All I Want for Christmas (8 page)

“And dinner after,” Maida
added, with a glance at Imani.

“That’s right. And did you serve up some
juicy dessert to the man?” Imani added.

“We’re not in middle
school,” Nedra retorted and waved a hand. “The concert was great.
They even mixed in some rap with the jazz. The older folks seemed a
bit puzzled, but most of the audience was our generation. We did
our chair dance performances.” Nedra did a few moves and grinned at
the memory.

“So y’all jammed at the
concert . Then you had dinner, and...” Imani gestured for Nedra to
go on.

“Dinner downtown was great.
Then we went for a walk along the levee.” Nedra looked out of the
window of her fourth-floor office. “You know, the Downtown
Development initiative has really done wonders with the walking
path. Baton Rouge is pretty at night.”

“Umm, sounds magical. And
then he took you home?” Maida sat forward in her chair and put her
cup down.

Nedra snapped out of her
reverie to find her friends staring at her intently. “Right. So,
like I said, we had a nice time.”

“Uh-huh.” Imani looked at Maida.

“Yeah, they had a
nice
evening. Did it end
with him leaving you on your doorstep?” Maida lifted one
eyebrow.

“He came in for coffee and
sweet potato bread pudding. They give you huge portions of the
stuff, but it’s so delicious. Have y’all tried it?” Nedra picked up
her mug and drank deeply.

“Errol keeps promising to
take me to Don’s downtown, but he’s always working.” Imani frowned
for a few seconds and then looked at Nedra again. “So you let him
into your apartment?”

“How long was he there?” Maida seemed to hold
her breath.

Nedra let a few seconds of
suspenseful silence stretch. She sighed. “Okay, Carlos stayed for
hours.”

“You broke the rule,” Imani whispered, her
eyes wide. She looked at Maida. “She broke the rule, girl.”

“We’re grown women,” Nedra
snapped. “We make our own rules if it feels right. At some point I
have to trust my own judgment again. So, I made a few mistakes.
That doesn’t mean I can’t tell a bum from a gem.”

Maida looked at Imani and
then back at Nedra. “If you say so. I’ve heard that Carlos has been
a major player on the dating scene for a while. In fact, they say
the reason he broke up with his baby’s mother is because she caught
him cheating. Word is he went to a friend’s wedding in Atlanta one
weekend and…”

“Are you seriously going to
spread third-hand gossip from something that
allegedly
happened hundreds of miles
away?” Nedra put down her mug and crossed her arms.

“Duh, hell, yeah! I’m
tryin’ ta help you.” Maida looked at Imani, who nodded in
agreement.

“How long ago was this supposed incident?”
Nedra broke in before Maida could continue.

“Let’s see, the baby was six months old, so
that’s been...”

“Quite a long time ago,
since his daughter is five now,” Nedra said.

Imani chewed her lip for a
few seconds. “Okay, Maida, but let’s tell it all. I also heard that
his baby’s mama hooked up with an old boyfriend at a high-school
reunion.”

“Let’s be in solidarity with our sister.
Maybe she was still in pain after what Carlos did and needed a
little tenderness from a man who understood her.” Maida looked at
her friend.

“Nah, I heard some other
stuff about her. They say there was plenty of drama between
them.”

“Okay, just stop.” Nedra
held up one palm as though she was a school crossing guard. “Do I
need to remind you of our own dramatic stories from back in the
day? Do you really want me to take it there?”

“Well, everybody had
missteps and mistakes.” Maida shrugged. “Okay, you make a good
point.”

“Exactly. What Carlos did then is in the
past. I sure can’t judge him.” Nedra gave a shudder at the thought
of some of her relationship failures.

“So you’re having a good time, taking it
light and easy?” Maida blinked at Nedra.

“Or is he
the one
?” Imani
finished.

Nedra stared into her mug
for a few minutes as though seeking the answer in the dark, still
hot liquid. “Light and easy, definitely. I’m not on some safari,
hunting down Mr. Right.”

“Liar,” Maida wisecracked.
“Every single woman I know is looking for Mr. Good Thing, who will
stick around.”

“And how is that desperate
woman thing working out for most of us?” Nedra countered. When her
friends didn’t answer, she nodded. “Exactly. Look, I don’t want to
be alone, but most of all I don’t want to grab at someone just so I
won’t be alone. I need someone who honestly values me as a person;
as a human being with ideas, goals and dreams.”

“I’d settle for honesty,
period. Men who lie and conceal the whole story just make me so
damn mad,” Imani replied, slapping the arm of her chair.

“You need to calm the hell
down, girl. Trying to control Errol even when y’all are apart may
drive him away. Besides, if he’s going to cheat, playing detective
won’t stop him. Believe me; a determined cheater has his game
tight.” Maida gave a snort. “Ask me how I know.”

“Have you heard something
about him?” Imani blurted out and stared at Maida intently. You
have?”

“No, there is no word on
the street about Errol,” Maida replied firmly. “I’m just telling
you that stalking the man won’t work if he’s into someone
else.”

“Thanks for the encouraging words.” Imani’s
frown deepened and she chewed on her fingernails.

“Just talk to Errol, Imani. Be direct, no
games,” Nedra said. “And stop gnawing on those fake nails before
you get some kind of chemical poisoning.”

Imani snatched her hand away from her mouth.
“You’re right. I’m going to confront him tonight. No more of this
crap about him being too tired to talk.”

“No, I think you just tell
him you feel like y’all are getting distant and try to get him to
open up about how he feels.” Nedra sipped from her mug.

“When did you become a
couples’ therapist?” asked Maida, wearing a crooked
grin.

“Umm, I read that in an
article on relationships, written by an expert. Makes a lot of
sense, too,” Nedra added.

“I’ll get him to ‘fess up,”
Imani said and stood.

“No, Imani, I didn’t
say...” Nedra glanced at Maida.

“My boss has a meeting in
an hour, and naturally I have to get her some talking points.
Thanks for the great advice.” Imani waved goodbye and walked out,
wearing a preoccupied expression.

“Oh, Lord, poor Errol.
Imani is making the same mistake; smothering the guy and trying to
control him, and he seems so nice,” Nedra said and
sighed.

“The sad part is he really seems to care for
her. She’s so consumed with watching his every move and trying to
play games that she’s missing that part.” Maida shook her head.

“I tried to talk to her about it. You see how
far I’ve gotten,” Nedra replied.

“So did I. Well, we gave it a shot. Now
back to you.” Maida pointed a forefinger at Nedra.

“Carlos is wonderful,
really down to earth. I like that he’s been open about his baby
mama drama. We did have a wonderful night together, Saturday.”
Nedra sighed and leaned back in her chair.

“Hmm, I see, and what
about
his
mother?” Maida raised an eyebrow.

“She wasn’t there,” Nedra
wisecracked and laughed. “That would have put a huge strain on the
good times, for sure.”

“Speaking of women who like
control, Judge Jacobs supposedly rules her family with an iron
fist. Grown children or not, I hear she’s a big-time meddler. Look
up ‘control freak’ in the dictionary and they’ve got her photo next
to the definition.” Maida nodded.

“You’re as bad as Dwayne
Grover. How do you collect all this ‘he says, she says’ news
anyway?” Nedra looked at her friend in wonder.

“Working in the clerk of
courts office puts me in the hub of all kinds of activity. Lawyers
come in to file papers. Folks come in to pay fines or court costs.
They all like to unburden themselves.” Maida winked at Nedra
mischievously.

“In other words, you’re a
committed gossip. Like I said, just like Dwayne.” Nedra rolled her
eyes.

“Mr. Happy Hands,” her
friend quipped.

“You got that right, but
one day he’s going to grope the wrong one.” Nedra grimaced with
distaste.

“Nope,” said Maida, waving
a hand. “He’s slimy, but Dwayne isn’t stupid. He picks women who
want male attention. His wife likes her social position and the
money, so she’s not squawking.”

“You know his wife?” Nedra
blinked, amazed at the depth of her knowledge.

“Nope, but I’ve met people
who have known her family for years. They’re wannabes.” Maida
lifted her nose in the air.

“Oh yeah, eager to be part
of the whole black upper-class nonsense,” Nedra said.

“Right. Oh, and here’s
something you should know: Judge Jacobs and the mayor despise your
boss. It goes back to before she ran for office. I hear she’s still
pissed that Rod and his social circle snubbed the Jacobs family
back in the day. And, of course, our esteemed mayor is so proud of
his ‘blue-collar’ roots.”

Nedra felt a stab of unease
in her mid-section. “Their feud has nothing to do with
me.”

“Judge Jacobs may see you
as part of the enemy camp, girlfriend, and she’s known for holding
grudges. What’s going to happen when Rod and his crew run for
office? You know the Judge and her posse are going to oppose
him.”

“Girl, please. The election is in November of
next year,” Nedra protested.

Maida shook her head. “The
behind-the-scenes campaign started this year. By February, Rod and
the mayor will ramp up politicking. You’ll be in a tight spot if
Carlos has to tow his mama’s party line.”

“Carlos is not into
politics. Even he was, his mother wouldn’t dictate to him. He’s a
grown man. But more than that, we might not be dating past
Christmas for all I know.” Nedra’s body thrummed at the memory of
being in his arms. Nothing about what they shared felt
temporary.

Maida stood, leaned across
the desk, and snapped her fingers inches away from Nedra’s nose.
“Yoo-hoo! Wake up. You fell into a mesmerizing daze just thinking
about Saturday night. From the look on your face, I’d say you
better start thinking of ways you can co-exist with Judge Monster
Mama. You ain’t planning on leaving that fine man behind.
Uh-uh.”

Nedra tried to laugh off
her suggestion. “Trust me, we’re not even near the stage where we
try to figure out family issues. For now it’s just the two of us.
I’m going to keep it that way for a good while; months at
least.”

“Okay. You just keep saying
that to yourself,” said Maida, glancing at her smartphone. “Dang,
better get back to the office. Let’s have lunch?”

“Sorry, but I have a
meeting. I don’t know when we’ll finish up. Tomorrow is better for
me. We’ll call Imani in the morning and see if she can make it.”
Nedra glanced at a file on her desk with sticky notes on the
outside.

Maida’s eyes lit up with
interest. “Great idea. We can get the story on how her ‘talk’ with
Errol turns out.”

“I wasn’t thinking of
that,” replied Nedra, giving her a scolding expression. “If she
wants to tell us, it’s fine. If not then that’s okay,
too.

“We both know Imani will
spill it.” Maida touched the screen of her smartphone. “I’m going
to make sure my calendar is free for lunch. Talk to you
later.”

Nedra shook her head at Maida. “You’re too
much. Goodbye girl.”

For the rest of the day, as
she took calls for her boss and sat next to him in meetings, Nedra
thought about politics. Maybe she should take her own advice and
bring up the subject with Carlos. At two o’clock that afternoon,
sat at her desk eating a late lunch, Nedra decided that Maida was
dead wrong on all counts. She pushed aside any thoughts of her
personal and professional lives becoming complicated.

****

A few blocks away, Carlos
sat across a table from his mother in her spacious office. They
shared some take-out Greek food that he’d picked up for their lunch
together. The scent of roasted lamb, garlic and onions filled the
room as though they were in the downtown restaurant where the food
had been prepared. Carlos tried to steer the conversation to his
mother’s day in the courtroom.

“I don’t understand why
you’re hiding the Wallace woman,” said Yvonne as she took out two
bottles of green tea from a compact refrigerator in the corner of
the room.

“We’re not hiding,” Carlos
replied for the second time. He sighed deeply for the third time.
The effort to keep his temper would most likely give him heartburn
soon, if he didn’t lose his appetite altogether.

Yvonne found a pack of
napkins. She poured some tea into two tall, styrofoam cups and
placed them on the table. “Here you go. You always want extra
napkins. I hope you have extra cucumber sauce
–
you love that on your gyros more than I do. Well, it sure
looks like you’re hiding this relationship to me. Even your father
is wondering about it.”