Trigger (27 page)

“It’s real hard to believe that Steven.”

“I know. It’s that way for me too. We’ve got to get
passed it, we have our whole lives ahead of us and you said you
would marry me. I really want that Judy and I want you and me to be
together for the rest our lives.

She and Steven look up and Richard is staring at
them. “You’re her. You’re the one my father calls, that piece of
white trash that killed Simon. It was your family who killed Simon.
I didn’t make the connection with you and I really don’t get it.
You looked at Simon like he was the devil, ran out of here and
pealed away in your Jaguar. Simon was upset when you left. He said
he was going to make you love him, if it was the last thing he did.
It was the last thing he did, wasn’t it?”

Judy gasps. Steven is up and in his face.

“Hey, I don’t blame Judy.”

Richard sits down. “Simon talked to me about getting
his girl friend’s family off her back. I told him he was nuts. He
called me that day and wanted me to go with him. I told him no that
I wasn’t going to help him make a fool of himself or get himself
killed. He laughed at me. He actually laughed. It was the last time
I ever heard his voice.”

Richard starts to cry and Julie runs out and throws
her arms around him. “Richard thinks Simon’s death is his fault
Steven. He’s having a really hard time.”

“Let’s talk,” Steven says, sits down and takes my
hand.

An hour later, Steven drives away having shared all
three stories and the final outcome was hugs and kisses all around.
She feels like she’s in shock, wanting to believe Steven’s
rationality. Her head does, but her heart has a hole in it that is
larger than it was.

“Talk to me Judy. You have to talk to me, or we
won’t make it.” A pleading Steven is squeezing her hand hard.

“Simon’s father reminded me of my Dad, the moment I
met him at the charity ball. He scared me. I don’t feel any
sympathy for Mr. Perry. He was cruel and awful to me. Mr. Perry
told me that Simon said he wanted to marry me but said he wasn’t
going to allow white trash to marry his son.

“I made an arrangement with Mr. Perry that I would
never marry Simon or be involved with him in any way. It was a
legal document. If I had anything to do with Simon he could sue me
or do whatever he wanted to do to me or Stalwart.”

Steven groans.

“He was interfering in Stalwart and was preventing
the deal I’d worked on for more than a year. If that deal fell
through, I would be at the mercy of Perry Corporation and they
would be able to tear Stalwart to pieces and destroy it. I signed
it. Mr. Perry released Wade and Shockley and I completed the
deal.

“But it’s getting bigger and bigger than just Mr.
Perry. More and more people are involved and hurt. Every time I
turn around, it’s going to someone else who is hurting because of
me.”

“I can’t believe this. That’s why you went to see
Simon’s dad, to see what he was going to do to you?”

“Yes. I thought he was going to destroy Stalwart out
of revenge for my family killing Simon. I had to try to save my
company. I told him, that Simon came to help me when the accident
happened but I didn’t know and couldn’t stop him because I was
unconscious. He said he had no sympathy for me and I should get out
of his way.”

She’s gasping for air.

“Mr. Perry really wasn’t as mean as he was that
first time. He said he had no intention of punishing me because he
wouldn’t stoop that low. But his words triggered dark memories.”
She shivers and fights her need to runaway. She must stay and talk
to Steven instead.

“When my Dad beat me, he’d beat me until I couldn’t
cry or scream any more. I’d usually pass out. He’d kick me and tell
me to get up off the floor and get out of his way. When Mr. Perry
said that to me, I just wanted to crawl in my corner and cover up
in my blanket, because if I was warm I could stop the
tremblies.

“I ran from Mr. Perry to go find my blanket and
ended up in the alley.”

“Did Simon sanction that agreement?” Steven’s voice
sounds disbelieving.

“I’m not sure. I wasn’t thinking very clearly. I
think I remember, Mr. Perry saying something about Simon saw the
document and tore it up. I never asked Simon if he knew about it.
He never said anything about it. It was between me and his
father.”

Steven clears his throat.

“It’s the same with Richard. Simon funded his chef
career and it cost him dearly. Simon’s father was furious that
Richard wasn’t going to work for the company. He threatened to fire
Simon. Simon told him to go ahead and he’d wait at Virginia Beach
with a margarita and a beautiful woman, while the company folded
from mishandling and lack of growth. Simon was hurt badly though.
He loved his father and looked up to him as a role model. After
that it was different . . . uncomfortable between them.

“I remember a time, when his dad was king to a lot
of people. But after the fight with the Shockley’s and Mrs.
Shockley shooting him, he kind of lost it.”

“So it’s true about the affair with Mrs. Shockley
and she shot him.”

“No. Not Mrs. Shockley he had an affair with their
daughter. The girl killed herself. She was pregnant. Simon had to
handle all that. He financially secured Shockley’s business that
was failing because of the Shockley’s bereavement over their
daughter. Last I talked to Simon about you and Stalwarts he was
outraged that Shockley was going to go along with his dad and not
sell to you.”

“I was right! I guessed right. I’m so glad. I also
signed an agreement with Mr. Perry that Stalwart would buy
Shockley, but would accept financial records that were no older
than five years. It all makes sense. That’s what the fighting was
about. DeShaun said Simon was in the office with Mr. Shockley and
Mr. Wade and there was a lot of angry yelling. It makes sense now.
Simon really was a good guy, wasn’t he?”

“The best.” Steven’s voice cracks. “And that makes
everything worse, doesn’t it?” Steven holds out his hand. She takes
it.

“Yes.”

They didn’t want the
Judy’s, so they dumped them in the frig.

“Would you like a glass of wine? I’ve never had any
before. Becky told me she keeps a few nice bottles on hand. I think
I’d like to try some.”

Mr. Chung sold wine, so Judy didn’t feel as stupid
as she did about condoms, but Steven is obviously an expert.

The Sad Simon’s faded as he chose a bottle of Merlot
and told her it about its properties and health benefits and the
bouquet and the year and why it was important. A good wine with
dinner helps digestion and it’s relaxing, conversation is better
and people usually eat less and more slowly. “Woofing down food
isn’t good,” Steven playfully tweaks her nose.

“Unless it’s green/gray sludge and then that’s the
only way to drink it,” she says and Steven laughs for the first
time since they left Chef Richard’s place. It makes her feel good
that she can make him laugh. She’ll try harder to do that more
often. They sat on the living room sofa, sipped wine and talking
about wines, his business, grade school, high school, college, his
daughter and where they’d go on their honeymoon.

“Rt. 66, open road, good Mom and Pops to stop and
eat, cheap motels, trashy souvenir shops, and they have bars with
dancing to a bad band or a great jukebox. We could chug a few beers
and dance all night and maybe if we’re lucky we could get into a
fight or two. You’d have my back, right Judy?” He laughed as my
mouth falls open.

“Sure. Sounds like fun. Maybe we could go to a pool
hall. I’ve always wanted to learn. But I don’t like the cheap motel
thing. I’m kind of picky about clean sheets and lots of hot
water.”

Steven laughs. “Okay, I’ve give you that one. I can
teach you play, I have a table at my house.”

“You have a pool table? You must have a big
house.”

“That’s right you’ve never been there have you?
Well, it’s a man cave for sure, open concept, very few walls and
lots of stretch out space. Beer takes up most of the refrigerator.
I have a wine cellar in the basement. There are four bedrooms, five
baths and a yard big enough to play tag football during Saturday
college games, or Sunday half time.”

“You have a lot of friends?”

“Yea, I’m pretty social but Simon never came over
without at least three other guys or girls tagging along. That take
out order Richard did for Simon was food for my place. With girls,
we had about twenty or so there; pretty normal for a nice
Sunday.”

She’s awed that she’s known him for years, and knows
nothing about him. “Do you invite your customers from the
club?”

“Clarence and his brother, Chauncey and a few of
their kids, but I usually don’t mix work with pleasure. What did
you do on Sunday’s, Simon and I always talked about inviting
you?”

“You did?”

“Would you have come?”

“Probably not. I’ve never done anything like that. I
wouldn’t know how, plus Sunday is my best day at the office. I’d
get more work done than I did all week.”

Steven’s crease is back.

“I always thought it would be fun to have friends
and go to parties. I think that’s one of the reasons I like
Stalwart so much. I only hire people, I like and I make sure work
is fun for everyone. I want them to want to come to work. It’s my
family. I think a big family is best, so I keep growing it.”

“More wine?” Steven offers.

Judy shakes her head no and smiles.

“What?”

“It was good and you were so accomplished with the
opening and stuff. I was very impressed. I shouldn’t push it.” She
sees his crease deepen. “Steven, my Dad is a vicious drunk. His
blood runs through my veins. Less is better, don’t you think?”

“Judy you could never be like that?”

“I get really angry sometimes. Once you said I was a
lethal weapon.”

“I was teasing you.”

She opens her eyes wide and smiles in disbelief.
“That’s really not honest, Steven, and you know it. I figured it
out, you know.”

His crease deepens.

“The alley, that was you I attacked, wasn’t it? I
thought it was Simon and I wanted to throw him out of the alley,
but he grabbed me before I could change places with him. I fought.
I wasn’t holding back. In my mind, I didn’t have a choice, Simon
had to live and I had to die and no one was going to stop me, not
even Simon.

“I was blind, sick and weak, but I took you down
didn’t I? Clarence said you were hurt and I hurt him too. He said
you had to sedate me to stop me from fighting.”

Steven stands up and pulls her up against him. He
holds her face with both hands and looks deep into her eyes. “You
were beautiful, focused, and brilliant. You were a warrior
princess, unafraid and the best fighter I’ve ever trained or
seen.”

Steven kisses her, sweet and brief. “I promised I’d
never hurt you. I didn’t want to punch you out and hurt that
beautiful face, so I hesitated and you caught me with an upper cut
and down I went. It was perfect Judy.”

Steven is laughing, but Judy doesn’t think it’s
funny. “You had perfect style and didn’t even hurt your hand. I was
so proud of you. Scared that might have to hurt you, but proud as
I’ve ever been of anyone.

“When you grabbed six-foot-seven, three hundred and
fifteen pounds of Clarence and threw him in three seconds flat, the
thought that went through my head was that I didn’t get it on
video.”

This man is as stupid as Simon. What about she was
ready to hurt him that he thinks is funny and admirable? “Well, I’m
glad I made you proud. Later, when I realized what I did and that I
came so close to hurting you or killing you Steven, I don’t think
I’ll be able to fight ever again. I don’t trust myself.

“Simon is dead, but at least I didn’t kill him with
my own hands. I could have killed you Steven.” She yells trying to
get him to understand, but Steven laughs. She wants to pull away
but he’s holding her so tightly that she’d have to hurt him to get
away.

“We’ll work on it, my beautiful warrior princess.
We’ll work on making you my warrior queen and I think we should get
started right now.”

She isn’t angry anymore.
She’s excited. Everything that happened during this very long day
and everything she and Steven talked about is gone . . . over.
Poof! She is in the now as Steven whispers in her ear, “I want to
make love to you,” sending shivers down her spine where they settle
between her thighs, waiting and ready.

Steven undresses her and lays her stretched out on
the bed. He stands for a long time looking at her. “You are so
beautiful. I could spend the rest of my life just looking at
you.

She’s never been naked in front of anyone, let alone
a man, but this is Steven, he’s more than just a man to her. He’s
been in her life since the first day she walked into his club. His
words are with her everyday even when she didn’t want them to be.
After everything that has happened, she’s happy. She and Steven are
together. She’s not shy or embarrassed to let him look at her naked
body. She watches his eyes looking at her and loving her. It feels
so right.

When he starts to undress, she can’t just lay and
watch. She’s overwhelmed with the need to touch him, to look at him
from his gorgeous face and bright blue eyes to his perfect
toes.

He patiently let’s her explore his body. She touches
him everywhere, studying his body and exploring his manhood, a part
of a man that she’s never seen before. Steven takes her hand and
puts it on him, holding hers to show her what feels good to
him.

She’s panting from excitement, not fear or anxiety.
He’s so comfortable with his body and explains how everything works
and then he lays her down and explains everything about hers. Then
he shows her. She comes again, this time because he using his mouth
and tongue.