Full Figured 10 (19 page)

I stood to leave and head home, but Yvonne walked into my office just then.

“Hey, how are you?” I asked, shocked. Lance always worked at the office, never on site, so what she was doing there, I had no idea.

“I'm fantastic. Are you on your way out?”

“As a matter of fact, I am.”

“Well, I'm glad I caught you.” She smiled brightly and then took a seat. “First, I wanted to say that I am glad you and Lynn came out to my birthday celebration. It was, like, the best party I've ever had in my life.”

“I bet,” I smirked.

“It was, but now I have to plan something for Lance. His birthday is in a couple of months, and since you're his best friend, I figured you could be my party-planning partner.”

“Aw, Yvonne, I'd love to, but I think you should get with Lynn on that. She'd be better than me.”

“Nooo,” she whined. “Secretly, I know your wife is not too fond of me. Most women aren't, so I'm not mad at her. However, you're Lance's best friend, and in order for this to be the party of the century, you and I will have to work side by side to make this happen.”

Unwillingly I agreed. “Okay, Yvonne. Whatever you need.”

She hopped up and down like a bunny. “Yay!” she squealed. “I will come by your house maybe Saturday morning with a list of ideas, and we can get this party started.”

“Okay. But I have to work this Saturday, so it has to be early, like before nine.”

“I'm there. I just want to keep this on the low. I've never been able to surprise him, so I really want this to be special.”

“Hey, I'll be happy to help.” I stood, and I walked her to the door. I had a funny feeling, because I was about to help plan a party for a man who I was also going to investigate due to the possibility that he was stealing from me.

I headed home, feeling like maybe I was making a mistake. I mean, Lance had made some serious money, and I had never pried, so he could have had great investments and other things going on in his world. With that, I started to second-guess my decision, and I started to wonder why Lynn was so concerned about this when we lived well.

I walked into the house. Whatever she was cooking smelled divine. I made my way to the kitchen, where I found Lynn.

“I talked to Royce. He's going to send over all the numbers for the past five years,” I said as I opened the fridge for a beer.

“Okay, and I'm sure you have absolutely nothing to worry about.”

I was silent for a moment. She sounded supportive and loving, but that didn't help how I felt about being a grown-up idiot. If Lance had been stealing from me, it only served me right for being a dumb ass and for never going back to school.

“Baby, I feel so stupid,” I confessed.

“Will, baby, don't say that. You are brilliant. You build homes, businesses, and corporate offices from the ground up with your knowledge and skills, so damn a book. You are more brilliant than a man who has ten degrees. At the end of the day, not many can do what you do, so please, don't insult yourself. Hell, don't insult me. I married a brilliant man, and school doesn't make a man. You are self-made and damn good at what you do, so please, bae, don't.”

I listened, but my head still hung low. “How did I not see it?”

“You just trusted someone, baby. We all do. I trusted Chez, but he let me down. And we don't know yet about Lance. Let's get proof before we go down this road, okay?”

She was right. “Okay. I'm going to go up and shower. What's for dinner?”

“Smothered chicken, rice, veggies, and a side of good loving afterward.”

“All I want on my plate is the side of good loving, please, for now.” I smiled, readjusting my dick in my Dickies. It instantly swelled at the thought of being inside of her.

“How about saving that for dessert? The chicken, rice, and veggies will give you energy, and then she will give you pleasure.” She point toward her treasure.

“That is a better idea. I love you, woman, and you better know it.”

“I do, and I love you too, man. You better know it.”

I smiled. “I do. I'll be back down in a little while. Fix me a drink, would ya?”

“What my baby wants is what he gets.”

I kissed her and then headed up the steps and showered. After a nice dinner, we settled on the sofa, and we didn't dare speak about Lance and his possible misappropriation of funds. We talked about making love and making babies. We decided we'd work on making a baby while we worked on ascertaining Lance's loyalty to me and our friendship and to my company.

“Yvonne, you're here,” I said when I opened the front door.

“I said bright and early.” She walked in without an invite. She headed for the kitchen, stopped at the island, tossed her designer bag onto a stool, and then handed me a large OJ and a Dunkin' Donuts bag.

“Thanks. I honestly forgot you were coming.”

“Well, you may want to take advantage of the apps in your phone. Even I know there is an appointment app,” she scolded and took a seat. She pulled out a list. “Okay, first things first. Themes. Now, I know Lance is a sports guy and he loves cars, but I'm at a loss when it comes to choosing one.”

I took a swig of the juice, and it was a little bitter. But I wasn't rude, so I drank it, anyway, and then fished around in the bag and took out a hot breakfast sandwich. I was glad she was thoughtful enough to show up with breakfast, because she was messing with my timeline.

“Yvonne, are you sure you can't do this with my wife? I mean, Lynn is very capable of helping you.”

“But you're his best friend, not Lynn,” she snapped.

“You're right, so my suggestion will be sports.”

“Bulls or Bears?”

“Bears.”

“Indoor or out?”

“Out. That way we can do some touch football and grilling. You should consider park space. Have a half field drawn out and have, like, a tailgate theme.”

“Oh, my fucking God. You are brilliant,” she said, her eyes bright.

“Get with some barbecue restaurant and see what it will cost to have them set up different food stations. We can have kegs, contests and giveaways, sports trivia. It could be awesome.”

“Okay, I will do a lot of shopping and then get back to you with the figures.”

Pause!
“Come again?”

“Will, you know I'm not working, and Lance deserves a party. I mean, he's your best friend. Surely, you can fund it if I plan it right,” she said, looking like an innocent eight-year-old little girl. At that moment I saw how she had Lance wrapped around her finger.

“Okay, well, let me ask this. What kind of budget are you looking at?”

“Ten grand.”

I almost spit out the orange juice. “Ten grand? Lance is my best friend, not my wife.”

“Come on, Will. That is the cheapest. I mean, we are trying to do a lot of stuff.”

“Yvonne, Lance doesn't even know enough people to invite.”

“I know, but I'll be inviting my friends, and you saw the turnout at my party.”

She had a point. There had been a slew of people there.

“Six,” I offered.

“Eight,” she countered.

“Seven. And that's my final offer.”

“Done,” she agreed. She hopped up and ran over to squeeze my neck. “Thank you, Will. Lance is going to be so happy. You're awesome.”

“Yeah, I know.”'

“I'll be in touch,” she said, grabbing her things. She hurried to the door.

I downed the OJ and headed upstairs to finish getting ready for work. I pondered how I had just agreed to spend seven grand on a party for a man who I thought was stealing funds from me. Lynn was going to flip her lid.

“Damn!” I said to myself and wondered how I'd tell her.

When I got to work, I started to feel a little funny. My stomach was cramping so bad that I could no longer ignore the discomfort, so I handed my assistant my clipboard and headed home. Unable to deal with the pain, I force myself to vomit but hardly got any relief. I went for the phone and called Lynn, and she was home within thirty minutes.

“What did you eat?” she asked me as I lay in bed.

Clenching the covers, I replied, “Dunkin' Donuts. I had a breakfast sandwich and orange juice.”

She felt my head. “Well, you're burning up. It may be a virus, baby. Let me get you some soup and tea, and we have Alka-Seltzer. That should help.”

“Okay.” I frowned. I hadn't experienced a stomachache this bad ever in my life.

A few minutes later she came back with the stomach medicine, and she brought up a bucket.

“Drink this, baby. I've been in situations where I vomited within minutes after drinking it, so here is a bucket. I'm going to go downstairs and make some soup for you.”

“Thank you, baby,” I whispered, taking quick sips. I wanted to down the Alka-Seltzer so I could have some relief.

After twenty minutes or so, Lynn was back. I hadn't vomited, and the Alka-Seltzer had given me a little relief. Not as much as I would have liked.

She fed me a few spoonfuls of the soup, and I just wanted to go to sleep.

“Here, baby. Try some more soup first.”

I nodded but wanted to say no. I managed two more spoons and lay there and thanked God when I felt myself finally drifting off to sleep.

I woke up sometime that night and was feeling so much better. Whatever had hit me had hit me hard. I went into the bathroom, looked in the mirror, and was happy to see that my color had returned. That bug had sure hit me out of nowhere.

I climbed back in bed.

“Baby, how are you feeling?” Lynn asked when she walked into the room.

“Better. That bug whipped your man's ass today, baby.”

“I know. I'm so glad you're feeling better.”

“Me too.”

“Okay. Good night, baby,” she said.

I kissed the side of her head. “Good night.”

The next day, when I got to the office, I was grateful to be feeling better. At lunch I was going to head to a sandwich shop nearby, but Lance and Yvonne walked in.

“What brings you to the site?” I asked, my brow furrowed. “You know you don't like getting your hands dirty.”

“The guys told me how sick you were yesterday, so Yvonne thought it would be good to come check on you and bring you some lunch. Lynn said it was best to get you something light, so we got you some soup and orange juice. Yvonne talked me into it, because I was like, ‘He's a man, not a baby.'”

We all laughed.

“That's right, but I appreciate it.” I reached for the bag.

“No. Let me,” Yvonne offered. She put everything on my desk, and Lance and I sat. She handed me a bowl and then Lance, and she gave us each a cup of juice.

“Thanks,” I said. I carefully pulled back the lid on the soup, and it smelled good.

“So how's the married life? I mean, how are things at home with Lynn?” Lance asked.

“It's great. I don't have one complaint. I mean, she is amazing, and I'm going to have to start hitting the gym soon, because that woman can cook.”

“I wish this one here could.”

“Hey, I can cook,” Yvonne protested.

“Baby, setting the oven to four-fifty and setting a timer for a premade meal from the freezer is hardly what you can call cooking.”

“Well, I have other skills,” she teased.

“Well, a cooking class or two wouldn't kill you,” Lance replied.

He and I laughed.

“Maybe Lynn could give me a few pointers,” Yvonne mused.

“Ask her. I'm sure she'd do it,” I told her.

“Call her,” she ordered, pointing at my phone.

I picked the phone up, dialed Lynn, and put it on speaker.

“Hello?”

“Baby, hey.”

“Hey. What's going on?”

“I got you on speaker,” I said quickly. I knew Lynn. She'd probably say, “Hell naw!” when she heard Yvonne's request. “Lance and Yvonne are here, and Yvonne wants to know if you could give her a couple of cooking lessons.”

“Sure I could.”

In the back of my mind, I knew she'd have a few words for me for putting her on the spot.

“That would be fantastic.” Yvonne beamed.

“Yes, thank you, Lynn. This woman thinks microwave dinners means she cooks,” Lance interjected.

We all laughed.

“But I told him, Lynn, I have other skills,” Yvonne added.

We continue to laugh and chat a bit. By the time Lynn got off the phone, she and Yvonne had planned to meet the very next day for the first cooking lesson.

I finished out my day, and when I headed home, my stomach started to tug at me again. Praying it wouldn't be like the night before, I pulled into a service station, parked, and grabbed the Alka-Seltzer. After taking one with bottled water, I pulling out of the service station and hurried home. Before long I curled up in a ball on my bed. That was it. I was going to the doctor first thing the next morning.

* * *

As I had figured, it was a virus. I got an anti-nausea medication my doctor and headed to work. I took my meds and was feeling better. When I got home that day, I wasn't expecting to see Yvonne's car. I walked into the house, and the aroma of something good was in the air, so I headed straight to the kitchen.

“Oh, my goodness. Would you look at this?” I said, taking out my phone. Yvonne in the kitchen, in an apron. I'm putting this on Facebook,” I said and snapped a picture.

“Don't play with me, Will. Don't nobody need to know that I'm trying to be a little domesticated.” Yvonne tossed an oven mitt at me.

“Hey, baby,” Lynn said.

I walked over to greet her properly with a kiss. “Hey, gorgeous. You teaching this one how to cook?”

“Yep, I am.” She smiled.

“Well, let me get out of you ladies' way. I'm going up to shower.”

“And you better not post that pic, Will. I'm not playing.”

“I won't today, but I'll hold on to it for later. I'm sure I'll be able to blackmail you with it.”

“Whatever,” Yvonne returned.

We laughed, and then I ran on upstairs to shower. I was anxious for dinner, because it smelled divine.