Chapter Twenty-One
Danny's words stayed with Angelique over the next few days. He was right; she was being ungrateful about Donnie's gift. Maybe the rings weren't to her taste, but the fact that he'd gone out and purchased them after their Vegas wedding made them special. And the fact that he never nagged her about them or even mentioned them in any way made him special. She went from feeling ungrateful to ashamed of her behavior, and said this to Lisette when she made a lunch date with her.
"I'm taking that ring to Tiffany's today to arrange to have it sized to my finger. Lisette, I can't believe that I've gone this long without doing anything about the ring. I'm so ashamed of myself."
Lisette comforted her by reminding her that she'd had a lot to deal with over the past few months. "Give yourself a break, sweetie. I think it's completely understandable. I'll be glad to go with you, though. Where shall we go for lunch?" They had lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen before going to the Somerset Collection across the road from Somerset Mall. Lisette had the car valet-parked so Angelique wouldn't have to walk too far in her very pregnant condition and the two women went into the mall and found the Tiffany & Co. store.
Lisette sighed in happiness. "I just love this store. Everything looks better in a Tiffany box." She laughed.
"I hate to disagree, but this thing is just not me. If it were a classic Tiffany setting in plain yellow gold, maybe, but this looks like he bought it for another woman," she exclaimed.
Lisette had to agree. "But remember, Angel, he didn't know you nearly as well as he does now. You have to give him points for trying, though. It is a magnificent ring; it's just not your ring."
Their salesperson was very accommodating and helpful. She had Angelique sitting on a tall stool so she wouldn't put too much strain on her back. When Angelique was comfortable, the woman examined the ring.
"We were wondering when you were going to bring this in for sizing, ma'am. It's been exactly one year since it was purchased. Mr. Cochran didn't want to have it engraved until it was properly sized," she said warmly.
Angelique laughed and said there must be a mistake about the date. "My husband didn't buy this ring until February of this year," she explained. "We were married on Valentine's Day and he got them after the wedding. We eloped."
"No, I think you may be mistaken. He purchased this ring in November of last year. He even left the names he wanted engraved on the rings, Aneesah and Donnie. And you're Aneesah, correct?"
"No. No, that's not correct at all," Angelique said faintly. Without another word, she rose from the stool and left the store without looking back."
***
Warren came home to find a very upset wife waiting for him. "What's the matter, baby? I can see something's upset you, what is it?"
Lisette went into his comforting arms and allowed him to hold her and stroke away some of her concern. "Oh, Warren, this has been the most horrible day!" She explained to him about going to Tiffany's with Angelique to have the ring sized and Angelique's discovery that, despite what he'd told her, Donnie had bought the ring for another woman.
"Warren, if you could have seen her face, it would have broken your heart. She turned around and walked out of the store in a daze; she left her purse, the ring, and me. I had to grab everything and go out to find her-she was just sitting next to a fountain, looking like her heart was broken. Why on earth would he do something like that, Warren? Why did he lie to her about that ring? And how could he pretend to be in love with Angel when he was ready to marry someone else not two months before they got married? What kind of man is he?"
"A stupid one, I'm afraid. He's not a bad man, honey, but he did handle this badly," Warren said sadly. "He never intended to hurt Angelique, and I know for a fact that he truly loves her, but he made a horrible mistake. I knew this was going to blow up in his face one day."
Lisette drew away from her husband as though he were a total stranger. "Are you telling me you knew about this? You knew he was involved with another woman?"
Warren held up his hands in supplication. "Hey, don't shoot the messenger! Come on, honey, let's sit down while I explain this to you." He led Lisette into their living room, which was now fully and beautifully furnished, thanks to his wife. He sat down in the big armchair she had purchased solely with his comfort in mind. Taking her onto his lap, he held her closely and breathed in her fragrance for a few moments. Then he looked around the room and took a deep breath.
"Every time I come home, Lisette, I think about how lucky I am to have you. My life was pretty meaningless before you came into it and I thank God every day that we have each other. You made my life complete and you made my house a home. And believe it or not, Angel did the same thing for Donnie."
Lisette was mellowing until he mentioned the name of the enemy. She pouted and crossed her arms tightly.
"Honey, listen to me. Donnie and Aneesah were college sweethearts. They dated for a few years before she decided to go to California for her graduate studies. When she moved back to Michigan last fall, she and Donnie started dating again and he decided to ask her to marry him. She turned him down flat because she knew he wasn't in love with her. She told him that he was in love with the idea of her and it ticked her off to no end.
"She was right, though, because I will admit that he had this laundry-list approach to matrimony," Warren said.
Lisette looked puzzled and she asked him what he meant. "A laundry list, you know. She has to be this tall, this old, this size, this degree, this, that, the other thing. He was more interested in finding a type of woman than finding the right woman. She told him so, I told him so, his brother told him so and we were all correct. When he connected, I mean really connected with Angel, it was perfect. He is really in love with her, Lisette, I mean in love for the first and only time in his life.
"That is so ironic and sad, Warren. When Angelique first started acknowledging that she was interested in Donnie, she said it would never work out, that he would never be interested in her because she wasn't his type. She didn't think she was smart enough or accomplished enough for him and it seems she was right."
"No, no, honey, you're wrong. He really does love her. He adores her, that's for real. Whenever I'm around him it takes him about thirty seconds to start talking about his Angel. He thinks she's the most incredible woman in the world. He talks about her constantly and brags on her to anyone who'll listen. All he does is think about ways to make her happy. He's truly in love, Lisette."
"But Warren, the ring! How could he have deceived her like that?"
Warren shook his head and held up a hand. "When she had that temporary memory loss, she noticed she didn't have a wedding ring and she began to think they weren't really married and he was making it all up; she was really upset and scared. And genius boy whipped out this ring I told him to return-I told him that more than once," he muttered. "He takes it out and says, ‘Don't cry, sweetie, here's your ring.' I told him he would come to rue the day he did that, and, unfortunately, I was once again right."
He held his wife and they kissed a few times, sweet reassuring kisses meant to take away the pain they felt for their friends. "How is Angel doing? It's not good for her to be upset right now. Is she at home by herself?"
A tear-clogged but resigned voice answered him. "No, Warren, I'm here," Angelique said wearily. "And I'm not going back to that house. It's not my home anymore."
Despite Warren and Lisette's protests, Angelique insisted on leaving their home. She had called A.J. from the guest bedroom and he was on his way to pick her up. "I need to be by myself for a while, to decide what to do next. I can't go back to that house. I never want to see him again," she said in a voice so full of pain it was hard for Lisette to hear.
Lisette jumped from Warren's lap and went to her friend. "Oh, Angel, please don't do anything rash. At least talk to him, let him tell his side of the story," she entreated.
Angelique went from sad and listless to coldly furious in seconds. "I already know his side of the story. I was just some kind of play toy for his amusement," she said savagely. "He must have gotten some good laughs out of me, fooling me into thinking he wanted me to be his wife when I was just a last-minute substitute for Miss Perfect, Aneesah Shabazz. He let me go to that museum every week, working with her and thinking she was a friend and all the time she was the woman he wanted! He must have been trying to get back at her for some reason. I don't know why he did it, I don't care why he did it, but I'm through with it," she said fiercely.