by nikki blaire
“I’m quite sure that if you plan a decent proposal and do this the right way then she’ll say yes. She wants to be with you just as much as you want her.”
“Right.” Tremaine added a nodding agreement for good measure.
“Well, thank you Frick and Frack for your words of wisdom, but if a proposal is going to happen then it needs to happen soon. She’s got about a month left in her first tri...what you said earlier.”
“Well, well, lucky for you, your sister just so happens to be an executive public relations professional known for planning the best events this city has ever seen.”
“So, you’ll plan it for me?”
“Of course.” She grinned from ear to ear.
“And you’ll keep the baby a secret from the rest of our family?” Marcus pointed.
“That...I can’t promise.”
Twenty
Charlisse walked into Councilmember Bridges’ office later than she had planned, but it had taken her all day to figure out just how to fit everything together.
She needed Brandon to make Aaron’s police report “disappear” and he needed her to keep him from becoming a casualty of Terry’s news story.
This should be a win-win.
She hoped that Brandon would see it that way, but their relationship had taken such a rocky turn that she couldn’t guarantee that anymore.
“Well, well, I should have known the city’s best fixer was going to show up sooner or later.”
Brandon welcomed her into his office then shut the door behind her.
“Anything for the highest bidder now, huh?”
Charlisse was prepared for Brandon’s bruised ego to do the talking for him.
“I don’t work for the Fordes anymore.”
“But you are here for a Forde, aren’t you?” He snickered.
“And for you too, but I want to be clear that this is completely personal.”
She reached into her purse for the folder of documents that Terry had given her. “I need you to make this police report go away.”
She tossed the paper onto the table for him to see. “Aaron Masters isn’t worth losing your entire career over.”
Brandon licked his lips, as he picked the paper up.
“Ah, yes. This little snafu that happened at my house. I’m actually supposed to call the police department back later this evening. I’m a key witness.”
He glared at her. “I saw everything. From your boyfriend’s temper flaring to the punch he threw that knocked the man out. Thank goodness he woke up or we would’ve had to call an ambulance. How tragic if that’d have made the late night news.”
She tried not to roll her eyes, but couldn’t help it.
“I know you’ve got an ax to grind with Marc, but can’t you leave the petty to your wife. It suits her so much better.”
Brandon’s eyes flashed a shade of red, which let her know she struck a nerve.
“I’m here because we both know you’ve got something on Marc. You can make or break this whole thing and I need you to break it. Now, you’ve known me long enough to know that I’m making you the best offer.” She stared intensely.
She was serious as a heart attack. Brandon could go to the wolves if he chose not to help her. They shared an intense silence while Charlisse began to place the other documents on Brandon’s desk.
“Despite what’s happened between us, you’re my friend, Brandon. I care about you deeply.”
“Not deep enough.” He snorted, but let her continue.
“I will always do everything that I can to protect you. Regardless of our changed dynamic or new relationships.”
There. She finally gave him one of the things that he wanted to hear so badly. She was dating Marcus. His ears perked up at her words and his face balled up.
“Marc’s money can buy him a lot of things, but he can’t get out of this with it. I don’t care if he launches a multi-million dollar effort to slander me. I’m not letting him get away,”
“Read the police reports and files that I’ve put on your desk, Brandon. They’re about Aaron.”
She interjected then sat quietly while he picked each one of them up. His smug expression turned uneasy. He knew just as well as Charlisse did that any association with acts of harassment against women was a death nail to his career, especially in such a liberal city. He would be laughed out of town if he ever tried to run for anything again.
“The Post will be publishing a story of Aaron’s series of domestic violence incidents tomorrow. I was told that the story plans to out everyone he’s donated to as a conspirator to his behavior.”
“A conspirator, what the fuck?” Brandon sputtered.
“I’m here with an offer.” She leaned into him.
“Aaron has donated tens of thousands to you over the years. You’re next in line for mayor. How likely do you think it is that your name won’t be on that list?”
“Fuck!” He tossed the papers aside. “What the hell am I supposed to do about the money?”
“Return it, donate it. Either one is fine, but do it now before the story comes out.”
“Return the money? Are you fuckin’ kidding me? And I suppose your boyfriend is going to write a check to replace it?” He scoffed.
“I don’t want his muthafuckin’ money.”
Charlisse made sure that she had eye contact with Brandon before she replied.
“Marc would rather go to jail than give you money, especially over this. I told you that I’m here as a friend. He doesn’t even know about this. I’ve given you a deal. Take it.”
Silence passed between them before Brandon finally nodded. “I’ll call the sheriff back,”
“Call him back now.” She wanted to watch him.
“Oh, so now you don’t trust me?” But Charlisse didn’t answer.
“Wow, really?” He reached for his cell phone.
“You and I aren’t what we used to be.” She crossed her arms.
“I’d love to believe that you would do the right thing, but I just can’t anymore. And this is too important. We’ve come too far and worked too hard.”
She absentmindedly placed her hand on her stomach, but caught herself. She hoped Brandon didn’t notice.
“You and Marc?” He paused before dialing the number.
“All of us, Brandon. Dammit.” She was tired of the back and forth.
“All of us have worked too damn hard to get where we are for this to ruin any one of us. You, me, Marc, Vanessa...all of us. And over what? Ego, pride?”
She sighed. “I wanted to be able to let it all play out. Marc doesn’t need this kind of press, but I’m sure I’d figure out a way to fix it. But, I couldn’t let you fall by the wayside. You want me to trust you? Then show me that you’re the man I’ve always thought that you were.”
She nodded her head towards his phone. “Call the sheriff.”
“I’m going to, but it’s not for him and it’s really not about my career. It’s for you and only you.”
He tapped the number then raised the phone to his ear.
“And you didn’t need all of this, Lisse. All you had to do was ask me. That’s all you’ve ever really needed to do.”
Charlisse watched quietly while Brandon recounted the incident to the sheriff once he picked up. Brandon told him the truth, which was that Aaron incited Marcus, followed him out of the room, and made a lewd comment about his mother.
“Honestly, sheriff, the man brought it on himself.” He looked down at the documents that he had thrown aside. “He deserved it.”
Charlisse listened intently, while the sheriff seemed to agree with him. “Let’s just put this whole thing behind us. I don’t need this kind of attention.”
She held her breath, waiting to hear the sheriff agree. The moment he did, she began to pack up her things to leave.
“Thank you, sheriff.” Brandon ended the call.
“There.” He gazed at her from across his desk.
“One last thing,” She gr
abbed her purse and put it over her shoulder. “Did you know about Aaron?”
She needed to know for herself. Previously, she had never thought that Brandon could ever do anything like that. But as she thought over his constant crossing of her boundaries, it now seemed plausible.
He shook his head, “No, and if I had, I would’ve said something. I’m not perfect, but that’s a line that should never be crossed.”
“Good. I’ll make sure The Post gets that as a quote.” She smiled then walked towards the door.
“Goodbye, Brandon.” She called over her shoulder before shutting it behind her.
She pulled out her phone to text Terrius, as she walked out of city hall.
All systems go.
She typed, while walking to the curb. She hailed a cab then sat quietly in the backseat on the car ride home. She was exhausted and went straight to her bed after walking through her front door.
“Baby’s slowing me down already.”
She spread across the bed, where she unintentionally fell asleep for hours. Her eyes didn’t pop back open until she felt her phone vibrating on the table next to her bed.
“What?” She picked up, still half asleep.
“Is this how you answer the phone for people who aren’t clients?” Marcus’ voice was unmistakable.
“I was asleep.” She grumbled at his sarcasm. “What do you want?”
“To get your take out order. I didn’t want to come over empty handed.”
Charlisse took her phone from her ear to check the time. To her surprise, it was past six o’clock.
“Oh, what are you getting?” Her stomach gurgled at the mention of food. “I was kind of wanting Indian food.”
“How is that possible when you were just asleep?” He had to be a smart aleck.
“Text me what you want. I’ll be over in about an hour.”
He hung up, but a cozy feeling still lingered with Charlisse as if he were still on the phone. She touched her cheek at the realization that she was smiling. This was her new life. A man who doted on her and brought Indian food to her door.
“I could get used to this.” She settled back in her bed to watch TV and wait for him.
An hour later, Marcus was in her kitchen putting her food onto a plate for her.
“I wasn’t quite sure of how much rice you wanted, so I guessed.” He handed her a plate piled high with curried vegetables and rice.
“I’ll take it.” She laughed at him, while he climbed into the other side of her bed.
“I’ve never eaten in bed before.” He tried to balance his plate, while he pulled back the covers.
“My mother’s a stickler about that. I still eat at the table even when I’m alone.”
“Really?” Charlisse giggled. “She’s right though. I’ve ruined a comforter or two.”
She scooted closer to him.
“I’m never going back. This is too comfortable. What are we watching?” He settled next to her.
“Promise not to laugh.”
“I mean, now I want to.” He looked up at the screen. “Are you watching a cooking show? The woman who can’t cook?”
“Do not laugh. I like to watch them. I keep hoping it’ll sink in from watching them. Like osmosis.”
“Wow.” He laughed loudly. “That’s not how that works at all. But I’ll let you have it.”
He turned to eating his food, still chuckling at her. “How are you feeling?”
He took a hand and placed it on her stomach, which made her heart flutter and shivers shoot up through the rest of her body.
“I’m fine. I was tired, but I wasn’t sure if that was just because of the day that I had or because of,”
She looked down at his hand. “I’m sure it was because of the day I had.”
“Tell me about it. Today was...long.” He turned to her. “But you’ve gotta slow down. We both have to when the baby comes.”
She could tell that he was trying not to offend her. It was sweet.
“I know. And I agree, but today...had to happen. I had to handle that whole Aaron thing.”
Marcus stopped chewing. “Aaron thing? I thought I told you not to worry about it? I don’t care about anything he might do.”
“I know...and I told you that was practically impossible for me to do. So, I handled it. And don’t get mad at me.”
She put her hand on top of his while it still lay on her stomach.
“It’ll upset the baby.” She grinned mischievously.
“Oh, so that’s what I’m in for over the next nine months?”
He put his food down to swat her hand away. “You using the baby as an excuse to get your way?”
He easily scooped her up and brought her closer to him.
“Do you want me to tell you how I fixed it or no?”
He glared at her for a second then let her go. “Yea, tell me.”
“Good, now unhand me.” She flirted, but Marcus kept his grip.
“Hell no. I may not like what you have to say. I need you right here. Now, g’head and tell me.”
“Well,” She gulped, knowing he would take issue with her confronting Brandon, but it was what had to be done.
“I may have told Terry about Aaron’s problematic tendencies...and he may have done some research that showed a pattern of domestic abuse, including an upcoming hearing date.”
“Charlisse, c’mon. My sister’s really sensitive about that. She was waiting for me at my office this morning,”
“Don’t worry. Terry promised me that Ayda wouldn’t even be mentioned. It’s more a story about Aaron’s behavior and how it seems that some of his high up associates helped him cover it up.”
“So, there were other women?” Marcus stared in disbelief.
“Several, including his current wife.” She nodded.
“I took that info to Brandon and told him to make it disappear. It was just in time because the police had already reached out to him as a witness,”
“Wait a minute, you went to Brandon to fix this?”
Here we go.
She braced herself.
“Yes, he was likely going to be in that article, so I just advised him to return any donations he’d gotten from Aaron. That was it. A very simple deal.”
“I don’t trust him." Marcus’ tone was so deep that it rumbled in his chest against Charlisse’s back.
“Okay.” She wouldn’t fight him on it.
“I honestly don’t trust him either, but I had to fix this, baby. We’ve worked so hard to get you where you are. I couldn’t let a coward like Aaron Masters try to mess that up.”
She looked down at her stomach again. “We have a baby coming.”
“I feel you and I appreciate what you did. You sure Brandon’s gonna hold up his end of the bargain?”
“I sat there while he called the sheriff to make sure it all was done.”
She smacked her teeth. “I’m no amateur.”
“Touche.” Marcus kissed her cheek.
“I just want to give my sister a heads up. I don’t want her to be caught off guard,”
“Definitely. That’s why I’m telling you. I want to make sure she’s okay. I mean, she’s basically my family too.”
She let her body relax against him.
“Speaking of family, when I tried to propose, you told me no. That it was out of pity. It definitely wasn’t. I do want to marry you,”
“Oh yea,” She remembered him being on one knee on the balcony. “I’m not opposed to it. It’s just that nothing’s been how I imagined this for myself. I’d just like one thing to be the way that I dreamed.”
“Well, tell me what you dreamed. Maybe I can make it happen.” He was gazing down at her lovingly.
“I don’t know.” She suddenly felt shy. “Nothing specific. I’d just like for my dad to be there, my family, and close friends. My last proposal was kinda anti-climatic. We were just sitting on the couch. It was sweet, but,”
“Not what you wanted.” Marcus fini
shed for her. “Anything else you want?”
“No, not really. I’d just be happy as long as it was you.” She peered up at him.
“Hey, you better chill out before I have you pinned down on this bed.”
“I’m still eating.” She pointed to her food.
“Fuck that food, Charlisse. I’m ready for dessert, but I’ll leave you be. I don’t wanna poke the baby.”
“Poke the baby?” She burst into laughter. “I thought my cooking show thing was bad. Poke the baby, Marc? You can’t do that.”
His eyes grew wide. “You mean that if I give you dick, it won’t poke it?”
“No!” She yelled at him, playfully jabbing his arm.
“Well,” He moved over to her and took the plate from her hands. “I’m so happy to hear that.”
He placed her food on the table next to her bed and then balanced himself on top of her.
“I’ve missed you, baby.” He said in a gruff tone that made her body temperature peak.
The air in the room went from playful to sultry. Marcus moved his hands underneath her clothes, massaging his favorite places. She moaned, while his hands went down to her thighs and began to squeeze them.
“I missed touching you.” She gasped when his hands squeezed her inner thighs.
Instinctively, she opened her legs further to give him more access to her.
“I missed you, too.” She was forced to admit, as his fingers crawled closer to her center.
“You know, we wouldn’t have to miss each other if we lived together.”
He stopped touching her right before getting to her spot.
“What?” She plummeted back to Earth.
“We should move in together.” His fingers started moving again, the tips brushing against her.
She shuddered at the sudden connection.
“I want you to move in with me Charlisse. Will you?”
He asked right before placing the tip of his index finger inside of her.
“You bastard.” She hissed through clenched teeth.
She couldn’t focus while he slowly moved his finger in and out. After a while, he moved up to her bud of nerves where he began to rub slowly.
“You’re asking me now on purpose.” She called out then tried to close her legs, but he kept them open.