My White Lottery Winner (BWWM Interracial Romance) (9 page)

“
Why are you giving it to me?” she asked. “Why now?” she asked again.

“
Well, I got it for you. There was no point in keeping it around. It only reminded me of you…of us,” he said as he looked at her.

“
But I really don’t see myself hanging on to this. I mean, I did move on Leon. How am I going to explain a piece of art from my ex-boyfriend?” she asked.

“
Well, as I said. I got it for you. If you don’t want it, you can always sell it. It’s worth maybe ten or fifteen thousand,” he said. “But I really wish you would keep it. Sort of a reminder of our time together,” he added. Desiree raised an eyebrow.

“
Have you completely lost your mind, Leon? Why would I want anything to remind me of one of the biggest  mistakes of my life?” she asked.

“
Come on, Dee. We were happy once. Weren’t we?” Leon asked.

“
Well, yes, but that was before I realized that the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with was married with kids. So, again, tell me, why would I want something that would remind me of that?” she asked. She put the painting in his hands.

“
Please, for the love of God, Leon, stay away from me,” she said.

“
I just wanted to give you something I got you when we were still together,” he said.

“
And I appreciate it, I think. But like I said, I have too much on my mind to even think of entertaining this,” she said as she began walking away.

She could hear him calling her out but she wanted to be as far from him as possible. It was as if her past had decided to come and haunt her, with a loud bang. She got into a cab and gave the driver directions on how to get to her place. Looking back, she could still see Leon, standing there like a child wondering what to do in a big city. She turned her head and leaned back in her seat. This had been one of the most eventful days of her life.

When she got to her place, she quickly went up the stairs and walked into the apartment. Cynthia had just got in moments before she did, and Rochelle and Tony were up to their usual lovey dovey mischief on the couch.

“
Hey, Dee. I thought you’d be here ages ago,” Cynthia said as Desiree walked towards the kitchen.

“
I had a long day, or at least a long two hours,” she said after saying hi to her sister and her boyfriend.

“
Really? What happened?” Cynthia asked. Desiree smiled and walked to the sink. After washing her hands under running water, she tied an apron around her waist and looked at Cynthia. “Well?” Cynthia pressed.

“
Okay, guess who came to see me at work today,” Desiree started as she walked to the fridge where she pulled out the beef she had left in marinade earlier that day.

“
Really? You want me to guess? That’s a long list. Right off the top of my head I would say Bill Clinton?” Cynthia said, smiling. Desiree looked at her and shook her head.

“
Be serious,” she said.

“
Okay, who? One of your exes? Leon maybe?” Cynthia asked.

“
And we have a winner,” Desiree said. “But there was another person before him. Mark,” she said looking at Cynthia.

“
Mark? Who the hell is Mark?” she asked.

“
Remember the first time I met Taylor?” Desiree asked.

“
Yeah, at the speed dating thing at the café,” Cynthia said.

“
Exactly. I met Mark on the same day,” Desiree said.

“
Oh, Denzel?” Cynthia asked.

“
Yeah the very evil Denzel,” Desiree said as Cynthia began peeling the carrots.

“
Okay, what did he do?” Cynthia asked.

“
Well, he came to see me and get this, he wants to marry me,” Desiree said in a whisper. Cynthia’s eyes grew wide.

“
I’m sorry, what?” she asked.

“
You heard me. He proposed,” Desiree said.

“
Why? I mean, you are a catch and everything but why would he come and ask you now? After all this time?” Cynthia asked.

“
Something about his business failing and him needing his trust which he can’t get until he gets married,” Desiree said as she put a skillet on the stove.

“
Okay, but still, why you?” Cynthia asked.

“
I don’t know. I think he thought I might need the money a bit too much because he even offered to pay me,” Desiree said.

“
What? Seriously? He must consider himself a very big deal,” Cynthia said.

“
I would not take his money even if I was on food stamps,” Desiree said as she put some oil in the skillet.

“
Word,” Cynthia said smiling. “And what did Leon want?” she asked.

“
Apparently he got me a painting while we were still together and he wanted to make sure I got it,” Desiree said.

“
Really? And where is it?” Cynthia asked.

“
Well I gave it back, of course. I couldn’t take it,” Desiree said.

“
Why not?” Cynthia asked looking at her.

“
Well, for starters it is from my ex-boyfriend and two because it is just wrong,” Desiree said.

“
Well, for the record, I would have taken it,” Cynthia said shrugging.

“
Of course you would have,” Desiree said laughing.

“
What? I would have sold it,” Cynthia said smiling.

“
But that’s not the only thing that happened today. Lucas, the area manager of the store brand came to see me at the store today. Apparently we are the best performing store in the region. We are talking bonuses,” Desiree said excitedly.

“
I see that not even the two dumb jocks who spoke to you never killed your spirit,” Cynthia said as she went on to prepare the vegetables.

“
Please we are talking extra money here. The only thing that would kill my spirit would be bin Laden and he is dead so, cheers to that,” Desiree said laughing.

“
Dee, we don’t have any drinks,” Cynthia said smiling.

“
Well, we will, as soon as we sit down to eat,” Desiree said just as Rochelle walked into the kitchen

“
Hey guys. Need any help?” she asked. Desiree looked around.

“
You can make the salad,” she said, smiling. Rochelle smiled and walked to the fridge where she got all she needed for the salad before walking back to the table where Desiree was busy at the stove.

“
By the way Dee, Taylor’s here,” Rochelle said as she began peeling the layers off a head of lettuce. Desiree looked at Cynthia.

“
Would you take over for a minute? I need to talk to Taylor about something,” she said. Cynthia smiled.

“
Sure thing,” she said as Desiree walked out of the kitchen. Taylor and Tony were already engaged in some common interest, sports or something. He smiled at her when she walked towards them.

“
Hey,” she said as Taylor stood up to hug her.

“
Hey,” he said before giving her a quick kiss. “Good day?” he asked. Desiree smiled. She could have told him all about her day but she thought she would spare him the details.

“
Well, I’ve had better,” she said smiling. “Hey Tony, you mind if we talk right here?” she asked as she looked at Tony who smiled back at them.

“
I'm making ESPN my bitch right now. I won't even notice you are here,” he said smiling. Desiree smiled at him as she and Taylor sat down.

“
So, I have been doing my research on what we talked about. And as it turns out we have options. Very viable options if I must say,” she said.

“
Okay, give it to me,” Taylor said.

“
Okay, you could choose to invest the entire amount in hedge funds but there are pros and cons in it. Sometimes, those funds suddenly go missing when the CEO of the company decides to take a mysterious trip to the Caribbean,” she said. Taylor frowned.

“
I don’t think I like what’s behind door number one,” he said. “What else?” he asked.

“
All right. You could use the money to do some business but the question is what kind of business to invest in,” she said. Taylor took a long deep breath.

“
I could grow my current business,” he said.

“
Great idea but you cannot use the entire amount for that,” Desiree said.

“
I guess not,” he said. “So any other options?” he asked.

“
Stocks,” she said without hesitation.

“
Stocks?” he asked.

“
Yeah, like in the stock market,” she said. At that moment, Tony looked at them,.

“
I’m sorry, I could not help but hear you guys talking about investments?” he asked. Desiree looked at him and shook her head.

“
I thought you were making ESPN your bitch,” Desiree said smiling.

“
I am a financial consultant. Even ESPN cannot drown out a cry for help and this right here is a cry for help,” Tony said. “So, what’s going on?” he asked. Desiree looked at Taylor and smiled.

“
Well, I won fifty grand in a lottery and I don’t know how to invest it,” he said simply.

“
Yeah, I’ve been looking into the various ventures you can invest in but I have not come across one that’s good enough yet,” Desiree said.

“
I heard you mention stocks, right ?” Tony asked and Desiree nodded. “That’s a really good idea. You just need to make sure that the stock of choice is something worth taking a chance on,” he added.

“
And how do we know that?” Taylor asked.

“
First rule of business, never take a chance in something you don’t know about. Always play it safe. Get Microsoft, Google and the likes. You don’t want some new company that just launched that you know nothing about. That’s a mistake most people make,” Tony explained.

“
Hmm, thanks. That really helps,” Desiree said.

“
Plus, you need to employ the eighty ten, ten rule,” Tony said. Desiree and Taylor exchanged a look.

“
What on earth is an eighty ten, ten rule?” Desiree asked.

“
Yeah, I have never heard about it either,” Taylor said.

“
It’s okay. Most people haven’t heard about it either,” Tony said. “What it means is that you need to invest eighty percent of the amount, spend ten and give ten toward something you care about,” he added. Desiree looked at Taylor and smiled.

“
I think we can agree that he has already spent his ten percent,” she said. Taylor smiled.

“
Yeah, I have,” he said smiling.

“
That’s okay. All you have to do now is make sure you are disciplined enough to stick to your plan,” Tony said. Desiree looked at Taylor and smiled. In just ten minutes, Tony had given them information she had not been able to get in the last two days she had been searching the internet for the best way to invest Taylor’s winnings.

“
You really know your stuff,” Desiree said.

“
Well, I have only been doing it forever plus that is exactly what my company deals in,” Tony said. “Honestly I am surprised you never came to me,” he said.

“
In all this time, I never remembered that you are a financial consultant,” Taylor said.

“
Yeah, me neither. And we haven’t told Rochelle yet so there was absolutely no way we would have known,” Desiree said.

“
Well, I know how you can pay me back,” Tony said. Desiree raised an eyebrow.

“
How?” she asked.

“
Well this has been a free session of course but you could bring me your business. Let me take care of the investment,” he said.

Taylor looked at Desiree and then shrugged.

“I guess we can make that work,” he said. Tony smiled and stretched his hand out to shake Taylor’s.

“
To business partners,” he said as he shook Taylor’s hand. Desiree looked at Tony and then at Taylor.

“
I guess that is solved,” she said as she stood up. Taylor looked at her as he held her hand.

“
Hey, where are you going?” he asked.

“
I was making dinner, remember?” she asked as she pulled her hand out of his and began walking towards the kitchen. When she got to the kitchen, she realized that her sister and cousin had done all the work. The beef was almost done. The rice was ready and the salad was already on the table. “Wow, you guys work fast,” she said.