by Carl Weber
Tears welled in Raine’s eyes, but she remained silent. She watched as Voncile trotted over to the stink pot, looking inside.
“I can’t believe you vomited again. You need to stop this shit and get yourself together. I’m going to fix you something different to eat today. If you throw that up, then I don’t know what I’ll do.”
Voncile snatched up the pot, carrying it out of the room and to the bathroom. She had left the door unlocked, and for a moment Raine contemplated making her move to escape, but as if she had read Raine’s mind, Voncile rushed back into the room and dropped the pot back in the corner.
“There,” Voncile said. “All clean. I’ll see you later.”
Raine stared at her, wondering if this crazy woman expected her to say “Thank you.” She was so frustrated she wanted to scream. Her body was exhausted from this whole ordeal, but she imagined herself having the energy to jump up and claw out Voncile’s eyes.
Voncile was obviously enjoying every cruel thing she said to Raine, like she was trying to kill her by breaking her heart. “I asked Kasen to go on vacation with me,” she said. “What do you think? Any suggestions of places you’ve been to with him before?”
A single tear escaped and ran down Raine’s cheek. That made Voncile smile.
“If I do go, though, I’ll have to decide what to do with you. I’m getting to the point where I don’t need you anymore. So, sit tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite.” Voncile laughed as she left the room.
As she heard the lock turning on the door, Raine shouted out, “There is no bed in here, bitch! You and Kasen both can go to hell!”
Voncile stormed back into the room. She punched Raine in her face then grabbed the back of her head, damn near breaking her neck as she forced Raine look up at her.
“Don’t you dare speak to me that way in my house! Kasen and I are going to be together for a very long time, and there isn’t a damn thing that you can do about it!” She banged Raine’s head against the wall then let her hair go.
Raine kept her head lowered, so Voncile wouldn’t see the pure hatred in her eyes.
“Good-bye, tramp. And get some sleep. You look terrible. It’s no surprise why Kasen would leave your ass to be with me.”
Chapter 14
Kasen went into work early, even though he and Voncile had had a very late night. He thoroughly enjoyed their time together, but then he had tossed and turned in his bed all night. He was worried that Voncile was getting too attached. To him, it was too early to be throwing around the word “love.” It was too soon to start a real relationship, yet she not only wanted to spend the entire weekend with him, but she also suggested they should go on vacation together. To Kasen, spending that much time together would make them a couple—like he had been with Raine. He surely wasn’t ready to take that risk again. He didn’t know what else he needed to say to Voncile so she would ease up a little, but he meant what he’d said about taking things one day at a time. He was starting to think that getting sexually involved with his secretary was a risk he shouldn’t have taken.
As he sat at his desk thinking about the situation, Voncile came strolling in. “Good morning,” she said, greeting him with a huge grin on her face.
Yet again, the dress she wore looked so familiar to him. He started to think that he was going crazy, and he didn’t dare ask Voncile where she’d gotten the dress from, especially since he had already inquired about the necklace and was wrong. He gazed at her with a very awkward feeling inside.
“Hello, Voncile,” he said. “How are you today?”
“I’m feeling damn good this morning,” she answered. “You worked out all my kinks last night, lover.”
He tried to smile, but he still felt uncomfortable. “Voncile, please sit down for a minute. I’d like to talk to you.”
The smile left her face, but she was still trying to keep the mood light as she said, “Yeah, you worked me out for sure. In fact, I need to go get my hair done because you had me sweating last night. Do you mind if I leave early today? The only time my beautician can see me is at two.”
“No problem,” he said, almost wishing she would leave earlier so he could get rid of the bad feelings he was experiencing.
Voncile sashayed over to the chair and sat down. He thought she was going a little overboard to impress him. Now that she was closer, he got a whiff of her perfume. He had held back from asking about the dress, but now he couldn’t help it. He had to ask.
“What fragrance is that?” he asked with a peculiar look on his face. The scent was just like Raine’s. It made him think of her.
She gave a weird little laugh and said, “Truthfully, I didn’t even look at the bottle when I snatched it off my dresser this morning. Do you like it?”
“Yes, I do. I love it . . . and I’m very familiar with it.”
Voncile adjusted herself in the seat. “Familiar with it how?” she asked, sounding a bit nervous.
Kasen instantly regretted bringing it up. After all, he had screwed this woman every which way last night, so it wouldn’t be very respectful this morning to ask her to listen while he talked about his ex and how much he truly still missed her. He decided to change the subject.
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe I smelled it in a store or something. Anyway, have you heard from Omar again? I tried to reach him this morning, but I keep getting his voice mail,” he said.
“No, I haven’t heard from him, but I told you what his last message said. He wanted to be as far away from us as he could get. I guess we should believe him.”
“He may have said that, but that’s not like Omar. We’ve had our differences when he did some stupid shit in the past, but he always calls to apologize. It seems strange that he hasn’t called, especially after the voice mail message I left him.”
Voncile shrugged, looking around the room like the subject was boring her. “I guess you know him much better than I do. If he calls, I will definitely let you know.”
“Great.”
Voncile leaned in toward the desk and tried to look deeply into Kasen’s eyes. She appeared to be getting ready for another round of office sex, but Kasen had other things on his mind. He definitely needed to address their situation before Voncile got even more attached and things got out of hand. He had a professional practice to run, and didn’t want things to blow up in his face because his secretary couldn’t stay focused on work.
He cleared his throat and leaned back a little bit to put some distance between them. “Listen, Voncile, I just want to be clear about us, okay? Last night was spectacular, and you are breaking a brotha down, but I was serious when I said I want to take this one day at a time. That means we don’t have to spend time with each other every day. And as far as when we’re here in the office, let’s try to keep things strictly business, okay?”
Voncile stared at him for a few seconds without saying a word, and Kasen was a little worried she was about to go off on him. He was relieved when she finally spoke up calmly.
“So does that mean we’re not going away together this weekend?” she asked.
“I don’t think so. I’m going to be busy this weekend. I have a friend who I haven’t seen in years, so I invited him to come hang out.” He had made the plans in a hurry that morning, mostly so he would have an excuse not to go away with Voncile.
“I understand, Kasen. And you’re right; we don’t have to see each other every day,” she said. Kasen couldn’t help but notice that her facial expression did not match her words. She was agreeing with him, but the way she narrowed her eyes, she looked like she was cursing him inside her head.
“Okay, good. I’m glad you understand my point of view,” he said, still with that awkward feeling in the pit of his stomach. “Now if you don’t mind, I need a little privacy to prepare for my first patient.”
Voncile stood up and left the room without another word. Kasen shook his head. The sex between them sure was good, but he wondered if he should be listening to that little voice inside him
that was telling him she might be the kind to become obsessive. Normally he would call Omar to get his opinion in this situation. He really wished his friend would call so they could clear the air. It was terrible how both his fiancée and his best friend had disappeared from his life at the same time, leaving him no one close to talk to.
* * *
Later that afternoon, Voncile knocked on the door to his office while he was in the middle of a session.
“I’m getting ready to leave. Is there anything else I can do for you before I go?”
“No, I’m fine. Have a good evening,” he said, wondering why she had bothered to interrupt his session to tell him that. He would have to remind her about professionalism next time he saw her.
“You too. And good-bye, Miss Sanders. Good seeing you again. Kiss that beautiful grandbaby of yours for me, and tell your daughter I said hello.”
“I surely will,” Miss Sanders said with a smile.
As Voncile left and closed the door, Miss Sanders said, “That secretary of yours is so sweet, Dr. Phillips.”
“Yes, she is,” Kasen agreed, relieved that his patient wasn’t bothered by the interruption.
A few minutes later, he finished up his session with Miss Sanders and walked her to the elevator. “Have a nice weekend,” he told her as she stepped on and the doors closed.
He turned around to head back into his office when suddenly the door to the stairway burst open and Voncile came running out. Her hair was a mess, her mascara was smeared all over her face like a raccoon, and the top of her dress looked like it had been torn. She fell to her knees, panting and crying.
Kasen raced to her side. “What happened?” he said, pulling her up and wrapping his arms around her shaking body.
Voncile sobbed like a baby. “Omar was in the backseat of my car. He tried to hurt me, Kasen! He tried to rape me!”
Her words felt like a punch in the gut. Kasen had no idea Omar would do something like this. Friend or not, he wanted him arrested. “Don’t worry. Omar will be arrested. I’m going to call the police, and I want you to tell them everything that happened.”
He felt Voncile’s body tighten up. She pulled away from him, her tears suddenly vanishing. “I don’t want to get the police involved.”
Kasen was confused. “Why not? He hurt you, Voncile. He needs to be locked up.”
She hung her head like she was embarrassed and said, “I have unpaid parking tickets, and there’s a warrant out for my arrest. If the police come here, I’ll be arrested.”
“I’ll pay the tickets and make them release you. You have to let me call the police on Omar. If you don’t, he’s going to get away with this. You don’t want that to happen, do you?”
Voncile started pacing nervously, and Kasen felt bad for pressuring her to do something she clearly didn’t want to.
“Can’t you just install some cameras around the parking lot? You can protect me, Kasen, can’t you? We don’t need to involve the police.” She sounded like a scared child, and Kasen immediately felt an instinct to keep her safe.
“I will do whatever to make sure he doesn’t hurt you again. I’ll put some cameras around here, and some at your house, too. But please consider talking to the police.”
“I will,” she said. “Just not today. Let me cool out for a moment and get my thoughts together.”
Kasen felt terrible for what had happened to her. He would honor her request and leave the police out of it for now. Since she didn’t want law enforcement involved, he would have to handle it another way. He couldn’t wait to get his hands on Omar—if only he knew where the hell his friend was hiding.
Chapter 15
Voncile left the office knowing that Kasen was in her corner. It had been a stroke of genius on her part to go into the stairwell, rip her dress, smear her makeup, and then run back in there crying rape. He had nearly broken her heart when he said he wanted to slow things down between them, but she was sure that after the damsel in distress act she had performed, he’d be on board with the relationship moving forward. He was a sucker for a woman in need. He was a therapist, after all.
She was pretty proud of herself for thinking on her feet like she did when Kasen wanted to call the cops. The truth was that she didn’t have any unpaid parking tickets, but Kasen was such a sucker for a vulnerable woman that he believed her without question and promised not to call the police. Even if he decided to go look for Omar on his own, Voncile was not worried. He definitely wouldn’t find him, because Omar was gone, gone, gone. Voncile had made sure of that, and she was about to make sure Raine was gone too.
She had just about had it with Raine. Voncile could only be so nice. She wasn’t going to tolerate Raine’s smart mouth anymore. It was time to get her out of Voncile’s house, especially since she predicted that Kasen would be spending more time there. After a while, it would look suspicious if she always took him to the barn to get their freak on. She didn’t want him questioning why they couldn’t go into her house, but she was afraid to take him in there in case Raine started that damn moaning and groaning again.
Raine was becoming too bold lately. Voncile could tell that she had been trying to get out of there. There were many small dents on the door, as well as on the walls, as if she had been kicking at them. The knob was loose, and Raine’s body showed visible bruises that Voncile hadn’t put there. Still, Voncile hadn’t brought any of that to Raine’s attention. There was no need to warn her. If Raine ever managed to make it on the other side of that door, Voncile would blow her fucking brains out.
Voncile entered her house with the mail in her hand, thinking about how anxious she was to finish off this ordeal with Raine being in her house so she could move on with Kasen. If only Omar hadn’t talked her into keeping Raine at her place, she could have been done with her already.
She thumbed through the mail while standing in the foyer. A letter addressed to her from the IRS put her in a bad mood before she even opened the envelope. Coming from the government, it was never good news. As she started to read the letter, she heard a loud banging sound that shook the house, bringing her mood even lower. The pictures on her living room walls went from straight to crooked. The crystals on her chandelier wiggled around, and a book that was on one of her shelves hit the floor. She didn’t know what the hell Raine was doing upstairs, but Voncile realized that it was a good thing she had come home early.
She rushed to her room, snatching the gun from underneath her mattress. Today was the day. The day Raine would die. This was it, and Voncile was about to let that bitch have it in a major way.
She quickly unlocked the door and went inside, but what she saw actually amused her. Raine stood there with a piece of sharp plastic in her shaking hand. Voncile laughed as she aimed the gun at Raine.
“Okay, bitch, try me. Go ahead and lunge out at me with that right now. See what will happen to your ass. If you want to live, you damn well better think twice.”
Raine held a tight grip on the piece of plastic. She knew there was no way for her to defeat Voncile with a gun aimed at her. At that moment, Raine completely gave up. She dropped the plastic on the floor and fell to her knees.
“Kill me!” she screamed out. “Please kill me now!”
Voncile pursed her lips and rolled her eyes. “I hate weak bitches who don’t know how to fight. You give up too easily. You don’t deserve Kasen. He doesn’t need a woman like you in his life, and I’m so glad that he now has me.”
Raine clutched at her stomach, but instead of running over to the stink pot, she vomited right at Voncile’s feet. Voncile was so ready to pull the trigger, but then an unwelcome thought entered a mind like a lightning bolt.
“You are pregnant, aren’t you?” she said. “That’s why you’ve been throwing up, and you know darn well that you’re carrying Kasen’s baby.”
Raine spat on the floor to clear her mouth. “No. I swear I’m not. It’s the food.”
“Food my ass. Back up and go sit in your corner.” Sh
e went and snatched up the piece of plastic in case Raine thought about trying to use it again. “I’m going to the store, and I’ll be right back. Save me some pee. I’m finding out today if you’re really pregnant.”
Voncile left in a pretty decent mood considering the circumstances. She was already formulating a plan in her mind that would use Raine’s pregnancy to her own benefit. She was willing to do whatever to keep Kasen on her team, and a positive pregnancy test was a good way to do it.
She purchased a pregnancy test at the drugstore then returned home with it. When she got back to the room, Raine was lying flat on her back, staring at the ceiling like a zombie.
“Here,” Voncile said, handing her the pregnancy test. “Get your crazy ass up and go take a piss over there.”
Raine was moving slowly, but she did finally get up and open the box. She lifted her top then straddled her legs over the stink pot, peeing on the stick. When she was done, Voncile rushed over, snatching it from her hand. They both waited nervously, even if it was for different reasons. Seconds later, the test was confirmed.
“Positive,” Voncile said with a smile. She looked at Raine, whose facial expression was flat. “Aren’t you happy about this? We are going to have a baby. I can’t wait to tell Kasen!”
Raine collapsed onto the floor.
* * *
What seemed like hours, days, maybe even weeks later, Raine woke up not knowing where she was. Her vision was blurred as she looked around at the spacious bedroom that was decorated in bright pink, yellow, and green. Considering the fact that she had been sleeping on a floor up until now, the king size bed she was in felt like the most comfortable mattress she had even lain on. The soft comforter felt amazing against her skin, and the plush pillows made her think she had died and gone to heaven. There were two windows to her left, covered with white blinds. An old-fashioned white dresser was between the windows, and an oval-shaped mirror hung next to a closet. On the other side of the room was a sitting area with two chairs facing each other. A TV was mounted above a fireplace, and the room smelled like fresh strawberries.