The Best Thing He Never Knew He Needed (36 page)

“
No, I don’t. I’m four
months pregnant and have to walk around in this,” she said pointing
at the dress as it laid on the bed where she initially found it.
She didn’t even pick it up, hold it against her body and twirl in
the mirror like most women did when they got a new dress. She’d
rather worked in the outfit she had on already – a pair of black
tights and a tunic with a comfortable pair of gladiator
sandals.

“
It’s beautiful, Rita,”
Emily said.

“
It is beautiful. That’s
not the problem. The problem is, I need to move around, snap
pictures…the material of this dress…it’s just…this is not a work
outfit for me.”

“
Rita, you know how
meticulous Dante is about business-related functions. Now come on,
pep up and try it on at least.”

“
I don’t want to try it
on. And I feel like I’m going to puke.” Sherita sat on the
bed.

Emily sat down beside her,
taking her left hand into her right. “Is there anything I can
do?”

Sherita shook her head.
“No. The nausea comes and goes.”

“
Oh, girl don’t I know it.
When I was pregnant with Ezra, the first three months kicked my
butt. Some days I would be fine and the next, I didn’t want to get
out of bed. You’re having two…I can only imagine how strenuous it
must be.”

Sherita nodded.

“
Are you ready?” Emily
asked.

“
For what?”

“
To be a
mother?”

A smile came to Sherita’s
face. “I am. I’ve always wanted children…didn’t know I would have
two at the same time, but I always wanted them.”

“
Me too.”

“
Hey, did you feel
different when you were pregnant?” Sherita asked.

“
Different
how?”

Sherita shrugged. “I feel
like I’m more emotional.” She smiled and continued, “I don’t ever
recall being so sensitive and nurturing.”

“
I was the same way. Your
hormone level is changing…your body’s changing…it’s natural to feel
that way.”

“
Good…thought I was losing
it for a minute.”

“
No, it’s completely
normal,” Emily assured her. “Now that I’ve cleared that up, let’s
talk about something completely
abnormal
. Tell me about Desmond.”
Emily tried to hold in a laugh, but to no avail. She was so
tickled, she leaned forward and had a good belly laugh.

Sherita giggled then said,
“You better stop talking about my man like that.” She remembered a
time she used to think Desmond was nuts. Now that she knew him,
understood him and loved him, she thought the world of
him.

“
I’m only kidding,” Emily
said. “Seriously, though, are you ready to spend your life with a
Champion man? Judging by the way he was looking at you and locking
lips with you last night, I guess you have no choice but to be
ready, huh?”

Sherita’s smile grew, even
amidst the nausea. “Yes, I’m ready. I think it’s so funny how I
ended up with the very man I said I wouldn’t give the time of day.
I guess, deep down, I really did like him.”

“
Just as I
suspected.”

“
You didn’t suspect
anything, Em.”

“
Oh yes I did. I saw you
checking him out a few times.”

Sherita’s eyes twinkled.
“I’ve always found him attractive, but he has a certain arrogance
about himself.”

“
Girl, they all do.
Melanie said the same thing about Dimitrius.”

“
She did?” Sherita asked,
eyebrows raised.

“
Yes. She didn’t tell you
how Dimitrius walked right up to her and said that he
chose
her to be the
woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with?”

“
Dimitrius did that?”
Sherita asked, surprised.

“
He sure did,” Emily said.
“I see we have a lot to talk about on our girl nights.”

Sherita nodded. “Being
married to successful, interesting men will always give us
something to talk about. They are something else.”

“
Yes they are,” Emily
agreed. “One thing is for certain though.”

“
What’s that?”

“
Like Melanie said, when a
Champion wants you, he wants you and trust me, Desmond Champion
loves himself some Sherita.”

Sherita smiled. “Just as
much as Dante loves him some Emily. Is he still telling everybody
you’re his paradise wife?”

The women
laughed.

“
Girl, yes. He told Mr.
Westwood that when he introduced me to him.”

“
That’s so sweet,” Sherita
said.

“
I heard Desmond used to
call you his kryptonite…said you made him weak.”

Cheeks turning a shade of
red, Sherita said through a smile, “He didn’t say that, did
he?”

“
Sure did…even before
y’all were married,” Emily confirmed. “That’s why he was avoiding
you for so long…’cause you made him weak.”

The women laughed
together.

“
And now look at you
guys,” Emily said. “The woman he was avoiding, who ironically was
the same woman who made him weak, turned out to be the best thing
he never knew he needed.”

Sherita’s smile
widened.

“
Now go ahead and put that
dress on, girl.” Emily glanced at her watch. “I have to get dressed
shortly.”

“
Okay.” Sherita took the
dress from the bed, heading for the bathroom. She quickly
undressed, carefully removing the tag from the three-thousand
dollar dress then stepped into it, pulling it up her small frame.
She slid the zipper up to secure the dress, then looked in the
mirror. It fit her body perfectly, and with the ruffles draped in
front of it, you couldn’t see her tiny baby bump. She stepped out
of the bathroom and into the bedroom where Emily was waiting. “How
does it look, Em?”

Emily’s mouth fell open.
“Absolutely amazing.”

Sherita looked at herself
in the full body mirror on the bedroom wall. The dress was amazing,
so amazing it would make her blend in with the brides. The thought
of it made her think about the wedding she never had. She’d taken
tons of pictures of other people’s weddings and in the back of her
mind, she always knew her time would come eventually, but a
courthouse wedding was all she had. There were no pictures. No
saved memories. There was nothing special about that
day.

She used to imagine how
she would feel, walking down the aisle with her eyes locked on her
man, marrying him in front of friends and family. Dancing with
them. Celebrating love with them. But her
happily ever after
didn’t happen the
way she thought it would. She’d gotten married first (to a man she
didn’t love), gotten pregnant shortly thereafter, then fell madly
in love. How backwards was that?

She smiled, thinking about
it. So what – they didn’t have a wedding. She had Desmond, and
that’s all that mattered.

“
Now we need to do
something to your hair,” Emily said.

“
My hair?” Sherita said,
looking at her hair in the mirror now. “I just got it done
yesterday. What’s wrong with it?”

“
Well, first of all, I
need to brush the back,” Emily said, taking a brush from Sherita’s
purse. “Looks like Desmond has been playing in it
again.”

Sherita giggled.

After Emily finished
brushing her hair, she said, “And you need a flower or something in
it?”

Sherita frowned. “A
flower?”

“
Yes. Remember, we have to
blend in.” Emily took hair pins from her purse, then plucked two
white roses from a fake bouquet that was used as décor in the
room.

“
Then where’s your flower,
Em?”

“
It’s in my
suitcase…putting it on after I get dressed.” Emily finger-combed
Sherita’s hair behind her right ear. Then she pinned three roses in
her hair, just above her ear. “You like?”

Sherita looked in the
mirror. “Yes. It looks nice. Thanks, Em.”

“
You’re welcome. Now let
me get out of here so I can get dressed.”

“
All right, Emily. See you
in a few.”

Emily stopped in her
tracks, turned back to look at Sherita.

“
What’s wrong?” Sherita
asked.

“
Nothing. I…I just wanted
to say that—” She took a breath. “I wanted to say that I’ve
appreciated your friendship over the years, Sherita, and I’m so
glad you’re my sister-in-law. I’ve always loved you like a sister
anyway.”

“
Aw, Emily,” Sherita said,
briskly walking over to Emily, wrapping her arms around her. “I
love you like a sister too.”

When the women separated,
Emily dabbed the corner of her eyes with the fold of her index
finger. “Okay, let me go. I know Dante’s looking for me. See you in
a bit.”

“
All right,
Emily.”

CHAPTER 47

Sherita put the finishing
touches on her makeup, rubbed lotion on her arms then gathered her
equipment. She glanced at her watch. She had a few minutes before
she had to meet Dante in the lobby, so she dug her cell from her
purse and called Desmond.

“
Hey, you,” he
answered.

“
Hey, Des.”

“
Uh, oh…I don’t think I
like your voice. What’s wrong, baby?”

Sherita shook her head.
“Nothing.”

“
It’s something. Talk to
me.”

“
The babies just have me
feeling a little nauseated this morning.”

“
Sweetie, call down to the
front desk and have one of the ladies bring you a Ginger
Ale.”

“
Okay. I will.”

“
Is that all that’s
bothering you?” he probed.

“
No. I was thinking about
how I’m going to be taking pictures of all these happy couples, and
you’re not here with me. I wish you could be here, Des.”

“
I know you do, baby, but
you’ll see me soon enough. I promise.”

“
Okay.” Sherita glanced at
her watch. “I guess I better get ready to go
downstairs.”

“
Okay, my love. See you
soon.”

“
Bye, Des.”

“
Bye, baby.”

Sherita sighed, dropped her
phone on the bed and using the phone in the suite, she called the
front desk and requested a Ginger Ale. It couldn’t have been five
minutes later and it had been delivered to her room.

She took a few sips then
made sure she had all the camera equipment in her bag. She hung the
camera around her neck as she usually did while working. It was
easily accessible and convenient that way.

When she heard taps at the
door, she stood up, took her bag in her hand and the bottle of
Ginger Ale while heading for the door. She was certain it was
Emily, coming to get her so they could head down to the lobby
together.

It was.

When they stepped off the
elevator to the lobby, Sherita followed Emily to where Dante was
standing.

Leaving Sherita there with
Dante, Emily said, “See you later, Rita.”

“
Okay,” Sherita said, then
looked at Dante. “So this is it?”

He smirked. “You seem
nervous?”

“
I am. It’s not every day
a girl gets a job this big.”

Dante smiled. She didn’t
know how true that was.

“
So I guess I’ll just go
and do my thing,” Sherita said, anxious to get started.

“
Wait…I need to show you a
few things first. You can leave your bag and camera here for
now…don’t need you carrying that extra weight around.”

“
Oh. Okay.”

Dante looked over at the
lobby desk and said, “Hey Steven.”

Steven came out from behind
the desk, walking over to them. “Yes, sir?”

“
Can you see to it that
Sherita’s belongings are taken care of?”

“
Sure thing,” he said,
taking the bag and the camera.

“
Thanks, man,” Dante told
him.

“
No problem.”

Turning to Sherita, seeing
the confusion on her face, Dante said, “Walk with me.”

“
Okay,” Sherita said,
following him. Where was he taking her? She’d already toured the
place when she first arrived. What was there left to—

“
Dad?” Sherita saw her
father standing at the main doors to the lobby. When she was close
enough to him, she asked, “Dad, what are you doing here?” She
didn’t wait for an answer before she threw her arms around his
neck.

“
I’ll be outside,” Dante
said to them, then proceeded through the doors.

When she let him go, she
looked at him and asked, “Did you come to see me work?”

Her father took her by the
hands. Standing face-to-face with her, he said, “No. I came to walk
my sweet daughter down the aisle on her special day.”

Sherita snapped her head
back. “Dad, you’re confused. I’m working. This is a mass wedding
that happens once a year here. The Champion Corporation hired me as
the photographer for the event. Did you…did you think I was getting
married?”