Love Me Now (21 page)

“Now, how would you like to see what I'm working on?”

“Sure, what is it?” he said, relieved to change the subject.

She got up, grabbed the garment bag and brought the muslin-wrapped garment to the sofa. She laid it on the coffee table and opened it up. His eyes lit up instantly.

“It's a christening gown, right?”

“Right,” she said, surprised that he knew what it was.

“It's beautiful,” he said, then looked closer. “How long did it take you to do all this?”

“Designing the gown was pretty simple. But the double-knot hand-stitching took a while. Then attaching each bead and crystal was really time-consuming. Every pearl seed and every crystal bead has to be knotted and individually stitched on. But I'm almost finished.”

“It's beautiful. You really are very talented.”

“Thank you,” she said offhandedly.

“No, really, look what you've created. It takes a very special person to create something like this from a few scraps of fabric.”

“Okay, okay, stop being nice. It's out of character. Remember you're supposed to be a hard-as-nails businessman, unfeeling and cruel.”

“What if this is my true character? What if everything you've read and heard about me is a lie? What would you do then?” he asked. She looked away. “No, don't answer. I don't think I'm ready to hear it. Let's just enjoy the moment.”

“So you said before that your cousin Madison and her husband and a lot of your family and friends are away—why didn't you go?”

“I have a very important business deal in the works. It's pretty fragile. The owner selling is skittish. I need to personally see it through. I'll head over in a few weeks.”

“Head over where?”

“Africa.”

Kenya's heart skipped a beat. She feared that whatever it was might concern her father. “Why is everybody in Africa?”

“My mother's brother, Jace, is married to Taylor Evans. She's an—”

“An artist, I know, I love her work. She's brilliant. I didn't know she was painting again. I thought she retired.”

“Semiretired. She only paints for a select few. But this is a special show. Aunt Taylor and Kennedy, my other cousin, are opening an exhibit at the Nubian Art Gallery. It's to raise money for the local area. Kennedy's husband is Adarah and Maurice Mebeko's son.”

“Wait, that would make your cousin a princess?”

“Technically, yes,” he said.

“That's totally amazing.”

“It's a strange, long story. I'll tell you about it one day. But the short version is, it all began with Mamma Lou.”

“Your grandmother,” Kenya said.

Trey laughed. “No, Mamma Lou is Tony and Raymond's grandmother. Tony is married to Madison.”

“Your cousin?” she asked. He nodded. “So she's not really your grandmother, or for that matter, even related to you?”

“Correct.”

“I don't get it. Then why were you going out of your way to fool her into thinking that we were together?”

“I wasn't trying to fool her. I'm trying to protect myself.”

“Protect yourself? What do you mean? She seems really nice. Why would you need to protect yourself?”

“Make no mistake, Louise Gates is a sweet, wonderful woman as long as she's on Crescent Island.”

“Crescent Island? I've never heard of it.”

“It's located off the coast of Virginia, so when she's there, she's wonderful. But when she's here, that's another story. Here she's dangerous, sneaky and downright hazardous to your health.” Kenya started laughing. “Yeah, it's funny until you wind up with a bull's-eye on your back. She's the worst kind of matchmaker. She's successful.”

“So you thought that since she was off the island, she was targeting you?”

“I know she was.”

“Was, as in past tense?” she asked.

He nodded. “I'm pretty sure I'm off the hook, but I'm sure not for long.” Kenya laughed again. “You don't know Louise Gates, she's unbelievably persistent. Once you're targeted, that's it.”

“Well, is she any good at least?”

“She's never failed as far as I know. She has to her credit Tony and Madison, Raymond and Hope, J.T. and Juliet, Juwan and Kennedy, Randolph and Alyssa, Dennis and Faith—and those are only the ones I know about.”

Kenya continued laughing. “Wait, wait, let me get this straight. You, a big, strong, powerful businessman, are afraid of a sweet little old lady just because she likes to play matchmaker?”

“Of course not.” He paused. “I'm not afraid of Mamma Lou, I'm terrified of her.”

They laughed. Kenya shook her head. “You have some kind of family.”

“Yeah, tell me about it.”

“So how is it that you and your sister have the last name Evans? Did your mother not change her name when she got married?” she asked.

“She changed it. But she changed it back when she got divorced. She also changed our names after the divorce. My birth name was Trey Phillip Garfield.”

They went on to talk more about family life, about past experiences and future dreams. Hours passed without them realizing it. “You know what, I'm having a really good time,” she said happily.

“You know what, me, too, but it's getting late.” He looked at his watch and saw that it was already well after midnight. “Actually it's early.”

Kenya glanced at the clock in the kitchen. “Wow, I can't believe we talked all evening.”

He nodded. “Maybe we could do it again sometime.”

“You mean like on a date.”

“Yeah, I guess we really haven't had one of those.”

“A date would imply we're seeing each other—we're not. This is business. I have every intention of getting what I want from you.”

“I like the sound of that. Okay, we'll negotiate, then. A business date tomorrow night, or rather tonight.”

“Negotiate, huh?”

“Yes,” he seemed to assure her.

“Okay, call me.”

He stood and held his hand out to her. He raised her up easily and held her for a few moments. “I most definitely will. Good night,” he whispered in her ear.

“Good night,” she said softly.

The evening ended with a sweet good-night kiss.

K
enya overslept and awoke to her house phone ringing. She jumped out of bed and hurried to grab it. “Hello? Hello?” There was no one there. She hated crank calls early in the morning. She quickly showered and started rushing to get dressed when the phone rang again. She grabbed it quickly. “Hello?”

“Kenya, it's me,” Sidney said.

“Hey, Sid, what's up?”

“Listen, I just tried to get money out of the house account and I was told that there were insufficient funds. What's up with that?”

“Insufficient funds? What?”

“Yeah, that's exactly what I said. I mean, Mom and Dad have, like, hundreds of thousands of dollars in the account, right? I don't get it and I checked it three times. Anyway, I have one of those can't-get-out-of lectures and labs this morning, so I was gonna go down to the bank this afternoon
after class and see what's up. I don't want Mom and Dad coming back to this stupid drama. Do you want to meet me down there around one o'clock?”

Kenya was almost too shocked to speak. The words
insufficient funds
still had her stunned. “Um, no, listen, you go ahead to class. I'll swing by the bank this morning and take care of this. How much money do you need?” she asked. There was a very pregnant pause on the other end. “Sidney, you there?” Kenya asked.

“Yeah, a couple of hundred,” she responded.

“Okay, I'm getting dressed now. I'll meet you at the bookstore on campus in about half an hour. Can you make it there before class starts?”

“Yeah,” Sidney said slowly. “Why?”

“To give you the money, Sidney,” she said. “I gotta go. See you in a few.”

“Wait, one more thing. You need to check your cell. I've been calling it all morning. The message says that there's something wrong with the service.”

“Okay, see you in a little bit.”

Kenya finished dressing. She went into the living room and saw the christening gown still lying out. She recovered it and carefully placed it back in the garment bag. After a quick stop at the boutique, she dropped off the portfolio, locked up and kept going.

The GWU campus was massive, and finding a place to park was always like playing Russian roulette. She had a choice, illegal, with the possibility of getting a ticket or being towed, versus walking a half mile. She decided to chance it. She parked illegally right in front of the bookstore and ran in.

Before she got to the entrance, Sidney called out to her. She turned to see her sister waving to come back to the car. Kenya
hurried back just as a campus police car turned the corner. “Come on, get in,” Sidney said.

Kenya got in and they drove off just as the police car got there. She pulled out an envelope and handed it to Sidney. “Okay, here's the cash. Let me know if you need more. Where do you want me to drop you?” Kenya asked, pulling over again.

“Oh, no, you don't, whoever you are. Where's my real sister.”

“Stop playing, Sidney. I'm not driving you around in circles all day. Get out, go to class.”

“No, not until you tell me what's up with you.”

“Nothing's up with me. Would you just go? I have a ton of things to do today.”

“Girl, please, I've either lost my mind, you fell in love or the bank is right about Mom and Dad's account. You never just hand me money, no questions asked,” Sidney joked, but she scanned her sister's face and noted her reaction. “Oh, crap, please tell me that I've lost my mind.”

“Okay, okay, you've lost your mind,” she said hurriedly.

“Try it again,” she said.

“Fine, I'm head over heels in love. Now would you please get out of the car,” she said. Sidney stared at her, seeming to assess the truthfulness of her remark. “Sidney, I'm just being a good sister—satisfied?”

“Fine,” she said as she opened the car door, “let me know what the bank says. Oh, and don't forget to check your cell phone. I might need some more cash later. Bye.”

Kenya watched as Sidney got out and ran across the street. She turned and waved then entered a building. She sat watching until she heard a horn sound and saw a campus police car in her rearview mirror. She waved then pulled off. On her way back to the boutique, she dug in her purse for her cell phone. It wasn't there. She couldn't remember the last time she used it so she figured she'd left it on her drawing table as usual.

Kenya stopped at the bank and had a lengthy conversation with the bank manager. Assigned power of attorney, she was able to access her parents' accounts. He informed her that there had been money in an account, but that it had been diverted to a secondary account.

“Diverted to what account, and by whom?” she asked.

“I'm sorry, I'm not at liberty to say,” he said.

Kenya sat a moment as he did more checking. Although he couldn't give details, he did say that the secondary account had been set up by a third party. Trey instantly came to mind.

After the bank, Kenya drove to the boutique and parked down the street. She unlocked the door just as a smiling Shelly met her. “You'll never guess what,” she said excitedly.

“What?”

“We just got a call from Youngin's retail store in New York. They want to meet with us tomorrow.”

“What, are you kidding me?” Kenya said, half smiling, almost afraid to get excited.

“I know, can you believe it?” Shelly said eagerly. “They called this morning. They said that they heard about our work and they want to talk to us. I set up an appointment with them for tomorrow afternoon. We can catch the train up.”

“Oh, man, this is fantastic. It's unbelievable. If they like our designs, we can have garments in every one of their retail stores. That's nationwide exposure.”

“I know, I know, I can't believe this. We have a ton of things to do today. I don't even know where to start,” Shelly said, heading back to the workroom.

“But wait a minute, they said they heard about us. How did they hear about us?” Kenya asked with suspicion, although she was still delighted by the news.

“I don't know. Who cares, it's Youngin's. They want to meet with us,” Shelly repeated excitedly.

“Yeah, right.” Kenya smiled then laughed along with Shelly. “Okay, I guess we have a million plans to make.”

“Yeah, I already started. I reserved our train tickets. Come on.”

By midmorning the workroom had been completely demolished. In preparing for the New York meeting, they pulled out every sketch and design they had. They painstakingly reviewed each one. Finally they chose the top twenty design sketches and set them aside to review again later.

That afternoon they did the same with the sample garments. Afterward they took photographs then created a Web presentation. After selecting several pieces they dressed the forms to get a better idea of the fit and range of the collection. They were discussing options when they got a delivery. Kenya answered the door. It was flowers from Trey with a note about their date that evening. He also mentioned that her cell wasn't working.

“Ooh, nice. Who sent the flowers, Mr. Iceman?”

“Yes.”

“Don't tell me you and him did it again.”

“No, no, nothing like that, although trust me, I wanted to. Hell, I came real close to just pouncing on him. But he said he just wanted to talk. He also said he thought this was moving too fast.”

“Ya think?” Shelly said sarcastically as Kenya reread the card.

“All right, I get the point,” Kenya said. “He asked me out on a date tonight.”

“Aw, now that's nice. Where're you going tonight?”

“I have no idea, but listen to this card—‘Thanks for last night. I had an interesting time. Maybe one day we can both let down our masks. In the meantime, negotiations this evening. Dress formal. Trey.”

“Negotiations, dress formal. Interesting. So what are you gonna wear?”

“Are you kidding? I can't go, not after the message from
Youngin's. We'll probably be working all night long to get ready for tomorrow.”

“Kenya, chill, we're ready. Remember, they called us. They must already have some idea of our work. We've already finalized the sketches and chosen some of our best garments. We got this, go on the date. I know I have no intention of staying here panicking all night. It'll be the perfect distraction. And tomorrow we'll—”

“We'll blow them away,” Kenya added, finishing her statement as they high-fived, knocked hips and laughed.

“Yeah, that's right, we bad, we bad,” Shelly said as she strolled around the table. Kenya laughed.

“Come on, if we're taking the night off, we'd better get back to work.”

Shelly leaned over and smelled the flowers. “You know what I think? He really likes you.”

“Don't start, Shelly.”

“He likes you,” she affirmed again.

“No, what he likes is a challenge, and that's what I am. Telling him that I intended to bring him down only whet his appetite. The only reason he's playing this game is because it's a competition.”

“You, too.”

“Nah-uh,” she said quickly.

“Nah-huh,” Shelly replied just as quickly.

“I don't want to even think about all that now. Besides, I'm already in the middle of it so I can't really turn around. The best I can do is see this through.”

“No, the best you can do is tell the man the truth. Maybe together you can come up with a solution to suit both him and your father.”

Kenya shook her head. “Once he finds out what I did, he'll want nothing do with me.”

“What, you mean the revenge thing?”

“No.”

“What, then?”

“The other day, at his house, after we spent the night together, I got these.” She opened a saved file on her laptop and showed Shelly the files she'd copied.

“What are they?”

“Copies of documents from files I found in Trey's briefcase.”

“How did you get them?”

“I took pictures of them with my cell phone.”

“Please tell me you're joking. You didn't really do that, did you?”

“I did.”

“Kenya.”

“Shelly, I told him that I wanted my father's company back. I wasn't kidding.”

“So you snuck into his briefcase and copied personal papers.”

“One of them mentions my father's company.”

“Girl, you know you're wrong.”

“It doesn't matter. It's too late, it's already done. I just have to read through the documents, find the most damaging and then send it to the SEC. They have a whistle-blower form on their Internet Web site.”

“You are not the same person.”

“Tell me about it,” she said sadly.

“I still vote for telling him,” Shelly said, dipping her nose into the aromatic bouquet.

“Girlfriend, this is not a democracy. Come on, let's get back to work,” Kenya said as she began shifting things around on her desk.

“Fine, whatever. What are you looking for?”

“My cell. I think I left it here last night.”

“Call yourself.”

“I did—no service. It must be on mute.”

“Or the battery is dead. Are you sure you had it here? I don't remember seeing you with it yesterday.”

Kenya started thinking. “I know I had it the day before yesterday. I talked to Asia and my mom. Her and Dad were going on a safari and wouldn't be in contact for a few days. So it must be around here somewhere.”

They spent the next fifteen minutes clearing her desk and looking around the workroom. “Well, if you left it here, it's not here now,” Shelly said. Kenya stood with her hands on her hips. She had no idea where it was. “When's the last time you used it?”

“I don't know, yesterday I think. No wait, I took some pictures. But I know I dropped it in my purse after that.”

“Well, it's not here now. So look, it's late and we pretty much have this under control. Why don't I run out and grab us something to eat and you run over to the phone store and have your phone replaced. You're gonna need your cell phone for tomorrow. Neither one of us will be here.”

“Good idea,” Kenya said, still wondering about her missing phone. An hour later she walked out of the phone company with a brand-new phone. She and Shelly ate up front while discussing the best strategy for New York. They each decided to take advantage of the trip and do a bit of scouting and shopping in the garment district.

The rest of the afternoon went by quickly. They settled on the perfect sketches and garments to bring along. They refined the computer presentation and decided that each would also bring their personal portfolios. By five o'clock they planned to meet at the boutique, pick up their samples then drive to the train station together. They closed early with confidence that the trip would be a complete success.