The Accidental Mistress (32 page)

Zuri looked to her mother who stared on. She
glanced to her father who lifted his glass. "This is a
celebration," he slurred, his hand holding it up shakily. Zuri saw
the happiness on his face and felt sick to her stomach. Without a
word, she got up and walked away from the table.

"Zuri! Wait! Wait!" Jean-Paul hurried behind
her. "Wait!" He grabbed her arm.

"Let me go!"

"Please, let me explain." He pulled her with
determined force into the parlor.

"Release me!" she demanded and finally broke
free.

Jean-Paul sighed, his dread locks spread
over his shoulders, his eyes pleading. "I know this is a
shock."

"Shock? You set me up! How dare you go to my
father and do this? In his condition? Did you think it would
convince me to be with you?"

"No. It wasn't that."

"Then what? Because the last time I saw you,
you couldn't stand the sight of me. Now you want to marry me?"

Jean-Paul’s eyes lowered. "I was jealous.
Hurt. Have you not known my feelings for you all these years? You
aren't that blind? And I know you care for me. We've known each
other for most of our lives."

Zuri threw up her hands. "We're friends,
family, and you betrayed me by coming here and taking advantage of
my family. I can't believe you would do this."

"Why not? I've been patient. I've waited for
you to go to America and find yourself. I waited for you to come
home and realize how much we needed you. I'm desperate, Zuri. I saw
you with him, who you were becoming for him. I don't want you to
change. I hated that you had to lower yourself for that bastard to
save the Oasis. It killed me that I didn't prevent it."

Zuri spun on him. "That's not how it
happened."

"Did you sleep with him?" Jean-Paul
demanded. Zuri refused to deny it. He clenched his jaw and crossed
his arms over his broad chest. "Then that is how it happened."

"You don't know what you're talking about.
You don't know anything about him, and you don't know anything
about me if you'd think you could come in here and bully me into
marrying you!"

"I'll tell you what I do know. The Zuri I
love would never become a man's mistress if she weren't desperate
or forced to do so. I should have done more. I came to my senses
too late. You had already left for Sainte Marie when I returned. So
now, I'm here to tell you that I love you and I'll protect
you."

"Protect me? So all of this is about your
ego?"

"You aren't listening to me!"

"Stop it, JP! Christophe Montague isn't a
one-night stand and I'm not his whore. I met him four years ago in
Chicago. Remember? I told you about him, the man who I lost
virginity to. I chose to sleep with him then and I choose to sleep
with him now."

"You did? Why? Him of all people? After the
way he treated you."

"It's a long story. Yes, I
seduced him for the Oasis but not because I'm a victim. I did it
because I wanted to
—
"

"Qu'avez-vous dit?"
Her father's voice boomed behind them. Zuri jumped
and slowly turned to find him standing with the aid of his
cane.
He staggered in, dragging his left
leg. Zuri made a move to help him. But the black-layered glare he
gave her kept her rooted to the spot.

"
Père
, I can explain."

"You seduced Christophe Montague for the
Oasis?"

"No. No." Zuri shook her head fiercely.

"Claude, it's not what you think." Jean-Paul
tried to intervene.

"Answer me! Answer me now! Did you sleep
with him for the merger? Did you disgrace yourself, your
family?"

"I...
père,
I
—
"

"
Tu es en disgrâce
!" He shouted over
her weak protests. Immediately her mother and Joi rushed in. They
looked on, baffled. Zuri stood there trapped in her father's angry
gaze. "How could you have done this? Become that man's whore? Did
you think I wanted this?"

"Claude, you mustn’t get excited. Calm
down." Nanette put her hands to his shoulders to draw him back, but
even with her father's evident lean, he shook her mother's touch
off. He was in front of her now. Zuri stepped back. She couldn't
lie to him; she wished she could at that moment. Just to erase the
disgust she saw on his face. "Why? Tell me why after all you've
been taught, you would do this, Zuri?"

"I love him," she said weakly.

Her father slapped her. The strike was so
severe Zuri was knocked down to the sofa. Someone screamed,
possibly Joi. She couldn't tell because her ears rang and the side
of her face felt as if it were on fire. She heard JP yell for help.
Were they yelling for her? She was okay; she just needed a minute
to keep the darkness at bay. She had truly lost her senses for a
brief second. Why was everyone yelling? Zuri lifted her head and to
her horror she discovered the reason. Her father clutched his chest
surrounded by Joi and Nanette who tried to steady him. He went down
to his knees, eyes bulging and his tongue protruding from his mouth
as if he were strangled. Zuri shoved Jean-Paul out of her way and
rushed to her father's side.

"
Père
! No God, please no!"

***

Christophe turned over, flopping on his
back. The alarm clock's buzzing pierced his skull. He swatted twice
in its direction to knock it from the nightstand. He finally got a
solid hold on the oblong black box with its red flashing numbers
and ripped it from the wall. Silence was a welcomed relief. He
closed his eyes once more. He longed for sleep.

Turning over under the sheet, he opened his
eyes and stared at the empty side of his bed. Sleeping alone was a
habit he wanted to break. He could imagine waking with her every
morning. Christophe smiled. He could easily relocate to his Chicago
office. He'd take her to the finest restaurants and shower her with
gifts. They'd date first, start off right. Then who knows, maybe
she could spend her nights in his bed permanently. How long had it
been since he actually wanted courtship. With Zuri, he wanted it
all.

He reached for his cellular and dialed her.
It went straight to voicemail. He left a quick message to call her
again and hung up. Tossing the covers aside, he rolled his
shoulders and worked the tension from his neck. He would shower,
take care of a few more business matters and then pack for his
return to Martinique.

Yawning wide and stretching, he exhaled a
deep sigh of contentment. Life was good.

***

Zuri kept her face buried in her hands. The
commotion around her raised voices didn't drown the thundering beat
of her heart. It had been two hours since they admitted her father
and no one had told them anything. The small waiting area was
packed with arriving friends and family. All she could do was wait
with Joi on one side of her and Jean-Paul on the other.

"Zuri, he's okay," Joi whispered, rubbing
her back. "I just know he is."

"It's my fault. I did this."

"No. It's my fault," Jean-Paul said
sadly.

Zuri lifted her face from her hands. Through
her tears she saw the pain etched on Jean-Paul's face. As much as
she wanted to blame him, she couldn't. Her guilt consumed her.

"Fine, it's both of your
fault," Joi snapped. "Now we have to pull together.
Père
is going to pull
through, but only if we don't give up on him."

Nanette appeared visibly shaken. Zuri and
Joi stood. She managed a smile. "He had another stroke. It’s
cerebral. They are doing the tests, the CAT scan and other tests.
He's not conscious. The doctors say it's not uncommon, but he
should have woken up by now. I just know it." Her mother's voice
cracked with emotion. "The doctors said we got him here in time."
She nodded as other family members circled. Nanette lifted her
heavy lidded eyes to her daughters. "But they don't know if there
will be paralysis or brain..." Nanette broke down into tears. Zuri
and Joi ushered her to a chair. The girls held on to her, sitting
at her sides.

More of her mother's family arrived and soon
the girls released Nanette into the care of her sisters. Zuri had
to escape. She couldn't take much more. Dodging the questions of
family members, she slipped outside for air. She paced back and
forth wringing her hands. She wanted to find a way to undo it. But
there was none. Her father had never hit her before. The look in
his eyes broke her heart. For all her planning and plotting, she
ended up here anyway.

"Zuri?"

She turned and saw Jean-Paul. "I can't right
now, JP. Please leave me alone."

"Tell me what I can do. I have to do
something."

"We can't do anything."

"Do you want me to go?" he asked. "I feel
like this is my fault."

"No. You love him too. I
just want you to leave me alone.
S'il te
plaît
, I can't talk right now."

He nodded, turned and went back inside. Zuri
closed her eyes. When she opened them and turned from the doors,
she stopped herself. Detrick Chevalier was exiting his car in the
parking lot. He was headed for the hospital. "What are you doing
here?" She marched toward him.

Detrick stopped with a look of surprise to
his face. "I got a call that he was brought in. How is he?"

"I want you to leave."

"Zuri, this is ridiculous, I've known you
since you were born. I'm his friend."

"The hell you are! You're a leech, a viper,
and a rapist."

Detrick paled. He stepped back, his face
going ashen. "What did you call me?"

"I know what you did to my parents. How you
hurt my mother, how you abused my father's trust of you. I know it
all Detrick. And God help me, I will make you pay for it."

Detrick looked past her to the hospital,
then back to her eyes. "I love your mother. I would never hurt her.
And your father..."

"
Ta guelle
! Get out of my sight!" she
spat at him. She turned and walked off. One final glance back over
her shoulder and she saw him return to his car. Zuri blinked away
her angry tears and went back inside.

***

Christophe checked his phone for his long
awaited call back. There was nothing. Not even a short text. He
frowned. He left three messages and hadn't heard from her. She was
visiting her father. Maybe she was tied up with family. Either way,
he was certain they'd make up for lost time tomorrow upon his
return. There was no point in stressing over a few missed
calls.

"Mr. Montague?"

"Yes, Elizabeth?" he grumbled, not looking
up. He had a stack of paperwork.

"Mr. Davis has left two messages. I'm sorry,
sir. I missed you between meetings."

Christophe looked at his office phone. The
blinking red light should have clued him in. He was so focused on
thoughts of Zuri, he hadn't noticed. "Thanks, Elizabeth. I'll call
him."

When the door closed, Christophe dropped
back and let go another deep sigh. He rubbed his eyes and tried to
relax. She was in his head now. That made it impossible.

***

Zuri shied away from her mother's family.
Though she loved her aunts and uncles, they were overly pious and
snubbed her father often. She'd even heard her Aunt Gennie once
comment on how Joi should be kept from the sun because her skin was
unfortunately taking the shade of her father. Even in their
concern, they found ways to insult Claude Baptiste.

She sat over to the side of the waiting area
in a plastic pea green chair that squeaked each time she shifted or
crossed her legs. It had been four hours since the nightmare began.
People were coming and going. Most held a vigil near her mother.
All she could do was wait and play the fight they had over and over
in her head.

"Hi, here," Joi said, sitting next to her.
She handed her a Pepsi and bag of chips. "Are you okay?"

"No. Did you see how he
looked at me? When he gets better, how do I explain this to him?
I'm not even sure what happened between Christophe and me. But it's
not what
père
thinks. Is it?"

"Zuri, if
père
knew about my love
life, he would have two strokes and an aneurism. You've done
everything by his book of rules. I was surprised you went after
Christophe for our company. I was also so proud of you."

"What?" Zuri recoiled. "Why would that make
you proud?"

"You're making your own
choices and mistakes. You're your own person now. You can't live
your life by what
père
and
mère
want. It has to be you. Also, I know the truth."

"Which is?"

"As much as you want to
tell yourself you did this for
père
, you did this for you.
Christophe is the man you want. I saw it on your face when JP gave
that lame ass proposal."

Zuri laughed, and Joi
bumped her with her shoulder. She sighed sadly, "Maybe you're
right. I was dreaming about Christophe before his plane landed. I
did this for
père
and I did it for me too."

"I know I am," Joi said confidently. She
dropped her arm around her. Zuri nodded. She thought of Christophe.
She needed to talk to him. Just to hear his voice, and remind her
self that he was real.

"What is it?" Joi asked.

"My phone? Have you seen it?"

"Did you leave it in the car?"

"I think...no, I thought I had it.
Damn."

"I'll help you find it."

***

"This is Christophe."

"Did you not get my messages?" Davis
asked.