Forever Love (Arabesque) (8 page)

“I’m an attorney. I don’t imply. I state facts,”
Keith said.

“Then your facts are wrong and you need to—”

“So this is where you got to. Good afternoon.”

Gia stopped speaking instantly, noticing Blake Washington in close distance. “Mr. Mayor, good afternoon.”

“How are you? Thank you for coming today. We appreciate you taking the time for this conference.”

“It’s my pleasure. My name is Gia Duncan,”
she said.

“Of course, Gia, it’s good to finally meet you. I’ve heard some good things about you.”

“Oh,” she said, looking at Keith.

“How’s your grandmother doing?”

“She’s doing much better. Thank you for asking.”

“Marian and I were truly saddened to hear that she was still in the nursing home. Please convey our most sincere wishes for her full recovery.”

“Yes, I will. Thank you.”

“Now, I see you two are in bit of a heated discussion, so I’ll leave you to enjoy your conversation,” Blake said as he reached out his hand to shake.

Gia took his hand and was immediately drawn in for a warm hug. She went willingly, instantly feeling the warmth and friendship of Blake’s words. “Thank you, sir, it was good meeting you.”

Blake nodded to Keith, then walked off and was quickly engulfed by a number of local business leaders. She turned back to Keith. “He seems like a really nice guy.”

“He is, but what did you expect, open hostility?”

“No, I get enough of that from you,” she said jokingly. He smiled. “I guess we have got to stop doing that,” she said. “I’m sorry about that, this is not the time or the place. Truce?”

He nodded. “I’m sorry, too. Agreed, truce.”

“I guess we’re just direct opposites, like fire and ice.”

“You know what they say, opposites attract,”
he said.

“True, but I think we’re more like magnetic forces repelling as soon as we get too close.”

“We both know that’s not true, don’t we?”

She blushed instantly. “Keith, about what happened...”

“Nothing happened. You were in need of comfort, and I was there. That’s all,” he reminded her, then realized he’d been standing too close and the people around them were beginning to notice. “We’d better get back inside,” he said.

“Yeah, you go in first. It’ll look less questionable.”

He nodded and took a step, then turned back to her. “We’ll talk later. It was good seeing you again,” he said.

But later never came.

Chapter 8

T
hursday morning, Gia woke up much later than she’d expected. She was surprised that she’d been sleeping so well, since for weeks she hadn’t been sleeping much at all. Her nights were usually fitful and restless. Most nights she just stayed awake and stared out into the night or worked until daybreak, making herself cranky and edgy the next day. But the last few nights were different. She woke up feeling refreshed and energized and charged into her day full-force.

She exercised, showered, dressed and then decided to work from home for a few hours before visiting her grandmother and then going into the office. She called in to let Bonnie know that she’d be out the entire morning. Then she grabbed a cup of tea and sat down at her desk and began to outline a workable agenda and some basic initiatives for her first meeting with the mayor.

Although she hadn’t heard anything from Keith and the mayor’s assistant hadn’t called to set up an appointment, she trusted that he was a man of his word. They had a truce and she intended to honor it.

Of course, thinking about a meeting with the mayor immediately made her think about seeing Keith. And that reminded her of the dreams she’d been having recently. She didn’t exactly remember them in detail, but she knew they were on the amorous side and had everything to do with him. She wondered what Freud would say. Probably that she was subconsciously living out some erotic fantasy and that he simply represented a much-needed physical release.

Curiously, in the guise of doing more research, she looked Keith up online again. She read through a few screens and then clicked to the images profile at the top of the page. Dozens of photos appeared. She enlarged one for a better look. The notation at the bottom stated that he was attending a political event with his family. It was a candid shot with him and his brothers. They were all handsome and smiling.

Then the next photo was at the same event, but this time he was standing with a woman. She was looking up at him as if he ruled the universe. The awestruck admiration in her eyes was amazing. She was completely mesmerized by him. Granted, he was gorgeous and he looked incredibly attractive in his tailor-made tuxedo, but that was all surface appearance.

He didn’t fool her and she had no intention of playing his game and falling for his charismatic charm. Her work for OCC was too important, and too many people depended on her. Besides, she’d been through that before. Men with money and power were like little boys with toys. The more they had, the more they wanted and they didn’t care how they got them or who they hurt to get them.

She thought about the conversations she’d had with him—at the community center, in her office, at the hospital and then at the conference. They were heated and passionate, but most of all they were troubling. It was obvious they didn’t completely agree on politics, and the fiery passion proved it. But it was clear that they had an ongoing connection that was getting more and more difficult to ignore.

She wasn’t sure what this thing going on between them was, but she was sure it was escalating. There was a spark in his eyes that she connected to. Admittedly, she liked their sparring and enjoyed their times together even when they disagreed. But it was the spark that got her. She clicked back at the photo of the woman staring up at him. There was no way she was going to be one of them—blindly staring and hoping in vain.

She’d known women like that. In college they were only there to meet a husband, preferably someone rich or with enough prospects to be wealthy. In law school they were there to meet lawyers, judges and men with power. In most cases their current marital status didn’t really matter. And the men loved it. They were exactly the same—money and power. Her family’s money was a major draw. Over the years, plenty of men had tried to use her. Now she was perpetually leery. Trust was almost impossible.

So of course she didn’t trust Keith or his motives. He wasn’t exactly the enemy or in need of money, but he was someone who might use any relationship to his advantage. She thought about the last time they’d talked. His deep masculine voice had sent a shiver through her body, and even now her stomach fluttered. He had gotten to her and she let him. “Focus,” she muttered, chastising herself sternly. “Stay focused.” She closed the screen and went back to writing.

For the next hour and a half she researched and came up with what she thought and hoped would convince the mayor to focus his attention on unemployment. She also suggested ideas to encourage the mayor to take a more proactive role in developing a full comprehensive jobs program focusing on lower-income families. She knew it was imperative to have everything on point and in order. The last thing she wanted to do was blow this opportunity and appear to be unprepared and wasting the mayor’s time. There were a lot of people depending on her, and hopefully this was only the beginning.

After she finished, she read everything over and was pleased that her writing was more focused and definitely a lot clearer. Satisfied with what she produced, she sent out inner-office copies to Bill and Bonnie to get feedback. As soon as she pressed the send button, her cell phone rang. It was the office. She answered, “Hello.”

“Hey, Gia, it’s Bonnie. Are you coming in any time soon?”

Gia looked at the time on the cell phone. It was much later than she thought. “Yes, I’m gonna stop by to see my grandmother first and then I’ll be in. Is everything okay there?”

“Yeah, it’s all good here, at least for the moment. It’s just really busy all of a sudden, that’s all. No one’s here except me and Linda. And the calls haven’t stopped coming in. We’ve been on the phones all morning, plus I’m working on something for Bill. He wants me to reword the press release so we can use it when the media call for information. Linda’s already put together sixteen information packages to send out. Also, I updated our website and answered online questions and checked our Facebook account. We got over fifty new friend requests overnight. I think we hit a nerve at the town hall.”

Gia smiled happily. “That’s great. It looks like our message is really starting to get out there. Make sure to stay on top of the social networks and keep them up to date on what we’re doing.”

“I will, definitely,” Bonnie said.

“Anything else happening this morning?” she asked.

“Danny didn’t come in. He called and said that he had to work on his blog. I think he’s still upset. He really wanted to go to the mayor’s press conference today and—”

“That’s not gonna happen,” she interrupted.

“I know, but then when Keith Washington showed up here Monday night, he was really pissed.”

“I know, but going today is out of the question. We’ve lost the element of surprise and of course, the mayor’s staff is ready for anything now. In addition, if the mayor is willing to meet with us and talk, we should at least give him a chance.”

“I know, but Danny doesn’t see it that way. Have you read his blog lately? He’s really angry. He’s been unemployed and living in a cheap hotel room for close to two years, plus his wife left him and took the kids. He has nothing to lose. He blames the rich politicians and specifically the mayor.”

“No, he needs to take responsibility. He chose to quit his job as a marketing manager to stay at home and start a blog. His wife was already unemployed. With five kids, what did he expect they’d live on?”

“He sees Blake Washington and his family as having everything and him having nothing. He plays the lottery and gambles constantly trying to get money. Bottom line, he wants to be rich and get his family back. He thinks it’s all about the money.”

“I can’t make him rich. And if his family left him because he didn’t have money, then he had bigger problems to begin with. There’s nothing we can do. He’s already on the OCC part-time payroll.”

“I know. It’s just sad. People think money will solve all their problems. But it doesn’t. It only gives you more problems.”

“Yeah, I know,” Gia agreed. There was a second’s pause as both women thought about their lives. Both came from money, but whereas Bonnie embraced her wealth, Gia rejected hers. “Any other phone calls besides the people wanting information?” she asked, hoping Keith might have called with an appoint-
ment date.

“Oh, yeah, you had a few calls from the media this morning. We had reporters from newspaper, radio and television call. Most of them were interested in an OCC sound bite. I told them to call back. They all want to set up an interview to talk to you.”

“Good,” she said, nodding. It was just as she’d suspected. The news media were as predictable as taxes in April. They smelled a story and wanted more. “I was hoping the town hall meeting would generate renewed interest. But okay, I’ll be in in a couple of hours. Is Bill still there?”

“No, not right now, he was earlier. He said he had a few things to take care of and that he’d be back later this afternoon. I know he’s got a meeting this afternoon.”

“I’m on my way to the nursing home now. I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”

“See you later.”

Gia hung up and quickly gathered her things. Ten minutes later she was headed to the garage and getting into her car. She drove to Crestar Medical Center, circling around to the rehab center in back, and found a place to park right up front. The Crestar Nursing and Rehab Center was a private facility that was reputed as the best live-in rehab center on the East Coast.

It was early so there weren’t a lot of visitors yet. She signed in at the front desk and continued upstairs to her grandmother’s room. She knocked, then getting no answer, walked in. “Hello, Grandmom,” she said as she paused, looking around. The sitting room was empty. “Grandmom,” she called out again as she walked to the bedroom and saw the bed made and everything in place. She went back to the sitting room, then, seeing the balcony doors open, walked over. She peeked out to see her grandmother sitting in a chair with the
Philadelphia Inquirer
newspaper on her lap and her cell phone at her ear. She smiled and waved her granddaughter to join her. Gia stepped out on the balcony as her grandmother ended her conversation, giving the address of the nursing center and joyfully promising to see someone very soon.

“Well, good morning, Gia,” Julia Banks said.

“Hey, look at you, already up and on the phone. Good morning,” she said as she leaned down and kissed her grandmother’s cheek lovingly.

“Sorry about that. It was Louise Gates. She’s coming into town today for a visit.”

“That’s great. When’s she getting in?”

“She doesn’t know yet, she’s in Alexandria with her great-grandchildren. She’ll call when her train arrives in Philly.”

“Okay, let me know if she needs a ride.”

“I will.”

“Wow, you look fantastic,” Gia said happily. “How do you feel today? How’s your wrist?”

Julia nodded slowly. “I feel stiff, very sore and a whole lot silly. I can’t believe I was so clumsy and fell down like that.”

Gia understood her grandmother’s words perfectly. The therapy was working. Her speech was still slightly slurred and her tongue was still crooked, but she was so much better than she had been weeks earlier. “The doctor said it’s to be expected at times. You still don’t have your full strength back yet. That stroke took a lot out of you this time. But she’s encouraged that you’ll be back to your old self in no time.”

“I’m feeling better and stronger every day.”

“That’s good to hear. Are you in any pain right now?”

Julia smiled. “No, thank God.”

“Good.” Gia sat down next to her grandmother and touched her wrist gingerly. “This doesn’t look too bad. At least you didn’t break anything.”

“Okay now, enough about me. Let’s talk about what’s going on with you. I was told you’ve stopped by here every night since I fell on Monday.”

Gia nodded. “Yes, it’s usually late and you’re asleep when I get here, so I don’t stay long.”

“Stay long? You shouldn’t be here at all. Is this what you’re doing these days, hanging around a nursing home all night long? I’m sure there’s something else you could be doing.”

“I’m fine. I work late and came over afterward.”

“Gia, working is fine. Having a career is wonderful and fulfilling, but having a life outside of that is necessary. Don’t be like me. You’re young, you’re intelligent and you’re so beautiful. You need a life. And more importantly, you need a man in your life.”

Gia groaned loudly. “Grandmom, do we really have to get into all of that again? I told you a hundred times, I’m fine. I don’t need a man and more drama in my life right now. Yes, maybe one day I’ll find Mr. Right, but not now. No thanks.”

“What you need is a man who’s strong, secure and not afraid of being himself. I know he’s out there, but if the only places you ever go are to the office, your condo or this rehab center, you’re never going to find him. Now, there’s this very attractive doctor here who—”

“No, Grandmom, please, no matchmaker, no fix-up and no blind dates,” Gia said quickly, knowing exactly where this conversation was leading since this wasn’t the first time her grandmother tried something like this.

“I’m just saying, a good man isn’t gonna just walk up to you and say hello. You have to look for him. The alternative, of course, are the thousands of so-called men walking around here who don’t have a clue what it’s like to be a real man. They’re afraid of everything and the only way they face their fears is to push the bravado button. Then you get married and all of a sudden everything changes. The man you married is someone else, and the fairy-tale life you thought you were gonna have is anything but.”

“I’m not looking for the fairy tale.”

“Just don’t be like me. Don’t give up on love. He’s out there somewhere looking for you, too.”

It was as if her grandmother hadn’t heard a word she’d said about not being interested in love right now. She just kept on talking about marriage, husbands and how to avoid the bad ones. Gia stopped listening as always. She’d heard this speech a hundred times before. It was the same over and over again—don’t be like me. Gia shook her head. What was wrong with being like her grandmother? She was strong, independent, intelligent and well respected. Being married could never give her what she already had.