by J. P. Comeau
I ran my hand through my hair, realizing that I was in way over my head. This wasn’t something that I could handle on my own, and the longer it waited, the more money I stood to lose.
And that’s when I remembered the email they had sent me right before I went to Paris with Ginger. I pulled it up on my laptop and read it over.
Mr. Stein,
The miners are getting ready to protest yet again. They are not happy with the small, minuscule pay raises your company has given them. They’ve also expressed concern over their working conditions and benefits packages.
If you meet their demands within five business days, they will not strike.
If you do not meet their demands within five business days, they will strike until you or someone from your company comes to Africa to meet with them.
Sincerely,
De Veers Diamond Group
Son of a bitch! Who the hell would I send to Africa?
If I’d read that email before leaving for Paris with Ginger, I would have immediately authorized whatever the hell they wanted, because frankly, I was getting tired of dealing with this issue. Of course, I supported fair wages and decent working conditions, but there was no way I could go to Africa myself.
This is why I have avoided romantic relationships all of my life. All they do is get in the way of work.
I shook my head, refusing to allow myself to feel that way about Ginger. I was a changed man, and life without her wouldn’t be worth living. This was just another hoop for us to get through, and after our trip to Paris, we felt more durable than ever.
Especially with Ria out of the picture.
I let out a long sigh, then got to work on finding a replacement.
As I was typing up a job posting, I found myself becoming angrier. I owned the damn company, and it would have been so easy just to hand it over to my secretary, along with her new title. She was single, too, and didn’t have any children. So going to Africa for who knows how long would have been a breeze. I kept looking up at her through my glass doors, watching her work on the computer.
She was so damn efficient and knew what the hell she was doing.
But just knowing that she sat on this all weekend got under my skin. The woman had been working for me for years, and she knew damn well that anything from De Veers was considered urgent. She also knew that Ria handled everything with De Veers and that she was no longer with the company.
If only she’d called me!
Once I finished typing up the job posting, my next business order was going over every employee profile to find a suitable candidate. That took me the rest of the day since my company was so damn big. But as I flipped through every profile, I realized that I no longer trusted anyone to do Ria’s job. She had done so much damage to me, both professionally and emotionally. Anyone I hired would be too much of a risk. But if I didn’t hire someone right away, I could lose everything I had worked so hard for all at once.
Then I turned my attention to the dire situation with the miners and composed my email.
De Veers Diamond Group:
I received your certified letter this morning after I returned from a short vacation. To say that I’m shocked at the miner’s strike would be an understatement, but rest assured that I will resolve this issue immediately. Please reassure them that I wholeheartedly support paying them a livable wage, along with providing safe working conditions.
However, the person who handled human resources and anything related to the payroll is no longer with my company. I’m searching for a replacement for this position, but in the meantime, I want to address this right away.
In regard to this being handled in Africa, I am asking for some leeway. Between having to hire someone new to manage this and just returning from a trip myself, I do not see how I’m able to send someone down to Africa.
Can we please find a way to resolve this remotely?
Sincerely,
Jorge Stein
Within minutes of sending the email, they replied back.
Mr. Stein,
Thank you for reaching out to us. Unfortunately, this must be addressed in person at this point. The miners want to speak with a representative from your company directly.
Please let us know when this can be arranged.
Sincerely,
De Veers Diamond Group
I slammed my laptop shut so hard that my secretary jumped out of her chair.
Looks like I’m back to square one because God forbid anything goes right in my life.
21
Ginger
There were fewer things that I enjoyed more than sipping coffee on my small balcony, which overlooked the gorgeous, crystal-clear ocean. Ever since I had moved into my condo, I had spent nearly every morning watching the waves crash against the shore while sipping Cuban coffee. But as much as I loved my condo and the view, I was starting to yearn for something bigger.
There were a few other condos in the development that were much larger, and naturally, they came with bigger price tags. I had considered moving into one since it would give me three bedrooms instead of two. Right now, I had my own home office and a bedroom, but it would be nice to have a guest room. Many of my high school and college friends had left Miami, and I would have loved to have a place for them to stay whenever they visited.
But my parents instilled in me the value of money, and I knew just how wasteful paying rent could be.
After pouring myself another cup of coffee, I headed into my home office and reviewed my five-year plan. It was something that I’d been putting off ever since Jorge and I had become more than friends, and if he had proposed to me in Paris, then I would have put it off some more, but that had never happened. I had thought he would have done so after one of the plays or on one of our several moonlight walks, but he never did. By the time we got back to the states, even though I was still very happy with him, I realized that I still wanted to move forward with my life.
And hopefully, in due time, he would ask me to marry him.
Relax, Ginger. You just started dating him.
As I looked over my monthly budget, I decided that I could afford a house within one to two years with my raise. I would double my monthly payments toward my student loans and deposits into my savings accounts, invest a little more money in the stock market, and could easily come up with a twenty percent down payment. It wouldn’t be enough for a large, elaborate home, though. Just something to call my own while waiting on Jorge.
It wasn’t what I thought would happen, though. I’d always assumed that once I graduated from college, I’d meet someone, fall in love, get engaged, and then buy a house with him. But I knew he’d need some time to come down after ending things with Ria. Men tended to be much more cautious than women when it came to tying the knot. It still bothered me that life was turning out differently than I had planned.
After all, you were supposed to buy a house and get married right after college.
But I hated wasting money, and there was no point in paying rent when I could be investing it in a house, especially after seeing some of the new properties for sale. I could easily put down twenty percent within two years, as long as I committed to an investing schedule and stopped throwing money away on rent.
As I typed away, however, my eyes kept gravitating toward the engagement ring that I still wore despite us not being engaged.
Dozens of people had congratulated Jorge and me on our recent engagement in Paris, but instead of correcting them, Jorge thought it’d be fun to play along. That only got my hopes up, though. He came up with a proposal story that melted my heart, and each time he told it, I wanted to beg him just to do it already. The tension between us was too strong, anyway. It was clear that both of us wanted to be together, and Jorge had yet to ask for the ring back.
As I was tinkering with applying for a first-time homebuyer’s savings account, Eva showed up with iced coconut lattes.
“I figured you could use some caffeine on your day off.”
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“I just downed my second cup of coffee, but I’ll never turn down anything that tastes like coconut.”
Eva looked over my shoulders to see what was on my computer. “Why are you looking at houses?”
I twirled the large diamond around my finger while looking at a stunning, ranch-style home not far away from where I was living. “With my raise at the spa, I’ll be able to pay off my student loans in almost half the time. And after reviewing my budget today, I’ve decided to increase my monthly savings so I can buy a house in one to two years.”
Eva sat down across from my desk, and I knew what she’d say before she even opened her mouth. “I know that you’re on this independent-woman kick, but shouldn’t you wait and see what happens with Jorge? I mean, the guy could probably buy the state of Florida. Why spend any of your money on a down payment for a house?”
“That’s not the point, Eva. Who knows if and when Jorge will ever propose, and why should I keep paying rent? Besides, it’s always good to plan ahead.”
Eva lifted my left hand. “If he isn’t going to propose, Ginger, then why hasn’t he taken this ring back yet?”
“Because he knows how much I like it, Eva. As much as I love Jorge, I’ve learned that you should never assume things will work out with a guy.”
“So, what if you buy a house, and then you guys get married?”
I shrugged while adding a few listings to my favorites. “Well, I could always sell it or rent it out to someone.”
“Yeah, because if you marry Jorge, you’ll really be hurting for money.”
“You still don’t get it, Eva. Until Jorge and I get married, I have to focus on myself. I know better than to depend on a man even though down deep inside I want to.”
Eva shrugged again while taking a sip of her latte. “I just think it’d be a tad emasculating for you to buy a house while dating Jorge, that’s all.”
I folded my hands while leaning back in my chair. “Eva, Jorge doesn’t need to worry about being emasculated. Believe me. He’s all man underneath his clothing. And I bet he’d view it as a wise decision on my part. You’re reading too much into this. Enough about me, all right. What’s new with you?”
As Eva told me about having a crush on one of our male clients at the spa, I clicked away on different homes. Many of them were far outside of my price range, but there were quite a few that I could see myself living in. Of course, nothing within my budget was right on the water. If I ever wanted that view, I’d have to marry someone incredibly wealthy.
Jorge is incredibly wealthy, and you’re still wearing the ring he gave you.
“Anyway,” Eva continued, “he comes in all of the time for facials, and yesterday he got an hour-long massage. Ugh, I should have gone to school to become a masseuse. I’d give anything to rub my hands up and down his gorgeous body.”
“I think Guadalupe and Yuslan have an education assistance program. They’ll probably pay your tuition if you want to go back to school.”
Eva shook her head while giggling. “Nah, I wouldn’t want to be on my feet all day. Well, I should get going. Let me know how the house-hunting turns out.”
I laughed while watching her leave my condo. And just as I was about to shut my laptop down for the day, Jorge called me.
“Good morning, sweetie. How’s work going?”
“Not that great. Are you sitting down?”
My heart sank as I sat down in my office chair.
“I am now. What’s wrong?”
“I have to go to Africa.”
“What? Why the hell are you going to Africa?” I could hear the frustration in his voice as he explained everything to me.
“Before we went to Paris, the De Veers Diamond Group sent me an email that I foolishly ignored. The miners are demanding huge changes to their income and benefits, and because I didn’t respond within five days, they’re now on strike.”
I started pacing back and forth in my living room, my hands shaking with anger. “I don’t understand, Jorge. Everything is done remotely nowadays, so why the hell do you have to go down there?”
“It’s complicated, Ginger, and the worst part is that I don’t know how long I’ll be gone.”
I fought the tears as they started to buildup in my eyes. Don’t you dare cry over a guy! “So, you could be gone for a month? Or two months? Or a year? Is that what you’re telling me, Jorge?”
“Please don’t be so upset, Ginger, and I doubt it’ll be a year.”
“I hate to be that woman, but did you take me into consideration when you planned this trip?”
“Of course I did,” he explained into the phone. “But Ginger, I don’t have a choice. This would have been something that Ria handled, and now that she’s gone, I have to do it myself.”
“If Ria handled it, then why can’t you just hire someone else for her position and send them down to deal with the problems on the other side of the world?”
“Because after what she did to the company, I don’t know how I could trust anyone to do her job ever again, Ginger. Remember how we discussed having my secretary fill her position? She slipped up when I was out of the office, so now I don’t think that I can put this on her.”
I tried calming myself down, but it was no use. Jorge and I were being torn apart, yet again, and it still had to do with Ria.
“So every time something like this happens, you’ll just up and fly away for who knows how long? And I’ll be left behind like some chump?”
“Ginger, I love you so much, and I’m begging for your understanding. I have every intention of nipping this in the bud as soon as I get down there and then coming right back home. If there were any way of me getting out of this, believe me, I would. You are my only personal priority. But if I don’t go, then I could lose my entire business.”
I silently nodded while wiping away the tears streaming down my face.
How many times am I going to cry over this man?
“All right, well, I gotta go.”
And before he could say a word, I hung up and rested my head on my closed laptop. It was still warm from all of the internet searching I had just done. Feeling utterly defeated, I realized that I needed to move on with my life. It was not what I’d been expecting, but I refused to be put on hold anymore.
I booted the laptop back up, went to my bank’s first-time homebuyer’s savings account information, and slid the fake engagement ring off my finger.
22
Jorge
One Week Later
It had been one week since I had last spoken with Ginger, and she had yet to return any of my phone calls. I always saw her car in its usual parking spot every morning as I was leaving for work. She started later than me, so I didn’t think much of it. But I’d fought every urge not to pound on her door, begging for one more chance. If it had been any other woman ignoring me, no way would I have still been interested after a week of being ignored.
But Ginger was unlike any woman I’d ever dated before.
I hadn’t consumed anything other than numerous cups of coffee and a bunch of protein bars since we last spoke. Whatever I was feeling was horrible, and I could only assume that it was depression. It was a feeling of not being complete because someone had suddenly abandoned you.
If this is what women go through every time a guy ghosts them, then I have a lot of apologizing to do.
I was in my office downtown that morning, exchanging emails with my private pilot about getting me down to Africa. He told me that we should go as soon as possible since a major storm was due to hit the coast any day now. The longer we waited, the higher the possibility of us getting caught in the storm became.
De Veers had sent me another email demanding to know how much longer it would be until someone met with the miners in Africa. I knew they were anxious to resolve the issue, as was I, but I could only do so much while running the company by myself. I told De Veers that I had to tie up a few loose ends in Miami before heading down there, which was total bulls
hit.
The truth was that I refused to leave Miami until Ginger started speaking with me again.
I sent her another text message that morning, and when she didn’t reply, I tried calling her. She wasn’t answering her cell or office phone, either. I started pacing back and forth in my office, causing several of my employees to watch me from the other side of the glass door.
Just send one of them to Africa, dammit!
I looked out the window, and sure enough, the clouds were starting to darken. If my pilot was right, this wasn’t going to be a quick storm either. We were officially heading into hurricane season, and that meant that flying anywhere needed to be done right away. I sent one last text message to Ginger, waited five minutes for a reply, and then shoved my phone back into my pocket.
I couldn’t postpone my trip any longer.
I practically peeled out of the parking lot and headed to the Lavender Dreams Spa. Confronting anyone at their place of work was something I never did, but this was an emergency. To me, anyway.
The smell of lavender hit me as soon as I walked inside, and I was surprised at how calm it instantly made me feel. That was until Eva came out to greet me.
“Jorge, it’s so good to see you!”
“Yes, I need to speak with Ginger, please. Is she in her office?”
She looked confused. “No, she’s been working from home all week. I haven’t been able to get a hold of her, though. I’m surprised she didn’t tell you.”
“Wait, did you just say that you can’t get a hold of her either?”
Eva shook her head, and it hit me just how bad I’d hurt Ginger by having to leave the country.
“I don’t believe this,” I said while pacing back and forth in front of the front desk.