Insatiable Revenge

by Cynthia Freeman Gibbs

  “Sounds good to me,” Savvy agreed.

  “Great choice and it’s on the house. My treat to celebrate seeing you ladies again,” Zoriyah said.

  “You do not need to give us anything for free. This is your place of business,” Savvy started.

  “Uh-uh. Not up for discussion. You know how we do. ‘Nuff said. Sit back, relax, and enjoy,” Zoriyah insisted.

  “Yes, ma’am. We’ll obey and follow your instructions,” Olivia responded.

  “By the way. I’m curious. I think the guys we’re meeting entered the building. Do you know those gentlemen at the bar talking to Amir?” Savvy inquired and pointed her thumb toward the guys with discretion.

  Zoriyah followed her gaze. “Oh yeah. Pharrell and Durbin are regulars in here. They’re nice and both are single. Pharrell is retired from the military. Durbin owns a camera security business. He installed our system here.”

  “Not to mention, they're both cute. I set us up on a dating website for double dates. They look even better than their profile pictures. Tonight is the first time we’ll all meet,” Savvy giggled.

  “Good choice. What a fun idea.” Zoriyah clapped her hands several times with joy.

  “Zoriyah. I’m only doing this for Savvy. I’m not interested and she tricked me into this mess.” Olivia glared at Savvy. “I don’t want either one of you to start trying to play matchmaker. If anything, Savvy needs to water the grass in her own yard.”

  Zoriyah leaned into the conversation. “Olivia, Savvy has a good point. You are a beautiful woman and you deserve to have a good man for a change. When are you going to branch out and start dating again?”

  “Who me? Did the two of you forget the fact I’m still married? Both of y’all need to go somewhere with this mess. I ain’t got time for dating or even an interest,” Olivia snorted. “After dealing with Malcolm, the last thing I need is another relationship any time soon.”

  “I disagree, Olivia. Perhaps if the right guy comes along, you’ll have a renewed outlook on love,” Savvy encouraged.

  “Love, shmlove. Fairytale dreams full of hills, dales, and orbs. Not for me,” Olivia stated in a poetic flow.

  “You’re too funny. We’re not talking about Shakespeare,” Savvy explained. “Just get in some good, deep-soul, make-you-wanna-holla kind of love.”

  All three of them let out heart-filled laughs. “Woo girl. Lord knows it’s been a minute since I’ve hollered. I may need something to get this constant kink out of my body.” Olivia rubbed her lower back.

  “You know, stress relief is fundamental to our well-being,” Zoriyah snickered.

  “Right,” Savvy chimed in.

  “All I need is a good, deep-tissue massage from a licensed masseuse. I’ll get tension relief and it’ll make me holler if they go deep enough into my back. Thank you very much,” Olivia said.

  “Girl, you’re making my stomach hurt from all of this laughing. I better go greet the guests who have arrived. A bottle of wine and four glasses will be coming out to you. I’ll let Pharrell and Durbin know where you two are sitting. Have fun and I love y’all.” Zoriyah gave them hugs again and scurried away.

  Olivia and Savvy settled into their seats. “Olivia, you are too much. Did you even look at the guys I’m talking about? You couldn’t have. If you did, you’d have to agree they are F-I-N-E.”

  “No, Savvy. I didn’t pay them any attention and I don’t plan to. Leave me alone.” Olivia shook her finger at Savvy.

  “Don’t turn around now. They’re walking toward us.” Savvy checked out the man leading the way. “Girl. There’s not a wrinkle in his clothing. Everything he has on fits him like it is custom-made.”

  “Oh, boy. I’m mad at you. I can’t believe I let you do this.”

  “All I’ll say is, wow. The one in front is chocolate brown and looks good enough to eat. He is one of God’s masterpieces. Chiseled to perfection.”

  “Well, I’m not into dark-skinned men anyway.”

  “Olivia. You need to be quiet with that nonsense.”

  “I’m speaking my truth. I have enough black skin for the two of us.”

  Savvy lowered her voice. “Will you stop it, please? They’re behind you.”

  Before Olivia could turn around, a silky, baritone voice began to speak. “Hello, ladies.” His eyes rested on Savvy and soothed her with a wave of gentleness. “Zoriyah sent us to your table. Melanindoubledate.com?”

  Savvy’s heart skipped a beat after hearing his luscious, seductive like velvet, Barry White voice. “Yes. That would be us,” Savvy responded. She picked up a paper napkin to fan herself.

  Olivia glanced in disinterest at the men standing in front of their table. She examined her fingernails and showed a lackadaisical attitude toward the conversation.

  “I’m Pharrell Montague. It’s spelled the same way as the R&B singer.” He extended a hand to Savvy to introduce himself. Warmth and a tingling sensation traveled through her when they touched in a shake.

  “What a unique name. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Savvy and this is my friend, Olivia.” She hesitated to let go of his hand and slid from his as slow as possible. Savvy tried her best not to stare into his mesmerizing eyes. His cologne filled her nostrils in a good way over the food. She had visions of nuzzling her nose into his neck.

  Olivia raised her eyes from the table. She didn’t offer to shake his extended hand. “Hi, Pharrell.”

  Savvy frowned at Olivia to signal she needed to get rid of her bad attitude.

  Pharrell laughed in a sexy masculine way before dropping his hand. “I’m sorry if we interrupted your conversation.” He turned around to introduce his friend standing behind him. “This is Durbin.”

  Durbin’s lanky frame was a height people loved on a basketball court. His skin color reminded her of desert sand. A curly, light-brown afro framed his freckled face. Square, black-rimmed glasses, like the movie director Spike Lee wears at times, sat on his nose. Cute in a nerdy kind of way that Savvy figured would be perfect for Olivia.

  “Hello, ladies. How are you both doing tonight?” Durbin asked.

  “Great. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Savvy and this is Olivia.”

  Olivia nodded her head with her lips twisted into a bored expression to acknowledge Durbin.

  “I see you ladies don’t have anything to drink yet. How about I order a bottle of wine for us all to enjoy?” Pharrell offered.

  Savvy swiped the side of her mouth to ensure she didn’t drool on herself. She couldn’t help thinking about how she would love to enjoy him. Her cheeks warmed in a blush. She lowered her eyes to her lap in embarrassment to keep him from reading her mind. “Well, sure…”, she began.

  Olivia cut her off. “We have a bottle of white wine coming out. We are good. Thank you.”

  Savvy shot her another look to scold her.

  “Okay. No problem. I only wanted to make the offer. Tell you what. We’ll go to the bar to order an assortment of appetizers. It’ll be quicker than waiting on the server since it’s crowded in here,” Pharrell suggested.

  “Food would be lovely. They have a great selection to choose from. Anything will be good,” Savvy agreed.

  Now Olivia gave Savvy a look which signaled she’d begun shooting darts at her. Savvy ignored the stare and kept focusing on Pharrell.

  The way his face beamed made Savvy swoon. “Cool. We’ll be back.” The guys walked to the bar with Pharrell in the rear.

  “Olivia, turn around and look at Pharrell’s butt. It doesn’t get any better than this.” Savvy couldn’t peel her eyes off him. “I know he must do at least a thousand squats with weights to have a behind looking muscular like that.”

  “Earth to Savvy. Will you stop it? I’m not turning around. Why do you keep fanning yourself?”

  “Girl, didn’t you see him? He’s a spectacular sight for my eyes. Woo. Thank you, Jesus, for sending him here.” Savvy fanned herself with a sense of urgency to cool her warmed sk
in. She dabbed her face from her sudden sweat outbreak.

  “I can’t believe you invited these strangers to meet us. I don’t want to have a conversation with them. I would prefer to have girl talk. You know I need to vent about Malcolm and the kids.”

  “Will you chill out. We’re only having drinks with them. Besides, do this for me. I’m digging on Pharrell. An electric tingle traveled throughout my body when he held my hand.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me. I’m not in the mood.” Olivia rolled her eyes and folded her arms.

  “Please. For me? Remember how you said I need to water my own grass? I’m trying to do it now. The sprinkler system is set and ready to go,” Savvy pleaded.

  “Ugh. Okay, fine. Don’t try to hook me up with his friend. What kind of name is Durbin anyway?”

  “Thank you, Olivia. I owe you big time,” Savvy squealed. “I think he has a nice name. I believe it is of French origin. Quit looking for something to be wrong.”

  The waiter brought their wine, glasses, and a steel bucket of ice to the table. He showed Olivia the label on the bottle. Once she tasted the sample he poured and nodded her approval, he partly filled both of their glasses before placing the bottle in the bucket. “My apologies for the slow service. We’re busier than ever tonight. Is there anything else I may get for you ladies?”

  “Not at this time. Thank you,” Savvy responded before the waiter left.

  Olivia scowled at Savvy before taking a sip of the wine.

  “Okay. Fix your face, please. You look like you ate sour grapes. They’re heading back this way.” Savvy swiped on additional lip gloss.

  TEN

  Olivia

  “For the record, before they make it to the table, I can’t believe I’m letting you sucker me into sitting here with these guys. Melanindoubledate.com sounds like some nonsense. What kind of men go looking for dates on that website? This is crazy and you owe me big time.” Olivia tightened her lips and shook her fist at Savvy.

  “I know. Be nice and welcome them back.” Savvy wiggled in her seat with childlike excitement.

  “Welcome back.” Olivia couldn’t help the dullness in her voice. She attempted to turn her lips into a half-hearted smile when Pharrell and Durbin returned to the table. She raised her glass for a sip.

  “Please join us.” Savvy waved her hand to the two empty chairs. The appetizers arrived as the men scooted their seats to the table.

  “Let’s dig in.” Pharrell passed plates and silverware around.

  “Anyone interested in hand sanitizer?” Olivia pulled a

  bottle from her purse and passed it around before waiting for a response.

  Savvy rubbed sanitizer into her hands and placed an assortment of food onto her plate. “I’m starving. Thank you for the food.”

  Pharrell set a bottle of Pinot Noir and four wine goblets on the table. “I bought a bottle of red wine in case you two are interested.” He examined the complimentary one in the ice bucket and nodded his head with approval once he read the label. “Chenin Blanc. I visited a winery in Stellenbosch in South Africa. I see you two have great taste in wine.” He placed it back in to chill before he opened the red wine and poured a glass for Durbin and himself.

  “Olivia selected this one. You’re both welcome to have some whenever you are ready.”

  “Thank you, Savvy. Please enjoy some of this wine as well. I’m sure you’ll love it,” Pharrell replied in a deep voice.

  “How did the two of you meet and decide to check out Melanindoubledate.com?” Olivia managed to act halfway curious.

  “We met at a golf tournament. Both of us landed in the same foursome. We’ve been hanging ever since. I suggested we check out the website to find a couple of ladies to play a round of golf with from time to time.” Pharrell inspected the wine in his glass with an expert eye.

  “Nice. We’ll have to get a game on the calendar sometime. I guess you noticed in our profile we’re both excellent players. Now, we’ve been working on our racquetball skills. We can mix it up and get on the golf course,” Savvy said.

  “Your athletic ability is what got my attention. Not to mention, your pictures were great, too,” Pharrell laughed.

  “Thank you. I’m glad you noticed.” Savvy batted her eyelashes.

  “Um. Are either of you from San Antonio?” Durbin lowered his gaze in a shy gesture. He spooned spinach dip onto his chips in a clumsy manner. He kept missing his plate and had to wipe food from the table.

  “Nope. We’re both transplants who followed our careers here,” Savvy responded.

  “Anyone in the military?” Pharrell questioned.

  “No. Probably a surprise since it seems like half of the people in San Antonio are active or retired military. Are either of you?” Olivia took a bite of a bacon-wrapped shrimp and decided to engage in the conversation.

  “I retired from the Air Force and relocated here after I finished my final tour of duty last month. Durbin owns a security camera business,” Pharrell replied. He held the stem of the crystal goblet and swirled the wine before sticking his nose into the airspace of the glass to sniff. With a nod of approval, he took a sip.

  “Thank you for your service Pharrell,” Savvy responded.

  “Tell us more about this security camera business.” Olivia focused her attention on Durbin. “Zoriyah told us you installed their system here. What exactly do you do? I may need to invest in cameras as my kids get closer to the dating age.”

  The four of them laughed. “Every parent needs a good system to monitor their kids sneaking out.” Durbin appeared confident in discussing cameras.

  “I ain’t even gonna lie. I snuck out plenty of times back in the day. The only alarm in our house was a loose floorboard. The only security camera was our nosey neighbor, Ms. Jenkins,” Olivia admitted.

  “No question. We had it good back in the day.” Savvy chuckled and munched on a piece of gouda cheese.

  Durbin pushed his eyeglasses higher on the bridge of his nose with his index finger. “What I do is create, develop, install, and monitor home security systems. I’ve acquired a decent number of businesses and residents as clients since I relocated to San Antonio about a month ago.”

  “Oh wow. You create the systems? You must be pretty tech-savvy.” Olivia became intrigued.

  “I’m a computer science major and a geek when it comes to technology.”

  “Not exactly my forte. I always have to call someone for help with anything involving a computer,” Olivia replied.

  “I’ll help you. It gives me an adrenaline high to work on complicated problems,” Durbin offered.

  Olivia raised her left eyebrow and checked Durbin out. Her man radar gave her an alert. “I hope you aren’t referring to me as being a complicated problem. You don’t even know me. I’m assuming you’re talking about computers.”

  Savvy glared at her with a mortified expression before releasing a guffaw of a laugh. “Girl. You are too funny. Of course, he’s talking about computers. Right, Durbin?”

  Durbin shifted in his seat and appeared uncomfortable. “Uh. Yeah. I was talking about computers. Sorry if I wasn’t clear.”

  “What do the two of you do?” Pharrell asked as he scooped food onto his fork.

  “I work in the marketing department of a biotechnology company. Olivia is a doctor.” Savvy gave Olivia a slight look of uncertainty.

  Olivia clued in on the fact Savvy wasn’t sure how much to tell them about her being a psychologist. Pharrell and Durbin may have heard about her trial.

  “A doctor, huh? What’s your specialty?” Durbin asked.

  “I don’t like discussing my work when I’m at Happy Hour. I don’t care to be drilled with questions about my job. But, since you asked, I’m a clinical psychologist.” Olivia studied their faces to determine if they recognized her. When they didn’t appear alarmed, she remembered they were both new to San Antonio.

  “Nice. People need a lot of help when
it comes to mental health. I see a lot of post-traumatic stress disorders among my military colleagues. You probably see some of everything in your field,” Pharrell stated.

  “Yes. I do. I hope I’m making a difference in the lives of other people,” Olivia said in a reflective way and attempted to fix her attitude.

  “I’m sure you are.” Durbin flashed a smile and adjusted his glasses again. Olivia noticed how his hazel eyes lingered on her a few beats longer than necessary.

  Without warning, Olivia grew uncomfortable with the way Durbin’s eyes darted back and forth across her face almost as if he were studying a computer glitch. Olivia needed a breath of fresh air, away from Durbin.

  Olivia faked a yawn. “Umm. Savvy and gentlemen. Thank you for your company. I hate to break up our wonderful conversation. I have a long day tomorrow and must go home to get some much-needed rest. Nice meeting both of you.” Olivia stood in haste, gulped the last of the wine in her glass, and grabbed her purse, scarf, and coat. “Savvy, don’t leave now. I’ll call you later.”

  Savvy scrunched her eyebrows together, perplexed at Olivia’s sudden announcement to leave. They still had a bottle and a half of wine to finish.

  Durbin stood and handed his business card to her. “I’m sorry you have to leave already. Here’s my card. Call me if you think you’re interested in discussing the security system. May I escort you out?” Olivia hesitated to accept his card. She figured she could always throw it away later. She fumbled with it before crumpling it into her purse.

  “No. I’m good. It’s still light outside. Y’all keep enjoying the evening.” Olivia began scurrying away from the group.

  She overheard Savvy. “Excuse me, guys. I’ll be back.” Savvy’s heels clicked across the stained concrete floor toward the exit. “Olivia. Hold up. What’s wrong with you? A double date is supposed to be with four people, not three.”

  Olivia exited through the entrance of the establishment and pivoted toward Savvy. “Girl, you didn’t have to get up. I’m sorry to destroy your plans. I had a sudden urge to leave after Durbin stared at me. I think he recognized me from a newspaper article or something.”