Scandal: Crossing Boundaries (Scandal Series #1 INTERRACIAL ROMANCE) (6 page)

"How are you doing?"

Yep. I ain't gone like this shit. The boss always be sending this bitch to tell me the bad news, instead of telling me himself.
Davonte shook his head.
Punk ass bitch.

Trying his best to be graceful about it all, Davonte said, "I'm good."

Stepping forward, Cindy placed a hand on his wood desk, balancing herself. "You aren't going to like what I am about to say Davonte," Cindy told him.

I knew it.

"Sales are down with the company. Profits are falling. In order to combat this, Biotech has to scale back, cut down on costs." Cindy let out a counterfeit sigh. "Unfortunately, this means that some of our employees will feel the sting of our losses."

Bitch, get the fuck up out my face with that shit.

It was hard for Davonte to hold back what he really wanted to say. Of course he would be the one to be told that he was about to be out of a job, simply because he was one of the few black men working for the high-tech company.

Trying to keep his voice level, Davonte asked, "What I don't understand is, is how does it go from that I am getting a raise, to that I'm getting fired?"

He had been told over two weeks ago by Cindy that there had been an error with his performance sheet and he had in fact been performing just below his usual level.

In other words, he had been told in a nice way that he was was not getting a raise.

Instead of telling Keisha about it, he continued to act as if it was still going to go down, because he had made such a big deal about it when he first found out that he would be getting one. Then Keisha's ass had forced him to end the front by telling him she had quit her job.

It was just Davonte's luck.

"You're not getting fired Davonte," Cindy assured him.

Confusion washed over Davonte's face. "I ain't? I mean, I'm not?"

Shaking her head, Cindy replied, "No. Your hours are being cut, that's all."  She gave him a look of pity. "Don't be sad, it's only temporary."

Tell that to my damn bills I got piled up at home.

While he was relieved he would be retaining some semblance of a job, their mounting debt would not survive a cut in income.

It was a struggle trying to live the good life with kids, living in a nice area with a high as hell mortgage, nice cars, and hot, young babysitters. It was a good thing Keisha had found a job quick.

"How long is this shit going to last?" Davonte might really wound up fired if he kept making slip ups.

The woman stood straight up, fixing a direct look on his face, "Maybe only a month or two."

A month or two?
he thought in despair.
God damn.

The truth of the matter was; it would probably be much longer than that.

"Look on the bright side Davonte," she told him.  "There is a silver lining in all of this."

Yeah right, hoe.

"What's that?" Davonte asked, still trying to act unfazed.

Tossing a strand of long hair over her shoulder, Cindy said, "You will get to spend more time with your children or work on whatever it is that you've been neglecting." She smiled, making him want to punch her in the face. "You also get to choose when to work your lighter work schedule. Come on in any day you like."

Davonte held back a derisive snort.
That ain't no damn silver lining. A silver lining is getting my dick sucked along with a damn raise.

Crossing over to the door, Cindy paused to turn around with her phony smile. "Just keep performing well and everything will be back to normal in no time. You're one of our best employees. We would not know what to do without ya."

With that, the woman left the room, leaving the scent of her stankin ass perfume to clog Davonte's nostrils.

"God damn it," Davonte muttered, filled with worry about the future of his family.

Keisha did not know it, since Davonte handled all their finances, but they were barely getting by as it was. Most of their credit cards were damn near maxed out and it was a struggle to stay current with their monthly mortgage payments.

Davonte quickly got up and went over to lock his office door, returning to his seat a moment later.

Leaning back into his chair, he brought up the porn site he was looking at before the woman had interrupted and then grabbed some lube out of his desk drawer.

The stressful news had him needing a release.

As he began his business, watching the two white lesbians go at it on his laptop screen, his mind continued to race. All he could do was hope that Cindy had been telling the truth about his work hours being temporarily cut, otherwise, the Johnsons might be looking for a new address soon.

T
he sound of water filled Zack's ears as he swam just beneath the surface of his large swimming pool. Practicing for an upcoming swimming match on a Saturday afternoon, he had been at it for hours, striving for perfection.

He was currently on the last stretch of a grueling lap cycle. Pushing himself to his ultimate limits, his arms burned with exhaustion as he shouldered himself through the water.

He was concentrating not coming up for air, his lungs feeling like they were going to burst. Glancing at the end of the pool, he saw that he was almost there...only a few more yards.

One, two, three, four...

He gasped as he broke the surface, choking on air, his hands firmly grabbing hold of the concrete edge of the pool.

Glancing at his water-proof stopwatch, he felt relief surge through his tortured lungs. He had beaten his previous record by ten seconds. At this rate, Zack would be more than prepared for his upcoming swimming match.

"Zack."

He groaned at the sound of his mother's voice.

"Zack get out of there," Patricia called from the front of the pool. "There is someone here to see you."

His golden-haired mother was garbed in a red dress, barefoot, with a wine glass in her hand.

Whoever the visitor was had to be someone that his mother was comfortable drinking around. Usually one to keep up of appearances because of his father's position, Patricia always made sure to keep up a facade for the public and any guests that came over to their house.

Wiping the water out of his eyes, he pulled his toned body out of the pool and made his way to his towel that was draped over the side of a pool chair. Quickly wiping himself off, he wrapped it around his slender waist, and shook his blonde hair around like a wet dog while making his way to his waiting mother.

"Who is it?" he asked Patricia as he walked beside her across their neatly-groomed backyard, her favorite fragrance she wore everyday wafting to his nose.

"You'll see," she responded coyly with a mysterious smile.

"Oh come on mom, don't play games with me," Zack growled. "Just tell me who it is."

Pausing as they came upon the back patio, his mother replied, "It's Mandy."

Zack froze in his tracks, glancing at their large house. "I'm not going in there mom."

Sighing, his mother turned to him and asked, "Why not Zack? The girl is beside herself about your guys' break up."

"Mom, this is bullshit," Zack snapped, mightily irritated. "Why the hell would you let her in the house, knowing we aren't going together anymore?"

"Hey!" Patricia half yelled, raising her arm as if to smack her son, nearly spilling some of her wine onto the grass. "Watch your mouth Zachery!" Glancing through the kitchen window, she quickly lowered her voice. "I was not going to turn her away Zack...not when your car was sitting directly in the drive way." She gently tapped him on the shoulder. "Just go in there and see what the girl wants," she urged him. "It can't be that bad."

There was no point in arguing. If he didn't go inside his mother was bold enough to bring the girl out into the back to see him.

Sighing in defeat, he said, "Alright."

Inside the Palmer residence, a palatial-type estate, Zack found Mandy sitting calmly on the lush guest couch, her eyes on the flat screen TV in the middle of the living room.

There was some teen drama on display, something about vampires. The main characters were in the middle of a fierce embrace, passionately kissing each other. Mandy was so engrossed with the action, that she didn't see Zack standing beside the couch, watching her.

Dressed in tight blue jeans and a pink blouse, her honey-brown hair was pulled back into a tight pony-tail. She had on very little makeup, but she was still pretty to Zack.

"You wanted to see me?"

Mandy let out a startled shriek, nearly falling off the couch.

"Gosh," she gasped, pressing her palm to her chest. "I did not see nor hear you."

Zack chuckled, nodding at the screen. "You were in the zone watching that vampire shit."

She giggled nervously, tossing her brown mane. "I was, wasn't I?" A second later, her big, brown eyes seemed to focus and she stared at his hard stomach and rippling abs for a moment. Then she quickly averted her eyes, and asked, "I was not interrupting anything, was I?"

Zack shook his head. "No," he lied. "I was just getting done with my swimming practice."

Mandy looked pretty lonely all by herself on the couch, but Zack was loathe to sit beside her. His mother had some nerve letting the girl in when all Zack had been trying to do is put distance between them so she would forget about him.

Mandy patted the spot beside of her as if reading his mind. "Come sit beside me Zack. I have something I have to ask you."

Damn it.

Hesitating for a half second, Zack walked over and sank down beside the girl, feeling uneasy.

"What's up?" he asked awkwardly, feeling self conscious about being half naked next to his ex.

"I've been sending you a bunch of texts," she said softly, looking at his wet hair as if she wanted to touch it. "I assume you've been ignoring them all."

"Mandy I can explain—" Zack began.

Raising a hand to silence him, Mandy said, "I figured you wanted to make me hate you...and for a while, I did. But I soon realized that's such a waste of time." She paused as if gathering her thoughts.  "All I want to know is...is why Zachery? Why did you break up with me?"

They sat in strained silence for a while before Zack could say, "I don't know Mandy. I just did not feel the same anymore."

"What's wrong with me?" she asked, her eyes tearing up. This was exactly what Zack had feared would happen when he agreed to come inside to talk to the girl. "Was I that awful?"

"There was and is nothing wrong with you," Zack was quick to say. "It's just me."

"Well what is it that's making you feel this way?" she asked with desperate emotion.

Zack had to look away from those big, teary eyes. "I don't know Mandy. I can't explain it, and I'm sorry."

She drew in a shaky breath, "I guess that means you are going to say no to what I came here to ask you."

God mom, why did you have to let her in?

Mandy was going to ask him to get back together with her, the last thing Zack wanted.

Zack leaned forward, wresting his elbows on his thighs. "Look Mandy, we can't get back together because—"

"I was going to ask you to the Sadie Hawkins dance," Mandy sniffed.

Zack paused.

Sadie Hawkins was a school dance where the girls asked the guys to the dance. Held annually at different times every year, Zack had forgotten all about it, and he certainly had no real intentions to go. It was bad form for a guy to turn a girl down from the dance.

Ugh
, he thought.

"I don't know—"

"Please," Mandy begged. "It doesn't have to be about us getting back together. It will be just for fun." She gently touched his bare arm. "Besides, I can't think of any other guy I would rather go with."

Zack groaned.

Mandy was really busting his balls with her request. There was no real reason to tell her no besides the fact that he wanted to create distance between the two.

"What harm would it be?" she pressed, looking at him imploringly with her big brown eyes.

For some reason the brown reminded him of his beautiful math teacher Keisha.

"Alright," Zack agreed after a long held in breath. "I'll go."

Mandy's eyes glowed with delight. "Thank you Zack!"

She gave him a quick, awkward hug, and then they worked out the details about what time she'd pick him up on the day of the dance and what they would be wearing before she happily left the house.

After she was gone, Zack sat back into the plush leather with a giant sigh.

I should have just told her no.

It would only make it worse seeing each other like this, but he could not bring himself to be a total dick and deny her when she was sitting right in front of him in total distress.

"Make sure no one sees you at the drop-off location."

His father, Mike Palmer, came walking into the room dressed in his usual attire, dark, dress slacks and white dress shirt, followed by several Mexicans.

"Yes sir," one of the men replied. "You got it."

His father led the men to the door and then came back into the room, pausing when he saw his son sitting there despondently at the TV.

"What's the matter with you son?" asked Mike. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Nothing," Zack replied after a moment. He nodded at the door as he heard the sound of several car engines roaring to life outside. "Who were those men?"

His father ran fingers through his graying, blonde hair, replying, "Nobody. Just some minor business associates."

But Zack knew his father was lying. There was a dark side to politics that Zack did not like. How his father had raised cash on the side for his elections was a forbidden topic. But Zack Knew. Knew the dirty shit his dad did, even though he never openly discussed it. None of them did.

Mike adjusted the collar of his dress shirt. "I'm going to head upstairs and take a shower and get ready for bed. I have a council meeting to attend in the morning.  The city wants to vote on a multi-million dollar contract and I'll be damned if I'm letting wasteful spending be included."

Zack had to keep himself from rolling his eyes. He could think of several programs that had been implemented under his father that were deplorable and wasted an excess amount of money.