“What?” Derrick shrugged. “I’m not as shallow as I seem?”
“You said it,” Adam replied. “I didn’t.”
“I can be deep when I want to, Adam. The problem is, the people around me don’t always give me the chance to let my deeper side show.”
The seriousness in Derrick’s voice tugged at something in Adam, making him turn around and take a long look at his friend. It was true, Derrick was the laid-back jokester in their bunch, never taking himself, or anyone else, too seriously. As Adam looked beyond Derrick’s smile, he saw a glimmer of pain on the man’s face.
That pain included Adam because he knew he’d been one of many people who had obviously misjudged Derrick.
“Derrick, I’m sorry.”
Derrick shrugged, his smile growing wider attempting to douse the discomfort Adam had glimpsed a moment ago. “For what?”
“For being one of the foolish people in your life who never truly appreciated all of you.” He gripped Derrick’s shoulder, attempting to convey things he knew his words would never fully explain. “I’m one of your best friends. More than anyone, I should be able to see all of you.”
Derrick dropped his head slightly, closing his eyes and taking a deep, steadying breath before he met Adam’s eyes again. When he did, Adam saw nothing but compassion filling them, a testament to how big and forgiving Derrick’s heart was.
“I don’t often show people that side of me. Caring too much only gets you hurt.”
Adam wanted to say something more, dig deeper to get to the crux of what Derrick was talking about. Showing his perceptive side again, his friend must have sensed Adam’s intention because he swiped Adam’s hand off his shoulder and walked over to the large round box sitting on Adam’s desk.
“Tonight’s not about me, man.” Derrick opened the box, pulling out a large magenta porkpie hat and presenting it to Adam. “It’s about you doing everything you can to get your woman back. You do this right, and I promise Janae will be at least open to talking to you again.”
Adam couldn’t believe he was betting everything he wanted on that pink-purplish throwback from 1969. As he stood there,questioning his own sanity, he realized he’d lost his relationship with his father and the woman he loved in the same day. At this point, losing his pride shouldn’t concern him if it gave him a chance at winning back Janae.
He took the hat from Derrick and turned back to the mirror and placed it slowly atop his head. With his long locs pulled into a low-sitting ponytail at the nape of his neck, the hat fit perfectly.
“I think I’m ready,” Adam said, staring at his reflection.
Derrick walked up behind him, shaking his head. He reached out, tilting the hat so that the right side dipped lower than the left. He stepped back admiring his handiwork. “Now you’re ready.”
Adam had to agree. As silly as he thought he looked in a light brown paisley shirt with large lapels paired with bell-bottom slacks of the same color and a purple suede vest with fringe hanging off the edges, that wide-brimmed hat seemed to bring everything together.
He was admiring himself when his office phone rang. Even when he was officially off the clock, it seemed he was never off duty in this place.
“Hello, Dr. Henderson speaking. How may I help you?”
“Dr. Henderson, this is Marq Sanders, James’ father.”
Adam’s fingers tightened around the phone. He didn’t need the clarification. He knew exactly who Marq Sanders was to both James and Janae.
“Lt. Col. Sanders. How may I help you?”
“If it’s not too much of an imposition, I was hoping I could come up to your office and speak to you briefly before the variety show begins.”
Adam quickly contemplated Marq’s request. The tone of the man’s voice didn’t alarm Adam in any way. Yet, Adam could only surmise this was about how Adam had botched up his relationship with Janae.
“Sure. I’ll call the front desk to get you clearance. Come right up.”
Adam turned around to find Derrick’s eyes lasered on him. “Was that Janae’s ex?”
“Yeah,” Adam answered.
“What did he want?”
“To talk to me,” Adam replied. When he saw Derrick open his mouth to ask a follow-up question, Adam held up his hand to stop him. “He didn’t state what he wants to talk about. Given that I don’t have any direct contact with James from an academic standpoint, and considering the circumstances between Janae and me, I can only assume he wants to chew me out about how I mucked things up with her.”
Derrick’s brow furrowed as he peered at Adam. “And you just invited him up? This dude is military, you don’t think he’s coming up here to try to turn you into a pretzel?”
