Authors: Vera Roberts
She needed to go after Mariana.
Good-bye, little girl…
F
OUR
Scott woke up with a mind-splitting hangover. He struggled to sit up in bed and was still in his business suit. He couldn’t remember the events of the prior evening after he sat with Caprina having a glass of wine. He reached over to turn on the light as he tried to get a hold of his bearings.
“Good morning, Scott,” Sanora purred.
The Mistress’s sudden appearance startled Scott. He managed to place two feet on the ground. “Mistress…” He cleared his throat. “I apologize for my appearance. Had I known you were coming, I would have attempted to not look like shit this morning.”
“It’s not a personal visit, Scott,” Sanora was unusually curt, “we need to talk business.”
Sanora’s tone caused concern in Scott. “Yes, Mistress?”
Sanora sat next to Scott on the bed. She handed him a tonic. “Drink up. You’ll feel better by the time we’re done talking.”
Scott took the lukewarm beverage from Sanora and downed it. It was bitter and disgusting. He thought he was going to heave. “God, what the hell was that?” he dry heaved.
“Let it go through you. If you throw it up, you’ll feel worse,” Sanora purred as She ran a hand through his hair. “We need to talk about last night.”
Scott put his head between his legs. “I don’t remember last night.”
“You will now,” Sanora turned on the TV and directed Scott to watch. His eyes widened as he watched the screen. Caprina slipped a drug in Scott’s glass and handed it to him. He kept sipping it throughout the night. When it was time for him to leave, he could barely stand and that was when Caprina took advantage of him. If it wasn’t for Nate and Robert, Scott would’ve slept with Caprina. The thought disgusted him.
“She fucking put roofies in my wine,” Scott had to laugh; it was the only thing that could keep him from murdering his ex. The revelation was no surprise to him. “Of course she did.” He tempted to ask Sanora how She knew but thought better of it.
Sanora answered Scott’s questions for him. “I’ve been watching her for a while.”
“We have to go to the police about this,” Scott shook his head, “I have to call Guess and cancel the campaign and…”
“Scott, she’s coming after Mariana.” Sanora interrupted him. There was sincere concern in Her voice.
The information brought Scott to attention. “She’s what?”
“She’s coming after Mariana, Scott.” Sanora tried to break the news as gently as possible but there was no way to be easy with what She learned. “She’s going to harm her.”
Scott should’ve seen it coming but the revelation hit him hard. Despite the increasing tension between them, Mariana was his everything. “When?”
“Let me worry about that,” Sanora replied.
“You tell me my psychotic ex is going to harm my girlfriend, and you want me to not worry about it?” Scott questioned.
“Scott, she wants you to intervene,” Sanora pressed, “This is what she wants. She wants you to fire Mariana. She wants you to break up with her, Mariana moves out, and then Caprina comes in. She already started to mess up things with Mariana at work, if you haven’t already noticed.”
“I’ve noticed,” Scott thought about the budget incident. “I need to do something, Mistress. I can’t stand back and watch this happen.”
“You are going to do something,” Sanora crossed Her legs. “You’re going to break up with Mariana.”
Scott felt life escape his body. Mariana was his world, and he cherished her. Things had been tense between the couple lately, but he knew it was going to pass. “That wasn’t what I had in mind, Mistress,” Scott protested.
“You don’t have a choice in the matter, Scott,” Sanora challenged back. “If you don’t break up with her, Caprina will harm her. It’s guaranteed.”
If Scott broke up with Mariana, there was no telling if she would want him back when all was said and done. “When?”
“As soon as possible. She needs to move out of your home and away from you.” Sanora looked at Scott’s face. He was calm but his eyes were dark, as if they had no soul in them. “Is everything okay with you two?”
Scott had been irritated with Mariana a lot lately and tensions were sky-high between them. “I rather not talk about it.”
“I take that as a no,” Sanora replied.
“Caprina caused a lot of tension between us,” he finally admitted.
“She may have planted the seeds, Scott,” Sanora crossed Her legs, “but I have a feeling you’ve been watering the garden.”
Scott looked at the Mistress and was speechless. She was right. “I guess.”
“I’m right.” Sanora smiled.
“Do you have any connections in real estate? I need to set her up in an apartment.” Scott thought quickly. “A nice one in a good neighborhood, possibly with security gates, and gated parking.”
“Done,” Sanora replied. “Anything else?”
Physically, Scott began to feel better but it was his heart and mind that was hurting the most. “I spent the past eight years erasing her from my mind and she comes back in like shit never even happened.”
If you only knew, my sweet Scott.
“I know.”
“Are you going to handle her or should I?”
“I want you to lay low and focus on you and getting your girl back. It’s going to be a rough time for you both,” Sanora replied.
“And Caprina, Mistress?” Scott asked. “What about her?”
“I’m going to take care of her,” Sanora had a big smile on Her face, “I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time.”
F
IVE
“Howdy, stranger…I haven’t seen you around here in a while,” the Starbucks barista, B., greeted Mariana.
“Yeah, it’s been a minute, hasn’t it?” Mariana smiled. The last time she saw B. had been a few months prior. “I’ve just been busy.”
“Busy, huh? So busy you can’t see your favorite handsome and charming Starbucks barista?”
“Oh, he’s here today?” Mariana looked around. “Where is he? I don’t see him.”
“You’re funny. You’re funny and you’re fine,” B. nodded. “Great combination in a woman. I like that.”
“Whatever,” Mariana dismissed B.’s compliment, “I just want a Grande Mocha Frappuccino, please?”
“You got it,” B. rang her up. “So how’s your boyfriend?”
Mariana hesitated. Scott stopped just short of firing her just a few weeks prior. Whenever he was around her, there was a glacial presence as if he were purposely trying to punish her.
When Scott had gone to Vegas recently, he hadn’t called Mariana at all, and her mind went into overdrive about the reasons why. She already suspected what she figured was true: Scott was sleeping with Caprina. It was only a matter of time before he asked her to move out. She had started looking at apartments just in case. “He’s busy.” Mariana gave B. her card for the drink.
“He can’t be that busy,” B. gave the card back to Mariana. “It’s on the house, by the way.”
Mariana appreciated the gesture. “Why say that?”
“If Barack can afford an evening taking Michelle out on a date while he’s trying to save the free world, I’m sure your boyfriend can afford an hour,” B. smiled.
Mariana had to admit B. did have a point. “No argument here.”
“You would lose anyway,” B. winked, “but I do have a proposition for you.”
“I’m listening.”
“I would like to take you out on a friendly dinner. Friendly. No kissing, no hugging, no ‘smack it, flip it, and rub it down,’ unless you want some of that, then I would be more than willing to help.” B. smiled again.
“Friendly? None of that Smooth Daddy arm-around-the-shoulder moves?” Mariana asked.
“Two friends can’t go out to dinner?” B. shrugged.
“Friends,” Mariana emphasized. “Just friends.”
“Just friends it is,” B. agreed. “Whatever the lady wants, the lady gets.”
Mariana picked up her coffee at the counter. Her exchange with B. made her a bit tingly inside. It’s been a while since she’d had that feeling. She missed it.
****
“I have a dinner tonight, so I won’t be home until late,” Mariana casually mentioned.
“Okay,” Scott’s eyes didn’t leave his computer screen.
Mariana stood in his office with a hand on her hip. She could’ve been on fire and he wouldn’t have noticed. “I’ll see you later?”
Scott briefly looked up. “Okay.”
Scott’s nonchalant demeanor was making Mariana angrier by the second. She was starting to believe what B. had said to her. Scott really didn’t care. And if Scott stopped caring, there was only one reason why. “Are you sleeping with Caprina?” Mariana’s voice was louder than she intended.
Scott was counting numbers on the spreadsheet before him. “No,” he didn’t look up at her.
“Could you at least humor me by looking at me?”
Scott honored her request. “No, I’m not sleeping with her,” he stated. He went back to viewing the spreadsheet.
“It feels like you are.” Mariana replied.
“I’m not,” Scott’s voice was curt.
“And I don’t believe you.” She folded her arms.
Scott was officially annoyed with her. It wasn’t the time or the place. He was fortunate most of the employees were in various meetings and no one could hear them. “Then that’s not my problem, is it?”
Mariana walked over to a bookcase and tossed a Tiffany vase to the floor. It smashed into tiny pieces. Scott looked up from his computer. He quelled his anger. “And now you have my attention.”
“You’re always with her. You’re always traveling somewhere with her. How long does it take to do an ad campaign for Guess? Not very long, but it seems like it’s taking you two
weeks
to do. And then you’re always out to lunch or somewhere with her. With
her.
I don’t get invited to
those
meetings.”
“It’s because she doesn’t like you,” Scott interjected.
“Gee, I wonder why!” Mariana scoffed.
“It’s also because you made a major mistake before, and we can’t let that happen again.” Scott clarified.
Mariana loudly sighed. She had explained to Scott several times what had happened, and it felt as if he not only did not believe her, but he didn’t
want
to, either. Even if she could have proved that Caprina had set her up, it wouldn’t have made a difference. “Thanks for having faith in me,” she mumbled.
“I have to keep Guess happy.” Scott reasoned. “And if it means keeping one of the best employees away because the lead doesn’t want her around, so be it.”
“That’s not it,” Mariana shook her head. “You don’t want me around because it’ll make
you
uncomfortable.”
“This conversation is making me uncomfortable.” Scott replied.
Mariana shook her head. “You’re not even going to try, are you?”
Scott put down the spreadsheet and leaned back in his chair. Mariana was hell-bent on having the discussion whether he wanted to or not. “What do you want me to do, Mari? I have to supervise this campaign. It’s almost done and then things will be back to normal. My hands are tied here, okay?”
“No, they’re not,” she started to leave, “not unless you’re the one who’s tying them.”
Mariana was almost out of his office when Scott stunned her with the news. “We need a break,” he quietly said.
It was the news Mariana had been dreading. The tension between them had reach epic proportions, and Mariana was convinced Scott just didn’t care anymore. “A break? A break?” She turned around. Her eyes welled up with tears. “You’re breaking up with me?”
“No,” Scott already regretted Sanora’s suggestion, “Things are tense between us right now, and I just think we need to spend some time apart and regroup so we can come back together strong.”
“Why?” Mariana begged. “So you can sleep with her in the meantime?”
Scott knew where the argument was going, and he wanted no part of it. “You know what? I’m not doing this here.”
“Oh, no, you’re doing this here and you’re doing it right now!” Mariana demanded. “Is that the real reason why, Scott? That’s why you want us to go on a break? So you can see if anything is still there between you two?”
Scott looked at his girlfriend. Her face was full of anguish and hurt. It upset him to know he was the cause of it. “No.”
“You’re lying! I know you are!” Mariana could no longer stifle her tears. They streamed down her cheeks.
“What do you want me to say, Mari? What?” Scott wanted to wrap his arms around her but he knew she would push him away. It killed him to know she was crying in front of him
because
of him. “I’m being completely honest with you, and you still accuse me of lying, so what is it that you expect?”
Mariana wiped her cheeks and straightened her blouse. “I expect a man to respect a good woman when he has one before someone else gets her.” She walked out of his office and closed the door behind her.
Scott leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. He wanted to be honest and explain to Mariana everything that was going on, but he knew that would not be of use. He didn’t want to add more fuel to the blazing inferno before him. Instead, he played it cool and trusted his Mistress, praying She knew what She was doing, despite feeling out of control about the situation.
It didn’t stop the feeling of a disaster waiting to happen.
This won’t end well.
****
“You know there’s this hot song by Jay-Z that I love,” Jeff began.
“Really? What is it?”
“99 Problems,” Jeff laughed, “because apparently,
you
have issues.”
Jeff and Scott had met up for happy hour at EMK. After Mariana left his office, Scott had spent the remainder of the afternoon hidden in his office. He hid partially to focus on work, but the real reason he hid was so he didn’t have to see Mariana whenever he opened his door.
“Mari’s getting on me for working with the Great Disaster.”
“Can you blame her?”
“She really,
really
fucked up on a major spreadsheet the other day. The figures were all wrong.” Scott still couldn’t wrap his head around it. “In a normal situation, she would’ve been fired on the spot.”
“But you didn’t fire her because she’s your girl, right?”
“I didn’t fire her because I’m not sure if she’s the reason the accounting was wrong,” Scott nursed his whiskey.