Too Close for Comfort (12 page)

“You know what—you've helped enough for the day, Fitz. Don't even worry about it.”

Once again, there was a pain in her stomach, and she felt hot. Yaya brushed past Fitz and walked into her office, closing the door. She sat down and laid her head on her desk.

There was a small knock at the door.

“Yeah.”

The door opened, and Taryn stepped in. “Yaya, what's wrong?”

“I just don't feel good, that's all.” Yaya didn't lift her head. She could feel her friend's “cool hands” on her neck.

“You don't feel warm. What hurts?”

“My stomach and my head,” Yaya mumbled.

“It's probably because you're hungry.” Taryn sighed.

“No, that's not it. They didn't ship all my product. I have that shoot for Larry Scott on Friday, and I have a whole wedding party to do on Saturday.”

“Yaya, you know, whatever you need, if I got it, you got it. Don't even stress about it. Look, we've got everything under control here at the salon. Why don't you go home and relax for a while?”

Yaya looked up at her best friend and saw the worry in her face. “I'm good,
T
. Really.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I am.” Yaya smiled at her.

“You know you were wrong for dogging Fitz out like that, don't you?”

“I ain't dog him out.”

“From the way he stormed out of here, you did something to him.”

“What did he say?”

“Something about your being a ungrateful, stern, and I ain't even gonna say the other word he used.” Taryn laughed. “But put it this way—it begins with a
b
, and rhymes with
rich
.”

Yaya smiled. She knew that she was rude to Fitz, but didn't think she was that bad. “Hell, he should meet some of the models and artists I have to work with, and then maybe he'll see I'm damn near a nun compared to them.”

“Why do you act like that around him?” Taryn asked.

Yaya really didn't have an answer. It was something about Fitzgerald that made her uncomfortable. When he looked at her, it was as if he was trying to see everything inside her head or read her mind. And when she stared into his eyes, she felt as if she was being hypnotized.

“I don't act any different around him than I do anyone else. You sound crazy.” Yaya stood. “Come on, let's go talk Monya into going to Ochie's for us.”

Paige walked up to the bar and greeted Marlon. “Have you been waiting long?”

He turned and smiled at her. “Not long at all. You look nice,” he said, rising off the stool.

She gave him a hug, and he tenderly kissed her on the forehead, something he had always done. She caught a whiff of his Hugo Boss cologne. For a fleeting moment, she closed her eyes, and it was like old times between them, but she stopped herself before she even got caught up in thinking about the past.
Don't forget why we're here, girl. Remain focused—he's still the same old triflin' Marlon.

“Thank you. You want to go ahead and get a table?”

“Yeah, we can.” Marlon grinned.

The hostess seated them at a table in the back of the restaurant, and they sat down. “You want a drink?”

“No, I'm good.”

“So tell me, to what do I owe the honor of this meeting?—What's up?” Marlon sat back.

“Well, it's sort of a celebration lunch.”

“What are we celebrating?” He looked at her curiously. “Don't tell me you're about to get married or something. I know you didn't bring me here to tell me some nonsense like that.”

“No, that's not it at all. And, if I was, at least that would show more respect than you have for me; I had to hear about your marriage from Camille. And let's not talk about the fact that you were still trying to get back with me, when you up and got married.”

“I don't even wanna talk about that right now. Don't try to change the subject.” He sighed.

“You were the one that brought the subject of marriage up. I'm curious though. Why is it a mess?”

“Don't go there, Paige. Come on now, tell me what's going on. What's this supposed celebration for?”

“Hold on. I'm about to tell you right now.” Paige spotted Tia walking through the door of the restaurant. “We are celebrating the refinance of our house!”

Marlon looked as if he was about to throw up, when Tia walked up and said, “Hi there!”

“Hey, girl, have a seat,” Paige told her. “I really appreciate you meeting us down here.”

“It wasn't a problem at all.” Tia smiled. “Hey, Marlon.”

“What the hell is this about?”

“Well, Tia was nice enough to meet us so we can sign the paperwork and get our checks at the same time. That way, it would be no delay on anyone's part. Right, Tia?”

“That's right.” Tia placed a brown leather briefcase on the table and popped it open. She removed some stacks of paperwork and closed it back up. “I was able to get you guys a great rate, like I promised both of you.”

“I knew you would, girl. Marlon, I can't believe how much equity we had in that house.”

He glared at her. “Paige, what the hell are you talking about?”

“Well, when the mortgage broker from the bank called to verify my information, I thought, why use him when my cousin works for the same company? So, I called Tia, and she took care of everything for us. Good thing the other guy called because you forgot to tell me about re-financing the house. I guess with your “mess” of a marriage and everything else going on, it slipped your mind. Nevertheless, she was able to get it done, and here we are at the celebration lunch.”

“I just need for you to sign here and here, Paige.” Tia pointed to the papers and gave her a pen. Paige signed her name with flair and then passed the papers to Marlon.

“I can't believe you're doing this to me, Paige,” he said to her, his eyes full of anger.

“I can't believe a lot of things you've done to me, Marlon. That house was supposed to be an investment for both of us, and you try to go behind my back and steal from me? That's like taking money from Myla. The only time we were going to borrow on that house was to pay for her education. And then you tried to do it behind my back?”

“Paige, things are just hard for me right now. Kasey's not working because she is there taking care of my mother.”

“Your mother's not sick, Marlon; she was fine the last time I saw her—she was drunk, but that's always been the case. I don't want to hear any of this. Hell, it's been a rough time for me too. I had to start over myself, but I would never ever go behind your back and do what you tried to do to me.”

Marlon looked over at Tia for support, but found none.

“Look, I've known both of you for a long time,” Tia said. “Marlon, you know going behind Paige's back was dead wrong. She could actually have you arrested for fraud. You signed her name on a loan application. I don't know what to say about that. If times were that hard, you should've gone to her and explained that you needed some cash and the only way you could see you could get it was to re-finance the house.”

“She would've said no,” he said.

“You don't know that. Maybe she would've; maybe not. But at least you would have given her the respect of talking to her, before you made a big decision like that behind her back. So, now you have your money. It may only be half of what you thought you were gonna get, but that's better than none. So, sign right here so I can give you both your checks and leave.”

As Marlon scribbled his name, Tia reached inside the manilla folder, passing each of them a large, business-size check.

Paige folded hers and put it in her purse without even looking at it; Marlon just slipped his into his pocket.

“Thanks, Tia.” Paige leaned over and hugged her.

“No problem. I'll be praying for both of you, and I'm still here for both of you. Call me if you need anything,” she said, rising from the table.

“I don't believe this,” Marlon said, after she was gone.

“Don't start, Marlon.” Paige grabbed her purse and prepared to leave as well. “It's over and done. You have over a hundred thousand dollars in your pocket, and the mortgage is even cheaper—you'll get by.”

“I don't want to get by—I want to get
out
.”

Paige shook her head and looked at him. “Then get out, Marlon. I don't know why you got in it in the first place. Nobody made you to marry that woman.”

“You don't get it.” He shook his head.

“Oh, I get it—I got it for seven years—You were the one who didn't get it. And if you still don't see what the problem is, then you deserve to stay there.”

Paige reached into her purse and pulled out her shades, placing them on her face to hide the tears that had formed. She didn't even know why she was crying. Marlon was no longer her problem. She had her money from the house, and that's all that mattered.

“Good-bye, Marlon.” Page hurried out of the restaurant.

Just as she was about to get into her truck, she heard him calling her name. She paused and waited as he ran toward her.

“What?”

“I'm sorry, Paige. Believe it or not, I am really sorry. I was in a bind. I panicked and I was wrong.”

“It's okay, Marlon. I hope things get better for you. I really do. But you need to do some serious soul-searching and figure out some things.”

He gave her a hug, and once again, kissed her on the forehead and then the chin, as always.

Some things never change
. She got in and drove off. She glanced in her rearview mirror and saw his reflection, praying he would be all right.

“It's about time you made it back into town,” Paige said to Titus as he came out of the garage and met her. “We missed you.”

“Who is
‘we'
?” He gave her a quick hug.

“Me, Quincy, Myla.”

“I hope another name is somewhere in there,” he said, a touch of hope in his voice.

“Nina.” She winked at him.

“Quit lying.” He laughed. “So how've things been going?”

“They are going good, real good. Good enough for me to buy something really nice.”

“I heard you were interested in buying something really nice.
Q
ain't tell me you were coming by here and getting it today though.”

“He doesn't know I was coming by here. I do want to get the car though, Titus—today. Can I write you a check?”

“For you, it's a done deal. Let me go get your keys. You can trail me to the DMV, and we can take care of the paperwork. Man, you wouldn't believe how many calls I got about this car.”

“I knew from the moment I laid eyes on it, it was mine.” She wrote him a check, knowing that after the large deposit she just made, it wouldn't dare bounce.

“So what are you gonna do with the truck?” he asked as they waited at the DMV.

“Give it to a deserving college student who can't seem to find a job.” She laughed, knowing she was about to make Camille's day.

 

 

“Hey, baby. How was your day?”

“It was good. Long, but good.” He kissed her. “How was yours?”

“It was awesome!” She smiled and kissed him again.

“Wow! It must have been off the chain at the library today. What happened?—Did someone return some overdue books?”

“Oh, you got jokes, huh? Keep getting smart and I won't let you roll wit' me in my new ride.”

“What new ride?”

“My new Benz, baby!” She held up her keys.

“You got the car from Titus?—Stop playing. Are you serious?” He opened the door and looked out front.

“It's not out there. I need for you to take me to pick it up from Titus' shop. He's getting it detailed and putting the tags on for me. It should be ready by the time we get there.”

“I'm thinking Titus let you have the car at a decent price, right?” Quincy asked, as they got into his car and headed to Titus. “I know you said you were interested, but you weren't sure about getting the money yet.”

“He gave me a better than fair price,
Q
. He would have had to hear your mouth if he didn't.”

“So are you gonna be able to handle two car payments?”

“I went ahead and paid my truck off today, so I won't have two payments. As a matter of fact, I won't have a payment at all.”

“That's what's up—you got Titus to sell your truck for you?”

“No. I'm giving the truck to Camille; she needs a car to get around in.”

“But you paid for the Benz, straight-up. And you paid off your truck.”

“Yep, I'm financially savvy like that.” Paige was tempted to tell him about the check she'd received from re-financing, but recalled their last conversation in regards to the whole Marlon and the house situation. She decided that not volunteering any additional info was her best bet.

“Okay, Ms. Financially Savvy. I'm glad you were able to get your car. You deserve it.” He reached over and took her by the hand. “I'm proud of you.”

“Thanks, baby. That means a lot coming from you.”

“Paige, you know how much I care about you, right?” Quincy asked as they pulled into the parking lot of the garage.

She was bewildered by the question. For some reason, it seemed to come from nowhere. “I care about you too, Quincy. I love you, you know that.”

“I love you too. I just don't want you to think that I ever take our relationship for granted. I know without a doubt how special you are and how lucky I am to have you in my life.” He stared at her.

The emotion in his voice brought tears to her eyes.

“I just need to know that you feel the same way. If you're having any doubts or fears about us, or the way things are going, I want you to be honest and tell me.”

“
Q
, where is this coming from? I feel exactly the way that you do, if not more so. I thank God every day for bringing us together.”

“I just wanted to tell you, that's all.” He smiled.

Paige shook her head and took his face into her hands. She pulled his head to her, closed her eyes and kissed him, slowly. His lips seemed to be made just for hers, and she enjoyed it immensely. As her hands fell to his shoulders, she rubbed her nose against his and opened her eyes. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“You're still not driving my new Benz though,” she teased, as she got out of the car.