A Private Affair by Donna Hill Page A

trying to be a journalist.” She smiled. “I’m working for Lillian Ingram, the publisher of Today’s Woman magazine.”
    â€œNever heard of it.”
    â€œIt’s pretty local. Distribution is mostly in just the Village and lower Manhattan.” Maxine was making her nervous, for some reason. She felt a string of perspiration trickle down her spine.
    Maxine took a sip of water. Just great. So they had something in common. She was a writer, too. Pretty, intelligent and, by the looks of her clothes, she had money. And she actually seemed nice, much as she wanted to dislike her. She was starting to feel worse by the minute.
    Quinn ate his food, letting the ladies talk.
    They were getting along. That was cool. It seemed kind of tense at first, but he figured that was because Nikita was nervous about meeting Max. Probably figured Max was his woman or something. It seemed important to him all of a sudden that Max like Nikita. Not that he would back off if she didn’t. But he would like to know that she thought Nikita was okay. He realized she wasn’t the kind of woman Max was used to seeing him with, but hey—to better days.
    â€œSo where did you two meet?” Maxine asked, pushing the rest of her food aside.
    Quinn suspiciously eyed the half-full basket.
    Nikita turned toward Quinn and smiled. He slid his arm along the back of her chair, then turned toward Maxine. “We kinda ran into each other a coupla times. Still gettin’ to know each other.”
    â€œHow long have you two known each other?”
    â€œSince we were all in kindergarten together,” Maxine stated— real clear.
    â€œLong time. I wish I could say I had friends that went back that far.” The truth was that until her senior year in high school she’d never had time to cultivate friendships. She’d always attended all-white schools and they tolerated her, even pretended to like her, but they were never really her friends. Her parents pushed her so hard to excel at everything, and those few who weren’t pretend friends were just out-and-out envious of her achievements. Until she met Parris, she hadn’t known what it was like to really have a close female friend. Men, on the other hand, were never really a problem. It was just the type of men she attracted—or to be honest, those she allowed herself to be attracted to—who wouldn’t turn her parents inside out.
    â€œI need to be gettin’ home, Quinn,” Maxine said suddenly. “I’m beat, and I have an appointment in the morning.” Both things were lies, except for the part about her getting home. She rose and so did Quinn.
    â€œYou sure you’re okay, Max? You didn’t even finish eatin’.” He looked at her, but she turned away.
    â€œI’m fine, just tired.” She took a breath. “Nice to meet you, Nikita. Maybe I’ll see you again.”
    â€œYes. And good luck with your business.”
    â€œThanks.”
    She moved from behind the table and started to walk away.
    â€œHold up, Max. ’Scuse me, Nikita.” He walked away from the table and ushered Maxine farther away with a hand in the small of her back. “Whatsup with you? I brought you. I’m takin’ you home.”
    â€œI can get a cab, Quinn. It’s no big deal.”
    â€œIt’s not goin’ down like that, Max. Now you just wait here a minute. I’m takin’ you home. End of story.”
    She tried to act annoyed. “Okay. I’ll wait,” she said, secretly pleased that he’d have to leave Ms. Nikita sitting all by her lonesome.
    Quinn returned to the table and leaned over Nikita from behind, enveloping her with his hands braced on either side of her. Her heart began to race.
    â€œListen, I gotta run Maxine home. You wanna wait and I’ll come back for you, or what?”
    Her heart sank. “No. You go ahead. I have my car.”
    â€œIt’s still