second. On the way to the master suite, she passed three guest bedrooms, one of four bathrooms on that level, as well as her office. When she arrived, she went into her walk-in closet and scanned all of her clothing, some of which she’d had for a while and some she still hadn’t even removed price tags from and had a chance to wear yet. Then there were the multiple rows of dress shoes, casual shoes, and athletic shoes.
Alicia loved her life and wouldn’t have traded it for anything. She loved her husband and the lifestyle he was able to give her. She loved everything about him and was planning to be the best wife she knew how to be. She honestly couldn’t have been more satisfied than she was right now, but suddenly, Phillip crossed her mind. Her ex-husband and her first real love. She couldn’t believe it had been a whole year since she’d last seen or heard from him, but no matter how much time passed by, she still felt a little sad about the way things had turned out between them.
She still remembered the first day they’d met and how in love they’d been with each other from the very beginning. But she also remembered how horribly they’d gotten along with each other. Their marriage had been a total disaster and she couldn’t deny all the pain and trouble she’d caused Phillip, and she hoped he was doing okay. She prayed that life was good for him now and that he’d found the perfect mate, the same as she had.
Alicia went into her office and sat in front of her computer. But when she signed on to AOL, she saw a headline about prisons, and for whatever reason, she quickly thought about Levi and the feelings she’d once had for him. She’d known it was wrong for any married woman to have feelings for another man, but she hadn’t been able to help herself. He was so smooth, and he looked so good. She’d been drawn to him as a teenager but even more so when she’d become an adult, and, drug dealer or not, there had been something very special and compassionate about him. Levi knew, wholeheartedly, how to satisfy a woman, how to treat her with respect, and whenever Alicia had been with him, she’d always felt this noticeable sense of security. When they were together, she’d felt loved and protected in a way she couldn’t explain to anyone. But that still hadn’t changed reality: Their relationship just wasn’t meant to be.
Alicia still remembered the day Levi was preparing to drive her back to the public parking lot where she always left her car whenever she wanted to spend time with him at his home, and how multiple policemen had stopped them from exiting the driveway. Levi had turned off the ignition and then demanded that she toss out of her purse the five thousand dollars he’d given her to pay off some of her bills, so she wouldn’t be charged with possession of drug money. She remembered how she hadn’t wanted to give any of the money up because she’d needed it so badly, but once they’d been arrested and she was quickly released on bond, she’d been glad she’d done what Levi had told her.
After reading a few articles online, Alicia flipped through some of her manuscript pages and got excited about the idea of being a published author. She only had maybe another two days’ worth of revisions to work on, and then she’d be resubmitting it to her dad’s agent. Joan loved the idea that Alicia’s novel was centered on two young people who meet, fall hopelessly in love, and then get married barely six months later. She’d said she liked the fact that the characters were an example of so many young married couples in America who never truly got to know each other as well as they should before agreeing to make a lifelong commitment and then ended up miserable, hating each other, and ultimately in divorce court. Alicia, of course, had loosely based part of the story on her marriage to Phillip, but at the same time she’d used much of her very vivid imagination to tell the majority of it.
Writing felt so natural to Alicia, and she was glad she was in a position to work on her novel full-time. Creating characters and story lines were the two things she enjoyed doing and would have done them even if there was no chance of getting paid for it.
She read through a few more pages that she’d edited this morning and then her cell phone rang.
“Hi, Daddy,” she answered.
“So, how’s my baby girl doing today?”
“I’m good. How’s Charlotte? And Matthew and Curtina?”
“They’re fine. Curtina is giving a whole new meaning to the saying ‘terrible twos,’ but she’s doing well.”
“I haven’t seen her in forever, so I’ll have to drive over sometime next week. I haven’t seen Matthew since the wedding either, and I really miss him.”
“He misses you, too, and he was just saying yesterday how he was going to call you to see if he could come spend the weekend with you.”
“I would love that, and I’ll make sure to call him tonight when he’s home from school.”
There was a short pause and then Curtis said, “So, you’re really doing okay? Because you know I worry about you.”
“Yes, everything is wonderful, and I’m very happy.”
“I’m glad. So, what else is going on?”
“Okay, Daddy, wait. Can I just ask you something first?”
“Sure, honey, go ahead.”
“Why is it that you hardly ever ask how JT is doing?”
At first her father didn’t say anything but then he said, “So, how’s your husband, Alicia?” His tone was sarcastic, and Alicia didn’t like it.
“He’s fine, Daddy, and he’s taking very good care of me.”
There was another pause, and Alicia was losing her patience.
“Why can’t you just accept how much I love JT and how much he loves me back? Why can’t you just be happy for me?”
“What I accept is that you’re a grown woman who has the right to make her own decisions. But there’s no way I’m going to pretend I’m happy about you being married to JT Valentine. Alicia, the man has a long history of women, and word is that he messed around on his first wife the entire time they were married.”
“But, Daddy…so did you. You did the same thing to Mom.”
Curtis didn’t say anything, and Alicia immediately regretted what she’d said.
“Daddy, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be disrespectful and you know I love you, but at the same time, I want you to see that JT is no different than you. He may have done things he’s not proud of, but he’s a totally changed man just like you are.”
“Have you ever asked him about the affairs he supposedly had?”
“Yes. And he admitted that he wasn’t perfect when he was married to his wife, but also that he only went out on her one time with one woman.”
“Hmmph.”
“So, what are you saying? That you don’t believe him?”
“To be honest with you, I don’t. And I’ll tell you why. It’s because of what you just said: He’s no different than me. At least he’s no different than the old me, anyway, and I can see straight through him. I’m telling you, he’s no good, baby girl, and I regret the day I ever invited you to come with us to visit his church. I’ll regret it from now on.”
Alicia was livid. “Daddy, I have to go. And just for the record, I’m not your baby girl anymore, so please stop calling me that. It’s one thing for you to call me that because the words are endearing, but it’s another when you do it because you think I’m still some child living in your house and one you need to watch over.”
“Alicia, you’re taking all of this the wrong way, and I just wish you’d listen to me.”
“I
“Fine. But I’m still your father, I love you, and I’ll be here when you need me.”
“I’ll talk to you later, Daddy,” Alicia said, and then pressed the off button and tossed the phone onto her desk. She couldn’t remember when she’d ever been angrier.
Chapter 6
Hi, Mom, can you talk?” Alicia said when her mother answered her phone. Tanya was the director at an abused women’s facility not far from New Life Christian Center and sometimes had little time for personal phone calls.
“Actually, I’m eating lunch so this is fine. How are you?”
“Terrible.”
“Why, what’s wrong?”
“It’s Daddy. He just made me so mad, Mom.”
“About what?”
“JT and the fact that he doesn’t like him.”
“Look, sweetheart, I totally understand your frustration, but you also have to realize that your father loves his children more than anything and he’s only trying to look out for your best interest. He’s only acting this way because he doesn’t want to see you get hurt.”
“Well, I don’t care what his reasons are because what I want is for him to stop being so ridiculously overprotective of me, and I want him to accept JT the same as he accepted Phillip.”
“He’ll eventually come around. It may take him a while, but he will.”
“Maybe, but Daddy has a lot of nerve judging JT when he did all sorts of crazy stuff when I was a child. He messed around on you all the time.”
Her mother didn’t say anything, and Alicia knew she’d hurt her feelings. She’d spoken too much too soon and without thinking, and the only thing she could do now was change the conversation.
“So, how’s Dad James?”
“He’s good. Just getting ready for golf season. Actually, he and some of his buddies have already been out to the course a few times.”
“I know how much he loves that.”
“So, how’s the revising process coming along?”
“Very well. I’m almost finished, and I really hope Dad’s agent is happy with the rewrites I’ve incorporated.”
“I’m sure she’ll be fine with them. Do you want me to read it one last time?”
“Will you, Mom? You’ve read it twice already, so I didn’t want to ask you again.”
“Please. What are mothers for?”
“I really appreciate it, and I’ll print out a copy and overnight it to you tomorrow.”
“Sounds good. And you should probably let your father read it again as well.”
“I don’t think so.”
