Rayna got up from the table, and Nicole felt a tinge of guilt when she looked into her eyes. They were brighter than Nicole had seen in a while when Rayna smiled and kissed her goodbye. “See you after school, Mommy.”
Nicole hugged her tight. Rayna left her arms and turned to her father. She threw herself into Davis’s embrace. After a couple of moments, Teena nudged her along and grabbed her hand. “C’mon, we don’t want to be late for school.” Rayna couldn’t drag her eyes away from DJ and her parents as she walked out of the door waving goodbye.
Nicole held her hands to her throat; she was full of emotion. “Rayna’s growing up.”
Davis seemed to have the same thought. He only hoped he would have the chance to see it up close and not behind the bars of a prison cell. It was if his thoughts conjured up the outside world. His cell rang. Davis pulled it out of his back pocket, glanced at the screen, then held it up to Nicole. “The lawyers. I’ll take it in my office.”
He walked out of the room, leaving Nicole alone with DJ. His chubby cheeks were all smiles. The innocence of children somehow made life seem easier even as her body’s cravings started to become more intense. Her headache was beginning to get worse, and her mouth was like a desert. Nicole went over to the refrigerator and grabbed a water. She downed half the contents in a few gulps, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and took a deep breath. You can do this. Nicole turned around and walked over to scoop her son up out of his chair. “How about we go upstairs and play with your cars for a while?”
*****
After their morning of playing together, Nicole gave DJ a bath and dressed him for the day. He didn’t look as if he were ready to wind down anytime soon and seemed to be having the time of his life sitting on the floor playing with his toys. It was perfect timing when Teena showed up because she had received a very important phone call.
She mouthed to Teena. “I’m going to take this in my room.”
She nodded.
Nicole sat down on the chaise lounge by her bed. “Hi, Aimee. I was just thinking about you and planned to call to check-in.”
She sounded very faux contrite. “First, let me say how sorry I am that you and Davis are going through this.”
“Thank you. It’s all lies, and we plan to fight these slanderous charges.”
“As you should. That brings me to the reason for my call. The board has some concerns about how all of this might reflect on the Angel Foundation. They’ve convened an emergency meeting this afternoon to discuss our plans and position regarding it.”
“Plans? Position? I don’t understand why the foundation wouldn’t just put out a statement of support.”
“It’s not that simple. We’ve been fielding calls from reporters for the past couple of days. We plan to release a statement after we meet today.”
Nicole couldn’t believe it. “Not that simple? I would think it was—Just. That. Simple!”
“It is not my decision alone to make, and that’s the reason for the emergency meeting this afternoon. I hope you understand and will be able to attend.”
“Let me get this straight. You’ve known Davis and me for years. Not only have we personally contributed millions, but I've also brought in millions more in donations to the organization. You’re the President of the Foundation. I would expect the Angel Foundation to stand by us.”
“Please don’t take this personal.”
Nicole yelled into the phone. “How the hell else am I supposed to take it?”
“Honestly, I do hope you bring that same fire and passion to the meeting. You’ll be able to make your case there. It’s at 1 p.m.”
“I will definitely be there.” Nicole hung up without listening to Aimee’s reply.
Davis was standing in the doorway listening. “What’s going on?”
“It seems the Angel Foundation has some concerns about our situation, and how it will affect them. If I weren’t afraid I would end up on The Wendell Williams show or TNZ, I would go up there and give everyone a piece of my mind.”
Davis responded. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry? For what?”
“For all of this.”
“You can’t keep taking ownership of things that are not your fault.” Nicole kissed Davis softly on the lips. “I’ve got to go get ready.” She hopped off the bed and grabbed her purse off the dresser as she went into the bathroom. Nicole hated herself, but she wasn’t going to be able to make it through her meeting without some help. She searched and searched hoping that maybe one or two pills had fallen to the bottom of her purse. She stilled. There it was at the very bottom—one last pill.
Nicole left her cell phone on the table next to her bed. It buzzed. When Davis saw the name Rome pop up on the screen, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He remembered that name. That was the man who sent the flowers. By the time he snatched up the phone to answer it, he had missed the call. Davis had never searched Nicole’s phone before, but he had no problem going through it.
There weren’t any outbound calls to Roman, but there were two inbound calls to her and one text message.
Enjoyed today & had a great time at lunch.
It was written several days ago.
Nicole didn’t even have a chance to come out of the bathroom.
