Not His Type (11 page)

skirmishes. You deserve some time to yourself, if for no
other reason than to make sure you don’t go postal,”
Michelle said as she put on her jacket.
“I second that. It sounds to me like you deserve to have
some fun without guilt. Besides, when was the last time you
took a vacation?”
“Does taking time off to drive Andrew and Alex to
school count?” Catherine asked timidly.
“No!” Michelle and Anna spoke at the same time.
“Well, I guess that answers my question.”
All joking aside, Anna got serious. “And you know E.D.
is the last one to begrudge you any time off. He’s been
trying to get you to take it easy for years now.”
“You need a time out.” Michelle paused. “Now that we
have 28 signed clients there are only two without
publishing deals and we can handle that.”
“Now that we’re not taking on any new clients, it
should be okay.”
“And even if we were, that’s what you have yours truly
for, to go through the representation queries.”
“Okay, ladies, you’ve convinced me. I’m going to head
upstairs, take a shower and get some rest.”
Cathy kissed Michelle on the cheek. “Talk to you
tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
“Good night all.”
“Good night.”
Although she’d had an exciting and physical day, Cathy
didn’t have any problems with her back going upstairs.
When she passed by her sons’ room she couldn’t help
smiling at Marcus’s poster.

v

Marcus walked back into his apartment, using his
remote to turn all the lights on. He walked over to his
picture window and looked at all the red and white lights
of traffic below.

The phone rang.
“Hello?”
“So I take it you had a good night?” Ben asked.
“I did. One of the best nights I’ve had in a long time.”
“Good. So you really like this girl?”
“I do. She’s sweet, smart and very sexy in a way I never

thought about before.”

 

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve never been out with a full-figured woman before
and now I’m wondering why. She’s just as sexy as any
woman on the runway.”

“Beauty is beauty no matter what package it comes in.
What you really have to look for is what’s inside the
package.”

“You’re right about that. Anyway, Ben, thanks for
calling.”
“Anytime. See you tomorrow.”
“Good night.”
Marcus dialed Cathy.
Cathy was still floating when she got into bed.. When
the phone rang, she glanced at the clock.
“Hello?’
“Hey there. I’m back home in one piece.”
“Good. Now I can go to sleep.”
Hearing his sexy voice, she closed her eyes and thought
back to their good night kiss.
“Sweet dreams, Cathy.”
“You too, Marcus.”
She hung up.
“It’ll take a crowbar to get this grin off my face,” she
mumbled out loud.

v

Marcus looked at his watch. “They’re an hour behind
us so they should still be up,” he said out loud before he
dialed the phone.

“Hello?”
“Dad.”
“Marcus. How are you, Son?”
“I’m good, Dad. I didn’t wake you, did I?”
“No, I was up going over some case files. What’s up?”
“Is Mom up?”
“No, she went to bed early. They’ve been doing inventory for a day or so and she’s really worn out.”

“Oh. Give her a kiss for me in the morning.”
“I will. So what’s on your mind, Son?”
Marcus knew better than to dodge a direct question

from his dad. “Remember what you told me about meeting

Mom?”
“Sure.”
“You said that you knew she was the one for you by the

end of your first date.”
“I did know. Not that you ever believed that could
happen.”
“Well, it seems that I might be a convert to that way of
thinking.”
“I see. So you’ve met someone.”
“I have. Her name is Catherine Chambers.”
“How did you meet her?”
“I know this is going to sound like a cliché but I saw her
across a crowded restaurant.”
His father laughed. “So your old dad isn’t such a sap
anymore, huh?”
Marcus chuckled. “They say the apple doesn’t fall far
from the tree.”
“So what is it about this Catherine that’s made you a
convert.”
Marcus paced in front of the window. “It’s not just any
one thing, it’s a combination of things. She’s smart, pretty,
open and down to earth. When she smiles her eyes have a
little sparkle in them. Most of all, she was herself and I felt
comfortable enough to be myself.”
“That’s great, Son. I’m happy for you. I take it then
she’s not in the entertainment industry.”
“She’s a literary agent.”
“Nice.”
“She’s divorced and she has twin 18-year-old sons in
college upstate.”
“She has eighteen year olds? She got married young.
How old is she? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“She’s forty.”
“So she’s only six years older than you. That’s not bad.
At this stage in the game age is relative.”
“She’s a full-figured woman, too.”
“Great. Your mom wasn’t a Skinny Minnie when I met
her. I like women to have some meat on their bones.”
Marcus smiled. “She does have curves in all the right
places.”
His father laughed again. “There’s nothing wrong with
that, just in case you needed to hear someone say that out
loud.”
“Dad, I can see the gossip captions already. They’re
going to zoom in on her body.”
“Listen, Son, she may not be part of the entertainment
industry but I’m sure she knows and she said yes to a date
anyway.”
“She’s coming to the game tomorrow night.”
“Oh yeah? Maybe your mom and I can fly down for the
game.”
“I would love for you to meet her.”
“Tell you what. I’ll think on it and give either you or
Ben a buzz.”
“Okay, Dad.”
“Now I really have to get these files done. I’ll talk to you
sometime tomorrow, Son.”
“Okay, Dad. Good night.”
“Good night, Son.”
Marcus stared out at the city again. Cathy was on his
mind and under his skin already. He could smell her
perfume on his shirt. He took a deep breath as if he were
drinking her in again and headed to his bedroom to call it
a night.

v

Just as Cathy was about ready to call it a night she heard
banging on the door downstairs. She got up and fumbled
around to get her robe. When she stepped into the hall she
heard her sister cursing up a storm. Then she heard a man’s
voice. It was Madison.

As she walked downstairs, Cathy rubbed her eyes.
Madison looked as if he’d been thrown down a flight of
stairs. She rubbed her eyes again because there was no way
he would allow himself to looked ragged. As she got further
down the stairs she realized his clothes were damn near
shredded.

She turned to Anna. “What the hell happened to him?”
“I can’t seem to get the story.”
“He looks like he was rode hard and put away wet.”
“Ahem. I am standing right here.”
“So speak already!” Anna was annoyed.
“He’s a real son of a gun! That’s all I can say.”
“Who’s a son of a gun?” Cathy was too tired to play

guessing games. “Did you get into a fight with one of your
girlfriend’s ex-boyfriends or something?”
“No. This was courtesy of a client’s now ex-husband.”
“
Your client’s ex-husband did this to you
? You’re not
sleeping with a client, are you?” Anna was flabbergasted.
“No, Anna. He knows better than that. Don’t you?”
“Yes, of course I know better. That’s not why this
happened.”
“Then what got him fired up enough to go after you?”
Anna asked.
“We’d been tracking this guy’s finances for more than a
year. In fact, I had you look over some papers and you
recommended a forensic accountant. Remember, Anna?”
“Oh yeah, I remember that. I gave you the number of a
professor I had in grad school.”
“Well, he was worth the money because he hit pay dirt.
We found accounts in the Cayman Islands, buildings being
managed by a dummy corporation and several properties in
California’s wine country.”
“Oh my God.” Cathy was shocked.
“You hit the mother lode.”
“Naturally we reported it to the judge to have the
matter of property division, child support and alimony
revisited in light of this new information.”
“So this guy’s major pissed with you.”
“Tell me about it. Today the judge handed down his
decision and he really cleaned this guy out. It’s not that he
has nothing left, but he has to pay.”
“Judges don’t take kindly to hiding assets,” Cathy said.
Anna was doing the calculations in her head. “You’re
talking millions here.”
“He probably ordered him to pay the attorneys’ fees
too.”
“He did.”
“So what happened exactly?”
“I was walking outside my office and I see a man
coming down the block towards me. I couldn’t make out
who it was at first and then I realized it was this guy.”
“What did you do?” Cathy’s eyes widened.
“I put my briefcase in the car and I waited for him to
reach me. He was screaming at me about his money and
how I helped that money grubbing misspelled witch get his
money. I’m a divorce attorney; it wasn’t anything I haven’t
heard before.”
“Right,” Anna interjected.
“I figured I’d just let him vent and get it out of his
system. Next thing I know, it gets physical. He’s throwing
punches at me. There was no talking to this guy. I knew I
had to get back to my office or the building lobby to call
security or this guy was going to kill me.”
Anna looked at his ripped clothes. “It looks like he
made a good start.”
“He did. I was almost home free when he picked me up
and threw me down the steps in front on the building. He
was going to finish me off but the police came and grabbed
him before he could do anything else.”
“Who called the police?” Cathy breathed a sigh of relief.
“My secretary Nancy called. He’d been to the office
ranting and raving. She called the police right away.”
“Good thing she did. It’s a wonder he didn’t kill you.”
“Don’t I know it, Cathy? I had him arrested for assault.
I’m just coming back from making my statement.”
“Did you go to the hospital and get checked out?” Anna
asked.
“No. I just wanted to get out of there.” He looked in
the mirror over the mantle. “I’m a little the worse for wear,
but I’ll be okay.”
Cathy got up and poured him a glass of wine. “You
might make a lot of money as a divorce lawyer, but no one
can say you don’t earn it.” She handed him the glass and
watched as he drank it all in two gulps.
“I hate to say this, but do you have anything stronger?
I need a stiff drink.”
Anna went to the bar and took out the Johnny Walker
Blue, a gift from a client. She poured him a double. “You
want ice?”
“I’ll take it straight.” He was shaken.
He downed it. “Hit me again.”
Anna poured him another double. For the most part
they were a family of teetotalers, but if anyone needed a few
tonight, it was Mad.
“You’re staying here tonight. You can sleep in the boys’
room.”
Usually Anna and Cathy liked to kid around with
Madison, but tonight wasn’t the night for jokes.
“This was one of my favorite suits. He ruined my
vintage Armani suit.”
“You can buy another suit, Madison. It’s your life we
can’t replace.” Anna spoke calmly.
“Yeah. You know, this is the first time anything like this
has ever happened to me. I know threats come with the
territory, from both men and women, but this the first time
I’ve ever felt so helpless.” His voice cracked
“You fought back, right?” Cathy asked
“I got a few swings in, but this guy was like a bull. He
was snorting and cursing and behaving like an animal.”
Madison was more shaken than he wanted to let on.
“The guy was trying to hide money so he didn’t have to
pay his wife anything and he was ducking out on child
support. He got what he deserved. You did the right thing,”
Anna reassured him.
“I know. I’ll feel better in the morning. Sorry I woke
you two up.”
“Don’t sweat it, Mad, that’s what family is for. “There’s
clean linen on the bed and fresh towels in the linen closet,”
Cathy said as she stood up.
“Thanks.”
“I was going to go to bed unless you still want to talk,”
she said.
“No, that’s okay.”
“I’ll stay up with you, Mad.” Anna sat down next to
him. “Besides I can give you the 411 on your other cousin
there who went out with star baseball player Marcus Fox.”
“See, I told you he was interested, Cathy.”
She kissed him on the forehead. “Yes, you did, and you
were right. Get some rest after the story hour. Good night.”
“Good night,” Madison said quietly.
She went upstairs to the linen closet, took out some
clean towels and placed them on one of the beds in Alex
and Andrew’s room. Even though she was very concerned
about Madison, there was still lightheartedness in her spirit
tonight. She had a date Friday night and it was the first
time she’d looked forward to Friday in a long time.

CHAPTER 10

Marcus got up early the next morning and showered.
He was looking forward to a day with Cathy. Still clad in a
towel, he made a phone call.

”Hello?”
“Hi, Louis.”
“Mr. Fox. What can I do for you?”
“Nothing really. I just called to tell you that I think I’ll

pick Ms. Chambers up myself.”
“Are you sure?” He sounded puzzled.
“Oh, yeah. I’ll still need you for the game tonight.”
“Okay.”
“See you later, Louis. I’ve got to run.”
“All right.”
Marcus knew he had to get a move on if he wanted to

get Cathy in good time. He looked forward to the chance
to get to know her better on the drive in.
v

Cathy woke up and wondered for a moment if she had
dreamt the whole date thing with Marcus Fox. She pinched
herself.
Ouch!
So the answer was a resounding yes! Cathy
felt so good she even read her horoscope, something she
never did. According to the stars, there were good vibrations in her future and for once Cathy believed it.

She took a warm bath and got dressed. Although her
mother ran a strict religious household, she was big on the
idea of taking good care of yourself whether you were single
or married. Cathy got regular weekly manicures and pedicures in addition to Brazilian bikini waxes. The Boy Scouts
weren’t the only ones who believe in preparedness. As usual
she had The Weather Channel on while she got dressed. It
looked as if the day was going to be another warm one but
she decided to wear jeans anyway. Thankfully Cathy didn’t
have a pair of “mom” jeans in her closet. She was an all
skirts girl before Anna took her out and made her buy jeans
in every cut and style available. Anna didn’t know that
Beyonce had been a key in Cathy’s conversion. Before
Beyonce, Cathy was so used to seeing celebrities with field
goal thighs wearing jeans that she didn’t think she looked
good in jeans. She smiled, remembering the first time she’d
heard thighs that don’t rub together described as field goal
thighs. Beyonce wore jeans and she had real thighs and a
motor in the back of her Honda. Jennifer Lopez had a
booty but Beyonce had BOOTY. Cathy decided she could
work a pair of jeans, too. Cathy turned around in the
mirror to check out the rear view and gave a little shake,
humming the “Milk Shake.”