Chapter 90
Danielle stood in the shower for a long time, letting the hot water wash away the argument with Nikki. “See, I knew something was up,” Danielle nodded. “She's spying on me, they all are. But I'm going to beat them.” She turned off the water and grabbed her towel to dry off.
She stepped from the shower and bent to look under the sink. Not finding what she was looking for, she opened the cabinet and searched. “Where is my padlock?”
She still didn't find it, but wasn't deterred. She would have to be extra careful from now on. Nikki was watching her and she knew others around were, too. She would put a lock on her door. And when she went to work, she would put one there too.
She slathered peach-scented lotion on and lit a candle in hopes of chasing away the bad feelings.
Chapter 91
William hung up the phone following his conversation with Psalm, happy to hear her voice. He scowled though, when he recalled how terse Nikki had been with him. He had hoped she'd be calm by now, but she seemed just as set today on not talking with him as she had been earlier. When she phoned him, she had said Psalm had been asking to speak with him. But she didn't say much beyond that.
“You look worried, you want me to rub your shoulders?” Olivia asked, walking across the living room in a soft, blue terry cloth robe.
“No, I'm fine,” William said, standing. “I'm going to head to my room.”
Olivia stopped in front of him. “You don't have to go to that room if you don't want to.”
“And where would I go?” William looked at her, with his right brow raised quizzically.
“You could . . . you could go to my room,” she said, and reached out to touch his chest.
William sidestepped her. “Better yet, I think I need to go see my wife.” He grabbed his keys and made a quick exit.
He drove to Danielle's condo and knocked on the door. Nikki opened the door, and he saw the surprise in her eyes.
The surprise was quickly replaced by anger, and Nikki moved to slam the door when Psalm squealed. “Daddy!” the child squeezed past her mother and hugged her father's legs. He picked her up, kissing the top of her head. His eyes were on Nikki.
“I wasn't expecting you,” she said sharply, and turned. She didn't close the door though, and William walked in behind her. “Psalm was on her way to bed. It's late.”
“Mommy, can I stay up with my daddy, please?”
“Psalm, you have school tomorrow,” Nikki said.
“Nikki, I've not spent any time with her lately,” William said softly. “Come on. Let me see her for a little while.”
“Please, Mommy!” Psalm begged and clutched her father, who sat on the couch.
Nikki rolled her eyes and nodded. “Sure, but just for a little while.” To William, she whispered, “You shouldn't be here.”
William ignored the comment. “Did you have a good day?” he asked Psalm.
“I miss, you, Daddy,” Psalm said and leaned into him.
William's eyes sought Nikki, but she ignored him. He returned his attention to Psalm. “I know, baby. We'll do something fun really soon, okay?”
Nikki pursed her lips. “So, what brings you here?”
“I miss you,” William said.
Nikki folded her arms across her chest. “That's nice.”
“Baby, you can't still be mad at me. You know in your heart that I didn't . . .” he looked down at the child in his lap, eagerly hanging on to his words. “I didn't do the thing you think I did.”
Nikki, also conscious of Psalm, shot back: “Well, these days, I don't know what I know.”
“Baby, I promise you, nothing has happened,” William said. “Let's make this work. Let's go back home.”
“Yeah, let's go back home!” Psalm chimed in.
“Psalm, tell your daddy goodnight. It's time for bed.”
“But, Mommy . . . .”
“Don't âbut Mommy' me, little girl,” Nikki said. “Now, tell him goodnight.”
A sad-eyed Psalm turned and hugged her father, then scrambled from his lap.
“We're about to go to bed,” Nikki said pointedly. She walked across the room and jerked open the door. William slowly stood and walked toward it. He paused at the doorway and searched her face for a long time.
Finding no invitation, he turned. “Fine, Nikki. Good-night.”
William climbed back into his vehicle and slammed the door. A passerby glanced up sharply, but he didn't care. “She's being totally unreasonable,” he fumed. “I keep trying to get next to her, and she keeps pushing me off.”
She kept accusing him of cheating, and he hadn't even kissed Olivia. He thought to just drive to their empty house. But he headed, instead, back to Olivia's
.
William strode into Olivia's house and she greeted him with a glass of wine at the door. He took it from her, with a surprised smile. “Thanks. How did you know I'd need this?”
“Because I know you,” she said, ushering him to the big armchair. “And I knew if you were going to see Nikki, she would do something to upset you.”
At the mention of his wife's name, William's jaw tensed. “Don't talk about my wife like that.”
Olivia took a step back and held up her free hand. “Hey, I didn't mean any harm. I just know things have been so strained and I thought you might need something to take the edge off. That's all I was trying to say.”
William sighed. He knew Olivia had gone out of her way to be helpful to him. She had moved from running her father's campaign to stepping in to manage his. She had been his one constant supporter, even when all the bad news erupted. She had been the cheerleader in his corner, had even offered him a roof. He stretched out his hand. She placed hers in his.
“Thanks for everything.”
Chapter 92
Nikki spent the remainder of the week looking for employment. She pushed her resume all over town, but each time, she received a rejection. Either she didn't have the right type of experience, or she didn't have enough. Or, they told her flat-out that she wasn't welcome there.
She spent hours on the Internet posting her resume on job sites, but no one responded. “What does it take to get a job in this city?” she exclaimed in frustration, pushing back from the computer desk in Danielle's bedroom. For some reason, a padlock was lying on the desk.
The last time Nikki had been so desperate for money and a job, Spencer had provided the answer. Thoughts of her past shamed her and she pushed them deep into her consciousness.
“May I have some of your cookies for Psalm?” Nikki asked Danielle after arriving home from a long day of searching for work.
“Yes, you may,” Danielle said, getting up from the couch where she had been sprawled before Nikki stepped into the condo.
“Thank you,” Nikki said, reaching for the cabinet.
“You're welcome,” Danielle said and went into her bedroom, closing the door behind her. Nikki heard the lock click and sighed. Things between them had been cool ever since their argument. They were cordial, but the tension rippled through the condo like electricity.
Nikki passed two cookies to Psalm and then she paused. She glanced at Danielle's bedroom door and made a decision. She knocked. She waited but didn't hear an answer; she knocked again, louder this time.
She raised her hand to knock again when the door suddenly flew open and Danielle stood there.
“Is something the matter?” Danielle's tone was cool.
“I'm sorry about the other day,” Nikki said.
Danielle sighed. “Me too.”
The admission caught Nikki by surprise. Her mouth fell open, but no words came.
“Don't look so shocked,” Danielle said. “I can admit when I'm wrong. I'm not totally bad.”
“I didn't say you were bad,” Nikki said, returning to the kitchen and pulling out a skillet and chopping block. She grabbed bell pepper and onion from the refrigerator. “It's justâ”
“I know, I can be a bit much sometimes,” Danielle said, following her into the kitchen. “It's just that I get so stressed sometimes, and I just always feel like I have to be on my guard.”
“But you don't have to be on guard with me.”
Danielle sat on a bar stool. “I know,” she said, watching her friend chop the vegetables. “You're the only true friend I've ever had.”
“You don't have to feel that the world is against you,” Nikki said softly.
Neither woman said anything as Nikki washed thin strips of steak and dropped them into the hot skillet and let them sizzle, then put the onion and pepper on top. She washed her hands, then leaned on the counter next to Danielle. “So tell me what's been bugging you lately. And why'd you tell Raymond my baby was dead?”
But before Danielle could answer, her cell phone rang. “Hello?”
She cast a quick glance at Nikki, then sidled off the stool. “I have to take this,” she said and jetted to her bedroom, carefully closing and locking the door behind her.
Nikki stared after her friend. She did not like all these secrets. She would find out what Danielle was keeping from her.
After they ate, Nikki dropped Psalm off at Keedra's for a play date and drove to the house she had not been to in a week since moving in with Danielle. She was ready to face the fact that her marriage was over. She dragged a large, cardboard box from the Protégé. She would fill it with some itemsâclothes for Psalm and her, a few toys, some photos and odd itemsâand leave the rest. Almost seven years, and she had nothing to show. She was feeling sorry for herself.
She placed the box on the ground and unlocked the door. The house seemed to be just as she had left it, though it had the desolate feel of a deserted home. She picked the box up and placed it on the table in the kitchen and walked to the bedroom. Her steps slowed as she approached the room she had so briefly shared with her husband. She stopped at the threshold and took a deep breath and held it. Tears welled in her eyes and she let the breath out slowly, blinking away the water she would not let fall.
“Well, there is no sense in feeling all sad,” she chided herself, standing in the walk-in closet. “You fell for the wrong man. And he left you.”
“That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.”
Nikki whirled around and her eyes widened. She quickly regained her composure and ice laced her words. “How long have you been standing there? Those were my private thoughts.”
William crossed the room in two long steps, stopping just short of her. “There was a time when there was nothing private between us.”
“Well, those days are gone,” she said, trying to step around him, but he blocked her way. She glared at him. “Will you get out of my way? Since you're sneaking up on me, I'm leaving.”
“I wasn't sneaking up on you,” William said. “I was actually coming to stay the night, and when I saw your car, I thought that might have meant you had come back.”
“Not a chance,” she said. “What, you're telling me you're not with Ms. High and Mighty anymore?”
She could see a muscle tick in his jaw, but his voice was controlled when he spoke. “I was never
with
anyone but you,” he said. “Which you know very well. And I was coming here since this is my home.”
Nikki could feel herself thawing. He looked so sincere, like he was telling the truth. She had never known him to lie to her. No, she had been the one who lied. Their eyes caught and the room temperature immediately shot up. Nikki tried to look away, but she could not. When William pulled her to him, she didn't resist. Instead, she heaved toward him, meeting the crushing assault of his kiss. He picked her up and carried her to the bed, placing her on the flowered bedspread, where he tugged off her clothes. She made no move to stop him.
“Baby, I've missed you so much,” he said, burying his head in her soft flesh. He looked back up, his eyes full of words. “I'm sorry for so much drama. I knowâ”
“Shhh,” Nikki put her forefinger to his lips. “Don't talk.”
“But I just want you to know thatâ”
“Shhh,” she insisted. She didn't want to think about anything but the feelings being exchanged between them. She reached to undress him as he had done her, but he moved her hands away. She lay there as he quickly stepped out of his shoes and trousers, his shirt already on the floor, then climbed onto the bed, taking her into his arms.
William plied her with kisses and caresses. He pulled her as close as he could, breathing deeply to take in all he had missed these last long weeks.
Nikki closed her eyes as wave after wave of pent up energy escaped her and her voice grew hoarse with letting it out. With every movement, they told each other just how much they had missed.