The Company We Keep (12 page)

“O
h no he didn’t!”
Yvette said under her breath. No, Eric didn’t flirt with that bitch right in front of her! But that was exactly what he’d done.

As far as Yvette was concerned, Nicole was one of the plainest bitches she’d ever seen in her life. She had a face like a pie pan! But the way Eric was looking at her, it was obvious that he didn’t think so. “By the way, I noticed how you tore up that dance floor a few times. I hope you saved a few moves for me,” Eric told Nicole, offering a playful wink.

“Anytime,” Nicole assured him in a suggestive tone. She was preoccupied with a lot of other thoughts dancing around inside her head. But she could not ignore Eric and the way he was looking at her. She couldn’t remember the last time a man looked at her with such adoration. She barely noticed Yvette standing next to him clinging to his arm like poison ivy.

Teri was more than ready to call it a night. It had been more than four hours since she’d arrived at Carla’s party. She hadn’t chatted with Nicole in a while. She was anxious to hear what Carla had revealed to her in her reading. But she promised her
self that she wouldn’t bring it up unless Nicole did. There were some things that a sister had to keep to herself. She could recall a thing or two that she’d shared with some of her friends in the past that had come back to haunt her. The worst being an abortion during her senior year in high school, which even the baby’s father didn’t know about. She’d told one person and within a week almost everybody in her senior class was discussing it. She had kept her relationship with Harrison a secret from Nicole until that night at Young Rahim’s New Year’s Eve party. She regretted that she had shared that information with Nicole. Now Nicole had something else to meddle her about. And the way she bristled so easily these days, she didn’t know if her ego could take too much more.

Even slightly tipsy, she still couldn’t think of a man she’d rather be with more than Harrison. For a while, she had thought that there was a chance that they would rekindle their relationship tonight. Unfortunately, from the looks of things, it wasn’t going to happen. She had Mia to thank for that.

From the way Mia was hanging on to Harrison, and the way he was sopping it up, you would have thought that Harrison had brought her to the party, not Dwight. But she had to admit that Dwight didn’t seem to mind what Mia was doing. He had more than enough attention to keep him busy. However, he still found time to pester her again.

“I let you get away from me earlier,” he began.

Her jaw dropped and she shot him a hot look. “
You
let
me
get away? You make me sound like a runaway bride,” she quipped, turning her back to him. He liked the way she looked when she displayed her emotions.

Dwight chuckled. “That was a good one. One of the things I really miss about you is your dry sense of humor. You know, Carla told me I’d see you tonight,” he told her, speaking to Teri from behind. “That’s the main reason I decided to come here,” he admitted.

Teri let out an exasperated sigh before she whirled back around to face Dwight. When she did, she looked him straight in the eye and she wasn’t smiling. “And did she also tell you that I’d tell you to go to hell? You had your chance and you blew it,
Dwight. When are you going to get that through your head?” She gently mauled his head with her fist.

“Aw, baby, don’t be like that. I had a lot of things going on in my life back then. It was nothing against you. I just was not ready to settle down,” he told her, blinking hard. He was trying not to show how much he really wanted her. “And to be honest with you, you never did tell me what I did to make you stop seeing me,” he whined.

Teri’s jaw dropped again. “You men amaze me. You didn’t give me much choice. You stopped returning my calls, you stopped coming by. What else could I do? You wanted to see me on your terms. Which meant you’d see me only when it was convenient for
you.
Well, that wasn’t good enough for me. I’m not a faucet that you can turn on and off.”

“You never tried to talk to me about the way you were feeling—”

“I couldn’t do that if you weren’t around or didn’t have time to return any of my phone calls. And when you finally decided you had some time for me, I told you I might be pregnant. You didn’t waste any time putting the blame on me. You accused me of trying to trap you. I don’t need to trap you or any other man. You got that?” Teri saw a few people staring at her but she didn’t care.

“Look, baby. Nobody blamed you,” he said, defensively, speaking in a low, controlled voice. He was seething with anger. But he didn’t want any of the other guests to know that or hear him getting dressed down in such a brutal manner. So he forced himself to smile. In case anybody was interested, he made it look as if he and Teri were having a pleasant conversation. With his hand stroking her shoulder he said, “I want things to be right between us. Even if that just means we can only be friends. I can live with that. I would still like for us to have a drink or two sometime or, whatever…”

“You need to get right with yourself before you can get right with me. The way you are looking right now, I could swear you prayed to Jesus to be born again.”

“Maybe I did. And maybe I am.” Dwight looked like he didn’t even believe his own words, and from the look on Teri’s face, he knew she didn’t either.

“Oh, please give me a break. Then, after the pregnancy scare, you didn’t call me for two weeks.”

“I was on a much needed vacation. You knew that!”

“Vacation?” Teri gave Dwight an incredulous look and shrugged her shoulders. “So what? You never leave home without your cell phone, and I am sure that wherever you went, you had access to a telephone.”

Dwight didn’t know what to say next. He just stared at Teri. Then he shrugged and threw up his hands.

“Forget you, Dwight.”

“Forget me? Bah! You know you can’t
forget
me, woman.” He liked the sound of his words. He thought it was a good comeback. “I know you better than you know yourself, and I know what you want…”

“Oh really? Me and how many others? Well, let me give you some advice I am sure you can use. Keep on playing musical beds with all the groupies and hoochies and whatnot out there, and you won’t be around for anybody to want you. This sister does not have to be part of your insanity.”

Before Dwight could respond, a pretty young woman butted in, looking at him as if he were the only man on the premises. “Can I get your autograph?” she cooed, holding up a pen and napkin with nails so long they curled. “You are fantastic. Do you mind?”

“Sure,” Dwight said with a recycled grin.

“You are so much cuter in person.” The woman giggled.

“I wouldn’t stand too close to him, honey. You don’t know what he has,” Teri warned, strutting away.

Dwight’s face stung as though he’d just been slapped. The young woman gasped and looked from Teri to Dwight. “Aww, she’s just another fan and she likes to joke around at my expense. Don’t pay any attention to her,” Dwight said, his voice hard and loud. “Now, what’s your name, sweetheart?”

Several other women crowded around Dwight. Teri looked back and got even more pissed. Harrison was just a few feet away and had heard every word of her conversation with Dwight. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen a brother get so verbally coldcocked and still be standing. He left the group he had been talking to and approached Teri.

“Something tells me that you are a passionate basketball fan,” he said to Teri, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Not anymore,” she replied in a serious tone.

“Or are you not into any games period?”

She gave him a thoughtful look before she responded. “Not anymore,” she repeated.

D
wight had double-zero chances of ever fucking Teri again. Harrison was the only man who did have a chance, but only if he approached her the right way, and at the right time. He grabbed two glasses of champagne off a passing waiter’s tray and handed one to Teri.

“You look like you could use another one of these,” he told her. She accepted the drink with a forced but weak smile. She had to keep reminding herself, whether or not she ever slept with Harrison again, that if she wanted him to keep showcasing the artists associated with Eclectic Records, she had to continue to be nice to him. However, she didn’t want to overdo it. She mumbled a thank-you and nodded. “You know anything I do for you is my pleasure, Teri.”

“I’m feeling that,” she muttered, taking a sip from her glass. She had lost track of how many drinks she’d already had, but she promised herself that this would be the last one. She still had to drive herself home and the last thing she needed was a DUI.

“After just witnessing your encounter with Dwight, I know this is probably not a good time to ask you again, but I will anyway. Can I get in touch with you, uh, maybe sometime early next week?”

“I’ll have to get back to you on that.” Harrison didn’t try to
hide his disappointment. His smile faded within seconds. She had cooled off a little about seeing him acting so cozy with Mia, but she didn’t want to look too eager about him calling her. Teri was glad to see Carla walking in her direction.

“Teri, can I talk to you for a minute?” Carla asked as she approached. She didn’t even give Teri a chance to reply. She just took her by the arm and led her across the room near the front window. Teri had wanted to continue her conversation with Harrison, but she’d still let Carla whisk her away. When she glanced around and saw him still standing in the same spot with the same look of disappointment on his face, she knew she had to adjust her agenda if she really did want him to continue showcasing the artists she worked with.

Despite the fact that she felt as if she were about to burst out of her clothes, Nicole couldn’t seem to stay away from the buffet table. Her thong panties were feeling a lot tighter than they’d felt when she’d slid into them a few hours ago. She had turned down the last three requests to dance, but men were still coming at her from all sides.

“Sister, I’ve been watching you for a while. I love to see a woman enjoy her food. I wouldn’t even waste a minute of my time on none of these flat-butted, toothpick-leg skanks running around this city these days.” Talking to her was a man in a plaid jacket and white pants, chewing on a toothpick. “You one of them catwalking supermodels or something?” he asked. He had a folded white handkerchief in his hand. When he lifted it to wipe sweat off his shiny forehead, Nicole noticed coarse, scraggly hair on the back of his hand. It looked like a brown cat’s paw. She leaned her head back when he reached toward her face with the same napkin. “You got a few crumbs on your jaw,” he told her.

“That’s all right. I’m fine.” She blocked his hand with hers.

“Like I said, I love a woman who loves to eat. My mama would love to meet you,” the man told her, still chewing on that toothpick.

It was a shame that men didn’t have better pickup lines these days. No man in his right mind would mistake a woman her height and weight for a supermodel—unless he meant a plus size
model! It was an even bigger shame that people as classy as Carla and Reuben knew people this tacky.

“Sorry, but I’m married,” she lied. She still wore the cheap ring that Greg had given to her on the day they got married. She had stopped wearing it for a while, but when she told men who she didn’t want to be bothered with that she was married, the first thing they did was look for a wedding ring. She held her hand up and wiggled her ring finger in her admirer’s face, making him look at her as if he wanted to bite her hand and her head off.

“Well, your man must not be doing his job! Not with all the skinning and grinning and dancing and booty rolling you been doing since you walked up in this place.” The man sniffed, leaned back, and looked Nicole up and down.

“That’s none of your business,” she advised, one hand on her hip. “I am a married woman and that’s that.”

“I hope you stay married!”

Not a minute later, Nicole heard the same man using the same supermodel line on another woman. It must have been what that woman wanted to hear because from that point on, he was the only man she danced with or talked to.

Dwight was still enjoying all the attention he was getting from some of the other women. He was totally ignoring Mia. But she didn’t care. Her roving eyes had settled on Harrison Starr and he seemed to be more than a little interested in her. When she asked him to dance again, he wrapped his arm around her waist and practically skipped to the dance floor as if he were Fred Astaire or Michael Jackson. What Mia didn’t know was that the only reason Harrison agreed to dance with her was because he was beginning to feel that he would never be with Teri again.

Surprisingly, Harrison enjoyed dancing with Mia. She felt nice and warm and soft in his arms. And he was glad that it was a slow song, one of Luther Vandross’s most sensuous tunes. He closed his eyes and moved with her body.

“Be careful with that gun in your pocket,” Mia whispered, happy to know that she’d aroused him. “Don’t hurt anybody with
that
.” She nudged his crotch with her hip.

“Sorry,” he said, chuckling. “This is kind of embarrassing,” he admitted, stopping. “You want to sit down?”

Mia shook her head. “I don’t want to sit down and…I want you to keep doing what you were doing,” she told him in the most seductive voice she could manage. “I am not complaining.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” he said with relief, grinding against her some more.

“I’m a woman who speaks her mind. I want you to know that.”

“Oh? Is there something on your mind you’d like me to know right now?”

“There is, but I’ll save it for later. Maybe in a more private setting?”

With this vague promise of some possible action, Harrison gave Mia the kind of look that made her even more aggressive. From her actions and movements, he could tell that she was ready, willing, and able to do whatever he wanted her to do. What was that they said about one bird in the hand being better than two in a bush? And since he didn’t have much luck getting any kind of commitment from Teri, it looked like Mia was going to have to be his bird tonight.

He looked toward the door that he’d seen Teri walk through with Carla a few minutes earlier. Had she walked back into the room before Mia could secure her hooks in him, it would have made all the difference in the world. But Teri didn’t return to the room in time.