Authors: Lady Keisha
Four months later, it was the morning of her graduation. She had successfully completed all her coursework and passed her final exam. There was a knock at the door and she opened it to see Mila, her best friend, standing there with a bouquet of her favorite flowers. “Congratulations!”
She threw her arms open and pulled Aubrey into a hug. It was unbelievable she was just a couple hours away from walking across a stage for her graduate degree. It was even more unbelievable she had already secured a job due to how well she had performed in the practical leg of her coursework.
They walked to Mila’s car and much to her surprise Antoine was leaning against it waiting for them. He looked up at her, incredibly handsome in a suit, and smirked. She gave a little cry and ran up to him, giving him a kiss on the lips. “I thought you were going to meet me there!”
“We decided on a little change of plans,” Mila said as she slipped into the driver’s seat.
Aubrey beamed at her best friend and then at her boyfriend. After their first official date, they had continued to see each other and become an official couple not long after. It was not until she was studying for her final that they felt free to publicly be together so it would not be as frowned upon. But they were completely, and almost hopelessly, in love. And Mikaela had never been more open or happy or hopeful as she was now with Aubrey’s guidance and presence in her life. Everything was falling into place and Aubrey felt extremely excited about what the future had in store for her.
THE END
Chapter one
“I’m sending him over right now. You won’t be disappointed. Of course I know that he’s going to have to go through the interview process, but that won’t be a problem. Don’t worry about it. This is what you pay me for, and quite handsomely at that.” I was walking down the sidewalk with my black highs heels clicking against the pavement and pretending that I was in the office as I finished the call. “I’ll be in touch. Let me know how things go and if you need anything else. You know that I’m always around. You’re one of my best clients, after all. I always have time for you, Jackson.”
I had several clients that were looking for new hires and they have me to thank for bringing them the talent that they need. I am the go between for people wanting to hire talent and people that are looking for work and have the resume to prove that they can do the job. My clients pay me a stipend to put them on my website. If they really want the personal touch, they’ll pay the premium and I’ll make a concentrated effort to work my magic.
It doesn’t hurt that I’m not hard on the eyes. Good for business. Five-nine, one-fifteen with the kind of chocolate skin that makes most men look at me twice and then a third time just to make sure that I was not some kind of mirage. I don’t know how many times I almost caused an accident with my high black skirts and ample bosom that literally looked like it was trying to escape my blouse. It’s definitely true that sex does sell.
My long black hair and my piercing green eyes are the things that make it easy for me to get into doors that most people wouldn’t be able to accomplish on their own. I make other headhunters look like they are just going through the motions. I don’t just take my client’s money; I make it work for them in the best way possible. Even now, Jackson is going to get a rude awakening. He hasn’t been able to find anybody on his own to fit the bill of an advertising executive in training. Nobody’s willing to take what he’s offering, but Peter Isles is a struggling college graduate that will bend over backwards to please him.
My blue tooth goes off with a ringing in my head and I know from the caller ID on my phone that it’s Mike. He has a law firm that has a revolving door when it comes to receptionists. Apparently, he can be a bit of a handful. It’s the reason why I was going to team him up with Tanya. She has shown that she has the attitude to give back just as hard as she’s getting. This blond bombshell will tongue tie him and make it very difficult for him to shout at her for anything that she does.
“It’s good to hear from you Mike,” I told him. “I do believe that in the next five minutes, Tanya will be walking through your door. Give her a chance and I think that you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Uh-huh. Yes. Of course, we can do dinner sometime. It’s the least that I can do for my favorite client.”
All of my clients were my favorite client. It was just my way of making idle chitchat and giving them a reason to continue hiring me on a permanent basis. I not only get money from the clients that I team them up with, but I also get money from them. Ten percent of their wages come back to me. It’s a really small amount, considering what I give them on a silver platter.
Stopping in front of a shoe shop I see a pair that really does cause me to stop in my tracks. Something about them calls to me and I know that this is a sickness, but I just can’t help myself. I have several shoes in my closet already that I’m probably never going to wear, but it doesn’t matter.
I see my reflection and the Gucci sunglasses that I wear to shield my eyes from the sun make me look like I have more money than brains. I’m wearing a red blouse with the first few buttons undone to show a considerable amount of cleavage. I noticed while walking down the block that a lot of men had already stopped and looked at me with a hunger in their eyes.
My last relationship was three years ago and it ended with me kicking him to the curb for cheating on me with my best friend. I know how cliché that might sound, but I have lived it and I now know that it really does happen to women just like me. I think I gave up on men at that point, because I thought that they were all horn dogs and really were only thinking with one head, and not the one that was attached to their shoulders.
I decided to bite the bullet and give into my urges. Walking into the shop I saw that the owner was a man. This was a little unusual. Something this intimate should be sold by a woman. A lot of people don’t think of women’s shoes as intimate, but when they’re on my feet, and I feel them holding my heels up, and I stalk up the street dressed in stilettos, I know how intimate they can be.
The owner was an ebony god with a bald head that had tattoos crisscrossing over his cranium. There were several more on his arms and even one that surrounded his eye like it was supposed to be a rising sun.
“If there’s anything that I can do for you, please don’t hesitate to ask.” He had his hand over the phone at his ear. I gave him a noncommittal wave, but I couldn’t stop staring at the masculinity of his arms and the way that they seemed to bulge obscenely like they were going to rip through the fabric like the incredible hulk.
I was browsing, but my eyes were drawn to the same pair of shoes that I’d seen outside in the window.
“I don’t care what Ramon says,” he growled into the phone. “I’m out of that lifestyle and I have no intention of going back anytime soon. Tell him that our business is done.” His voice was raised and I could tell that he was visibly distressed about something. I could tell from his body language that this was not a conversation that he wanted to have.
I picked up the shoes and brought them over to the counter. “This is the last time that I want to hear from you. If you try to send somebody over there, you’ll regret it. Yes, that is a threat.” He slammed the phone down, before he realized that he had a client standing right in front of him.
“That sounded a bit heated.” I didn’t know why I was making idle chitchat, but it was the way that I was raised. My mother was always sociable and she taught me that there was always a way to make a person talk. It usually came from giving them room to breathe. I clamped my lips closed and instead I fingered the straps on the shoes and wondered what they would look like on my feet as I walked down the street to the jealous glances of others.
“Let’s just say that my past seems to have come back to raise its ugly head,” he told me. “I would rather leave that where it’s supposed to be. They just don’t know how to take no for an answer. I’m not going to say that I’m not tempted. I’ve had several friends that went away and couldn’t make it on the outside.” The way that he said that made it obvious that he had spent some time in the legal system.
He looked like he was shocked that he was so willing to reveal such secrets to a virtual stranger. He really didn’t know me and just standing in my presence had made a lot of people reveal secrets that they never wanted to have see the light of day. I was good at reading people and this guy had a gang-related past written across his forehead in neon letters. Or at least, in tattoos.
“I have no problem listening to you,” I smiled. “It’s not like I have a lot to do today. It might do you good to get it off your chest. Maybe you can even give me a discount on the shoes for becoming your personal counselor.”
It was worth a shot and the smile that I received was enough to make my knees shake. I’ve never had any man give me those butterflies in my stomach, until now. The black shirt that he was wearing was a little small for his frame, but it certainly did outline his muscles through that shirt with clarity.
“Tell you what. I’ll give you ten percent off. I just opened this place about a month ago. Business has been a little slow, but with the Fall season comes the need for Christmas presents. I just wished that I had a way to introduce this new line of shoes to the masses. I’ve been incommunicado for a few years. I don’t know much about business, but I had an old girlfriend and she was all the rave for these new pair of shoes. I decided to throw in with her. She’s my partner in crime. Er, so to speak.”
Those black pants of his were tight too and it wasn’t because he had muscular thighs, which he did, but I could see the outline of his package and the way that it was pressing up against the fabric. I wanted to reach out and touch him, but there was no way that I was going to take that kind of risk in a semi-public place.
“I know a lot of friends that have gone into the system. I know a lot of them that got lost and couldn’t find their way back. I also know of a few that have made it, despite what they went through. It’s admirable that you’d want to get back into society. I like that you want to earn an honest living. Of course, it’s hard to walk away from something you know. The money must’ve been immeasurable, but sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture. You went to jail this time, but what happens the next time? You could get killed or you could find someone else’s blood on your hands.”
I could tell that he was looking me up and down and even though he was subtle, his eye movements were quite clear. “I’m just worried that he’s not going to take no for an answer, you know? I know these guys and I know how they work when somebody decides to walk away clean from all of this. There really is no way to do that. Once you’re in, you never have a way out. I did get rid of the tattoos that I got when I was in the gang. Well, I didn’t so much as get rid of them, as I did cover them up with tribal markings. I don’t know why I’m burdening you with any of this. I guess I just find it easy to talk to you.”
“I know that it must be difficult, but you have to realize that anything that is worth doing is never easy. Just continue doing what you’re doing and hopefully they will realize that you have moved on. You don’t need the hassle and the drama of what they bring to the table.” I was treating his problem like it was a business transaction. It was the only way that I could truly help him see what he had right in front of his eyes.
“I don’t even know your name,” he laughed, “but I would like to thank you for your kind words. If you have the time, there’s a coffee shop down the way that serves the best cappuccino that I’ve ever had. I didn’t even know that I liked cappuccino, until my ex-girlfriend introduced me to them upon my release.”
I’m not one to get caught up in lame come-ons. Usually I’m able to shrug them aside, but for whatever reason I didn’t feel like I could do that with him. “Jerome, I would love to have a cup of coffee with you. Give me about fifteen minutes to clear my calendar and I’ll meet you down there.”
I’d seen his name on his name tag and I was just hoping that I didn’t get caught up in the fact that he was a bad boy. I didn’t want to be the kind of girl that would think that she could save him from himself.
Chapter two
I stood there and waited in line, until I felt a warm presence behind me. I turned my head to see Jerome standing there, so close that I could almost feel something that gave me a moment of pause. I’d not been this close to a man in quite some time, at least not when it wasn’t business, and I guess I was starting to realize that waking up in a cold bed by myself is a bit lonely. I never had time to truly think about it and I was always on the go.
“I hope that you didn’t feel that it was presumptuous of me to ask you out to coffee. I just thought that it would be a nice gesture. After all, you did listen without judgment and that is more than I can say for most women. They hear that I’m an ex-con and they want to turn around and go the other way. I’ve even had some new friends walk away, because they can’t deal with the fact that I have a checkered past.”
“Jerome, I think that most people get caught up with stereotypes. They think that just because you’ve gone to jail that you can’t be rehabilitated. It’s true for some, but that ruins it for the rest of you that are truly trying your best to pick yourself up after going down a disastrous road.” We got our coffee and we went to a nearby table by the window. It was a beautiful day, but in here you could not feel the humidity that was seeping through my clothing with each step that I made on the sidewalk.
“I knew from the moment that I got involved with them that I was making a very bad mistake. It’s just that when you live in my neighborhood, there is really only one way to go to avoid getting beaten up by the gang. You become one of them, go through the initiation and then do what you have to so you can survive. I was glad that I was able to shield my little brother James from that kind of life. I saved a lot of money to send him to college. He wants to be a marine biologist, whatever the hell that is. I’m just happy that he wants to do something with his life.”
I wanted to ask him about his mother, but I could tell from his faraway gaze that she was no longer in the picture. “It has to be very hard for you to raise your little brother on your own. No wonder you felt like you had no other choice.”
I was now moving my hand across the table, until I was touching his. He didn’t try to pull away and the heat of his fingers on mine only made me well aware of the fact that life was nothing without a man in it.
We told each other about our childhoods and where he was more in the line of fire, I was sheltered, as an only child in a household that looked more like a business meeting than a family. My father would barely speak and I would always find him head deep in the stock exchange. My mother was always cooking and owning her own catering shop had made her a very busy lady. I soon realized that they were both burying themselves in their work to avoid talking about their feelings.
“I think that we all know that there are skeletons in everybody’s closets. Those skeletons can be small things like wearing women’s clothing or something else that could land them in jail. He had scars, which were physical and emotional.” I found myself leaning in for a kiss, when I noticed out of my peripheral vision, a black car with tinted windows coming down the block very slowly.