After All Read Free

beautiful woman, eh? I understand.” Ike Batiste
strolled up.
    Michelle stiffened at the appearance of
Anthony’s uncle. The thud of her heart now signaled a very
different reaction, one of loathing and suppressed
wrath.
    “ Uncle Ike, you remember
Michelle Toussaint. We went to school together. McKinley High and
Southern University.” Anthony placed a hand on the arm of the tall
man who joined them.
    “ Ah, yes. Our star reporter.
How are you, honey?” Tall and distinguished, Isaac Batiste was
handsome in a hard way. His hair was a salt and pepper gray. His
tan brown skin shone as if polished. Leaning forward to kiss her he
blinked when she stepped back.
    “ Mr. Batiste. Of course you
remember me. I'm sure you remember my father, too.” Michelle's
expression hardened.
    “ Of course. Well, Anthony
they're waiting for us, son. Hurry along. Bye, now.” Ike smiled at
a point over her shoulder before walking away.
    “ Be there in a
minute.”Anthony turned back to Michelle.”So Wednesday is a good
day, huh?”
    “ I don't think so. I forgot
I'm working on a big story that's going to keep me tied up for
quite a while.” Michelle stood erect and unyielding.
    “ Come on now,
Chelle.”
    “ I said I'm going to be too
busy.”
    “ Listen, this is about us,
not Uncle Ike.”Anthony's jaw tightened.
    “ He's the same. Still oozing
greasy charm.” Michelle grimaced as though the taste of something
sour was on her tongue.
    “ Michelle, don't start that
again. Uncle Ike is a good person. He's been like a father to me,
more than my own Father.” Anthony’s tone was a plea to forget the
past.
    “ And you still have on those
blinders, don't you? You think I can just forget the past? After
what he did to my family? Not likely. You breeze in here asking me
to have dinner with you after the way you slammed me when I was
down. Man, you both have egos the size of the Grand Canyon. Forget
it.”
    “ Talk about people not
changing. You see only what you want to see. It was all in your
mind, Michelle. I cared about you. You pushed me away.”
    “ I was sick of hearing you
be a one man cheerleading squad for that slime bucket. He tried to
ruin my father.”
    “ Your father was having
financial problems that had nothing to do with Uncle Ike. You know
that.”
    “ What the hell do you know
about my father's finances? Look, I'm not going to debate this with
you. We went through this six years ago. Goodbye.”Michelle picked
up a stack of files and stormed off. She almost crashed into one of
her best friends.
    “ Whoa! Don't run over me,
child.” Laree's eyes grew big as she looked past Michelle.” Hey,
there's Anthony. Hi-- he's leaving. Man, I didn't get a chance to
speak to him.”
    “ So what? You're late,
Laree. If you'd had your butt here on time I'd have been outta
here.” Michelle's pursed her lips in annoyance. She threw the files
down on Earl's desk, then realizing she still needed them, picked
them up and marched back to her desk.
    “ Get up off my back, girl.
You said eleven. It is now ten minutes past the hour. I was on
time. It just that you were into your thing with Anthony. Don't
take it out on me.”
    “ What's up? Let's celebrate.
Girlfriend did a job on the news. Go on with your bad self,
Chelle.” Shantae did a little dance in front of
Michelle.
    “ Careful, honey. She just
dumped on me,” Laree sat on the edge of a desk.
    Laree Holland and Shantae LeJeune had
been Michelle’s best friends since the fourth grade when all three
jumped rope in the playground. Laree was the office manager at a
local plumbing supply business. Shantae was a sales manager at a
local department store with an ambition to become a buyer. They had
planned to treat Michelle to dinner in honor of her Saturday debut
as anchor.
    “ Say what?”Shantae eyed
Michelle. “Why is your mouth all stuck out. We're supposed to be on
our way to par-tee, and you look like somebody sucking on lemons.”
Shantae flipped back her long red