Consequences(174)

Chapter Thirty-Six


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The birthday was a success. Tony and Brent joked that with late-night partying they shouldn’t drive an hour home, so everyone rode together in the limousine. The Brew Company was vibrant with music resonating from multiple sections of the large warehouse style building. The main stage had a Tribute to Jazz performance. Courtney reserved a premium table and told the restaurant they were celebrating a birthday. The people at The Brew Company didn’t know his name, only that Tony was the guest of honor. Claire, Courtney, and Brent laughed as the singer acknowledged him with a rendition of Hey Big Spender and wrapped him in her feather boa. Watching Tony’s tolerance, Claire decided she could learn a lot from Courtney—he seemed to accept things from her Claire wouldn’t dare to attempt.



A week later, Tony invited Claire to Chicago for two nights. Even though she needed to cancel a committee meeting, she wanted to go. It was even her idea to go to the spa and lighten her dark roots. Brent and David Field—whom Claire met what seemed like a lifetime ago—on her first trip to New York—were with them as they flew to Chicago. Claire sat on the sofa while the three men discussed their impending meetings. To pass the time, she looked through her purse and was pleased to have her new ID and credit card. Claire didn’t care about their money, but shopping was one of the few pass times Tony granted without hesitation.

Her old driver’s license was a Georgia—issued ID. She thought it was interesting to see the difference in different states licenses. She soon realized the variances didn’t stop with the issuing state—the new one contained her name, Claire Rawlings, and printed at the top was VALID IDENTIFICATION. Her Georgia ID had said VALID DRIVER’S LICENSE. She hadn’t noticed it before. It wasn’t something she should bring up with Brent and David present but decided it was worth discussing when they were alone.

Claire spent the afternoon at the spa lightening her hair and receiving a manicure and pedicure. When she arrived back at the apartment, Charles informed Mrs. Rawlings, Mr. Rawlings would be detained until after 9:00 PM. He could happily serve her dinner at a more appropriate hour. She declined, “Thank you, Charles; I’ll wait for Mr. Rawlings.”

While dining, Claire sensed Tony multitasking. He was eating and conversing with her, but his mind was elsewhere with Brent and David on some big deal. He talked about the next evening. Hopefully, they would be able to go out to dinner and perhaps to a show. It all depended on his meetings. Claire said it sounded great, but she understood if his work went late. She planned to spend the entire day shopping and knew they were scheduled to go home on Thursday.

As Claire contemplated the best way to bring up her question, Tony did it for her. “You’re going shopping tomorrow? Did you see your new ID and credit card? They should be in your wallet.”

“I did, and I was wondering why my new ID isn’t a driver’s license?”

Tony momentarily stopped eating and looked at Claire as if she’d asked why is the sky blue or why do birds fly? It seemed as though the only word missing from his next sentence was Duh. “Because you don’t drive.” His tone wasn’t cruel—perhaps cold.

She thought carefully about her response. “I haven’t driven since I’ve been with you—but I used to drive and enjoyed it.”

“You now have access to a driver. You didn’t before—correct?”

“Correct—however, you have a driver and you still drive. The Simmons’ have a driver and Courtney drives.”

Tony’s annoyance with this conversation came through loud and clear, his words were flat with restraint. “Claire, this is a ridiculous conversation. You have a driver or you’re with me. You have no need to drive.”