Bishop Graham smiled at his wife but didn't say anything. James caught the chemistry between them. “Bishop, it amazes me how the two of you are still so much in love with each other after twenty years of marriage.”
“Cookie is the apple of my eye,” he admitted, his dreamy smile confirming such.
“I can tell.”
James placed his hands in his pockets and started pacing the floor again. Bishop Graham reclined his chair, folded his arms across his chest and watched James for a full sixty seconds. “Whenever you're ready, James, just jump right in. I prefer you do it before you wear a hole in my carpet.”
James sat down on the sofa and looked at his Bishop. “I don't know where to begin.”
James proceeded to tell him what happened at Michelle's house that evening. Bishop Graham listened to his story, and the only thing he could say was, “Wow.”
“Wow is right. Now you gotta tell me what to do because I have no clue.” James looked at his Bishop with worry in his eyes.
“Well, son, the first thing you do is to tell your fiancé'.”
James would rather be crucified than tell Michelle. “Bishop, there is no way I can tell Mickey about this. Give me something else.”
“Don't be a fool, James. You've gotta tell Michelle and you definitely wanna get to her before her sister does.”
“Uh-uh. Mickey would have a fit. Who do you think she'll believe, me or her flesh and blood?”
“James, listen to me. You and Michelle love each other and are planning a wedding.
“You can't allow this to come between you. If you sit her down and tell her exactly what happened, I'm sure she'll see her sister for who she really is.”
James stood, put his hands in his pockets and paced the floor again. “I don't know, Bishop. Mickey loves her sister. You should hear the way she talks about her. âMy baby sister this' and âMy baby sister that.' ”
“She loves you too.”
“I know, but I don't wanna hurt her. If I tell her about this, she'll either hate me or hate Amaryllis. The bottom line is she'll be hurt and I can't do that to her.”
“James, you're about to mess up. You and Michelle have been together for a long time. You told me her sister has only been in town barely a week. Do you really think she'll find you at fault?”
“I can't risk my relationship, Bishop.”
“You're risking it by not telling her what happened. You don't want this woman to get to Michelle first and tell another version other than what really happened, because I guarantee you that her sister's version won't be anything nice. And guess who's gonna look like the guilty party? You.”
“Amaryllis is living with Mickey rent free and she's working at the firm.”
“So?”
“I don't think she'll tell Mickey anything because she wouldn't want to mess that up.”
“James, you're gambling with your relationship. Michelle loves you and I'm sure she'll believe you.”
James's cellular phone rang and he saw Michelle's home number. He stopped pacing and looked at his Bishop. “It's Mickey, what should I do?”
“I already told you.”
He answered his phone. “Hello, Mickey.”
“Hey, gorgeous,” Michelle said on the other end.
“What's up?” James asked nervously.
“What did you say?” she asked.
“I said, what's up?”
“Something is wrong, what is it?”
James looked at his Bishop as he answered Michelle. “What do you mean?”
“You didn't greet me right. Now, tell me what's wrong.”
He could've kicked himself. When Michelle greeted James, he didn't tell her she was the more gorgeous one of the two. “Nothing's wrong, baby. Everything's cool.”
“Where are you?”
“I'm at Bishop's house.”
“Why?”
“I stopped by to talk church business.”
Pastor Graham looked at James and shook his head from side to side.
“Amaryllis told me you came by. I'm sorry I wasn't able to reach you to tell you that I'd be stuck in court all evening and couldn't meet you tonight.” Michelle sounded regretful.
“You were gonna tell me not to come over?”
“Yeah, I talked to Alex and he told me that you had left your cell phone at home, so I called Amaryllis and told her to tell you that I couldn't make it.”
“Amaryllis said that you wanted me to come over and wait for you.”
“I don't know how she got that mixed up, but what about the wedding invitations? You wanna come back over and take a look at them?”
“Now?”
“Yeah, now. It's still early.”
James's wristwatch told him that it was almost 6:30
P.M
. He thought it was too early for Amaryllis to have gone to bed. He didn't want to interact with her again. In fact, if James never saw Amaryllis's face again, it would be too soon. “Um, you know what, Mickey? I'm kinda tired and I really wanna just go home and get into bed. Can we do it another time at my place?”
Michelle knew her man well and something was definitely bothering him. “James, baby, talk to me. What's wrong?”
“Where's Amaryllis?”
“Amaryllis? She's upstairs in her room. Why?”
“Did you get the flowers and candy I left for you?”
“Yes. She put the flowers in water and the candy was on the kitchen table next to the flowers. Thank you.”
James thought about the candles and oysters. “Did you see anything else on the table?”
“Just a dinner plate Amaryllis wrapped up for me. That reminds me, she said she offered you dinner but you said you didn't wanna eat.”
Because that's not all she offered.
“You talked to her?” James questioned.
“She said you told her that you didn't like meatloaf and I know that's not true. So, why didn't you stay and eat?”
He had to come up with a logical excuse fast. “Because the Bishop called and asked if I could stop by. Since I didn't know how long you were gonna be, I decided to come by and see what he wanted.”
Bishop Graham looked at James in awe and couldn't believe the lie he was telling, and to include his name was totally wrong.
“But you could've eaten before you left. I know how much you love a good home cooked meal, James.”
That statement reminded James not to forget the meal Cookie had set aside for him. “Well, I wasn't really hungry and I didn't want to eat without you.”
“I think you hurt Amaryllis' feelings, honey. She was kinda upset that you didn't stay and eat. She was just trying to be nice to you.”
Yeah, nice and easy,
James thought.
“James, are you there?”
“Yeah, baby, I'm here. Listen, the Bishop and I are done talking, so I'm gonna head home.”
“Are you sure everything's okay? You sound kinda funny.”
“Yeah, everything's cool. I'll call you tomorrow.”
“Okay, sweetie, I love you.”
“I love you too, Mickey.”
James ended the connection with Michelle and saw how his Bishop was eyeing him. “I know what you're going to say.”
“So, I'll say it anyway. You're gonna regret not telling Michelle what happened.”
“Amaryllis didn't say anything either, so maybe this will all blow over.” James was hopeful.
“James, I love you like a son and I pray that you'll take heed to what I'm saying. You've got to tell Michelle what her sister did.”
That was not an option for James. “No, I can't do it.”
“What if this woman comes after you again?”
“Then I'll put her in her place.”
“But what if she doesn't stop? You can nip this in the bud now. Don't let this manifest into something bigger. You are really underestimating Michelle's love for you and her intelligence. And you better hope and pray real hard that she doesn't ask me about that lie you told about me calling you over here.”
“It just really ticks me off that Amaryllis has placed me in a position where I have to lie to Mickey.”
“Amaryllis didn't put you in a position to lie, you've made that decision all on your own, son.”
James walked to the door then turned to his Bishop. “Can you get my dinner for me?”
“In this house, liars get their own dinners.”
James walked into the kitchen and returned with the Tupperware bowl. He got to the door and paused. “I appreciate your time, Bishop.”
“You can mess around and let the devil destroy your relationship if you want to, but I advise you strongly to do the right thing and tell Michelle before it's too late. I
will
say âI told you so' before I try and help you fix the situation.”
James didn't respond. He walked out the door and gently shut it behind him, not even giving his Bishop's advice another thought.
Chapter 7
Two days later, on a Friday morning, James exited the elevator and walked straight into Michelle's office without acknowledging Amaryllis sitting behind her desk. As soon as James closed the door, Amaryllis went to Michelle's office door and pressed her ear against it to eavesdrop.
Michelle stood up and practically ran into James' arms. “There's my gorgeous man.”
He squeezed Michelle so tight he almost took her breath away. “I keep telling you that you're the gorgeous one, Mickey.”
“Not me, you are.”
“No, you are.”
Michelle kissed his lips. “This is something we'll never agree on.”
Amaryllis listened as they complimented each other. She was fed up with this âyou're the gorgeous one' crap. Who cared about all of that? Every time Michelle and James got together, they drove her nuts with their petty game. One would think they were two teenagers the way they carried on.
Michelle had better have her fun now, because Amaryllis was getting ready to nip that âgorgeous' thing in the bud.
Michelle wrapped her arms around James's neck. “What brings you here?”
“I stopped by to ask you for a huge favor.”
“How huge?”
“Not real big huge.”
“Small huge?”
“I'm hoping you'll see it that way.”
Michelle went back to her chair and sat down then looked at him. “Okay, lay it on me.”
“Alex and I are flying to Detroit to fetch two bad guys we've been looking for. For the past six months, they've been on the move. Apparently, they were hiding out in Motown and thought they had gotten away scot-free until they were spotted in a nightclub. And since it's our case, we've got to do the fetching.”
“What did they do?”
“Let's just say that women will be a lot safer without these two goons walking the streets.”
“Oh, I see. But what has this got to do with a favor from me?”
“I've got carpet cleaners coming out this evening to get a grape juice stain out of my carpet in the living room. I was hoping you'd let them in for me because Alex and I won't get back until late tonight. It has taken three weeks to get this appointment and I really don't wanna cancel. Please say you'll do it.”
Michelle got up, walked around the desk and sat in his lap. “What time?”
“The appointment is for five o'clock this evening.”
“Okay, I'll do it for you. I'm due in court at eleven this morning and I'm sure I'll be done by then.”
James kissed Michelle on the lips. “Thanks, babe, I owe you one.”
James gave Michelle access to his apartment. “This big key is for the main door, and this silver one is for my top lock. The gold one is for my bottom lock.”
On the other side of the door, Amaryllis made a mental note of which key went to which lock.
“James, please be careful with these men. I don't wanna have to hurt anybody for messing with my baby.”
He pulled Michelle into his arms. “I love the way you love me, Mickey.”
“If she loved you, she'd make love to you,” Amaryllis mumbled under her breath. She heard footsteps and hurried back to her desk. She sat down and began typing on her keyboard.
James exited Michelle's office and was walking when he stopped and turned around. From his interior suit jacket pocket, he withdrew something large, squared and wrapped in silver paper foil. He tossed it to Michelle. She caught it and gave James the widest grin when she saw what it was.
“Ooh, a Chunky. My baby knows what I like.” Michelle smiled.
“There's more where that came from. I'll call you later.” He closed Michelle's door behind him and completely ignored Amaryllis. He went straight to the elevator and pressed the âdown' button.
Amaryllis' eyes followed him and she admired the way James' suit framed him. She'd give anything to see those biceps and triceps that were bulging through the linen. And tonight she may get her chance to do just that.
“Hey, Detective, you want to have a little fun with your handcuffs?” Amaryllis teased. “We could play âcops and robbers' and I'll let you lock me up.”
The elevator doors opened and James stepped into it and turned to face Amaryllis. “You're sick, you know that?”
The elevator doors closed and she sat there hot and bothered. James was playing hard to get real well, but that night, Amaryllis had plans to break him all the way down.
On a yellow sticky note, Amaryllis wrote down the information about James' apartment keys then folded it and put it in her purse.
Just then, Michelle came from her office. “Hey, sis, I'm on my way to meet Daddy for brunch before heading to the courthouse. You ought to come with me. You could see your big sister do her thang.”
“Nope, don't feel like being bothered with Daddy today. He irks me.”
Michelle exhaled. “Amaryllis, you and Daddy have got to get it together.”
“Tell
him
that,” Amaryllis said, giving Michelle much attitude.
Michelle exhaled a sigh of frustration, put her purse on her shoulder and walked to the elevator. “You know what? I'm not gonna let you two stress me today, I'll see you later.”
As soon as Michelle was out of sight, Amaryllis hurried into her office to look for James' keys. She frowned when she didn't see them on the desk. She walked around and opened Michelle's center drawer and saw one big key, a gold key and a silver key. She snatched James' keys then grabbed her own keys and purse and walked to the elevator.
Â
Â
Fifteen minutes later, Amaryllis exited a hardware store with her own set of keys to James' apartment. She crossed the street and entered a beauty supply store, finding just what she was looking for, sitting on a Styrofoam head on one of the store's shelves.
A sales lady approached her. “May I help you?”
“Yes, how much is that long blond wig?” Amaryllis pointed. After the woman stated the price of the wig, Amaryllis became the owner of it.
Ten minutes later, Amaryllis walked into âSnap To It', and purchased a small camera with a timer. She had one more stop to make. From the moment Amaryllis walked into the pharmacy, it took a half hour for her name to be called.
The pharmacist handed over Amaryllis' prescription. “I'm sorry about the wait, Miss Price, we had to call Chicago to get your doctor's approval.”
Amaryllis returned to the law firm with everything she needed. She placed James' original keys back in Michelle's center drawer then sat down at Michelle's desk and called Bridgette in Chicago.
“Parker & Parker Law Offices, Bridgette speaking.”
“Hey, girl, it's me. I called to tell you that I'm getting ready to get my man.” Amaryllis was excited.
“You mean you're getting ready to get someone else's man.”
“Whatever.” She wasn't about to let Bridgette rain on her parade.
“When is this going to take place?”
“If I play my cards right, I could sneak in James' place and set everything up before he gets home tonight.”
Bridgette chuckled. “Set everything up? What are you gonna do, film a movie?”
“Something like that. I gotta wait for Michelle to do her thing first.”
“Your sister, Michelle? What's she got to do with anything?” Bridgette wondered out loud.
“Oh, Bridgette, I didn't tell you. James is Michelle's man.” Amaryllis was nonchalant in her confession.
Bridgette was typing, but she stopped and gave Amaryllis her full and undivided attention. “Say what?”
“You heard me.”
“Amaryllis, is this the same man you told me about before? The detective? The minister?”
“Yep.”
“And he's your sister's fiancé?”
“One and the same,” Amaryllis answered, not even caring that her upcoming plans for James would devastate Michelle.
“Okay, you've done some wild stuff in your day, but this is totally off the chart, even for you. You didn't tell me this guy was your sister's man. What are you thinking?”
“I'm thinking about how good it's going to feel laying in his arms tonight.”
“Do you hear yourself, girl? He's your sister's fiancé.
Hello?
” Bridgette couldn't believe Amaryllis' gall.
“And?”
“And what you're doing is wrong.”
“Bridgette, you're the one who told me to do what I gotta do to get my man.”
“Fool, that was before I knew he was marrying your sister. You left that part out when you told me about him, you nut ball.”
“Well, now you know. I need to get off of this phone and plan my evening right.”
“Don't you hang up on me, Amaryllis. This will destroy your relationship with Michelle. You do know that, don't you? She's your only sister and she loves you. You haven't even been in Vegas two weeks, and already, you're acting the fool. How can you live in her house, work for her and do this behind her back?”
Amaryllis looked at James' photograph and traced his smile with her finger. “Easily.”
Â
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Michelle and Nicholas were just finishing eggs and bacon when her cellular phone rang. “Michelle Price speaking.”
“Miss Price, this is Yolanda Cooper with Blessed Events Consulting. I'm calling to see if you and your fiancé have decided on the wording for your wedding invitations. With the wedding just two months away, now is the time to place your order.”
“Hi, Yolanda. Yes, we've decided, and I'm sorry that I didn't get in touch with you sooner. I'll have my secretary fax our selection to you right away. It's not gonna be a large ceremony, so we'll only need one hundred invitations.”
“All right, Miss Price, I'll look for the order on the fax machine.”
Michelle ended the call and looked at her watch. “Daddy, I've got to get over to the courthouse, but I want to know if you've decided on wearing a white tuxedo or a black one.”
“Baby girl, I'll wear whatever you want me to.”
“I prefer white. Is that okay?”
“Whatever you want. How much are the wedding invitations?” Nicholas asked.
“Only about one hundred dollars or so.”
Nicholas reached in his pocket and pulled out a wad of bills.
“What are you doing, Daddy?”
“Giving you the money for the invitations.”
Michelle was pleased at her father's generosity, but she and James had decided that they would cover all the expenses for their wedding. “James already paid for them.”
Nicholas put the cash away and withdrew his checkbook from his interior pocket of his suit jacket and started to write.
“Now what are you doing?”
“Writing James a check.”
“Daddy, that's not necessary, James and I can take care of everything.”
“Michelle, I can afford to pay for my daughter's wedding, okay? It's what fathers are supposed to do.” Nicholas tore the check out of the checkbook and gave it to Michelle. “Give this check to James and tell him that you're still my responsibility until you're pronounced husband and wife, so don't overstep his bounds. He's lucky I'm letting him have you at all. I wanted you to be a nun.”
Michelle chuckled. “Oh well, you still have one daughter left. Maybe you can turn Amaryllis into a nun.” She thought about what she just said and wished she hadn't.
Nicholas looked at her and shook his head from side to side. “Now that's funny. Amaryllis a nun? That'll be the day.”
“Daddy, I wish you would cut her some slack. Amaryllis has been on her best behavior since she's been here in Vegas. How do you think it makes her feel when you praise me and frown at her? And please stop calling me Baby Girl when she's around, because it hurts her feelings. She's your youngest daughter, not me.”
“Listen, Michelle, a leopard like Amaryllis can't change her spots. I told you that I've got a gut feeling that she's still living foul. We just can't see it.”
“She's not doing anything, Daddy. Amaryllis isn't the one keeping up mess, you are. And I'm surprised at your behavior.”
“And I'm surprised you let your guard down with her.”
“I trust my sister.”
“You know the song,
Open My Heart
by Yolanda Adams?”