AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Adrienne took a cab to work because she didn’t want to risk any possible ruin to her outfit.
She went straight to her office and double-checked everything. The media were expected to arrive at 10:00 A.M. Adrienne crossed her fingers and prayed hard.
By ten-thirty, all the senior executives were gathered in the boardroom, which overlooked the Avenue of the Americas. The food was attractively displayed on the twelve-foot mahogany conference table. The journalists were all helping themselves to breakfast and networking. John Elliott, Lloyd Cooper, and Mallory Guest each greeted the media representatives.
Adrienne stood in a corner of the room admiring Mallory’s conversational skills, flawless appearance, and polished demeanor as she worked the room. By next year this time, I’ll be just as sophisticated as she is, Adrienne thought.
John Elliott was the first to speak.
“I want to welcome all of you to Parton, Webster and Elliott. Thanks for coming out this morning.” He droned on for about fifteen minutes, and then Lloyd took over.
Lloyd was ablaze with enthusiasm as he passionately promoted his cause.
/>
The press conference ended a half hour later, and soon only Adrienne, Lloyd, Mallory, and John Elliott were left in the gigantic room.
“Brilliant!” exclaimed John. He gave Lloyd a firm handshake. Lloyd accepted the compliment from his boss without any false modesty. His head was held high and his chest puffed out.
As the two men began to talk privately, Mallory walked over to Adrienne. She looked tired. “Thank you so much, Adrienne; everything was wonderful.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
It was a Saturday afternoon, and Mel was in Debra’s apartment all by himself. Debra and Big Boy had gone to Atlantic City, and his sister needed someone to wait for a package from UPS.
Mel had to go to a dinner party at Dan’s house in three hours to celebrate Adrienne’s promotion and to meet Lloyd. He wasn’t happy about it at all.
Why should he want to be in the same room with a man who had slept with his wife? The only reason he was going to this dinner was because Adrienne had insisted.
Adrienne’s job was all she thought about these days. She was reading a lot of books that had the word marketing in the title, and she worked late almost every night. That meant what he wanted or needed didn’t mean shit. It also meant he should be able to do as he pleased.
Little Jimmy was on the corner. Mel hesitated slightly as he approached the boy. He had sworn off drugs when he and Adrienne had reunited five months ago. Was this a one-time backslide? Could he handle getting high just today and not do it again tomorrow? He shrugged off the warning thoughts. It will serve Adrienne right if I overdose on drugs. She doesn’t care about me anymore. All she does is talk about Lloyd Cooper and her promotion.
“How much?” asked Little Jimmy.
“Half a gram.”
Back at Debra’s house, he sat down at the kitchen table with a fifth of Bacardi, a liter of Pepsi-Cola, and the cocaine. He took a couple of snorts. The phone started ringing, but Mel wasn’t about to quit. He took two more snorts. He was floating somewhere between Pluto and Uranus. Just as he finished and took a sip of rum straight from the bottle, the phone rang again. This time he answered. It was Adrienne.
“Mel, could you bring a pound of jumbo shrimp when you come? The fish market down here was out of them.”
“Sure.”
“Are you all right?”
“Un-huh.”
“You sound funny.”
“Un-huh. Shrimp. Sure.” He hung up.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“I would never have recognized you on the street,” Lloyd shouted as he clasped Dan in a bear hug. “My, how you’ve grown.” He and Dan stood in the doorway grinning at each other as Adrienne and Charlene hovered nearby. Dan motioned for Charlene to come forward.
“This is my wife, Charlene,” he said.
Lloyd gallantly kissed Charlene’s hand. “What a beautiful woman. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for inviting me to dinner.”
