Risking It All (6 page)

“Alright, if you insist. Well, see you guys tomorrow,” Richard said.

Everyone said their goodbyes and some mentioned they would be headed out as well. Julissa threw up her hand as goodbye to Shanice, who was waving at
her. But what she could not resist was
taking another glance
at Quinton. The look they shared was short, but it was like they had their own secret code through eye
contact and they barely even kne
w each other.

Julissa was content
with leaving tonight, only because she knew
that she would see him at least one more time at the wedding.

**

“See, my friends aren’t so bad, are they?” Julissa and Michael were in the car on the way home.

Michael shrugged his shoulders. “Your friends were
fine.”

“Dinner was pretty good, too. That’s a nice restaurant. We should go there sometimes.”

“Dinner was fine. I guess you can expect a new client with…Quinton requesting your help and all.”

Though the prospect of gaining a new client should have been reason for celebration,
Mi
chael
didn’t seem to
o elated
.

“Yeah, I guess.” Jul
issa pretended to be interested
in straightening her skirt.

“I didn’t like him very much, though. Just something about him…”

She glanced at
Michael’s grim facial expression. “Well, at least if he works with me that’s money in our bank accounts, right? All money has the same value, even though it may come from clients we don’t actually like. And you should
know that all too well, right?”

“Right.” It didn
’t sound like he really meant that one
.

“J.H.C.! My damn feet hu
rt!” That was Shanice bitching.

The other girls agreed as they rushed back to the changing room to freshen up after one hour of straight picture taking. Julissa had to admit that she was exh
austed as well. She’
d been on her feet since six this morning.

“Christina looked so beautiful. I can’t believe her aunt-in-law made that dress. That was just lovely!” One of the bridesmaids recalled.

“I know. It looked like a straight designer gown. The bodice comes off for th
e reception, too,” Shanice said
.

Another bridesmaid sighed. “I can’t wait for my day to get here. It
’s going to be just as lovely!”

“Waiting for that question, huh? Put out
some hints.
It’ll come sooner or later,” Myra said, massaging her feet.

“I think Julissa’s gonna be next. When are you
two going to make it official
? We know that Michael’s not gonna let you go anywhere,”
Shanice inquired
, dusting more face powder across her cheeks.

“Do you know something I don’t?” Julissa asked. “Michael’s taking it one day at a time. He’s busy with work and the expansion and all that.”

“Yeah, yeah,
yeah. Don’t let him make that
an excuse. Start throwi
ng hints at his bourgeois ass
. Nobody’s gonna be waitin
’
for him to pop the question all his life. Right? You don’t need to give him another three years without any head way, do you?” Myra asked.

“To te
ll you the truth, I don’t. But
I’m not trying to run him off, either,” Julissa replied, reapplying more lip gloss to her lips.

Shanice snapped her finger.
“I hear that, girl. Don’t run that man off. He got money like h
e don’t know what to do with it.”

“It shouldn’t be the money. Besides, if the money is gone, what’s left?” Myra asked, placing her pumps back on her feet.

Shanice widened her eyes at Myra.
“Did you not just here what I said, Myra? There is no running out. His f
ucking parents and grandparents and great
fucking
great grandparents
are rich as hell to
o
. He comes from old money that goes on and on and on…”

Shanice was right. Michael wasn’t
wealthy because of what he did. H
e was born with a
silver spoon in his mouth. But that wasn’t why Julissa
was with Michael. Deep down inside, under the brick wall he put up in front of people, under the thick skin his father taught him to have, and despite the conceited behavior displayed at times, he was a good guy. No one had seen Michael like she had when she first met him. No one knew that Mich
ael was capable of being the perfect
man.

The knock at the door told them that it was time to get back down to the ballroom.

The
reception setup
was just as beautifu
l as the wedding ceremony decor
. The ambience, calm
and romantic. The lights were dimmed low, but the
glow
from the
chandelier
allowed for adequate viewing. The guests enjoyed appetizers and wine while the entire wedding party was introduced, then seated. Ever
yo
ne watched the first dance,
the
father/daugh
ter,
and
the
mother/son dance. For the purpose of pictures, the entire wedding party danced with the partners they were coupled with during the ce
remony.

Julissa
was
paired with Ed.
Again.

“You doing okay
? You looked a little worried after you came back from pictures.” Ed was moving in slow beat with the music, hands grasped just above her waist. There was still some room between them, of course. She was not about to upset Michael tonight, who was no doubt somewhere in the room observing the dance.

“I’m okay.”

“I don’t think so. I
s everything going well with you-know-
who?”

“Ed, what are you talking about?”

“You know how I feel about you, Julissa
,
and I’
m sorry that you don’t feel the same way with me. But
when I say that I want to see you happy, I really do.
Even if it means that it’s not with me.
”

“I am happy.”

“I can’t imagine that you would still be happy with that. I
mean, the guy is a straight ass
hole. Why can’t you see that?”

“Look, Ed. We’re not at this wedding to talk about my relationship which is none of your
damn
business.”

“Okay, alright. If there’s a problem with that guy, you know that you can come to me. I understand that you don’t go to Christ
ina and Shanice about that shit
, but you know I know…I’ve kept my promise to you all this time and I will always keep it.”

The promise. The secret that Julissa had asked Ed to keep for almost more than a year. Once Ed had jogged her memory, the image was almost like yesterday. The day she never thought that she could hate a man so much.

“G
uess what?”

“What?” Julissa mumbled, but she was only half listening.

“I met this girl, Amber. I think she and I can be really good together, you know. Like…she’s wifey material…”

As Ed went on and on about Amber, Julissa drifted off.

How could she have hated a man so much, but love him the next day? It happened almost a year ago. Julissa had attended one of Michael’s employee parties. Everything was going okay, perfect, until she was caught off guard when another man took a seat in the empty chair next to her. Michael had just gotten up to grab wine coolers from the bar.

Obviously, the man sitting beside her didn’t realize that Michael had just gotten up from the same seat. The red low cu
t dress that Julissa wore
that night encouraged his advances as he moved his chair closer to converse with her. The last thing that Julissa wanted to do was be rude to someone that Michael dealt with and mess things up for him, so she accepted the conversation. Besides, the guy was cute. From his buzz cut dark brown hair to the way the top two buttons of his dress shirt was unbuttoned revealing straight brown hair to match.

A piece of something must have fallen onto Julissa’s hair because the man reached up, commenting that
there was something on it
. After he p
ulled the piece of lint out
, his fing
ers lingered there
and he ran his hands through the length a few more times, commenting at how surprised
he was
that her hair was so soft.

All hell broke loose after that when Michael appeared before them slamming both wine coolers on the table. The guy got the point instantly, stood up, and ran
,
not walked,
in the other direction
.

Michael
had
grabbed her arm slowly
but firmly
and asked her to come with him. He blew up in a corner where he was sure no one could see him. He was outraged, hissing almost every name in the book at her for coming on to that guy. He gave her no chance to explain herself, not even to say that nothing happened. Scared to death at this reaction from him for the first time,
she tried to push him
. With great force,
he
pushed her back into the wall with the palm of his hand, almost knocking the breath out of her.

When she
’
d
opened her eyes again, that was
when she saw Ed standing be
hind them. Michael’s back had been turned
, so he
’d
had no idea that he was there.
The look in Ed’s
eyes revealed that he saw the whol
e thing.
Julissa
had silently pleaded
with Ed, shaking
her head
,
and
practically warning him not to interfere.
Ed
had
got
ten
the point and
had
stepped back. By the time Michael had
calmed down and turned around, Ed had retreated
.

“Are you listening?”

“What?” Julissa shook her head, blocking out the image.

“You weren’t listening…,” Ed mumbled, as if disappointed.

Julissa felt a hand on her waist and Quinton was standing beside them with his dance partner.

“Everyone has switched. Mind if I have this dance?” Quinton’s voice was polite, but eager.

“Sur
e,
”
Ed said, and they switched.

When Quinton wrapped both his arms in her waist, she could have sworn her heart had dropped to her stomach. It felt like a million butterflies w
ere having a party
down there. It felt so different from the way Ed touched her and strangely it felt different from the way Michael touched her. It felt…right. Julissa didn’t want to look awkward
and out of place with the rest of the dances,
so she moved her hands to
rest on
his back.

“Why won’t you look at me?” Quinton whispered, the words hitting the top of her head.

She lifted her chin and looked at him.

The moment their eyes met, he smiled. “You’re beautiful.”

She blushed, lowering her eyelids and her face. “Thank you.”

He reached between them and lifted her chin gently. “No…thank you for this dance. You know, I’m getting pretty lonely here in Atlanta. It would sure be nice if I can take you up on that offer to show me around the city.”

“Quinton…you know I
—
”

“And, please, call me Q.”

“Q.” Julissa let the letter roll of her lips. She
liked it. “Anyway, I think your
cousi
ns
would be better equipped to show you the city from a guy’s perspective.”

“I want to see it from Julissa’s perspective. Besides, I’ll only be here for another week and I need to get right down to business. How many properties can you show me in a week?”

Quinton seemed like he was serious about the getting down to business part and she liked that.

“As many as you want to see…”

“Well, you have yourself a client. Are you free on Monday morning?”

“Q, I can’t just…” When Julissa looked in his eyes again, she knew she couldn’t say no. She didn’t want to say no. “I
normally work late mornings and early afternoons
. That will be the best time for me.”