Just Another Damn Love Story (5 page)

Kimberly examined the bag.  It was black, with gold V’s.  She placed her hand over the bag, and the V’s glowed yellow in faint light.  The purse had gold clasps and buckles, and beige leather handles.  It was fierce.

“Thank you,” she said stuttering.

Wilson waved her off.  “Don’t mention it.  Look, we have some preliminary layouts from our new bags that marketing had done.  You can get with Elaine over in marketing and get the layouts.  Call Natalie, set up an appointment and let us have a look at the glossies once you’re done.  We approve, we cut the check and run the ads.  Once we get the other items finalized, we’ll run some subsequent ads for the new stuff.”

She didn’t even have to go through her presentation, or let him salivate over her body.  This was definitely her lucky day.  Wilson leaned forward and lifted his telephone. 

“Elaine, I’m sending…”  He paused and peered up at her inquisitively.

“Kimberly.”

“Kimberly,”  he repeated.  “I’m sending Kimberly over to pick up the layouts for the new reversibles.  Give her the one for the full size, the bucket, and the small bag.”  Wilson hung up the telephone and peered up at her.  “She’s waiting for you.  Do you know how to get to marketing?”

Kimberly shrugged. 

“It’s four floors down.”

“Got it,” Kim said, gathering her materials.  Another one bites the dust, she thought excitedly as she headed out of the office.  Her check was going to be
fat
next month.

The trip out of the office and to the elevator was a quick one.  Kimberly found herself waiting at one of the many lifts in the center of the Empire State Building.  She was anxious to get to marketing and then get back to her office and get the photos to her layout department.  The faster things moved, the quicker she could show Vespasian’s head honchos the layout, and the quicker she could get that check from their accounting department.

“Hi,” Sterling said breathing heavily.  He sat the boxes that he was carrying on the ground.

“Hi,” Kimberly replied.  He was cute, she thought.  Sexy, low cut hair, well groomed, well dressed.

“Nice purse,” he said with a smile. 

Kimberly held up the new Vespasian hand bag.  “Thanks.”

“You always carry two of them?” he asked, shifting between her Dooney and Burke bag, and her new Vespasian one.

“No, not really,”  she said, smiling. She lifted the Vespasian handbag.  “It was a gift.”

“Nice gift,” he told her.  “Wow, those haven’t even hit the market yet.”

“I know.”  Kim paused and then turned toward him.  “But how do you know that?  Are you one of those metro sexual males that keep up with all the latest fashions?”

“Actually, I don’t consider myself to be one of those metro sexual males, but I do keep up with all the latest fashion trends,” Sterling replied.  “It’s kinda my job to do that.”

“Oh, really?”

Sterling kicked at the boxes next to his feet.  Kimberly peered down at the labels on the boxes.  Vespasian was stenciled across them in giant letters.

“Oh, you work for Vespasian?”  Kim said, surprised.

Sterling nodded.

“What do you do there?” Kim asked.

“Everything.  Right now, I cleaning out a junky office, and carrying boxes down to the compactor.”

Kim nodded and smiled.

“So, what do you do, Ms…”

“Kimberly,”  she told him, extending her hand.

“Sterling,” he replied, gently clasping her hand and shaking it.  “Pleased to meet you, Kimberly.”

“Likewise.  And my friends call me Kim.”

“Lucky them.”

“Why is that?”

“Because they know you well enough to call you Kim.  I envy them.”

“Don’t,” she said with a smile.  “You can call me Kim too.”

“So, I’m considered a friend?”  Sterling asked, lifting an eyebrow.

“For right now.”

The elevator door opened, and Sterling lifted his boxes and followed Kimberly on board.

“So, can I really
call
you, Kim?”

“You can call me Kim.”

“No, I think you misunderstood me,” Sterling smiled.  “I was asking if I could really
call you
, Kim.”

“Ahhh,” she said blushing.  “Smooth.”

Sterling laughed. 

“I don’t know about you just yet,” Kim told him.

Sterling turned his palms up.  “What’s there to know?”

The elevator door opened, and Kimberly stepped off of the lift, and turned back toward Sterling.  “You’re a little to smooth and sexy to get my number off the top, Mr. Man.  Maybe after I check up on you on little bit.”

Sterling smiled and nodded, just as the elevator door slid to a close.  She was the nicest sister he had come across in a long time.  Dressed to kill, sexy green eyes, fierce hair cut, immaculate body, great personality, wonderful sense of humor; she was the entire package.  Sterling silently hoped that he would run into her again, and that she had done her checking up.  He definitely wanted to get to know her and be counted amongst her friends.

Chapter Six

One would expect a restaurant like Ms. Emma’s to be located in Harlem, or Brooklyn, and even Queens for that matter.  But the fact of the matter, was that the city’s premiere soul food restaurant, was located smack dab in the middle of Manhattan.

Ms. Emma’s was an award-winning soul food delight that attracted all of the city’s superstars and movers and shakers.  Ms. Emma herself still ran the place, and even in some cases, personally prepared the meals.  She had been in the same location for thirty years, and had for the most part, maintained the same neo soul décor for most of that time.  But it wasn't the décor that kept bringing patrons back, it was the food.  No one this side of the Mason Dixon line fried chicken the way Ms. Emma did.  It had just the right crispness on the outside, and was tender and juicy on the inside.  And her secret herbs and spices made the chicken taste like it fell from above.    Ms. Emma’s was one of the crew’s favorite meeting places for their Wednesday get-togethers.

“He was finer than a strand of silk, girl!”  Kimberly told them.  “He smelled so good, and so clean; almost like eucalyptus mixed with baby lotion.  And he had this goatee and haircut that looked like he just got up out of the barber’s chair.”

Mia and Brittany squealed.

Mia clasped Kimberly’s forearm.  “I can’t believe you!”

“Girl, he was fine!”  Kim continued.  “He had this nice, Vespasian suit on, that looked as if it had been tailored just for him.  And he had this wonderful charm about him.”

“I can’t believe that you didn’t give him your telephone number!”  Brittany told her.

“I know,”  Kim told them.  “Trust me, I’ve been kicking myself in the foot ever since.”

“Girl, is this a John thing?”  Mia asked.

“A John thing?”  Kim repeated, lifting an inquisitive eyebrow.

“Yeah, one of those things where you’re afraid to move on, just in case you and the ex might get back together,”  Mia explained.

“You can’t just sit around crying over spilled milk,”  Brittany told her.

“Yeah,”  Mia added.  “Sitting around waiting for John to come back is not healthy.”

“I’m not waiting for John!”  Kimberly protested.

“He was Mr. Right,”  Mia told her.  “But he was Mr. Right for Somebody Else.  He wasn’t the one, Kim.”

“I know,”  Kimberly said softly.

“Don’t block your chances with someone else, because you’re stuck in the past.”  Mia told her.

“I know,”  Kimberly nodded.  “I won’t.”

“Next super sexy man you come across who is interested in you, you pass him those digits,”  Brittany told her.

Kim nodded. “Deal.”

“Deal,”  Mia concurred.

“Deal,”  Brittany said, joining in.

Kimberly peered down at her watch.  “Got to go.  Have that meeting at the dealership.”  Kimberly opened her purse and pulled out her wallet.

“Girl, please!”  Brittany told her.  “Lunch is on Daddy.”  Brittany produced a black American Express Card, causing them all to burst into laughter.

“I love that purse,”  Mia declared, lifting Kimberly’s new Vespasian purse into the air.  “I can’t believe they just gave it to you.”

“This thing already has a waiting list,”  Brittany told them.  “Even at thirty-eight hundred bucks, it has a six month waiting list already.”

“And Ms. Lucky, here, just had one tossed into her lap!”  Mia said, poking Kim in the arm.  “I am so jealous!”

“Well, let’s just hope my luck continues!”  Kim told them, rising from the table.

“Good luck to you,”  Brittany told her.

“Knock ‘em dead!”  Mia told her.

“See you girls later!”  Kim said, waving and heading off for her meeting.

*****

The dealership was one of the largest and most successful Mercedes Benz dealerships in the country.  They not only sold cars throughout the New York metropolitan area, but throughout the nation, thanks to e-Bay Motors, DuPont, and other online ventures.  Advertising in Mocha would not only increase their exposure in the African American market on the East Coast, but nationwide as well.  Going after the dollars of well to do African American women made sense for the dealership, and so they were very interested in hearing what Mocha Magazine had to offer.  And so, Kimberly was about to give her presentation to an already receptive General Manager.  The sale was practically in the bag, all she had to do was not blow it.

“John…”  Kimberly stuttered.

Dr. Johnathan Vasser turned and spied his ex fiancé standing just behind him.  He opened his arms wide and pulled her into his embrace.  “Kimberly!”

“John…”

“How wonderful to see you!”  John told her.  “How have you been?”

“Good,”  Kim said, swallowing hard.  “I’ve been fine.  How about you?  How have you been?”

“Wonderful,”  he smiled.  “I finally opened my own practice.  After talking about it for years, I finally made the plunge.”

Kimberly nodded.  “That’s great news.  I always knew that you had it in you.”

“You gave me the courage to do it,”  he told her.  “You always made me a stronger, better, wiser person.”

Kimberly felt herself slowly melting.  He looked like a chocolate Adonis, clothed in a tailored Armani suit.   The man had it all.  Perfect teeth, perfect hair, perfect skin, perfect breath, perfect cologne, perfect education, perfect job, perfect breeding, perfect house, perfect car, perfect
everything
.  He just needed to either wrap his weenie up tighter, or get a vasectomy.  Three kids, by three different women, had been too much for her.  Especially when those baby mommas all still wanted to be Mrs. Vasser, and when he did little to control them or put them in check.  He was the perfect man, with way to much drama in his life.  And drama, was something she
desperately
wanted to steer clear of. 

“What are you doing here?”  Kimberly asked.

John waved his hand around the showroom.  “It’s obvious, I’m shopping for a vehicle.”

“Another one?”  Kimberly smiled.  “What, you want one for each day of the week?”

John laughed heartily.  “No, actually, this one is for a friend.  A really close friend.”

“You're buying cars for friends now?”  Kimberly asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Actually, it's kind of an engagement gift.”

“Wow, what a wonderful gift.  You must be very close to the happy couple.”

John exhaled and broke down.  “Okay, it's for my fiancée.  It's an engagement gift for my fiancée.”

“Get out of here!”  Kimberly told him.  The news hit her in her gut like a ton of bricks.  “Congratulations!”

Kim leaned forward and hugged John once again.  “Who’s the lucky girl?”

John shook his head.  “You don’t know her.  She’s from upstate.”

“Oh, well.  I can’t wait to meet her.”

“You and your parents are on the guest list.  Invitations go out next week I believe.”

“Well, thank you.”  Kimberly turned toward a one hundred and twenty thousand dollar S550 SL.  It was a two seat convertible, red with a tan leather interior.  “I think this is the one.”

John peered down at the convertible and nodded.  “You’re right.  I think I'll take it.”

A suited gentleman walked from the rear of the dealership and approached her.

“Ms. Neel, I’m Red McCreedy, General Manager,” the gentlemen said, extending his hand toward her.

“A pleasure,” Kimberly told him, while shaking his hand.

The general manager waved his hand toward a nearby hallway.  “My office is this way.  We can sit down and go over your information.”

“Thank you,”  Kimberly said, starting off.  She stopped, and turned back toward John.  “It was nice running into you again.  You look real good.  Congratulations, and you give my best wishes to that lucky bride to be.”

John nodded, and watched as she headed down the hall with the general manager of the dealership.

“Please, have a seat,”  McCreedy told her, waving toward a chair in front of his desk.

Kim seated herself.  She was shaking visibly.

“Are you okay?”  McCreedy asked.

“Yes,” Kim said, her voice cracking.  She lifted her leather portfolio with her shaking hands, and accidentally spilled its contents all over the floor.  “I’m so sorry.”

“That’s okay,”  McCreedy told her.  “Can I get you some coffee or something?”

Kimberly’s hands moved uncontrollably all over her body.  She touched her face, fiddled with her blouse, rubbed her skirt, and looked completely discombobulated.   Seeing John had totally flustered her.  And the news of his engagement had hit her hard.  The thought of him laying with another woman, loving another woman, being intimate with another woman disturbed her greatly.  She never thought that she could truly love another, and the thought that he could, truly disturbed her.  Despite her denials to her family and friends, John was hers.  He was her soul mate.  Deep down, she had hoped and prayed each night that he would get himself together and commit to their relationship.  All he needed to do, was tell his ex’s to back off;  To stand up for her and for their relationship.  He just needed to be a man, and tell them that he was with
her
now, and that was that.  He needed to tell them that he would take care of his children, but all of the extracurricular drama was over with.  But instead of doing those things, he had simply moved on.  Now, he was marrying some young tart from upstate.  How had it all come to this, she wondered?