The Night Before Thirty (34 page)

People never cease to amaze me,
she said to herself as she took the steps up to the street. She had a half-mile walk to get to her apartment. It was freezing out and flakes of snow were falling.

Catara looked up at the snow.
This time next year, I will be a professional designer,
she promised herself.

Inside her apartment, Catara threw her coat, scarf, and gloves on the floor and walked over to her cordless phone to check her voice mail.

“You have one new message,” the automated voice said.

“Catara, this is Cheryl. Give me a call as soon as you get this message,” she said.“I have good news, so call me now. Love you, cuz.”

Catara took a seat on her sofa and noticed how out of line she was for throwing her garments down, so she got up to pick them up as she dialed.“Hey, Cheryl. This is Catara. I got your message. What's up?”

“Are you sitting down?” Cheryl asked.

“No. Do I need to be?” Catara asked as she picked up her things.

“I would if I were you,” Cheryl said.

“So what is it?”

Catara walked over to her closet, put her coat and scarf on a hanger, stuffed her gloves into a pocket of the coat, and took a seat on her bed.

“Catara, you're not going to believe this. Do you remember La-mont?” Cheryl asked.

“Yeah. The guy who took us to the airport before Thanksgiving.”

“Yeah, him,” Cheryl replied.

“He asked you to marry him?” Catara joked.

“Where would you get a thought like that, silly?” Cheryl said. Her voice was even mousier than usual.“No. He really liked the pajamas you were wearing when he came over that morning.”

“I remember. He told me he liked them then.”

“I mean he
really
liked them, to the point that he told his best friend about them, and he wants to see them,” Cheryl said with excitement in her voice.

“Okay. That's nice to know, but what's so great about Lamont's best friend wanting to see my pajamas?”

“His best friend is one of the head lingerie designers for Victoria's Secret!” Cheryl screamed.“He wants to branch off and form an upscale plus-size lingerie line. He has created the lingerie but is interested in seeing your pajamas to possibly bring you and your line to the collection.”

“Oh my God. Are you serious?” Catara replied. She fell back on the bed.

“Yes, and he wants to meet with you immediately and see the pajamas that Lamont saw, plus anything else that you have. He also wants to see any of your other sketches of lingerie.”

Catara sat up. She was overwhelmed, ecstatic. She'd never sent a résumé or samples to Victoria's Secret, because she just assumed that they wouldn't be interested or that they'd discriminate against her once they saw her, because of her weight.

“So what do I need to do to contact him?” she asked.

Cheryl gave her his name and number and told her to call first thing the next morning.

“I'm so nervous. What if he doesn't like my work? No. I know he'll like it. He'd better like it,” Catara said.

“All I know is that when I told Lamont about your background, he said his friend is looking for a designer and that your pajamas are going to blow him away.”

“Unbelievable,” Catara said.

“Yeah, cuz. It's happening for you,” Cheryl said.

“It is, isn't it,” Catara replied.

When the two hung up the phone Catara lay back on her bed with a broad smile on her face. She thought her previous interview had been the chance of a lifetime, but this one beat them all. Once she got her interview date, she was going to mark off that date from her calendar to make sure there would be no customers to prevent her from getting there on time.

The phone rang and interrupted her bliss.

She put it up to her ear.

“Hello,” she answered.

“May I speak to Catara?” the male voice said.

“This is Catara. With whom am I speaking?” she said attempting to pep up her voice.

“This is Marcus Radford. I met you a few days ago on a flight going to Miami. Remember, you gave up your seat to me so that I could sit in the aisle.”

“Of course I remember you,” Catara said. She sat up.

“So how was your trip?” he asked.

“It was great. Thanks for asking. And you were traveling on business, right?”

“Yes I was. It was a productive weekend, but I did get down to South Beach one night. I had a good time.”

“That's nice to hear. Marcus, could you hold on for just a second?” Catara asked. She put the phone to the side of her and stood up off the bed and covered her mouth, which was wide open, while jumping up and down beside the bed. She took a deep breath and picked the phone back up.

“Is everything okay?” he asked.

“Everything is fine,” she replied calmly.

“So, Catara. The reason that I'm calling you is that I have tickets to see
The Producers
on Broadway. I hear the wardrobe is phenomenal. They actually won a Tony Award for costume design, and I figured that you, of all people, would appreciate going.”

“Thank you, Marcus. That is really nice of you,” she replied. She knew he was a good guy from their lengthy discussion during their flight together, but she never would have taken him to be the type who would call her up just to give her tickets to a show because he thought she would enjoy checking out the costuming.

“And I was thinking that maybe we could grab a bite to eat afterward and continue the engaging conversation we began on the plane.”

“So are you asking me out on a date?” Catara asked.

He chuckled.“Well, I guess I am. Are you saying yes?”

“I guess I am,” she replied.

They laughed.

“The tickets are for this Saturday night. I hope that date works for you.”

“Saturday works well,” she said.

“Great,” he said and sighed.“It's been a while since I've gotten the nerve up to do something like this, so I'm glad you said yes. Well, Catara, you have a good evening and I do look forward to seeing you Saturday,” he said, sounding rushed.

“Wait a minute. I want to share my news with you, if you don't mind,” she said.

Catara told him about her interview and the possibility of other things. They continued talking that evening for an hour or so.

Catara hung up the phone feeling elated. She knew that every day wasn't going to be as sweet as the one she was having, but she embraced the good feeling of possibility, of what was yet to come.

HEN THE RED
light flashed on, Melvin Green began speaking.“This is Melvin Green and the Morning Show Crew. I hope you enjoyed that list of songs we just played for you. I'm sure that last one, by Mary J. Blige, will help you get your day going. My girl, Louisa Montero, has something that she'd like to say to the ladies that she spent her birthday weekend with. Now, I heard that you took over Miami and caused so much chaos in the Grand Bahamas that they kicked you ladies off the island.”

“And you know we turned it out, but in a good way! They're begging us to come back! This is Louisa Montero, and I just wanted to shout out to my sisters in spirit: Alecia, Catara, Elise, Lashawnda, and Tanya. Ladies, I don't know if the timing will ever be right for us to do it again, but let me tell you now, our Night Before Thirty birthday vacation was a moment in time I'll never forget. Each of you is special in your own unique way, and I wish each and every one of you a life filled with love and happiness as you embark on life beyond thirty. God bless each of you, and just know that there's a piece of all of you in my heart.”

Melvin cut in, “Ah, ain't that so sweet. I think I'm gonna cry. I think I'm gonna have a birthday celebration of my own and call it the Night Before … Let's not go there with my age. Anyway, I bet you ladies had a good time. And on behalf of Melvin Green and the Morning Show
Crew, I'd like to play a song for you birthday girls. But I'm gonna also dedicate it to every lady out there who is about to turn thirty, who is thirty, or who has long since passed thirty—that's you, Mom. This song is for you.”

Melvin sat back and grinned as “Isn't She Lovely?” by Stevie Wonder played.

Isn't she lovely? Isn't she wonderful!