Not His Type (12 page)

She was saved from embarrassment by the sound of a
lawnmower. Mr. Little, their gardener, had obviously
decided to beat the heat. Any other day the noise would
have driven her crazy but today he saved her from singing
out loud and letting others find out that she knew the
words to a Kelis song. After all, she was a 40-year-old
mother of two. What did
she
know about milk shakes?

Once she had the last bobby pin in place for her cool
updo, she turned her attention to her makeup. Unlike
yesterday, today she could manage to apply her mascara
without putting an eye out with the mascara wand. The
only thing she didn’t apply was lipstick. The last thing
Cathy wanted to worry about was lipstick on her teeth. She
was good to go except for one thing. She absolutely had to
straighten up her room.

As she made her bed with perfect hospital corners,
Cathy suddenly realized how alone she’d been for the past
two years. She’d been sleeping alone in a king size bed for
so long that its size was lost on her. She wasn’t exactly sure
what was going to happen between her and Marcus, but she
hoped she remembered how to share, if the situation arose.
She caught herself smiling. “Cut that out, Catherine!” she
scolded herself.

Marcus was on his way to Amityville when his cell rang.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Marcus.”
“Hey, Ben. How are you?” He felt good.
“Good. But the question should be, how are you?”
He smiled. “I’m fine.”
Ben groaned. “I take it you haven’t seen the paper

today.”
“I grabbed it on the way to my car but I haven’t looked
at it yet. Why?”
“There’s an item on the gossip page about you and
Cathy.”
Marcus smacked the dashboard. “You’ve got to be
kidding me. What does it say?”
“It’s just a photo with the caption ‘Is Marcus Fox Livin
Large with New Larger Lady Love?’ They can’t just leave
well enough alone.”
“Like it or not, it’s a part of their job.”
“I wonder if Cathy’s seen it.”
“I think it’s a safe bet to assume she has seen it. If she
didn’t see it herself someone else has told her about it by
now.”
“You know, I was hoping that we wouldn’t have to deal
with this stuff so soon.”
“I’m sorry buddy, the honeymoon with the press is over.
Don’t worry, I’m sure she understands.”
“How do you know that?”
“Well, she’s Jim Weil’s agent and they’ve had some real
fun with him over the years.”
“How do you know he’s one of her clients?”
“I did my homework.”
“I guess she and I are going to have to talk about it.”
“Good. It’s one thing to have your client get a lot of
publicity; it’s another thing entirely when you’re the
subject.”
Marcus let out a loud sigh. “Okay, man. I’ll see you
later.”
“Okay. I’m sure every thing will be fine.”
“I hope so.”
Marcus looked up for a moment. He’d so wanted to
make sure he had time to talk to Cathy about the gossip
circus that surrounded his life, but the press had beat him
to it. He hoped her agent’s skin extended to her own life.

Just as Cathy finished fluffing the pillows she heard her
sister yelling. She rushed out to the hall where she heard her
cousin and sister talking excitedly.

She went down the stairs as quickly as she could. When
she walked in the kitchen she saw that Madison had
borrowed one of the boys’ sweat suits, which was about six
inches too long. Nevertheless, she was a good cousin and
didn’t point it out.

“What’s all the noise for?” she asked.
Madison smiled. “You made the papers.”
“Glad to see you’re feeling better, Madison,” Cathy

said.
“Thanks.”
“Now what’s all this noise about me making the

Anna handed her the paper. “It’s right here.” She
pointed to an item in the paper.
Cathy couldn’t believe her eyes. There was a picture of
Marcus and her walking to his car with the caption, ‘Is
Marcus Fox Livin Large with New Larger Lady Love?’
She put the paper down. All that energy and confidence
she’d had earlier suddenly fell down around her ankles. Her
countenance changed in slow motion as she read the words
‘larger lady love.’
“They’re not used to seeing him with anyone with a
little meat on her bones. It’s nothing to fret about. Marcus
decided he wants some meat with his gravy,” Madison
offered.
In spite of herself, Cathy laughed.
“I couldn’t have said it better, Madison. Every now and
again you say something smart,” Anna teased. She couldn’t
resist getting one crack in; she’d cut back. Cold turkey
would have been too much to ask.
“Thanks a lot.”
“He is a famous ball player and bachelor who usually
dates actresses, models and singers. Though seeing me with
him was way out of left field, it still doesn’t make it any
easier to see it in print.”
“Don’t let it bring you down.” Anna rubbed her back.
“Shake it off, honey,” Madison chimed in.
Cathy picked the paper up again and studied it for a
moment. “It’s not a bad picture of me, though.”
“I would call that the money shot,” Madison agreed.
“The money shot?” Anna asked.
“Yeah, didn’t you see the close-up of the cleavage?”
Madison asked, surprised his cousins hadn’t noticed.
Both Anna and Cathy took a closer look.
“Oh my God, they did zoom in on it!”
“Don’t you mean on them?” Anna kidded.
They broke up with laughter again.
“I guess I should have something to eat or at least some
juice this morning.”
Cathy went over to the refrigerator.
“You’re not having any coffee?” Madison asked.
“Maybe later. I don’t want two cups of coffee working
on my bladder on the way into the city.”
“Enough said. I get where you’re coming from.”
The doorbell rang. It was only a little after nine o’clock.
“Who in the world could it be? I’ll get it.” Anna went
to answer the door.
“It’s probably a Jehovah’s Witness.” Madison shrugged.
“Not at this house. We’re practically considered the
anti-Christ.” Cathy snickered as she poured a small glass of
orange juice. “So you’re sure you feel better, Mad?”
“So far, so good.”
“Let’s hope it stays that way.” Mad and Cathy raised the
juice glasses for a morning toast of solidarity.
Anna slowly walked into the kitchen.
“Was it the
Watchtower
people?” Cathy asked.
Before she could get a word out Marcus appeared.
“I don’t know anything about the
Watchtower,
but I
hope I bring good news,” he said.
Cathy was completely taken by surprise. “I thought you
were sending Louis.”
He walked over and planted a kiss on her. “Good
morning Cathy.” He planted another kiss on her. “I
decided to pick you up myself.”
“Good morning to you,” she returned.
Madison cleared his throat.
Marcus turned around with his hand out. “Hi. I’m
Marcus Fox.”
Madison shook his hand. “I’m Madison Parker. I’m
Cathy and Anna’s first cousin.”
“Nice to meet you,” Marcus said.
She stood up. “Marcus, this is my sister, Anna
Chambers.”
They shook hands.
“I guess we sort of met at the door.”
“It’s nice to officially meet you, Anna.” He looked at
her and Cathy. “You two really have some resemblance.”
“We hear that a lot.” Anna grinned.
Cathy’s eyes widened when she spotted the paper on the
counter just behind Marcus. Guessing what was in her
thoughts, Madison engaged Marcus in conversation. “I see
the Yankees are doing pretty well. You’re on a winning
streak, right?”
“Yeah. We’ve won the last four games.”
Madison’s sports interruption allowed Anna to get the
paper closed and out of the way. Cathy told herself she had
to remember to give Madison his props for thinking on his
feet. Especially since the only sports he watched were tennis
and women’s mud wrestling.
“It’s been a tough season,” Anna interjected.
“But I think we’ve seen the worst of it,” Cathy said.
“I’m sure you know my sister and nephews are big time
Yankee fans. In the summer we get a play by play every
morning,” Anna said.
Marcus laughed. “Works for me.” He kissed Cathy’s
hand and the butterflies in her stomach went to work.
The television was tuned into the traffic report. Anna
was a traffic report person. Cathy thought if she hadn’t
become an accountant she would be up in a helicopter
reporting on traffic patterns.
“The traffic to the city should be lighter now since it’s
technically after rush hour,” Anna reported.
“Are you ready to go?” Marcus asked.
“Sure.”
“Do you have an overnight bag?”
If this were a sitcom the sound effect would have been
that of a car screeching to a halt.
“An overnight bag? I didn’t realize I would need one.”
Cathy felt panicked.
A light slowly dawned on Marcus. “Oh, I’m sorry. I just
realized how you must have heard that. What I was saying
is it gets a little chilly at night this time of year and since
you’re going to be in the stands, I thought you might bring
something a little warmer for the game.”
A feeling of relief came over the room and over Cathy
in particular.
“I’ll throw a few things in a bag for you. It will only take
me a few minutes,” Anna said before vanishing upstairs.
“I’ve got to take a deposition on the north shore,”
Madison announced. He picked up his briefcase. I also
need to get home and change.”
“It was a pleasure to meet you, Marcus.” Madison and
Marcus shook hands.
“Same here.”
“I’ll check you later, Cousin.”
“Okay. See ya later.”
Madison tried to make a smooth exit but he apparently
forgot the pants were extra long and he nearly fell on his
face. Cathy quickly bit her bottom lip to keep from
laughing.
“Are you all right, man?” Marcus asked.
Madison recovered quickly. “Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks. I’ll
see you later.”
He rolled up the pants and made a quick exit.
“I’m not going to ask about the pants.”
“Good. You don’t want to know,” Cathy said.
“Enough said.”
Anna returned carrying an extra large duffle bag. It
looked as if she’d packed Cathy for a week.
“Here you go.” She placed the bag near the door.
“Thanks.” Judging from the look on her face there were
likely a few surprise choices in the bag.
Marcus hoisted the bag onto his shoulder and kissed
Anna on the cheek.
“It was a pleasure to meet you. I’m sure we’ll be seeing
more of each other in the future.”
Anna grinned. “Sounds good to me.”
Cathy grabbed her large Coach bag. “I’ll call you.”
“Okay.” She paused until Marcus was out of earshot.
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” She smiled mischievously as she closed the door behind Cathy.
Like a real gentleman, Marcus held the car door open
for her and put her things in the backseat. A second later
they were off.

Both Cathy and Marcus knew about the newspaper
item. No matter how you sliced it, the car wasn’t the place
to have the conversation, so the elephant stayed between
them. Marcus didn’t want anything to spoil the good feelings the two of them had shared the night before so he kept
the conversation light and breezy.

“By the way, if I didn’t say it last night, thanks for the
late night tour of Amityville.”
“It was my pleasure. Not only did you get to see the infamous house it, came complete with a fawning fan.”
He laughed. “He was nice.”
“It never gets tiresome does it?” Cathy asked.
“Not really.” He turned the radio down. “So is your
whole family from Long Island?”
“No. My dad lived in Harlem before the family moved
to Amityville in the late forties. My mom is from South
Carolina. Where are your parents from?”
“My dad was raised in Chicago and my mother grew up
in Cleveland.”
“How did they meet?”
“They met at Michigan State and became college sweethearts. Did your parents meet in college?”
“They met when my father was at Morgan State in
Baltimore. My mother was living with some cousins and
they met at a party. How long have your parents been
married?”
“It will be 36 years in November.”
“That’s great. It must be nice to have parents who still
like each other.”
“Still like each other?”
“Mm hmm, as far as I can tell, love is the easy part. You
can love someone deeply but if you don’t like them it’s hard
to stay together.”
“I never thought about it that way.”
“Liking someone is a big thing in a relationship. Trust
me, I know.”
Marcus chuckled softly. “My parents still kid around
and play with each other. My mom is ticklish and my father
still loves to take advantage of it.”
“Oh, that’s so cute.” Cathy giggled at the thought.
“My sisters and I never thought so; he always did it
whenever our friends were over. It was so embarrassing.”
“Embarrassing your kids is one of the little benefits of
parenthood. What’s worse is there’s no age limit.”
“So what do I have to look forward to?”
“Embarrassing your own kids, of course.”
“I’m sure you don’t do that to your kids.”
“If I do it’s purely unintentional, which probably makes
it ten times worse. I’m the single parent of boys, excuse me,
young men, so there are areas I plain don’t understand.”
“So it’s just you and your sister? No brothers?”
“It was just Anna and me. The closest thing we have to
a brother is Madison. Other than him, all the guys in my
neighborhood were a lot older.”
“Your ex didn’t help out?”
“My ex fell off the face of the planet just a few months
before they turned two.”
He grimaced. “Oh, that’s not right.”
“He only followed what he knew. His father was a
rolling stone and his mother allowed it. He blew in and out
of my ex’s life. I wouldn’t have it for my boys.”
“I don’t blame you.”
“I gave him a choice. I told him he could be in or he
could be out, it was one or the other. If he decided to be in,
he had to be all the way in, which meant being an involved
parent. If he decided to be out, he had to go all the way out.
There was no way in the world I would have subjected my
children to all the instability of a revolving door father.”
“You were right.”
“Don’t nominate me for sainthood yet,” Cathy
cautioned him. “I also told him that if he showed up for
high school graduation to make sure he wore track shoes.
Not only did I know how to use a machete, I knew where
to find one. I gave him fair warning.”
“Did he show up?”
Cathy snickered quietly. “No. He knew better. What’s
funny is that it wasn’t so much about the divorce; we have
divorced people in our family who managed to raise their
kids without killing each other. He just didn’t grasp the
concept.”
“How long have your parents been divorced?”
“Twenty-four years.”
“That’s a long time.”
“I know. Now that I’m older I wonder if it’s long
enough.”
“They say divorce is harder for adult children.”
Cathy nodded her head. “I’d agree with that. When
you’re younger parents are very careful to make sure you
don’t take any of the blame; they want to protect your feelings. Then when you’re older, they want you to be on their
side.”
“Sounds sticky.”
“It is. Sometimes they talk to you like you’re a friend of
theirs or something. Like there was this one time my mother
made a comment about her sex life with my father and
before she could expound, I had to get all Regis Philbin with
her.”
“Get Regis Philbin?”
“I told her she could poll the audience or phone a friend
but I didn’t want to hear it and that was my final answer.”
They cracked up.
“You have some sense of humor.”
“Hey, the way I figure it, you can laugh or you can cry;
laughing is much easier.” Cathy looked out the window. “I
don’t think I’ve ever driven into Manhattan this way
before.”
“I’m taking the scenic route.”
“Oh, I’m not boring you to death? I don’t live the glamorous life of a singer, actress or model.”
“Don’t be so quick to think they live such a great life. I
enjoy talking to you. You keep it real. I like that.”
“I like talking with you, too.” She felt a little bashful but
kept the conversation moving. Marcus noticed she had a
sexy way of making her hair bounce when she turned her
head. She did it so naturally Marcus knew it wasn’t a put on.
“Now let’s talk about your family. I know you’re the
oldest and you have two sisters. Tell me about them. Are
they married?”
“My sister Lisa is a psychologist. She’s 32. She just got
engaged a few months ago.”
“Do you like the guy?”
“Yeah. He’s pretty cool. He’s in law enforcement. My
youngest sister Cecily, is a record company executive. She
travels a lot and is in no hurry to settle down.”
Cathy nodded. “She just turned thirty last month. You
had a party for her at the Four Seasons.”
“How did you know that?” He was a little shocked.
“My father, Anna, Madison and my sons took me there