Page 91 of Pride and Protest
Too much? Liza wondered if she should let him continue to plan out his secret fantasy, but it was all she could do to not grab a paperweight from the table and throw it at his head.
“Dorsey.” Liza’s voice was calm in contrast to the absolute riot inside her. “I am so sorry that I gave you the indication that I wanted any part in yourPretty Womanfantasy. The other night was fun, but it needs to stop right there. You’re probably the last man I would ever have a serious relationship with,ifthat’s even what you’re proposing. It sounds like you’re trying to set me up as your permanent side chick before you even have a main chick?”
“Side chick? Liza—”
“As in your woman on the side. The one you give head to in a town car while your sister visits with Jennifer.”
“No. No, Liza, Jennifer and I are nothing—”
“You have me all wrong if you think I would hop at the chance for a half-life with you. You can take your cocaine intensity and see yourself out,” Liza said coolly.
Dorsey’s face twisted, then darkened. “Is that it, then? I texted you last night to tell you I had a great time, and you sent me three eggplant emojis and a peach! What the fuck happened since then? Are you telling me I was alone in what I felt? Give me some reason why suddenly today you don’t want anything to do with me.”
“Excuseme, but it sounds like you want nothing to do withme. Saying we should minimize my interaction with my mother because she’s too much!”
“No.Yousaid she was too much at the fiftieth anniversarygala, after she told everyone that her grandkids would have ‘good hair.’ ”
Liza winced at that last bit. “So what?Ican shit on my mom,notyou. If that were it,” she continued, “then that would be enough toneversee you again. But you’re also a really shitty friend. WIC told me that before your dad died, he promised his business an investment. He told me you did everything in your power to keep that money from him.”
“Why is WIC suddenly coming out of your mouth?” Dorsey seethed. “I haven’t heard you say his name in months. Now you’re so concerned with what he’s feeling while throwingmylogical and truthful confession back in my face? This is all petty bullshit. I know if I hadn’t bruised your little ego when we first met, you would be all over me.”
Liza’s jaw tightened. “Howdareyou accuse me of having an ego when you compare loving me to loving trashy reality TV.”
“Okay, I—”
“And I willalwaysbe concerned for my family and friends when people treat them like shit,” Liza said. “I could never be with a man who is the reason my sister is depressed right now. You told David my sister—who is the sweetest person in the world, would never hurt a fly, is the definition of all goodness—you told David to leave her.” Liza’s voice wavered.
“Your sister’s lovely, but you have to admit she didn’t seem interested in him at all. And it also seemed like she may have a drinking problem. I saw you that night of the snowstorm watering down all of her drinks, and that next morning you were afraid. I saw it in your eyes. David’s father is dying, and he’s not in a good place right now, so I told him to focus on his family. Because, yes, Janae seemed a little cool toward him.”
“Do you know anything about my sister? Do you know thather child died, and she had a nervous breakdown and is slowly building herself back up from the ground?” Liza’s voice wobbled. “She leaned on alcohol in the early stages of her grief, and Iwasafraid. But she’s just shy and cautious. Nothing wrong with that. It’s not up to you to decide how much she loves him. She’s desperately in love with David, and she was seeing a light at the end of the tunnel and turning into herself again. And then you tell your friend, ‘She’s just not that into you’? How dare you? Who do you think you are?” Liza was yelling at this point.
“I can tell you that David didn’t know any of that. And if your sister is so in love, maybe she would have shared that huge part of her life,” Dorsey said.
“I mean, whatever, but it wasn’t your business. You made yourself the arbiter of someone else’s love, and you were wrong.”
Dorsey was quiet for a moment. “Well, it sounds like you have quite a few reasons not to ever see me again.” He took his coat. “I’m sorry I misunderstood our relationship. It willneverhappen again.” Dorsey opened the door and nearly knocked Chicho down to get himself out of the town house.
“Was that Dorsey?” Chicho’s eyes widened. “What on earth did you say to him?”
“You told herWHAT?” His sister’s voice ricocheted around the room, even over FaceTime. “Dorsey, what type of woman would ever say yes to that?”
“I thought of it as more of a logical presentation of the benefits of a relationship. Show the other party why they’re getting a good deal.” Dorsey heard how it sounded as he said it. His no-sleep logic had made sense in his head the other night, but he groaned inwardly at his reality TV comparison.
“But she had just given you some major sign of liking you, and you really threw it in her face. No woman wants to be made to feel so cheap. I mean, she’s dead wrong about Isaiah, but you’re not doing yourself any favors.”
“She mentioned you and Jennifer...” Dorsey said, letting his sister in on the most perplexing part of the conversation, the “side chick” accusation.
“My visit to her father’s bedside? Why?” Gigi asked.
“I have no idea,” Dorsey said.
There was a long pause on the phone. “Oh no... Jennifer’s post the other day.” Gigi sounded alarmed. “She posted an old photo of us with these crazy hashtags about us being sisters.”
“If Liza saw that...”
“Oh, she definitely saw that. She thought you were—”
“Making her the other woman,” Dorsey finished. She should have just asked,What about you and Jennifer?, and he would have set her straight. She had all the wrong ideas about him. “Well, it’s too late now,” Dorsey said. Why did he keep getting it wrong with her?
