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CHAPTER NINE
When Mel woke up the next morning, Adrienne was dressed for work. She was wearing a red two-piece suit and stepping into a pair of black heels. There was a chunky black piece of jewelry around her neck. She looked good. He sniffed the air. Her perfume smelled good, too. Her back was facing him as she leaned on the dresser to check her makeup. Their eyes met in the mirror.
She whirled around to face him. “So, you mind telling me what yesterday was all about? Your eye is as big as a basketball, your left jaw is puffed up, and we don’t have a TV set.”
Mel’s head felt like it was stuffed with cotton; his stomach was burning and hollow. “I got mugged,” he mumbled. He couldn’t believe it when Adrienne moved briskly to his side of the bed and leaned over. Her face was inches from his. “I don’t believe you. Anyway, what were you doing at Debra’s house in the first place when you were supposed to be out shopping?”
Had the girl lost her mind, getting all up in his face like that? No matter what he had done, he was still the goddamn man. “Back up, Adrienne,” he said tightly. She moved backward a little, but there was still fire in her eyes. Mel couldn’t blame her for that, but he couldn’t tell Adrienne how he really got hurt. What would he say? I was just trying to buy a little cocaine and got beat down in the process? Instead, he tried to remember the ride home. He couldn’t get past the two women shoving his limp body into the cab. How had Adrienne managed to get him upstairs and into bed? “We don’t have time to talk about all that. You’ll be late for work. The TV set will be here when you get home.”
“Not so fast, Mel. Do you know what you’ve done?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “When we got home, I was trying to get you out of the cab, and the driver was cursing a blue streak because you wouldn’t move. Luckily, that cop who lives on the first floor came along. He dragged you out of the cab and carried you into the apartment. It was so embarrassing.”
“Aw, damn, Adrienne. I’m sorry.”
Adrienne looked at her wristwatch and grabbed her purse. “This is really serious, Mel. I’m getting tired of all this damn drinking. You better get it together.” She left the apartment, slamming the door behind her.
Damn! The cop had carried him upstairs! Now Winsome would be watching his every move. Why couldn’t Adrienne see that he just didn’t have the energy to live respectably anymore?
Mel groaned and stared at the ceiling.
CHAPTER TEN
Pedestrians pushed and shoved a depressed Adrienne out of their way as she shuffled through the streets on her way to work. As usual, the briefcase that contained her lunch and a newspaper bumped against her leg, but she didn’t bother to tuck it under her arm. What difference did it make if her pantyhose got ripped or not?
She ran into Sherry in the lobby.
“Talk about stormy Monday,” Sherry observed. “You look like hell.”
“Thanks,” Adrienne said dully, removing her coat.
“That red suit is smashing, though!” Sherry smiled.
The elevator door opened with a ping and the two women pushed their way in along with half a dozen other people.
“My sister is flying in tonight from Los Angeles on business. It’ll be great to see her even if it is just for two days,” Sherry said.
The elevator door opened on the twenty-ninth floor, and the two women got out.
“What kind of work does she do?” Adrienne asked politely. She was furious with Mel, distrusted Sherry, and was in no mood for this casual office chitchat.
Sherry smiled broadly. “She’s a fashion designer. If the phone rings and a woman asks for Sherry Green, it’s for me. I don’t want my sister to know that I still use Ingles as a last name.”
Adrienne nodded without interest, and the two women entered unit 6 to start the day’s work. At eleven, Adrienne’s phone rang. It was her boss, Regina Belvedere.
“Adrienne, I need to see you right away.” Regina’s tone was crisp, and Adrienne dashed into her supervisor’s office.
Regina Belvedere’s slim, manicured hands were folded on the desk. Her eyebrows were knitted into a frown, and her eyes were cold. “I see you’ve gone out of your way to impress our new president.”
“What?” Adrienne gasped.
“Sit down, Adrienne.” It was an order. Adrienne sat. Regina leaned back in her chair, and her eyes turned to slits. “Sherry says that you two know each other from somewhere else and that you actually paid him a visit. Is that true?”
That heffah would say something, Adrienne thought, then told Regina about Lloyd’s strange reaction at the staff meeting and their odd encounter in his office. “I’ve heard his voice somewhere before,” she finished lamely.
Regina tapped a pencil against her cheek for several seconds before she spoke. “I believe you. Go back to your work, and I’ll let you know if I hear anything else about the matter.”
Adrienne was almost out the door when Regina spoke once more. “Think hard about where the two of you might have crossed paths before, and don’t forget to tell me as soon as you remember. Okay?”
Adrienne nodded as she fled from the room, wondering why Lloyd Cooper’s actions were so important to Regina. Gossip was rampant at Parton, Webster & Elliott, and as usual, Sherry Ingles was the ringleader. Sometimes it got so bad that the atmosphere felt more like a high school than a corporation. It was the one thing Adrienne hated about the firm.
