Hot Like Fire (18 page)

Mimi sauntered across the floor in her heels and
moved over to the bar. "My drinking problem?" she
asked as she dropped ice cubes in a glass.

Bianca fell back against the white leather sofa in
exasperation. "Mimi, are you fixing... a ... drink?"

"For you, because you do still drink, don't you?"
Mimi walked over and handed the glass to Bianca.

Bianca accepted it but sat it on the white leather
ottoman. "Mimi-"

Mimi moved to the foyer and came back with a
pale pink Gucci purse. She reached over the back of
the sofa to give it to Bianca. "Hold on to that. I'll be
right back," she said over her shoulder as she climbed
the gold circular staircase.

"Mimi-"

"Be right back," Mimi sang down to Bianca.

For the next ten minutes, Bianca walked every
inch of the living room. She even played around on
the white baby grand piano in the corner.

"Bianca, meet Beulah Cooley."

Bianca looked up, and her fingers hit the wrong
piano keys when she beheld Mimi sans make-up
and high hair, and with the normal voice ... like
she was at the cookout.

"Mimi, what the hell is going on with you, and
who the hell is Beulah?" Bianca eyed her warily. "Am I going to have to knock you out with a two-by-four
and run for my life? 'Cause you got my ass scared
right now."

Mimi rolled her eyes before she turned and
scooped up her purse, from which she removed
her silver monogrammed flask. She walked back
over to Bianca and handed the flask to her. "Have
some?"

Bianca shook her head. "No thanks. I would tell
you to sip away, but I think you've had enough-"

"It's sweet tea."

Bianca snorted. "Yeah, right."

Mimi stuck it under her nose.

Bianca sniffed and then snatched the flask to
taste its contents. "Oh my God, it is tea!"

Mimi's face was all "I told you so."

"Mimi, okay. What is your point?" Bianca asked.

Mimi sat on the sofa as she waved her hand at
her lavish home. "This is all I've known. Since I was
a child actor, everything about me and my life has
been over the top. And the only thing I know how
to do is act. Can you imagine being fresh in your
twenties and realizing no one in Hollywood cares
anymore? But this is the only life I know how to live,
and it's not me. Well, it's not all me. I mean, who
wouldn't love Manolos?"

Bianca walked over to the ottoman and picked
up her drink. "Lucy, you gots some explaining to
do," she told Mimi in a bad Ricky Ricardo accent
before she tossed the drink back.

"I thought I just explained," Mimi said calmly.

"So the drinking, the makeup, the Diahann Carroll wardrobe, that damned accent ... it's all been
what? An act?"

"Self entertainment. Fun. I mean, come on. Everyone loves Mimi. Mimi can say what she wants
and do what she wants, and nobody lifts a brow. I
loved it. I thrived on this grand act, but now I'm real
interested in life on a ranch in Holtsville, South Carolina, and I know all of this can't fit there."

Bianca leaned back against the chair as she looked
over at Mimi. "And you would give all of this up for
my father?" she asked as she waved her hand around
the house and then at Mimi, from head to foot.

"In a heartbeat."

Bianca rose to her feet and opened her arms.
"Then welcome to the family, you nut case," she
said lovingly as she embraced Mimi tightly.

Zorrie hated that Kade wasn't answering her
calls. And then his sister had given her all that attitude on the phone. She just felt like something was
wrong. She had to talk to Kade.

She hopped into her Benz and headed to South
Carolina. She didn't pack a bag. She didn't notice
that her fuel light had come on until she reached Florence, South Carolina. She fueled up and hopped
back onto Interstate 95.

The entire time she drove, she alternated between calling Kade's cell phone and his house
phone. She received no answer on either. She had
nearly bitten her nails down to the nub by the time
she pulled into Kade's yard.

His vehicle wasn't there, and he never parked in
the garage. Besides, all the lights were off, so she
knew he wasn't home. "I'll just wait," she said as she
shut her car off.

Although they had spent the entire weekend together, Garcelle still felt disappointed when they
made the turn down the unpaved road leading to his
house. She had driven her car to Kade's and had left
it in his garage before they headed to Charleston.

"Are you going to pick up Kadina today, or
should I pick her up in the morning, on my way to
work?" Garcelle asked as she turned her head on
the headrest to look at him.

"I'll get her. They're probably just getting out of
church," he said, picking up their entwined hands
to kiss hers.

Garcelle smiled at him before she turned her
head back as his house came into sight. She looked
confused at the sight of a car parked there. "Is that
Zorrie's car? Is she back in town?"

Kade frowned as he released Garcelle's hand and
steered the vehicle to a stop next to the Benz. "Is
she in there?" he asked incredulously.

Garcelle rose up in her seat and could hardly believe the sight of Zorrie, who was sleeping on her
side on the car seat, reclined all the way back. "That
~ruta is muy loca," Garcelle said as she looked at Kade.

"Has she been there all night?"

"Kade, please wake up. Please," Garcelle said, with
emphasis, as she made a fist and lightly knocked on
his head. "She has been calling you like crazy all
weekend and wouldn't leave a voice mail, because
she knows she didn't want a dang thing. You said
your sister called and said Zorrie was phone stalking you via your parents' phone line. Now here she
is. She likes you. She wants you. She wants to make
nasty with you and bad."

"We're just friends....

Garcelle threw her hands up and let out a string of Spanish expletives as she climbed from the SUV.
"Kade, handle it. Your wife's best friend just slept
outside your house all night. Shit, man. Handle it."

She slammed the passenger door and quickly
strode toward the back of the house. She had to fight
the urge to shake the car and rattle Zorrie from her
sleep. She didn't give Kade another look as she
walked around the back of the house to the garage.

Garcelle laid on her horn as she passed Zorrie's
car. She laughed when the woman sat straight up in
the seat and got tangled in the seat belt. That gave
her a good laugh all the way home.

At first I thought Aunt Zorrie was here to see me, but I
think she just wants to see you.

If a man and a woman go out to eat, to the movies, and
all that good stuff... they are dating, baby ... That
woman is a barracuda in disguise....

Look here, big brother. Take it from a woman. Zorrie got
an agenda. Sleep on her if you want to.

Kade, please wake up. Please.

Kade climbed from the SUV as all the phrases
came floating back to him. Was he naive to think
Zorrie wanted nothing but the friendship he had to
offer her? She was Reema's best friend. She wouldn't
want to betray Reema like that and certainly didn't
think he would ever consider doing such a thing.
Did she?

He walked around to open her car door. "Zorrie,
what are you doing here?" he asked.

She wiped the dried drool from the corners of
her mouth as she climbed out of the car, clearly disheveled and wrinkled from sleeping in a car all night.

"Was that Garcelle that just left here?" she asked.

He released a heavy breath. "Zorrie, why are you
sleeping outside my house, ringing my parents'
phone off the hook, and damn near making my
cell phone battery go dead from calling me?"

She placed her tousled hair behind her ears. "I
was worried about you after the storm, and after I
couldn't reach you, I wanted to make sure you and
Kadina were okay."

"So you drove from North Carolina and slept outside my house?" he asked.

"Kade, I was so worried, and if you had just answered my call. . .

"Garcelle and I spent the weekend together, and
when you didn't leave a voice mail, I figured whatever you had to tell me could wait until our weekend was over."

He was surprised by the flash of anger in her eyes.

"Garcelle?" she spat. "So, what? You fucking her?"

He was shocked by the vulgarity of Zorrie's words.
Miss Prim and Proper never cursed. Ever.

"No, I'm dating her," he responded calmly as he
began to feel uncomfortable in Zorrie's presence.

"So you feel a lazy, wetback nanny is good enough
to replace my best friend?"

Distaste
filled
him.
"You
know,
I
would've
thought
you were too smart and too classy to use racial slurs,
especially since you're a minority woman."

"Don't you dare stand in my face and judge me!"

He frowned at the intensity of her anger. "What?
Garcelle's not good enough, but you are? Right?"

"You're damn right I'm good enough. I'm better
than good enough. I'm the one you should have
chosen in the first damn place-"

She slapped her hands over her own mouth.

Kade leaned against the hood of her car as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Zorrie, I picked
Reema because I liked her. I married her because I
loved her. And I would never date her best friend,
because I respect her."

Zorrie ran her shaking hands through her hair
as she walked away from him. Then she walked
back, with tears in her eyes. "Kade, I-"

He held up his hands. "Zorrie, I consider you a
good friend. A lot has been said. Some of it can't be
taken back. Let's not say anything else to make this
situation any worse than it is.

She nodded and released a shaky breath as she
crossed her arms over her chest and paced in front
of him. She stopped and faced him, with tears and
pain in her eyes. "That day when Reema and I sat
there together in the cafeteria, side by side, you
walked up and your eyes went straight to her. Why
didn't you see me? Why didn't you look over at me?"

He felt sorry for her. The woman was deeply
wounded, and he knew there was more to it than
just him. "I don't know why, Zorrie. And it doesn't
matter, because I wouldn't change a thing if I had
the chance."

She stared at him a long time before she sniffed
back her tears. "I think it would be best if I just go,
and maybe I ... maybe we ... should give each
other some space."

Kade stood up. "You want me to drive you somewhere?"

She shook her head as she opened her car door.
"It's time I learned to live without you," she told
him before she climbed into the vehicle and reversed out of the yard.

Garcelle was lying across her bed, on her stomach,
reading when there was a knock at her door. She
looked over her shoulder to see her little brother,
Paco, peek his head inside.

"You awake? Uncle Anthony said you had a call
on the other line," said Paco.

"Bring it to me," she said as she turned over and
sat up in bed.

Paco brushed his long bangs out of his eyes as he
walked into Garcelle's room, with the phone outstretched in his hands. "Uncle Anthony said to
hurry up. He's on the other line."

"Surprise, surprise," Garcelle said as she pressed
the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Garcelle. This is me. You busy?" said Kade.

She felt her body go warm at the sound of Kade's
voice. "Hold on one sec."

She clicked the phone and got the other line.
"Anthony said he'll call you back," she said, without
waiting for an answer. She clicked back over.

Paco was snooping around her dresser. "Tell
Uncle Anthony he'll have to call them back. Now
come here," said Garcelle.

He walked over to her, and she kissed her two fingers before she pressed them to his forehead. "Good
night, Paco."

"Night."

She waited until he had closed the door behind
him before she turned out the light and snuggled
down under the sheets on her bed. "Okay. I'm back."