“Wasn’t he a teacher?”
“Yes. He was the technology teacher at the high and middle schools. If there was a problem with a computer, you just had to call Mr. Wilson, and he’d solve it in a matter of minutes.”
“Maybe he should advertise in theClarionthat, as an IT specialist, he’s available to troubleshoot and fix computers.”
“That’s a wonderful idea,” Reese said. “Why don’t you approach him about it?”
“No, Reese. The man’s a chauvinist, and it would sound better coming from you now that you’re besties.”
“We’re not besties, Cherie.”
“Well, you two seemed to have a lot to talk about whenever there was a commercial.”
“That’s because he was my teacher in high school. We were reminiscing about some of his colleagues who were teaching during his tenure.”
“And because of that connection, it would sound better if you talked to him.”
“I’ll think about it. Wait a minute. Are you suggesting this for Andy or for Bettina?”
Cherie kissed Reese’s bare shoulder. “Both.” She told him about Bettina complaining that she’d become her husband’s personal maid since his retirement.
“That’s a lot to ask of anyone, especially your wife, if you’re not an invalid.”
“That’s a lot to ask of any woman, even if she’s not your wife.” Cherie countered.
“I’d never do that to you, Cherie.”
“I know you wouldn’t, because I’m not the one to wait on a man hand and foot.”
“Is that why you broke up with your ex?”
Cherie closed her eyes and exhaled a soft sigh. She still wasn’t ready to reveal the circumstances behind the breakup with Weylin. “No. I told you he’d decided to marry someone else.”
Reese shifted positions until he was facing her. “What was there about her that made him choose her over you?”
The glow from the table lamp wouldn’t allow Cherie to make out Reese’s features because his back was to the light. “Money. She had the right pedigree, and I didn’t.”
“That’s crazy!”
“No, it’s not, Reese. People from different social classes rarely marry one another. First, they don’t circulate in the same social circles, and if a man or woman wants to marry up, they continually must prove their worth. It hadn’t mattered that I’d been granted a full academic scholarship to a prestigious prep school and then Yale, because I still was Cherie Renee Thompson from the ghetto, although I could walk their walk and talk their talk.”
Reese dipped his head and brushed his mouth over hers. “Their loss and my gain.”
She smiled. “Before you turn off the lamp, I want you to open the drawer in the bedside table.”
“What’s in there?”
“Open it, and you’ll see.”
Reese untangled their limbs and turned and opened the drawer. “Damn woman! How many condoms did you buy?”
“As many different kinds as I could find. I didn’t know which brand you used, so you can have your pick.”
Throwing back his head, Reese laughed uncontrollably, and Cherie found it so infectious that she also laughed. That was something she’d rarely done with Weylin once they’d enrolled in college; she had been unaware he’d been conflicted because he was sleeping with one woman while knowing he was expected to marry another.
Reese was right. Losing Weylin was the best thing that had ever happened to her, because the man in her bed had given her a chance to live and love openly, without a hidden agenda.
“I know you have to go to work at eight, so if you get up early enough, I’ll make breakfast for you,” she said, after recovering from her laughing fit.
