Chapter Twenty-four - Kenya
Chapter Twenty-four
Kenya
K enya smoothed her skirt as she entered the law firm, a cup of coffee from her favorite café in hand.
“Good morning.” She gave Alecia a wide grin.
Alecia handed Kenya a stack of handwritten messages. “You look rested. Vacation looks good on you.”
“And I loved every minute of it.”
“You should do it more often,” Alecia said, and then got right down to business. “Your client, Mr. Charles—the great deacon—is in your office.”
Kenya frowned and lowered her voice. “Already?”
“Been here since seven. Bright and cheerful fellow,” Alecia teased.
Kenya groaned. “Get me his file, please.”
She had hoped to have a few minutes to herself before dealing with Deacon Charles to enjoy her coffee while catching up on emails. But here he was, an entire forty-five minutes early. She gathered herself and shook her head.
“It will be okay.” Alecia gave her a light smile and then started searching for the deacon’s file.
Kenya sighed. She made the stride toward her office, breathed deeply before opening the door. She forced a smile into the corners of her mouth, “Deacon Charles. Good morning.”
“Good morning, Kenya! I hope you don’t mind me coming a little early. I had business in the area, so here I am.”
Business in the area before seven o’clock in the morning?
Dressed in a brown suit and shiny two-toned shoes, Deacon Charles looked as if he’d just stepped out of a magazine. His hair and beard were precisely trimmed, and there was a Rolex watch on his wrist and a diamond earring in his ear; he was picture-perfect. Alecia tapped lightly on the door and then entered. She placed the file on Kenya’s desk.
“Thank you, Alecia.” Kenya gave her a light smile and then watched as Deacon Charles stared at Alecia’s rear end until he couldn’t see it any longer. He smiled sheepishly when he caught Kenya’s eye.
“Deacon Charles.” Kenya leaned back in her ergonomic chair and sighed heavily. She placed a hand on her forehead before saying, “You’re talking to the press again. How many times have we gone over this? You cannot talk to the press without me being present, or at least coaching you first. It’s just not good for our case.”
The night before, Kenya had caught a snippet of comments that Deacon Charles had made to a reporter regarding the video of him. Kenya had shrieked when she heard him say, The evidence will show that it wasn’t me who killed Julian, but quite possibly that wicked woman he was dating. You should ask about her alibi. The devil has certainly reared his ugly head. Check your facts. And talk to my attorney from now on. She’s going to make sure I’m acquitted of all these charges. Count on it!
“I know. They were just coming for me all at once. I didn’t know what to say.”
“You say, I decline to respond to any of your comments without my attorney present . Or you simply don’t say anything. You’re making it very difficult for me to represent you.”
“I apologize.”
“You’ve apologized before, and the time before that. This is your final warning regarding the press and anything else that I ask you to do. I am the professional. If you are not going to follow my instructions, you should fire me and get someone else to represent you. Better yet, I’ll have myself removed from the case.”
“I don’t want anyone else, Kenya. You’re the best. And I promise, I will follow your instructions from here on out.”
“Good.” The wrinkle in Kenya’s forehead grew. She shook her head, then regained her composure. She was tired of disciplining him like a child, and she wouldn’t continue. She was fighting a losing battle with him. “Now, let’s talk about your impending trial. I want you to be fully aware of what to expect.”
After the preliminary hearing, the prosecutor was ready to move to trial, and so a date had been set. The case was moving a bit faster than she’d anticipated. In a few days, they’d be selecting a jury. She had her work cut out for her. She spent the next hour going over the key details of the case with Deacon Charles. After which, she escorted him from her office. He followed her to the reception area of the law firm, where he handed Alecia a wide grin and then exited.
“Creep,” Alecia whispered after he was gone.
“Sorry about that.” Kenya chuckled.
Alecia shook her head and then nodded toward the breathtaking bouquet of flowers that was perched on her desk. “By the way, those just arrived for you, ma’am.”
Kenya beamed at the sight of them. “Really?”
“They’re certainly not mine. That old fart I have at home ain’t sending me flowers.”
“Well, he might if you start being a little nicer to him,” Kenya teased as she got closer and leaned in to smell the flowers—a vibrant medley of pink lilies, orange roses, lavender cushion poms, and hot pink carnations. She plucked the small envelope from the bouquet, slid out the card.
What an amazing woman you are! Can’t wait to see you again when I return to Cape May in a few weeks. Gideon.
A smile crept into the corner of Kenya’s mouth and her eyes danced, all without her realizing that Alecia was observing her closely.
“Well?” Alecia asked with a raised brow.
“Well, what?”
“That vacation must’ve been really nice.”
“It was okay.” Kenya blushed.
“You do know you’re blushing, right?”
She grabbed the glass vase and headed back to her office with it before Alecia could ask any more questions and anyone else saw her with the bouquet. Her heart thumped rapidly as she took refuge inside the office and shut the door behind her. She stood with her back against the door and closed her eyes. Fear consumed her entire body. She liked Gideon , in a friends-with-benefits sort of way — at least that was what she told herself . But whatever this was—this public display of whatever —it would require her to explain things to people, and she didn’t need that in her life. Her life was simple. If she and Gideon were tiptoeing around Cape May, all was well in the universe, but now that he was sending bouquets of flowers to her place of business, it complicated things. This was moving too fast.
She placed the vase on her desk, stared at it for a moment, admired its beauty. Damn, that man had great taste , she thought. She grabbed her portfolio and headed down the hall to the conference room for a staff meeting. She would text Gideon when she found a moment to thank him for the flowers. Before doing so, she needed to find the words to tell him that this thing they had going on, it wouldn’t last. Couldn’t last. Maybe a text would be too inappropriate for that conversation. Perhaps she’d wait to call him on her drive home.
* * *
After work, she merged onto the Atlantic City Expressway, the sounds of Earth, Wind & Fire filled her ears. She sang along, and then rolled up her window to block the wind. The lyrics of the song caused her to think of Glen, and those old records that he kept in a milk crate. His record player was still on the shelf in her family room. After his death, she’d played those records over and over until she couldn’t stand them anymore, until she came to the realization they wouldn’t bring him back. For a while, they comforted her, made her feel as though he was still with her, but eventually she grew tired of them.
She thought about his last days, trying to remember if she’d missed any red flags or signs that he was sick. Had he lost weight? Had his eating habits changed? She couldn’t think of one thing that seemed different or out of place. Had she just been too busy to notice? Tears crept into her eyes as she thought of him battling his demon, this terrible illness— alone . Her chest tightened, her heart ached, her palms were sweaty as she grasped the steering wheel. Visions of the mangled sports car suddenly filled her head. She’d managed to block those visions out of her mind for so long, but now they’d begun to resurface. She thought of Natalia. How had she managed to keep such an awful secret for so long, and why had she?
The ringing of her phone interrupted the music and her thoughts. Gideon . She contemplated not answering. So deeply enthralled in her thoughts, she didn’t want to be interrupted. Not yet. Not until she’d cried every single tear. Not until her voice stopped quivering and wasn’t so thick with grief. Not until she regained her composure. She needed to talk to him, though. She answered.
“Good evening,” she said.
“Good evening yourself. Sounds like you’re driving.”
“On my way home from the firm. Had a beast of a day.” She blew air from her mouth. Her day had been long and exhausting.
“I wish I was in Cape May to rub your feet when you get home.”
She leaned her head against the back of the seat, thought of how nice a good foot rub would be when she reached Cape May. She quickly refocused. He was distracting her.
“I received the flowers today. They were drop-dead gorgeous. Thank you.”
“Why do I hear a but coming?”
“Had everyone in my office asking questions that I didn’t quite know the answers to. I wasn’t ready for that. Honestly, I’m not quite ready for this.”
“This, as in us ?”
“I think we should slow things down a bit. We’re moving way too fast.”
The silence was thick and awkward. Though it was only a few seconds since either of them spoke, it seemed as if hours had passed.
With a deep laugh that seemed to come from his belly, Gideon finally said, “It was just flowers, Kenya.”
“It’s not just the flowers. I can’t think straight when you’re around. You get in my head and . . .”
“It’s called infatuation . Some even call it love .”
The L word . It caused her to tremble. Sweat beamed against her forehead even though the air was on full blast. Surely he wasn’t saying what she thought he was saying.
“I . . . uh . . .”
“Kenya, just because someone you love died doesn’t mean that you can’t fall in love with someone else. It’s perfectly normal to move on with your life.”
“Whatever this is that we’re doing can’t work. First, you live too far away, and long-distance relationships don’t work.”
“We can make it work, if it’s something that we really want.”
“And . . . I can’t help wondering . . .” She stopped in midsentence.
“Wondering what?”
She blew air from her lips. “I work a lot. If I’m not there when you need me, will you be unfaithful to me like you were in your previous marriage?”
“Ouch. That was a low blow.”
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to be cruel, just want you to see the reality of things.”
“No, don’t be sorry. You have a valid point. It’s true. I was unfaithful. I had an extramarital affair. Not only did I creep with someone else, but I allowed this person to destroy my family. I destroyed my family—not her. It was my decision. She gave me an ultimatum, and like a fool I left my wife and children, thinking that I had a future with her.”
“Wow.” Kenya was startled by his revelation. He’d told her more than she asked, and much more than she was ready for. She knew that he’d been unfaithful. He’d told her that much, but she had no idea that he’d abandoned his family. “What happened to this woman?”
“After I left my family, she got with someone else.”
“Gideon,” Kenya whispered.
“I’m not proud of it. I made a mistake that I have spent years trying to correct. I kicked myself for years, only to come to terms with the fact that there was just no fixing it. My wife was never coming back. I would never have my family again, not like it was. I would never live in the same home with my children again. So, I just made the best of it by fathering them from a distance.”
Gideon’s revelation caused Kenya even more pause. She couldn’t fathom being with someone who would abandon his family like that. How could she trust him, particularly if they lived in different states? It only solidified that it would never work, even if she wanted it to. Secondly, she had no intentions of feeling what she felt when she lost Glen ever again . She wouldn’t survive that type of pain for a second time.
There was a long, uncomfortable silence between them. All she heard were her tires treading the highway.
“I really need to go,” she finally said.
“Can I call you later?” Gideon asked.
“I really just need some space, some time to think.”
“I see,” Gideon said matter-of-factly. “Well, after you’ve had time to think, you know where to find me.”
Before she could respond, he’d already hung up. She’d wished him gone, and suddenly he was. She was better off without him anyway.