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  “We had a meeting scheduled, remember?”

  Danetta looked at her watch, then turned toward Marshall so he could view the time for himself. “You’re two hours late. Oh, and didn’t I ask you to stop sending these single roses to me?”

  “You’re welcome,” he said as if she had thanked him. “And I had a little car trouble.” And psycho-stalker woman trouble.

  “Don’t you have a cell phone?”

  “My mind was on a thousand different things, D. I’m sorry. I just forgot to call you.”

  Hardly believing his excuse, she continued, “Well, we’ll have to reschedule our meeting. I’m trying to finish up some last-minute details for the dinner cruise.”

  “No problem.” Marshall stood up, leaned over her desk and inhaled the rose.

  Still irritated, Danetta asked, “Why on earth do you continue to send me a rose the day before Valentine’s Day? Don’t you know that it just makes me feel inadequate” She almost told him that she felt alone because she didn’t have anyone special sending her flowers, but she would never admit that.

  “It makes you feel what?”

  Turning away from him, she said, “Nothing... Forget I said anything.”

  “I hope it makes you feel cherished, because I cherish our friendship and just want to show you how much, every now and again.”

  “You don’t have to do this. I’m perfectly fine without it.”

  He raised his hands as if surrendering. “Okay, I can see that my missing our meeting has put you in a mood. So let me take you to lunch and I’ll tell you all about the big fish I just reeled into our company.”

  “No can do.”

  Marshall stopped walking and did an about-face, as he turned back toward Danetta. “Since when do you turn down a free lunch?”

  Head still buried in her files, she said, “Since I have a lunch date.”

  “A lunch date?” He said the words as if they scorched his tongue on the way out of his mouth. “With who?”

  Danetta put her pen down as she looked up at Marshall and said, “With none of your business, that’s who.”

  Her cell phone rang. Danetta picked it up and hit the talk button. “This is Danetta Harris...oh, okay, I’ll be right down.” She hit the end button and then stood up. As she walked past him she said, “If you’re not busy this afternoon, we can meet when I get back.”

  “All right, I’ll walk you out,” Marshall said as he followed Danetta out of her office.

  “You don’t need to do that.”

  “Nonsense. As your business partner and friend, the least I can do is escort you to your date.”

  “Whatever,” Danetta said as she hit the down button for the elevator.

  “I’m serious, D. I don’t want you going out with any old blockhead. You need a man who knows how special you are.”

  “Really?” Her voice dripped with sarcasm, because Danetta knew for a fact that Marshall Windham had no clue how special she was. Danetta was sick of waiting on Marshall or worrying about what he thought of her. She was going to live her life and find someone who wanted to live it with her.

  The elevator arrived, they got in and Danetta moved to the back and leaned against the wall. She could feel Marshall’s eyes on her, but she didn’t turn in his direction.

  “So,” he began. “I guess you wore this dress for your date, huh?”

  “Why are you so concerned with my clothes all of a sudden?”

  He studied her before the elevator door opened and as they walked out together.

  Marshall said, “You surprised me, D. In college, all you ever wore was sweatshirts and oversized T-shirts with sweats or jeans. In the office, you normally have on these boring pantsuits with long, straight jackets. I just didn’t know.”

  “Know what?” she asked confused by the way he ended his statement.

  His eyes swept over her backside as he said, “Baby got back.”

  “Shut up, Marshall.” She pushed him. But as she headed toward the door she wondered if she had truly just seen the look of desire in Marshall’s eyes. No way, she was imagining things. Marshall was just shocked by her new look. That’s it and that’s all.

  He opened the door for her. She walked out and stood at the curb waiting for her date to pull up. Her date was driving a burgundy Chevy Impala. As he pulled up and got out of the car, Marshall whispered in her ear, “Respectable car for a woman, but most of the men I know wouldn’t drive it.”

  “Not everyone was born wealthy. Some people have to take what they can get and be happy,” Danetta shot back and then turned to the man she would be having lunch with. He wasn’t dressed in a business suit like Marshall, but his polo shirt and slacks hung nicely on him. She smiled. “Hi, Mark.”

  Mark stopped in front of her, gawked at her like a schoolboy. “Wow, you look even better than your Facebook picture.”

  Marshall grabbed her arm. “You met this guy on Facebook? Do you know how dangerous that is?”

  Pulling away from Marshall, she said to Mark, “It’s nice to meet you in person.”

  “Likewise,” Mark said and then he stuck his hand out to Marshall. “I’m Mark Joseph.”

  “Marshall Windham.”

  “I’ll just get my car out of the parking lot and follow you,” Danetta said.

  “Oh, yeah, sure.” Mark got back into his car and waited for Danetta to pull up behind him.

  As Danetta pulled up behind Mark, she noticed that Marshall was still standing in front of the building. She waved at him as she drove off. In her rearview mirror she watched Marshall wave back at her. The look on his face puzzled her and caused her to wonder why he continued to stand there waving, looking like a little lost puppy, instead of the mongrel Ryla says he was.

  Chapter 6

  Danetta stepped onto the dinner boat at four o’clock, an hour before the guests were to arrive. The event normally lasted from five until eight, with most guests leaving around seven-thirty. Some guests hung around until around eight-thirty, not leaving until the cleanup crew showed up. Danetta felt as if she had the most in common with those guests...the ones who had nowhere else to be...no one to spend the weekend with.

  Turning away from her thoughts, she began scanning the room to ensure that all of her instructions had been followed. Since this was an old-school party, a big disco ball was dangling from the center of the dance floor. The food was out on display...shrimp, crab legs, lobster salad, roast beef, vegetables of all colors and variations, and cakes and pies lined the tables. In the middle of the decadent array of food sat an ice sculpture with the Windham Enterprises logo carved into it. Everything was beautiful.

  The best part of this annual dinner party had nothing to do with the decorations or the food. It occurred when Danetta presented a plaque and a check to a local nonprofit organization. Too many organizations that provided valuable services within the community were closing their doors due to lack of funds. So, even though the ten thousand dollars she collected from ticket sales wouldn’t keep the doors open for an entire year, Danetta knew full well that the money would be appreciated.

  She turned to her left to view the display table she had asked her assistant to set up. This event not only catered to current clients, but also focused on bringing in new business, which was a tough feat to accomplish when they didn’t actually do business at their annual dinner party. Still, Danetta made sure that their ad campaigns from the previous year were on display in big, bold Texas style.

  Last year, Windham Enterprises landed several local and national television commercials. They’d done countless billboard ads and internet advertising for their clients. She couldn’t fit all of their campaigns on the table, but she made sure to highlight the important ones. Brochures also lined the table with more information concerning their firm and all of the other clien
ts they handled in the previous year.

  “Diva.”

  Danetta heard Ryla’s voice and turned to greet her friend. She was struck by how beautiful Ryla looked in her ’70s getup. The woman had on a psychedelic go-go-girl jumpsuit that cut off just below her J-Lo booty, with a pair of white, knee-high go-go boots. “Girl, you are rocking those boots.”

  Ryla smiled as she twirled around. “I thought I’d do a little something-something. But look at you. Diva, you are not only rocking your go-go boots...you are doing the darn thang with that dress.”

  This was the first time Danetta had ever received a compliment for wearing a 100% polyester dress. But she had to admit that the rainbow swirl dress with matching head wrap and bell sleeves showed off her legs and her curves, since the dress was formfitting and so tight that she had to suck in her stomach in order to get into it. “Thanks for helping me pick this dress out, Ryla. The dress I had planned on wearing wouldn’t have been as much fun as this one.”

  Ryla rolled her eyes. “Thank God I took you shopping. I would have hated to see you in that long, ugly dress you wanted to wear.”

  Danetta playfully shoved her friend. “Hey, no fair talking about my clothes. But I do appreciate your help. I can’t even tell you how many men tried to holler at me as I walked down the plank to get on this boat.”

  “Their tongues were hanging out of their mouths when I came in also. Let’s just hope that those guys don’t try to crash the party.” As if dismissing the thought of men and their ignorant ways, Ryla turned Danetta toward the seating area on the boat. “So, what do you think?”

  Danetta had already checked out the disco ball, but now as she looked around, Danetta noticed the multicolored roses that had been set in the center of each round table. Ryla had even placed psychedelic napkins on the tables and multicolored beanbags around the room. “I guess we’ll just have to call you, Ms. Party Planner Extraordinaire.”

  “You haven’t seen anything yet. When the lights go down in this place and the DJ starts playing all that old-school music, and people go back down memory lane...I’m telling you, Danetta, your clients are going to be talking about this party for years to come.”

  “The music will definitely set the mood for them. Marshall barely remembers anything about the ’70s, because he was in diapers until 1979, but he still loves the music from the time period. He even keeps his car radio on an oldies station.”

  “Well it’s going to be ’70s and ’80s music popping off in here, so he’ll love it.”

  “I’m sure his date will too,” Danetta said with a frown on her face.

  Ryla put her arm around Danetta and started to say something, but the door opened and Surry strutted in.

  “What’s up, my sistahs?” Surry called out as she stepped into the room looking like a ’70s model on the catwalk with her gray-and-silver disco pantsuit with bell-bottom sleeves and pants. Her Angela Davis afro swayed as if a breeze blew by with each step she took in her platform shoes.

  Danetta put her hands on her hips as she pretended to reprimand Surry. “Girl, how dare you come in here looking better than me?”

  “And me too,” Ryla said with hands on her hips.

  “Both of you need to quit it because we are three beautiful women. I just hope the men coming to this party appreciate that fact.” Surry then turned to Danetta and said, “And there had better be more dark-skinned men in attendance this year, or I just might lose my mind and ask Marshall for a dance.”

  “We don’t determine our guest list based on your dating profile, Surry,” Danetta teased. “So, you’ll just have to get over your militant attitude about light-skinned men and maybe have a conversation with one or two.”

  Surry made a gagging sound. “I told you before, I don’t want nothing white or light, but my Wonder bread.”

  “I keep trying to figure out what could’ve happened to turn you so completely against light-skinned brothers. Maybe it was some childhood trauma,” Ryla said, grinning at her dig.

  “Don’t psychoanalyze me tonight, Ryla,” Surry said, sounding a bit deflated. “I just broke up with Joe, so I’d rather you spent your time helping me find a chocolate brother to spend the evening with.”

  “What happened with you and Joe?” Danetta asked.

  “He was crowding me.”

  Danetta shook her head. “Girl, if I didn’t know better, I’d swear you were a man in drag. What I wouldn’t give for some man to crowd me.” The three women laughed.

  The doors opened again and the first group of guests began arriving. Danetta and Ryla started handing out their business cards, while Surry searched for another dark and handsome man to use and abuse.

  * * *

  “You’re kidding, right?” Marshall asked as he looked at the getup Kevin had on. “I know that your boss does not want you to pass out business cards with the name of his company on it while you are wearing a lime green-and-purple mack daddy suit.”

  “My boss is just fine with the way I’m dressed. You’re just mad because you’re wearing those tired old retro bell-bottoms and a shirt with a long collar like the guys on Sanford and Son used to wear.”

  Marshall looked down at his outfit. “Hey, I like my shirt.” It was aqua, black and white with swirls all over it. “Okay, man, my outfit might not be as flamboyant as yours, but this is a business function, with clients that I represent. At least I’m coming correct.”

  Kevin leaned back, opened his lime green coat jacket and twirled around. “That’s why I’m representing all the playas. I figure that if somebody has to do it...might as well be me.”

  Laughing, Marshall said, “All right, all right, be a playa if you want to, but please take off that dollar sign medallion. It’s bigger than any chain Mr. T ever dreamed of wearing.”

  Kevin took the silver medallion off his neck and handed it to Marshall. “Here, you take it. You’ll need some bling with that tired outfit you’re wearing.”

  Marshall put the medallion on and then stepped back and posed. “How do I look?”

  “Like an old-school hustler.” Kevin straightened out Marshall’s collar as he added, “You just might pull a few women at this event. That is, if I don’t pull them first.”

  “Boy, shut up. If you even try to get a number that’s not business related, I’m going to turn snitch and tell your girl Marla everything I know.”

  “Don’t forget that I have Veronica’s number. I’ll call her up and remind her that she forgot to slash that fourth tire.”

  Marshall got in his car. Kevin sat on the passenger side of the car and as Marshall started the engine he said, “I’m not even thinking about Veronica. I have enough on my mind just trying to figure Danetta out.”

  “What’s up with Danetta?”

  “She’s mad at me,” he confessed.

  “Again, what did you do this time?”

  Rolling his eyes while driving towards the event. “I committed the cardinal sin of buying her a rose the day before Valentine’s Day.”

  Kevin put his hand to his ear. “Run that by me again.”

  “I’m serious, man. I buy Danetta a single red rose every February 13. She normally just says thank you and then we go on about our day. But she freaked out about it this time. Then she went out to lunch with some lame dude. I thought she would be in a better mood when she came back to work but she still wasn’t speaking to me. She even refused to meet with me to discuss business.”

  “If the guy was lame, she might have been mad about wasting her lunch break on him.”

  “Naw, she’s definitely mad at me. I just don’t know why.”

  “Well, maybe she wants the rose on Valentine’s Day rather than the day before.”

  Marshall thought about that for a moment, then said, “I just didn’t want things to be awkward between us.” When Kevin gave
him a look that indicated he had no clue what Marshall was talking about he continued, “You know...flowers on Valentine’s Day are for lovers. So, I always get Danetta a flower the day before.”

  “Yeah, but if it’s making her mad, why do you even bother giving her the rose at all?”

  He shrugged yet kept his eyes on the road. “It’s just that sometimes I get the impression that Danetta is lonely. I don’t think she’s had a date on Valentine’s Day in years, and I just want her to know that she is special...even if some of these other knuckleheads haven’t figured it out yet.”

  “Marshall, my brother, I don’t know what’s been going on with you lately, but you’re slipping.” Kevin shook his head. “Even I know that you don’t give a red rose to a woman that you’re not knocking boots with.”

  Marshall ignored Kevin as he continued driving to their destination. When they finally arrived at the dinner boat, Marshall looked at Kevin’s outfit again, shook his head and then got out of the car.

  Kevin got out of the car and asked, “What was that look for?”

  “You’re dressed like Antonio Fargas from the I’m Gonna Git You Sucka movie. All that’s missing is the fish in your shoes.”

  Kevin started strutting toward the boat. “Don’t hate. Celebrate.”

  “Okay mack daddy, we’re going to see just how many women celebrate this getup you got on,” Marshall said as he stepped onto the boat. He then opened the door and walked into the lower level of the boat where the party had already gotten started. The lights were dim, the disco ball was lit and twirled around, casting shadows and a multitude of colors on everyone on the dance floor.

  “Oh, it’s jumping in here,” Kevin said as he popped his fingers to “Dance to the Music” by Sly & the Family Stone.

  Marshall turned around and checked out all the smiling faces that stood in the food line, stuffing their plates with shrimp, crab legs, pasta and any and everything else to be had. He looked at the display table which held small, medium and large-size posters with designs that Windham Enterprises had done for clients the previous year. Marshall had been against the whole idea of a display table, but year after year, new clients contacted their firm because of the information they obtained from that table. At this very moment, he counted ten people hovering around the display table, and not just any ten people...ten people who were not current clients of Windham Enterprises. “Danetta has set it off up in here.”