Moments of Clarity (20 page)

“I'm seriously thinking about moving to Atlanta. Everyone that I have ever known to move there doesn't come back, so it must be okay. All three of my sisters are now living there.”

“Really?” Sasha responded surprised. “I thought that Penelope was in Las Vegas.”

“She was, but her job relocated her. She still has her place in Vegas but mostly she's in Atlanta.”

“You come from a close-knit family, as do I. They can help you through this, and the money from the sale of the house will make you financially independent until you decide what you want to do.” Sasha decided to change the subject to a topic that wasn't so taxing on the nerves. “I didn't know what you wanted to eat so I brought you broccoli and cheese soup with Caesar salad and bread. That's what I always get.” She started taking their lunch out of the bags.

“Thanks, Sasha. That sounds delicious.”

Sasha looked at Tiara as she sipped her soup. “Is there anything that I can do to help you through this?” She felt another tinge of conscience caused by her long absence.

“Sasha, you just being here has lifted my day.” And when she smiled at her Sasha saw behind the sadness of her eyes a glimpse of her old friend.

* * *

That afternoon Sexton was bent over tying his sneaker laces when he heard his name being called. “I'm in here.” He straightened just as Calvin walked towards him, smiling. “I saw your Benz in the parking lot. What are you doing here? I thought that Saturdays are your ‘All About Sasha' days.”

Sexton held back what he was about to say to Calvin about Tiara's demands, which had infringed once again on his time with Sasha. “She and Tiara are having lunch together so I had the opportunity to get some practice in.”

“They are?” Calvin seemed surprised. “I'm glad to hear that. She hasn't said it, but I know that Tiara's been missing not having her around as much as she used to.”

Sexton didn't want to get into that discussion. “Are you going to the All Star game?”

“I sure am. I'm going to be on the team of trainers for the East Coast.” Then he gave Sexton a knowing look. “I bet you can't wait to get to Vegas. This is your turn to shine.” He sat down on the bench and started stretching his calf muscles.

“In more ways than one,” Sexton spoke without thinking.

“What do you mean by that?”

He mentally weighed his answer before he admitted, “I'm going to ask Sasha to marry me while we're out there.”

“Oh, my God! That's great news. Dude, you really are sprung!” Calvin slapped Sexton on the back in congratulation. “I mean, I didn't think that you would ever get married. You used to be so wild.”

“Those days are over. That gets real boring after awhile. I want a woman who I can trust when I am in and out of town and someone to be there for me when I need it.”

“I think Sasha is fantastic. I told Tiara if I was ever going to marry, it would be someone like Sasha. She's so beautiful and vivacious.” Calvin halted when he caught Sexton staring at him with narrowed eyes and amended his words. “I mean, if I ever get married again. The last marriage that I had will probably last me a lifetime.”

Taking what he said at face value Sexton said, “Instead of eyeing my woman, maybe you should start shopping around for yourself. Jump back into the game.”

“Maybe I will,” Calvin said, passing off Sexton's suggestion.

* * *

When Sasha let herself into her loft she found him asleep on the couch. She tiptoed over to him and began to tickle the bottom of his feet. He moved them restlessly in response to her touch.

Immediately his eyes opened and they were completely unguarded. For one very long minute they held each other's gaze.

“Do you want to do anything tonight?”

“Yes,” she stated, brutally honest. “I want to spoil you in and out of bed.”

She held a bag in her hand and Sexton sat up in an effort to try to see what she had.

“I thought that we were going together to go shopping for clothes for the trip.”

“We are,” she said giving him a coquettish look. “But I saw this on a mannequin in a window and couldn't pass it up. Sit back and watch a DVD while I freshen up before I cook dinner.”

Sexton settled back, eagerly anticipating the evening.

When Sasha sashayed out of the bedroom thirty minutes later she was wearing a black and white French maid outfit.

As she walked, Sexton glimpsed a black ruffled garter belt at the middle of her thigh. On her feet were black heels with fur across the top. Sexton sat up straight to get the full effect.

Sasha positioned herself in front of him. Her outfit was black satin with a lace cap. Sexton was enthralled.

“Monsieur Sexton, may I interest you in a glass of wine?” Sasha had her accent down to a tee.

Sexton's words were throaty with desire. “
Si, senorita
.”

Sasha grinned, “That's not French, silly, that's Spanish.”

“I know. I took Spanish, not French in high school,” he replied, not at all put out.

“Well, I took them both,” she bragged. “I'm what you might call your international flavor of the month.”

“Not a flavor of the month,” Sexton corrected her, “but the flavor of a lifetime.”

Sasha blushed at his words and then reiterated her question. “Wine, Monsieur Johnson?”

“
Oui
,” he answered. “I know that word.”

When Sasha turned around to go into the kitchen, Sexton let out a loud snicker. The back part of her maid's uniform left her buttocks exposed. A satin thong disappeared between her cheeks.

“Sasha,” Sexton called out as she poured him a glass of wine.

“
Oui
, Monsieur?”

“I thank God that I met you.”

She sauntered over to him and handed him a glass of wine. She sipped from her wineglass and after swallowing softly replied, “So do I. Every day and every night.”

Sasha prepared spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread. After three helpings he said with feeling, “That was fantastic,” and patted his full stomach.

“Thank you.” She bowed her head in acknowledgement. “In order to keep the theme of the evening consistent, maybe I should have cooked something French, but I don't know how to begin.”

Sexton replied devilishly, “You can French kiss me later and that will suffice.”

Sasha began to clear the dishes and when Sexton started to get up to help she instructed him to sit back down. “I told you that I'm going to spoil you tonight, so that means no dishes for you.”

“What did I do to deserve this?”

“You understood about me canceling on you today,” she answered as she rinsed the dishes and stacked them in the dishwasher. “How long were you at the gym?”

“For a couple of hours. Calvin was also there. He said that he's going to Vegas with the East Coast team of doctors.”

“Cool,” she replied. The telephone rang and they looked at each other.

“Let the machine pick it up,” he ordered.

Cellular Long Island.

Sexton rolled his eyes dramatically, then looked at Sasha and said, “I'm allowed to do that, aren't I?”

Sasha admitted grudgingly, “She does have a knack for picking the wrong time. I'll call her tomorrow.”

Later that night they were in bed when the phone rang again. Next to her Sexton stirred in his sleep. Sasha lay there with her eyes cast towards the ceiling. She heard the automated voice identify the call as coming from a pay phone. Startled, Sasha looked at the clock and when she saw that it was after three o'clock in the morning, she nervously grabbed the receiver. “Hello?”

The voice on the other line slurred her words. Sasha slid out of bed and took the phone into the bathroom.

“Sasha, it's me, Tiara.”

“Where are you, and why are you calling me from a pay phone?” she demanded.

“I called you earlier and I guess you weren't at home so I came into the city to have a drink or two. Because I have lost so much weight I can't hold my liquor like I used to. Girl, I'm totally smashed and there's a guy here that says that he can take me home so I'm just letting you know if something happens to me his name is Rick and he drives a beige Charger.”

Sasha was incensed. “Tiara, you are a pain in the ass. This guy could be a murderer or rapist.”

“You told me go to happy hour and meet another guy, so I'm following your advice.”

“Don't hang this on me. I was being facetious and you know it.” Her words were clipped from fury.

Tiara began to whimper and Sasha demanded, “Where are you?”

“I'm on East Sixty-eighth at a place called Shooters.”

“Sit tight and don't you move,” she ordered. “Sexton and I will be there as soon as possible.”

“Don't bring him!” Tiara wailed. “I'm humiliated enough as it is.”

Sasha whispered, but the biting anger that she was feeling came through, “Are you kidding? I can't sneak out in the middle of the night. He was probably awakened anyhow from the phone and—”

“I'm not going to stay here and wait for you if you're going to bring him. I've been humiliated enough as it is by men and in front of men. Can't you let me have at least one shred of dignity?”

Tiara's voice bordered on hysteria and Sasha tried to calm her. “Okay. I'll come alone. You better be there when I get there!” she ordered before she hung up.

Sasha stood naked in the bathroom wondering how she was going to leave without upsetting Sexton.

When she walked back into the bedroom he was sitting up in bed.

His jaw was clenched and she knew that he was fuming.

Sasha walked over to her dresser and pulled out her undergarments and put them on. Then she grabbed a pair of shorts and shirt and started pulling them on.

“Where are you going?” Sexton demanded. His arms were folded in front of him as he sat up in the bed, his back against the headboard.

“I won't be gone long,” she mumbled, avoiding his stern gaze.

“I asked where you're going.” His voice was low, but Sasha was not deceived just because he wasn't yelling.

She drew in a deep breath. “Tiara is down on Sixty-eighth Street at a bar, and she's too smashed to drive. I have to go and get her.”

“Why didn't she call Calvin? He doesn't have anything else going on,” he said sharply.

Sasha shot Sexton a questioning look taken aback by his statement. “I don't know. I didn't think to ask, and she called me from a pay phone.” She stammered, “I won't be long.”

Sexton got up and began pulling on the shorts and shirt that he had earlier left on the occasional chair in the corner of the room.

“Sexton,” Sasha said, “you can't come. Tiara didn't even want you to know what's going on.”

“Too bad. Then she shouldn't have called here!” he snorted derisively.

“Seriously, Sexton, I told her that I wouldn't tell you.” Sasha's voice was a few decibels higher.

“Sasha, I'm not going to let you go alone to a bar at three o'clock in the morning to pick up some drunken friend.” Sexton slid his feet into a pair of flip-flops. His words were curt and he was obviously gritting his teeth to keep from saying something that he might regret later on down the road. He snatched his keys and wallet from the nightstand and stormed out of the bedroom.

The drive to Shooters was made in complete silence. The look on Sexton's face let Sasha know that conversation was not an option.

Once he pulled into a parking space in front of Shooters, he didn't turn off the engine but shifted it into park and said roughly, “Sit tight. I'll be right back.”

For about five minutes Sasha peered anxiously through the darkness watching the entrance to the bar. Then Sexton emerged with a bleary-eyed Tiara shakily walking on his heels.

With a sheepish look at Sasha, she slid into the back seat of the Chrysler. Still without uttering a word, Sexton pulled out into the sparse traffic and they sped down the street. When he headed to the direction of his apartment, Sasha shot him a surprised look. “My place is closer,” he said shortly.

Once they reached his parking garage, Sexton shut off the car, and after slamming the door, stomped past Rudy into the apartment building.

Sasha turned to Tiara, who looked as if she were dozing. She took her hand and slightly shook her shoulder. “Wake up!” she ordered sternly.

Tiara opened her eyes and said, “Why didn't you guys take me home?”

“Sexton wasn't doing all that. You'll have to sleep on the couch until you're able to drive.”

She led Tiara to Sexton's apartment. After locking the door she went to the bedroom and returned with one of her spare nightgowns and a housecoat. Throwing them to Tiara she said, “We'll talk in the morning.”

When she joined Sexton in bed he didn't turn around to acknowledge her. Tentatively she spoke. “I know what you're thinking and I know that you're right. I'm going to sever my relationship with her.”

Sexton's back was rigid and his words were hard. “You already did that, and now you've been drawn right back into the middle of her foolishness.”

“I felt drawn back into a relationship with her out of sympathy.” She hesitated before adding, “At least she's stopped being catty about us. That's an improvement.”

Sexton turned to lie on his side facing her. “It amazes me how that one adversity in her life has changed her into someone that no one recognizes. Calvin has made some comments but I guess out of respect for her he's been pretty quiet about what's really going on. When I first met Tiara I would have never figured her to be such a nut case.”

“She's just going through a rough time.”

“She's too needy. Real men love secure women.”

“I'll talk to her in the morning.” Sasha moved restlessly in bed and then all of a sudden she said, “There's something at my feet, under the covers.”