do. You know what she's capable of. Don't underestimate Amaryllis. She's known for taking folks' kindness for weakness.”
“Daddy, listen to me. I've talked to Amaryllis and she understands the way she's been living is wrong. I believe she really wants to get her life together and we have to be her support system.”
Nicholas threw his hands in the air. “Okay, it's your house and your call, but I'm telling you that I have a strange feeling in my gut that she's up to something. I just hope your hospitality doesn't end up biting you in the butt.”
“Everything will work out, Daddy; you'll see. Besides, what could Amaryllis do to me?”
“Baby Girl, let's pray we never find out.”
Amaryllis was coming down the stairs when Michelle and Nicholas walked in the front door. Michelle placed her purse and briefcase on the sofa and went to assist her sister down the last three steps. “Hi, sweetie, it's good to see you getting around. Guess who's here?”
Amaryllis looked at a man whom she hadn't seen or talked to in two years. Their relationship was strained. Neither of them had picked up a telephone to talk to one another in the past twenty-four months. “Hi, Daddy.”
Nicholas looked at the healing black eye, the stitches sewn in the corner of her mouth, the cast that held up her right arm and the cane she was leaning on. “What in the world happened to you?”
Amaryllis was puzzled and looked at Michelle. “You didn't tell him?”
“It wasn't my place, Amaryllis. That's for you to do.” Michelle left Amaryllis and Nicholas alone and went into the kitchen, heading toward the refrigerator. She opened it and didn't see what she wanted to see and screamed at the top of her lungs. Nicholas and Amaryllis were both startled and saw Michelle run back into the living room waving her hands in the air like a mad woman. She stood in front of her sister and yelled. “Did you eat my Chunky?”
Amaryllis looked at Michelle like she was a lunatic. “Uh, yeah.”
Michelle's eyes were blaring. “Why?”
“I wanted a snack.”
“There are cookies, chips, doughnuts and all kinds of junk in the pantry. Why did you eat my Chunky?”
“I didn't see a name on it, Michelle.”
“In the short time you've been here, have you brought any food into this house? Everything in the kitchen has my name on it. Please stay away from my chocolate.”
Amaryllis was fed up with her. “Michelle, is it that serious? I'll buy you another Chunky. Just shut up.”
“Look, Amaryllis, I'm going to lay down the rules about my chocolate. If you touch it again, you'll be on your way back to Chicago so fast you won't need a plane, because my foot will be your transportation.” Michelle grabbed her purse from the sofa and stormed upstairs.
“Well, can I at least have some of your double chocolate ice cream with the brownies in it?” Amaryllis teased.
Michelle stopped in her tracks and looked at Amaryllis then pointed her right foot toward her. “You're gonna find yourself airborne, okay? I ain't to be played with about my chocolate.” Michelle turned her attention toward Nicholas. “You better talk to her, Daddy.”
They heard Michelle's bedroom door slam. Nicholas looked at his youngest daughter and her bruises. “Who did this to you?”
“I got into something that I shouldn't have, but don't worry. I've learned my lesson.”
“The guy you were living with; did he do this to you?”
“No, Randall wasn't a fighter, and I'd rather not get into this with you. I don't wanna hear the I-told-you-so speech.”
“I just wanna make sure that you're really okay.”
“Yeah, I'm fine now that I'm here. Michelle's been taking good care of me.”
“It's nice of your sister to accept you into her home and nurse you back to health, isn't it?”
“Yeah, Michelle's been great.”
Nicholas gave her a stern look. “Remember that, Amaryllis.”
Michelle came down the stairs dressed in blue jeans, a white tank top and dark blue wedge heel sandals. “Okay, I'm ready.”
“Ready for what?” Amaryllis asked.
Michelle had waited all day to tell Amaryllis about their dinner plans. She figured Amaryllis wouldn't reject in the presence of their father. “You and I are going out to dinner with Daddy.”
Amaryllis was uncomfortable with Nicholas' last words. She felt as though he had threatened her. “You and Daddy go ahead, Michelle, I don't feel so good.”
Michelle pressed the back of her hand on Amaryllis' forehead. “What's wrong, are you sick?”
“I just don't feel like going.”
Nicholas knew that he put something on Amaryllis' mind, and that's exactly what he had meant to do. “Maybe you'll feel better if you eat something,” he said to Amaryllis.
Michelle looked at her. “What have you eaten today besides my Chunky?”
Amaryllis rubbed her stomach. “Nothing. I really haven't had much of an appetite.”
“But I bet you've been swallowing those pills, haven't you?”
“I took two this morning, but I was able to stay awake all day.”
Michelle was pleased that the Tylenol she switched with the Vicodin was much gentler to Amaryllis' system. She grabbed Amaryllis gently by her waist. “You're coming with us. I see I'm gonna have to spoon feed you like an eight month old.”
Oh great,
Amaryllis thought. The last thing she wanted to do was sit in the company of her father over a dinner table. Amaryllis hated sports, but she'd rather stay at home and watch a boring tennis match than sit for two hours listening to Nicholas praise Michelle on her achievements in life.
Chapter 5
Wednesday morning, Michelle sat behind her desk speaking into a Dictaphone when Chantal walked into her office, all smiles. A week ago, Chantal had shared with Michelle that she'd thought she could be pregnant. Chantal and her husband, Douglas, had been trying for five years to conceive. In spite of all of the fertility treatments that she'd been subjected to, Chantal's womb had still been without child. Today, Chantal's menstrual cycle was more than two weeks late, and Michelle allowed her the morning off to visit her gynecologist in hopes of receiving wonderful news. But it was the smile on Chantal's face that told Michelle that God had answered her prayers.
Michelle placed the Dictaphone on the desk and stood up. “Well, what's the verdict?”
Chantal threw her hands in the air and yelled at the top of her lungs, “I'm pregnant!”
Michelle hurried around the desk and wrapped her arms around her personal secretary of two years. “Oh my God. Congratulations, honey.”
“Michelle, I can't believe it. Douglas and I have been trying for so long and it finally happened. For five years the doctor's told us to give up trying because it would never happen.”
“This just proves that doctors don't always know what they're talking about. And the saints of God have connections with the Head Physician. Can I get an Amen?”
Chantal laughed. “Amen, girl. Amen.”
“Does Douglas know?”
“No, I didn't even tell him that I thought I might be pregnant because it would only hurt him again if it turned out that I wasn't.”
“You're glowing already and you look so happy.”
“Michelle, I heard my baby's heartbeat today. I can't tell you what that felt like. There's a life inside of me being nurtured by everything that I do. I feel so, so, so ...”
Michelle found the word Chantal was searching for. “Overjoyed?”
“Yes overjoyed; that's the word.”
Michelle sat in one chair and motioned for Chantal to sit in the one opposite her. “Let's sit for a minute because I wanna share something with you.”
“Good, 'cause I wanna share something with you too,” Chantal said.
The two women faced one another, and before Michelle could utter one word, her emotions were already running rampant. She took hold of Chantal's hands and fought back tears that were threatening her lower eyelids. “I've known you for two years, and for those two years, I've watched you get excited when your period was late. I've also witnessed the disappointment, month after month, after month, when you had to face the false alarms. You and I have prayed and cried many a day, but I want you to know how happy I am that you and Douglas will finally become parents. I wish you both all the happiness in the world and I know if there were ever two people on this earth who will make excellent parents, you and Douglas fit the bill perfectly.”
Chantal was rendered speechless. What could she say after that? She had wanted to share her own thoughts and feelings with Michelle. Tears spilled out of her eyes like a waterfall. She silently prayed for God to give her the strength she needed to speak to Michelle.
“Michelle, I'm so grateful that I have a saved boss,” Chantal started. “You've been so supportive. I remember coming to you after leaving the doctor's office crying and wanting to have a pity party, but you never let that happen. You took me by the hand and brought me in here and we got on our knees and called on the name of Jesus. You don't know how much that kept me sane. If it weren't for you, I would have lost my mind a long time ago.”
Through her tears, Chantal saw Michelle's. “I thank you for always being in my corner and not letting me give up on God when I wanted to. I especially thank you for threatening to send me home without pay that time I told you that I didn't want to come into your office and pray about my situation.”
They both laughed and Chantal kept on sharing. “I was actually angry with you for getting in my business, but now I can see that God has placed you in my life for that particular reason. I can't thank Him enough for sending me you, my angel. I love you, girl.”
Just when Michelle thought she couldn't cry anymore, even more tears fell down her cheeks. “Oh, Chantal, you don't have to thank me. But I have to be honest and tell you that you got on my nerves feeling sorry for yourself, but I did what I had to do to keep you strong. It wasn't easy holding you up, but God gave me what I needed in order to do what I had to do. I won't even bother telling you how much I fasted on your behalf for God to hurry up and bring this baby forth; 'cause you won't believe me. I actually gave up chocolate for a whole week for you and you know that you must be someone special for me to do that, 'cause I don't even give up chocolate for my own issues.”
Chantal put her arms around Michelle and squeezed her tight. “I appreciate you for giving up the chocolate.”
“You'd better,” Michelle teased.
Chantal brought a serious expression to her face. “There's something else I need to tell you.” She looked into Michelle's eyes with a sullen expression. “I've gotta take a leave of absence, effective immediately.”
Michelle's eyes grew wide. “What? Why?”
“I'm six weeks pregnant, but I'm already three centimeters dilated, which means that my cervix will have to be sewn shut at ten weeks to keep the baby from making his or her appearance too soon. My doctor wants me on complete bed rest until I'm seven months, and at that time, I'm gonna have to be induced because the weight of the baby will be too heavy on the stitches.”
Michelle wore a horrid expression. “Seven months? Isn't that too early to deliver?”
“Well, my doctor says that chances are good that the baby's lungs will be developed enough so that he or she can breathe on its own. We may be able to wait longer than seven months, but that depends on the weight of the baby. I promised him that I was on my way home and into bed, but I just had to come by here and tell you about my miracle first.”
“Well, in that case, go home and get into bed.”
“What about the Henderson case? I didn't finish typing the brief on it. I was gonna finish it this afternoon.”
“That's no longer your concern, Chantal. You are officially on maternity leave; now go home,” Michelle demanded.
“But what aboutâ”
Michelle shooed Chantal out of her office. “What about nothing. Go home and relax. I'll call you later, then you can fill me in on everything that needs to be completed for the Henderson case.”
“Michelle, I hate to leave you like this when so much is going on. What are you going to do without a secretary?”
“I'm going to cry, but I'll figure something out. I don't want you worrying about that.”
“If I take my laptop home with me, I could work in bed.”
“Are you crazy, Chantal? That's not a bad idea, but are you crazy? The only thing you should be concentrating on is what color to paint the nursery.”
Michelle helped Chantal carry a few personal things to her car after she had finished packing up her desk. “How will you tell Doug the good news?”
“I think I'll bake a cake and put
Congratulations, Daddy
on it and sit it on the kitchen table.”
“Oh, I like that. Make sure to call me when you both come down from the high and tell me about it.”
Chantal hugged Michelle one last time. “I will, and thanks for everything.”
Michelle stood in the parking lot and watched as Chantal's car disappeared from her sight. “Lord, I thank you for Chantal's miracle, but what am I gonna do without my secretary?”
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“Hey, sis,” Michelle greeted.
Amaryllis was lying on the sofa watching her favorite channel when Michelle walked in the front door with more paperwork than she could carry.
“What's all that?” Amaryllis asked.
“My secretary took a sudden leave of absence today and this is all the stuff she left behind. I've gotta be in court in the morning and I need to type a brief before then.”
“Can you type?”
Michelle set the paperwork on the cocktail table, plopped down on the sofa next to Amaryllis and exhaled. “Not a lick. I'm probably at fifteen words a minute.”
Amaryllis laughed at her. “Michelle, fifteen words a minute isn't typing, that's pecking. Let me see what you got.”
That was the first time Amaryllis had laughed since she'd been in Las Vegas. Michelle noticed her stitches in the corner of her mouth were absent. “Hey, you can laugh. I forgot you were going to get your stitches removed today. Please tell me that you decided not to call a taxi and let Daddy take you to the doctor I had recommended.”
“Yes. I relented and allowed him to play his role. But I can tell that Daddy doesn't like me. He didn't say two words to me the entire time on the way to the doctor's office or on the way home. He didn't even ask how my visit went. I wish you hadn't made me go to dinner with you two Monday evening. He ignored me the whole time. If it weren't for you carrying the entire conversation and forcing him to acknowledge me from time to time, Daddy would've treated me as though I was invisible.”
Michelle was well aware that Amaryllis had been a thorn in their father's side ever since she could utter her first words. Like oil and water, the two of them just didn't mix.
“You know, Amaryllis, I don't know what to say about you and Daddy. You're both behaving like children. Why won't you be the bigger person and address the issues the two of you have?”
As far as Amaryllis was concerned, Nicholas was the father and he should be the one to approach her if there was to be a reconciliation. She ignored Michelle's question and focused on the large amount of paperwork her sister dumped on her lap. “All of this has to be typed for court tomorrow?”
Michelle let out a loud sigh. “All of that.”
“I'll do it for you. It should take me no longer than two hours.”
“Amaryllis, there's no way you can do that in two hours.”
“Correction, there's no way
you
can do it in two hours. I'm on a leave of absence as an administrative assistant for a law firm in Chicago.”
“Oh, my goodness. I completely forgot about that. But do you feel up to it? You've only been here a few days. How's your shoulder?”
“It's getting better and better every day. It's been a month since the incident and now, I've gotten rid of my cast and cane. Except for an occasional ache, my shoulder is fine.”
“Amaryllis, if you can get this done for me, I'll love you forever.”
“You've got to do that anyway.”
“I'll love you forever and a day, how about that?”
“I like that better.”
Amaryllis emerged from Michelle's home office one hour and twenty minutes later. Michelle was lying on the couch half asleep when Amaryllis placed the brief on her lap. She sat up and looked at it, then looked at her sister. “What's this?”
“Your brief.”
“You're done?” Michelle asked scanning the typed pages in amazement.
“Yeah, I told you it wouldn't take that long. It's what I do.”
“Amaryllis, I can't believe you were able to complete all of this so quickly. How fast are you?”
“Approximately seventy-eight words per minute.”
Michelle's wheels were turning. “Do you feel well enough to be put on my payroll?”
“Yeah, I think it's about time I got back into the swing of things.”
“Great, you're hired and you start tomorrow morning at eight o'clock. What was your pay in Chicago?”
“Michelle, I don't expect to be paid. You've already done so much for me. Room and board is more than enough.”
“Amaryllis, nobody in their right mind works for free. Of course I'm going to pay you. Besides, your story will change once you see all the duties Chantal had. She was my right hand woman who practically ran the firm in my absence.”
“Speaking of Chantal, she called right before you came home.”
“Great, I'll call her, then you two can talk. I'm sure she wouldn't mind briefing you on what you need to know. I pay her twenty-eight dollars an hour. Is that suitable for you?”
“You pay your secretary that much, Michelle?”
“Chantal's worth it. I couldn't function without her. She's my eyes and ears.”
“Heck yeah, that's suitable. It's a whole lot more than I was making in Chicago. You better be careful, Michelle, you're spoiling me. I may never leave you now.”
“You're my sister, girl. I love having you here. I just hope you can handle the work load.”