Chapter Four

 

Micah hurriedly parked his car in the parking lot of the psychiatry center. He had been dodging Deidra since yesterday, but this morning he had seen her lurking at the front of the business center, waiting for him and he was afraid that she would follow him.

Then again, he probably shouldn't be concerned; the psychiatry center was the perfect place for her. He laughed silently at his thoughts. He was going to visit Taj for lunch and hopefully get some advice on what to do with Deidra.

He went through the glass door at the entrance and the smell of the new building hit him. There was still a very faint whiff of paint. There were three nurse/receptionists listening keenly to an older lady in a blue suit who seemed to be training them to use the switchboard. One of the trainees looked up and smiled.

"Hello, Mr. Bancroft."

"Hey, Simone," he said to her, she was a nursing student who had done a semester of work experience in the business center.

"We are not opened for business yet, Sir." She said apologetically.

Micah grinned. "I am not here for business. I am here to see my brother."

"Your brother!" Simone frowned.

"Dr. Taj Jackson." Micah said, a streak of pride flaming through him when he said that. He always savored calling Taj his brother. Besides, it felt good saying it in public. It seemed as if not everybody had heard the hot topic on campus that Dr. Ryan Bancroft, the interim president, was actually the father of Dr. Taj Jackson, the new Psych center head.

"Oh," Simone said still looking at him as if he was disoriented and in need of treatment. "He is in his office."

Micah nodded and looked around.

"Last office at the end of the corridor," she said to him helpfully.

He nodded and went through the reception area, almost stopping in mid-step. The interior, where he expected the office spaces to be, had a water fountain and several plants. He nodded and smiled to himself. It really looked peaceful. He could see that this would be a good place to come and de-stress, especially if feeling messed up in the head.

He headed down the corridor to a door that was slightly ajar. It had Taj's name on a brass nameplate.

He knocked and went in. The office was spacious. There were four people in the room. Taj, his girlfriend—Natasha—a man who was installing a sound system on a stepladder, and Deidra!

How did she know he was heading here? She was stretched out in a couch, which still had plastic on it, displaying an obscene amount of leg.

Taj was on his cell phone.

"It's busy in here. Micah said, backing out.

Deidra and Natasha looked up at him.

Natasha smiled and shook her head. "No... no, come in! I stopped by because I was in the neighborhood. I was wondering if Taj was free for lunch but heard that he was having lunch with you."

Deidra was looking at him intently—drinking him in with her chocolate brown eyes. "I heard from your secretary that you would be here so I just preempted you. We need to talk."

Micah shook his head. "I don't want to talk to you."

Taj ended the call and gave Micah an apologetic grin. "Maybe we can all have lunch together."

Micah shook his head vehemently—his fine locks shaking. "Nah, I'll pass."

Natasha nodded. "That's a good idea, for all of us to have lunch together."

Micah looked over at Deidra in disgust. "I am not having lunch with her!"

Taj looked from him to Deidra. "Let's go check out the new cafeteria. I actually asked the cafeteria head to prepare lunch for the staff here and give us a sample of the weekly menu. With more people to feed, we can give her more feedback. It's upstairs," Taj said grabbing his phone.

Micah frowned. He wasn't one to bow to peer pressure, and right now, he felt pressured. Deidra had stood up, her little blue jeans dress barely reached her mid-thigh and she was tugging it down and looking at him seductively while she did it.

He turned to follow Taj. "Okay I am coming."

They went to the new cafeteria. The plastic was still on these chairs as well. Taj chose a table that overlooked the courtyard at the back.

Micah looked around. It wasn't a large cafeteria, but the aesthetics were pleasant, with abstract paintings in pastel shades hanging tastefully on the wall. Everything was chosen for soothing the diner. Micah appreciated the fact that it didn't look or feel like a hospital or an institution.

"Whoever chose the decor did well," he said to Taj.

Taj smiled. "I just modeled it off the psychiatry center that I worked at before I came here."

An eager member of the kitchen staff came out with a tray of entrees while they sat and chit chatted. Micah was drumming his fingers on the table, while Deidra tried to get his attention by directing questions at him. They were questions he had no intention of answering.

"What's going on between you two?" Taj asked after one more of Deidra's futile attempts.

"She's a manipulative bitch," Micah said flatly.

Deidra gasped, tears springing to her eyes. "Why can't you like me? I love you!" she said passionately.

"God knows why," Micah snarled. "I have never encouraged you…I don't like you," he gritted out. "You are a nineteen year old prima donna with a crush…you chose the wrong guy to have a crush on!"

"You are my fiancé," Deidra said choked up, "and if you don't accept that, I am going to broadcast to all and sundry, what you did to me on Sunday!"

Natasha was looking between the two; her eyebrows rose inquiringly. "What did he do to you Deidra?"

Deidra looked at a mutinous Micah. "Are we going to get married or what? My answer depends on him agreeing to marry me."

Micah was chafing over her manipulation. He wanted to take her long hair and choke her with it—so great was his wrath—but his conversation with his father was still fresh in his mind. He hated the manipulation. He hated that this little spoilt brat thought that she could trap him in marriage with a trumped up story. She could probably get away with it too because her father was a big powerful senator who was richer than Midas. It only helped her cause that she had her father wrapped around her pinky.

He sighed and threw up his hand in the air. "Yes we are going to get married." He said reluctantly.

Deidra's face lit up with a smile; her plump pink lips highlighted by her extremely shine lip-gloss. He reluctantly conceded that she looked pretty—almost innocent—when she smiled.

"Then that's fine. I was thinking we should get married in December, before the Christmas holiday."

Micah raised his brow in consternation. "Why? I was thinking that a long engagement would be better. Maybe the next forty or so years, until you grow up."

"No." Deidra shook her head. "Stop playing. It was hard enough to get you to agree to marry me. I am not letting you get away with a long engagement."

Micah sighed. "Can we discuss this at another time?"

Deidra nodded. "Sure. I have the plans all sorted out. I am having six bridesmaids and a maid-of-honor. Would you like to choose the groomsmen and your best man?"

Micah shrugged. "Do I have to do that this minute?"

Deidra chewed her lip impatiently. "If you avoid me for the rest of the week, I am going to tell everyone what you did on Sunday."

Micah sighed. "My version or yours?"

Deidra stood up and leaned over the table. "What do you think? Is this evening okay for you?"

Micah grimaced. "Okay."

"Your office," Deidra said purposefully. "And you better be there."

"How can I not be?" Micah asked faintly. He was clenching his hand so tightly his short nails were digging into his palms.

Deidra smiled sweetly at Natasha and Taj. "Bye guys. Sorry I can't stay for lunch. I have a class. I am half hour late as it is."

"Bye." Both Taj and Natasha said in unison.

They both turned and looked at Micah as Deidra left the room, stomping away towards the door like a super model on a runway. Micah was gritting his teeth and looked visibly upset.

"What is it that she has over you?" Natasha asked concerned. "Obviously she is blackmailing you and having fun doing it. Did you rob a bank or something?"

Micah unclenched his fist. "Sometimes I feel like teaching that high-handed, cocky, vain, brat a lesson. Somebody should have given her a good spanking when she was little!"

Taj chuckled. "That's no way to talk about your wife to be."

Micah grimaced. "I expected empathy Doc, not mockery."

Natasha laughed. "So are you going to marry her?"

"Hell no!" Micah bellowed. "I would have to be drugged, tied up, and have a personality transplant first."

He looked at the entrees and got up. "Sorry Taj. My appetite has gone through the door with Deidra. Can we do lunch another time?"

Taj nodded. "Sure. What about dinner? I was planning to cook Thursday night."

Micah nodded. "Okay, cool. I will come over. Want me to bring anything?"

Taj shook his head.

Micah walked off and Taj watched him, turning back to look at Natasha. "I feel it for him. That girl is terrible. At least he is handling his anger well. "

Natasha frowned. "I wonder what kind of secret does Deidra have on Micah that is causing him to accept her blackmail. Must be something huge."

Taj shrugged. "It's that detective mind of yours that is causing you to see mysteries everywhere."

Natasha laughed. "By the way. Thanks to you, Penelope Harris stopped by the station to report that she was raped. We are hoping that others like her will come forward, if there are any more cases like that."

Taj nodded. "The office hadn't even opened yet and Penelope came here crying. What she went through was eating her up. I think she would get closure with justice. I hope you find whoever did this to her and of course I hope that others will come forward if this is a serial rapist."

Natasha pushed around her entree and then nodded. " I agree with you and so does my Supe; that's why I am here as a student again."

Taj smiled. "That's nice. So I get to see more of you?"

Natasha nodded. "I have a new partner too. He is a rookie, as green as ever. I think I miss Harry."

Taj linked his fingers with hers. "It will be nice to have you around again. I have been here barely three months but I feel especially close to you."

Natasha nodded. "Same here."

"Remember I told you about my high school girlfriend, April?"

Natasha stiffened. She felt unaccountably jealous whenever Taj mentioned her. She was not the jealous type but whenever Taj mentioned April he had a softened look in his eyes for the girl, and she didn't trust it.

Taj released her fingers and sat back in his chair. She'll be spending three days up here at the guesthouse near campus.

"Isn’t she married?" Natasha asked sharply, "and has a son?"

"Yes." Taj nodded.

"Are they coming too?"

Taj shook his head. "No, she's coming for work. Apparently, she is responsible for selling some property near the university. She'll be here for a little while, it would be nice to catch up with her."

"Is her husband comfortable with that?" Natasha asked skeptically.

"I am sure he is," Taj said gently, he had his psychiatrist voice on. "It's her job you know, she's into real estate."

Natasha frowned. "You still have a thing for her."

"No!" Taj said explosively. "I don't."

"Yes you do," Natasha said warming up to her theory. "When you call her name you say it reverently…April." Natasha said breathlessly imitating him.

Taj shook his head.

"Then say it." Natasha challenged.

Taj grinned. "This is ridiculous!"

"Say it." Natasha looked at him, daring him to prove her wrong. "Go on."

Taj shrugged. "April." His voice caught at the end of the last vowel. He cleared his throat.

Natasha shook her head wonderingly. "She must be some girl. How was it between you two? Some epic romance."

Taj was feeling hot under his collar. "Natasha, I haven't committed a crime. I am your friend, remember? Why are you interrogating me like a murder suspect?"

"Because I may not be a psychiatrist and able to read people at the drop of a hat, but I am sensing a denial here. Why don't you be honest with yourself? You still have a thing for April."

Taj sighed. "I mentioned her coming because I wanted you to meet her. This jealousy charge is totally uncalled for. April is one of my oldest friends. We went to high school together."

"Yes, I remember," Natasha said waspishly. "Your high school sweetheart. That's so cute."

Taj looked at her beautiful features. She had her hair in a loose ponytail and she didn't have on a scrap of makeup. Her fair skin was flushed and her eyes were flashing sparks at him. She was eaten up with jealousy.

He smiled inwardly—and yet she didn't want to declare any deep feelings for him. She was biding her time, taking it slow but April seemed to be her Achilles heel. She looked as if she was ready for war.

He hadn't even realized that he had a certain inflection to his tone when he called April's name. He guessed some habits died hard and just a little piece of him would always love April.

Just last year, when he called her for her birthday, he remembered thinking that he would marry her at the drop of a hat if anything happened to her husband, Shemar. Of course, he had squelched that thought. He had castigated himself for even letting the thought drift into his mind.

He got up and kissed Natasha hard on her lips.

"Stop being jealous. I'm with you, aren't I? April is out of bounds…she's happily married."

Natasha looked him in the eyes and nodded reluctantly.