Chapter Three - Kenya
Chapter Three
Kenya
T his little hidden gem was so much better than the other overrated coffee chains; this cozy café, tucked away off the beaten path of Atlantic City’s downtown area, was Kenya Lewis’s favorite retreat. It was the best place to write a brief or get work done without all the distractions from her colleagues, who constantly wanted to run something by her, or the young ones who insisted upon standing in her office’s doorway on a Friday afternoon to boast about their weekend plans, as if she cared to hear them.
She had to admit, though, those youngsters lived some exciting lives. She remembered the days when she, herself, had a life—a vibrant, exciting one. Now the most exciting part of her life was her daily commute between Cape May and her office in Atlantic City. If you counted the binge-watching of a host of series on Netflix with Ralph, her golden retriever, at her feet, a bowl of Ben Danielle had taken her own ex-husband to the cleaners some years ago. Since then, she’d become quite the jezebel.
Seeing them together sent shock waves up and down Kenya’s spine, made the little hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Surely Zach had better sense than to step out on her best friend, Lu. Kenya fidgeted with her phone while she contemplated whether she should call Lu at the inn and ask her if she knew where her fiancé was. She decided to text instead.
What are you up to on this beautiful sunny afternoon? Did Zach take the afternoon off, and are the two of you sitting on the veranda watching the waves like two old people? LOL, Kenya typed.
The reply was swift. I’m in the kitchen. Laboring. LOL. Not really. Zach’s at the hospital. He got called in for an emergency surgery.
Emergency surgery?
Kenya glanced out the window again to see Zach and Danielle enter the thirty-story, mirrored office building where Danielle operated her private law practice. With a huff, Kenya shut her laptop and crammed all her belongings into her bag. She wasn’t a private detective—not even close—but she was about to do some investigative work. And she was about to confront Zach!
She rushed out the door of the café and pulled the jacket of her suit a little tighter before heading toward the crossing light. Though she hated to, she decided to jaywalk. She stepped inside the glass building and took the elevator to the fifteenth floor, to Danielle’s office. Her stilettos sunk into the carpet. Plush carpet.
“How bourgeoisie,” she whispered to no one in particular.
Millicent, Danielle’s assistant, looked up from her computer screen, smiled, and asked, “Can I help you?”
“Uh, no, I’m waiting for someone, thanks. My friend . . . he’s meeting with Danielle.”
“Should I let him know that you’re here?”
“No.” Kenya smiled. “I’d really like to surprise him.”
Millicent gave her an inquisitive glance, her eyes narrowed and her eyebrows raised. Her lips perched as if she wanted to say something more, but instead she went back to working. Kenya took the liberty of having a seat on the leather sofa, crossed her legs, picked up a recent copy of Essence magazine from the end table, and flipped through its pages.
A few minutes later, Danielle’s door swung open and Zach walked out. His eyes widened, became big as saucers when he saw Kenya. His stride slowed. Kenya dropped the magazine onto her lap as the two of them locked eyes.
She threw her head back. “What are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same,” Zach declared.
“I followed you here,” Kenya said in a low tone once he was closer and out of Millicent’s earshot. “Now, back to my question: What are you doing here?”
“I’m busted, aren’t I?” He blew wind from his mouth and gave a nervous laugh.
“I guess you are.” Kenya stood and placed her hands on her hips. “Why on earth are you here in Danielle Curry’s office. . . in Atlantic City, no less, when your fiancée thinks that you’re at the hospital . . . on Cape May , performing an emergency surgery? Are you having an affair?”
“What? No.”
“Are you certain about that? Because I just watched you strolling down the street, smiling, and cheesing with another woman.”
“Have you been following me?”
“Don’t even . . .” Kenya pointed a finger at Zach.
“Kenya, I’m not having an affair,” he reiterated.
“You’d better not be,” Kenya warned through clenched teeth, trying to keep her voice just above a whisper. “Why the hell are you seeing a divorce attorney?”
He was silent for a moment, then sighed heavily. “Because I need a divorce.”
“You what?” Kenya blinked a few times and tried to make sense of his words. “You’re going to have to explain this to me slowly, so that I can understand.”
He had the nerve to say, “If I tell you, you can’t tell Lu.”
Was he serious?
“Excuse me, but my loyalty lies with Lu, not you.” She wanted to grab him by the collar but thought it best not to as she stole a glance at Millicent, who was pretending not to eavesdrop. “Dude, I can’t make promises like that.”
“I just need a little time to work something out,” he pleaded.
He needed to give her more than an I-need-a-little-more-time response. “What exactly do you need to work out, Zach? Because so far, you’ve given me nothing.”
Zach rubbed his bald head. “You’re not letting this go, huh?”
“What do you think?”
He closed his eyes for a moment. “Okay. Just hear me out . . .”
“I’m listening. And it better be good.”
“Several years ago—and I mean several years ago—long before I met Lu, I was fresh out of med school, a kid even . . .” He paused, shifted his stance, and loosened his tie a bit.
“Keep going.”
“I had a friend. She was Ethiopian. And . . . well . . . I married her so that she could gain her US citizenship. . . .”
“You’re joking, right?” She laughed.
“I’m quite serious. And unfortunately, we never divorced.”
“Zach!” Kenya shrieked.
“I know. It’s bizarre.”
“Did you forget that you were already married when you asked my friend to marry you?”
“I didn’t forget, I thought it was something I could fix right away. That it would be a nonissue.”
“Is this woman causing problems, like contesting the divorce? Will she show up at the wedding and act out? What’s the delay with the divorce?” Kenya was in his face, her eyes blinking rapidly. She wanted answers.
“She won’t show up at the wedding. She won’t contest the divorce, either. That is, if I can find her.”
Kenya’s eyes widened and her mouth flew open. “What do you mean, if you can find her ? You don’t know where she is?”
“We lost contact over the years. I thought she was in New York City, but I don’t have any information on her whereabouts. There was never any urgency for a divorce until now.” Zach rubbed his hands together.
“Do I need to remind you that your wedding is in less than three months? And this wedding—this marriage means everything to Lu. She has literally poured everything into planning it.” Kenya was becoming frantic. “She loves you!”
“And I love her.”
Kenya offered him a cold stare.
“I do love her. Kenya, you know that better than anyone. And I want to marry her. I’m going to marry her. Which is why you can’t tell her any of this. Not until I have a chance to fix it.”
“I don’t know if you can fix this.”
“I can and I will.”
“You’d better. This will kill Lu. And I know her. She won’t hesitate to call off this wedding. You know that, right?”
“That is why you can’t tell her. Not yet. Let me work it out,” he pleaded.
“Why weren’t you just honest with her in the first place?”
“Are you kidding me? She wouldn’t have understood this.”
“Give her a little bit of credit. She would’ve understood. But she won’t now—now that you’ve waited so long. Were you in love with this woman?”
“It was never romantic. It was just me helping a friend. That’s it.”
“Helping a friend is loaning them fifty dollars or letting them borrow your car. Not marrying them.” Kenya sighed heavily. “I can’t keep this from her, Zach. Now that I know, I have to tell her. I’m sorry.”
He placed his hands together as if saying a prayer. “Can you just give me a little bit of time? Please.”
Kenya rolled her eyes. If she’d had the strength, she would’ve picked him up by his neck and flung him across the room. Why had he even gotten down on one knee in front of God and everyone and asked Lu to marry him if he wasn’t ready? Why had he given her that enormous three-carat princess-cut diamond ring that she waved in the air every chance she got to show it off? Why had he asked Lu’s mother, Yana, for her blessing, ordered that darn three-tiered cake, hired caters, booked their favorite band to perform at the reception, and sent out those fancy invitations to everyone who was anyone on Cape May before working out the skeletons in his freaking closet?
She breathed in, letting the air out slowly through her nose. She hated this position that Zach had put her in. This wasn’t her problem, it was his . Yet she’d been thrust in the midst of his mess.
“You have exactly thirty days from today to find this woman and divorce her. After that, I spill.”
“Kenya, I don’t know if thirty days is enough time.”
“You’d better make it enough time. Hire a private detective. You have the money.” She closed in for a whisper. “And Danielle is very easy. She’s one of the best divorce attorneys in the business, I give her that, but she’s . . . well . . . a jezebel.”
“That’s why I hired her, but . . .”
Kenya raised an eyebrow and narrowed her glance at Zach.
“. . . not because she’s a jezebel, but because she’s a great attorney. I was referred to her by one of the doctors on staff at the hospital.”
Danielle walked out of her office, shut the door behind her, and said something to Millicent before approaching them.
“Oh, hello, Kenya.”
“Danielle.” Kenya gave her a nod to greet her.
“I didn’t realize you two knew each other.”
Kenya spoke up first. “Yes, Zach is my best friend’s fiancé. They’re getting married at the end of the summer. Didn’t he tell you?”
“He didn’t.” She turned toward Zach and gently caressed his arm. “We’ll be in touch, Zachary.”
“We will. Thank you.” His voice raised an octave.
Danielle walked away and Kenya gave him a side-eyed glance. “You have thirty days,” she warned him.
As she walked away from him, she couldn’t help but fear that what was supposed to be the wedding of the summer, might be the breakup of the summer. Zach would be to blame for all of it if he didn’t work out his dilemma— and fast . He had placed her in quite the predicament and caused her to be unsettled. He was asking her to keep a secret from her best friend—one that would destroy Lu. She would keep quiet for now because she wanted to see Lu happy. And she wanted the wedding to take place without any drama. Yes, she’d keep his secret, but not for long.