Trickery & Envy (6 page)

“I guess you can say I am.
It’s also easy to be when you’re in the company of someone that exudes peace. That’s not to say that I don’t have mood swings on occasion.” Toni then quickly thought,
did I just say mood swings.

Mood swings
Vivian looked peculiar at Toni
. What man confesses to having mood swings?

Toni uncrosse
d his legs and set his glass of wine on the cocktail table in front of them. “What I meant was,” and he stood, extended his hand to Vivian. “If you’d do me this honor and dance with me.”

Vivian was
amazed at how he switched subjects.  “Okay,” she said setting her glass next to his.

Shortly after they began to dance Toni stopped. He cupped Vivian’s face with such
passion that it moved her to almost giggle at his gentleness. He then kissed her full lips.

All Vivian could say after the parting was, “Wow,” and she tilt
ed her head to the side some to muse over how nice the kiss was. “On that note, I think I’ll have another one.”

“Are you sure? You seemed a bit reluctant to have a second glass of wine.”

“Wine, I was speaking about the kiss,” and Vivian smiled, waited for her request to be fulfilled, which immediately came.

They spent the rest of the evening talking
, getting more acquainted with one another. Their time together ended just as it started, smoothly.

***

Vivian was sitting sideways on her sofa with her arms crossed talking to Jennifer.

“I’m telling you, I was nearly spellbound. The man is almost too gentle.”

She was still on cloud nine since her dinner at Toni’s house.

“The point is you had a nice time and that’s all that matters,” Jennifer replied stretched out on the floor. “So what if he’s gentle. I’ll take a gentle man over a rough one any day. It’s about time you start dating again. I’m happy for you.” Jennifer began grazing the carpet with her hand. Though she was just lounging around with her best friend, her mind was on something more serious. “I could sleep on this carpet thick and delicate as it is,” she uttered.

Darren
, with Darling trailing, entered the living room with full bellies.

“
There are mama’s babies. Did you two get enough to eat?” Vivian said.

Darren jump
ed onto the sofa and into Vivian’s lap where she began to rub him gently on the top of his head. He tucked his head deeper into her warm space. Darling rested near Vivian’s feet. She then flopped her tail as an indication she was content.

“You were right,” said
Jennifer sounding a bit despondent and as if Vivian had asked her a question.

“
I was right about what?”

Vivian continue
d to give Darren, who appeared to be falling asleep, soft rubs to the top of his white furry head.

Jennifer sat up and crossed her legs
and then reached for her cup of mocha sitting on the table in front of her.

“I’m going through menopause...well my doctor described it as
peri-menopause. She can prescribe something for the hot flashes and insomnia to help balance my hormones. I just refused it. If it’s menopause I’m going through, I’m just going to let nature takes it course. As far as losing my desire to be intimate, no one’s come up with a solution for that.” Jennifer got gloomier almost to the point where she was about to weep. “He’s going to cheat on me isn’t he Vi?” and a few tears slid down Jennifer’s face.

“Now what would make you say something
foolish like that? What you’re going through is a part of life for women.”

Jennifer t
ook another sip of her mocha. “It’s not that I don’t want to make love with Charles, sometimes it hurts. Actually, it’s always painful now.”

“
Are you kidding me, with all the lubricants they have on the market.”

Darling rose a bit to stretch then
moved closer to snuggle next to Darren in Vivian’s lap.

“Why
does this have to happen to me now? I’m too young to be going through menopause.”

Vivian
’s eyes rolled around her head. She was tired of her friend whining. She wasn’t sure what else she could say to help her accept menopause was just another phase in life.

Vivian
then began to reflect on when her mother was going through it. The only complaint she heard was that it was always hot. Even in the middle of winter her mother would open windows in whatever room she went into. If menopause was an issue in her parents being intimate, no one knew but them.

“Girl I drifted off into my own world
and forgot about my mocha,” Vivian said glancing over at a still despondent Jennifer. She stirred Darren and Darling who briefly looked up at her then went back to snuggling.

Jennifer
looked sadly down in her cup. “There’s something else,” she calmly stated.

“What is it Jennifer.
Just what I thought, it’s cold,” and Vivian leaned to place her cup of Mocha back on the cocktail table.

“My doctor...” tears
began to run from Jennifer’s eyes and into her cup of mocha.

“Woman, what am I going to do with you?” Vivian shook her head
at her friend.

“She found a lump in my breast
.” Jennifer sat her cup on the end table next to her then cried hard into her palms.

“Are you serious Jennifer
?” Vivian rose swiftly from the sofa startling both poodles. They leaped from the sofa to the floor and headed in the direction of their cots near the front door.  Vivian knelt beside her friend and hugged her tight. “Jennifer, sweetie it’s going to be okay. When did you find out?”

“Two days ago
, and when I went to see my gynecologist. She also suggested that I have a mammogram.”

“What are they going to do about it? Do they know how big the tumor is?”

“Dr. Howard wants me to have a biopsy so that a proper diagnosis is made. Vi, you know I lost my mama to breast cancer when I was ten,” and Jennifer bawled harder, which had Vivian holding her tighter and a few tears falling from her eyes.

“You’re going to be fine. Does Charles know?”

“I haven’t told him yet.”

“Well you need to. He needs to know what you’re going through.”

“I’m afraid he might leave me.”

“What would make you think that Jennifer
?”

Jennifer sniffle
d. “He left his first wife. He said after twenty years of marriage she suddenly became moody was acting as if she didn’t want to be bothered with him. He said he tried to talk to her and she wouldn’t let him in. It’s the same thing I’m doing. He said he got fed up with her mood swings and the last time she asked for a divorce, he didn’t hesitate granting it.”

“Jennifer it’s
understandable why he gave her the divorce. She didn’t want him anymore. You never said you didn’t want Charles anymore. I don’t think he feels that you don’t either.”

“What if this lump is found to be malignant?” Jennifer placed her hand over her right breast. “If I have br
east cancer I’m going to have my breast removed. I’m going to have a mastectomy.”

“Jennifer you’re jumping to conclusions. Nothing has been confirmed.
You need to keep a positive attitude.”

“
I’m trying to. It’s hard Vi,” and a now disconsolate Jennifer removed herself from her friend and the floor. “I’m going to head on home.”

“Jen you call me if you need anything
,” Vivian said rising, too. “Give me a hug.”

Jennifer
with her arms wrapped around her leaned into her friends shoulder. “You are truly a good friend. If I wasn’t married to Charles you’d be my wife.”

“You’re a great friend too. As far as being your wife, forget it.
As the old saying goes, my name is Eve and I’m looking for Steve.” They shared a laugh. “Tell Charles, Jennifer,” a serious Vivian said narrowing her eyes at her.

Jennifer
nodded her head, okay.

***

A few days later
Vivian pulled up in front of her salon. She headed to the café next to her shop.

A
fter exiting the café with a cup of coffee, and for no particular reason, Vivian looked across the street and saw her brother watching her. Though she was a little startled she acted as if she hadn’t spotted him and kept her stride walking to her shop.

“Morning ladies,” she said
with a bit of swagger in her step.

Vivian was
donned in a black satin dress that stopped just above her knees. There was a gold-colored belt around her waist. Her black handbag was snuggled underneath her armpit as she sashayed toward her office in gold colored open-toe heels. She inconspicuously made eye contact with Patricia and after reaching her office placed her right hand flat against the door. It was a signal to Patricia to come see her in five minutes.

Today that exchange was caught by
Regina as it usually was when she was in the area tending to a client. Regina envied the relationship Patricia and her boss shared as she watched Vivian going into her office.
They get on my nerves with all their secret codes
.
All she had to say was Patricia can I see you in five minutes.

“I’ll be back in a minute,”
Patricia uttered to her client who nodded okay.

“Where is she?” Vivian
took a seat at her desk and began removing her heels and slipped into her Reeboks.

“I’m not sure Ms. Fowler. She called
earlier and said she won’t be able to make it in. She didn’t go in to detail.”

Vivian
opened the bottom drawer of her desk. She removed an eight by ten sign from it. “Display this,” she said and held it out for Patricia to take.

Patricia wasn’t shocked after reading STYLIST WANTED on the sign
, but she was a bit surprised.

“I’ll put
it in the window now, Ms. Fowler. Is there anything else you need me to do?”

“That will be all. Thanks Patricia,” and Vivian close
d the desk drawer then flipped open the lid to her rolodex. She then dialed a number using the phone on her desk.

“Hey,” Vivian grinn
ed. “I just wanted to touch bases before you got your day started. I wanted to say again that I really enjoyed myself the other day. It’s been a while since I let my hair down and had some fun.”

“Likewise,
for the exception of letting my hair down, I had fun, too,” Toni said, smiling and sliding his entry card into the slot to access the hospital’s parking garage.

Toni actually got lucky today. There were three spaces left. He didn’t use the garage often because parking was on a first come first serve bases.

“Is there a chance we can have dinner tonight. I know a great spot.” Toni said.

“Sure, why not
,” Vivian answered with a slight blush.

“I can pick you up or we can meet there?”

“Let’s meet there,” and Vivian then heard what sounded like a loud crash of some sort. “What in the world...”

Everyone in the salon had stopped what they were doing and shocked was looking at the brick that crashed through the pane window.

Patricia, petrified, had moved swiftly in the direction of Vivian’s office.

“Toni I’m going to call you back,” and Vivian
immediately hung up the phone just as Patricia entered.

“Somebody threw something
huge through the window!” Patricia said. “I believe it was a brick. I think one of your clients is hurt.”

“Call the police, Patricia,”
Vivian said and left her office to investigate the incident.

Patricia
used the phone in her boss’s office to call the police.

“Is everyone okay,” Vivian asked
then saw a woman near the wash bowls holding a towel to the side of her face. “I don’t want anyone to touch that brick,” and she walked in the direction of the injured woman. “Shit,” she mumbled.

The woman injured
, Robin Robertson, was a local anchorwoman for channel twelve. She had been a client of Vivian’s since the beginning. They met when Robin walked into her salon. Robin had just done a live report in the rain and was due to go back on the air. Her personal stylist was out and she asked Vivian if it was possible she could style her hair, explaining she was due back on the air in a couple of hours. Vivian didn’t hesitate and took care of Robin herself. Robin liked what Vivian had done with her hair and asked if she would be her regular stylist, because hers would soon be moving to LA. Vivian couldn’t get the word absolutely out quick enough.

“Robin I am so sorry,” Vivian said
and placing her hand gently on her client’s shoulder.

“I think I’m okay. I
t was a piece of flying glass that hit me.”

“Do you mind if I take a look?” Vivian asked.