Part II (16 page)

“They need to mind their own fucking business.” Scott replied coldly.

Elissa smirked. “And of course, you haven’t changed that much…”

Scott walked into his office and turned on his computer. He went online to check Mariana's bank account. As he thought, she had been paying her bills on time and cut back on her spending. There was still the issue of an almost daily Starbucks trip but he let that slide. She built up her savings to a respectable two thousand dollars. "Good girl," Scott nodded.

It was time to reward her.

"Scott," Elissa said through the intercom, "your mother is on line 1."

"Put her through," Scott made a transfer from his bank account to Mariana’s and turned on the speaker phone. If she was his true submissive, she wouldn’t discover the transaction until much later. "Hello Mother."

"You don't call, I don't get a note, I don't even get smoke signals from you…" Deborah Reed began."I was about to send out the search and rescue."

"I've just been busy, Mother,” Scott eyeballed Mariana’s spending habits. She needed to stop eating out so much. “That's all."

"So busy you can't call your poor old Mother? I do get lonely from time to time." Deborah laid out the guilt trip nice and thick.

Scott rolled his eyes. He read his mother well. "I'm sure bingo and your boyfriend is keeping you busy."

"Real smart, Scott."

"Honest."

"Well, I was calling to see what your plans were for Thanksgiving.” Deborah sighed. “We haven't seen your face in a while."

"I already have plans, Mom, but I'll definitely be down during the Christmas break," Scott paused. He hadn’t brought a woman home to meet his family in several years and he already guessed the reaction from his mother.  He had only hoped it wouldn’t be too bad. “I'm bringing someone with me."

"Oh?" Deborah became interested. "And what's her name?"

"Her name is Mariana and she's my girlfriend."

"Very well. I hope to meet Mariana." Deborah replied. "She's not Black, is she?"

Chapter Eighteen

Highland Hills was a small suburb outside of Los Angeles. It primarily consisted of middle- and upper-middle class families. The city’s claim to fame was a small reality show on BET a short while back to compete with MTV’s Laguna Beach. It wasn’t unusual to see one neighbor drive a brand-new Mercedes and a slew of other neighbors soon followed the same route.

Mariana admitted she grew up privileged and spoiled. She was a princess and prided on that. She was Daddy's Girl and nothing was ever too much for her. She got whatever she wanted and bitched and moaned whenever she didn’t. It was a lifestyle she was accustomed to and continued with well after she moved out of her parents' home.

She did well enough in high school to go straight to UCLA, but cut back on her course load during her sophomore year to work and enjoy life. While her high school and college friends were getting married left and right, she chose to live the single life instead in West Los Angeles. Little did she realized living the single life also meant being responsible and work on her own merits.

She dated a lot; maybe too much. She didn't limit her choices to just one race or ethnic group and explored many other cultures. But she was very picky about who she dated and even pickier about who she slept with. Too many men wanted to fuck her and not try to get to know who she was. She always told them,
'You should always get to know the person you're about to fuck in case your dick ends up in a garbage disposal in the future.'

She only had a single one-night-stand in sexual experiences and was proud of that lone number. She went through her promiscuous phase and had what she called ‘a really good summer.’ She had only brought a small number of boyfriends home to meet her family and the last time she brought anyone home was three years ago. She had a series of short-term boyfriends and fuck buddies since then. She wasn’t trying to get serious with anyone.

Until that fateful day in Scott’s home where she propositioned him. She had been secretly pining after Scott the moment he interviewed her. But she was also a realist. Scott would not have been interested in her. A man like Scott Reed doesn't date poor college students with equally poor spending habits.

 Still, Mariana knew when she took off her shirt, he was going to fuck her. She may not have known too much about his tastes in women but she knew he had an insatiable appetite for sex and a lot of it. They agreed it was going to be no-strings-attached. She could date and so could he. That was before the third session. The deal was questionable by the fourth session. And it was pretty much thrown out of the window by the fifth and sixth sessions.

Sexual escapades aside, Scott did make her a better person. She curtailed her spending significantly and was proud of being so frugal. She enrolled in a cooking class at the local mall and was going to surprise him with a homemade meal over the weekend.

That is, if her family didn't scare him off yet.

****

Collard greens. Oxtails. Ambrosia salad. Fried hush puppies. Hot water cornbread. If the smell of the peach cobbler didn’t tickle your senses, the pork ribs did. If you were a little hungry by seeing the sweet potato pie, you were famished when you saw baked macaroni and cheese.  It was a feast for kings and queens. Mariana's cousins came over as did her grandparents. The men were in a serious dominoes game while the women met up in the kitchen and shared the latest gossip.

Mariana stood on the sidewalk and contemplated just dropping off the chocolate cake and taking off. Was inviting her new older White and rich boyfriend over for Thanksgiving worth it? She could already hear the comments from various family members.

"Black wasn't doing you right so you had to go White?"

"So how much money is giving you to be with him?"

"Ain't he kinda old for you? Or maybe he likes them young ones!"

Scott wasn't even with her and Mariana already regretted inviting him over for dinner.

"Girl, why are you standing out there like you're a stranger? You better get your tail inside!" Mariana's mother, Linda, called out as she opened the door. She was an older Black woman in her late fifties but had the face of a woman in her forties. She was thin and wore her hair dyed hair short. She worked part-time as a nurse and spent the rest of her time running her non-profit for abused women.

"Hey mama," Mariana said nervously. "What's up?"

"What's up with me? What's up with you?" Linda pulled Mariana inside the home. "Take your shoes off and give me that cake." She kissed her daughter. "Acting like you don't know whose house you're at and you just barely moved out a few years ago. Oliver! Oliver! Mari's here!"

Oliver Harlow was an older Black man. He was tall with a white goatee. He had a no-nonsense air about him. Give him the facts or shut the hell up was his motto. He was a homicide detective and he sometimes had difficulty turning off the police side of him when he arrived home. He was five years, eight months, and three days away from retirement – a fact he often repeated every chance he got.

"There's my baby girl!" Oliver hugged his only daughter. "How's my baby doing?"

"I'm doing alright, Daddy," Mariana was a princess around her father, "still catching bad guys?"

"Yep. Just for another five years, eight months, and three days…"

"Fool, will you shut up with that nonsense!" Linda rolled her eyes. "I've been hearing that mess for the last six months."

"It's true," Oliver shrugged.

"I see you've finally discovered the gym and not the candy bars," Jerome snickered from a nearby corner. Jerome was Mariana's younger brother. A college student that changed his major every six months depending on whomever he was dating at the time. 22 years old and proud of the fact he still lived at home. With mom and dad footing the bill, he had no reason to leave.

"And I see your lazy ass will be forever alone." Mariana shot back. "How's your right hand? I'm sure she's your only girlfriend now."

"Mama! Mama! Did you hear what Mari just said?" Jerome pointed at his sister.

"Will you two stop before you give me a headache?" Linda called out as she rejoined the women in the kitchen. Mariana followed behind her and greeted her cousins and aunts.

"Look at you, Mari! Girl, have you been losing weight? You're looking great!" One of her aunts, Eloise, commented.

"I've been working out," Mariana grinned. It was true: sleeping with Scott was equivalent to running a marathon.

"And you're glowing!"  Her aunt, Gloria, knew all well Mariana's newfound glow. "What's his name?"

"His name?" Mariana played stupid. "What do you mean?" The doorbell rang and Mariana was grateful for being saved by the bell.

"Yo, Mari, you have company," Jerome had a big smile as he walked into the kitchen.  He was rubbing his hands as if he ready for some throwdown about to happen. Scott was behind him. "I think you need to introduce us to your company."

The women smiled and admired Scott from a distance. They watched closely as he walked over to Mariana and kissed her cheek. Soon, comments and murmurs from the other women in the kitchen. It seemed the world stopped still upon seeing Scott enter the home and he only been there for a few seconds.  "So does the interrogation begin now?" He whispered to her.

Mariana sighed. She felt every set of eyes on them but she was most concerned on how her father was going to react. She felt his eyes boring holes through Scott and he was clear across the room. "It sure does."

****

"Sarah! Girl, if you don't dry up your tears I'm going have to start all over!" One of the makeup artists, LaDale, commented as he reapplied foundation to Sarah's face. She was modeling a new fashion line and was at a downtown studio getting ready.

"Sorry," Sarah carefully blotted her eyes with a napkin. "I'm just a little emotional. I'm going through a rough time right now."

"What's wrong, boo? You're always so friendly and cheerful!" LaDale asked.

"My best friend. She chose her man over me. I was just honest with her about her relationship and yet I'm the asshole!" Sarah knew what she said was a half-truth but no one needed to know the whole story.

LaDale sighed and sucked his teeth. "I would never understand why some women choose temporary dick over their girlfriends. Girlfriend, look at it like this – y'all were never that cool to begin with anyway if she gonna dump you because of some dude." He said to quiet cheers from the other models.

"I know but it just hurts," she blew her nose, "I know why she's with him. He's rich and works for McCormick and Sheppard."
And his dick is absolutely delectable.

"Oooh girlfriend, he got that long paper!" LaDale commented. "McCormick and Sheppard is known all over the world. Well, I can't say I blame her. I mean, she shouldn't have dumped you, for sure, but McCormick and Sheppard? Shoot, I would've dumped your ass, too!"

Sarah smiled through her tears. "You're not helping, LaDale."

"Girl, I ain't trying to help," He lifted her face to his and eyed her face. "Dicks come and go but your true bitches? They're for life, you hear me?"

"Thanks, LaDale," Sarah felt better. "Thanks a lot."

"Oh shoot…I ran out of purple eyeshadow." LaDale said. "I'll be right back." He then left.

A statuesque woman listened to the conversation and walked over to Sarah. “I’m sorry for butting in but you said your best friend’s boyfriend worked at McCormick and Sheppard.”

"Yeah, that dick!" Sarah was proud of her Academy Award winning performance. "Scott Reed. Whatev."

"Scott Reed, you say?" The woman pulled up a chair. "Do tell more."

"There's nothing to tell," Sarah shook her head, "he's just an asshole with a big dick." She covered her mouth. "From what I've heard."

The woman chuckled.
Just like I remembered.
"I see."

"Do you know who he is? Maybe you can help me break them up?"

The woman reminisced back to her time with Scott. She was his ex-fiancée and former Domme. Seven years later and the torch still brightly burned."I don't think that will be a problem…"