Independent Women - the Complete BWWM Romance Series Boxset (24 page)

“Apparently I don’t know how it works at all.”

“You’re better than him, you’re smarter than him, and clients like you more.”

“I don’t really know what to say to all of this information,” Tamika admitted.

“I’m just trying to change the way that you view the work place. Bob is in my office at least once a day, kissing my ass. He tags along on outings after work, he’s first in line to volunteer, and he already has a mentor within the company. You don’t do any of these things.”

Tamika nodded and felt like a scolded child, “So what do you suggest?”

“I suggest that you take the tiara off of your head and don’t just expect people to notice you. This is the real world, not a fairy tale. No one is going to notice the hard work that you do. You only make yourself an invisible maid with that method, and there isn’t going to be a prince that comes and saves you.”

She sighed and suddenly felt overwhelmed, “Okay, I’m going to make more of an effort.”

“I didn’t bring you in here to beat you up about it; I just wanted to let you know that I see a lot of potential inside of you. You are a natural in this job and it would be a shame to let you fall through the cracks. So if you’re interested, I would like to be your mentor.”

“Wow,” she exhaled, “Absolutely! Thank you so much. If you don’t mind me asking, what made you consider me?”

He stated plainly, “Your work ethic. It’s rare when I come across people like you, you know your stuff. Now you just have to learn how to play the game.”

She smiled, “I’m looking forward to it.”

“Good. From here on out, we will meet for lunch every Wednesday at noon. Are you ready?”

She nodded, “Absolutely.”

“Good. I’ve suggested that they bring you on to help Bob for the project, you don’t mind do you?”

“I don’t mind.”

“Great. Well, it’s been great chatting with you. I’ll send over my cell number to you, if you ever have any questions just let me know. For now I have to get back to work.”

“Thank you so much.”

She stood to her feet, they shook hands, and she headed back to her cubicle. There was a new pep in her step, her life was about to change for the better. She knew that he claimed that no prince was coming to save her, but he seemed pretty royal to her. He was her corporate prince. After thanking God for the opportunity that just fell into her lap, she got back to work.

Soon someone was leaning on her doorbell; it could only be one person. Crystal was the only person ignorant enough to do something like that. Tamika groaned and walked to the door and buzzed her and Kalena in. She was so annoyed, but it didn’t surprise her.

Crystal and Kalena walked through her door a few minutes later.

“I’m so sorry about that,” Kalena said as she fake scowled at Crystal, “You know that she doesn’t have any home training.”

“Whatever, I just want to make sure that people can hear me.”

“Trust me, I heard you,” Tamika said.

“Okay, so what in the hell is going on with you?” Crystal asked.

Tamika tried to smile, but she could only conjure up tears. Crystal and Kalena looked at each other and then hugged her. It was what she needed the most, feeling her friends’ arms around her made her weep more. She released tears of frustration, hurt, and pain.

“I’m so sorry about all of this babe,” Crystal whispered, “It’s going to be okay.”

“I feel like nothing is going to be okay, ever again.”

Kalena rubbed her back, “I know it feels this way now, but trust me, things are going to get better.”

“I’m going to have to take your word for it,” Tamika sniffled.

“Good, because I’m always right.”

#Chapter4

“I'm going to make you regret the day that you met me,”

Reggie

“Aww man, remember when you fought Nate for me?” Paul asked Reggie.

“Hell yeah, I remember. I almost lost that fight.” Reggie said. “Dude was about two times my size but he hit you so I couldn’t let it go down like that.”

Reggie sat in his brother’s apartment in Bushwick, feeling nostalgic. It was an escape from his everyday life of doing nothing, and watching his brother recover made him feel better. The amount of guilt that he felt for what happened to his brother couldn’t be put into words.

His battle didn’t belong to his baby brother, but he still took the brunt of the punishment. Mimi was punishing those that he loved in order to get to him. He planned on just taking the money out of his account and giving it to her. His family’s safety wasn’t worth trying to hide the fact that he was strapped for cash.

The only drawback was that she wasn’t going to be satisfied with what he was giving her. She could come back and demand more money from him whenever she felt like it, shit it’s what she was doing now. He already paid her but she was demanding more, claiming that the drugs that he discarded were worth more than she originally estimated.

“Are you okay, bro?” Paul asked.

“Yeah, I’m good. Just thinking that’s all.”

“Thinking about the baby?”

“I’m trying to forget.”

“You’re never going to forget that you lost a child, man,” Paul said, “When Yasmine lost our baby, it hurt like hell. I was in high school and didn’t have any business having a kid, but it still hurts. I still think about it. The only thing that helps is time. Lucky for you, you can get her pregnant again.”

“I thought that I didn’t want her to get pregnant the first time but when she did it changed my world. I wanted to see my baby so damned bad.”

“I know you did but don’t let this shit keep you down for too long. Everything happens for a reason. How is Tamika doing?”

“She’s not doing too well. She’s been watching TV, eating, and not going to work. So you know she’s not taking this shit good, it’s hard to get her to stop working long enough to watch TV.”

“That’s where your ass needs to be, not worrying about me.”

“Dude, you’re all kinds of fucked up over here. You need me.”

“I don’t need your ass, Tasha is about to come over here. She took off work and she’s gonna play nurse with me.”

“Your injuries are too bad for that shit.”

“I’m not going to do any of the work. She said that she’s gonna be my oral surgeon today.”

Reggie inhaled deeply and let out a labored sigh, “I know that I need to go home to my wife, but I can’t face her. I don’t know what to say to her. She’s so sad about this and so am I.”

“You have to suck it up and be there for your wife. What’s your problem?”

“I don’t know man, but I’m going to get my ass out of here.”

“You going home?”

Reggie shook his head, “Nah, I’m not going home yet. I’m probably gonna go to a bar or something.”

“You really need to cut this moping shit out. Don’t lose your wife over this. You know how women are; they never forget this kind of stuff. You have to be there for her.”

“I’m doing my best,” Reggie replied.

“This is your best? That’s kind of fucked up.”

“I don’t know why you’re giving me advice anyway, it’s not like you’re married.”

“I’m not married yet, but that’s because I’m not ready. When I’m ready, I’m going to take care of my wife. That’s what a man is supposed to do.”

“Alright bro, I’m about to get out of here.” Reggie said, effectively cutting the conversation short. He didn’t want to hear any of the unasked for wisdom from his baby brother. He felt guilty enough without him adding to his misery.

“Okay, I guess I’ll see you later.”

“I’ll check on you tonight and I’ll be back tomorrow.”

Reggie headed out of the door on to Halsey Street, and headed to his car. It wasn’t a terrible neighborhood that his brother lived in, but he thought that his brother deserved better. It felt very residential, his brother deserved to live in a high rise condo, but that wasn’t his choice. His brother was happy with living in the neighborhood, and he claimed that he liked living there because it felt like real people lived there.

In Reggie’s opinion it was the damned ghetto. He worked too hard and pretty much sold his soul to the devil for his brother to be living that way. It pissed him off. Reggie didn’t want to leave his car outside for too long because it wasn’t any telling who would try to steal it. He never had any problems before, but he wasn’t ready to start. There were liquor stores and laundry mats throughout the neighborhood. If that wasn’t a ghetto, then he didn’t know what qualified. He started his car but stopped when he felt his phone buzzing. The area code was from Manhattan, he answered quickly.

“Hello?”

“Hello, this is Thomas Barclay from Barclay & Nelson, I’m searching for Reginald Dawson.”

“This is Reginald,” he said quickly, trying to sound as professional as possible. He interviewed with them two months before and they turned him down because of what happened with his last position.

“Ah, hi Reggie, how are you?’

“I’m doing pretty good, and you?”

“My wife hasn’t left me yet, so today is a good day,” Thomas laughed.

“How can I help you sir?”

“Well, we have an opening on our staff and I was wondering if you wanted to come on board and work with us.”

“This is really unexpected. I thought that you wrote me off.”

“Initially we did. You have to understand that we take that kind of thing very seriously here.”

“I understand, but what caused the change of heart?”

“I heard through the grapevine about what actually happened at the firm. One of the assistants spilled the beans and it’s spreading like wildfire. I think that you have a lot of promise and I would like to offer you a spot.”

“Wow, thank you that really means a lot.”

“I’m looking forward to having you on board. Just promise me that there won’t be any funny business when you get here.”

“You won’t have any problems from me. Everyone there seems to be very respectful and of course, I will return it.”

“The position starts at two hundred thousand a year, come in Monday and fill out your paperwork. I’ll have my assistant email you over some stuff. I also want to point out that you’ll be brought on as a first year.”

“That’s fine by me. I won’t let you down.”

“I know you won’t. Enjoy the rest of your day and welcome to the team.”

“I appreciate it, I’ll be in touch and I’m sure that I’ll be seeing you soon.”

They disconnected, and Reggie felt speechless. He finally landed a job, and it was at one of the best law firms in New York. The position paid less than what he was making before, but he didn’t mind taking the temporary hit. There was room for growth and he would quickly climb the ladder. Finally, he caught a break. He leaned over and rested his head on the steering wheel, he had a job, he finally had a job. Now it was time for him to go home and make things right with his wife, after he went to the bar.

***

No amount of alcohol could cure Reggie's sober mind. He spent over 5 hours feeling pitiful for himself and drinking his spirit of choice. His bad feelings were only amplified, he was trapped inside of his head. Things were finally looking up, so why did he feel so shitty? Sitting back in his car, he felt hopeless. It was time for him to go home to his wife so that they could begin the healing process. Hopefully, once he patched things back up with her, he could feel better. After that he would have to figure out how to handle his problem with Mimi.

He started his engine, tried to shake off the effects of the alcohol and headed home. The volume of the stereo in his car was low, but he heard it clear as day. Kendrick Lamar was rapping a spiteful chant. That song always made him feel melancholy. It was on repeat after he got fired from his last job. Being blackballed from law hurt like hell. He banked his entire future on that path working out for him, when it looked like it was going to fall apart, the pain and disappointment was unbearable.

His phone signaled that he received a text message. It was probably Tamika checking to see where he was again. He hadn't checked in with her all day, and he hoped that she was doing okay.  She'd tried to call him once and sent him three messages while he was at the bar, but they went ignored. She was just going to question him and he didn't have any answers. He was about to step up within his marriage in a major way. His brother was right, even though he didn't want to admit it. Taking Tamika for granted was something that he'd done from the moment that they met. He always knew that she was going to be there, she was smitten with him. He loved her, but she'd always loved him more. Deep down, they both knew that it was true, even though neither of them would admit it out loud.

When he stopped at a red light he took a look at his phone. It wasn't from Tamika, it was from Mimi. “Hows the wife??” it said. His stomach dropped, history was about to repeat itself. What if that bitch hurt Tamika? What if his wife was lying in a hospital somewhere? Or the morgue?

He immediately dialed his wife's number, her phone went straight to voice mail. He tried her a few times again but the result was the same. The sense of loss and guilt permeated through his body. If something happened to his wife then he would never forgive himself, and he would handle Mimi directly. Reggie tried to call Crystal, but it just rang, she didn't answer. He wished that he had Kalena's number, but it wasn't something that he'd ever gotten around to putting in his phone.

Everything was a blur as he rode home to his house, speeding the entire way, at least trying to. He was driving like a crazy New Yorker. On his way home he called Mimi, he had to talk to her.

“Hello darling,” she said in an amused tone.

“Did you do something to my wife?”

“Why? Did you hear something?”

“I'm not calling to play games with you. What did you do?”

“You can't find her? Wow, that's tragic. You should probably pay your debts so that your pretty little wife could walk the streets safely. It's a dangerous world out here.”

“I swear to god, if you did something to her, I'm going to make you regret the day that you met me,” Reggie said through gritted teeth. His breathing was labored, he was seeing red, and he was mad enough to kill.

“Put away those baby canines, you're not going to do a damned thing. I already regret the day that I met your ass. I took you in when your poor country ass didn't have anyone. Your loser mom couldn't afford to take care of you and I footed the bill. The only reason your brother is still breathing is because I had mercy on him. I had them beat his ass as a message to you. Your wife has something in store for her too, and then, I'm going to deal with you.”

“This is between me and you, there is no need for you to involve anyone else. I'm the one that owes you the money.”

“Exactly, and that's why you're paying for it. I know how much you care about them and that's why I'm doing this. You remember how things work in this world right? You know that when you get into this game, everyone that you love is a target. If you didn't remember that part, I'm sure you do now. However, I blame myself. I coddled you too much and shielded you from the bad shit in this world, but that's okay, I'm doing my part to fix it. When you find your wife, give her my regards.”

Before Reggie could respond, the line went dead. The bitch hung up on him. His heart reached his throat and he felt nauseous. He finally pulled into his parking spot and ran to his condo. He didn't care about the stares that he received, he needed to see if his wife was at home. He fumbled with his keys and clumsily opened the door. He searched the house, but she wasn't there. He could smell the faint scent of her perfume. The sweats that she'd been wearing were in the hamper and her hair products were on the sink. He looked outside and her car was sitting down the street. She went somewhere because she'd gotten dressed but who did she go with? He tried her phone again and this time it rang, but she didn't answer. He left a voice mail and sent a text, but it still went unanswered.

He could find her phone through an app! He thanked God for having an iPhone and went straight to his laptop to see where her signal was coming from. He prayed that she was okay. If she wasn't okay, if one hair on her precious head was touched, he was going to put a bullet through Mimi's brain. Whatever happened to him after that wasn't his concern. No one fucked with his wife.

According to her phone's signal she was on the three hundred block of Broadway. He grabbed his keys and headed out of the door to see where his wife was. He headed back out to his car. He checked beneath the seat to make sure that his gun was still there and drove  off to the area. The waiting game was killing him, he tried to call her again but once again it rang and went to the voicemail.

“Damn Tamika! Answer the fucking phone!” he yelled to himself.

The 25 minutes that it took to get to the area was pure torture. He parked his car and walked down the street. The first thing that he checked was the alley. Nothing and no one was back there. Then he weaved in and out of stores and bars. He couldn’t find her anywhere. Maybe her phone was in a garbage can. The neighborhood left a lot to be desired. He couldn’t understand why she would hang out in the area.