Donna Hill - If I Were Your Woman

“If you thought for a minute that I was going to let your affair with my husband, the father of my children, slide by without a fight—think again.”

“I don’t want your husband. I told you and I told him as much. Don’t call—”

“If you think this is over, you are sadly mistaken,” she said, her voice suddenly dropping to an eerie monotone.

The dial tone suddenly hummed in Stephanie’s ear. Stunned, she slowly hung up the phone, staring at it as if the instrument were the true offender.

“Crazy bitch,” she muttered, then vigorously rubbed the goose bumps that swiftly rose along her arms like an attack of hives.

She pushed up from the bed and marched across her bedroom floor, uttering a string of expletives all directed at Mrs. Conrad Hendricks.

Stephanie had never met the woman and Conrad never brought her to any company events, which at the time was fine with Stephanie. She was pretty sure she would have been hard-pressed to pull off an innocent act while chatting with the woman whose husband she was sleeping with.

She’d seen pictures of Marilyn. An average-looking white girl: big boobs, blond and blue-eyed, rosy cheeks and a toothy grin. She looked like she could easily play in a commercial for shampoo or something. Not overly pretty but good-looking enough.

Stephanie went into the bath for a long hot shower, determined to wash all thoughts of Marilyn and her husband out of her system.

It was a little past noon when Stephanie arrived at Pause for Men. The 125th Street four-story brownstone was innocuous enough from the outside, but the inside was a masterpiece. The ground floor housed reception and registration along with a cozy health food café, an exercise room, and backyard dining when the weather was nice. On the parlor floor was the weight room and treadmills, complete with personal trainers. The third floor held several lounge rooms with soft music piped in—a great place to relax and chat. The top floor was a full apartment, which Ellie, one of the four coowners, occupied since leaving her philandering husband of twenty-five years. The basement level held the steam and massage rooms, as well as a Jacuzzi and the Pause office.

Every time Stephanie walked into Pause she was overwhelmed by what four friends had accomplished after a few drinks and a dream. Even in the middle of the workweek, the exclusive spa for men only was busy. After less than a year in business they already had a waiting list.

Drew Hawkins, the security guard they’d recently hired, was at the door. His presence immediately brought to mind why they’d had to hire him in the first place—Conrad Hendricks.

Stephanie tugged in a breath. “Hey, Drew. How’s it going?” She forced a smile.

“Busy as usual, but quiet.”

“Uh, no uninvited guests?” Her gaze darted around the space, then settled back on Drew.

“Nope.” His brow crinkled. “You okay? Everything cool?”

“Yeah. Sure.” She started to walk off, then changed her mind. She looked up at him. “Listen, if…” She shook her head. “Never mind.”

He touched her upper arm. “Don’t worry about anything, Ms. Moore. Nobody is coming past me who’s not supposed to.”

She pressed her lips into a tight smile. “Thanks.” She gave a short bob of her head to punctuate her appreciation, then headed to the front desk. An instant before she arrived, a hand clasped her shoulder and she yelped in fright. She spun around only to come face-to-face with Barbara.

“Relax, girl. What has you all wound up?”

Stephanie pressed her hand to her chest and shook her head at her own foolishness. “Sorry. You startled me, that’s all.”

Barbara pursed her lips. “You sure that’s all it is?”

“Yes. I’m sure.” She took a moment and actually looked at Barbara. “You changed your hair!”

Barbara grinned like she’d won something and did a slow pirouette. “You like it?”

“Love it, very becoming. The short look is definitely in and it does wonders for you.”

“Why, thank you, my dear.”

Barbara Allen was the mastermind behind Pause for Men, but more important, she was the voice of reason for the quartet of friends.

Stephanie put her leather briefcase on top of the registration desk and leaned her hip against it. She folded her arms. “And what does Wil think about this new look?”

Barbara scrunched up her nose. “He hasn’t seen it yet.” She lowered her voice. “Just had it done this morning. You think he’ll like it?”

“Well, if he doesn’t you can always buy some hair until it grows back.”

Barbara tossed her head back and laughed. “You got that right.” She slowly sobered. “We really need to have a girls’ night. She added with a chuckle, “So much has been going on, between broken engagements, divorces, new men, old men, we need to catch up. We haven’t had a night for just us since we all got back from our romantic getaways. And this place keeps us all so busy.”

“You know, you’re absolutely right. We do need some ‘we’time. How about this weekend?”

“Fine with me. I’ll check with Ann Marie and Elizabeth.”

“Would you mind if I invited Terri to join us?”

“It’s okay by me. What’s one more plate?”

“Great. As a matter of fact, she’s meeting me here today around one. I’ll mention it to her.”

“Okay, well, let me get busy. I took a half day from the hospital. One of my regular clients can’t make it in the evenings. So I told him I’d squeeze him in during the lunch hour. He should be here any minute.”

“Barbara, when are you going to quit your job? You’re killing yourself running back and forth like this.”

Barbara heaved a sigh. “I know, girl, I know. But to tell you the truth, I’m still in shock about the spa. Some days I wake up and can’t believe we actually did it and that it’s making money. I guess there is that old-school part of me that firmly believes never to put all my eggs in one basket. My job at the hospital is secure. But even though I hit fifty, I’m too young to retire and get my full pension. Anyway, I love what I do. I like my coworkers.” She shrugged. “So I guess I’ll do both for as long as I can.”

“Hmm, that makes sense especially about the retirement part and wanting to ensure your future.” She looked into Barbara’s all-wise eyes. “That’s why it’s so important for me to make my own business work. I want that same kind of security, ya know.” Her eyes zipped around the room.

“I totally understand, sis. And we’re behind you. So don’t even worry about it. How is everything working out?”

“Well, once Terri and I work out the terms of our partnership we can get busy.” She pulled in a breath and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “I have several clients pending and of course we still have the ‘Pause Man’ campaign.”

Barbara tilted her head to the right side. “Are you sure something isn’t bothering you, Steph? You seem edgy.”

“No, really, I’m fine.” It was bad enough that the reason why they had to hire security for the spa was that Conrad decided to show up there and they didn’t want any trouble. The last thing she needed the girls to know was that she was still being harassed, maybe threatened by his wife now. She told them weeks ago that she was going to have her number changed. But she hadn’t gotten around to it. She’d figured that once they were served with the restraining order, her harassing phone calls and Conrad’s impromptu visits would stop. She’d stayed at Tony’s place for a few weeks and had only recently started staying back at her own apartment.

“Well, for the record, I don’t believe you. So if and when you want to talk, I’m ready to listen.” She gave her a smile and a pat on the shoulder before walking off toward the massage rooms on the lower level.