Champagne Life (26 page)

They both nodded. Mr. Connery extended his hand. “Good to see you again.”

“Same here, sir,” DeShaun told him.

Mr. Connery turned back to Jenn. “Is Berti coming this evening? I missed him at the last party.”

“He couldn't make it. Now that he received that Japanese account, he spends a lot of time over there.”

“Oh, he did get it!” Misty exclaimed. “How wonderful. Does this mean you're finally going to take that step and move to Tokyo? You've been talking about it for years.”

DeShaun looked at Jenn, but she remained focused on the couple. She put on a wide smile. “Not sure what I'm going to do. I suppose I'll have to discuss it with Berti sooner or later. But if I do decide to go,” she continued, “I should hope DeShaun would service my
farewell party. You know, make the send-off as extravagant as humanly possible.”

“You never said anything about moving,” DeShaun said.

Jenn smiled. “Like I said, I'm not sure, but if I did, you most certainly better have the best servers there to make my party a huge success.”

“When will you be sure?”

Her smile faded but she quickly regained composure. “I'll let you know as soon as I do. I'm going to need the biggest send-off possible. Since you know so much about wines, I'll expect the best.”

“You know wine?” Mrs. Connery asked. “I love wine. In fact, we have a vineyard in California.”

“I know a little,” DeShaun answered and then turned back to Jenn. “When were you going to tell me?”

Mr. and Mrs. Connery snuck a quick glance at one another. “Perhaps we'll discuss it later,” Mr. Connery said. He took his wife by the elbow and escorted her through the crowd.

As soon as the Connerys disappeared into the mob of glitz and glam, Jenn turned to DeShaun. “You do know you just let the richest couple at this party slip through your fingers.”

“I got that,” DeShaun said. “But what I don't understand is that you're moving and didn't say anything?”

Jenn took DeShaun by the arm and guided him over to the side of the house, away from prying eyes. “I wanted to tell you, DeShaun, but I didn't know how. Besides, it's not definite. Berti mentioned it, that's all. I didn't realize it would be such an issue for you.”

DeShaun looked down. He didn't know it would be such a problem for him either. Over the past months, Jenn showed him a world he only dreamt about. He was here, right now, experiencing the same champagne and caviar he only served to people like her.
She was the first one to accept him. If she left, who would keep him abreast of the inner workings of the social circle?

But it was more than that.

He enjoyed spending time with her. Jenn was the type that could mingle with the wealthy older people, but also hang with him on a level that even Naomi couldn't. He hated to admit it but lately, it felt like Naomi was that nine-to-five job he dreaded going to every day while Jenn was the seven-day vacation to Hawaii. DeShaun had history with Naomi. He got that. He loved Naomi like no other, but what if their relationship had run its course? He needed to go home and talk to his wife. He loved her and wanted Mimi to be his seven day vacation to Hawaii—not another woman.

“I have to go,” DeShaun said.

“What about the party? There are so many people here that can elevate your career. You don't want to blow this, DeShaun.”

“I'm sorry. I have to go. I have something more important to do.”

DeShaun ran all the way to his car and hopped in. He sped down the driveway and past a parked, out-of-the-way car on a grassy knoll on the property. He was so fixated on rushing home to his wife, he never saw the couple in the car.

W
hen Jeremy pulled up my driveway, I reached into the backseat and grabbed my heels.

It was slightly awkward at first; neither of us said anything. When I was finally able to look at him, he was staring at me with a smile on his face.

“I know I should feel guilty,” he said, still grinning. “But I don't.”

“Jeremy—”

“Don't say anything. I want to remember you like this. I want to remember
us
like this.”

I shook my head. “This shouldn't have happened.”

His smile faded. “It was meant to be, Naomi. I always knew this would someday happen. It had to, it's fate.”

“It's not fate, Jeremy. I shouldn't have done it. I'm sorry.”

Jeremy's gaze dropped. I felt so badly for hurting him. I was hurt, watching my husband with another woman, and now I transferred that hurt onto an innocent person that had been nothing but cool with me. It felt bad—really bad.

I pushed the car door open. “I have to go.”

“Can I still call you?”

I wanted to tell him, “No, don't ever call me again.” He was a mistake that should have never happened, but I already hurt him enough. I simply nodded and quietly mumbled, “Sure.”

He took my hand. He didn't seem to notice me jerking my head away as he attempted to kiss me.

“Goodnight, Naomi.”

I got out of the car and made the slow walk to the front door. I stood on the porch until his headlights disappeared.

I dropped the keys onto the hallway table. I passed through the hallway without so much as a glance into the antique mirror hanging on the wall. I could only imagine how I looked. All I wanted to do was take a long, hot shower and forget the night ever happened. I wanted to forget seeing DeShaun with
her
. I wanted to forget that first feeling of hurt that stung my heart and stopped my breath. Most of all, I wanted to forget Jeremy and the seventeen minutes he spent pounding into me like a sledgehammer.

“Where were you?”

I practically jumped out of my shoes when I looked up the steps and saw DeShaun standing at the top. “DeShaun? What are you doing here?”

“I finished early. Where were you?”

I slowly made my way to the top of the steps, thankful he hadn't turned on the lights. “I went out with friends.”

“You didn't tell me you were going out tonight.”

That makes us even,
I thought. There were plenty of things he neglected to tell me as well.

I made a beeline straight for the shower. He stood in the bedroom doorway, his eyes watching my back. I softly shut and locked the bathroom door. When I turned on the shower, I heard a soft tap on the other side of the door. “I need to tell you something, Mimi.”

I ignored him and jumped into the shower, scrubbing every part of my body from head to toe, paying special attention to the inside of my leg, which was sticky from Jeremy. I spent thirty-minutes in the shower, hoping DeShaun was asleep by the time I finished.

He wasn't.

When I turned off the shower, he knocked on the door again.

“Are you finished? I need to talk to you.”

I came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. I sat on the edge of the bed, whipped off the towel and gently patted the wet spots dry.

He waited for me to finish before he said, “Things between us haven't been the same lately.”

I walked past him and grabbed a pair of panties from my top drawer. I opened the second drawer, pulled out a white T-shirt and pulled it over my head. “I suppose you think I'm to blame for that?”

“No, of course you aren't to blame.”

“How was your party tonight?”

“Fine, I guess.”

“You work hard?”

“Sure.”

“Liar!” I blurted out. “You're looking straight in my face and lying.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Stop it, DeShaun. This morning, you looked me in the eye and told me you were working a party tonight. You were working it all right. You worked it big time in your designer suit with
her!”

He was speechless, but I didn't need his words, which were probably more lies. His eyes said it all.

“This is what it has come to?” I said. “You can look me in the face and lie.”

“How did you—”

“Does it matter?”

“I am so sorry, baby.” He went to grab my arm but I pulled away. “I only told you I was working the party because you wouldn't understand.”

“And the business?” I asked. “You're continuing the business, aren't you?”

“It's going to work, I promise.”

“You told me you were going to look for a job and forget this service business thing.”

“I know, but it's really going well.” He pulled out several business cards from his pocket. “See? These are clients. Rich clients who will pay top dollar for quality service. I don't need to work for someone. I can do this myself. I need you to trust me, Mimi. I cannot do this without you.”

“You've been doing a great job without me so far.”

“It's not like that.”

“And what about her?” I asked. “How long have you been sleeping with her?”

“Jenn?”

“Is there more than one rich bitch you're sleeping with?”

“I never slept with her. We've been hanging out, that's all. She introduced me to some high profile clients, but that's it.”

“I saw you, DeShaun. You both looked so comfortable together.”

“How did you—”

“I'm still trying to figure out when exactly this whole thing crossed over into the bedroom.”

“I told you, I didn't sleep with her. I swear it.”

I looked at him and shook my head. “Remember the last time you swore to me? In my eyes, that no longer holds too much weight.”

“That was a mistake,” he said. “It was at the bachelor party. It was only one night and I told you what happened.”

“Yes, you told me that
after
you swore you never slept with that stripper.”

“You've never gotten over that. You told the marriage counselor that you forgave me for that. So, you lied?”

“I did forgive you. What I didn't do was forget. You're not the same person anymore, DeShaun.”

He looked at me with a blank stare. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“You lied about taking the wine. You could be lying about this.”

“I told you what happened with the wine!”

“Sure you did,
after
you got fired for it.”

“I did it for you,” he said. “You are the one who loves all this fancy shit.”

“Are you blaming
me?”

“I'm just saying, you liked the wine and I got it for you.”

“I can't believe this shit. You're telling me you stole the wine for me?“

“I DIDN'T STEAL THE WINE!”

“Fine!” I screamed. “If you didn't
borrow
the wine—for me—you would have never gotten fired and we wouldn't been in this position in the first place. Is that what you're telling me?”

“Maybe we wouldn't have. And maybe if you didn't insist that I go against my morals and take another human being for all she's worth, then maybe I wouldn't have caught some feelings for her.”

My heart sank. My legs gave from under me. I had to sit down on the bed. “You're in love with her?”

“No.” He shook his head. “I mean, it's not like that. I just don't want to see her hurt in all of this.”

“What about me? Don't I matter anymore?”

“Of course you matter, Mimi. It's just that—”

There was no possible way for him to finish that sentence without it feeling as if a knife had stabbed me in the gut. A single tear stung the corner of my eye. “It doesn't even matter anymore, DeShaun.”

“What do you mean?”

I was close to admitting what happened between Jeremy and me. I opened my mouth to tell him, but DeShaun spoke first.

“I swear to you, I'll stop seeing her,” he said. “You're the one I want to be with. Give me another chance and I will make it up to you. If you want me to get a real job, then that's what I'll do. I'm not giving up on you, Mimi. I'm not giving up on us.”

I couldn't even look him in the eye when I said, “You might feel differently when you hear what I have to say.”

D
eShaun twirled Mrs. Jordan around, then he dipped her. Her peach ball gown flowed with her every move.

“You are my favorite server; you know how to dance,” the older woman said.

DeShaun was well into his third drink and although the party had ended hours ago, he stayed behind to help clean. The only people left were Mr. and Mrs. Jordan, a banker named Neil Garret and The Countess and her latest boy toy, José. The D.J. had long since gone, so the remaining few were relaxing in the living room, listening to jazz on Internet radio.

“Have some more wine,” Mrs. Jordan said, handing a glass to DeShaun and one to M.J. “You've worked hard, you deserve it.”

M.J. took the glass but DeShaun declined. He wanted to get paid for the evening so he could get out of there and go home to bed. It was already past one in the morning and Naomi would be waiting up. She waited up for him every night, even though she pretended not to. When he pulled up the driveway after work, he'd see the flickering light from the television quickly go out.