Forever Love (Arabesque) (3 page)

“I think we’re through here,” Gia said, stealing a sideways glance, careful not to turn completely round.

“Are you sure?” Keith asked.

She turned completely around to him this time. “We made our point, proved our case.”

“Are you sure?” he repeated.

He was testing her. She smiled knowingly. “Absolutely.”

“I don’t think you realize what you’re up against,” he said.

“I could say the same of you,” she rebutted quickly. “The people want answers and results this time around. So, before we give your father another chance, he needs to show that he deserves it. And know that just giving lip service isn’t going to do it.”

“Lip service,” he repeated, then licked his lips, focusing on her mouth. “Would you like to elaborate on that terminology?”

She smiled in spite of herself. “You know exactly what I’m talking about, Mr. Washington.”

“And am I to understand that you alone speak for all the people of Philadelphia?”

“I didn’t say I did.”

“You implied as much. Who exactly do you represent?”

“I work with the Organization for Community Change. We’re nonprofit, so we don’t answer to anyone except the people of Philadelphia.”

Keith smiled. “That’s very naïve of you.”

Her anger instantly spiked. The audacity of his implication felt as if she’d been doused with ice water on a hot day. She was speechless. She released. “Maybe you think your charm and charisma can influence others, but I assure you, I’m not easily manipulated. Nor am I impressed. You got OCC’s endorsement the last time, but these are different times. This city wants answers one way or another. So, Mr. Washington, I suggest you prepare your camp for the battle of your career.”

“Once again, are you sure?” Keith asked. His tone was crisp and unyielding.

She smirked. “Very,” she said definitively. “It would be a huge mistake to underestimate me.” She turned back around.

“Thank you for the warning,” he said, leaning in.

“Don’t mention it,” she shot over her shoulder.

Keith nodded, then focused on the assembly again. A question was asked and after his father answered there was loud applause. Then he turned the questions around and asked the young woman what part of the city she was from. She stammered a few seconds, avoiding the question, and when pressed, she answered, stating that she was from Los Angeles and had just arrived the day before. The crowd laughed, booed her and she sat down, turning beet red.

The mayor went on to ask a few others who’d asked volatile questions where they were from. Most answered that they were from the suburbs. It was all over at that point, as the true Philadelphians grew openly hostile toward the outsiders and began yelling at them to sit down.

“You know this isn’t over,” Gia said over her shoulder.

“I’d be greatly disappointed if it was. It was a pleasure meeting you, Gia Duncan.” Gia turned completely around to face him. “I guess the battle begins. Pity,” Keith said, knowing that his father had the audience firmly back in his corner.

“Why a pity?” Gia asked.

“We could have been very good together,” he said.

“Sorry, I already have a position.”

“There are always new positions,” he suggested.

“Yes, I’m sure there are,” she confirmed.

Keith leaned in closer and looked down the length of her body. “But for the record—” he licked his full, kissable lips “—I wasn’t talking about professionally.”

The enticing sight sent a burning wave of heat straight down through the center of her body. All of a sudden Gia began to wonder. She opened her mouth and then closed it just as quickly. She understood exactly what he meant. She also understood that he was a lawyer and that meant he played games for a living. Fine, she could play, too. She boldly looked into his sexy eyes and then up and down his body. Then she smiled seductively and returned the favor by licking her lips, as well. “For the record, I agree. Pity.”

She turned to walk away, but he spoke up quickly and quietly as he captured her hand. “You know,” he began softly, then leaned in so as not to disturb the others standing nearby, “there’s no reason why we can’t still be friends through all this.” He handed her his business card.

“Of course there is,” she said, taking his card, looking at it. “But then again...” She smiled a crooked smile, handed him her card and then walked away.

Keith chuckled. The sound was deep, hearty and soulful. He nodded as he watched her go. As soon as she got to the exit, she turned and took one last look at him. He had stopped laughing and was now smiling at her. She nodded, turned and walked out.

It was obvious she had no idea what she was doing. This was his arena and he played for keeps. There was no way an amateur was going to outmaneuver him. Yeah, she took the first point, but this game went to the player who lasted the longest. He intended to win, by any means necessary.

A few minutes later Megan came over. “I know, I know. This is a public relations disaster. I’m on it,” she said anxiously.

Keith was still smiling and holding Gia’s business card. “No, not at all. I’ll make a few phone calls. We’ll be all good by the end of the day. But get me as much information as you can on OCC.”

“Okay, I already spoke with Ms. Los Angeles. Her name’s Simone Carpenter. She’s an aspiring actress.”

He chuckled. “Don’t worry about her, she was just a distraction. I doubt she has much to do with this. Focus on compiling an OCC file. I want everything on them, starting from the top.”

“I already have my team working on it,” she said as she followed him back toward the side door. Her limber fingers sped rapidly across the tiny keys of her BlackBerry like lightning.

Moments later the program had begun to wind down. By the end, his father’s applause had quickly turned into a whistling standing ovation. Keith was already making preemptive calls to the media, spinning a questionable story into pure gold.

Chapter 3

T
he meeting was over. Gia stepped outside and released the breath she’d been holding ever since she walked away from Keith Washington. Playing with fire was dangerous. Playing with Keith could be cataclysmic. She had no idea why she said what she had said to him. She’d been nonconfrontational all her life. It wasn’t until she stepped up to her father and grandfather that she had actually spoken up for herself at all and didn’t just go along with the status quo.

It was totally and completely out of character for her, but for some reason it felt right to step up to Keith Washington. He was flirting and she flirted right back. And even now her heart was pounding like a jackhammer, but she knew it was more about what would happen next. She was sure he wasn’t the kind of man to just let a comment like hers rest.

“Oh, my God, that was insane,” Bonnie said excitedly as soon as they left the main hall. “That was incredible. We totally rocked that. Seriously, we so need to celebrate right now. What do you think about Beluga caviar, escargot in butter and Perrier-Jouët champagne at Le Bec Fin on Rittenhouse Square?”

“That’s a bit too extravagant.”

“Okay, how about truffles, poached salmon and iced vodka at the Ritz?”

“How about we just order pizza and beer when we get back to the office?” Gia said as they walked through the throngs of people standing around outside as they both looked around for Bill. “There he is,” Gia said, seeing Bill’s car parked just down the street.

“Where? I don’t see him,” Bonnie said, looking around.

“There, on the corner of the next block. Let’s go,” she said.

* * *

A block away Bill sat in his car with the phone on speaker listening to Lester Jameson tear him apart. He rolled his eyes toward the tinted sunroof. Lester was stuck in a continuous loop of hysterics and high drama. This was the fourth time he repeated the same damn monologue. He wouldn’t allow Bill to defend himself.

“Do you have any idea how badly this is going to come back on me? It looks like I planted them in the audience. The media’s already castrating me on mudslinging and dirty politicking. I don’t need any more of this kind of publicity.”

Bill sighed heavily. This rampage had been going on for the last five minutes. Bill had already apologized profusely. “But how was I supposed to know he would ask them where they were from?”

“What are you, ten? This isn’t a playground brawl. It’s politics, buddy. This is hardball. You wanted to play in the big leagues, well, here you are. Step up to the plate.”

“Lester, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. I promise. We’ll regroup at Friday’s press conference. I already have it all worked out. We’ll be there and we’ll be ready.”

“Fine, just make sure that you have something to discredit Blake and that it won’t come back to me. I’ve already got this corruption probe hanging over my head. And what about that endorsement you promised?”

“I’m working on it.”

“Work faster. Election Day is in a few weeks. Remember, you don’t get your position if I don’t get the office.”

“I know, I know.”

There was a muffled sound in the background. Bill could hear someone questioning Lester. He answered by disavowing knowledge of the audience members and blaming the sponsors like OCC for distracting the public and clouding the true issues.

Bill slammed the palm of his hand on the steering wheel. He had not intended for this to come back on OCC. And here Lester was, serving them up on a platter.

Bill saw two more news vans pull up. He looked in the rearview mirror. He knew this was going to get real crazy real soon. People were starting to mingle around outside. Then he spotted Bonnie and Gia walking down the street toward his car.

“Get it done,” Lester said, getting back to Bill.

“You just gave us up,” Bill said in a restrained tone.

“It’s politics, boy—better you than me.” The line went dead.

A few seconds later his cell phone rang again. He answered. It was Linda, one of the OCC office staff. Apparently the phones had been ringing off the hook. News agencies were desperate for an interview with the organization. “All right, don’t say anything. Just get their contact information and wait until we get there,” he said. He was still talking to the assistant when Gia and Bonnie got into the car.

“Hey,” Gia said as she sat down in the front seat, “so, what happened to you? You disappeared on us.”

“I was there for most of it. I left to get an early start to the car. So, how was the ending?”

“Not as good as it began,” Gia said.

Bonnie chuckled. “That’s an understatement. The mayor started going back at the OCC people, asking where we lived, and one of the women
you
hired actually said that she lived in Los Angeles. Can you believe that? Everybody started laughing and that was it. It was all downhill after that, if you ask my opinion....”

“Nobody asked your opinion, Bonnie,” Bill said gruffly.

“No, she’s right. Who was she?” Gia interrupted.

“Seriously, that was the dumbest thing I ever heard,” Bonnie said. “Why would you say you’re from California at a Philadelphia town hall meeting? That’s just stupid.”

Bill glared at Bonnie in the rearview mirror.

“Bill, who was she? She obviously isn’t part of OCC, and I’ve never seen her as a volunteer.”

“She’s a friend. She wanted to help.”

“And what was with all the makeup and weaved-in blond hair? She looked ridiculous.”

“Bonnie,” Gia said.

“Why don’t you shut up?” Bill insisted.

“Why don’t you?” Bonnie snapped back.

Gia shook her head. It was obvious this was going to turn into another one of the usual brother-versus-sister battles. For some reason Bill did not get along with his half sister, Bonnie, even though she adored him. Gia had a feeling it was because she still had money whereas he’d blown through his inheritance and trust fund in less than three years. Now he was essentially broke. Either way, she didn’t want to hear any more. She reached over and turned on the radio. The news station came on midway into a news
report.

“...in this hour’s top story, it looks like Mayor Blake Washington got himself in a bit of a tight squeeze at the North Field Community Center this afternoon. He was hammered on all sides today by members of the Organization for Community Change. Since Julia Duncan’s stroke three months ago, it looks like the organization is back stronger than ever and they’ve set their sights on Mayor Blake Washington. I have a feeling we’re gonna hear more from them in the future.”

“You bet you are,” Gia said, knowing her grandmother would be too pleased about today. “Did you hear that—we got major airtime? That’s fantastic!” Gia said excitedly. She couldn’t stop smiling and her heart was beating like crazy. She would still be feeling the high of besting Blake Washington on a political level at least for a while. “I can’t believe how great that felt. We did it. We did it.”

“Yeah, we did it,” Bill said calmly.

“And that was only the beginning. We’re gonna get changes made. OCC is gonna hold Philadelphia politicians accountable. If they want to win elections, they’re gonna have to step up and work for the people and not just big businesses and their political lobbyists.”

“So, overall, what did you think of him?” Bill asked as he pulled to a stop at a traffic light.

“He was an impressive speaker,” Gia said.

“Well, I thought he was fantastic,” Bonnie added.

Bill glanced up in the rearview mirror again. He frowned disgustedly, not expecting his sister to add anything more to the conversation from the backseat. “Is that all, just impressive?” he asked Gia.

“He’s also charming and intelligent. Shall I go on?” she asked.

“Now, we are talking about Blake Washington, right?” Bill said.

“Yes, of course. Why? Who else would we be talking about?”

“Well, the way you and Keith were talking and looking at each other seemed and looked a little suspect,” he said with a sideways taunt. “What I mean is, it looked like the two of you were about to get
chummy
.”

“Chummy? I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Gia said, then turned and looked out the side window dismissively seeing the streets of Philadelphia pass by. Bonnie plugged her earbuds into her ears and Bill was lost in his thoughts as the news report continued with sports, weather and then more local news.

Unlike for most in the OCC, this wasn’t her adopted city. She was born and raised and had lived in Philly with her mother and father until the age of ten. She remembered it well. Her parents divorced and there was a long ugly battle over her future. The courts, presumably with her grandfather’s collaboration, awarded her father full custody. Her mother had a nervous breakdown and was hospitalized and a year later when her father remarried she was sent away to a boarding school in Boston. And that was the beginning of her real life. Both college and grad school were spent in Boston. Afterward she was expected to return to Philadelphia and go to work in the family business making money and carry on the Duncan family name with a family friend’s rich son or grandson.

That was their idea of her perfectly planned out life. Fortunately it wasn’t hers. After college she refused everything. Her father and grandfather were furious. They threatened to take her trust fund and inheritance and she gladly volunteered it. They were stunned; she was overjoyed. Happily for her, greed and self-indulged arrogance aren’t hereditary.

She could still see their faces when she turned her back and walked out on everything. Priceless. She smiled to herself even now, years later. It was the best day of her life because she made her mother and grandmother proud.

They drove past a campaign billboard of Blake Washington. He was smiling and she instantly thought about a six-foot-three-inch gorgeous man named Keith. She bit her lower lip, thinking about the last thing she had said to him. It was challenging and provocative. She knew she opened up the possibility of something more between them. She had no idea why she said it. It was pure impetuous impulse. But chances were he wouldn’t do anything about it—thank goodness for that.

* * *

Keith stood just outside the North Field Community Center waiting for his father to come out. He smiled, shook hands and even answered a few sound-bite questions about the town meeting for the local news. Twenty minutes later Blake came out of the building. His friend Ace Miller walked out with him along with a news team and eight or so others. After a few more handshakes, photo-ops and waves, they got in the car and drove off back to Center City.

“Do you have any idea what that was?” Keith said as soon as the car drove away.

“That was desperate politics,” Blake said.

“Miller has some serious explaining to do.”

“No, Ace didn’t know. He had nothing to do with what happened in there. Believe me, it was just as much a surprise to him as it was to us. He’s furious. He feels they used and besmirched the community center. I had to stop him from throwing the whole OCC crew out.”

“OCC,” Keith repeated slowly, “since when do they openly confront politicians in a public forum like that? They’re primarily letter-writing pacifists.”

“Looks like the game players are trying to change the rules.”

“Yes, it does,” Keith said, and nodded. “And we’re not going to be caught short and exposed like that again. I want to know exactly what they’re up to. I already have Megan getting more information on them.”

“Or you could just ask your great-aunt about them.”

“Mamma Lou, why, what do you mean?”

“She was there at the beginning. Your grandmother was one of the founding members of OCC along with Julia Banks.”

“When was this?”

“This was back in the early and mid-seventies, I believe.”

“I didn’t know that,” Keith said.

“Oh, yes, your grandmother and great-aunt were very political in their day. They were considered quite radical by their parents and friends. They belonged to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. They organized and held numerous sit-ins and protests here in the city during the Civil Rights Movement. They marched on Washington in sixty-three and rode to the Deep South on Freedom Ride buses to register voters and protect against discrimination and segregation. They were even arrested a few times for civil disobedience. That’s what made me want to get into politics in the first place. They knew there was a better way. They wanted change and a better life for the future. The OCC was founded on the premise of it.”

Keith smiled. Learning the beginnings of OCC might be helpful. And since he’d lost the challenge with his brothers, distracting Mamma Lou with OCC might be a good way to keep her too distracted to meddle in his personal life. “So Mamma Lou married and went to live in Virginia and then Grandmom died. I presume Julia Banks just continued the OCC premise alone, so how did it go from making community changes to a political watchdog?”

“That, you’re gonna have to ask your great-aunt when she gets here. She’s the only one who would know now except, of course, Julia Banks,” Blake said just as the car pulled up in front of the Washington & Associates Law Firm office building.

Keith opened the door and got out, then turned back to his father. “Dad, don’t forget you’re meeting with the teachers union to get their endorsement this evening. I’ll meet you there at six.”

“Why don’t you take the evening off? Your mother’s meeting me at the union hall and then we’re going to dinner with some friends. You’ve been working too hard lately. Carrying your legal clients plus managing my reelection is above and beyond. I’m sure your mother and I can handle it alone this evening. Go home and get some rest.”

“I’m fine. I’ll meet you—”

“Keith, that wasn’t a suggestion,” Blake said firmly.

“Dad, after what happened this afternoon I think I need to be there this evening. It’s the perfect opportunity for OCC and every other obstructive organization to push into the limelight to get media attention. Fifteen minutes of fame is all they want. And after today all bets are off.”

“If that’s the case, then there’s nothing much we can do. The freedom of the press works for everyone.”