my dinner to the kitchen table. No sooner had I sat down than my cell phone rang. I glanced at the caller ID. Alexis. Wonderful.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Plato. How are you?” Alexis’s tone was uncharacteristically perky, which made me suspicious. She used this tone only when she wanted something from me, or when she had unpleasant news to deliver. I wasn’t up for either.
“I’m good. Couldn’t be better. What’s up?”
“Nothing. I just called to check on you. I was worried.”
She called to check on me? No. I didn’t believe it. Alexis never called just to check on me. She definitely had something up her sleeve. “Oh, really?”
“Yes,” Alexis said. “I wanted to see where your head is, regarding the whole engagement thing.”
I sighed, almost inaudibly. This again. I should’ve known. “I’m happy for you and Corbin. I thought I expressed that last time we talked.”
“His name is Calais. And I didn’t believe you. I still don’t believe you.” There was an undercurrent of annoyance in Alexis’s voice. She tried to hide it, but I was on to her.
She hadn’t called for my benefit. She’d called to flaunt her engagement in my face some more. She wanted me to get angry. Wanted me to tell her not to get married, to leave her fiancé and come back to me. She wanted to hear me beg. Wanted to know that I was hurting. I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction.
“Sorry to hear that.” I took a bite of food. It was scorching hot. Fanning my mouth with my hand, I reached for my drink only to realize that I didn’t have one. I got up to get a bottle of water from the fridge.
“Why won’t you be honest with me?” she asked.
“I am.” I opened the bottle of water and took a sip.
“You know what I mean. If you have a problem with me and Calais getting married, then you should just say so.”
“And what would that accomplish?” I asked, sitting back down.
There was a pause on the other end.
“I don’t know,” Alexis said after a time. “But I’m sure having those feelings out in the open would make everyone feel a lot better about the situation.”
“In addition to massaging your ego,” I mumbled.
“What was that?”
“Nothing. Look Alexis, I’m right in the middle of dinner. Can we talk about this later?”
“I guess,” Alexis said. Then she gasped, and her tone suddenly turned excited. “Oh yeah. There was something else I wanted to tell you. I was at the grocery store earlier today, and guess who I ran into. Hermes! You know, the God.”
I frowned, my fork poised over a chunk of green bell pepper. “I’m familiar with him.”
“He told me I was beautiful. So beautiful that he just had to stop and introduce himself.”
“Was he looking at you or into a mirror?”
“Oh, shut up.” Alexis laughed. “Anyway, he seemed really nice. And he said he knew you, which was strange because I didn’t even bring up your name. Isn’t that exciting?”
My insides turned to ice. “Very. Listen, Alexis. I have to go now.”
“Oh. Well, all right. Talk to you later, I guess.”
“Bye.” I ended the call, took Hermes’s business card out of my wallet, and punched in the number. His phone rang five times before going to voice mail. After the tone, I said, “You stay away from Alexis, understand? Leave her out of this. You hear me? Leave her out of this.”
I hung up.
22
I was getting ready for work the next morning when someone knocked at the door. I was in such a hurry to get dressed that I opened the door without first looking through the peephole. Big mistake. Hermes stood across from me. At once, my annoyance level went from zero to seven digits.
Today, he wore a light-gray suit with a powder-blue shirt underneath. I couldn’t help wondering how many suits the guy owned. I had never seen him wear the same thing twice.
“Good morning, Mr. Jones.” Hermes’s smile was anything but genuine. “I hope you slept well.”
I smiled back at him, equally
“Hello?”
“Hi, Plato. How are you?” Alexis’s tone was uncharacteristically perky, which made me suspicious. She used this tone only when she wanted something from me, or when she had unpleasant news to deliver. I wasn’t up for either.
“I’m good. Couldn’t be better. What’s up?”
“Nothing. I just called to check on you. I was worried.”
She called to check on me? No. I didn’t believe it. Alexis never called just to check on me. She definitely had something up her sleeve. “Oh, really?”
“Yes,” Alexis said. “I wanted to see where your head is, regarding the whole engagement thing.”
I sighed, almost inaudibly. This again. I should’ve known. “I’m happy for you and Corbin. I thought I expressed that last time we talked.”
“His name is Calais. And I didn’t believe you. I still don’t believe you.” There was an undercurrent of annoyance in Alexis’s voice. She tried to hide it, but I was on to her.
She hadn’t called for my benefit. She’d called to flaunt her engagement in my face some more. She wanted me to get angry. Wanted me to tell her not to get married, to leave her fiancé and come back to me. She wanted to hear me beg. Wanted to know that I was hurting. I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction.
“Sorry to hear that.” I took a bite of food. It was scorching hot. Fanning my mouth with my hand, I reached for my drink only to realize that I didn’t have one. I got up to get a bottle of water from the fridge.
“Why won’t you be honest with me?” she asked.
“I am.” I opened the bottle of water and took a sip.
“You know what I mean. If you have a problem with me and Calais getting married, then you should just say so.”
“And what would that accomplish?” I asked, sitting back down.
There was a pause on the other end.
“I don’t know,” Alexis said after a time. “But I’m sure having those feelings out in the open would make everyone feel a lot better about the situation.”
“In addition to massaging your ego,” I mumbled.
“What was that?”
“Nothing. Look Alexis, I’m right in the middle of dinner. Can we talk about this later?”
“I guess,” Alexis said. Then she gasped, and her tone suddenly turned excited. “Oh yeah. There was something else I wanted to tell you. I was at the grocery store earlier today, and guess who I ran into. Hermes! You know, the God.”
I frowned, my fork poised over a chunk of green bell pepper. “I’m familiar with him.”
“He told me I was beautiful. So beautiful that he just had to stop and introduce himself.”
“Was he looking at you or into a mirror?”
“Oh, shut up.” Alexis laughed. “Anyway, he seemed really nice. And he said he knew you, which was strange because I didn’t even bring up your name. Isn’t that exciting?”
My insides turned to ice. “Very. Listen, Alexis. I have to go now.”
“Oh. Well, all right. Talk to you later, I guess.”
“Bye.” I ended the call, took Hermes’s business card out of my wallet, and punched in the number. His phone rang five times before going to voice mail. After the tone, I said, “You stay away from Alexis, understand? Leave her out of this. You hear me? Leave her out of this.”
I hung up.
22
I was getting ready for work the next morning when someone knocked at the door. I was in such a hurry to get dressed that I opened the door without first looking through the peephole. Big mistake. Hermes stood across from me. At once, my annoyance level went from zero to seven digits.
Today, he wore a light-gray suit with a powder-blue shirt underneath. I couldn’t help wondering how many suits the guy owned. I had never seen him wear the same thing twice.
“Good morning, Mr. Jones.” Hermes’s smile was anything but genuine. “I hope you slept well.”
I smiled back at him, equally
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