Diary of A. . . (26 page)

“I wanted to do right by my child if she was
pregnant.”

“So you’d be miserable for eighteen years,
Theo?”

“I had parents that stayed together for the
sake of their children.”

Maybe I felt different because I grew up in
a different environment. “That doesn’t make it right, Theo. If you
aren’t happy, how can you expect your children to be happy?”

“Do I make you happy, Sheryl?”

I blushed. “Yes, you do.”

“You make me happy, too,” Theo admitted and
tenderly brushed his sensual lips with mine.

Hesitantly, I asked, “So you want to have
children?”

“I never thought about it until she said
something, but I would like one or two now that I can be a better
father and provider. Having them when I was young was a hard
decision.” He kissed me again. “I’d like to have children with you,
Sheryl.”

My heart soared. I mean it literally soared
away from my body as he deepened the next kiss. We forgot about
where we were. It didn’t matter that someone could come in at any
moment. I wanted Theo and he wanted me, but we knew it wasn’t just
for now. It would be forever.

Feeling my ass rest on the edge of my desk,
I didn’t have to stand on tiptoe anymore. I pulled my thighs up to
wrap around his waist. We continued kissing as Theo opened my
blouse and dipped his head down to lavish my nipples just by
pulling my bra down.

I pulsed in pleasure, gasping at the
wonderful hot sensation his mouth drew. Grinding my hips against
his, I could feel his manhood calling my name, wanting to touch me
as much as I wanted it.

“Damn, woman!” Theo sneered
passionately.

“Give it to me,” I viciously whispered.

Soon his pants were open and it was only a
matter of pulling my panties away. I wanted to scream as Theo
leaned me back on the top of the desk and drove into me like a man
searching for gold. I was tight and wet. My honey splashed on his
pants and I could feel it trickling in the valley of my ass.

I was really wet for him. Theo cupped my
ass, pulled me to him and literally held me up on his shaft. I
wrapped my arms around his neck as he guided my body to riding.

Being at his complete mercy, not only was I
turned on by this position because he was holding my entire weight
in his arms and not struggling to do it, but because we could look
each other in the face, kiss and come together on a higher level
that this world would never touch.

We knew our bodies were coming to fruition
together, but we never broke eye contact. My pussy began to vibrate
all on its own and soon Theo couldn’t hold back, either.

Our eyes stayed locked and I knew that
things were going to be all right. I just knew it.

Entry Forty-Six

Whew! The next two days were a whirlwind for
me. As I worked with Earl on taking over the company, I saw very
little of Theo. Mackeroy was blowing up my phone, but I wasn’t
taking his calls and I had Peter drop his account – as nicely as
possible. Then I made sure security wouldn’t allow Mackeroy into
the building.

Since I stayed close to work the majority of
the time and slept in Earl’s hotel room just working on paperwork
to make the transition of the company go smoothly, I did not have
to worry about Mackeroy trying to catch me alone. Whether he was in
cahoots with Erin or not, or just her puppy and doing her bidding,
I really wanted nothing more to do with him.

At night, I missed Theo, but a lot was
starting to bother me about him. Now that he was getting the
divorce finalized, would he still pursue his vision of running his
own company?

How broke could he be?

Earl nudged me on the third morning because
I had lain awake for a long time the night before. “You’re going to
drive yourself crazy asking yourself questions about him. Why don’t
you ask him out to dinner and get the answers you need?”

“Today is our last day to spend together,” I
said as nonchalantly as possible. “I thought we’d do
something.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Earl asked
incredulously. “I don’t want to spend my last day out of jail with
my daughter. Especially when I’ve just spent the last two with
you.” He was already dressed and looked ready to go somewhere, but
not formal enough to go into the office to work.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“With your mother. We have a train to catch
in an hour to Traverse City where we’ll be spending the day at a
resort.” He looked at me suspiciously. “Is that all right with
you?”

“Are you making her happy?” I asked just as
critical.

“Yes.”

“Then that’s all right with me.”

Earl kissed my cheek. “Call me if you have a
question about anything. I love you.” Going to the table where all
my work was still scattered about, he picked up my cell phone and
set it beside me. “Call him and ask him to lunch. I’ll make sure
Cassandra makes room in your schedule.”

When Earl left, I picked up the phone and
dialed Theo’s number.

He sounded pleased to hear from me. “Found a
little time in your busy day?”

“A little,” I said.

“Well, it’s just the morning. I’m sure your
father is keeping you very busy.”

“Busy enough.” Why the hell was I beating
around the bush? This wasn’t like me. “Did you miss me?”

“Yes,” Theo replied, as if I already knew
that answer.

I started to say, “Can we-”

“Want to-”

We had spoken at the same time, so we
stopped.

“Go ahead,” Theo urged.

“Want to have lunch?” I asked.

“Of course. I got a meeting at eleven with
Trunk… I mean Lethal, but we could meet at Sweet Georgia
Brown.”

That was a five star restaurant. Could he
afford it?

“Are you sure? I don’t mind going somewhere
else.”

“I’ll call to make reservations,” Theo
insisted. “Twelve-thirty?”

“That’s fine.”

Hanging up the phone, I sighed heavily.
Would I always have this inner guilt for being more successful than
him? And could Theo possibly afford to have a woman like me in his
life?

I think deep down that had been my real fear
about being with a man on a long-term basis. Not to sound arrogant,
but I knew I was always meant to do something great and be
successful. But over the years, I had seen so many successful women
become stressed because their men were intimidated by them. Soon it
was either leave them or just quit their jobs. Some even waited for
their men to catch up.

But I knew I couldn’t be like that. I
couldn’t settle. And as much as I felt that Theo wouldn’t have a
problem with that, I knew that in the back of his mind it would
bother him. Which meant it would soon bother me.

Going into my office, I went straight to
work. Cassandra reminded me that a car had been ordered to take me
over to Sweet Georgia Brown. I could only guess this had been the
work of my father, who seemed adamant for me to see Theo. Most
likely to break it off because Earl understood that I couldn’t
seriously see a man like that.

“Your car is downstairs,” Cassandra said
when the time had come. “I’ll hold down the fort until you return.”
There was a lightness in her tone.

Cassandra’s lightness had to do with the
fact that her marital revenge was going well. Though she was only
giving scant details, she said for the first time in her life, she
really felt womanly about making love with a man. Rick had become
somewhat of her slave, but she had a change up and said that they
found a new level of excitement to their relationship.

This weekend they were looking into shopping
for whips and handcuffs. More power to them, I say.

Arriving at Sweet Georgia Brown, I found
myself once again fascinated by the place. It was past elegant with
a soul food feel to it. I never knew elegant soul food places
thrived or would thrive, but this place had really good food.

“Ms. Banks?” the host asked.

“Yes.”

“Ah yes, your table is over here.”

I followed him to a booth that was
semi-private. Even though the restaurant was packed, there were
tables that seemed to have their own space about them. I knew these
had to be reserved months in advance.

So how did Theo get a table here so
quickly?

“Mr. Thornton said he was running just a few
minutes late, but insisted that we do anything we could to make you
comfortable. Would you like something to drink while you’re
waiting?” the host asked.

I was too nervous to put anything in my
stomach, so I shook my head. Theo could not afford this shit. Of
course he’d say something like that when it was time to pay the
check at the end.

I looked in my purse to make sure I had
packed my gold American Express card. Then I took the napkin and
placed it upon my lap.

“Hello, Beautiful,” a deep voice said,
coming to stand beside my table.

I looked up expecting to see Theo, but
instead, Mackeroy stood there. He was dressed real nice in a light
green suit with a silk tie. He looked just as good as he did the
first day we met. This time I wasn’t moved at all by what I
saw.

“Hello, Mackeroy,” I said, knowing I
probably shouldn’t be so calm, but this was Sweet Georgia Brown.
Just because it was black owned, didn’t mean there needed to be
black drama up in here.

Mackeroy was about to sit at the table with
me, but I quickly stood up to keep him standing. I did not want him
to sit down with me not even for a second. Mackeroy took my
standing as a way to touch me. He hugged me and kissed me on my
cheek and neck, taking liberties he no longer had.

“Damn baby, you look good,” he said. “I
missed you, Sheryl.”

I pushed away from him. “What are you doing
here?”

“What do you mean?” Mackeroy asked, taking
my hand.

I tried to pull away from his touch. “Don’t
act stupid, Mack. You don’t look cute at all. I know about you and
Erin and how she got you to keep me busy while she tried to steal
the company away from Earl.”

“I don’t know-”

I cut him off, because I really had no time
for games. Plus, I just wanted him gone before Theo came in. “First
off, let me go.” He didn’t. “Secondly, there is nothing you could
possibly say to me that would make me think you had nothing to do
with it. I heard you talking about it Sunday when you came to the
office with her. Erin didn’t deny shit when I confronted her.”

Mackeroy grabbed both my shoulders to
prevent me from turning or moving away. “Listen, Sheryl, she was
blackmailing me. I had to do what she wanted. But you have to
understand that it was so much more than just what Erin wanted. You
came to mean a lot to me and I want to-”

“Get your hands off me,” I said, now raising
my voice and attracting attention.

He still didn’t listen to me. “Just
listen.”

“I think the lady said it quite clearly,” an
ominous voice said from behind Mackeroy.

Since Mack was tall, I couldn’t even look
over his shoulder to see who it was. But just the voice alone made
me scared.

Mackeroy looked over his shoulder and
muttered viciously, “Mind your business, you fucking flashlight
cop.”

“I won’t ask again,” the ominous voice
warned.

Looking back at me, Mackeroy had to nerve to
see if I still wanted him to let me go. I just gave him a half past
crazy look.

Releasing me suddenly, Mackeroy turned
around and tried to swing at the voice, but obviously missed.
Before I could see who it was, I was jerked out the way. A rush of
air hit me as Mackeroy’s body seemed to become propelled off the
ground, flown over my table and into another table that no one was
sitting at.

Now the scene had caught everyone’s
attention. I just stared stupidly at what looked to be a broken
nose on Mackeroy’s face. The blood that ran down over his lip was
redder than his hair. I never knew a broken nose could produce so
much blood. The person who hit him had to have fists like a
brick.

Turning to the voice, I gasped.

Theo looked down at me with concern. “Are
you okay?” he asked calmly.

I didn’t know what to think. Looking down at
Theo’s hand, I saw Mackeroy’s blood on his knuckle and a little had
even splattered on his security uniform. This was the ominous
voice. This was the man who had laid low a three hundred pound man
like a pancake.

This was my man?

Entry Forty-Seven

Theo used a napkin to wipe the blood off his
hand. Other waiters had come to try to help him clean up, but he
brushed them away as if they were annoying flies. Gently, he shook
me.

“Are you okay?” Theo asked.

“Yeah, I guess.” I looked back down at
Mackeroy, who was just coming to.

“Mackeroy Jackson?” a man in a dark uniform
asked, walking up to Mack as he stood up groggily.

“Agent Farris, DEA,” the man said, pulling
out his badge and flashing it. I don’t think Mackeroy even saw it
because his eyes didn’t look focused.

Handcuffs were taken out and placed on
Mackeroy as his rights were read to him.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Mackeroy Jackson,” Agent Farris said.
“You’re under arrest for money laundering.” Then he escorted
Mackeroy out of the restaurant.

Meanwhile, Theo took the host to the side. I
saw him press some money into the man’s hands, while whispering to
him. I wondered what he said, because soon our table was
straightened and my chair was held out for me to sit back down.
They even went so far as to place a napkin on my waist.

“Are you okay?” Theo asked again, sitting
across from me.

“I’m fine,” I said, though still a bit
shaken by everything. “Did you plan this?”

“No, but the DEA is the reason I was running
a bit late. They came to my early morning meeting with Lethal to
arrest me. Some questions later, I found out that Erin was telling
them I was a part of this mess, even though that was all a lie.
Good thing Lethal was with me, because he cleared the situation up
with some phone calls and information that had the DEA on Mackeroy
Jackson’s ass. They arrived right behind me. Seems like he’s the
one that got Erin involved with money laundering and he’s been
funding some of his own ventures.”