The Breakfast Guest



Saturday Morning...TWO WEEKS LATER-

Olivia, Beverly, Nelson, Kayla and I were at a tony little breakfast joint that had just opened recently....

After We had finished the death row case...Liv and Bev had a series of cases...cases in which my investigative talents were put to work and to the test... Olivia had had two major cases that she had worked on with the Innocence Program in which she had gotten acquittals and a litigation involving yet another pharmecutical company...

She was happy to have a little breathing room...

Beverly or Shortcake as I affectionately called her had two cases of her own....Both acquittals and a litigation....Which was settled out of court...She too was happy to have some down time..

Even Nelson had been busy lately...Two cases here in Philadelphia and one across the bridge in Camden... I worked on that one with him and Liv and Beverly, working together for the first time in two weeks served as his second...Both cases and the Camden case ended in acquittals...

Such was the life of working Attorneys and me, An investigator....Former Cop.... I felt like I was still on the job sometimes...but I loved it...The pay was definitely better..

We picked Liv and Beverly's cousin, Kayla up...

Kayla had settled three large Litigations...One in which she got to work with her cousin Beverly on...Her boyfriend was out on the West coast...She was lonely for company...

"That's what family is for baby..and you know you're always welcome." said Olivia..hugging both her niece ,Beverly and their cousin, Kayla.. Her only family in the city..

"How'd you find this place?" asked Kayla..

Both Beverly and Olivia looked at me...

"You are quite the foodie...I need to seriously call you ,when I'm looking for fine dining..." laughed Kayla...

"I actually saw this on the news...I didn't find out about this from the musicians or actually dine here before this morning..."I said.

The spot was bright and pleasant looking and the waitresess were friendly and attentive..

"We ready to order?...I'm starving." said Nelson..

"Nothing New There" laughed Beverly, softly stroking his hand..

Just then we heard a familiar voice..

"Got room for one more?"

II-

We looked up and saw Zoey Easter...Olivia's former Divorce Attorney and our friend who we had worked with a few weeks ago...

"Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy girllie..Funny meeting you here...How's the new loft?" asked Olivia..

"How's the new man?" asked Beverly, laughing..

"I'm loving both..." she said, swooning like a school girl... "He's home today...but he was with me a few nights this week..." she said.

"Been in court since we last met?" I asked..

''As a matter of fact I have.. Thanks for all of the help you guys gave me...I had a civil case.. but it was tried in court...I was glad for the knowledge you guys dropped." she said.

"Pull up a seat girlie...There's an extra chair over there." said Kayla...

It was then that we heard another familiar voice...Elwood Barnes, Olivia's ex-Husband...

"My My...Look at this...I see everybody was watching the food report last night...Heh, heh, heh..I consider myself somewhat of a foodie...I just had to check out this new spot!  Is there another chair available?" laughed Elwood..

"Fortunately for us...There was only one last chair left and Zoey got it..." said Beverly icily...She nor anybody else wanted to dine with Elwood...

''What did I always say about Beverly's being seen and not HEARD!" he said snidely...

" How about Bum Asses like yourself not being seen or heard? Go somewhere else and not be seen or heard by us!" said Beverly....

Before Elwood could say something else...Olivia butted in...

"Something you want Elwood?" she asked.. She didn't want him ruining her brunch with her friends..

"Liv you look sensational in that dress...Donnie Ray, you'd better watch her man..."he laughed.. He peered at Zoey ,who looked very uncomfortable..

"My word...I'd get divorced all over again just to stare at you again.." he whispered....

Zoey didn't say a word....She was stone faced.. She wished he'd leave...Why did he have to be everywhere she was???.....She hadn't seen or heard from him since she'd moved...And now here he was again.

He then looked at Kayla..

He gushed at how sexy she was...

"I remember you...Kayla right? Olivia's cousin...You were in Atlanta for a spell." he said.

"Yes...I live and work here now..." said Kayla...Who remembered meeting him a few times when he was married to Olivia...She never told Olivia that he once tried to make a move on her...

When Liv and Elwood were married...Thinking she was drunk at a family event...It was the night she and Beverly had graduated from Law School...He kissed her in the lips in the bedroom when she was going to get her coat!...She had rebuffed his advance immediately... and had never been alone around him again...He tried to play it off as his being drunk...She thought he was a creep and was glad cousin Liv had divorced him and married a good man like me.

Elwood was only partially sober.. He had been up drinking the night before...His tailored suit was wrinkled. I noticed it...He partially smelled of alcohol...

He stood there staring at all of us..

 Zoey really looked uncomfortable...I could look at her and sense it...

 Even my wife, Olivia looked a little uneasy...

 Beverly looked a little uneasy...Like she wanted him to go away.

"Our food should be arriving soon." said Nelson ,trying to break the awkward silence..

III-

If there weren't enough guests at our table.. We heard another voice..

''Elwood...Elwood Barnes...What are you doing here?" said the young man...Attorney Calvin Hunt...

"Hunt? What are you doing in town?" laughed Elwood ,who embraced him..

 Beverly's eyes lit up....

''Calvin?? Calvin Hunt is that you?" she said.

 "Oh My God, Calvin Hunt....How long has it been?" said Olivia.. hugging him...

"Hi Calvin.." said Kayla , who kissed him softly in the lips..

She had dated him when they had all been in Law School together...It was short lived, but they remained good friends..

"You know Calvin? We worked together at DeLorean.." said Elwood..

''He and I worked together at the same law firm for about two years....He left before I did.." said Olivia..

"And Calvin, Kayla and I were in law school together..." said Beverly...."This is my boyfriend, Attorney Nelson East of Foxworth and Associates.." said Beverly...

"Pleased to meet you man..." said Nelson...

"And this is my husband...Donnie Ray Alexander, he's our investigator.." said Olivia..

I shook his hand...

"Pleased to meet you man." I said.

"Liv, Bev, Donnie Ray...You guys don't need an introduction...I follow you guys, I've seen you on the news... ....I tell people that I knew Livy and Bev way back when..."laughed Calvin Hunt....

"And Calvin and I used to date for awhile..."laughed Kayla... "This is our friend, Zoey Easter, She's also an Attorney.."said Kayla..

"Pleased to meet you." said Zoey smiling..

"She handled Auntay's divorce from uh him." said Beverly nodding towards Elwood...

"He told me he was married to Olivia...I couldn't believe it." laughed Calvin...

"I couldn't believe it either.. In fact I still don't want to believe it..." said Beverly...

Elwood glared at Beverly...

''Seen , but not heard, remember that?" said Elwood snidely...

"Why don't you become seen and not heard?  I think we've seen enough and heard enough of you for one morning." said Beverly.

"Oh My God!" said Olivia, trying to hide a laugh, but not being able to....

Zoey cracked up laughing...

The fact that both she and Olivia were laughing at him seemed to embarrass him greatly....He looked at Beverly...

 as though he wanted to strangle her......

"Uh, ruh,let me check on our food." I said ,trying to break up the tension....

"Your food is coming shortly.." said a waitress...

"So Cal, what are you doing now of days..?" asked Kayla.. Deftly changing the subject, sensing the tension between Beverly and Elwood...

"I live in New York City, for the time being..... Deloreans collapsed a while back and I lost my job.. I worked as a Public Defender for close to a year before I got a job with another firm....They're opening an office here in Philadelphia and they want me to run it...I just made partner...." he said..

 "Good For You...Good For You...Ohhhhhh I'm so happy for you..." said Olivia.

 ''Way to go Cal." said Beverly.

 "Nice!" said Kayla...

"That's the move.." said Nelson...

"Got any openings?" joked Zoey..

''Matter of Fact, I do...but I'm here  in town for another reason...I'm getting Married.. in about two weeks.. and my fiancé , my son and me ,we are house hunting in this area...She's a Philly girl anyway, so this a homecoming for us both!" he said.

"Heyyyyyyyyyyyy Man, Good for you! Getting Married.. and did I hear you say you have a son? WOWWWWWWW! "laughed Elwood...We all clapped and cheered....

"Hey is your fiancé Anybody I know?" asked Elwood ,laughing...Knowing it wasn't Tamika Carson, The Victoria's Secret model he was dating and who Elwood had slept with behind his back...when they worked for Delorean's Legal staff! And who Elwood had just slept with again, last month!

"As a matter of fact...yeah, you do know her...The Attorney who was working with you as your second in that big litigation you handled for Delorean a few years back...Della Killebrew!  " he said.

Elwood's face went blank...

"WHAT?? DELLA KILLEBREW??" he said. His smile was gone and we could tell that this woman meant something to him!

He and Della Killibrew had slept together a number of times years ago after they had worked that big case...She was a legal consultant to the firm...He had promised to visit her in New York and spend a weekend with her.. That was two years ago...He never did visit.. He had begged her to be his woman before she left to go work in New York, but she declined...She had found enough panties and bras in his apartment to know that she'd never be his only girl!

''Yeah....After Tamika and I broke up...Della and I ran into each other in Brooklyn...She was out of work too.. She was single...I had just broke up with Tamika...We started kickin it and the next thing you know.. It blossomed into a relationship...We moved in together...We uh have a son...He's four months....So..We are uh going to make that move.. We are looking for a house here in Philly and we are getting married...We are moving back to the area soon.." said Calvin...

"Awwww good for you, good for you Calvin..." said Beverly hugging him..

''I know two great realtors...   Sepia Morris...

 And Bonita Foxworth....

Foxworth & Morris...They sold me my office/duplex.

Here is their card....They're very good. Where we live ,they're lots of new condos ,lofts  and apartments and houses.." said Olivia passing him their cards with their photos on it.

"They're Sisters ...Hmmmph..With names like Foxworth and Morris...I assumed they were white." laughed Calvin..

''What do we say about assumptions?" laughed Olivia...

"There is lots of shopping too, two new shopping malls , great clubs, a park, a gym...everything...We'd love to have you as a neighbor..." said Beverly...

"Congratulations on your marriage and your promotion Calvin...Couldn't happen to a nicer guy." said Kayla...

Elwood was surprisingly gone...Nowhere to be seen...

Calvin looked around...

"Elwood and my fiancé used to kick it for awhile...She told me it was very brief...He 's a cool dude, but somewhat of a ladies man.. She said she found panties and bras all over his place when she would come by...We found enough in his car, when we had to return it.....She said that that was why she broke up with him...I thought he would have taken the news better...But I wanted him to know..."said Calvin...

 Zoey cracked up laughing...

"Oh My God....He's impossible...He's left a string of women behind like this.." she said, still laughing..

"Girlllll, That's why I had to get away from him...The Cheating, The lying...It was just too much..."said Olivia.

"It's Okay Jessie...We are glad you came...You got rid of him...Now we can eat..." said Beverly..

Olivia ,Beverly and Kayla ,who knew him all too well cracked up laughing...

Our food arrived...

I made a mental note, that service in this place was slow...

Nelson pulled a table over and another chair..
"Join Us man.." he said..

Calvin sat with us and ordered breakfast....

IV-

All of us ordered Pancakes and sausage and tumblers of steaming hot coffee.. And all of us had a good appetite...

Olivia ate with one hand and held my hand with the other...and whispered in my ear...

"I'm so glad I met you..."

"I'm glad I met you too babes." I said.

Beverly fed Nelson, like he was a baby....

He loved it...

Zoey laughed....Kayla smiled...

"You handled Cousin Liv's divorce...So I know you know all about Elwood.." she said.

"I used to call him a walking erection...He sure is..." said Zoey ,who thought...How did I ever let him talk me into sleeping with him?  Oh My God!

We topped our meal off with a nice hot steaming cups of coffee..

''Well Calvin...heres to you making partner at your firm and your new wife and son.." I said.

"Thanks you guys...We have some of our stuff here in storage now and after the wedding, we'll be moving here...We'll be staying with my parents until our house is ready...Thanks for the realtors Livy.." said Calvin..

"No problem..." said Olivia..

"I had some invites...You're all invited to our wedding.." said Calvin...

''Awwww thanks Calvin." said Beverly and Kayla in unison..

V-

It was raining lightly....

Elwood sat across the street in his car...

He had lost Olivia forever...She was happily married...Zoey was now with that clown of an attorney, Lem Anderson....and he still didn't know where she was living...He'd have to put someone else on it...He couldn't put Bonnie Shay on it again..

She'd get suspicious and plus she was a friend of Olivia's...

He thought about Kevin Morris...but he too was too close to Olivia..

He'd find another investigator to find out her whereabouts..

Calvin!!

He and Della?  Not only together, but the parents of a son.... Della had been good in bed...but she hadn't really interested him that much outside of possibly taking her up on that weekend  visit...until now...Now she seemed more desirable than ever...He really needed help...


He watched as Olivia and I and Kayla got into one car and pulled off...

Beverly and Nelson got into another car and also pulled off..

Jessie walked to his car and pulled off....

He sat quietly waiting...

The rain poured harder....

He was waiting for Zoey....He was surprised that she didn't leave with the others... Maybe she was still in the restaurant....This was his chance to talk to her alone.....Maybe...He could even give her a ride home..

It was coming down hard......Where was Zoey?

And then, there she was...Standing at the door....Looking so sexy ,he immediately got a massive erection...He began to sweat....He was getting ready to get out of his car ,when he saw him walk up...

LEM!

"Hey baby....Sorry I'm late..." he said.

"Let's do something wild and spontaneous today....How bout we go to Atlantic City?" she said, smiling.. She had come on Public transportation, knowing Lem was going to pick her up...and feeling that Elwood was somewhere nearby....This AC trip would throw him off of her trail ...for now.. She decided to look into getting that restraining order when she went back to work Monday.

''I'll go anywhere with you..." said Lem...

"Awwww Boo, you're so sweet." said Zoey, who kissed him softly...

"Where's Liv, Bev and Donnie Ray?" he asked..

"They went home....They said to tell you hi..." she said...

"Cool.....Well let's not stay here and get wet..." he said.

The two of them got in a white 2016 Maxima and pulled off......

Heading toward the Ben Franklin Bridge...

It was coming down hard.....

So hard that no one could see Elwood's tears....