LOVING THE HEAD MAN (32 page)

       Zack swallowed hard.  And at that very moment, he finally understood.  Brianna Hudson was no here-today-gone-tomorrow airhead.  Brianna Hudson may just turn out to be the love of his father’s life.

       Zack moved closer against his father, and Robert pulled him closer still.  And they sat on the porch, father and son, and watched the cascade of land and beautiful mountain ranges for as far as the eye could see.  For nearly an hour they sat out there, saying not a word, enjoying the home, the land Robert purchased nearly a decade ago.  Until Robert, hearing
something,
looked away from the big picture of his property, and closer to home.  “Who could that be?” he asked when he looked toward the entrance gate. 

       Zack looked too and saw a cab coming their way, the dust of the road kicking up behind it.  When the cab stopped at the steps, and his mother, Sylvia Bellarouche, stepped out in her shades and all things Versace, he didn’t know if he was elated or, given what his father had not an hour ago shared with him, disappointed.

       “What in the world,” Robert began to ask when he realized it was his ex., a woman he hadn’t seen in nearly a year.  He frowned.  “What is she doing here?”         

       Zack stood up, feeling awkward.  “Ma, hi,” she said as Sylvia began walking up the steps. 

       “Get my luggage and pay the driver,” Sylvia said to Zack, barking out orders the way he was accustomed.  For some odd reason he always felt more uneasy with his mother than he ever felt with his father. 

       “Yes, ma’am,” he said and hurried to do her bidding.

       They kissed, cheek to cheek, as he passed by.

       Sylvia then stood on the top step, looking at Robert.  She wore a thin, flare dress and sandals and still had that same natural beauty that catapulted her into supermodel status when she was only nineteen.  Robert had known and loved her for so long that he still couldn’t resist admiring her beauty.  By the way she removed her shades and gave him that impressive, metropolitan smile she had come to perfect, she knew it, too.

       “Well, hello there, Mr. Colgate,” she said to him.

       “Hello yourself,” he replied.

       They stared into each other’s eyes and Sylvia’s face turned from whimsicalness to a mix of anxiety and concern.  “Oh, Bobby,” she said as she ran to him, kissed him on his lips and threw her arms around him. 

       Robert held her too. She was the mother of his beloved son and therefore would always have a special place in his heart.  He held her tightly.

       Zack, with his mother’s luggage in tow and the cab driver in his cab and on his way,
  began
heading up to the porch, careful not to drop anything and incur his mother’s considerable wrath.  But when he made it to the top step and saw his parents embracing, he stopped in his tracks.  And for some strange reason, his heart didn’t soar as he would have expected it to, but dropped, as if he suddenly realized that his father getting back with his mother wouldn’t be such a great thing after all.

       At that moment also Bree, still inside the house, came to the screen door.  She had confirmed her airline reservation, packed most of her luggage, and was coming to let them know her flight schedule.  However, when she saw Zack just standing there staring to the right of the door where she knew Robert was sitting, her heart dropped too.  Had Robert fallen again?  Had something happened to Robert again?

       Bree snatched open the screen door and hurried out onto the porch, to make sure Robert didn’t need her help.  When she saw him sitting there, embracing some
woman
who was now sitting on his lap and appeared to be sobbing, she, like Zack, stopped in her tracks too.  And when Robert ran his hand through the woman’s long, flowing blonde hair, and his eyes closed tighter, as if he was remembering her and how she felt in his arms, maybe even in his bed, Bree didn’t think she could have felt more disappointed.

       When Robert opened his eyes and saw Zack standing there, and then Bree, he immediately extricated Sylvia from his lap and stood both of them to their feet.  “Brianna, hi,” he said.  “Were you able to book a flight?”

       “Yes,” Bree said, attempting to maintain her composure. 
Never let them see you sweat, baby girl
, her father used to always tell her.

       “Good,” Robert said, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and wiping his hands.  He wore shorts and Bree could see where his penis was slightly engorged.  The woman with him, although gently wiping her eyes, seemed to relish the scene.  She even smiled through her tears.

       “Brianna, come here,” Robert suddenly ordered, his hand reaching out to clasp hers.         Although Bree wasn’t feeling this scene at all, she wasn’t about to fly off the handle without knowing all of the facts.  She walked over to him and allowed him to hold her hand.  “I want you to meet Zack’s mother, Sylvia Bellarouche.  Sylvie, this is my lady, Brianna.”

       “Nice to meet you, Brianna,” Sylvia said, extending her ultra-thin hand, smiling as if this was the best fun she’d had in a while.

       “Brianna’s a lawyer, Ma,” Zack felt a need to say, as if Bree looked pathetic against his supermodel mother and needed some extra help.  Why he felt the need to help her, however, was the amazing part to him.

      
“Oh, really?”
Sylvia said.  “
A lawyer just like
Bobby. 
How cute.”

       Since that didn’t go over so well, Zack gave up and carried the luggage inside of the
  house
.

       “Have a seat, Sylvie,” Robert ordered.  Sylvia moved and sat in the seat where Zack had just vacated, the one directly next to Robert.  Robert was about to move to correct Sylvia but Bree, not interested in playing games with this woman, removed her hand from his and sat in the chair across from them.  Robert hesitated, he really wanted Bree, not Sylvia, beside him, but then he realized, as Bree had, that making an issue of it would only make it worse.  He sat down.

       “So how long have you two known each other?” Sylvia asked, her long legs crossed and her thin body leaned forward as she rubbed her calf.  Her question was clearly directed to Bree, at whom she seemed unable to stop staring.

       “Not long,” Bree said. 

       “Oh, yes, that’s right,” Sylvia said.  “You were one of his trainees at one point, weren’t you?”

       Like Zack, she had her spies at Colgate too, Bree realized.  Then she nodded her head, just now understanding the full extent of the competition she faced.  This witch was at first acting as if she’d never heard of Bree.  Now Bree was convinced she not only had heard of her, but probably had a complete dossier on her.  “That’s right,” Bree said.

       “That’s so unusual,” Sylvia said.  “Bobby has never dated the help.  I mean not ever.”

       “Well he dated this help,” Bree said, making it clear to Sylvia that she understood the game and would not be playing along.  “Moved her into his house too, how about that?”

       Robert smiled.  Sylvia frowned.  “That’s hardly something to brag about.”

       “You mean the fact that we’re shacking up?”

       “That’s exactly what I mean.  Women of a certain class and status do not shack up, as you put it, with men.”

       “But you shacked up with Robert for over ten years.  And kept coming back periodically for more and more,” Bree couldn’t resist adding.

       This assertive response by Bree threw Sylvia.  For some reason she was expecting a docile, Mississippi country bumpkin of a girl who would simply listen and learn.  Bree, too, had an idea that Sylvia would be expecting docility too, and that was why she was pouncing. 

       “I did not shack up with Robert,” Sylvia clarified, attempting to maintain her composure.  “I had my own home that entire time.”
       “I have my own home too. 
Back in Dale, Mississippi.
  But I’m sure your spies told you that, too.”

       Robert laughed.  “Isn’t Brianna marvelous?” he said to his ex, causing her to look at him with daggers in her big, blue eyes.  Then she caught herself, and smiled grandly.

       “Oh, yes,” she lied. 
“Marvy indeed.”

       “So how long are you planning on staying?” Bree asked Sylvia.  She still had her issues with Robert and his hugging and, undoubtedly, kissing on the woman, but not in front of Miss Beauty Queen.

       “I plan to stay as long as Bobby needs me.”

       “Then you can head back now, Sylvie,” Robert said. “I’m fine.”

       Sylvia maintained her obvious fake smile.  “You don’t look so fine.  You look underfed and under-cared for in every way.  And I mean every way,” she added as she moved a strand of Robert’s hair from his face.  Robert caught her hand. 

       “That’s enough of that, all right?” he said to Sylvia, his grip tight.  When he released her, she winced. 
But continued to smile.
  “Sure you don’t want any of my home cooking?” she asked him.

       “I’m positive,” Robert said.

       “He could use it,” Bree said.  “Zack’s told me all about your world class recipes and since I’ve got a plane to catch,” Bree added, rising to her feet, “you can stay here and cook for him.  Cook until your heart’s content.  I’d better finish packing.” 

       Robert could see the pain, the disappointment in her expressive brown eyes as she turned and headed back inside the house.

       Sylvia smiled, feeling triumphant.  “Well,” she said. 
“Seems I came not a moment too soon.
Who does that bitch think she is?”

       “She’s my woman,” Robert said, standing, discarding his cane altogether.  “And prayerfully, one day, my wife,” he added, to Sylvia’s shock. 

       And then he headed inside his home, in search of Brianna.

EIGHTEEN

Bree sat on the edge of the big, king-sized bed, tossing the last of her clothing into the suit case that sat on the luggage rack on the side of the bed.  When the bedroom door opened, and Robert entered, closing the door behind him, she almost wanted to tell him to please leave her alone.  She felt bad enough.

       But Robert, instead, walked over to the bed and knelt down on his haunches in front of her, each of his hands on each one of her knees. 

       “When is your flight?” he asked her.