Chapter Thirteen

 

Natasha left her new job at Media Room 3, dejected. She had followed Penelope around all day as she looked for clues; checking out all the males in the vicinity trying to see if any of them loved gum and had a hoarse voice. She found out quickly that everybody in the place chewed gum.

They sat around their computers and chewed gum incessantly while they cracked jokes, and constantly fussed about who was not following the storyboard.

So much for that being a clue. She was no closer to finding out who was the rapist than she was this morning.

She glanced at her phone. It had vibrated periodically during the day and she had been told to turn it off—no phones were allowed in Media Room 3.

She had six missed calls from Taj. She smiled slightly. She had almost forgotten that they had a quarrel earlier—their first quarrel in their fragile new relationship. She had to remind herself sometimes that they had only known each other for eight weeks. In the past couple of days, she had been insanely jealous of his high school sweetheart, had a quarrel with him and had cruised through significant life and career events with Taj.

She went into her car tiredly and started to drive home to her apartment, a spacious one-bedroom apartment that was relatively close to the school. Her intention was to have a warm shower, to shake the chilly effect of the October breeze, call back Taj and apologize for completely blowing her top earlier.

When she drove up to her apartment building and spotted Taj's car a bolt of happiness hit her. He was leaning on his car and glancing at his watch. A smile of relief flooded his face as he gazed at her coming out of her car.

"I thought you weren't answering my calls from this morning because you were mad at me. I came by to see you."

Natasha laughed. "No, I came back here to shower and then after I'd call you to apologize. I was stuck in Media Room 3 for most of the evening."

Taj walked up to her and gazed into her eyes. They were almost nose-to-nose. "I am sorry."

"I am sorry too," Natasha said softly. "I didn't mean to blow my top. I don't believe that Micah is guilty either."

Taj smiled. "That's a change."

"Come up and I'll explain it to you," Natasha said moving away from him and heading to her apartment, which was on the ground floor—apartment 1B. It had come furnished, but was one of those basic apartments. Natasha had made no move to personalize it. She hardly spent time there anyhow.

She sat on the leather settee and Taj followed her.

"I was going to bathe." She put her head on his shoulder. "Preferably in hot water."

Taj chuckled. "I was going to ask you out to dinner."

"I am too tired to go anywhere," Natasha said wearily.

Taj held her chin and kissed her lightly. The kiss deepened and Taj growled low into his throat. He broke the kiss. He kissed her all over her honey toned face and then her closed eyelids.

"I had doubts about the two of us when April stopped by."

Natasha's eyes flew open.

He put a finger on her lips. "I think I am going through a mini-denial because I am thinking that what we have is real. Because the last real relationship I had was with April. I got the lines blurred a little. I felt nostalgic. I haven't loved anyone since April."

Natasha cleared her throat. "And now?"

"Now," Taj said, taking her hand and placing it on his heart. "Now I am saying I love you Natasha. I read a quote today, it said 'one's first love is always perfect until one meets one's second love.'"

Natasha licked her lips. "I love you too. Is it supposed to be so sudden, so overwhelming, this feeling? I don't think I have ever loved anybody before, not even the guy I used to live with. "

Taj placed his forehead on hers. "Don't fight it. It's the best feeling in the world. I love you back. I am vulnerable to you as you are to me. I want us to last."

 

***

Micah woke up at 5:15 am. The fog was heavy outside. He sat on his verandah in the cold air, shirtless, with a cup of herbal tea cupped in his palms. He had to call Deidra today and have her come into his office.

His lawyer had confirmed that he left a video recording device in a package at his office that was small enough to be unobtrusive and could record Deidra, in living colors, carrying on with her antics and hopefully admitting that she wasn't raped.

He hoped that she would be in fine form today, throwing her lustful self at him, because he had nightmares and heart palpitations just thinking about jail.

He would call her at nine. Tuesdays in the second week of October weren't that busy at the business center. He got up from his porch and stretched. Then he headed inside to get ready. He felt like putting on a dress shirt today. He only had one in his entire closet. He needed to look professional for this meeting.

Micah let himself into his office. His desk was crowded with yellow stickers containing messages to which he needed to attend. He glanced at some of them and then at the clock. He had two hours to call Deidra and hoped not to get too distracted so that he would forget.

He decided to call her at 8:30. He dialed her number and waited patiently on the line while it rang.

"Hello," Deidra cautiously answered the phone.

"Deidra," Micah said injecting some joy in his tones. He had to act now for dear life. "I was wondering. Can I see you this morning?"

"Why?" Deidra was on her way to the school, the phone was propped up at one side of her ear as she opened the car door.

"Because I want to apologize," Micah said, his deep husky voice washing over her, almost making her tremble.

"O...okay," Deidra grinned getting into her car. "When do you want to see me?"

"How about now?" Micah said glancing at the angle of the camera. He had perched it on his file cabinet, directly across the desk.

"Oh sure," Deidra said happily. "You know, I thought you would be mad with me."

"Oh shush," Micah said quickly. "I can't be mad at you for long. Just come over to my office. Let's talk."

He hung up the phone and started tapping his fingers on the desk. After this performance, he should be receiving a Daytime Emmy Award.

He rolled up the cuffs of his black dress shirt and waited impatiently for Deidra to arrive. He checked three times to see that the camera was on and rolling—it had twelve hours of recording time on it.

He almost jumped when a subdued looking Deidra—in her customary tight short outfit—came into his office.

She smiled at him shyly. "Hi Micah."

"Hi," Micah cleared his throat, conscious that the camera was there and uncomfortable because Deidra's hard shell looked like it was cracking. She looked soft and different, almost normal. She didn't even seem as if she had the wealth of make-up that she normally wore and absolutely didn't need. She looked young and vulnerable. She had none of the overly confident, self-serving expression that she usually had.

"I am the one that should apologize to you Micah." Deidra stood up, her expression uncertain. "You are not going to believe this but yesterday I told the police that you raped me."

"What?" Micah asked feigning alarm. "Why did you do that?"

"I was angry when you refused to kiss me," Deidra said, shaking her head. "And when you left the house I took off my panties and threw it under your bed. I intended to set you up, but I swear I changed my mind after," Deidra said contritely, "but I snapped in the morning and just like that I blurted out some lies. Charlene called the police and I told more lies and this whole thing has gotten away from me. I think the police will soon contact you and lock you up."

Micah almost jumped for joy. He was home free. He almost glanced over at the video camera to ensure that it was still recording but stopped himself.

"Deidra," he said firmly, "you have to get counseling. Taj reliably informed me that the grand opening of the psych center will take place at the end of the week. Sign up for a psychiatrist. This kind of extreme emotion and throwing yourself at me can't be healthy."

Tears sprang to Deidra's eyes. "It's just that when I look at you I really really like you and you don't like me back. I get so angry. I want to force you to like me. I want to be tied to you somehow. It's like a pain in the region of my heart."

Micah was about to pat her on the hand but he backed off. What did he know about this kind of situation?

Nothing.

He looked at Deidra and shook his head.

"I am sorry Deidra. I think you have some growing up to do before we can have a healthy relationship. People are not toys. You can't wind them up or threaten them and expect them to jump at your bidding. You have to respect personal boundaries and be kind to others."

Deidra nodded.

She grabbed her bag and opened the door. "I am sorry again Micah. I really am."

Micah nodded and watched as she exited the room—her perfume lingering, almost making him feel sorry for her. He shook off the feeling and said a silent prayer of thanks to God. He wasn't going to jail.