Love Me Now (8 page)

“Two thousand, five hundred fifty dollars,” Kenya repeated as she sat on the nearest stool.

“I figured I can scrape together a thousand dollars, maybe another five hundred if I pawn my grandmother's ring. That's fifteen hundred. Can you come up with the rest?”

“My checking and savings accounts are already tapped out,” Kenya said as she slumped over the cutting table. “I could break in to my money market.”

“No, absolutely not, remember we said that our money market accounts were for dire emergencies only. They're a last resort. We're not that strapped yet. We just have to be creative,” Shelly said. Kenya started chuckling. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“No, what? Tell me. I could use a good laugh after dealing with that electrician all morning.”

“I was just at this guy's house this morning. He's probably worth a couple trillion dollars. He wanted me to be his kids' nanny and then to play nice when his grandmother stopped by. Why don't I just ask him for the money?”

“Fine, perfect, promise him anything, be the nanny, do his laundry, whatever, just get the money.”

“I was joking, Shelly,” she said sarcastically. The last thing she wanted to do was to go back to Trey and ask him to repeat his offer.

“I'm not. Look, do you want this to happen or not?”

“Of course I want this to happen. We've dreamed about this since our first day at Parsons. We were going to open our own design studio and boutique, our label, our designs, our garments. We're almost there.”

“Exactly, so what if we have to get a couple of part-time jobs to tide us over. We've done it before. There's nothing wrong with expanding our horizons from time to time.”

“We also need to focus on our work—our clothing line for next season is only half-done. There's no way we have enough designs to fill the boutique yet,” Kenya said.

“Okay, fine, no nanny, no part-time jobs, then what? We need money fast. If the electricity goes out on us one more time…” She looked around the workroom. “I guess we could sell our sewing machines.”

Kenya slumped over farther. “Okay, first of all you're not gonna pawn your grandmother's ring and we're not gonna sell our sewing machines. You love them, I love them. They're the centerpiece of the boutique. They're what gave us our start. We'll find another way. If you can get a thousand, I'll come up with the rest somehow. When did he say he can get the work started?”

“As soon as we give him the down payment,” Shelly said as she sat down at her drawing table.

“Okay,” Kenya said, then stood up and started gathering and emptying the packages she'd brought in. The more she thought about everything that was going on, the more furious she became. Everything that could go wrong had—her father, his business, the money, and now her business was in jeopardy.

All this was because of Trey Evans, a greedy, spiteful, conniving bully. She picked up a few rolls of ribbon and shoved them down. Then she grabbed several bolts of fabric and slammed them on the cutting table. The loud noise made Shelly pop her head up from her sewing.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down,” Shelly said.

“Sorry, I was just thinking, that man is infuriating. I need to find a way to get back to him,” she grumbled.

“Fine, we can always get another electrician.”

“No, no, not him, I'm talking about Trey Evans,” she huffed.

“Trey Evans,” Shelly said, then paused. “Oh, right.”

“The one and only Iceman,” Kenya said, tossing more supplies onto the table. “I met him this morning. Believe me, the name is well-suited.”

“You went to see him,” she surmised easily enough. “I thought you were gonna wait on that.”

“I couldn't.”

“Oh, so that's where you went this morning, the trillion-dollar nanny guy. Wait, why did he want you to be a nanny?”

“Don't ask, it's ridiculous,” Kenya said.

Shelly shrugged. “So did you at least get a chance to talk to him about your dad?”

“No, his kids were there.”

“He has kids?” Shelly asked.

“Twins, toddlers, they're so adorable. But he's a walking, talking control-freak. I don't know what their mother was thinking about having kids with him and then leaving them with him. He doesn't have a clue.”

“Ah, so that's why he wanted you to be his nanny.”

“Can you see that happening?” Kenya asked facetiously.

“Yeah, actually I can, you'd be a great nanny. You practially raised your sisters and you love kids.”

“That's not the point, Shelly.”

“I guess you couldn't reason with him about your father, huh?”

“I never even got a chance. The man is unbelievable. He's like a block of ice. He exhuded power and control from every pore. It's like the world centers around him. Talk about arrogant.”

“Intimidating?” Shelly asked.

“More like power-hungry fanatic. I can't imagine actually doing business with him. The whole time he was so single-mindedly focused on one goal, getting a nanny. I could barely get a word in edgewise. Talk about self-centered. Can you believe him?”

“Actually it sounds very familiar.”

“If you're implying that I'm anything like him, I have never—”

Shelly laughed. “No, no, I'm just saying. When you set your mind to do something, few things get in your way, and you know that. So don't even try to be frontin'.”

“Well, still, he's just unbelievable.”

“A mistake going there this morning, huh,” Shelly surmised.

“Yeah, a big mistake,” Kenya said.

“Again, I thought you were supposed to wait until your folks got back.”

“I thought I could reason with him. I see why they call him Iceman, he's impossible. He messes with your mind and gets you all confused.”

“Well, yeah, he's a mega-successful businessman, right? That's what they do.”

“I know but not like this. This guy is like a tidal wave. He's intense.”

“Did he threaten you or something?”

“No, of course not, nothing like that. What I mean is he's smart, diabolical-smart.” Shelly started laughing. “It's not funny, Shelly,” Kenya told her.

“I know, I know. My bad. It's just that you make him sound like he's some kind of comic book villain with a stovepipe hat, handlebar mustache and black cape.”

“I know it sounds crazy but that's how it was. I mean, he gets inside your head and reads your mind or something. I think it's his eyes. Green with golden specks, they're mesmerizing, maybe even hypnotizing.”

“Girl, what did that man do to you?”

“Nothing,” she said far too defensively, and then calmed down. “I mean, nothing. It's just that when he looks at you, I swear, you forget everything. It's like his eyes penetrate you, going right through to your soul.”

“Really,” Shelly said, growing more interested.

“He opened the door half-naked and I swear I couldn't
breathe. I just stood there looking at the man's chest like I'd never seen one before. I must have looked like a complete idiot.”

“Um, half-naked sounds kinda sexy-hot to me.”

“Oh, yeah, he's that, too.”

“Sexy?” Shelly asked. Kenya nodded and signed heavily. “Damn, girl. Whatever happened this morning, he really got you all upset, didn't he?”

“No, not upset. Well, more like off balance, I guess.”

“No, don't even try it. He got to you. Look at you, you're all flustered and flushed. Are you attracted to him?” Shelly questioned.

“If by attracted you mean, do I want to crush him and wipe that smirk off his face, then the answer is yes.”

“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”

“No way,” Kenya denied, “and don't quote
Macbeth
to me.”

“It's Shakespeare's
Hamlet,
act three, scene two.”

“Whatever. The thing is, how do I get to somebody like that? There's no way I can afford to take him head-on. So I've been considering what to do.”

“What you do is, wait for your folks to get back.”

“No, I have to do something now. I just can't sit around and do nothing. The way I figure, he's a man, so he has one weakness. I just need to use it against him. It's called leverage.”

“How do you mean leverage?”

“Trey Evans loves women and he loves a challenge. So I'm gonna be exactly what he loves. That way I can find out how to get to him.”

“Why don't I like where this is going?” Shelly asked.

“This isn't going anywhere,” Kenya assured her.

“Yes, it is. This is another one of your classic obsessions.”

“My what?”

“You heard me. I swear, you'll do anything not to have a life.”

“Excuse me! Hello! I have a life, look around.”

“A social life, Kenya. You're in here almost fifteen hours a day. That's wrong.”

“So are you,” she insisted.

“Yeah, but I have a life, friends, hobbies.”

“It's a new business and we have to put in the extra time.”

“Sure, but not to the exclusion of everything else,” Shelly said. “When's the last time you went to the movies, grabbed a show or even went for a walk in the park?” Shelly asked. Kenya opened then closed her mouth. “Uh-huh, see, you can't even answer that question. Now look what you're doing to avoid getting a life. When was your last date, ten months ago? Come on, girl, get out there. Have some fun.

“Don't get me wrong, I realize that this thing with your dad is major, and I'm behind you one hundred and ten percent. I just don't want to see you getting yourself hurt again.”

“I have no intention of getting hurt.”

“Nobody ever does.”

“Shelly, I know what you're saying and I get it. But I have to get back out there in my own time. So if keeping myself occupied, plus helping my family, is the way to do it, then so be it. I'm in the driver's seat now, I choose when, who and how.”

“Okay,” Shelly said.

“Now, the key is getting back into his house. I'm sure he has a home office. I'm sure there's something in there I can use as leverage against him.”

“You intend to go through the man's house?”

“Why not?” Kenya said.

“Do the words
breaking and entering
mean anything to you?”

“I'm not going to break in. I'll be invited.”

“Yep, I definitely don't like where this is going.”

“Look, I have to dig up whatever information I can get on him. He's not going to just say “Here, take your father's company back.' I have to make him. That means leverage.”

“You mean blackmail, right?” Shelly said. Kenya didn't respond. “Okay, say you get your leverage, then what?” she asked.

“Then I get the company back.”

“And that's the end of it?”

“No, then I'll go to the Securities and Exchange Commission and file a complaint. Even if he buys his way out or if the complaint doesn't stick, he's bound to lose business once word gets out that he's under investigation from the SEC.”

Shelly shook her head. “You've got it all planned out, a double cross.”

“That's right,” Kenya said proudly. “I'll do exactly what he did to my father. I'll get him to trust me, and then I'll take everything away from him.”

“Just like that?” Shelly inquired.

“Yep, just like that,” Kenya said. “He won't know which way is up once I'm through messing with his head.”

Shelly broke up laughing. Kenya looked at her, then realized what she'd said. “You know what I mean.”

Still chuckling, Shelly nodded. “Yeah, and I seriously hope you're joking about all this.”

“A little revenge never hurt anyone. Let's face it, my dad is never gonna get what he's due.”

“So the best thing is to wait until your folks get back, and then they can take him to court. It'll take a while but you'll get something.”

“In the meantime, he gets away with it—no, I don't think so. What if he does this to someone else?”

“So you're just gonna walk up to him and say, ‘Hi, I need you to trust me so that I can ruin your life.'”

“No, I'll tell him that I want to learn about the market or something. You know, stroke his ego. I'm sure his is huge.”
Shelly smiled and started chuckling. “Would you please get your head out of the gutter?” Kenya protested.

“Sorry, so what you're actually saying is that you intend to trick him and use him to get what you want. That sounds mighty familiar.”