He Loves Lucy (32 page)

Mercifully, the session soon ended, and Theo shook Dr. Lehman’s hand and waited while Lucy hugged her good-bye. He was half out the door when the two women broke into hoots of laughter, and Theo could have sworn he heard one of them say something about biscuits.

He asked Lucy about it in the car, but she pleaded doctor-patient confidentiality.

The entire hour of the
WakeUp Miami
show was to be dedicated to the story of Lucy’s life, and she was supposed to be sitting alone in a producer’s office while her family and anyone else they’d hauled in for this freak show were left to mill about in the green room.

Lucy sipped at a Styrofoam cup of black coffee and tried not to obsess about what she’d decided to wear to her own execution (a tailored suit jacket and matching slim skirt in a rich brown that looked great with her hair) or what Brad Zirkle would look like after all this time (she was hoping for fat and bald and poorly dressed) and what strange conversations might be taking place in the waiting room down the hall.

She was contemplating another trip to look out the window toward the MacArthur Causeway when the office door creaked open and Gia’s lush head of hair appeared.

“There you are,
chica
! She ran over to the desk chair and threw her arms around Lucy and whispered, ”God, I’ve missed you! You look mahvelous! I’m not supposed to be in here-it’s like it’s your wedding day or something; they don’t want anybody to see you before!“

Gia looked beautiful as always, but there was something different about her, and Lucy studied her closely until it dawned on her-it was Gia’s eyes. She looked radiantly happy.

“What have you been up to?” Lucy asked her, patting the desktop for Gia to have a seat. “I haven’t seen you in ages.”

“Oh, Lucy. Work has been crazy, you know? I got a shoot scheduled for next month in Sydney.”

Lucy smiled. “Wow!”

“And that’s not all, and I’m afraid to tell you about this other thing because-”

“Of Dan?”

Gia jolted and pursed her luscious lips. “Yeah. Because he’s your brother and he’s great, but he’s just not-”

“Right for you?”

Gia smiled and shook her head. “Yeah. I just ran into him in that green room, you know? And he was so sweet and we talked and I told him I was sorry for not being direct about it, but we’re cool now. I really like him, Lucy, but he’s more friend material, you know?”

“I know.”

Gia sighed. “But I met someone in. New York last month. He’s incredible. You’ll love him. I brought him home with me.”

Lucy felt her eyes go wide with surprise. “Like a puppy from the pound?”

“Ooh, girlie, listen to me when I tell you that this man is no puppy!”

The door opened. It was Theo. “You’re not supposed to be in here, Altamonte. Get back to the green room.”

Gia got up and acted all huffy as she strutted to the door. “But it’s OK for you, Theo-dorable? You’re allowed? How come you’re allowed? Who crowned you king?”

Lucy laughed.

“Just go back to the green room.” Theo turned Gia in the right direction and then grinned at Lucy. He’d obviously gone for a more formal look today himself-a white cashmere knit sweater and a pair of charcoal gray pleated slacks, plus a discreet little bandage applied lengthwise along his stitches. Lucy had indeed gotten used to seeing Theo’s charming face, but it didn’t mean she appreciated it any less.

“Are you looking at my bruise?” He lightly touched his brow. “I probably shouldn’t stand too close to you on the set-we’ll clash.”

Lucy smiled at him. “Hi, Theo-dorable.”

He checked behind him in the hallway, then closed the door. In a flash he was leaning on the armrest of Lucy’s chair and kissing her, his lips warm and soft and more demanding than she’d felt since before she’d kicked him. He was apparently gaining back the use of his facial muscles.

“You doing OK, Cunningham?” He left little kisses all over her forehead. “You up for this?”

She nodded. “I am.”

“Well, he’s here, baby. Brad Zirkle is down the hall. They put him in a separate room.”

Lucy felt a hot rush of fear move through her, but it didn’t stay long, and its passage only gave her a burst of energy. “I’m ready to rumble.”

Theo laughed and pulled her to her feet, then hugged her hard. “No kicking. No punching. No cussing.”

“You’re no fun anymore.”

He chuckled, releasing her and holding her by her shoulders. He leaned his forehead against hers and whispered, “I can’t wait to show you just how fun I really am.”

There was a knock on the door, and it was time.

“It’s time to WakeUp Miami!” Lucy was an expert at this by now, and she gestured broadly toward the set and the band took it as their cue to start up and the crowd went crazy. The audience today was a sea of white T-shirts with red hearts and lettering that proclaimed:
We Love Lucy
!

Lucy had already spotted a few guests of note in the studio that morning. Doris sat in the second row, engaged in nonstop conversation with Tyson. Stephan, Maria, Barry, and Veronica were in the back left section, and Lola was sitting by herself in the far right corner, looking pissed.

The producers of this extravaganza had apparently decided that chronological order wouldn’t be dramatic enough, so John Weaver and Carolina Buendia brought out everyone but Brad Zirkle, including family members, to childhood teachers, to friends from junior high and high school, to Lucy’s first boss in Pittsburgh. In between there were softball teammates and a Girl Scout leader and a horse trainer and Gia Altamonte and even Buddy.

Lucy was thirsty and hot and her stomach was in knots when they took a final commercial break.

“Don’t go away, Miami,” Carolina cooed. “When we come back, we’ll have a shocking surprise confession that Lucy may want to hear…” She patted Lucy’s knee. “And then what we’ve all been waiting for-we’ll get the skinny on this month’s weight loss! Can she do it with only one month to go? Don’t go away!”

During the break, the makeup technician blotted Lucy’s damp forehead and let her take a swig of water. Theo stood at the edge of the set, his arms crossed over his chest, his face serious. She gave him the thumbs-up sign and he winked at her.

When Brad Zirkle walked onto the set, Lucy felt her head swim and her vision fail-then she remembered to breathe. He sat down in the chair right across from her, his eyes focused on his shoes. He wore an expensive business suit and a red-and-white-striped dress shirt with cuff links and a silk tie. He held a little blue book and a piece of folded notebook paper in his hand. Lucy had to admit he looked just the way he did in college, except better.

So much for fat, bald, and poorly dressed.

Her glance darted to Theo, but he didn’t notice-he was staring at Brad Zirkle like he wanted to eviscerate the man. She hoped he remembered his own advice regarding acts of violence and curse words.

Lucy sat still while the producers ran an old video montage of the events of a decade ago-the bedsheet unfurled with the painted words,
Thank You, Lucky Lucy Cunningham
-
Slump Buster;
her father yelling at reporters from his front stoop; Lucy hounded by ESPN cameras as she walked between classes; the dean announcing that the coach, athletic director, and assistant athletic director had been fired and four athletes expelled.

John Weaver asked her how it felt to see that.

Lucy said, “Like it happened to another person.”

As Brad cleared his throat and started to speak, Lucy was amazed at how loose her body felt, how relaxed and comfortable she was at this moment of truth. Her heart beat quietly. Her hands lay still in her lap. She stayed focused.

She wondered briefly if this meant she’d had a mental breakdown, but it didn’t feel like illness. It felt like health. It felt like strength. It felt damn good.

Brad began to read from a prepared statement, telling Lucy and the entire Miami-Dade TV-viewing area that he’d always been ashamed of his behavior that day and that his life since then had been a series of relationship and job failures, including a struggle with alcohol.

“Oh my God,” Lucy whispered, searching out Doris in the second row. She shrugged and gave her a sympathetic smile and Lucy went back to listening to Brad Zirkle explain how his twelve-step recovery required that he apologize to Lucy for his behavior.

“I take full responsibility for what happened. It was wrong and cruel, and I am so sorry, Lucy. You did not deserve to be treated so badly.”

Suddenly the camera zoomed in tight on Lucy’s face, and Carolina and John looked at her expectantly and Lucy realized this was her chance, her opportunity for the ultimate words of revenge.

What came out of her mouth instead was a huge sigh of relief.

“Thank you for your apology, Brad,” she said. “You hurt me a lot, and I’m sad to hear that you suffered, too.”

Brad fell back into his chair like he’d been pushed.

Lucy went on. “Someone once told me that at the end of the day, the most important thing is that you make the most of what God gave you. I guess you and I are both trying to do that now. Everybody deserves a second chance.”

“Thank you, Lucy,” Brad said.

“But don’t you dare ever hurt anyone like that again.”

“I won’t.” Brad wiped a tear from his cheek.

Carolina cried next. Then Lucy’s mom broke down in her chair at the back of the set, followed by Mary Fran and Gia and most of the females in the studio audience, and that’s when Lucy thought for sure she heard Stephan Sherrod’s voice shout out something about being a dead man.

After the next commercial break, Theo led Lucy to the scale. She started laughing with joy before he could even settle on the number, which turned out to be 148, a loss of six pounds for the month.

Lucy had no idea how much a decade of rage and shame weighed, but she knew she’d unloaded a few of those pounds just moments ago, when she’d forgiven Brad Zirkle.

November and December

Journal Entry Nov 19

Breakfast: 1
banana; 3/4 c Kashi; 1 c plain yogurt; decaf with skim milk

Lunch: 3
oz grilled chicken; 2 rye flat breads; 2 c salad with a whole cucumber; 2 tbsp oil and vinegar

Dinner: 3
oz grilled salmon; 1 julienned zucchini; 1/2 c brown rice

Snack:
Another banana

Affirmation for Today:

Lucy figured this was the worst-case scenario: in a few weeks’ time, she would step up on that medical scale on the set of
WakeUp Miami
and not have lost another pound. That would still mean she was eighty-two pounds and forty-one inches smaller, eighty-two thousand dollars richer (at least on paper), and on her way with her sister to a luxury spa in Jamaica for a week of pampering.

As far as worst-case scenarios went, that wasn’t so bad.

“Hey, Lucy? Is there anything else that needs to go?” Veronica poked her head into Lucy’s open office door and blew a wayward strand of hair out of her face. She looked cute in a pair of overalls and flip-flops, and she’d been a real trouper, helping with everything that needed to be done in order for them to be in the new office by the end of the week.

Lucy took one last look around at the pale yellow walls and sighed. “That’s pretty much it, I guess. How about Maria and Barry?”

“Barry’s unhooking his computer now. Maria’s already over there working with the phone people.”

“Did the detective call with any news this morning?”

Veronica made her fish face. “Not since yesterday. They still think our fearless leader went AWOL and took Lola DiPaolo with him.”

Lucy shook her head. She didn’t Like leaving Stephan like this, but how were you supposed to give your two-week notice to an invisible man? All of them had left letters of resignation on Stephan’s desk, should he ever show up to read them.

Though dozens of audience members had confirmed that Stephan loudly proclaimed that he was a dead man before running from the TV studio-the last time anyone saw him-Miami Police detectives were operating on the theory that he’d not met with foul play but flown the coop for financial reasons. The IRS was snooping around Sherrod amp; Thorns right along with the detectives.

Police also believed that Stephan and Lola had some sort of relationship. Lucy could only imagine the profound nature of their pillow talk.

Lucy took one last look around her little office and smiled-she was moving up in the world. Her new suite was in a high-rise on Biscayne with a view of the bay. The lease was hefty, but she didn’t think that would be a problem. Every one of Stephan’s longtime clients had happily jumped ship with her. The publicity she’d received in the last month had also helped her close deals for seven significant new accounts, including the Lucky Chef gourmet food chain Barry had been courting.

Slump Buster Advertising was officially open for business.

“What’re your plans for lunch, Lucy?”

Lucy turned to answer Veronica when her lunch plans-all her plans, really-suddenly materialized in the doorway.

“Hey, Cunningham.”

Theo leaned up against the door frame in a pair of jeans, a ribbed polo shirt, and sneakers. He’d let his hair grow in the last couple months, and Lucy thought it suited him. He looked less like Malibu Ken and more like himself-funny, warm, sexy, and hers. All hers.

She felt the smile as it spread across her face. When she looked at Theo these days, she was astounded at the depth of her love for him, her trust in him, and how, with his help, she was living in hope for her future instead of fear of her past.