A Seal Upon Your Heart (19 page)

It was going to be her first holiday outside of the school and when Dhakiya had invited her over for a barbecue she had declined. She wanted to spend it with Tim. She’d come to look forward to their Saturdays together. He would grill something that she’d never tried and tell her stories about the food and places that he’d gone. And sometimes when it began to get late he would light torches and candles and she imagined that she saw him look at her with interest. But maybe it was just the flickering of the flames. Sometimes she wished that he would look at her and see more than just a young girl that he’d helped out in a bind and other times she would think that they worked too closely together and it would not be a good idea.

But she could imagine it and imagining never hurt anybody.

Martier and Claudette had gone to Macy’s to find her a bathing suit that was both modest yet simple. She didn’t even know how to swim, but Tim had promised to show her this Saturday when they celebrated the opening of the pool.

Claudette eyed a two piece and Martier had shaken her head adamantly. It looked too much like underwear, as a matter of fact, she had underwear less revealing! Besides, it would be hard enough to wear skimpy clothing around Tim without her wondering if a body part would become exposed. But then Claudette had spotted something and her eyes lit up even before she had even picked it up.

“It can’t be…” She looked at Martier in excitement. “It’s the white bathing suit.”

“The white bathing suit?”

Claudette was hugging it to her body as if she would wear it. “The Marilyn Monroe white bathing suit!”

Martier scratched her head. “I was raised in a convent. If this is some type of iconic thing then I missed out on it, like I missed out on rap music, Star Trek, The Brady Bunch-”

Claudette thrust the suit at her and Martier examined it. Simple. Modest. She smiled. “I like it.” They searched for her size and she tried it on and felt naked even though she knew people wore things like this every day.  Claudette barged into the dressing room when Martier was too shy to come out.

“Oh.” Claudette just stared at her.

Martier became self-conscious. “What?”

“No no no, stand up straight! Never ever slouch in a Marilyn Monroe bathing suit, girl!” But this time when she spoke she wasn’t kidding. “Hold your head up high. Yes, like that. Wow.”

“Good?” Martier asked but kept her head high.

Claudette just nodded. She had her get dressed and they went back to work.

“What are you thinking, Claudette?” Martier asked when they didn’t talk much on the way into the building. The older woman gave her a soft smile.

“I’m thinking that what you have in that bag is not as much a bathing suit as it is a tool.”

“A tool?”

Claudette chuckled, but mostly to herself. “You have no idea how to use it and that is both a good thing and bad.”

Martier’s face warmed as her back bristled.

“I may be…inexperienced. But I’m not stupid.”

Claudette looked at her. “No, but you don’t see what is in front of your face.”

Martier’s eyes darted around. “What are you talking about?”

Claudette stared at her for another moment. “Exactly.”

When she returned to the office, Martier was still puzzling over Claudette. If it was important she had no doubt the woman that had become her friend would tell her. But she had learned that Claudette had a reputation for being a busy body.  And Martier didn’t want to mix office and personal together too much.

Jakob Marx was just leaving Tim’s office. The two were laughing quietly. Martier knew that Tim considered Jakob to be a close friend. They often went out to lunch together and he was known to spend time in the other partner’s office.

“I’ll see you Saturday. And come early because it’s going to be an all day affair.”

Tim shook his hand and gave him a light slap on his back. “I’ll be there, I’ll be there.” When he left Martier met his eyes in speculation and Tim hesitated.

“Oh…about Saturday, Jakob and his wife Elaina invited me to their barbecue. Maybe we can break in the pool Sunday or…?”

“Oh, yeah. That’s fine.” She smiled. He nodded and went into his office.

He should have invited her, he thought as he shut his door. But it wouldn’t have been proper and there would be partners there. It just would not have been a good idea. It would give the appearance that there was more going on, and there wasn’t.

Even though he’d successfully convinced himself of his right, he still felt wrong. It’s just that she had seemed kind of left out. Or maybe that was just his own sense of guilt.

~***~

Martier spent Saturday alone. When she had called Dhakiya to accept her invitation she was told that Rodney had made plans to take them out of town for the long weekend. Dhakiya seemed on the verge of cancelling but Martier made up a hasty story about using the time to hang up the African artwork that Dhakiya had bought her. She had actually already done it.

She’d watched Tim drive off a few hours ago. He was wearing cargo shorts and a white polo. Since he couldn’t see her watching, she allowed herself the luxury of studying him. She knew that he’d been running the treadmill because she’d seen him sweating one day after his work out. He was still big, he still had a bit of a belly but now he was tighter.  She turned away from the window and picked up a new book that she’d gotten from the downtown library.

It was a romance but the guy was a jerk and he was nothing like a man should be. He was sarcastic and kind of mean to the woman. She didn’t think she’d find any interest in reading about their love affair. She picked up a book called The Invitation by a female poet named Oriah, and finally she was able to become absorbed in the written word in the way that the Songs of Solomon captured and swept her away.

Martier closed the book quickly, feeling the words touching her soul as if the author knew her inner most secrets. She took a notebook and pen outside and sat by the pool, staring at the depths and imagining her hearts truest desires. It sparkled so invitingly that she reached out to touch the water with her fingertips, imagining her and Tim in it together. He would place his strong hands against her back as she floated along the water’s surface. He wouldn’t allow her head to dip back too far and if she panicked he would pull her to his body and hold her tightly.

She closed her eyes and allowed her thoughts to flow together into words and then she quickly wrote them in her notebook.

I wonder when he looks at me
Exactly what it is he sees
Black skin? Insecurity? Youth?
Or comely breasts and hips, in truth
When his stern mask slips out of place
Could I be seeing in his face
A flicker of desire for me
Or is that what I want to see?
I listen to his every word
And cling to every whisper heard
Steal glances when he’s not aware
Afraid to let him know I care

Martier drew in a shaky breath. Claudette thought that she didn’t know what was right in front of her? Oh she knew. It was a man that she had fallen in love with.

CHAPTER 19

Why had he accepted? Because Jakob had said that he needed to stop being cooped up alone and to get out. Because Jakob had said that the partners were worried about him, and because Jakob and Elaina were family. And besides his brother Butch, who had not even stayed one day after Corrine’s funeral, the couple was his only family.

Before their invitation he had really been looking forward to this Saturday. He had monitored the progress on the pool. He’d done yard work so that the yard would be at its best. And at the grocery store he had seen Martier place baby back ribs into the cart along with corn on the cob and he couldn’t wait to show her what he could do with corn on the grill.

He sighed and parked his car a block down the street because everyone in the neighborhood seemed to be celebrating. He went around back and noted that all of the usuals were present; the partners and their wives—except Aaron who wasn’t married, several other attorneys of the firm, the country club crowd, Jakob’s sister and her husband, Elaina’s siblings and their spouses and Priscilla Hosgrove.

He wondered fleetingly if she was there with someone and hoped that she was. But when she spotted him and came forward he figured that that was not the case.

“Hello Priscilla. You’re looking lovely.” And she was. She was wearing a red dress that flowed down to her ankles. It was gathered at her neck by a bit of decorative material. It flowed loose but showed her curves in a curiously effective way.

She leaned forward and kissed his cheek surprising him. She smelled of expensive perfume but he could also smell the liquor on her breath.

“Tim, you’re not looking so bad yourself.” And she latched onto him at that point. He didn’t mind as much since it kept him from having to fake his way through conversation with twenty different people who didn’t really care what he had to say anyway. Elaina and Jakob came over to greet him and Jakob thrust a beer in his hand. It was cold and he had it finished before he remembered tasting it.

“You and Priscilla should join me and Jakob at the Aronoff. God of Carnage is playing and there are still plenty of good seats.”

Priscilla beamed. “I heard that was a very good one.” She slipped her arm around Tim’s. “Have you seen it?”

“No…I never heard of it.”

“It’s fabulous! Do come.” Elaina said excitedly.

“I’m game.” Priscilla indicated while watching him. Tim tipped his empty bottle to his lips before remembering he’d drained it.

“Sounds…like a plan.” It couldn’t really hurt to see a play with some friends. God of Carnage at least sounded like a good war story or something.

They went inside and the ladies secured the tickets while Tim whipped out his credit card to pay.  It looked like he’d be going on his first date in over twenty years this Wednesday.

This wasn’t a pool party, but Tim began to long for a swim. He had watched his pool in anticipation for the first dip of the season and it seemed insane that there would be such an inviting pool but no frolicking.

He chatted with Aaron Rangbo who was so boring that even Priscilla had finally drifted away. “And how is your pretty assistant working out?” He asked.

Tim thought before answering. “She seems to be getting the hang of it. Fast learner.”

“Claudette likes her.”

“Mhm.” That was fairly significant. Claudette was no nonsense and didn’t bother with anyone that she deemed not worth her time. He gave the older man a close look. Aaron had never married and had been carrying on with his assistant for years.

“Why…did you never marry?”

Aaron didn’t answer for so long that Tim was unsure if he had even heard him. He took a sip of his drink and met Tim’s eyes. “I guess I didn’t think I’d fall in love.”

Tim wasn’t sure what to say. Aaron was older and from a different time. But times had changed.

When he and Aaron parted ways, Priscilla found her way back to him. She pressed a fresh beer into his hands.

“It looks like dinner’s served. Shall we?” She asked.

He took her arm and smiled. “Yes, I’m starving.”

Jakob and Elaina had hired someone to do the grilling; steaks and chickens and as he ate Tim wondered what Martier was having for supper. Even though it was early evening he decided to head back home and maybe salvage some of the day.