Thursday 2
Michael had woken up to get ready for work. After his morning prayers, his first stop was the kitchen to get a pot of coffee going. As coffee brewed, he headed into the living room to watch some news. He noticed Marla’s purse sitting on one of the end tables and close to falling over. At the edge of her purse was a piece of paper. He decided to stand the purse back up, so nothing fell out. While picking up the piece of paper to put it back into her purse, he could see the words through the paper that were written on the other side that looked familiar. He turned the paper around and read the note. “This is from Olivia”, he said to himself. “What is she doing with it?” Michael was confused and a little upset. “What is this all about?” Michael picked up the house phone and called his job. “Hello. Hi, Anthony. I was calling to let you know that I’ll be late coming into work. Yes, everything is okay. I apologize. This won’t happen again.” Michael decided to fix up his coffee and watch the news, until Marla woke up.
Another hour passed by and Marla was awakened by the alarm set on her cell phone. As she managed to locate her phone on the dresser and kill the alarm, she could hear noise coming from the living room. “Why is the TV on”, she asked herself. Marla quickly put a robe on and walked into the living room to see Michael sitting on the couch, watching the news.
“Michael, you’re still here?”
“We need to talk.”
“Is everything alright”, asked Marla as she took a seat in the chair across from Michael.
“You know, this past week has been very odd. You’ve been very moody. One minute, you’re happy and loving. And the next minute, you are mean and snappy.”
“But Michael, I told you that women have their ‘time of the months’.”
“That’s not all. I came across something that was very disturbing, this morning.”
“What?”
Marla’s heart began to race, being unsure of what Michael was about to say or do. She pulled her robe tighter together and leaned back.
“Do you trust me?”
“Of course I do, Michael. Why would you ask that?”
“What is this?”
Michael held up the note that started it all. Anxiety kicked in, as moisture started to develop on Marla’s forehead. Marla was confused too and wondering how Michael managed to get the note. For a moment, Marla didn’t say a word. She was too busy trying to figure out what to say. Or better yet, was there a way to disappear? As Michael sat and held the note, waiting for a response, Marla realized that disappearing was not an option and that she eventually had to say something.
“What is it? It’s hard to see, from over here.”
“It said, if you are able to get away call me.”
“I don’t know who that is from.”
“I do. And, I found it in your purse!”
“What?!”
Marla went into total shock, because now she knew the note belonged to Michael. Second, she couldn’t believe that Michael was going through her purse. Her eyes began to water, as she gathered herself to speak.
“How do you know who it belongs to? And, what are you doing going through my purse?”
“Marla, don’t start with me. It was by accident. I simply wanted to prevent your purse from spilling over and this came out. A better question is how did you get this?”
“It was in the couch.”
“And, when were you going to tell me?”
“Why? Is it important? And, who is it for?”
“It’s from Olivia.”
“Olivia?!”
“It’s a stupid, little note Marla.”
“Why did you keep it?”
Michael went on to explain how he got the note. As usual, Olivia was playing one of her little flirtatious games with Michael. She left him a note on his desk to see what type of response she would get. Not knowing, the response would be a lot greater and in a totally different form. Olivia’s little note affected the lives of several people.
Although Olivia was young and beautiful and Michael was definitely attracted to her, he had no intentions of doing anything outside of work with her. He truly felt that Marla was all he needed in a relationship. But now, he was starting to question Marla, since it seemed she had little faith in him. Michael wasn’t in the mood to talk about the note anymore and create a bigger argument, so he quickly left and headed to work. At the same time, Marla was in a much bigger dilemma. By discovering that the note belonged to her husband, she had to inform all of the ladies and stop the “investigating ring” she had formed. Now, Marla felt as if she had brought everyone into this situation for nothing. All of the doubt, anger, and curiosity had placed a strain on everyone’s relationship. She felt very bad for Diane, because she became an emotional wreck from all of it. And, there was no doubt that the “lovey dovey” relationship that Diane had with Stanley was taking its toll. Marla felt it was best to setup an emergency meeting with all of the ladies, so she could clear the air and hopefully, things could go back to normal.
After getting herself and Junior dressed, Marla sent out a group text message with a meeting time and location for later that evening. Along with clearing the air, Marla knew her presence wasn’t wanted at the moment and she needed somewhere to go until things cooled down at home.
[Marla: IMPORTANT! Meet tonight, El’s Brewery @ 8]
Marla didn’t want to make the situation worst, so she picked an unusual place for them all to meet. There was no need to take a chance on being seen by someone and people beginning to put two and two together. So much was going through Marla’s head. All of the issues that came about from a little note that meant nothing. It was a good thing Marla didn’t know who Olivia was. At the moment, she felt like letting off some steam for all the problems Olivia’s childish games had caused. The loss of trust in every woman’s relationship, along with a crucial car accident involving Jimmy. As thoughts raced through her head, Marla realized she hadn’t talked to Rhonda in a while and tried calling her. The phone just rang, until the automated voicemail service answered. Marla wanted to leave a message, but decided to wait until she could actually speak to Rhonda. There was a good chance that Rhonda wouldn’t respond to the group text message and attend the meeting at El’s Brewery. There wasn’t much more Marla could do, so she decided to put the situation on hold until later. For the time being, she headed off to work and allowed the morning radio talk show to occupy her mind.
# # #
Tina was just waking up for the day. As she looked around, she finally remembered where she was. She turned over and saw the back of Walter, half-naked sitting on the side of the bed. With his head down, he partially looked behind him and asked, “You finally decided to wake up?” Tina realized that the tone of his voice wasn’t pleasant. Instead of addressing the change of his attitude, Tina didn’t say a word and quickly got up and got herself together. The entire time, Walter was going through his mobile phone, reading emails and other messages. He never said another word to Tina. After getting fully dressed, Tina asked, “Will you watch me to my car?” For a moment, Walter didn’t say anything. He eventually stood to his feet and walked with Tina to the door to watch her walk to her car. Tina asked because Walter’s apartment complex was in a rough area. Once Tina made it to her car, she began to question who Walter really was. Outside of the Lexus he drove and a few suits, there was nothing about Walter that displayed wealth. Once she thought about it, even the Lexus was an older model. Most likely, it was just bait that Walter would use to attract women. The night before, after a few drinks, Tina didn’t focus on the game that Walter was playing. In the end, it was a big loss. The only thing she really gained was a few drinks, a meal, and a place to sleep; even that was short-lived. She believed if she slept any longer, Walter would’ve awaken her and told her to leave. In Tina’s mind, that was just her luck with men. “They can promise you ‘the night’ and nothing more. Even that is lackluster.” She mentally placed Walter on a shelf, with all the men that had passed through in her life. Being 15 minutes late for work already, Tina didn’t have time to do anything but go to work. She decided to stop at a gas station, along the way and purchase something quick to eat.
# # #
Outside the stale, old, white motel, Angie’s vehicle was parked and the morning dew had developed on her windows. Several other vehicles were parked alongside one another. Inside room 6, Angie stood in front of the vanity mirror trying to put her earrings on. The mirror had a light film covering it from the steam out of the bathroom. She managed to get one earring on and prepared for the second one, as Reggie snuck up behind her. He began to kiss her neck.
“Not now”, she said with a devilish grin.
“You have time.”
“You’re a lie. I’m running late as it is. It doesn’t look good, when the supervisor is later than her employees.”
Reggie decided to back off and let Angie finish getting ready. Only half dressed, he took a seat on the end of the bed and examined Angie.
“So, when can I see you again?”
“We’ll see. Right now, I can’t think about it”
Angie quickly grabbed her purse, left some money on the table towards the motel, and quickly left out the door. “I’ll text you”, she yelled. She quickly hopped into her vehicle and turned on her windshield wipers to clear her view.
Once Angie made it to T and C, she quickly turned into the parking lot and found the nearest parking spot available. As she got out of the vehicle, she saw Marla and Tina leaving their vehicles. She was happy to see that she was not the only one late for work. At the same time, she was a little confused about the coincidence. For Tina, Angie is used to her lateness. But, she was a little shocked to see Marla not on-time. Tina and Marla were confused as well. For a while, no one said anything. There was only sounds of cars going down the street and heels hitting the pavement, until all three of them got closer to one another as they approached the door.
“Is it safe to say that great minds think alike”, asked Angie.
All three laughed a little.
“Actually, I’m having a rough morning”, said Marla.
“So am I”, confirmed Tina.
“Well, I’m sorry to say that I can’t join you ladies, today. I’m actually having a good start, outside of being late.”
“Well, that’s good to hear”, replied Marla.
Angie decided to hold the door for Marla and Tina, since she was the only one out of the three having a good day. “Good morning, Ladies”, greeted Fay, as they entered the building. After getting on the elevator, all three of them got quiet. Both, Marla and Tina were in desperate need of talking to Angie, but Tina quickly made the first move.
“Angie. I need to talk to you in your office.”
“Okay.”
Normally, Angie would not want to sit and listen to Tina’s problems. But since Angie didn’t have any problems of her own at the moment, she was comfortable with having Tina waste her time. Marla chose to let them both be and talk with Angie at a later time. Once they got off the elevator, Angie and Tina headed to the office, while Marla went and checked on her department.
“What’s going on, Tina?”
“What’s the deal with Walter?”
Angie was slow to respond. Instead, she stared at Tina and examined her facial expression.
“Goodness.”
“What?”
“I know you didn’t, Tina.”
“Didn’t what? All I did was ask a question.”
“But, you don’t even know the guy.”
“And, that’s why I asked about him.”
“Why did you sleep with him?”
“Angie, what are you talking about?”
“Tina, all of the years that I have known you. We’ve been through this numerous times. I know that look.”
“It wasn’t like that. I was just out on a date.”
“And, what happen?”
“Nothing.”
Angie went back to staring at Tina, until Tina finally gave in and broke down crying. She went on to tell Angie about her night with Walter and how he used her for a “one-night stand”. The entire time, Angie just shook her head in disbelief and didn’t respond. Eventually, Angie told Tina about Walter. Walter’s full name is Walter Devlin and he is a marketing assistant for a local fast food restaurant. She went on to tell her how Walter had been playing the same game and using the same car and suits for years. The one thing she didn’t bother to tell Tina was that she once got caught in his trap as well and slept with him. In fact, Walter truly didn’t visit T and C for business. He was trying to establish another rendezvous with Angie. When Angie said no, Walter settled for Tina.
“Are all men like this”, asked Tina.
“Every last one. From 18 to 95, they all are after one thing.”
“Amazing.”
“Well Tina, I’m way behind on my work for today. So, I have to end this conversation short.”
“I understand.”
“Just view it as a lesson learned.”
“Okay.”
Later in the afternoon, Marla decided to stop by Angie’s office to see if she received the text about the meeting later that evening. Angie had not read the message, because she still had her cell phone on silent from last night. Marla informed Angie that it was very important that she be there and mentioned the time and place again. Angie confirmed her presence and decided to put her motel visits on hold.
Tina spent her afternoon at work, being consoled by Tony. Tony’s hormones were in overdrive and he was willing to listen to any problems that Tina had, if it meant another opportunity for him to sleep with her. Tina and Tony developed a love/hate relationship from the very beginning. They were able to get along with one another, when the situation was beneficial. Although Tony had not been working for T and C very long, he managed to build a relationship with Tina over time. One of the first few nights of hanging out together, they slept together. This placed a strain on the relationship, because there was definitely no love involved. The main ingredient was attraction. Tony definitely wasn’t looking for a serious relationship. And although Tina desired a serious relationship with one person, she chose to play the role with Tony. This only made the situation worst. With their constant ups and downs, they would only get together when it was convenient or when either was vulnerable. It probably was better to call their relationship a sex/hate relationship, because love was nowhere to be found.
Later that evening….
Outside of EL’s Brewery, Angie, Marla, and Stephanie had all arrived several minutes early. All three of them were on their phones. Stephanie was calling Reggie to inform him that she would be late coming home. Although they haven’t been on the same page lately, Stephanie chose to be considerate and let him know. With so much on her mind, she decided to keep the conversation short and sweet.
“Hey. I was just calling to let you know that I’ll be a little late getting home, tonight.”
“Okay.”
“Did you need anything, while I was out?”
“No. I’m good.”
“Okay. Bye.”
As they ended their conversation, four vehicles over from Stephanie, Angie received a text message.
[Reggie: I’ll be free for a couple of hours.”
[Angie: Sorry. I have plans.]
[Reggie: You cheating on me?]
[Angie: Never. I so bad want to be there.]
[Reggie: There’s always next time, I guess.]
[Angie: This is true.]
One minute before eight o’clock, Marla got out of her vehicle and walked into EL’s. Angie and Stephanie noticed Marla walking in and both got out of their vehicles at the same time. Angie made it to the door before Stephanie and held the door for her.
“Hey girl”, said Angie with a smile.
“Hey.”
Marla had already requested a table. She told the waitress four, because she believed that Rhonda wouldn’t be attending. Once Angie and Stephanie met up with Marla, all three got escorted by the waitress to their table. Several minutes after eight o’clock, Diane pulled up and entered the restaurant.
“Sorry, girls. Mother responsibilities”, said Diane as she had a seat.
“Where’s Rhonda?”
“She probably won’t be here”, replied Marla.
Once everyone was situated, they all placed orders of food and drinks. Marla felt it was better to tell everything, after everyone had ate their food and had gotten comfortable. After about forty-five minutes to an hour, Marla explained the reason for the urgent meeting. When she said that she knew who the note belonged to, the women got uncomfortable as they prepared to hear who the cheater was. When Marla said Michael, they all were in shock and somewhat happy. They weren’t totally happy, because the note had done its damage. Regardless if their companions were innocent, there was still a lot mending that had to take place. Each woman was trying to determine how they could fix the mistakes and assumptions they made. The only person that didn’t have any worry at the table was Angie. For the most part, Angie was happy. She had a ‘thing’ going on with Reggie and wasn’t committed to any particular man that she would have to work things out with. Her only issue might be losing the fun she was having with Reggie, once the situation got back in order with him and Stephanie. At the same time, Reggie may have lost interest in Stephanie and decide to leave her for Angie. Recently, Reggie had been spending more and more time with Angie. Reggie didn’t even bother to go home, last night. Instead, he stayed all night with Angie at the motel and Stephanie let the women know that he never came home. As she got teary-eyed explaining the struggles she was having with her long-term boyfriend, Angie just observed with nothing to say. It left Angie in an awkward situation, but at the same time she felt she had nothing to lose.
Before the meeting was over, Marla felt it was important to apologize to all of the women at the table for what they had went through. Although it wasn’t her that wrote the note, it was her that brought the note to their attention and initiated the “investigating ring”. The women agreed that she was at fault, but understood her reason for what she did. Each of the women hugged one another, before parting ways. Marla decided to stop by The Covering Hospital to see if Rhonda was there and if she could talk to her.
When Marla made it to the hospital, she went to Jimmy’s room, but saw another patient in the room. Marla wasn’t sure where they had moved Jimmy to and decided to go to the front desk and ask. When she asked the nurse sitting at the desk, the nurse didn’t know Jimmy’s name. One of the nurses standing in the back overheard his name and remembered who he was. She hadn’t worked with him on a regular basis, but remembered helping other nurses care for him. The nurse was hesitant, because it was obvious that Marla had no clue of Jimmy’s status. She eventually got the nerve to say something and approached the desk.
“Ma’am”, said the Nurse to Marla.
“Yes?”
“How do you know Jimmy?”
“I’m his next door neighbor. I haven’t talked to his wife in a few days, so I decided to come up here and check on him.”
“Ma’am, Jimmy passed away last night. We did all we could, but there were no options available.”
Marla became very quiet as she stared at the nurse. She was staring so hard that it was as if she was looking through her. Neither, the nurse or Marla knew what to say, as they looked at each other. Marla suddenly walked away to leave. “I’m sorry”, said the nurse. Marla never responded and just continued to speed walk out of the hospital. When she made it to her car, she couldn’t find her keys. Although the keys were in her purse, Marla was unable to focus and could never find them. Suddenly, she dropped the purse, rested her hands and face on top of the vehicle, and cried. The sudden death of Jimmy was a mental shock to Marla. She was already carrying the burden for causing disruption in others’ relationships and now she had to deal with a death that she blamed herself for. Being that it was late in the evening, there wasn’t a lot of people around. This allowed Marla to have time to herself, as she continued to cry.
She was afraid to drive herself home and decided to call Michael to come and pick her up. After several attempts and no answer, she gave up. Michael was not answering, because he went to bed earlier than usual. He was still frustrated from the argument he had with Marla and needed time to rest and clear his mind. Marla eventually called Diane, who happen to still be awake and watching television. Diane could tell how distraught Marla was through the phone and quickly left to go pick her up. Diane left so fast that she didn’t bother to tell Stanley she was leaving. When Diane arrived, Marla was sitting on the concrete with her back against the driver side door. She was no longer crying. She just sat still, with her mind racing. Marla didn’t notice that Diane had made it there. After several attempts, Diane managed to get Marla’s attention and helped her get in the car. She had no choice but to leave the vehicle at the hospital, overnight. Diane drove Marla home, helped her into the house, and returned to her own home. For the rest of the night, Marla and Diane barely slept. Marla mind was occupied with thoughts of death, while Diane was too concerned with the well-being of her sister.