But William and Bobby were already heading out of the back exit doors. Sloane clearly heard her, but she gave her a disgusted look. William kept his romantic life so private that even she, his private secretary, had no idea whom he slept with. Could she be one of the lucky ladies?
No way, Sloane thought. She was way too young, way too ethnic, and way too uncultured-looking for William to give her the time of day. Probably one of those crazed groupies who loved to stalk the rich, Sloane decided as she picked up her pen and hurried behind Bobby and the boss.
Security figured her to be a groupie or stalker too as they refused to let her go. A policeman, whose job was to hang around the major downtown office buildings to assist in moments like this, was retrieved from outside. He hurried inside where Security gladly turned her over to Police.
“You want her arrested?” the officer asked.
“Definitely,” said the lead guard.
But Joy was floored. “Arrested? On what charge? I’m here to see William. What did I do?”
“What’s the charge?” the cop asked Security.
“Public nuisance. Attempted assault on Mr. Skeffington. Resisting arrest.”
The cop knew most of those were bullshit charges. He looked at Joy. “You know William Skeffington?”
William was the namesake of the very building she was standing in? Was that the William she was looking for? “The man that I was trying to get to? Yes,” she said. “That’s who I’m here to see.”
“See. She confessed,” Security said. Then he pretended to shake the cop’s hand, but Joy could see him place money in that cop’s hand. “Now book her and haul her downtown. You saw what she did. You heard her confess.”
“Let’s go,” said the crooked cop who was now eager to arrest her.
“On what charge?” Joy asked again. “I didn’t do anything wrong! I’m here for a job interview. William told me to come!”
“Sure he did,” the cop said dismissively as he kept trying to put handcuffs on her.
But Joy continued to fight against those restraints and was pleading with the officer to do his job and go and ask William. That William would back her up.
But the security guard, tired of her insolence, threw her down onto that same marbled floor she had earlier found so beautiful, knocking the breath out of her, and then he put his knee on her back so that the policeman could cuff her and get her out of their august, respectable lobby.
When they threw her into the back of the patrol car, with those handcuffs tight behind her back, she wanted to break down. She wanted to bawl her eyes out and sob uncontrollablybecause what she thought was going to be a dream come true was turning into a nightmare.
But she didn’t shed not one single tear. She refused to give that crooked cop the satisfaction. She did nothing. She said nothing. Because she knew nothing she said was going to help her anyway. All she could think to do was pray. And she prayed. Unlike she had ever prayed before, she prayed.
And as that patrol car drove away from that big beautiful building with the beautiful flags flying full-staff out front, and with the patrol car’s sirens blaring, she’d give anything to be back at Maylene’s waiting tables, and joking around with the customers, and working double shifts as she struggled just to pay her rent.
She came to Chicago to get away from all of that. Now she couldn’t wait to get away from Chicago and get back to all of that.
In a matter of minutes, her life had come full circle.
CHAPTER TEN
THREE WEEKS LATERand Contessa and Tony Griffin, her longtime boyfriend, sat in their Astro van waiting for Z to come out of those prison gates.
“Where is he?” Tess’s voice was irritated. Tired. “He should have been out by now. We’ve been here for three hours already.”
Tony rolled his eyes. He was getting tired of her bitching. “It’s a prison, Tess. Hello? It’s a prison. They not gonna rush the process just because we’re waiting for somebody.”
“Then he shouldn’t have told us to be here at two if he knew it was gonna take this long for them to process him out.”
“How would he know how long it takes? They don’t tell him shit either. He’s on their clock. We’re on their clock. And that’s all there is to it. You just don’t wanna be here.”
“Damn right I don’t. You know how he treated Joy. I feel like I’m betraying her by being here.”
“I know how you feel. I love Joy too. And it’s messed up that she’s still in jail while he’s getting out. But me and Z been kickin’ it since we were kids.”
“He beat up an old lady, Tony.”
