Perfect Timing by Brenda Jackson

information surprised Maxi. In fact if she hadn’t been feeling so bad she would have laughed out loud at the absurdity of what he’d just said. He would have been the last person she would have expected to attend the class reunion since he’d never gotten along with the majority of their classmates. Most of them had been outright mean to him which made him retaliate with his anger, fists, or both. She’d always thought their mistreatment of him downright cruel and on numerous occasions had told them so, especially Ronald Swindel who’d been the class bully and who’d gone out of his way to make Christopher’s life at school a living hell. Local rumor claimed that Christopher’s mother had gotten pregnant from some sailor passing through town. Deborah Chandler, who had always lived on the wild and reckless side, found solace in other men, staying out late at night and at times gone for days, leaving Christopher to fend for himself. Since the kind of life he’d been born into hadn’t been his fault, Maxi had never treated him the way the others had. Therefore, she felt completely comfortable in saying her next words. “I’m glad you came. It’s good seeing you again, Christopher.”
    Christopher smiled as he stared down at her, looking for signs that somehow she’d changed over the years. But deep down he knew she’d remained, as she’d always been—a person who’d gotten along with everyone. A part of him felt the sincerity of her words. “It’s good seeing you too, Maxi, but what’s wrong with you?”
    Maxi was grateful he had gotten her to the bathroom before she had thrown up on herself. “Motion sickness. I’ve never been on a cruise before. The ship’s doctor gave me some pills to take and—”
    â€œWhy are you in my cabin?”
    Maxi blinked. “I’m not in your cabin. This is my cabin.”
    Christopher frowned. “Are you sharing it alone?”
    â€œNo, I have a cabinmate. What about you?”
    â€œI’m alone. That’s the reason for the one bed.”
    â€œOh. Do you think there could have been some sort of a mix-up?”
    He couldn’t help but grin. “Possibly. It wouldn’t be the first time where you and I were concerned now would it?”
    She shook her head, remembering. “Like the time the substitute teacher sent me to the principal’s office to get a paddling you were supposed to get because she got our names mixed up?”
    â€œYeah, and like the time Mrs. Meadows gave you my grades and gave me yours. Boy, was that comical,” he said laughing. The one thing he remembered about Maxine Chandler was that she was different from any of the kids in school. She had been one of the smartest but she had never acted stuck-up like the other kids had. Nor had she ever treated him like he was some sort of disease that might be contagious. He remembered the day Mr. Thompson had assigned the two of them to work together on a science project in their senior year. The other kids had teased her by saying working with him was an automatic zero. Instead of asking the teacher for another partner, she had ignored their classmates’ words and jotted down the directions to her house for him, like there was nothing wrong with bad boy Chandler from ghettoville visiting her side of town where most of the middle and upper-class Blacks lived. Because Maxi had not put him down or asked that he be removed from the project, he had worked his butt off to make sure they had gotten a decent grade. He’d been just as surprised as she had when they made first place. Of course everyone figured she had done all the work and said as much. She tried convincing them otherwise, stating it had been a joint venture. But just the thought that she didn’t try taking all the credit for the project had earned her his respect and admiration. It had also made him that much more