Riding the Corporate Ladder (Indigo) (28 page)

Deena was all for enjoying herself after a hectic work week, but neither of the twins had a job. She didn’t understand why they needed to unwind all the time.

“I’m tired,” she said. “Plus I’m waiting on a call.”

“So,” Latasha said. “Take your cell phone with you.”

“I want to be here when he calls,” Deena said. “Not out at some club. That’s not a good look.”

“Who the hell is it?”

“That director I was telling you about. I got his number Monday.”

“You ain’t talked to him since then?”

“No, but—”

Latasha smacked her lips. “Girl, please. If you ain’t talked to him since Monday, how you figure he’s gonna call today? I can’t believe you sitting at home waiting on some man, Deena. I never figured you for that type.”

“First of all, I’m not sitting here waiting on his call. I just told you I’m staying home because I’m tired. And as for him not calling, Tasha, I don’t know who you think you’re talking to, but I’m always on top of my game. I know men way better than you do, and I say he’s calling, tonight. We can put some money on it if you want to make it interesting.”

“I was gonna ask you if I could borrow some money, actually,” Latasha said.

“Well, you ain’t getting it,” Deena kidded, and then there were a few clicks on the line. “Somebody’s calling me right now,” she announced.

“It ain’t him.”

“Hold on, bitch.” Deena clicked over and fell into her temptress voice. “Hello?”

“Hey, Deena.” It was Yesenia, speaking in a hushed voice for some reason.

“Hey. What’s up. Why you talking like that?”

“I think we’re about to do it,” her friend whispered.

“Who? Do what?”

“Me and Darren.”

“You’re about to do…it?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“And you called me?”

“He’s in the bathroom.”

Deena laughed. “Hold on, girl.” She went back to the other line. “Hey, let me call you back, Natasha.”

“Is that him?”

“No. It’s Yesenia.”

“Ugh. I can’t stand that bitch.”

“You better watch your mouth,” Deena said, and something in her voice let the twin know she was serious.

“All right. I’ll talk to your ass later.”

“Bye.” Deena clicked back to Yesenia. “All right, now what’s the problem?”

“I didn’t say there was a problem. I’m just nervous.”

“Well, what do you want from me, pointers or something?” Deena laughed, but her friend was serious.

“What if he doesn’t like me?”

“He does like you. You already know that.”

“Yeah, but what if he doesn’t like my, you know, my body? Should I keep a t-shirt on?”

“You wouldn’t be having sex if he didn’t want you,” Deena said. “No. Don’t keep a t-shirt on. If he doesn’t like you for who you are and what you look like, then you don’t need to be with him anyway. Go ahead and get butt naked. Let it all hang out.”

Yesenia giggled.

“How’d you guys get to this point anyway?” Deena asked, but she didn’t get an answer to that one.

There was a rustling on the phone and Yesenia said, “I’ll call you back,” and then she disconnected.

Deena hung up, too, and she still had a wry grin on her face a few minutes afterwards. True love was the corniest thing in the world, but sometimes it was kind of cute, too.

* * *

When the phone rang again at nine-thirty, Deena was fully engulfed in one of Zane’s juicy sex scenes and didn’t want to tear her eyes from the page. She reached for the phone grudgingly and lit up when she saw David’s number in the caller ID. He was late, but he was still on time, and her reign as Ruler of Men remained intact for another day.

He might not call tonight, my ass. Who did Latasha think she was talking to, Whoopi Goldberg?

“Hello?”

“Hi. Deena? This is David.”

“Well, hello, Mr. Markham.”

“I don’t mean to call so late,” he said. “You’re not asleep already, are you?”

“No,” Deena said. “Just sitting here, feeling kinda lonely…”

“Really?” he asked suggestively.

“Don’t try that Billy D stuff with me,” Deena said. “I know you’re not smooth.”

“You know that, huh?”

“I guess you want to prove me wrong.”

“I’d like that.”

“Tell me something,” she said.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know, something I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about what you said about how you know ten times more about me than I do about you. I don’t think that’s true, but if it is, it’s not fair.”

“Oh, it’s true,” he said. “I don’t know about it being fair or not, but it’s definitely true.”

“All right, well tell me something about me then,” Deena said.

“You already know about you.”

“I’ve got a bad memory.”

He laughed. “Okay. I know that you grew up on the south side of Overbrook Meadows, in a bad neighborhood known for drugs and gang violence. You have two sisters and one brother. You got into the magnet program in the sixth grade, and you got bussed to OD Wyatt when you were a freshman. You made good grades, mostly, and graduated high school with a 3.4 GPA.”

“Damn.”

“You didn’t go to college right after high school, though. You took a course in medical assisting—I can’t say I understand why you did that.”

“I thought I wanted to be a nurse,” Deena said. “Someone told me that was a good place to start.”

“But you dropped out of that trade school,” David went on. “You filled out an application for Texas Lutheran and got accepted your first time around. You applied for the law school two years later and graduated with a 3.6 GPA this time.”

“You could get that from my resume,” Deena said, but she was actually quite impressed with his research.

“I know that you came from nothing,” David said. “You started from the bottom and made a name for yourself with your hard work, determination, and no-bullshit attitude. I know that you’re beautiful. I know that you live alone with your little dog, Boogie. I know that you don’t have any children and you’ve never been married—that last one is the only thing I’m confused about. Why haven’t you married, Deena? Everyone needs somebody.”

“How the hell do you know my dog’s name?”

“I know what you had for dinner tonight, too,” David said with a chuckle.

“You’re lying!”

“Yeah. I’m just kidding.”

“But how do you know my dog’s name? For real.”

“You brought him to the company picnic two years ago,” David said. “I was just banking on him still being alive. I could have blown that one.”

Deena smiled warmly. “You did all that research because you like me, right?”

“I’m not going to go out with just anyone,” David said. “I take these things very seriously.”

“Well, I don’t like being at a disadvantage like this.”

“What do you mean?”

“I need to know things about you, David. Come on, break bread.”

He chuckled. “Like what?”

“Where are you from? Where’d you go to school?”

“I was born in Colorado. I went to this little high school called Arterbury Academy.”

“Sounds pretty preppy.”

“It was. Everyone wore a tie. I was one of only twelve blacks in a class of 784.”

“That’s a lot of snow.”

He laughed. “Yeah, it was. I didn’t even know girls came in black and brown until I was a junior.”

“Aww. That’s sad.”

“No, it was actually pretty cool. I was somewhat of a curiosity at that school. All of the girls wanted to hang on my arm.”

“I’ll bet you had fun.”

“I had fun doing my work,” he said. “Those girls were never more important than my studies. I was still a virgin when I graduated.”

Deena’s eyes widened. “Really?” She did away with her pesky virginity in middle school.

“I went to Stanford after I graduated,” David went on. “I met my ex-wife there. She’s an anthropologist.”

“I didn’t know you were divorced.”

“Well, I am. I have two beautiful daughters. They mean the world to me.”

That was another bombshell. “How long were you married?”

He sighed. “Just four years. My marriage, the way it ended, that’s one of the few things in my life that I still have regrets about.”

“Your daughters; do they live with you?”

“No. They live with their mother in Dallas.”

Deena found that hard to believe. This man never met a judge he couldn’t win over. “You never tried to get custody?”

“No,” David said firmly. “I probably could’ve, but I felt so bad about what happened. I…I had an affair. I didn’t think it was right for me to cheat on her and take the babies, too.”

“My goodness,” Deena said. “This is some Grade A insight. I never would’ve seen that in you.”

“That was ten years ago,” David said. “I’m not the same person I was then. That affair was the worst thing I’ve ever done. Every day I regret it. I don’t pray for a time machine very often, but that’s one thing I would give anything to redo.”

“Do you still want to be with your ex-wife?” Deena had to know.

“That’s not going to happen,” David said. “She remarried four years ago. Plus we’ve both changed a lot since our college days.”

“I still hear a touch of longing in your voice,” Deena noticed.

“Well, let’s change the subject then,” he said. “I’d much rather talk about you anyway.”

“That would probably be best.”

“I would like to take you out this weekend,” he said, “if you’re available.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“I’m not going to tell you. It’s a surprise. Dress casual.”

Deena’s smile was almost childlike. “What kind of surprise?”

“Something special,” he said. “Something you will enjoy. Something romantic.”

“Is there food involved?”

“Of course. What kind of guy would I be if I didn’t wine and dine a princess?”

“You’d be an asshole.”

“Well, I’m not that.”

“What day?” Deena asked.

“Either Saturday or Sunday afternoon.”

“Tomorrow’s fine,” she said.

“Shall I pick you up at three?”

“That would be nice.”

“Okay. I’ll call tomorrow and get directions.”

“All right,” Deena said. She marveled at how he made her feel light-hearted and giddy. Those were weak emotions. They went against everything she believed in, but it felt good so she allowed it.

“I look forward to seeing you again,” he said.

“Me, too. I look forward to it also.”

She hung up thinking about all of the odd turns in their conversation. David still sounded like a simp, but he was also intriguing and appealing. Deena was sure she wouldn’t be floored by whatever surprise he had in store, but it was still fun to consider the possibilities.

She imagined them carousing the cobbled streets downtown in a horse-drawn carriage. She wondered if he would bring her roses. If so, she hoped they’d be white.

* * *

On Saturday, the morning sunrays found Deena excited and well-rested. The first thing on her mind when she sat up in bed was what David had in store for her on their date. She was also eager to see what kind of guy he was away from the office.

David didn’t seem like an octopus or the type who would try to get her in the sack on their first date, but Deena didn’t want this to carry on for three or four weeks. She knew it would take a bit of coercion to get him to the bedroom, and that was right up her alley.

She headed for the closet to find a nice outfit for their outing, but her cellular started to ring. She scooped it off the dresser and sprawled across her mattress like a big kid.

“Hello?”

“Deena. Oh…my…God. He just left.” It was Yesenia, and she was absolutely ecstatic.

“Aw, sooky, sooky now. How w—”

“It was awesome.”

“I can’t believe you let him sleep over.”

“We didn’t sleep,” Yesenia said. “We did a lot of talking. A lot of…talking.”

“So everything went well. You didn’t keep the t-shirt on, did you?”

“I didn’t, Deena, and it was still great. He says he loves my body. It was like he just got out of prison, girl. He touched me everywhere.”

“I want details,” Deena said.

“You know I’m not doing that.”

Deena did know that. Yesenia’s kiss and tell only went so far. “You’re a stick in the mud,” Deena told her.

“I’m so in love with him,” Yesenia said.

Her words immediately sent a sliver of dread down Deena’s back. “Don’t be saying that.”

“It’s true,” Yesenia said. “He makes me happy. Everything I want, he’s it.”