Xavier

After talking with Tibby, I felt better. This might end up ending, but this thing with Olivia had legs. It had a lot of potential. I needed to not be my normal self—hell, I hadn’t been my normal self! I needed to be a part of moving things forward.

It had been a long time since I’d been willing to put forth as much effort, but just from the short time I’d spent with her, she was worth it. If I was an asshole, it was a good return on my time investment. I felt better than I had in ages, and I was excited about being with and doing things for and with someone else.

With these good thoughts in mind, I got up early and headed down to the studio. Marcus was there when I came in.

“How was San Fran?”

“Good,” I grinned.

“Good to see you back,” he grinned back. “’Cus I need to ask for a favor.”

“Sure.” Marcus hadn’t, in all the time I’d been working for him, asked me for anything. It was amazing how many people did—how many people felt that because you had a lot, you were fair game for handing some of it out. “What can I do?”

“You know my girl? Kristine?”

“Yeah,” I’d met her a few times. She was tall and quiet and beautiful. They’d been together for a long time.

“I want to pop the question—”

“Wait! What? You’re gonna get married? What? When did this happen, man?”

He laughed. “It’s been coming for a while. We’ve been together six years, and it’s time. That’s where the favor comes in. There’s this booze cruise thing out in LA—the singer Kristine loves, Jazmine Sullivan, is going to be there. It goes out and sails around, and she performs, and there’s dinner and whatever. I want to ask her there, at sunset, before Jazmine comes out to sing.”

“Okay?” I didn’t understand.

“It’s invite only.”

I understood immediately. “You want me to get you tickets?”

“I think you’re going to have to be there. We’ll be your plus ones. I can pay you for it,” he held up his hands, “So don’t think I’m asking for your time and money, man!”

“Shut the hell up,” I said. “I don’t want your money. I’m happy to. She’s a lucky lady.”

“No, man, I’m the lucky one. But you think you can do it?”

“Yeah, let me see who I need to talk to.” I headed into my office and went through my contacts to see who would know how to get them on the boat. I supposed I would have to go, too.

“Hey,” I yelled out of the office. “When is this thing?”

“This weekend,” he yelled back.

“Kinda close, isn’t it?”

“She just told me about it. She was reading something and saw it. She didn’t think we could go or anything but just mentioned it. I kept thinking about it, and thought I’d see if you could help at all.”

“You got a ring?”

“Sure do. I got it last month, but the right moment keeps not happening.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” We’d been working hard on the album. “I’d have given you at least a day off.”

He laughed. “Yeah, but then I would be here trying to set up something way better than a picnic in the park.”

“True. Okay, get the hell away, and let me see what I can do.”

“Thanks, man,” he said, and I could tell how much this meant to him.

What I really wanted was for him to get out so I could call Olivia and see if she was free.

As he left, I pulled her up on my phone and called.

“Hey,” her voice sounded surprised.

But not annoyed, or anything negative. Which was good. I got a little squirrelly when she didn’t respond last night.

“I know you’re working, but I wanted to ask you if you’re free Friday night. To go to LA,” I added, so she’d be ready for the time needed to travel.

“Um…”

I could hear the click of computer keys.

“No, I’m not. I have some client meetings late that night so I won’t be free until Saturday,” she said. “Damn it.”

“It’s okay. I wanted to know if you could play hooky with me for the night, but we can get together Saturday,” I said.

“Go ahead, tell me what fabulous thing I’m missing out on.”

“My sound guy, he’s been with me forever, he wants to get on this booze cruise thing, he’s asking his girlfriend to marry him, and it’s—it doesn’t matter. I said I’d help him, and I need to be there so he can go.”

“Oh, so it’s a rich and famous thing?”

“Are you laughing at me?”

“I might be. But not too much—you get to go out on a cruise at night in LA—it will probably be gorgeous.”

“No, it will be a bunch of people I may or may not know, talking about other people we know,” I grumbled. It didn’t look as fun now that she couldn’t come with me. “You would have made it gorgeous. So what are we going to do Saturday?”

“Do you,” she hesitated, “Want to come here?”

“Yeah?” I was thrilled she was asking me to come to her home. Remembering her comments about her mother, maybe I should be scared.

“Yes, although I don’t have any solid plans. But I’d love to see you,” her voice softened.

“I want to see you, too. It’s a date. I’ll do the boat thing Friday night, and fly out to you Saturday morning. Maybe not coffee time, but right after. Sound good?”

“Yes, it does.”

“Okay, let’s talk tonight then?”

“Call me.”

“Count on it.”

I hung up, feeling good. So I wouldn’t have Olivia as a date, but I got her for the weekend. It was a fair trade.

A few more calls and I’d managed to get three invitations to the cruise, and then I called around to see who might need the plane this weekend. If this kept up, I might need my own. Luckily, no one was using it, so I was able, within the hour, to set up my whole weekend. I booked the plan to come back on Sunday night. It was a little presumptuous, but I wanted to spend that time with her.

Maybe I’d see where she thought we were headed.

Maybe.

I went back into the studio. “Hey, man, we’re on, so tell your girl to pack up for a surprise.”

His face lit up like I’d just given him Christmas. “Seriously? Man, that is fantastic! Can I have an hour or two? I’ll get back to this, but I have to make reservations—”

I cut him off. “I already booked the plane. Don’t worry about it,” I held up a hand to forestall his protests. “I have to travel a little, so I’ll have it back for you in time to come home whenever you want to.”

He looked at me strangely for a moment and then his face cleared. “All right, whatever you want. It’s your ride, and thanks for letting me hitch a seat.”

“Anything, man, you know that.” I meant it. Marcus had been with me a long time, and he never traded on our relationship. This was small.

And I’d get to see Olivia. The thought of spending the entire weekend with her, naked at least part of the time, made my heart race.

“I’m going to go work on some new stuff unless you’re ready now,” I said. Enough with the touchy-feely at work.

“I’m nearly done. It’ll be ready for you to listen to later today.”

I nodded and went back to my office, where I could stretch out on the couch and work.

Olivia

With Xavier to look forward to this weekend, I was fairly easygoing at work. We had a couple of new clients that we were getting to know, and even the promise of drama from one didn’t faze me.

“I don’t know why you’re smiling,” Momma groused. “That was exhausting.”

“Yeah, she is, but we’ll make her fee commiserate with the level of effort required.”

She laughed, not looking at me. “I like your style, sugar bean.”

“I love you, Momma.”

She picked her head up off the back of the couch where she’d collapsed. “You okay, darlin’?”

“I’m fine. I just wanted to let you know that.”

I’d been talking back and forth with Xavier at night. It was nice that he realized I really didn’t have time during the day for a lot of the personal. That was yet another thing Royce hadn’t respected. For many years, it had been “your little business,” and once my little concern started paying the bills, he didn’t refer to it at all, just expected me to take care of things.

Thank goodness we’d never had kids.

But back to Xavier—a lot of who he was, how he’d grown up, had come through in our conversations. It wasn’t that we got all deep or philosophical. I could tell that we’d had vastly different childhoods in the way we looked at the world. He was both more cynical and giving than I was. I found the mix interesting. Who was I kidding?

I found everything about him fascinating.

Work and long talks with him at night had so far allowed me to avoid the conversation I was about to have.

“What are you doing this weekend, Momma?”

“Why?” She was still looking at me intently.

I thought about how Xavier was so honest, and just cut to the chase. Nice ladies like Momma and I weren’t brought up that way, but I found that I liked the directness, and I decided I’d take the plunge now. If she didn’t like my decision, it wouldn’t matter how I said it. “I want you to meet Xavier.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s coming here this weekend, and while he and I really are excited to spend time together—”

“Rolling around like a couple of cats,” she muttered.

“Well, yes, thank you for pointing that out,” I said, although I wasn’t offended. Teasing Momma was fun. “But I think this is going to become something, although I don’t know what, and you are the most important person in my life, you and Lloyd, so I would like you both to meet him.”

I think I saw tears in her eyes. I couldn’t be sure, and I squinted, wanting to see if I was just imaging things.

She sniffed. “When will he be here?”

“He’s going out to Los Angeles tonight and then flying here tomorrow morning. He’ll be up early, so we have most of the day to spend together,” I said, unable to hide my pleasure at the thought.

It wasn’t even that I wanted to roll around like a couple of cats, as my mother so eloquently put it. Just being around him was intoxicating.

“Would you like to have dinner tomorrow night? That way, it won’t be too long, and everyone will behave,” she said.

“What, you’re worried about Lloyd? Really, Momma?”

“He’s rather fierce in his protective instincts. Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there.”

“I love that about you both.”

“And I promise I will keep my less than ladylike comments to myself,” she added.

I burst out laughing. “As long as you’re not mean, I think it will be fine. I’ve already told Xavier you’re a shark in good jewelry.”

Momma looked pleased. “That is a truly lovely thing to say, darlin’.”

Right there, that’s why she and I are such good friends. Because she knows she’s a shark, and she appreciates it when others recognize it. Sharks have a bad rep when in reality, they’re just doing their thing.

Just like my momma.

“What does he eat?”

“Whatever. I introduced him to Community chicory, and he was sold on it, or at least I think he was. Whatever we decide to have is fine.”

“You tell him he’s having dinner with us?”

“Not yet. He’ll be fine with that, too.”

“You seem awfully sure for not knowing this man all that well.”

“Well, you’re right, but in this, I can tell you he’ll be fine. Now, can we get out of here?”

“You gotta go wash your hair?” She asked as we got ourselves out the door.

“No, I need to go sleep.”

Momma laughed, a deep throaty laugh that was understanding. She kissed me when we got to our cars. “Call me tomorrow when you’re on the way over. Love you, girl.”

“Love you, too.”

When I got in my car, I checked the phone. I made it a policy not to look at my phone when I was with clients and had gotten into the habit of not checking it until after work. It felt more professional to me.

Xavier had texted.

‘Getting on the plane. I know you’re slaving away at the whim of some drama llama, but I wanted you to know I was thinking of you. XO’

‘We’re here. I wish you were too. Gorgeous sunset would be better with gorgeous you. I’ll text you later—there’s a phone ban since there’s a lot of the rich and famous here.’

He ended that one with an eye roll emoji.

‘Almost forgot. XO’

That was a couple of hours ago, and he hadn’t texted again. I’d never heard of a cell phone ban, but it made sense. No one wanted to go and party and have someone recording it. I didn’t know if I could live the life that Xavier did. Thankfully, we hadn’t gotten to any talk about that. I didn’t want to.

Not yet, anyway. Maybe later.

It was better that he was busy. I needed to make sure my house was presentable, and more importantly, make sure that there was no trace of Royce. I’d thrown away a lot of stuff that he had left, but I’d already planned to go through again. Just to be sure.

I hummed along with the radio all the way home. Once I got there, I pulled up a playlist on my phone, and a speaker, and sang as I cleaned.

When I went to bed, all I could think about was seeing him again. I couldn’t wait.

* * *

I woke up before my alarm. I stared at the ceiling for a few moments, and then tossed the blankets off. I needed to get everything in shape. Xavier was coming today, and I wanted him to see my world, see how I lived.

I’d been nervous last night, but today, I was nothing but excited. I’d given myself plenty of time to get ready, and I forced myself to eat, and then tidy up once more. I went through the house, one more time.

Time to go. The nerves were getting the better of me. I had a nice house and a nice life, but it wasn’t the life Xavier had. I didn’t want him to be disappointed.

For a rebound, I had a lot invested in this. I didn’t want to think about what would happen if this fizzed out. I’d been doing a lot of reading about what happened after people divorced. Everyone seemed to rebound. Then they moved on to a real relationship.

This felt real, though. How could you tell?

I thought about it on the way to the airport. Xavier had told me where to go to meet his plane. It was separate from the larger airport.

When I got to the gate, I told the guard I was meeting a private plane, and he directed me to an office. He also informed me that if I wandered around, I would potentially be arrested.

Sheesh. I didn’t think I looked dangerous.

When I got to the office, I went in.

A young man looked up as I closed the door behind me.

“Can I help you?”

“I’m meeting a plane. I am not sure where I’m supposed to go, and the guard at the gate sent me here.”

Xavier hadn’t been sure as he’d not been here before, but he’d told me that these people would help me out. He said every airport had a section for the private planes, and keeping track of them was their job.

The young man, who wore a nametag that said Dave, smiled. “I can help you with that. When is the plane expected?”

“I was told it was planning on landing at nine a.m.”

He checked a sheaf of paperwork on the desk in front of him. “Where was it leaving from?”

“Los Angeles.”

I could see his eyes moving down the list.

“Oh, yeah, here it is. That flight was canceled.” He looked up. “I’m sorry.”

“What do you mean? I don’t understand.”

“The pilot filed a cancellation as his passenger didn’t show up. The plane never left. You can’t leave without the person who charters the flight.”

My head spun. “What does that mean, the passenger didn’t show up?”

For a moment, there was pity on Dave’s face. “I’m sorry, ma’am. I only know what’s in the notes, here.” He gestured at the paperwork. “It’s all the information I have.”

“Well…” I didn’t know what to do. “Okay. Thank you for your help. I’ll just wait to hear from…the passenger.”

I turned and walked to my car. What had happened? I spoke to him yesterday before work. Then he texted. He’d given me no hint that he wouldn’t be here, wouldn’t be getting on the plane.

Was he hurt? Should I call someone? His manager? Oh, that’s right. He didn’t have one. He’d fired his manager the day we met. Xavier hadn’t replaced him yet.

I sat in my car, trying not to cry.

Either he was hurt, or he’d changed his mind.

Don’t jump to conclusions, don’t jump to conclusions, I told myself. You don’t know anything, nothing good, and nothing bad. There’s nothing to assume.

Inhaling deeply, I found some tissues in my bag and wiped my eyes. Okay. What did I need to do? I needed to make sure that he wasn’t hurt. How to determine that?

The cruise. Check the cruise. It was a no phone cruise, but maybe there was some publicity about it anyway.

I searched for the singer that he’d told me about—the one his friend’s girlfriend liked. I found it, listed on one of the entertainment magazine sites. It had pictures of her walking on board, and then I read the little blurb.

This power cruise will certainly be rocking as they set sail for a weekend of fun in Los Cabos! Stay tuned for pics!

Where the hell was Los Cabos?

I pulled up maps and searched. It was in Mexico, at the tip of the Baja peninsula. I looked at the distance from Los Angeles to Los Cabos. There was no way—wait. I looked back at the blurb.

The words blurred.

…a weekend of fun in Los Cabos!

He’d lied to me.