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"Trust me, Devin, he’s very real," she said, in a way that made me curious.
"Sounds like trouble in paradise."
"Nah, nothing like that. I don’t even feel like going into it."
"Okay, far be it for me to pry into your personal affairs."
Just then, Winston Hunter stuck his head in the door. "Good morning, Devin. Morning, Sandra."
"Morning, Winston," Sandra said, and got up.
"What’s up, Winston?"
"Let me get to work," Sandra said, and started to leave my office.
"I didn’t mean to run you off," Winston told her.
"You’re not. I have a lot to do this morning," she said, and turned to me. "We can go over what happened while you were gone anytime you’re ready," she commented, and left my office.
"How the was vacation?" Winston asked.
He and I were competing for partner at the firm. Typical blonde-haired, blue-eyed white boy who thought the world was his playground. But since he was the only guy there close to my age, Winston was my at work best friend.
"The vacation was fine. Had a good time," I said, and balled up Avonte’s number, and tossed it in the trashcan next to my desk. "How have things been going around here?"
Winston started to bring me up to speed on all of the goings on at the office during my absence. But I wasn’t listening. My mind was still on Avonte. I wanted Avonte bad. And I knew what calling her would mean. She’d made me feel excited and alive, you know, the way Taye used to. I looked at the picture of Taye on the corner of my desk. I loved Taye so much and had never cheated on her, but wondered how much more could I take.
I looked up at Winston, who had taken a seat, and was still going on about work. "So, did you and the Mrs. play nice together, or does a state of war still exist between the two of you?"
"Yeah, we got along okay," I lied.
"You know what, Devin, old buddy? It’s a good thing that you’re a tax attorney and not a trial lawyer."
"Why is that, Winston?"
"Because when you lie, it’s written all over your face. So come on, old pal of mine . . . the truth this time."
"Okay, if you really must know. I had a good time. I drank more than I should have. I took a twelve-hour deep-sea fishing cruise. Did some swimming, but no, Taye and I did nothing together but sleep in the same room. Oh, we did have a couple of meals together," I said, and my mi
nd returned immediately to Avonte.
"What?" Winston asked.
"What?"
"That smile."
"What smile?"
"That cat-that-swallowed-the-rat smile on your face when you talked about dinner. What was that all about?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing huh?" Winston said skeptically. "That look says it was much more than nothing."
"Okay. I did meet somebody while I was there. She was beautiful, vibrant, intelligent, and sexy as hell."
"Did you fuck her?" Winston asked with a horrified look on his face.