Hot Christmas Nights (22 page)

Chapter 17

L
andis returned from the reception alone. He had searched for Brooklyn before he left the country club, but hadn’t found her. When he opened the door to their room, it was dark. He flicked on the lights. The room was empty. Although Landis wanted to see Brooklyn and explain himself, he knew that she wasn’t going to return. The way she had avoided his eyes while he put the garter on her thigh told him that she was pissed.

He closed the door and spotted a note on the nightstand. Landis made his way over, sat on the bed and picked up the piece of paper. He unfolded the note and read it silently.

Landis, you have broken my heart. I thought we had a future together, but I see that you were only interested in me for business reasons. I’ll never understand why you didn’t tell me about your involvement with Malcolm. In any event, it’s over between us. And you can forget about any future dealings with my manager.

B.

Landis crumpled the note in his fist and threw it across the room. He couldn’t believe the sudden turn of events. He looked down at the tousled bed linens and flashed back to earlier that day when he and Brooklyn had made exquisite love.

Suddenly, he felt sick to his stomach at the thought of losing the love of his life. His pulse began racing as panic set in at the possibility that this could be the untimely end of their relationship. He slumped down on the bed and could feel his underarms beginning to perspire. His nerves were getting the best of him. Landis knew that he had to get a grip—and quick—before Brooklyn walked out of his life forever.

He took the phone out of his jacket pocket and called Brooklyn. The line rang and rang before going to voice mail.

“Brooklyn, I know you’re upset, but please call me back so I can explain.”

He disconnected the call and put his head in his hands. Landis was at a loss. He didn’t know what to do. He started to call Malcolm, but it was late. Landis lay across the bed and closed his eyes. He tried to sleep, but was too wound up. Landis lay awake until the sun began peeking through the blinds. He reached for his cell phone, hit redial and called Brooklyn again, and again his call went to her voice mail.

“Brooklyn, baby, please call me back. This is a total misunderstanding. I would never use our relationship for my own agenda. Call me…please!”

Landis wasn’t going to sit back and wait for her to return his call. He needed to act fast if he wanted to salvage their relationship. His next call was to Brooklyn’s manager.

“Hello?” Malcolm answered in a groggy voice.

“Hey, man, I’m sorry for calling you so early, but I need you to talk to Brooklyn and explain our business dealings,” Landis said in a rush.

“What’s to explain? I told you that she’s not discussing business until after the holidays.”

Landis went on to tell Malcolm the recent turn of events. He started with the fact that he and Brooklyn had gone to the same college. However, he didn’t know the shy girl in his statistics class had lost weight, changed her name and was now a superstar.

“Can I be honest with you, Malcolm?”

“Of course.”

“I’m in love with Brooklyn and will gladly remove my agency from the list of contenders.”

“Really? Are you serious? You do know that the agency that’s selected to handle her endorsement deals stands to make a hefty commission.”

“I don’t care about the money. I care about Brooklyn. I should have told her the minute we reconnected that my agency was vying for her business. I feel like I’ve misled her, and that was not my intention. Please, can you call her and explain the truth?”

“Man, sounds like you’ve got it bad.”

Landis exhaled into the phone. “She’s my soul mate. I can’t go through this life without her.”

“Wow! That’s heavy. I’ll call Brooklyn and tell her the whole story, but I can’t make any promises.”

“Thanks, Malcolm.”

Landis disconnected the call, tossed the phone on the covers. He thought for a moment. He wasn’t going to leave his fate in the hands of Brooklyn’s manager. He reached for the phone and dialed Brooklyn’s number. It went straight to voice mail again.

“Brooklyn, if you’re willing to give me another chance, meet me at Rockefeller Center on New Year’s Eve in front of the Rock Center Café. I’ll be there at eleven-thirty waiting…I love you.”

Landis closed his eyes and said a silent prayer. This was the season for miracles, and he only hoped that his one wish—Brooklyn’s forgiveness—came true.

Chapter 18

T
he night of the reception, Brooklyn had cried her eyes out while hiding in the ladies’ room. After she shed the last tear, she exited the stall, cleaned the smudged makeup from around her eyes, applied some eye drops, reapplied her makeup, put on a brave face and went to find Pepper. Brooklyn had come out of the restroom just in the nick of time; Pepper and Michael were heading toward the door on their way out.

“Have a great honeymoon,” Brooklyn had said, giving her friend a tight hug.

“Thanks. You should go find Landis and enjoy the rest of the evening. There’s plenty of champagne left,” Pepper said, still beaming from the day’s events.

“I’m a bit tired. I think I’m going to call it a night.”

“Don’t be silly. Just because Michael and I are leaving doesn’t mean you guys can’t stay and party like rock stars.”

Brooklyn was dying to tell Pepper the truth as to why Landis had befriended her so fast, but she wasn’t going to ruin Pepper’s special day.

“Okay, I’ll stay,” Brooklyn said, only to appease her friend.

“Have fun! We’re off.” Pepper kissed Brooklyn on the cheek before dashing out the door with her groom.

Once Pepper and Michael’s car had driven off, Brooklyn retrieved her coat from the coatroom, called her bodyguard and had him bring her limousine around. She went back to the house, quickly packed and wrote Landis a goodbye note. Brooklyn wanted to get as far away from Landis as possible. There was no way that she was going to stay in the same house, let alone the same room, with Landis after he had deceived her.

That night, Brooklyn checked into a suite at the W hotel in Union Square. After changing her clothes and settling in, she stood by the window and peered out. A light snow had begun falling. The flakes drifted from the sky like confetti, covering the streets. She watched couples stroll hand in hand down the sidewalk. She sighed, crossed the room and opened the minibar.

Brooklyn poured two miniature bottles of Scotch in a glass and took a sip. As she drank, she heard her phone buzzing in her purse. She went over to the king-size bed where her purse lay and retrieved the phone. The screen indicated that she had a voice-mail message. Brooklyn was still shaken up from earlier and fumbled with the phone before hitting the right button. She put the device to her ear and listened to the message.

“Brooklyn, I know you’re upset, but please call me back so I can explain.”

She deleted the message and tossed the phone on the bed.

“Upset! I’m beyond upset!” she yelled into the air. “He’s sadly mistaken if he thinks I’m going to listen to any more of his lies!”

As Brooklyn was ranting to herself, the phone buzzed again. She reached for it and read the screen. She hit the call answer button.

“Hello, Malcolm,” she said, in a tight voice.

“Hey, Brooklyn, how are you?”

“I could be better. What’s up?”

“I’m calling to talk to you about Landis Keates. He and his agency—”

Brooklyn cut Malcolm off midsentence. “I don’t want to discuss Landis
or
his agency.”

“Just give me five minutes and let me explain the situation.”

Brooklyn sighed. “You have two minutes, Malcolm, and then I’m hanging up.”

“Okay. Okay. While you were on tour and busy with the new album, I was lining up marketing agencies. I fired the last agency we had because they were not getting you the endorsement deals that you deserve. Anyway, the Keates Agency went above and beyond storyboards and marketing charts. Landis actually pitched you for an endorsement deal with a major cosmetics company, even though you’re not his client.”

“Oh, really? Why didn’t you tell me any of this?”

“You were so busy that I didn’t want to bother you until I had the top three agencies lined up. And then the holidays came and you didn’t want to discuss business until after the New Year.”

While they were talking, Brooklyn heard a beep in her ear. She took the phone away for a second and glanced at the screen. It was Landis calling. She put the phone back to her ear and continued listening to Malcolm.

“That still doesn’t explain why Landis didn’t bother mentioning that his agency was vying for my business,” she said, anger in her voice.

“Brooklyn, I can understand why you’re upset and how you might think that Landis was trying to woo you in order for his agency to get the contract, but you’re wrong.”

“That’s exactly what he was trying to do!” she said, raising her voice.

“No, it’s not. I talked to Landis, and he wants to remove his agency from the list of contenders. He’s in love with you and would rather lose the contract than lose your love.”

“He said that?” she asked.

“Yes, in so many words. Listen, Brooklyn, Landis doesn’t care about the commission his agency stands to gain. I honestly believe that he got caught up in his emotions and didn’t know how to tell you about our negotiations. I really don’t think he was trying to deceive you.”

Brooklyn listened to Malcolm’s words before speaking. She had known her manager for years and trusted him implicitly. “Malcolm, thanks for calling and telling me the whole story. I’ll take it from here.”

“Will you be all right?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Good night and thanks again.”

Exhausted from all the emotions, Brooklyn rested her head on the pillow, exhaled and closed her eyes. She could see images of herself and Landis and all the ways they had made love. Brooklyn’s resolve began to soften. She opened her eyes and saw a red light blinking on her phone.

She picked up the device and hit the voice-mail button. There were two more messages from Landis. She listened to them both. This time, she didn’t delete his messages, but replayed them over and over.

Chapter 19

L
andis rushed through the crowds on Fifth Avenue trying to get to one store in particular. It was New Year’s Eve and most of the shops along the trendy avenue were closing early. He wove and dodged his way a few blocks until he reached his destination.

He hadn’t heard from Brooklyn, but that didn’t stop him from making plans. Landis was hopeful that she had listened to his message and would meet him at Rocke feller Center.

After he had finished his errand, he made his way home and impatiently waited until evening. Landis thought about calling Brooklyn again, but didn’t. He wasn’t going to harass her. If Brooklyn didn’t ever want to see or speak to him again, he couldn’t blame her.

I should have told her about the agency business that first night before we were intimate,
he thought to himself.

“That’s water under the bridge now,” he said aloud.

Landis busied himself with paperwork from the office, trying to pass the time and get his mind off Brooklyn. Although he hoped that she would show up, he also had to be realistic. There was a good chance that he would never see her again—at least in person.

After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, it was time to leave. Landis gathered the purchase he had made earlier and tucked it in his pocket. He then put on his navy peacoat, hat, scarf and gloves and headed out the door.

The wind was brisk as he walked the long distance to Rockefeller Center. Landis opted not to take a taxi or the subway; he wanted to walk to clear his mind. Tonight could mark the beginning of something special or the end of a dream. Either way, he had to prepare himself for the worst.

The ice-skating rink at Rockefeller Center was extra crowded with people making their way to the New Year’s Eve ball drop in Times Square, as well as skaters whizzing by on the ice and people milling about taking in the holiday sights before they were gone. Landis stood in front of the restaurant—their designated spot—and waited impatiently. Five minutes after the appointed time she hadn’t arrived, so he walked around looking through the crowd, but he didn’t see her. He checked his watch; it was 11:55 p.m.

Landis went back to the restaurant and paced back and forth. He checked his watch again. He quickly dashed inside on the off chance she was there, but she was nowhere in sight.

I guess she’s not coming.

He sighed heavily. Midnight was closing in, and he didn’t want to be in the crowd alone when the clock struck midnight, so he slumped his shoulders and hung his head. The love of his life was gone forever and he had to accept that fact. Landis turned and began walking back toward Fifth Avenue.

“Hey, wait up!”

Landis turned around, and running toward him was Brooklyn. He ran to meet her and scooped her up in his arms.

“Oh, baby! I’m so sorry! I…”

Brooklyn kissed him on the lips and then said, “No need to explain. I talked to Malcolm and he cleared everything up. I’m sorry I didn’t give you a chance to explain at the reception.”

“It’s all my fault. I should have been up front with you from the start. Please believe that I wasn’t trying to use our relationship to win you as a client.”

“I do believe you. Please forgive me for overreacting.”

As they were talking, they heard the crowd begin to chant.

“Ten…nine…eight…seven…six…five…four…three…two…one…HAPPY NEW YEAR!”

Landis and Brooklyn embraced and kissed for what seemed like minutes. He released her, dropped down on one knee, reached in his pocket and took out a tiny box.

“Brooke Lynn Samuels, will you marry me?”

Brooklyn stared down at him with her mouth agape and tears rolling down her face.

“I wasn’t expecting this, but
yes!
YES! I’ll marry you!”

The people around them began cheering as Landis placed the ring on Brooklyn’s finger. He stood, wrapped her in a warm bear hug and then gave her a tender kiss on the lips.

“Come on. Let’s go home.”

* * * * *