Chapter 24
“Dr. Henderson.”
Adam looked up from his computer screen, slightly annoyed someone was interrupting him.
He’d stayed up late to finish some reports so he could attend the fashion show tonight with little guilt and no professional disturbances.
He wanted to give his full attention to the event and to one very special lady who was walking in the show.
He glanced up to see the school board president, Dr. Brent, standing at his office doorway.
Adam steeled himself against sighing loudly at her presence. They hadn’t spoken since he’d professionally told her to mind her business. He was curious to see what she wanted now.
“Dr. Brent, how can I help you?”
“You’re working late. Anything pressing going on?”
“No more than usual. I’m just finishing some paperwork to free up my evening.”
“So you can attend the creative arts fashion show?”
There was a lilt to her voice, emphasizing her words in a way he couldn’t yet tell whether it was positive or negative.
“Yes, I am.”
His answer was direct as he gauged her reaction to it. Her face remained impassive, giving him not one hint of where she was going with this line of questioning. Although the tightness in his gut made him pretty certain of her destination even if his mind still couldn’t piece it together.
“Everyone is all abuzz about this show. It seems you’ve managed to get some celebrities to come in to model?”
He nodded. “I used some of my old contacts in the NBA and WNBA. Angel Reese and Brandon Miller jumped on board as soon as they heard and offered their services. There was so much demand once their participation was announced, we had to set up a paid streaming event so people who couldn’t get in could watch it too.
I think this event might be the one to put us over the top. ”
“Dr. Henderson, I have to admit, up until now, I’ve had my reservations about this fundraising business. The size of that crowd outside definitely makes me rethink my original stance. For your sake, I hope my change of mind isn’t for naught.”
Just as quickly as she’d come, Dr. Brent was gone, leaving him to replay the whole visit in his head.
He was certain he could get this budget under control, but how he did that completely relied on how successful Janae’s plan was.
If this didn’t yield the monetary results they hoped for, they were both screwed, and not in the fun way he liked.
“Ten-minute warning, people! Suck it in, zip it up, and let’s go!”
Adam scanned the room for the commanding voice and found James standing in the center of the double classroom across from the gym.
Adam couldn’t help but smile. The few interactions he’d had with the young man, James was always reserved and easygoing. Tonight, that James seemed to have been replaced by a charismatic leader whose followers scurried to do his bidding.
People buzzed about everywhere in the room.
Any more folks and he was certain they’d easily reach their safe occupancy benchmark.
Between the clothing racks and the several sets of large dressing screens positioned around the room to create privacy for the models to quickly change in and out of their clothing, there was only enough space to walk.
Adam carefully navigated through the room, weaving through garment racks and models zipping from one side of the room to the next to get to James. The young man pulled his gaze up from the clipboard in his hands, smiling when his eyes found Adam walking toward him.
“Hi, Dr. Henderson!” The excitement bubbling off of the teenager electrified Adam. “I’m so glad you could make it.”
“Did you really think I’d miss your big moment? Your mom tells me you’ve put together an amazing collection that would give Versace a run for their money.”
James’ smooth dark brown skin radiated a heated glow. “She has to say that, she’s my mom.”
“I think we both know your mom is a straight shooter. If your work was trash, she’d still support you, but she wouldn’t lie about your skill.”
The boy chuckled, nodding in agreement. “Yeah, I’ve heard the ‘Baby, this is nice, but it needs a little something more’ reaction to my work before. She definitely didn’t give me that this time around.”
Adam couldn’t help but enjoy the boy’s candor.
The more time he spent in the presence of James, the more he became enamored with James’ good fortune to be a happy Black kid comfortably existing in his own skin.
That was a remarkable feat as a teenager, one Adam had no doubt was only possible because of the love and support Janae showed her son.
“If you’re looking for my mom, she’s on the other end of the room helping the first set of models line up.”
“Thanks, man.” Adam put his hand on James’ shoulder and gave it a kind squeeze. “If I don’t get to see you before the show starts, break a leg.”
The young man offered Adam a wide grin whose warmth seemed to spread right through the center of Adam’s chest. The feeling caught him off guard for a second and Adam realized why.
James wasn’t just any student. He was Janae’s son, and so much of her shone through him that it was difficult not to see her in him.
“Thanks, Dr. Henderson.” The boy looked down at his clipboard quickly before tossing a quick, “Enjoy the show,” over his shoulder.
James excused himself, heading in the opposite direction as he threw out more commands in the room. Adam took the opportunity to zero in on Janae, his breath stopping the moment he glanced at her.
She was dressed in a black strapless romper that had been paired with a crisp white button-down shirt tucked inside of the romper’s bodice.
Since she was carrying garment bags over her shoulder, he figured what she was wearing wasn’t for the stage. Hope crackled inside of him that maybe, just maybe, she’d thought a little bit about how much the sight of her curves on full display like that would make his absolute year.
Too excited by the sight of her to stand still, he easily closed the distance between them.
“Good evening, Janae.” He leaned in to speak to her so no one else could hear his words. “You look good enough to eat in that outfit.”
Janae offered him a gentle, almost bashful smile. “Bashful” certainly wasn’t a word he’d normally associate with her, but there was no other descriptor for the way her cheeks flushed underneath her smooth complexion.
“You’d better stop before Michael has to lock us both up for lewd behavior in a public place. Even though you’ve been gone a long time, you know we’d never survive a scandal like that in Monroe Hills.”
Adam couldn’t disagree with her. Subsequently, he also couldn’t find enough give a damn to be concerned either. “Please tell me you’ll make some time in your calendar for me to see you soon.”
Her smile grew bolder and Adam had to fight to keep his body from responding.
“If you leave me alone and stop distracting me, I’ll make time to see you tonight.”
Satisfied with her answer, he simply nodded. He was about to turn when he heard a familiar voice half singing, half speaking his name.
“Hi, Adam.” Cree stood waving her hand aggressively. Letting him know he could try to pretend the way he was focused on Janae was professional, but she knew better. When Adam glanced over to find Vanessa and Michael standing next to her with twin arched eyebrows, he knew they knew better too.
“Evening, Cree.” Adam leaned in and gave her a quick hug. “Where’s your better half?”
“I divorced him two years ago.”
It was Adam’s turn to raise a brow as he looked at her. “I wasn’t talking about Taylor. We both know he was never your better half.”
He should’ve been ashamed. If he were a better man, he wouldn’t be laughing at the slight discomfort he saw tugging at the muscles in Cree’s face. He loved Cree and didn’t usually find joy in annoying her. Tonight, however, he felt like giving as good as he got.
All eyes lingered on Cree until she swallowed and looked Adam in the eye again. “You’re not as funny as you think you are, Adam.”
If the way Michael and Vanessa were snickering next to her was any indication, Cree was wrong.
“Derrick is saving seats for all of us, unless”—she pointed her chin in Janae’s direction—“you’ve got official business back here with Janae.”
“I think Janae and I have concluded our official business for the evening. I’ll gladly sit with what I’m sure is going to be James’ fan club.”
He gave Janae a wink, hoping she realized they’d pick up their conversation later, extended his arm to Cree, and exited the room to head for the gym where the action would take place.
The gym had been reimagined and revamped into something dazzling.
There was a large T-shaped elevated stage that extended into the middle of the room.
Rows of chairs lined all three sides of the stage and the entrance where the models would enter was covered with silver curtains that lined the wall behind it.
A quick glance at the front of the stage, and Adam found Derrick, waving his hand, greeting the four of them with a big smile bright enough to light up the dim room.
“Glad y’all could finally bother to bring yourselves inside.”
“What are you complaining about now?” Michael said as he waited for Vanessa to walk ahead of him, stopping briefly to give Derrick a quick hug before taking his seat.
“I had to fight off a gaggle of moms who wanted the best seats in the house to cheer on their precious babies as they walk down the runway.” Cree followed behind Michael and Vanessa and only when she was seated did Adam give Derrick a hug of his own before he walked to the remaining empty seat in the middle of the two couples.
Adam took the seat, glancing this way and that at his friends who were settling down for the show too. The image of them, having fun and at ease with one another, made Adam painfully aware that something, or rather someone, was missing from their group.
Quickly, the already dimmed lights dropped, and the stage lights bathed the runway in a majestic glow. All too soon, music filled the room and the announcer was hyping the crowd, stoking them to a fever pitch just before the first model stepped onto the stage.
Adam hadn’t been to any professional fashion shows, but he couldn’t imagine a more entertaining event than what he was witnessing.
The models were a mix of kids from not only the high school, but the middle school, intermediate school, and the elementary school too.
He spotted a couple of teachers and more than a few residents of their small town striking poses that would give Naomi Campbell a run for her money.
When Angel Reese and Brandon Miller came out wearing glammed up basketball uniforms that sparkled with colored rhinestones matching their respective team colors, the crowd went wild, making Adam so glad he’d added a “Donate Now” button on the streaming platform.
With the love these two were getting inside the gym, he knew people across the internet would be happy to participate and give a little more than the cost of their ticket.
Looking at the time on his watch, he was certain the show was ending soon, and Janae still hadn’t walked out on the runway yet.
Since he knew there wasn’t a shy bone in that woman’s body, he doubted she’d bailed.
Also, this was her son’s time to shine and there was no way she wouldn’t take part in it.
Just then, the music dropped, the up-tempo pop number giving way to a slower rhythm and blues beat that made the mood in the room shift.
He could feel something significant happening, even though he couldn’t quite figure out what that something was.
Then the lights focused on the back of the runway, and he knew it was time for the showstopper.
Suddenly, like a goddess emerging from an ethereal cloud of smoke, Janae stepped onto the stage and his world narrowed down to this woman in that dress.
It was a one-shouldered red high-low number whose A-line skirt fell to her mid-thigh while its back flowed behind her in a long train.
It was safe to say as she walked down the runway, he couldn’t take his eyes off the deep brown exposed skin of her thick thighs and shapely legs, remembering what it felt like to be buried between them.
“You all right, man?”
Adam could hardly make out what Derrick was saying beside him. Who could blame him when all his attention was split between watching Janae sashay down that runway, owning the room and him with each step, and taking his next breath?
“Fine,” Adam managed, not caring if his friend caught the irritation in Adam’s voice.
From the chuckle coming from the side of him, Adam could tell Derrick, as usual, was amused by Adam’s behavior.
“You got it bad, my brother.”
No one knew that more than Adam, especially in this moment.
That realization should have frightened him, put him on the defensive in some way. Instead, the idea of this woman being his beyond the “let’s see how this goes” thing they were doing, developing something more meaningful between them spread like butter over fresh-out-the-oven bread.
“And there goes another one of my boys.” Derrick chuckled as he clapped Adam on the shoulder with his hand.
Adam’s eyes remained focused on Janae, blocking out Derrick’s voice. Janae was the only thing his senses could take in at the moment and he wanted to soak her up.
Her confident strut and elegant moves cleared his mind of all the questions and answers he was ignoring when he’d gone beyond wanting to spend time with Janae to needing her like water and air.
Better to focus on how luscious she looked in that outfit than how she was sneaking into the spaces of his soul that he’d believed he’d blocked off after his divorce.
Each step she made cracked the door to his heart open a little more and he couldn’t have stopped her if he’d wanted to.
Especially not when she was looking like this and owning him the way she was.
It was as if she were made for this and he was made to watch her, possess her as she apparently had him.
When she made it to the end of the runway, posing in front of him like the proud goddess she was, her full lips slipped into a wide grin as she stopped and served him a playful wink while managing to keep time with the beat of the music, her graceful moves creating the perfect visual of the rhythmic sounds.
When she turned around, his eyes slid down her glorious frame, from her soft rounded shoulders to her deep curves, to hips that had cradled him perfectly, and one word came to mind. He knew he didn’t have the right, but that didn’t stop his head from screaming over and over again, “Mine.”