One Love (43 page)

Alex felt a rush of sympathy for her.
She was truly in distress. “I’m just glad you’re okay. Believe me,
I can forgive you. Recovery is hard. I know you tried.”

Lanessa’s eyes flashed with anger. “I
don’t need your pity. I need you to believe me.”

“
I’ve gone through a lot
over the years.” Alex was tired of being patient. “I’ve given up a
lot for you, Lanessa!”

“
Oh I see. Including Karin?
Miss Perfect. Never had to worry about her embarrassing you in
public.”

“
You said it, not me,” Alex
snapped back. “And while we’re on the subject, just who was the man
you were with? You didn’t waste time. Just like before.”

“
You feel so superior. How
wonderful that you found it in your heart to forgive me. Trouble is
you can’t forget!” Lanessa shouted at him.

“
Why should I? You put me
through hell and this is just an instant replay!” Alex yelled.
“Exactly what I expected.”

There was deafening silence between
them. His last words had landed like a bomb. There it was, Alex had
finally admitted what he’d felt down deep. He’d been waiting for
the other shoe to fall. It had been the same in the past. Lanessa
came back into his life and the flame ignited. Yet there was the
pain that came with the luscious pleasure of being with
her.

“
So you lied. You never
believed in me, in my recovery. I shouldn’t be surprised you don’t
believe me now,” Lanessa said in a quiet voice. “Goodbye, Alex. I
don’t owe you a damn explanation.”

“
Lanessa, I didn’t mean it.”
Alex wanted call back more than the words. He wanted to call back
the lack of trust that pushed them out. “I do believe in you it’s
just...”

“
Goodbye.” Lanessa did not
shout, but her voice rang clear and loud.

Alex walked out without looking back.
He was too ashamed. Inside conflicting emotions boiled. His love
for her was real. How could he explain himself now? Alex needed
time to sort out his feelings, to understand himself before he
could face her again. The door slammed shut behind him.

***

Lanessa sat in her office. The pile of
papers on her desk was more than trash; it was the ending of her
business. There had been no new contracts for three weeks. She was
embarrassed at the efforts she’d made to extend the three jobs she
had. They would soon come to an end. One client had already
cancelled an additional contract with another division of his
company. Six referrals would not return her calls. Added to this
misery was the way her thoughts kept going back to the last awful
scene with Alex. Just when she had thought things could not get
worse between them, they had. Now she did not even have work to
keep her mind off him. She could not even cry.

“
Stop it right now,” Robyn
said. She stood in front of Lanessa with her hands on her hips.
“Don’t you dare feel like a failure.”

“
At least let me
whine
before
you
stop me,” Lanessa said with a wry smile.

“
Nope, I won’t let you
start. We’re going to ride it out.” Robyn began organizing the
files.

“
Don’t bother with those.
I’ll just pack them up in boxes once I close down.” Lanessa was too
tired to stop her though. She watched Robyn move around with her
usual energy. “And Jackie will get you a great job at her firm.
Making more money, too.”

“
I thought you had enough
cash reserve for four more paychecks.” Robyn kept moving around
briskly.

“
I do, but why bother? I’ll
have to let you go anyway.” Lanessa knew she should help her, but
she could not move from her chair.

“
You’re not listening to me,
boss lady. I’m staying right here.” Robyn turned on the
computer.

“
Look, I got you a spot on a
life boat. There’s no need for you to stay.” Lanessa tossed a legal
pad into the waste can. “I’m the one who sank this ship, so I
deserve to go down with it.”

“
Nonsense,” Robyn said.
“Here’s the management report you did for The Pratt Foundation.
Ungrateful little weasels. They got that grant because of the work
you did.”

“
Have you read the latest?”
Lanessa picked up a newspaper. “Melvin Pratt doesn’t want his name
to appear in Glenn’s rag alongside mine.”

“
That thing isn’t fit to
line a garbage can,” Robyn retorted.

“
You’re the minority
opinion, dearie. Glenn Curtis has probably tripled his circulation
thanks to me.” Lanessa looked at the article. She could recite its
contents from memory.

The Baton Rouge Chronicle, Glenn’s
small weekly newspaper, had made a big splash. This week’s story
was the fourth installment in his series about Lanessa. He had
somehow found out about the Commerce Department investigation. Yet
he had skillfully written the stories so that she seemed to be
their main target. Glenn implied Lanessa had given bad advice that
put Paxton-Waite in a difficult position. He even quoted Ken
Hargrove as saying they had “put too much faith in the
recommendations of their consultant”. Then Glenn went on to
identify Lanessa as the consultant and raked up her past. No wonder
her clients were leery of her now.

“
The only reason we have any
work left is because of the contracts. They’re afraid I’ll sue if
they try to back out.” Lanessa looked at the neatly bound report in
front of her. It had her company logo on it.

“
Darn right we would!” Robyn
gave a fierce nod. “But Mr. Hines did say the information you gave
him will really help when he goes for a small business
loan.”

“
He won’t say it publicly
though. And he’s just as eager to get away from me as the rest.”
Lanessa knew the cold reality. “Face it; I’m through in this
town.”

“
You’ve still got friends.”
Robyn stopped filing and sat down in the chair facing her
desk.

“
Forget having my own
business. I’ll be lucky if I can get a job working for someone
else.” Lanessa shook her head. “I was stupid to try.”

“
Lanessa...” Robyn was cut
off by the phone ringing.

“
Take it out in your office,
will you? Just tell them I’m not in.” Lanessa covered her face with
both hands. “And close the door.”

Robyn hesitated. The phone continued
to ring. “I know things look bad.”

“
What an understatement. Get
the phone.” Lanessa took her hands away and looked her. “Go on.
Don’t babysit me.” She waved her out.

Robyn sighed then darted out. Lanessa
heard her answer the phone with the same verve she’d had in better
times. She could not help but smile. Losing Robyn as an employee
was as painful as giving up her business.

“
Knock, knock.” Jade did not
wait for an answer. She opened the door and peeked in. “Hi, sister.
I came to give moral support.”

“
Every little bit helps.”
Lanessa gave her a weak smile.

“
Good, because I brought
reinforcements.” Jade’s husband and their parents followed her
in.

“
You guys didn’t have to
come here. We could have had the wake at my house,” Lanessa
quipped.

“
Wait a minute, I’m here and
I brought another member of the cavalry,” Jackie called out. Yasmin
appeared.

“
Hi,” Yasmin said. She hung
back as though afraid. She stood in the door.

“
Hi.” Lanessa glanced at
Jackie who gave her a wink.

“
We’re here to say we
believe you and we believe in you.” Lanessa’s mother spoke up.
“Right, Alton?” She tapped her husband on the arm.

“
You bet. We’re behind you
all the way.” Alton crossed over to her in three long
strides.

Lanessa got up to meet him. When he
put his strong arms around her, she had to fight back the tears.
“Thank you, daddy,” she said softly.

“
We love you, Nessa. You
know that,” Jade said sniffling. She joined them.

“
Yes indeed,” Clarice
said.

“
Yeah,” Jackie said. She
gestured for Yasmin to come into the office. “We’re right here for
you.”

Soon the whole group was hugging and
dabbing away tears. Alton coughed and pretended to be in control.
Robyn came in with a tray of soft drinks and coffee. The atmosphere
was far from being morose. With jokes and gentle affectionate
teasing, they managed to coax a few genuine laughs from Lanessa.
After awhile, Yasmin came over to her.

“
About what happened between
us...” Yasmin looked down at the floor. “I shouldn’t have taken it
out on you because you told me the truth.”

“
Maybe I was a little
too--”

“
No, you were right,” Yasmin
broke in quickly.” You were trying to save me from myself and I
didn’t want to hear it.”

Lanessa put an arm around her waist.
“It’s good to see you.”

“
I’m ashamed to admit this
but... I’d probably still be deluding myself except for one thing.
Charles dumped me a couple of weeks ago. So don’t think I’m all
that smart.”

“
He’s a loser in more ways
than one,” Lanessa said.

“
Seems he doesn’t need me
anymore. He as much as told me so. The arrogant bastard.” Yasmin’s
voice shook.

Lanessa could see she was still in
love with Charles Metoyer even now. “We’ll both survive.” She
pulled her close.

“
Hey, I say we order some
food. What about Chinese,” Damon called out.

“
Nah, pizza,” Jade said. She
smacked her lips.

“
She’s on this anchovy and
mushroom pizza kick. The baby is going be holding a slice when he
comes out!” Damon laughed.

“
Oh you!” Jade pinched his
arm causing him to yelp.

“
We don’t have to choose,
let’s get both,” Alton said.

He was greeted with a chorus of
requests. They organized all their orders. Clarice volunteered to
call both restaurants with the orders. Lanessa gazed at everyone
with affection. An hour later the food arrived after forty and the
office was filled with laughter.

“
You guys are the best. This
is the happiest funeral I’ve ever been to.” Lanessa raised her can
of cola to them as a salute.

“
Funeral hell!” Alton
exclaimed. “We’re going to turn this baby around.” He gazed around
at the others they agreed.

“
Damn right!” Jade yelled.
“We got the power. You tell ‘em, Daddy.”

“
Jade, really.” Clarice
clucked in disapproval before turning to Lanessa. “What we mean is
you’ve been falsely accused and we won’t stand for it,” she said in
a dignified but no less adamant manner.

“
Right,” Damon
said.

“
Honey, we’re taking the
Justice Starship to warp seven.” Jackie draped an arm around
Lanessa’s shoulders.

“
I appreciate guys, don’t
think I don’t. But I was in trouble even before the police found me
passed out in my car.” Lanessa looked grim again. “And I can’t be
sure how I got in that shape.”

“
You know, I’ve been
thinking about that,” Robyn spoke up. “From the way you described
it all, you could have been drugged.”

“
What?” Alton and Clarice
said together.

The group was silent for several
moments, all obviously considering her suggestion.

Jade tapped her forehead with her
palm. “Of course!”

Damon nodded. “It makes a lot of
sense.”

“
Sure it does,” Jade said.
“Lanessa can’t remember anything. She wakes up feeling
disoriented--”

“
And with a gigantic
headache,” Lanessa added with a grimace.

“
Right. It all fits.” Jackie
cleared her throat. “Isn’t there this stuff called...” She glanced
at Lanessa’s parents uneasily.

“
GHB, or the ‘Date-Rape’
drug,” Lanessa added. “Yeah, I know. But I wasn’t raped, thank God.
I definitely would have known if that had happened.”

“
Thank you, Jesus,” Clarice
put in fervently.

“
And another thing, I
smelled like a liquor bottle.” Lanessa sighed. “But I can’t be sure
I didn’t start drinking. I was feeling really down when I went to
Jazz It Up.”

“
What?” Jackie turned
Lanessa around to face her. “You remember where you
were?”

Lanessa blinked at her in
astonishment. “Yes!” She paced in excitement. “I left here feeling
lower than the ground. I stopped in there for the music. Then...”
She frowned and rubbed her temple for several minutes. There was a
hush as all eyes watched her in hope.

“
Well?” Alton said in a soft
voice.

“
It’s no good. I keep going
blank.” Lanessa was desperate to fill in that empty
space.

“
It’s okay, babe,” Yasmin
said.

“
Don’t force it, Nessa.”
Jade walked over and stood beside her. “It’s a good start. We’ll
get this sorted out yet. Now I think we should—“

“
You should go home and
rest. Remember what Doctor Moon said,” Damon broke in.