“I invited you, remember?” I replied.
“Yes, well, I’m still recovering from that, too. I can’t believe you called me and invited me to dinner.” She glanced around the restaurant. “And to my favorite place. I’m totally and completely shocked.”
“Well, I figured we needed to talk, to clear the air.”
“Why, because your woman left you?”
I cleared my throat and ran a finger around the inside of my shirt collar. “No.”
“You’re lying, and you’re still angry with me. I can tell. I know you, Derek Hill.”
“Okay…if you know me, why do you think we’re here, Sasha?”
“Hmm, I wanna order before we get down to business. I don’t want you backing out of buying me a meal.”
“Okay.” I told myself to stay calm with her and her games, and then I waved a waiter over to us.
She ordered the most expensive thing on the menu, of course. Despite having zero appetite, I ordered a T-bone.
After our plates were set in front of us, she looked up at me with a smirk, and said, “You’re really determined to do this, huh?”
“What do you think I’m trying to do?”
“Get me to help you get that little hood rat of yours back. I mean, those braids?” she scoffed.
“That’s what you think?”
She nodded as she cracked open a crab leg. “Yes, and I tell you what. I’ll tell her the truth if you write me another check. It was a big sacrifice giving her my check, but I had to convince her I was innocent in all this.” She snickered softly. “And she fell for it.”
I cleared my throat and shifted in my chair.
“I hated to give up that money, but it was so worth it to see the look on her face and the look on yours right now. You wanna kick my ass, don’t you?”
“No.”
“Liar.”
“Look, I don’t want you to tell her anything.”
She smiled. “Yes, you do. I told you, I know you, Derek Hill.” She dropped the smile. “Unless…are you recording us? Wearing a wire?”
“Really, Sasha? What do you think this is? Law and Order?”
She shrugged. You never know…anyway, where was I?”
“You were saying you know me.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Well, you don’t know me as well as you think you do.”
“Oh, really?”
“Really. I just want to know why?”
“Why what?”
“Why did you go see her, lie to her? After all I did to help you when you needed it, why?”
She tilted her head to the side. “Help me? You couldn’t wait to get me out of your house. And I didn’t lie to her. I told her you didn’t want a baby with me and that you paid me to get rid of me.”
“You also pretended to be pregnant.”
She shrugged. “I did that for fun. I liked pretending to be pregnant.”
“What was your endgame with the pregnancy? I mean, with me? You would’ve had to have given birth eventually.”
She gave me a pensive look. “I guess I would’ve had to fake a miscarriage or something. My first plan was to actually get pregnant after I moved in, but as soon as I hit the door you left, and you wouldn’t touch me. So I had to take other measures.”
“You were going to trap me? Why?”
“Because you’re rich. Duh!”
“So all of that crying and shit was an act? It was all about the money?”
“That’s what everything is about, Derek.”
I took a deep breath and released it. “But why go to all this trouble to hurt me if all you cared about was money? You’re attractive. There are other men out there who would gladly take care of you.”
“Did I hurt you?”
“Yes, you did. You ruined my relationship with Greer.”
“She left you?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“Good. Now you know how it feels for someone you love to dump you over a lie.”
“You saying you love me?”
“I’m saying I did.”
“Okay…what was the lie?”
“That I cheated on you.”
I sighed. I wasn’t sure how long I could keep this act up before I went off on her immature ass. “You did cheat, Sasha. I saw you, remember? We had agreed to see each other exclusively. You broke that agreement.”
“It’s not cheating if you don’t really care about the other person.”
I leaned forward and watched as she sipped her wine. “Then why sleep with him?”
“First of all, you saw me kiss him, not sleep with him. Second of all, if I did sleep with him, maybe it just happened. Maybe he was just there and we just did it. Men do stuff like that all the time. You know, seize the moment, get a little something extra in just for the hell of it. But if a woman does it, she’s a slut and a ho’ and her dude wants to break shit off and stuff. It’s a double standard.”
“I never cheated on you, though.”
“So you say, but that woman with the weird name sure did pop up out of nowhere. I don’t know that you didn’t cheat with her.”
I couldn’t take anymore. She was talking in circles and my headache was slowly returning. “Well, I guess I got my answer. I hurt you and you hurt me back.”
She pointed her fork at me. “Right. Now, are you sure we can’t negotiate something? How about one hundred thousand this time? I’ll call her right now for a hundred thousand. Shit, I’ll tell her in person if you want, cry and ask for her forgiveness and everything. I finally got that insurance check and bought me a new place. I need furniture.”
I smiled and shook my head. “No. I’m good. I’m gonna go take care of the check. You enjoy your meal.”
Her face fell. “You’re not staying? You haven’t touched your food.”
“I’ve actually got some stuff at work to handle.”
“Oh…”
“You take care of yourself, Sasha. Oh, and if you ever step foot on my property again, I’m having your ass arrested for trespassing.”
I left the table without waiting for her to reply, found the waiter, and overpaid him for our meals. Then I climbed into my car and was halfway to my house when I made the call. “Did you get it?” I asked. “Could you hear her?”
“Yes, Mr. Hill. I got it, and everything was crystal clear.”
38
I was exhausted, but it was a good kind of exhaustion. Trevia was serious about being done with Wes. Like, dead serious. A few days after her breakdown, he’d actually come back to her, explaining that he and his wife couldn’t stand to be around each other for very long and that was why he needed her. Well, she put his ass out. Called the police and everything. And today, a couple of weeks after he showed up, Trevia called me and Denise and asked us to come help her pack his things for his mother to pick up. I was all too glad to do it, even helped load his mother’s car. I smiled when she had his mother sign a form she found online as evidence of receipt.
When I asked her if she was okay, she said, “Never better. It’s like a new start.”
If I didn’t need to get back home and start packing for my next trip, I might’ve drank to that.
I was still sad, but I knew I had to try to get back to my life. In the midst of our break-up, my deal with Sable Jets had expired, and I never responded to Derek’s renewal request via email. I would miss the jets and limos, but since they would be a constant reminder of him, it was best I cut that tie.
The flowers were still coming, as evidenced by the notes stuck to my door when I made it back home. I’d missed five deliveries during my time at Trevia’s. I shook my head as I pulled them off the door and walked inside, made myself a glass of water, and collapsed onto my sofa. Although it was not quite evening, I was fast asleep in no time and was awakened a little while later by a knock at my door. Figuring it was the flower delivery guy I now knew by name, I answered it with a slight smile. After all, it wasn’t Greg’s fault Derek was so relentless. Sure enough, it was h
im with five dozen dahlias in vibrant colors. Yesterday he’d sent miniature roses.
“Thanks,” I said after Greg placed them in my living room.
“You’re welcome. I don’t know what he did, but at this point, even I’m ready to forgive him,” the older white man said with a chuckle.
After he left, I looked around the room and sighed. There were so many flowers. Beautiful flowers. I got up to throw away the ones that had wilted, something I did on a daily basis, and my apartment was still full of flowers. The place smelled like a greenhouse or something. I settled back on my couch, picked up my phone, and dialed Derek’s number for the first time since our break-up. I was shocked when it went to voicemail. Shocked and even a little insulted, but I left a message nevertheless.
“Derek, it’s-uh-Greer. I’m leaving town in a couple of days so you might want to let the florist know. Um, thank you for all of the flowers. Bye.”
Well, that was awkward as hell.
No sooner than I hung up, he called back. I couldn’t bring myself to answer. I couldn’t talk to him. Not yet, because I missed him so much any conversation we had probably would’ve ended with me back in his bed.
An hour later I checked my mail, and when I made it back to my apartment, was met at the door by the UPS man with a package from Derek. He’d sent letters before, beautiful, heart-wrenching letters. Gifts, too. I figured this small bubble envelope held a combination of both. I opened it to find a short note and a DVD that had no label. The note read:
Greer,
I hope you’re doing okay. I’m not. I miss you and I’m becoming a pain in the ass to everyone around me because of it, but I suppose that’s my fault. Please watch this DVD, and please call me afterwards.
I love you,
Derek
I grabbed my laptop from my bedroom and had inserted the DVD when a knock came at my door. I checked the time. Probably poor Greg again, I thought. I approached the door wondering what color these dahlias would be. I almost fell over when I found Lloyd standing on the other side.
39
He was wearing his usual suit and tie, and he looked nice. Tired, but nice. I supposed the new baby was keeping him up at night. Trevia had found out it was a little girl.
“Congratulations on your new baby,” I said as we both stood on opposite sides of the doorway.
“Um...thanks.”
“What’s her name?”
“Wow, you know everything, don’t you? Her name is Issa.”
I nodded. “Nice name.”
“Greer, can I come in?”
“Why?”
“Because it’s important that I talk to you.”
I shook my head. “Lloyd—”
“It’s not what you think. I clearly have no chance with you now. It’s regrettable, but I get it. Plus, I’ve got to try to make my marriage work for my daughter, no matter how miserable I am.”
I don’t know if I felt sorry for him or if I wanted to bask in the fact that he was just as miserable as I was, but for whatever reason, I let him in. His eyes stretched wide when he saw the wall-to-wall flowers.
“I’m guessing my boss is responsible for the new decor?”
I offered him a seat on the bright yellow sofa that he hated, as it was the only suitable seat in the room since I never had sense enough to at least buy an accent chair, and my computer chair was cheap and uncomfortable. I sat as far away from him as I could on the opposite end, and said, “You here to discuss my decor?”
“No.” He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, turned his head and looked at me. “I wanted to first give you a proper apology, one with no strings attached.”
“Okay. I forgive you. I’m over it, really.”
“I know. I’m pretty sure you’ve been over it for a while.”
“I have.”
“Good. Because I’m not. You’re not so easy to get over, Greer. Not for me. Not for Mr. Hill.”
I frowned slightly. “What?”
“I know this is none of my business, and you can curse me and throw me out of here if you want, but just let me say what I need to say.”
I didn’t reply, just shifted my gaze from him to a bare spot on a wall.
“I don’t like him, Greer. Not because he’s a bad boss. He’s an excellent boss. He’s been very accommodating with letting me have extra time off for the baby, and he’s been nothing but professional with me despite knowing about us. And I know you told him. I don’t like him because you love him.”
I crossed my ankles and stared at my feet. Shit, I needed a pedicure in the worst way.
“I know you two broke up, because you haven’t been around the office in a while, and plus, that place has a gossiping problem.”
I sighed as I returned my attention to his face. “You here to gloat? To throw it in my face?”
“No. I’m here to plead his case.”
I sat up straight. “He sent you?” Damn, was Derek that desperate?
“No. I came because I care about you and I want you to be happy. You deserve to be happy, Greer, and I’ve never seen you as happy as you were with him.”
“Are you trying to tell me you’re here out of some selfless desire to see me happy? I’m supposed to believe that?”
“It’s the truth.”
“Well, I don’t believe it. I think you want firsthand information about my break-up. You want to see me down and out and miserable. Well, I’m fine, and you can go.”
“You’re not fine, Greer. You look like you did when we were together—marginally content. You’re not happy. He’s not happy. Hell, I actually feel sorry for him.”
My eyes searched the room as I fought not to care, but I did. “Why? What-what’s wrong with him?”
“He looks like he hasn’t slept in weeks, and he’s short with everyone. His assistant gets the worst of it. The man is losing it. And most of us are afraid he’s going to start randomly firing people, and well, I need my job. I like my job.”
“So that’s what this visit is really about? Your job?”
“Partially. Look, he loves you. As much as I hate it, he does. Now, I don’t know what happened between the two of you, and I know it’s none of my business, but the man is falling apart without you. And from the looks of things around here, he’s trying to make it up to you. Just food for thought.”
He stood and headed toward my door.
“You drove all the way from Houston to tell me that, or did Derek send you in one of his jets?”
He stopped in his tracks and faced me. “I drove. He doesn’t know I’m here. We don’t talk about you, Greer. The one time I asked about you a couple of weeks ago, he threatened to fire me if I ever spoke your name again. And he said he’d also kick my ass after he fired me.”
I smirked. “Right.”
“Look, I know you’re going to believe what you want to believe and do what you want to do regardless of anything I say. You’ve always had a mind of your own.”
“And that always bothered you about me, didn’t it? That I have a mind of my own?”
He shook his head. “No, Greer. It wasn’t that. It was that I never felt like you needed me. I never felt like you needed anyone.”
“I need Derek,” fell out of my mouth all by itself.
“I know.”
As he walked away from my apartment, I said, “Be safe driving back.”
“I will.”
I stepped back inside of my home, grabbed my laptop, and started the DVD.
40
I leaned forward as the DVD began to play, and I saw Derek sitting at a table in a restaurant, alone. If the purpose of the video was to make me want and miss him more than I already did, it was working. Lloyd was right, he looked tired, worn even, but he was still my fine, chocolate, dreadlocked Derek and I still loved him. The warm fuzzies I was feeling dropped to the floor and played dead when Sasha entered the frame and took a seat across from him. My eyes narrowed as they spoke to each other, and I noticed something about
her I had missed when she came to Derek’s house that day—her eyes. There was a callousness in her eyes I had missed, but then again, I was caught totally and completely off guard by her visit. She looked like the kind of woman who loved revenge, the type that specialized in slashing tires and busting windshields, or in other words, wrecking shit. Either she was an excellent actress or I was off my game before, but now I saw it. It was as clear as the nose on my face. She was an A-1 bitch.
Oh, I also noticed her perfectly flat stomach. Either she had given birth and bounced back like a damn champ, or her ass really was lying about being pregnant.
What a bitch!
I watched and listened intently, and the more I heard, the more I wanted to jump through the computer screen and whoop her ass. She’d made a fool of me, had intentionally screwed up my relationship, deceived me into leaving my man, and all of that pissed me the hell off! But I was more upset at myself than anyone for falling for her lies. No, Derek wasn’t completely innocent. He definitely should’ve told me what was going on with her, but after having seen her malicious ass in action, I could see why he didn’t. This woman was diabolical.
I grabbed my cell phone to call Derek, having decided not only to forgive him, but to travel to Houston as soon as I could. I didn’t want to waste another second apart from him. Then a thought hit me. What if it was all staged? What if Derek paid her to say that stuff?
But it seemed so real. So very real.
I sighed and put the phone down, now thoroughly confused. I watched Derek leave and was just about to stop the DVD when Sasha dug her phone out of her purse and dialed a number. I listened to her end of the conversation and watched the rest of the DVD until the screen went black before changing my clothes and leaving my apartment.
I needed to see Derek.
41
I was in my car, a half-hour away from home, when I realized I didn’t have my cell phone. I started to just keep going, but thought better of it. There was no sense in taking a chance on something happening on the road and without a phone. So I turned around, already a ball of nerves, and was even more on edge by the time I made it back to my apartment, because it took a whole hour to get there! The traffic was especially horrible that evening. And then I got home and was met at the door by Greg, so I had to take the time to let him in and sign for the flowers and tell him I wouldn’t be home for the rest of that day or the next. Then I couldn’t find my phone, spent twenty minutes searching, and finally found it under a pillow on my couch.
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