Sisters and Husbands (4 page)

She could remember when Kevin first decided to leave his job as a partner at one of Washington’s top law firms to start his
own firm about ten years ago. She had initially been dead set against the idea, thinking it too risky, too life altering.
Yet she also saw that it was very important to Kevin, and she let him talk her into going along with it. In the end, as his
firm began to take shape and do very well, she became his strongest supporter. In return, Kevin had enthusiastically backed
her when she wanted to return to graduate school to pursue her Ph.D.

That kind of give-and-take, which had sustained them for so long, would never happen now. Kevin had become too self-absorbed,
too stubborn, too selfish. He had erected a wall around himself, and she just couldn’t seem to get through to him anymore.
Yet she hadn’t given up on him completely. A part of her still hoped that she would one day come home and find the man she
had married waiting there for her.

She strode across the kitchen and into the foyer. She kicked off her heels, picked up the mail from the center table, and
tried to clear her head of all her worries. After meeting the chef with her sisters, she had stopped by Andre’s apartment
in Baltimore and fixed dinner for him. It had been a long day, and her feet were aching. Kevin was probably on the computer
in the den, and she wanted to relax, maybe read a good book and catch some news on CNN. She picked up her shoes and the mail
and headed up the staircase.

She heard a commotion coming from the master bedroom as she reached the top landing. A couple of thumps, footsteps shuffling
across the hardwood floor, drawers being slammed shut. Was Kevin cleaning or something? These days she never knew what to
expect from the man.

She entered the bedroom just as Kevin closed the door to his walk-in closet. She was about to ask what all the noise was about,
but instead she stopped in her tracks and stared at him—her heels dangling from one hand, Fendi bag and mail in the other.
Kevin had shaved his head; not a single strand of hair was left. All thoughts of the commotion she’d just heard vanished from
her mind.

“My God, Kevin. What did you do?”

“What’s it look like?” he responded curtly.

It wasn’t his tone that bothered Evelyn the most these days. It was the indifference in his expression. He walked toward the
bed, and that’s when she noticed about a dozen of his suits lying across it, including a couple of his prized Brionis.

“What are you doing with those?” she asked as he scooped them into his arms.

“Giving them to Goodwill. I won’t be needing them anymore.”

“You’re not serious?”

“Oh, yeah,” he said. “I’m very serious.”

“But why? You spent thousands of dollars on those suits.”

“Exactly. I told you, I’m sick and tired of this materialistic lifestyle. Hell, you’re probably wearing two or three designer
labels right this very minute, between the suit, the bag, and the shoes. It makes no sense.”

Evelyn rolled her eyes to the ceiling. Not this again, she thought. She was about to tell him not to do something he would
later regret. But given all the changes he had made in his life lately, getting rid of his designer suits was nearly nothing.
“What is going on with you, Kevin? You left your law firm, a firm you spent a decade building from the ground up. You’re working
at Blockbuster now, for God’s sake. You sold your Mercedes and bought an old beat-up BMW. When is this craziness going to
stop?”

He scoffed. “I’m just getting started, and it’s about time you figured that out.” He brushed past her and headed toward the
doorway.

“Kevin,” she protested. “We need to talk about this. You’re always running off.” He didn’t stop at the sound of her voice.
He didn’t even look in her direction.

She stamped her foot and stared at the empty doorway. She could no longer deny it or even rationalize it. The old Kevin—the
loving, generous, ambitious family man she had married—was gone. And it was going to be hard to get him back. Maybe impossible.

T
he second Beverly spotted Julian in the hotel restaurant—standing tall and bronze and smiling warmly in her direction—her
heart did a little shuffle. They had been dating for a year, and he still had the power to melt her with a single glance.

He removed his eyeglasses and kissed her tenderly on the lips, and the masculine scent of his cologne made her heart flutter.
She smiled as they slid next to each other in a quiet, secluded booth at the back of the restaurant. They had developed the
naughty little practice of spending one night a month in a different local hotel. They would meet in the restaurant or bar
for drinks and dinner and then head up to their reserved room. Sometimes it was a fancy hotel at the Baltimore Harbor or in
Georgetown in D.C. Other times it was a simple roadside motel. Today they had chosen a chic little spot on East Lombard Street
in downtown Baltimore.

The regular rendezvous were Julian’s idea, and it was typical of the way he often blended the familiar with something exotic.
When she was anxious about work or frustrated with the wedding preparations, she could think about the night of passion they
had planned for that month. It never failed to put a smile on her face.

He ordered an apple martini for her and a regular one for himself, and she told him all about the fitting and meeting with
the chef that afternoon. Julian was as manly as they come and he loved all manner of sports, with the Baltimore Ravens being
his favorite ball team. His determination to get out on the golf course on weekend mornings bordered on fanatical. And yet
he could sit and listen contentedly to Beverly go on about things like dresses and wedding cakes and her sisters.

When Beverly first met Julian at a party at Valerie’s apartment a year earlier, it was instant attraction for the both of
them. Beverly was licking French onion dip off her fingers when she turned away from the buffet table and collided with a
tall, bronze-complexioned stranger wearing dark-rimmed eyeglasses. He was holding a drink that nearly spilled on her. Fortunately
he pulled away just as Beverly jumped back, and some of the beverage ended up hitting the floor instead of her off-white summer
dress.

They both apologized repeatedly to each other as he stooped down to blot the floor with his napkin. When he stood back up
and looked at Beverly, it slowly dawned on her that this was no ordinary guy. On the surface, he looked a bit nerdish with
his semi-round barrister-style eyeglasses and a crisp white shirt tucked in neatly at the waist. But he was tall—about six
foot two—and well-built, with broad shoulders and a slender waist.

“You sure you’re all right?” he asked her again.

She put on her best smile. “I’m fine, really.”

“I didn’t get any vodka and Coke on that pretty white dress, did I?”

“Nope. Not a drop.”

He wiped his brow with mock relief. “Whew! Close call.”

“Yes, it was a little close.”

He extended his free hand a little awkwardly, as he balanced his glass and a small plate holding cheese and crackers in his
other hand. “By the way, I’m Julian. And you are… ?”

“Beverly.”

“Beverly,” he repeated. “I always wanted to meet a Beverly.”

“Yeah, right.” She laughed. “I bet you say that to every woman you meet.”

“No, not at all,” he said, looking very serious. Then he cracked a devilish smile. “Only to the pretty ones.”

She laughed again. For some odd reason, she found this geeky guy and his weak jokes heart-stoppingly alluring. He was nothing
like the cool Casanovas she normally went for, and that was refreshing.

“So, are you a friend of Valerie’s?” Julian asked.

Beverly nodded. “I’ve known her for years, ever since college. And she’s standing right behind you.”

Beverly pointed and Julian turned as Valerie, wearing an ankle-length denim skirt and a white cotton blouse with the collar
turned up beneath her shoulder-length black hair, approached the two of them. “I see that you guys have bumped into each other,”
Valerie said as she picked up a carrot from the buffet table and dipped it into the veggie dip.

“Literally,” Beverly said. She and Julian laughed.

“Oh?” Valerie looked from one to the other, not quite getting the joke.

“We came within inches of colliding,” Beverly explained.

“Almost spilled my drink on her,” Julian added.

“Ah,” Valerie said, nodding with understanding.

“How do you two know each other?” Beverly asked. She was curious but also wanted to be sure that Julian wasn’t someone Valerie
was interested in before she explored him any further. Beverly and Valerie had met at Hampton University in Virginia when
Beverly discovered that her then boyfriend was cheating on her with another woman. That other woman turned out to be Valerie.

Beverly had lived on campus. Valerie lived in Newport News, a neighboring town, with her parents and a baby daughter whose
father she had divorced. Beverly and Valerie met in English class, became friends, and soon realized that they were dating
the same man and that each was in the dark about the other. By the end of the first semester, they had both ditched the guy.
They had been friends ever since, and fighting over men was a no-no. Not that anything would necessarily develop between her
and Julian, Beverly thought. But just in case, she wanted to be sure she wasn’t barging in on her best friend.

“Julian works with me,” Valerie said. “He’s the best computer animator this side of the Atlantic.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” he said modestly.

“It’s true,” Valerie said.

“What exactly is an animator?” Beverly asked.

“I’m the one who transforms Valerie’s creative ideas from hand-drawn artwork into pixels on the computer monitor.”

“Fascinating.” Beverly nodded and smiled. So he worked at the graphic design firm where Valerie was employed, and he really
was
a geek. The three of them chatted for a few minutes until Valerie asked Beverly to help her out in the kitchen and the girls
walked off.

“My co-worker likes you,” Valerie blurted out as soon as they were out of earshot. Valerie walked to the refrigerator and
removed two trays filled with carrots, celery sticks, and broccoli and placed them on the countertop.

Beverly began to remove the plastic wrap covering one of the trays. “Get out. I just met the dude.”

“So?” Valerie said. “I’ve worked side by side with Julian for a few months now, long enough to get to know him. He likes you.”

“How can you tell?”

“The way he looks at you. Or rather the way he can’t
stop
looking at you.”

“I do think he’s cute. A little geeky maybe, but cute.”

“I agree,” Valerie said, laughing. “He’s a total geek, but anyone who thinks geeks can’t be cute and sexy is dead wrong.”

“I know. They’re the ones who rule the world, I always say. They get the best jobs, make the most money.”

“And they’re less likely to cheat on you than the playas.”

Beverly nodded. “I’m surprised you never mentioned him, since you two work so closely and you’re always trying to fix me up
with someone when you’re not interested in them.”

Valerie shrugged as she removed the plastic wrap from the veggies. “Guess I didn’t think he was your type.”

“What’s my type?” Beverly asked, wondering how Valerie had pegged her.

“You know, suave, drop-dead gorgeous.”

“You mean, playa.”

“Unfortunately, we’ve both been suckers for all the suckers out there. We met in college ’cause our boyfriend was two-timing
us with each other. Remember?”

“How could I forget?” Beverly said. “Sometimes I think that’s why we’re both still single. Given the rotten luck I’ve had
with men all these years, maybe I need to change my type.” She looked at Valerie. “You’re not into him, are you? Because if
you are, I’ll—”

Valerie shook her head. “Nah, I got my eyes on someone else tonight.”

“Cool.” That was good news to Beverly’s ears. It meant she could explore this budding thing with Julian. “I saw you talking
to that guy with the shaved head. That him?”

Valerie nodded. “Yeah, Otis. What do you think?”

“He’s hot. Kind of reminds me of a slightly older Taye Diggs. Where’d you meet him?”

“He works at my office too. He’s a programmer. Just started about two weeks ago.”

“Sounds like another good-looking geek,” Beverly said.

Valerie laughed.

“Seriously, maybe I need to change jobs. I mean, I love working at the
Baltimore Sun
, but you got all these smart, hot brothers working with you.”

Several minutes later, Beverly and Valerie walked back into the party, each carrying a tray of veggies and dip. Julian quickly
sought out Beverly, and they spent much of the rest of the evening getting to know each other. Then they met for lunch midweek,
followed by dinner and a movie on Saturday for two consecutive weekends. The second movie and dinner date turned into an overnighter
at Julian’s apartment, and he and Beverly were pretty much inseparable from that point on.

When Beverly telephoned Valerie to tell her how things were going with Julian, Valerie was shocked to learn how quickly they
had become a couple.

“I wouldn’t have put you two together in a million years,” Valerie said. “Just goes to show you what I know.”

Beverly could hardly believe it herself. She had spent years looking for someone who not only made her feel good between the
sheets but also treated her good, only to become convinced that men like that showed up just in movies. Initially, she had
a hard time believing her relationship with Julian could be the real deal.

That was why when he proposed to her within six weeks of their first date, she immediately turned him down. She was definitely
falling for him. What was not to love? He was good-looking, owned his own house, had an exciting career as a computer animator,
and was a tiger in bed. True, he was a bit geeky with the glasses and a penchant for pixels, but she had come to appreciate
that. Her new motto was that nothing was better than a man with the three Ss—single, sweet, and successful.