I browsed around the table to be sure we weren’t drawing any more attention than Alton had.
“Because you know it wasn’t Alton who got you pregnant. You were just with Timmy the night before we started Working Toward the Stars.” I couldn’t believe she’d lay aside that inconvenient fact.
“So?” she kept her arms crossed protectively over her belly. I knew she was feeling more vulnerable than she wanted to let on.
“So, Ang, you can’t just pick and choose whose baby this is. You have to recount facts. And the biggest of them all is that you’d missed your period before you and Alton.”
“Whose side are you on anyways?”
“Yours, Ang. Always yours,” I struggled to keep my voice low.
“I can’t tell. You sound like a PR rep or lawyer from his entourage. You can’t have my back for once?”
I jumped from my seat, no longer caring who saw us, and invaded her space to get into Angela’s face. “I’ve spent almost my entire summer in the face of a man I didn’t want to be within a hundred million feet of, trying to prove I’m not something he thinks I am because you’ve been with his boy, doing the very thing he thinks I’m about.” I pointed in the chair across from mine, referring to Stenton. “The thing that I’m not.”
Ang’s face hardened and her eyes narrowed. “A whore? Is that what you think I am? Well, I got news for you, Zoey: Not everyone aspires to be a goody two-shoes like you. Funny. I thought that was the one thing that bonded us. I see I was wrong.”
My mouth collapsed.
“I’ll meet you at the car.” Angela turned to leave the restaurant.
~~~~~~~~~~
Angela’s pregnant!
Needless to say, I didn’t attend my last assigned day of Working Toward the Stars. Angela sent me a text saying she wouldn’t be picking me up because she wasn’t going back. If she wasn’t returning, there was no need for me to because I didn’t want to do the stupid program in the first place. I realized I didn’t inform Stenton of this decision until Friday, the last morning of the program.
First thing that morning, around 9:00 a.m., I received a text from Stenton asking of my whereabouts. I explained with few words that I wouldn’t be making it because of the blowup with Angela and Alton. In so many words, he said he understood. Then a few hours later, he texted again, asking to meet at the diner for lunch. He mentioned having to catch a red eye and leaving town for a few days. I told him I had a few things to do before church that evening and the best I could do was meet him for dessert later that night. I didn’t think that would work for him. He did say he was flying out that night. To my surprise, he agreed to it.
Around 9:30 that night, I sauntered into the diner. Heading straight for the back of the dining area where I expected to have to wait for Stenton, I was surprised when I saw his two security guys sitting at a table, closer to the front of the rear area. Behind them, way back in the rear, I saw Stenton seated in a booth. They nodded without friendly smiles, granting me entry to where their boss was waiting. That small occurrence reminded me of his stature. I couldn’t believe I was meeting with Stenton Rogers.
What a summer!
“Wow! Don’t you look…reserved,” Stenton jibed as he gave me a onceover.
I wore a long black skirt, with a plain white blouse and kitten heels. I had to usher that night during a revival my church was participating in. One of the bishops from the upper echelon of our organization was ministering that night and I’d helped prepare the church for the large crowd that was expected. Exhaustion was a word that paled in comparison to what I was feeling.
“Yeah, Jet Beauty of the Week, I know,” I replied wryly.
With an amused expression, he extended his arm, inviting me to sit across from him. I did, feeling a bit insecure all of a sudden. I hadn’t stopped home to change for fear of holding him up. I didn’t give much thought to my appearance, or considered that he would either.