Trouble In Paradise (3 page)

Chapter 4

Caroline hit the button on her desk speaker, ‘Buzz.’

“Yes Mrs. Banks.” 

“Jennifer, I’m leaving for today, have all my calls routed to my cell please.” 

“Yes Mrs. Banks.”

“Thank You.”

Caroline moved from her desk after gat
hering her things and placing them in a briefcase.  She moved to lock her office and was riding down I-95 East within ten minutes.  There were two missed calls on her phone from her husband.

“Let me call him back,
” She mumbled.

  Ring. Ring.  He answered;

“Hey baby I tried calling you twice but couldn’t get through.” 

“Well I had a meeting with the staff today. We have an intern coming tomorrow and I want
ed to make sure everything’s in order.  If everything works out with the intern we will offer her a position; we have two positions to fill for psychologist in this office and we need to get it done.  Her background check and school papers have been finalized and I’m hearing that she’s a good one.” 

“How’s that?”

“She’s attentive, soaks up info like a soap sponge, soft spoken but her voice has the commanding tone so it all works out. So we will give her the opportunity if she can prove herself. All she has to do is complete a six month internship.” 

“That sounds good baby, then you’ll have someone fresh and good for business.” 

“Yes, that is usually the point right?” 

“Is she local?” 

“This girl is from Memphis, Tennessee, twenty eight years old, has southern hospitality.”  She laughed.  “Really, we need that up here—more business.  Besides nobody wants to have a rude shrink like the people I’ve come across here, I mean really.” 

“I get cha.” 

“I called her earlier and left a message on her voicemail reminding her of her first day.” 

“I’m sure she hasn’t forgotten sweetheart, this is hardly something that just slips your memory, I’m sure she’s on it.” 

“Doesn’t hurt to give a friendly reminder.”

“So what are we doing tonight?” 

“Oh honey, I’m so tired tonight besides I have a long day ahead of me.” 

“Yeah I know.” 

“It’s only seven thirty meet me at the Applebee’s.” 

“Applebee’s?” 

“Yes, on Riverdale.” 

“Ok be there in fifteen.”  They hung up.  Caroline was somewhat excited about her intern.  Who would be better to show her the ropes except for Caroline Banks? She didn’t mean to toot her on horn but she was the best and she knew it. Carol
ine made a left on Westly Road and shot through a yellow light catching the eye of a police officer posted on the right hand side of the street.  As soon as she saw him she knew she was getting pulled over.  Caroline looked in her rearview mirror to see the officer get behind her and turn his blue lights on. 

“Curse those
blue lights.” She mumbled.

“They go just as fast as anybody and who’s there to pull them over,” Caroline huffed. 
“Chicago PD is something else, ducked off in a dark corner; I should call my lawyer.” 

“
Don’t make a big fuss”
she heard her husband’s voice in her head.  “
Calm down, breath, don’t get so worked up about the situation, take the ticket and come see me.”
 

That’s exactly what he would say.  Caroline looked in the rear view mirror.  “He is probably running my tags.  Come on so we can get this over with,” she mumbled.

Officer Peters got out of his car, the vehicle he had pulled over was a red Lexus tags, registered to Caroline Banks, CEO of Banks Association for Relationship and Family Therapy.  Caroline rolled her window down. 

“Good evening ma’am you in a rush?” 

“I’m on my way to a very important business meeting.” 

“Is that right?” he said, “that’s too bad you’re going to be even later now, speed limit is forty five I clocked you doing sixty five.” 

“Can you just write the ticket and get this over with?” Caroline snapped.

“Now don’t you get spicy with me
young lady I could lock you up for reckless driving!” 

Caroline
sighed. “Whatever.”  

“License and registration,” She handed the officer her license.  “Right back,” he said and went to his patrol car. 

Caroline’s phone rang.  Her husband—she knew he wo
ndered where she was. 

“Hello?” 

“You standing me up, I thought we was passed that?” 

“Very funny. I got pulled over.” 

“What? Why?” 

“For ru
nning a yellow light, these lame Chicago police need to focus on doing real police work instead of harassing the people who pay their taxes.  He threatened to take me to jail for reckless driving because I snapped at him.” 

“Oh boy, here we go,” he sai
d.  “Why are you snapping at the police, don’t you know by now that only pisses them off?  You really need to calm down.  Where are you, I’m coming to you.” 

“Don’t bother, he’s just writing me a ticket.  I’ll be there in fifteen minutes; he’s coming back to the car.” 

“Oh yeah, you said that fifteen minutes ago.  Don’t make a big fuss calm down and don’t get so worked up about the situation, take the ticket and come see me.”

Caroline laughed, “I thought you might say something like that.  Ok see you in a minute.” 

Officer Peters approached the car. 

“Ma’am, I need you to sign this ticket.  The ticket is not saying your guilty or not guilty.  It simply states you received this
speeding ticket on this day at this time.” 

Caroline signed the ticket. 

“What if I don’t sign it?” she asked before handing back the ticket. 

Officer Peters
leaned in closer to her and said, “The ticket would still stand regardless.  You can choose to come to court and dispute the ticket, or you can pay the fine.  Paying the fine would mean you don’t have to come to court but it would also make you guilty.  Any more questions ma’am?”  He snatched the ticket.

Before Caroline coul
d answer he had walked off.  She adjusted her rearview mirror and didn’t wait for the officer to pull off, she shot past the next intersection like she hadn’t been pulled over at all.  She pulled into the Applebee’s parking lot and got out of the car. 

“Excuse me,” a girl said as she brushed pass Caroline almost knocking her to the side. 

“You almost knock me over!” she yelled
. 

The girl looked back, “I said excuse me.”  The girl kept walking. 

Caroline turned and walked into Applebee’s.  She spotted her husband at the bar. 

She walked up to him, “Hey wife.” 

“I thought you grabbed a table?”

“I did baby but you took so long, I decided to come to the bar and pick up another girl.” 

“You know what your sense of humor is not amusing.”  He laughed.  “It’s all fun and games until somebody gets hurt,” she said. 

He rolled his eyes. 

“Don’t roll your eyes at me,” she said. 

“Come here beautiful,” he said wrapping her in his arms.  “I just ordered us some drinks so they will bring them to the table.” 

They sat down at a nearby booth. 

“So getting ready for this intern huh?” 

“Yeah, I’m ready,” she said.

The waitress walked up.

“Are you ready to order?” 

“Yes, I want your riblett basket and let us both just have a cup of water, we have drinks on the way.” 

“Would you like to try two for twenty?  You can pick any two from these items, the waitress pointed to the menu and you can also pick an appetizer as well for twenty bucks.” 

“Is the riblett basket included with the two for twenty items?” 

“Yes, well we will both have one.” 

“Ok, I’ll be right back with your drinks.”  She walked off. 

“So what happened to you at work today?” 

“Well you know how the back end of the business is.  Some days, you can reach the right network and sometimes not.  Today was an ok day, I did reach some contacts and they are promising.”  Her husband was also part CEO of Banks Association for Relationship and Family Therapy, but he handled building client relationships. 

The waitress came back, “The bartender said she didn’t ID you, so I would need to see your ID in order to give you your drink.” 

“Who me?” Caroline asked. 

“Yes ma’am.”

“Are you for real?  That’s a compliment, I’ll be happy to show you.”  Caroline pulled out her ID.  “I might as well keep this thing out, everyone keeps asking me for it, first the police now this.” 

She handed her ID to the waitress.  The waitress turned and gave two thumbs up to the bartender. 

“Never know if you’re secret shoppers,” she said and sat down their drinks.  “I’ll be back with your food.” 

“What did you order me?” 

“A martini,” he said.

“And for you?” 

“Grey Goose on the rocks of course.” 

“Of course,” she said.  The food arrived ten minutes later.  Caroline said a prayer.  “Heavenly father, please bless this food we are about to receive in Jesus Christ name. Amen”. 

“Amen,” he repeated.

Chapter 5

“Why are you so quiet?”  Joshua asked. 

“No reason, just thinking about my new beginning.” 

“Your new beginning?” he asked in an incredulous tone. 

“Well, our new beginning.  You know what I mean.” 

“Well you better mean what you say and say what you mean girl.” 

“Un huh,” she said. 

“What about it?” 

“Just wondering what’s in store.” 

“All blessings just think about it that way.” 

“Pull into this gas station, I need to stretch my legs,” Victoria said.  “I’m glad we’re finally here.” 

“Me too,” Joshua agreed.  “
All we have to do now is get a room and in the morning while you’re at work I’ll go and get the keys to our condo.” 

She nodded.  Victoria had searched for condos on Craigslist in Chicago, while in Memphis.  After writing some places down and going to visit to check out the places, she realized Craigslist was not the site she needed to be on looking for condos.  The first set of condos, Lakeview Condominiums, looked worse than the projects.  It was all brick, the red project bricks, trash on the sidewalks; puddles of water with chip paper bags floating on top, the dogs looked homeless and hungry.  There was even trash in the hallways. 

Before Victoria could make it to the office, she stood and looked at her surroundings.  The pool instead of having blue water was green. 

“Ugh,” Victoria stated, “Lakeview Cond
ominiums, really?”

  Why would they name this place as if its top shelf?  There was a sign outside the office that said ninety nine dollars moves you in! 

“I bet,” Victoria grumbled. 
And how much do I pay to get out?
She thought. 

The next three sets were just as bad.  That’s when she decided no more Craigslist.  Victoria found her condo on condo.com and before applying decided to check out their ratings so she could make a more informed decision.  Vict
oria’s condo was a two bedroom, two bath, living room, dining room, office, sunroom, patio, fireplace, and kitchen with an island.  Victoria loved to cook so the island was perfect.  It was kind of pricey but hey, she’d rather stay in a safe and clean environment for the money than pay one cent to stay in the nasty condos she had recently found.  Joshua pulled into the gas station. 

“Want anything out of here?” he asked. 

“Yeah get me a Coke please, I’m thirsty.” 

“That’s it?” 

“Yeah,” Victoria stepped out of the car and stretched. 

Whoo, that was a ride.  I don’t know how I will talk myself into getting on a plane when it comes time to make my trip to Montego Bay Jamaica
she thought.  Victoria wanted to take a trip to Jamaica for as long as she could remember, but was too nervous to get on a plane.  Victoria walked around the car, bent over and examined the tires.  SLAP!

“Ouch!”

Victoria yelled and jumped up. 

Joshua laughed, “Well if you bend over like that and put that thang in the air what do you expect me to do?” 

“Boy stop, that hurt.” 

“That thang bounced when I slapped it, come here girl.”  He pulled at her. “Oh you like that don’t you?” 

“You know I do.” 

“Wanna grab something to eat?” 

“Let’s get to the room then we can order room service.” 

“Ok,” Joshua said. 

They got back into the car.  Joshua passed her the Cola.  Victoria popped the top and started to drink. 

“Ahhh that is so
good and strong.  Almost like drugs,” she smiled. 

They put their seat belts on. 

“You want me to drive?” Victoria asked.  “I know you’re tired.” 

“It’s ok, I’ve drove
this far, one more stop and we will be chillin for the night.  Unless . . .”

Joshua words trailed off as he l
ooked at Victoria with an knowing look. 

She shook her head.  “You would sex me every minute of the day if you could.” 

“You know it,” he said.  Twenty minutes later they pulled in to the Hyatt Regency Downtown Chicago. 

“This is a five star hotel,” Victoria said.  “So we should be able to get good room service here.  They may have a resta
urant inside.”  Joshua pulled into a parking spot. 

“Do you know how much it will cost to rent a room here for one night?” 

“I’m paying for it baby,” he said. 

“I know that, but do you know how much it’s going to cost?” 

“Don’t worry about it, I got this.” 

“O
k, so you got it like that, dang let me check your bank account.” 

“I’m a real estate agent baby and you know I stay on my hustle.  There is no way I would even be in this profession if the money is not in it.”  Outside the car Victoria noticed there was no wind in the night’s air, which was unusual for Chicago.  The parking lot was full. 

“I hope there are some vacancies.” 

“Me too,” he said.  They walked in.  There was a blond-haired gray-eyed woman sitting behind the desk.  Her face looked as if she had some work done, mostly on the nose and lips.

“Can I help you?” 

The
woman asked.  Rebecca is what her name tag read. 

“Yes we would like to get a room for one night,” Joshua said.  “Do you have any vacancies?” 

“Yes sir we do but they’re all double beds left.” 

“That’s cool.” 

“Ok, just one night?” 

“Yes ma’am.” 

“Can I see your ID’s please?” 

Joshua removed his ID from his wallet and handed it to the receptionist.  Rebecca looked from Joshua to Victoria.  “Two adults nonsmoking?” she asked. 

“Actually, smoking is preferred.” 

Joshua stared at
Rebecca careful not to smile.  He was still aware of Victoria standing to the side of him watching their transaction.  She was the typical black woman when it came to white women.  She would act like she was cool with white women interacting with black men but Joshua was no fool, he saw the attitude and close evaluation in her every time he got close to a white woman.  He almost shook his head.  

Her skin had an almond
glow; her golden brown blonde streaks flowed past her shoulders, stopping in the middle of her back. 
I bet she’s about twenty five
he thought and tried not to bite down on his lips,
she was fine. 

“Is this address current?” Rebecca asked. 

“Yes, everything is correct.” 

She smiled and looked to Victoria who was now busy studying the lobby.  She looked at Joshua and winked.  He smiled.  Rebecca continued to type in his information.  Ok that will be two twenty nine ninety.  Joshua handed her his credit card.  She compared the MasterCard to his ID and processed the payment.  While the receipt was printing she activated a key card put it in an envelope and slid it to him.  She asked him to sign and handed him a receipt. 

“Do you have room service?” Joshua asked. 

“Yes sir, our culinary staff will make sure everything is just as you wish.  You’re in Room 303.  We also have an immaculate dining area; if you want you can go straight down the hall and take a left and someone will be happy to seat you.” 

“Thank you,” Joshua said. 

Rebecca smiled and nodded her head slightly, “You’re most welcome,” she said with a sexy smile. 

Joshua turned to Victoria.   Now she was staring at them. 

“Check out time is at eleven am, but if you need a later check out, just call the front desk and we can put you down for a late checkout.” 

“What’s the latest?” he asked. 

“One p.m.,” she stated. 

“That won’t be necessary,” Victoria interrupted.  “We have to get an early start because we have things to do, so we won’t need a late checkout, busy schedule.”   

“Well if you change your mind, just call the front desk.  I’ll be here until six a.m.” 

Victoria noticed that Rebecca let a long stare hang on her face at Joshua and she grimaced.  Joshua picked up her overnight bag and walked over to the elevator.  Victoria pressed the button.  She looked back over her shoulder to see Rebecca still staring.  Victoria narrowed her eyes to let Rebecca know to back off.  Rebecca turned back to her computer.  “Ding,” the elevator doors opened. They stepped in.  Joshua hit the button for the third floor, the doors closed.  Once they got to the third floor, Joshua handed Victoria the bags and the room key,

“Here baby take this to Room 303, I’ll go down stairs, order and bring it back.” 

“Why do you need to go downstairs, that’s the purpose of room service?” 

He smiled and put his arms around her,

“Hmm, you wouldn’t happen to be jealous of that white girl down stairs would you?” 

“You cannot be serious,” she said.  “Should I be jealous?” 

“Oh come on baby.” 

“Why don’t we just go to the room and order our room service and let them bring it up?” 

“It will take longer,” he said. 

“I don’t mind waiting.” 

She grabbed her overnight bag and his hand and started down the hallway. 

“Is there anything else you need me to get out of the car sweetheart?” 

“Baby don’t worry about it we’re only here for one night, we don’t need everything.” 

“I’m not getting everything,” Joshua protested, “but do you have everything you need for your first day in that one bag, because the other one is mine?” 

Victoria scoffed.  “Fine,” she said.  “Hurry up, I’m timing you.” 

“You talk as if you don’t trust me.” 

“I didn’t say that, but let’s face it you are a man.” 

He leaned in to kiss her, soft and deep, they fell against the door. 

“I’ll be right up baby,” he said. 

She turned toward the door and stuck the key in.  It opened.  She dropped her bags inside.  Joshua blew her a kiss before stepping on the elevator.  Victoria could smell the faint scent of weed, she couldn’t tell which room it was coming from.  She stepped in. The room was very modern, looked like it came straight out of Z Gallerie and Chiasso.  She reached for her gold case, opened it up and lit a joint.  The bed was a king size bed,
nice
she thought.  She walked over to a menu sitting on the desk.  As she went over it, she noticed another menu.  She picked it up.  It was a porn menu.  Wow, they give you the option to buy anything these days.  She put that back.  Victoria inhaled the joint.  She had two left in her case. 
Time to roll up,
she thought
.
  She liked to keep her case filled at all times.  Never know when you will need a smoke.  Victoria ordered room service. 

She went into the bathroom and pulled back the curtain to the shower.  She got on her knees and looked closely into the tub and at the drain.  Victoria used to work as a hous
ekeeper when she was eighteen so anytime she went to a hotel she always checked the drain and shower for little loose hairs that people left behind from the day before, if she found any she demanded another room and her money back because that would mean the hotel is not keeping a clean house.  She didn’t see a spot.  She got up and turned the shower on.  Where’s my phone, she said out loud.  She went to her purse and pulled out her cell.  It was off.  I
t must have died
.  She plugged it up to the charger and turned it on.  It chimed the T-Mobile ring.  She had two new voicemails.  Victoria pressed one to check her voicemail.  “You have two new messages,” the recorded voice said. 

First message:

Hi, this is Caroline Banks with Banks Association for Relatio
nship and Family Therapy and this message is for Victoria Mathis.  This is just a friendly reminder Ms. Mathis that you start your internship tomorrow at eight a.m.  The receptionist at the front desk will have a badge for you.  Once you sign in and show ID, you can swipe your badge come through the corridor and let my assistant know that you have arrived.  She will also have you sign in and then she will call me.  I’m looking forward to meeting with you.  Have a nice night
. 

The call ended. 

“
To delete this message press seven.”  

Vi
ctoria pressed nine to save.  She needed to keep that one just in case. 

“
New message,” the recorded voice said: 

“Hey girl you already know who this is and if you don’t, then you are not my best friend.  I was wondering if you made it safely to Chicago and if you’ve seen any cute dudes up there,” she laughed.  “Also how’s it going with Joshua?  I hear Ms. Thing is pissed and she want to get at you.  You have got to call me; I don’t like talking to things that don’t talk back, later.” 

She hung up.  Victoria pressed seven to delete the message before the recorded voice could mention it.  She put the phone on the desk.  “I’ll call you back in a minute girl,” she said out loud.