Abide with Me (26 page)

After dressing in record time, Nicole and Yancey shared a cab from the theater back to the hotel.

“Don’t forget this,” Yancey said as the cab pulled up in front of the hotel. She handed Nicole a flat, silver-colored box.

“Yancey, you never cease to amaze me.” Nicole peeked under the lid at the nut-filled chocolate brownies.

“You didn’t make these, did you?” Nicole asked.

“No, honey, even I ain’t that good. A good friend sent them, but I thought maybe you and Jared could share them after you get your groove on.”

“That’s so thoughtful of you, Yancey. Remind me to send your friend a thank-you note.” Nicole put the box in her bag and took out her wallet.

“I’ll take care of the taxi,” Yancey said. “You were fantastic tonight. Now, you just go along and enjoy yourself. You deserve it.”

By the time the elevator reached the ninth floor, Nicole had dabbed an expensive scent behind her ears and on her wrists. She tightened the sash on her coat and slipped her stockingless feet out of her three-inch-high heels.

She followed the plushly carpeted corridor to room 906. Arriving at the room, she set her bag down beside her and placed her shoes on top. As she raised her hand to the door, her heart was pounding and her body throbbed in all the right zones. She took a deep breath and knocked once on the door.

“Who is it?” Jared asked, opening the door a crack.

“It’s me,” Nicole whispered, “the right woman.”

“Prove it,” Jared said, opening the door full, but barring her entry into the room with his muscular arms.

The sight of Jared’s glistening body, covered only at the waist by a soft blue towel, sent a shivering thrill through Nicole.

“Let me in and I’ll give you all the proof you need.”

A young couple holding hands passed behind Nicole and giggled as they caught a glimpse of Jared in the doorway.

“I’m sorry, but you’ll have to show me your credentials first.”

Nicole looked anxiously to her right and to her left. The couple had disappeared around the corner and no one else was in the corridor. She loosened the sash and pulled her coat open and back, letting it slide off her shoulders to the carpet.

Jared took in every inch of Nicole’s firm, curvaceous body. Her erect nipples pressed invitingly against the lace of her champagne-colored bra, and her long, smooth showgirl legs extended from the daintiest matching panties.

“Oh, yes,” Jared said, “you are most definitely the right woman.” He took Nicole’s hand and led her into the room. He brought her coat, shoes, and bag inside and dropped them near the door.

“My mystery man,” Nicole said, looking around the living room of the suite. “Everything is so beautiful!”

“You’re beautiful, Nicole.” Jared pulled her to him in a long embrace. His familiar clean, masculine scent excited her. He tilted her chin down and kissed her lightly on the forehead. He brushed her cheeks softly, slowly, with the backs of his hands and let his fingers slide down her arched throat to the round fullness of her breasts. Continuing down Nicole’s body, Jared cupped her perfect butt in his hands and gently kissed her top lip, then her bottom lip, before parting them and entering her mouth with his tongue. They deeply explored each other’s mouth until Nicole thought she would reach total satisfaction from the kiss alone.

Jared led Nicole into the candlelit bedroom. He shut the door and positioned Nicole so she faced the full-length mirror affixed to the back of the door.

“Look at yourself, baby. I must be the luckiest man in the world.” Jared stood directly behind Nicole, the hair on his broad chest tickling
the smooth curve of her back. His arms encircled her waist as he ran his tongue along the nape of her neck. She watched as he moved his hands slowly up her body and unclasped the front of her bra, letting her breasts fall free. He ran his fingers up and over her nipples, then back down to her hips. Nicole watched his every move. She felt like an actress starring in an erotic movie. The effect was titillating. Jared saw the pleasure in her eyes reflected back at him.

“Are you watching, baby?” he asked as he slid one hand down inside her panties and caressed her left nipple with the other. She watched as he parted the soft, downy hair between her legs and found her deep, pink, throbbing core.

Nicole moaned as Jared massaged her ever so slowly until she was slippery wet, and her moaning grew more intense. Nicole’s breath was coming now in quick, short pants. Jared’s fingers rubbed gently, but faster and faster as he sensed Nicole approaching ecstasy.

Nicole closed her eyes and reached behind her to hold on to Jared’s hips for support.

“Open your eyes, baby,” he whispered. He slid her panties down over her ankles, then knelt down in front of Nicole, between her and the mirror.

“I want you to see me do it to you.” He placed his hands on her ass and pulled her to his full, wet lips. Jared ran his tongue slowly over her mound of swollen hardness, lingering at the tip until Nicole grabbed his shoulders, arched backward, and screamed his name. He thrust his tongue inside her until he felt her shudder from the release.

Jared rose and scooped Nicole up and carried her to the bed. He stood over her trembling body and announced that he was now ready to reveal the secret. He then let the pale blue towel fall, exposing his enormous erection, then said, “I’m all yours, baby.”

Yancey spotted Cedric in the hotel lobby and joined him for a drink in the bar before retiring to the solitude of her hotel room.

Yancey enjoyed gossiping with Cedric. They seemed to have a lot in common, like their interest in old movies and men. Cedric said his all-time favorite movie was
The Women
, while Yancey favored
All About Eve
because she loved the Eve Harrington character. And on this evening, Yancey took the opportunity to pump Cedric for information about Devin.

“Why all the questions about boyfriend?” Cedric asked.

Yancey was annoyed at herself for being so obvious. She shrugged her shoulders and looked away.

“It’s okay, Miss Girl,” Cedric said. “I share a dressing room with him, and I’ve seen the goods, not totally full frontal, mind you. Ole boy should be required to carry a warning with that fat piece he’s packing! And I know he loves the ladies!”

Yancey couldn’t prevent the huge grin from spreading across her face as she suddenly picked up her drink and headed to her room. She couldn’t wait for Devin to knock at her door.

As soon as Yancey shut the door to her room, she removed her watermelon-pink sweater and thought how nice it was going to be to walk around the room nude without worrying about what Miss Pretty would think. She thought of possibly meeting her new fling in her birthday suit. She set her glass of wine on the nightstand and was removing her gold necklace and earrings when the phone rang.

“Hello,” she said in a deep, trick-me-fuck-me voice, thinking it was Devin.

“Hey, darling, it’s Ava. Did you give her the treats?”

“I sure did. I even made it look all pretty in a silver box with a big ribbon around it. Are you sure this stuff is going to work?”

“It should. There’s enough Ex-Lax in those brownies to keep her running for days even if she only eats a couple of them. But if you
want to be certain she won’t be in any condition to perform on Monday, then put a couple of drops of that other stuff in her coffee or whatever she drinks Monday.”

“That might be hard, you know. Her husband is here, so I won’t be bringing her coffee in the morning.”

“How long is he going to be there?”

“I think until Monday.”

“But you are going to be her roommate in Grand Rapids, aren’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“Then give it to her Monday afternoon. Go out and get her one of those cold, flavored coffee drinks.”

“Ava, this shit isn’t going to kill her, is it?”

“No, but for a few hours she’ll wish she were dead. In the meantime, you’ll be on stage dazzling those producers.”

“Oh, guess what, Ava? I heard a great rumor tonight.” Yancey’s voice was laced with excitement.

“What did you hear, child?”

“Well, I had a drink with Cedric in the bar before I came to my room. We’re becoming good friends, you know. He’s just as devious as I am. Anyway, Cedric told me that he heard from a reliable source that our director might be leaving real soon to go to Paris or somewhere to direct a new play.” Yancey took a long swallow of her wine.

“So why is that good news?” Ava asked.

“Because he’s the one who picked Nicole. He hasn’t been feeling me at all. I mean, he’s cordial enough, but he thinks Miss Pretty not only hung the moon but makes it shine as well.”

“What if the new director likes her too? She has been around a long time. And Broadway is like the rest of the world—it’s all in who you know.”

“Well, unless it’s somebody she knows, we’ll be on equal ground,” Yancey said.

“I see what you’re saying. But if our little plan works and you go on Monday night, it won’t matter who’s directing
Dreamgirls
. You’ll be on your way to stardom!”

“From your mouth to God’s ears,” Yancey said as she swallowed the last of her wine. She was confident she could not be denied if she got the opportunity to play Dena Jones just once.

“Now remember: all you need to do is to put a few drops in her drink. It’s tasteless and she’ll never know what hit her.”

There was a knock at Yancey’s door.

“Somebody’s at my door, sweetheart. I’ll call you tomorrow, or you can call me, since Miss Pretty won’t be here.”

“Good night, darling. I’ll speak with you tomorrow.”

“Night, Ava,” Yancey said as she rose from the bed and hung up the phone. She greeted Devin at her door and took the bottle of wine and the street-vendor flowers he offered. At the sight of Yancey without her sweater, Devin’s boyish grin broke into a lustful, hungry smile.

Early Sunday morning, before Raymond got to enjoy his first cup of coffee, or even skim the
New York Times
, his phone rang. When he looked at the clock and saw it was only 6:42, he assumed it was either Trent or his mother.

“Hello,” he said, trying to sound like he had been lifted from a deep sleep. The truth was he had been awake for about half an hour, thinking about the previous evening with Basil.

“Hey, baby. I didn’t wake you, did I?”

“Naw, Ma. What’s going on?”

“Have you read the newspaper yet?”

“I’m still in the bed. What happened?” Raymond asked as he sat up in the pillow-packed king-sized bed.

“Kirby made a touchdown,” she said proudly.

“He did? That’s great. I can’t wait to read the paper. I wish I’d been there,” Raymond said. He was thinking this was the type of call his pops would normally make. He did it when Kirby was in middle and
high school, giving Raymond the details of his brother’s gridiron heroics. His mother’s call was a clear sign his father was still upset with him.

“You could have been here. What did you do this weekend? And when are you going back home? And when is Trent coming home?”

“I just hung out with a friend. I’ll be going home sometime this week, and I don’t know Trent’s schedule.”

“Well, I hope you ain’t going to stay away from your brother’s games because of your father. You and he are so much alike. Kirby misses you. He won’t make you feel guilty about it, but I will, because I’m your mother,” she said.

“So what was the score?”

“They lost, but my baby was so good!”

“Tell Kirbro I’m proud of him, and I’ll try to make the next game,” Raymond said.

“You tell him yourself. You and your father must think I’m some kinda human Western Union,” she joked.

“Is he there?”

“Who?”

“Kirby.”

“No, he’s not here, and I bet his little butt ain’t in his dorm room either.” Raymond smiled at the way his mother still called Kirby little, despite the fact he was now the largest member of their family.

“Is he at Dawn’s?”

“I’d bet my retirement fund on it.”

“So your little boy is now a man,” Raymond said.

“What are you going to do today?” his mother asked, quickly switching the subject. Raymond smiled to himself at the way his mother didn’t want to discuss Kirby’s love life.