Love, Lies & The D.A. (9 page)

“Where
would you get that crazy idea from?”

“His
eyes followed your ass from this table to the bathroom and back again once you
left here.”

“Well,
maybe he just likes ass. I doubt he finds anything remotely special about
mine.”

“Is
that why he’s been looking over here all night?”

“Oh,
stop being ridiculous.”

“You
know what?”

I
stare at him in silence.

“I
think you like him too.”

I feel
the heat rise up to my cheeks. “You’re wrong. Might I remind you that I was
supposed to be getting married tomorrow?”

“What
does one have to do with the other?”

“Leave
me alone,” I snap. “You think I’d hop into a relationship ten seconds after I
catch my ex and my best friend together?” I’m annoyed. “I may have ended things,
but that doesn’t mean that I’m ready for another relationship. Besides, if any
of that garbage were true, he wouldn’t dare risk his precious career on me. Not
that I care anyway.”

“I
didn’t mean to upset you,” he says calmly.

“I’m
not upset,” I murmur. “I’m probably just a little anxious with everything that’s
been going on. I’m sorry I snapped at you.”

He
puts his hands over mine and squeezes tightly.

“Don’t
worry about it. You’ll make it through this. I’m always here for you. Remember
that.”

“I
know. Thank you for being here and for extending your trip. It’s been a while
since we spent this much time together.”

“I’d
do it again in a heartbeat.” He smiles. “Ready to go?”

“Sure.”

The
server arrives with the bill. After an argument with Bobby, I eventually
succeed in paying it. We proceed to leave, but on the way, Bobby excuses
himself to head to the bathroom. He tells me to wait for him at the bar, which
is towards the opposite end of the room.

A jazz
quartet plays. They’re playing one of my favorites—Nature Boy. I grab a seat at
a cocktail table and listen. A server comes by, and I order a digestif for
myself. I think Bobby will prefer a glass of pinot noir.

Moments
later, the server returns. It’s getting crowded in the room, and ten minutes
later, when Bobby is still M.I.A., I call his cell.

“Hello,”
he answers.

“Where
are you? I ordered you a glass of wine and saved you a seat.”

“I’m
making my way through… I was giving
Mr. Asshole
some time to make his
move.”

I’m so
glad he’s not in front of me, because I can’t seem to stop blushing.

“Stop
being ridiculous and get over here…” I say, ending the call. I can’t suppress
my enormous smile.

He
arrives soon after. The band is fantastic. Many people gather round to listen,
and soon, the room is packed. We stay for over an hour. It would continue to be
enjoyable if it weren’t for one or two rambunctious drunkards. We agree to
leave.

We
walk. Bobby’s ahead of me, and as I am nearing the exit, a woman trips near the
bar. A man is standing near her, but as she falls, she knocks the glass of red
wine he holds out of his hand, and it lands straight on my dress,
my cream
cashmere dress
.

The
stain runs all the way from the top to the bottom.

Don’t
get upset. It was an accident.

“Oh
gosh. I’m so sorry,” he says.

I look
up to see none other than
Mr. Asshole
in front of me.

“Jada.
I’m sorry.”

“It’s
not your fault,” I reply coolly.

The
woman then stands and apologizes. She’s giggling, and it’s at that point I
realize she’s drunk. A waiter comes to my assistance and suggests water or club
soda, but as this is cashmere and it should only be dry-cleaned, I already know
this dress is finished.

“You
know what, don’t worry about it,” I say.

“Are
you sure, Miss?”

“Yes.
I’m fine. Thanks,” I reply.

I head
out of the door to meet Bobby, who’s awaiting me in the foyer, and I hear my
name from behind. It’s
him,
again.

“Jada,
I’m so sorry about this. Please, let me at least pay to have it cleaned.”

“Jonathan,
that really isn’t necessary. It wasn’t your fault. If you want to help, just
make sure your friend doesn’t have any more to drink. Otherwise, you’ll be
paying a lot of people’s cleaning bill tomorrow.” I realize that might have
come off slightly harsh. I smile softly. “Thanks for offering, though. I’m
sorry; I have to go. Someone’s waiting on me.”

“Wait,”
he says, stepping closer towards me. “I want to apologize for what I said to
you last weekend. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

“You
didn’t,” I lie. “I guess I might have crossed the line too. I’m sorry.”

“So we
can be civil again?”

“Sure.”

“We’re
calling it a truce?”

“Why
not… We’ll see some other time. I have to go. Have a good night.”

I walk
away, and I can feel his eyes on me, but I never turn to look.

*    
*     *

She
looks beautiful tonight, but I’m certain since I last saw her, she’s lost a few
pounds. I didn’t expect her to be so polite. For a short second, her rude mouth
did make its presence known, but that didn’t last very long. I’m glad I got the
opportunity to clear up the bad air between us.

It is
good to see her out with her brother. He must be. He looks like a male version
of her but taller with broader shoulders. They share the same hazel eyes. I
wonder if I would have seen what seems to be the obvious resemblance had Dad
not told me that he was with her. I shrug off the thought.

I suppose
over here she can live a somewhat normal life and not be bothered by the media
who seems obsessed with her case back home in San Francisco.

While
I’m sorry that Howard’s drunken sister-in-law ruined that hot dress she was
wearing, it gave me an opportunity to speak to her. Even if it was only for a
second, for a short period of time, I got to see her. Her lovely eyes seemed
hollow and filled with sorrow. I wish I could help her.

*     *     *

“I’m
sorry about your dress,” Bobby says as we back out of the parking space.

“It
will be fine either way. It’s just a dress, one of my favorite dresses, but a
dress nevertheless. Tomorrow, I’ll take it to the cleaners and see if they can
do anything about it.”

“The
old Jada would have been furious.”

“These
days I have much bigger fish to fry… I try not to sweat the small stuff.”

“Good
attitude. So what did
he
say?”

I know
he’s talking about Jonathan, but I play dumb.

“He
who?”

“Mr.
Kole.”

“He
apologized. He wanted to pay for my dry cleaning.”

“And
what did you say?”

“I
told him it wasn’t necessary.”

“That’s
all?”

“Well,
I also told him if he really wanted to help, he should get his drunken friend
under control or he’d be paying a lot of cleaning bills by the end of the
night.”

“You
couldn’t stop yourself from being mean?”

“What
can I say—he brings out the worst in me.” I don’t tell him I ended the
conversation on a polite note.

“Did
you tell him I’m your brother?”

“No.
Why?”

“You’re
such a tease. You’re going to leave the poor guy wondering all night long.”

“I
doubt he’ll be wondering about anything. My personal life is all over the
place. In any case, he knows I just got out of a relationship.”

“How?”

“I
might have mentioned something about it when he was trying to pull rank on me.”

Bobby
laughs. “What did you tell him?”

“I may
be paraphrasing, but I told him, ‘Do you want to know who I am? I’m a woman who
just caught her fiancé fucking her best friend, so forgive me if I’m not in a
sentimental mood.’”

“You
didn’t.”

“I
sure did.”

“Has
anyone ever told you that you have serious bitch potential?”

“No.
But I’ll take that as a compliment. In my business, sometimes it’s necessary.”

“Were
you like that with Richard?” He quickly gasps. “Jada, I’m sorry.”

“You
don’t have to be afraid to mention his name. It is what it is. I’m facing this,
don’t worry. To answer your question, I think he saw that side of me the last
time I saw him.”

“I’m
so sorry you’re going through this.”

“I
feel sorry for his family. I’ll get over him. They’ll probably never get past
this. I hate to admit this, and I won’t ever admit this to anyone else, but I
think because he’s dead, and probably because of the way he died, I’m not so
angry with him anymore. I guess I will always be hurt by what he and Koto did,
but I feel like I’m letting this go.”

He
holds my hand as I talk.

“I
wish I didn’t have to find out any more details about him and Koto, but I
suspect sooner or later, it will all come out. I’m afraid then I’ll be angry
with a dead man, and I won’t have any resolve. When I walked in on them, I was
angry, and I dealt with it at that moment. He knew how I felt. However, any new
details that come out… I don’t know.” I sigh.

“I can
only imagine how difficult this has been for you.”

“It’s
been easier because you’re here. I haven’t cried for more than fifteen minutes
at a time since you arrived.”

“I’m
worried about you. Are you going to be okay when I leave?”

“I’ll
have to be. I think I might go back to San Francisco for a while, but I like it
here. Until this is over, I might split my time between here and there.”

“Are
you sure you want to go back there?”

“No.”

“Jada,
over here, you’re sheltered from the harsh reality of this situation. You will
be confronted with it every minute you spend in San Francisco.”

“You
don’t think I should go?”

“If I
had my way, I’d keep you away. But I understand that you have a business to run,
and at some point, you have to face reality.”

He
exhales, and it’s probably selfish of me, but for the first time, I realize how
difficult this situation must be for him as well.

We’ve
told our mom a little, but she’s mostly unaware of how serious the situation
has become. I realize now how much hurt this situation has the potential to
create for my family. I close my eyes and lean back. I wish this situation
would go away.

I wake
to
a silent house. Very unusual for Bobby. He is usually up at dawn. I peek into
the garage, and my car is gone; perhaps he had to run into town. I check my
email and see a message from Dr. Torrez. I eagerly open it. I sigh in relief.
Apart from a mild yeast infection, all seems well. I forward Bobby the message
and ask him to pick up the prescription.

Today
is his last full day here. After some research online, I think I’ll invite my
brother to go horseback riding at Emerald Bay. The last time we did that
together, we were kids. I send him a text and he’s game, so I make the reservation
and head to the bathroom to get ready.

He
returns home an hour later with some bags in hand but says we can talk about
their contents upon our return.

It is
a perfect day for riding; it’s in the low seventies and the azure skies are
endless. It must have snowed in the higher elevations, because snow tops the
mountains that look down upon us. All the signs that winter is near. We spend
the day riding along nature trails and through green pastures and meadows, but
the highlight is looking down on Emerald Bay. There’s a beautiful tiny island
called Fannette Island. It jets out of the cobalt blue waters, and the
snowcapped mountains are beyond. We arrive in broad daylight but stay and chat
as the sun starts its descent.

Throughout
the day, I’ve taken photos, but I know some of my most beautiful will be from
up here. We head back to base wanting to make it home before nightfall.

On the
drive back home, I realize that today was supposed to be my wedding day. The
beginning of my happily ever after, but it seems like the complete opposite—the
early beginnings of an enormous nightmare.

We
pick up some food for dinner before heading home. I feel edgy, and I know it’s
because I am starting to get anxious about Bobby’s exit. We enjoy what will be
our last dinner together. A fabulous pizza topped with green peppers, onions,
mushrooms, Italian sausage, and of course, for me no pizza is complete without
pineapple.

After
dinner, Bobby tells me he took my dress to the cleaners and left it there, but
they weren’t hopeful. I’ll see if I’m lucky in a few days.