“Damn it, Alex, why are you doing this to yourself when you’ve come so far?”
“Hmph.” Alex grimaced, then fixed her with a frosty smile. “Obviously not far enough for you.”
“Alex—”
“Get out.”
Topaz accepted that there was no way she could get through to him. She raised her hands to signal defeat and backed away. She left the office as quietly as she had entered.
Alone in the room, Alex bowed his head and massaged the tension at the base of his neck. “Damn,” he whispered.
“Damn it to hell! Who decided to do that? Tell me who in the world called that dumb-ass play!”
George Scarborough sat pounding his desk. His light green eyes were glued to the ten-inch portable positioned beneath the counter. “You don’t pitch to a guy who gets a homer on you every time. You walk him ...” George sang in a matter-of-fact tone.
“Calm down, George, they’ll make it to the play-offs.”
George looked away from the baseball game and smiled. “Long time no see, man!”
Alex grinned as he leaned across the security counter to shake the guard’s hand.
“What’s been goin’ on, man?” George asked.
Alex shrugged. “Workin’.”
“I heard that. How’s Miss E doin’?”
Alex stopped short. “Topaz?”
“Mmm, she runs in and out of here so fast these days, I hardly get the chance to speak,” George explained, not noticing Alex’s reaction.
Alex didn’t know what to say. He was sure Topaz would have already told everyone the engagement was off.
“How the wedding plans going?”
“Plans?”
George laughed. “Yeah, that sounds about right. I know the feelin’. Man, I was so out of it when we were plannin’ our wedding ... felt like I was caught up in a tornado.”
Alex shook his head, deciding it would be up to him to set things straight. “George—”
“Yeah, I was no good to my wife. Thank God she loved all the plannin’ and all I had to do was show up,” George was saying as he ushered Alex to the elevators. “Go on up, man,” he instructed.
“Um, George, don’t you think you should buzz in and let her know I’m down here?” Alex suggested.
“Don’t worry ’bout it, I’ll let her know you’re on the way,” George promised, clapping a hand to Alex’s shoulder as he ushered him inside the elevator car.
During the ride up, Alex took several deep breaths. He hadn’t felt quite so uneasy in a very long time. It had taken him almost a week to work up the nerve to go see her. He wouldn’t back out now. She deserved an apology—a damn good one for the way he’d treated her.
She was amazing, he thought. She still wanted to help him after everything else that had happened. She offered him an ear to listen and he thanked her by ordering her out. For a moment, he considered leaving—his courage slowly deserting him.
Just then, the elevator doors opened in the living room of Topaz’s condo. Alex paused, hearing the affecting rhythms of the music filling the air.
“EPMD?” he whispered.
The classic rap CD was the perfect accompaniment during Topaz’s workout. She had taken to her punching bag more frequently over the last few weeks. The bag creaked on the heavy chain that suspended it in the workout room just off from the living room. Topaz punished the bag with heavy kicks and fierce punches.
Alex stood motionless, just past the room’s doorway. He watched her bounce, bob, and weave around the bag as she considered her next shot. Clearly, she had scores of energy and a lot of anger to burn. Of course, he could easily relate.
The forty-minute workout had reached its end. Topaz pressed her forehead against the bag and took several deep breaths. She then moved away as though she were reluctant to do so. On weighted feet, she dragged herself deeper into the condo—toward her bedroom. Alex followed unnoticed and unheard, thanks to the music that still pulsed throughout the house. His eyes never left Topaz. He watched as she moved down the dim hallway, removing articles of clothing as she walked. He paused in the bedroom of the doorway, looking on as she removed the tie from her ponytail and shook the lengthy black mass around her shoulders.
Exhausted, Topaz flopped onto the bed. Reveling in the feeling of being completely nude, she stretched on the bed. She reached for the remote lying along the shelf above the headboard. One click silenced the music. Topaz sighed amid the quiet and indulged in another languid stretch as she raked her fingers through her damp hair.
The unconsciously seductive act forced a tortured moan past Alex’s lips. Topaz shrieked, instantly alert as she jerked up on the bed to crouch on her knees. A pillow partially shielded her nudity from the unexpected visitor.
“Alex!” she gasped, her eyes as wide as small moons.
“Shh ... I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” he said in a hushed tone as he ventured closer.
“What are you—”
“George said he was going to buzz you. I guess you couldn’t hear over the music.”
Topaz was still breathing heavily as she struggled to calm herself. “George?” she parroted between gasps.
