The Sorceress (21 page)

“I'm not stressed. I'm disappointed in Senator Provost. Committing adultery in his own home,” Carmen muttered.

Lizzy had been holding the dustpan throughout the entire conversation. She finally went into the kitchen and emptied it. “Oh, get off your high horse, Carmen. The senator is entitled to a fling or two. Ms. Provost might not be cheating with another man, but that woman is having a love affair with the entire country.”

“She's not violating the sanctity of her marriage,” Carmen insisted.

Jen rose to her feet. “You two go right ahead and debate the issue. I'm going to check on Ethan. What time should I bring him down for breakfast, Carmen?”

“I'm not sure.” Carmen threw up her hands, disgustedly.

Jen gave her a perplexed look.

“If I'm ordered to whip up a fancy breakfast for the senator and his trollop, I won't have time to place a variety of selections in front of that finicky boy.”

No longer in a playful mood, Carmen grumbled as she peered inside the fridge.

“
H
i, buddy,” Jen said to the back of Ethan's head. Only yesterday, the eerie little guy had peed on her and here she was calling him “buddy.” She shrugged.
Love makes you do and say crazy things.
“Hungry?”

She was about to lift him out of his swivel chair, and then pat his bottom to check if he'd had an accident, but her cell phone began to vibrate. Forgetting all about Ethan's appetite and tinkle time, she breezed out of his bedroom and headed for her own, groping inside her pocketbook to grab her phone.

“Hi,” she said breathily, without checking the caller ID.

“Jennifer, I understand that Daniel is going to be interviewing nannies…”

Ew!
It was Catherine. She'd been expecting to hear Rome's sexy voice; not Catherine's testy tone. “Good morning, Ms. Provost. I think the agency is sending someone over today.”

“You think?”

“I didn't schedule the appointment, I believe the senator did. You'll have to speak to him,” Jen said with a little edge to her voice. She was sick of being bullied by her employer.
If you can tear him away from the blonde bombshell,
Jen thought with a smirk.

She felt feisty. That good loving she'd gotten was the perfect antidote for dealing with Catherine's attitude problem. Jen wasn't in the mood to tolerate the woman's bitchiness and she was no
longer willing to be her personal punching bag. She didn't want that job in the senator's office.

Not anymore. In due time, she was going to face her parents and tell them what had happened at school. This household was a nightmare and was driving her crazy. Being with Rome made her realize that there was a lot of happiness out in the world, but she wouldn't find it if she continued to hide out in this nuthouse.

“Are you there, Jennifer?” Catherine snapped.

“Yes, I'm here.”

“Then, say something.”

Jen pointedly remained silent. Catherine couldn't intimidate her anymore. It was a small victory when she heard Catherine sigh in frustration. “Look, I can't get the senator on the phone. Lizzy said he's sleeping in. Would you please knock on his bedroom door and tell him that I insist that he pick up his phone?”

“Uh…”

“This is so exceedingly frustrating. Listen, Jennifer, I want you to bang on his bedroom door, barge in, and hand him your cell. My schedule is insane; I don't have time to wait for his return call. I need to speak to him right now.”

“Not a problem,” Jen said, deliberately sounding as cavalier as she felt.
Good sex is the remedy for all of life's problems
, she thought to herself. Without a care, she trekked down the long corridor and knocked sharply on door. “Senator Provost,” she called.

“Barge in!” Catherine hissed into the phone. Jen ignored her. She didn't want to witness him and the dirty blonde in a compromising position.

“Senator Provost.” She knocked again. “There's no answer,” she told Catherine.

“Young lady…open that door right now and place your phone against my husband's ear.” Catherine was seething.

With a shrug, Jen finally opened the door. The bedroom was empty. No senator and no dirty blonde paramour. But from the looks of things, they'd been pretty busy. The exquisite bedding was tangled and hanging off of the bed. Wine was spilled on the carpet and smudges of chocolate were everywhere! On the pillows cases, the headboard, the walls, the telephone, and the lampshade. My, my! Blondie was seriously trying to wreck the Provosts' home.

“He's not here, Ms. Provost.”

“Then he must be downstairs. Go see if he's having breakfast.”

Nothing could ruffle Jen's feathers. She really didn't care where the senator was hiding but, humoring his wife, she trotted down the stairs and was greeted by the sight of Lizzy and Carmen pointing to the front door, miming the words, “He's gone!” The senator and his floozy had executed a great escape.

“Ms. Provost, the senator has already left the house. I had no idea. Sorry you missed him. Maybe you can try his cell—” Click! Catherine hung up on Jen. Jen pulled the phone from her ear, and then looked at it in astonishment. “She hung up on me!”

Lizzy and Jen broke out into hysterical laughter. And even sanctimonious Carmen couldn't help from joining in. The senator had pulled a fast one on his wife and he was going to have hell to pay.

The phone she clutched beeped. She glanced at the screen and smiled at Rome's text: C
all when you get a minute.

Running up the stairs, she stopped and looked over her shoulder. “By the way, Lizzy. I hate to break the news to you, but you have a heck of a surprise waiting for you in the senator's room.”

Lizzy's shoulders slumped like it was the end of the world. “Take lots of cleaning spray in there with you,” Jen said with a devilish giggle.

“She sure is a comedienne today,” Carmen observed with a wry smile. “I think I liked her better before she fell in love.”

Lizzy mumbled discontentedly, with spray cleaner in hand as she climbed the stairs.

Jen didn't have the heart to tell the poor woman she was going to need a bucket of soapy water as well. She'd soon find out and Jen had a pressing personal matter to attend to. Standing outside Ethan's bedroom, she sent Rome a text:

Can't talk right now. Have 2 give the kid his breakfast and that can be a really long, torturous ordeal.

Rome and Jen texted back and forth:

I'm going to try to make you forget the ordeal. Can you come out 2nite?

Not sure if I can get away. I'm going to try.

I hope so. I miss u.

Oh, yeah? What do u miss?

I miss the feeling of your soft skin laying next 2 me. I miss holding you in my arms and I miss the tickly sensation when your hair brushes against my chest. I even miss listening to you snore. LOL

I don't snore.

I wouldn't lie. You snore real cute. Do you miss me?

Of course. I miss your kisses. Being held in your arms. You make me feel protected and warm. Wow! I don't' think I can get thru this nite w/out seeing u. BRB! I'm going to ask the maid if she'll fill in for me 2nite.

Jen stepped inside Ethan's bedroom and walked over to his desk, but carefully avoided looking at the screen. She didn't want any ghostly images to ruin her good mood.

“Come on, buddy, it's time for breakfast. Feel like having
some waffles? How about a bowl of cereal? Or maybe you could munch on a breakfast bar,” she rattled on. “Yeah, a strawberry breakfast bar is really yummy. Easy to handle and nutritious,” she said and then headed for the doorway.

“You just stay put and I'll bring up your breakfast snack,” Jen said, hoping Ethan didn't make her jump out of her skin by giving her a verbal response. She rushed out of his bedroom and hurried downstairs.

Jen was surprised to find Lizzy in the kitchen, seated at the banquette, and thumbing leisurely through a gossip magazine. “Did you see that big chocolate mess the senator and the boob-job blonde left behind?”

“Sure did,” Lizzy answered lazily and then turned another glossy page.

Carmen, in the midst of a hot flash, held her personal battery-operated fan up to her face with one hand and held a fork in the other hand, turning over a few strips of bacon that was sizzling in a frying pan.

“I hope that boy has an appetite. The food that gets wasted in this house could feed all the starving children in the world,” Carmen complained. She covered the frying pan, pressed some buttons to reduce the heat and went and plopped down on the banquette next to Lizzy. Perspiring badly, Carmen threw her head back and cooled her neck with the breeze from the little fan.

Lizzy cut an eye at Carmen. “Why don't you take medication?”

“And give myself cancer. No, thank you.”

“Go ahead and suffer then. Suit yourself.” Lizzy buried her face in the shiny pages.

Lizzy was such a hard worker and neat freak, Jen couldn't understand why she wasn't upstairs tackling the senator's chocolate-smeared bedroom. “If you saw the messy bedroom,
how come you're down here, chillin'?” Jen teased, mimicking the casual way Rome spoke.

“I'll get to it in due time.” Lizzy sucked her teeth. “That hussy should be ashamed of herself. She used to be Ethan's nanny. She has a lot of gall coming in here, sleeping with the senator, and leaving a trail of nastiness for me to clean up.”

“Anyway, Ms. Hot Flashing is the one who needs to be chilling.” Lizzy nodded her head toward Carmen. “Why does she work herself so hard when nobody's around?”

“Because I'm a good employee.” Carmen's eyes roved to Jen. “More than I can say about some.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” Jen asked.

“Didn't your mother teach you to carry yourself with dignity and respect?” Carmen fussed.

Jen didn't know what Carmen was talking about.

“Since when did you start staying out all night? I don't know who that fella is who dropped you off, but I do know that he kept you out all night. You should know better than to sleep with a man before you're married. Why buy the cow when you can get the milk free?” Carmen shook her head at Jen's reckless behavior. “At the rate you're going, you'll never get a wedding band—”

“Did the senator mention what time he's coming back,” Jen broke in. She was not offended in the least by Carmen's old-fashioned notions. She was eager to set up her next date with Rome and didn't have time to listen to a long-winded sermon about her immorality.

“No, he didn't say one word,” Lizzy answered. “He brushed past me and nodded like it was an ordinary thing for him to come down the stairs with a dirty blonde, fake-breasted, former nanny trailing behind him.”

“She's his assistant, now,” Jen said.

“She's a glorified hooker. She's getting something out of sleeping with him. Special favors…maybe she wants to move up the ladder to an even better-paying job. Shoot, she might be using sex to blackmail him. Don't be surprised if she turns up with a dress with a glob of his DNA. The senator is a lonely man, but he needs to be a little more discreet and careful.”

“I guess he's not well-versed in the art of cheating,” Jen offered.

“He'd better learn before he costs his wife this election,” Carmen added after clicking a switch and turning off her hot flash fan. “Don't get old, Jen,” she cautioned as if aging was something Jen could opt out of. “All this perspiring is a pain in the you know what.”

“I told you what to do.” Lizzy pointed at Carmen as the woman ambled back over to the stove. “That one is such a martyr. Women don't have to suffer through menopause.”

Carmen dismissed Lizzy with a brusque hand wave. “I'm not risking my health. I'm going to have to ride this thing out.”

“I don't recall Jen and I agreeing to take that ride with you. We're sick of feeling the breeze of that little fan, and don't think we don't feel the chill every time you throw open a window.”

“Oh, that little bit of air doesn't hurt you.”

“I'm anemic.” Lizzy tightened her wool sweater around her frail body. “That chill goes straight to my bones.”

Jen smile warmly at the two women. “You two are comical. I'm realizing how much I love both of you; even with all your back-and-forth bickering. You're both real cool peeps.”

“We're what?” Carmen asked, frowning. “That new fella you slept with is a real bad influence on you. I can tell by the way you're talking.

“He's really nice. You're gonna love him. He's a police officer
and I can't wait to introduce you both to him,” Jen gushed.

Carmen brightened. “A police officer? Then there might be some hope. It'll only take me a few minutes of conversation to know whether or not he's on the up and up.” She winked at Jen. “By the way, breakfast will be ready in a few minutes. You can bring down the little holy terror. I'll set up his booster seat.”