Joy (11 page)

She smiled. “Look at us pitiful souls. What's your problem?”

He shook his head. “I was just bored and thought I'd get a head start on the week.”

Anya didn't miss the way his eyes had darkened. “Same here,” she said. “What are you going to work on?”

“I'm not sure.” He folded his arms. “I need to get those monthly reports to you. I have Alaister's; he's so quick with his numbers. I'll have the rest by tomorrow.” He stood. “I'll be in my office if you need me.”

Anya returned to the computer screen and watched her screensaver scatter across it—LET GO, LET GOD. She hit the mouse, returning to the invoices. Twenty minutes later, she was staring at her blank computer screen.

She walked to the window, her mind mingling thoughts of her business and Braxton.

Sighing, she turned back to her desk and jumped. “Oh, my God! What is with you? You keep scaring me half to death!”

“Anya—” David started, then stopped.

“Yes?” When he said nothing, she took a step toward him. “What is it?”

They both turned as the front door opened, then Alaister appeared at her door.

“Oh. Hi,” he said, surprise in his voice.

“Is
everyone
having a bad day?” Anya asked irritably.

Alaister frowned. “Why are you asking me that?”

Anya waved her hand. “You came in to get some work done too?”

“Ah, no.” He hesitated and took off his cap, running his hands through his hair. “I… I had to pick up a few things.” He turned to David and spoke quickly. “You need the numbers and the final paperwork for Linden in the morning, right?”

David nodded, his eyes still fixed on Anya.

“I came to pick up the reports. I forgot to take them with me on Friday,” Alaister explained.

Seconds of strained silence slipped by, and Anya watched Alaister's eyes dart from her to David.

“I'll go to my office and be on my way.” Alaister disappeared down the hall.

Anya turned back to David. “What is wrong with you? Why were you just standing in my door?”

“I was going to ask if you wanted to get something to eat. I'm not being productive, and I thought I'd go out.” His gaze was intense.

She frowned. What did she see in his eyes? There was something dark, maybe dangerous, something that she couldn't figure out. But then, she smiled, thinking she'd seen too many movies lately. “Sure, I'm not getting much done either.”

The front door opened again, and Anya and David were silent until the footsteps stopped outside her door.

“Oh, hi, Anya.” James, one of the junior associates, came into her office. “I came to pick up a few things. I'm going to be at that seminar next week.

“How did you get in?” Anya tried to keep her voice casual.

“Melissa gave me her key. I picked it up because she couldn't leave her house today. I'm going to take it right back. I hope it's okay.” James looked down at his feet.

“It's fine.”

As James walked away, Anya whispered, “Talk to Melissa.” She grabbed her purse. “I don't want everyone having access to the office outside of business hours.”

David nodded. “Come on, we'd better get out of here before the entire office comes in.”

As Anya walked around her desk, she once again noticed the way his shirt hugged his chest. “Where should we go?” she asked, working hard to keep her eyes on his face.

“Not Crossroads. You're too much of a celebrity there and no one will even notice me,” he kidded.

“I doubt that.” The words were out before she realized it, and her face became hot.

He smiled. “If that was a compliment, I'll take it. I have an idea. And I'll drive if you don't mind trading down to a Jeep.”

She was acutely aware of his hand, lightly holding her elbow, as he guided her from the office. “Don't mind at all.”

In the elevator, they chatted, and Anya smiled when he said, “My day is looking up.”

“So is mine,” she said, feeling relaxed for the first time that afternoon.

When the Jeep turned into Speedy's, Anya smiled. It had been a year since she'd last been here.

Since the February afternoon was warming, they sat outside. Anya placed her purse atop the red-and-white checkered tablecloth, then scooted her iron chair closer.

Even though the sun was beating down on them, David removed his sunglasses.

“I thought only us natives knew about this place.” Anya smiled.

“I discovered it a few days after I started working for you.”

“This is one of my favorite places, although I haven't been here in a while. It's too casual for Braxton.”

They scanned the menus and gave their hot-dog orders to the waitress.

“I thought I was taking you someplace you'd never been.” David laughed, squinting as the sun beamed into his eyes. “Tell me, if I ever want to surprise you, is there anywhere that you haven't eaten?”

She laughed with him. “I can't think of any.”

“You're a social butterfly, huh?”

“No, I just love to eat.”

He paused, as his eyes moved from her face, roving down as far as he could see. Then he stared straight at her. “The way you look, I would've thought you counted every calorie.”

“You're kind.” She lowered her eyes a bit. “I
do
try to stay in shape.”

“I can tell.”

She took a sip of water and narrowed her eyes. “I can tell you work out too,” she said, continuing the flirtation.

He leaned toward her, then lifted and flexed his arm, showing his bicep.

Anya laughed.

“I want to make sure you
really
notice. I put in too many hours not to show off every once in a while.”

“So what do you do when you're not working out?” she asked.

“Work for you.” When she frowned slightly, he said, “And I love every minute of it. It's great being part of a smaller business where I know I'm needed.”

The waitress brought their hot dogs and fries, but before Anya could say anything, David popped a french fry into his mouth. She bowed her head and said a silent grace.

“Sorry.” He raised his voice a bit, over the blaring motor of a passing bus. “I usually do that …but I forget sometimes.”

Anya answered him with a smile.

He shook his head. “It just doesn't fit you.” She raised her eyebrows, and he continued. “You don't look like a God person.”

She snickered. “How does a God person look?”

He dunked a fry into the ketchup he had poured on the side of his plate, chewed for a moment. “Not like you.”

Anya couldn't hold her laugh. “That's because being a Christian is more inside than out.”

“But what I see on the outside doesn't match. You have a successful business, make quite a bit of money, drive an expensive car, live in a nice home, I'm sure. From what I remember, that's not the Christian lifestyle.”

“Christians are supposed to be poor?”

He nodded. “Everyone in the church I went to was poor and happy about it. I thought that was how you served God. I never understood why God wanted it that way, but that's why I never had much to do with church after I left home.”

She wiped her mouth before she said, “You should visit my church so that you can hear the truth. What are you doing next Sunday?”

“You don't waste any time.” He laughed.

“That's because you don't know how much time you have. The truth will change your life in ways you never thought possible.”

His head bobbed as he smiled at her conviction. “Not this Sunday, but one day soon.”

“That's all I can ask. The church you're talking about—was that in New York?”

He nodded but his smile disappeared.

“Which church?”

David waved his hand in the air. “It was in Harlem, but there's a church on every corner there.”

“Did you grow up in Harlem?”

She watched him stiffen and, now, curiosity made her press on.

“I spent some time there …”

“Do you have any brothers or sisters?” Her tone was casual.

“Do you?”

“I have a younger brother, Donovan.”

“Does he live here?”

“In Woodland Hills, so I don't see him much. But we're still very close. Always have been—especially since our parents died. What about you? I asked if you had any brothers and sisters and you turned the question around to me.”

He pushed his plate away, still filled with a few fries and a half-eaten hot dog. “I'm an only child.”

“Why
do
you do that?”

He looked at her blankly.

Anya said, “Whenever we're talking about you, you change the subject.”

“I didn't realize I did that.” He pushed back his chair slightly and put on his sunglasses.

She leaned forward. “Well, let's see if we can change that. I'll ask you questions and you answer them.”

David picked up his plastic knife and tapped it lightly on the table. Even through the tinted glasses, Anya could see his eyes darting around the restaurant's patio. “I don't like to talk about myself.” He put down the knife, but his eyes still wouldn't meet hers.

She studied him. “Okay, I'll buy that… for now.”

A few moments passed before he smiled. “We're too serious. Let's have some fun.”

Laughter rose from the next table, and Anya glanced at the couple holding hands. She brought her eyes back to David. “I'm having a good time. Aren't you?”

“Are you kidding? I've been dreaming about taking you out.”

She crinkled her eyes and began twisting the ring on her finger.

His eyes dropped to her hand. “When are you getting married?”

“I thought personal questions were off limits.”

“For you, not for me.” His dimple winked at her.

She hesitated for a moment. “In June.”

“That soon?” he asked with raised eyebrows.

“We've been engaged for a while.”

“Oh.” He paused. “If we were engaged, I'd marry you right away.”

Anya crossed her legs, trying to shift from the sun that baked her back. “We've been busy.”

“Too busy to marry the man you love?”

It was her turn to avert her eyes. She glanced at her watch. “I can't believe the time.”

“You know what they say about time flying when you're with the right person.”

She hid her blush by shuffling through her purse. “I've got to go. My cousin has been home alone all day.”

David signaled for the waitress and, when she brought the check, Anya took a twenty-dollar bill from her wallet.

David shook his head as he handed the waitress his credit card. “I don't know what kind of men you're used to dating, but when I take someone out, I pay.”

When I take someone out! She had to set him straight. “Okay, but next time, lunch is on me.”

He smiled his half-smile. “Next time?”

“Of course.” She tried to sound casual. “We're business partners. You're stuck with me.”

He laid his hand on top of hers and smiled. “That's exactly how I want it.”

Chapter 15

A
nya picked up her keys, and glanced at Sasha slouched on the couch. She was dressed in a long gray sweatsuit skirt with a matching jacket tied around her neck. Her feet, in white platform Keds, moved to a beat that only Sasha could hear through her headphones. At the same time the television blasted, as football players ran over each other on the large screen.

Anya wished she could just stay home, but missing one of Madear's family gatherings was a major offense. “I'm ready,” Anya yelled over the television.

Sasha clicked off the TV. “The Bears are losing big time anyway.” She jumped up and wrapped the earphones around her neck.

As they got into the car, Sasha sighed. “I'm not looking forward to this.”

“It'll be fine. Madear loves you. She just has her ways.”

“And her ways include wishing I wasn't part of her family. Watch the way she treats me. She'll have something to say about my clothes, my hair, anything to bring me down. I know it's hard for you to believe since you're her favorite.” Sasha paused, and held up her hand. “Don't protest, it's true.”

Anya turned onto the street and headed toward Carson. There was no way to change Sasha's mind. In just the few hours that she had spent with her cousin, Anya knew that Sasha had
her
ways. She punched a CD into the player and the sounds of her church's choir filled the car.

Perpetual Praise and continual prayer

Take the joy of the Lord with you everywhere

Perpetual Prayer and continual praise,

Acknowledge him in all of your ways.

“You axe sprung, aren't you?”

Anya laughed. “God'll do that to you.”

“Umph!”

They rode silently down the 110 Freeway and when Anya exited at Carson Boulevard, in less than three minutes, they parked in front of their grandmother's home.

The Spanish-style house, built in the 1930s, still had all of its original detail. Beige with a red-rust trim, the one-story home was the largest on the block.

As they approached the porch, Anya took Sasha's hand.

“Donovan's already here,” Anya said, lightheartedly.

Pouting like a teenager, Sasha did not respond.

With the same key that she'd had since she'd lived with her grandparents, Anya opened the door. Before they stepped into the enclosed foyer, a voice boomed from the living room.

“Hey, hey, hey! Is that my big sis?” Donovan jumped from the brown leather recliner they'd bought their grandmother last Christmas. He hugged his sister, almost lifting her from the floor. At six-five, with a linebacker frame that was put to good use at UCLA, he enveloped his five-eleven sister.

“Hey, bro,” she said, running her hand over his head. “You got a Kobe Bryant hairdo going here, huh?”

He threw his head back and laughed heartily and, as he often did, he reminded Anya of their father. Donovan had inherited more than just his father's physical characteristics.

“Hey, how do you know Kobe didn't get this from me?” He laughed again as he tapped his hands on his head. A second later, he turned to his cousin. “Come here, girl.” He grabbed Sasha and she disappeared inside his arms. “What's up?”

“Just you.” She grinned, looking her cousin up and down. “You look good.”

Donovan sucked in his stomach and patted his middle. “I've been trying to keep it together. It's not easy as you get older.” His laugh filled the room again. “But, look at you. The way Madear's been talking, I thought you'd walk in here with two heads. But, you lookin’ good, girl!”