Black Pearl (3 page)

On the drive home after boxing class, Devyn thought about Marcus and the day they finally broke up…

It was one year and six months ago. The day had been rather short and uneventful at work. Since Andre was out of town, there wasn’t much that needed to get done. Typically Devyn would have checked with a few other admins to see if they needed any help, but it was a Friday. She thought it would be a nice surprise to go grocery shopping and have a home cooked meal prepared for Marcus when he got in. Marcus was a police officer for the Atlanta Police Department. For the last few weeks he had been pulling long shifts on a particular case. She wanted to do something nice for him. Devyn left her office around 3:00 pm that day, and was lucky enough to beat rush hour traffic to get to the grocery store. Marcus loved Italian and Devyn planned to make his favorite meat lasagna with a salad and garlic bread. As Devyn entered her apartment, she noticed the lights in the living room were on. She thought it strange, since she was the last one to leave that morning and she knew she turned the lights off. Just as she was putting the bags down, she heard a grunt. Thinking Marcus must be home early, she moved down the hall to their bedroom. She opened the door and got the shock of her life. Marcus’ back was to her as he laid face down with a pair of woman’s legs wrapped around his waist. His back muscles flexed as he pumped his hips vigorously and the woman moaned his name over and over. Gasping at the shock of seeing her boyfriend on top of another woman, in their bed, Devyn interrupted their tryst.

“What the fuck are you doing home so early?” That was it. No, ‘I’m sorry.’ Not even a pathetic, ‘This isn’t what it looks like.’ He had the nerve to be angry with her for being home early. The woman had the decency to jump out of the bed, dress quickly and leave. Devyn was too stunned to barely notice the woman as she ran past her.

“I said what are you doing home so early?” Marcus demanded again. Devyn stood there, staring at the bed. Their bed. The one they slept in together every night. Made love in. He not only cheated, but did it in their bed. Devyn began to wonder how many other times he brought women to the apartment they shared to have sex. She looked at his naked frame and snapped out of her paralysis.

“What the fuck am I doing home? What the FUCK are you doing with another woman in our apartment?” Devyn shouted, temporarily shocking Marcus. She rarely raised her voice to him.

“Who the fuck are you talking to?” Marcus recovered from his shock and stalked over to Devyn, not even bothering to cover his nakedness. He grabbed her shoulders and shoved her into the door, trapping her there. Devyn had bruises on her shoulders where he grabbed her, for days, but she hadn’t backed down. They both yelled and screamed. Devyn asking how he could do this, and Marcus calling her every foul name he could think of. He told her it was her fault he cheated. He couldn’t stand the sight of her. He berated her. It was that moment, Devyn saw him for who he really was – a monster. She knew she was better off without him. Devyn grabbed her bag and threw clothes and her toiletries in it, telling Marcus she would be back when he was at work to get the rest of her things.

Marcus taunted her, telling her she would be back, and if she was lucky, he would take her back. Devyn didn’t return. Instead she went and stayed with Mercedes for a few weeks, as she cried her eyes out on Mercedes’ couch. She eventually found another apartment. When she tried to return to her apartment with Marcus to get her things, he was there waiting. Though Mercedes wanted to go with Devyn, she told her she would be fine. Marcus continued to taunt and berate her as she packed her things in her vehicle. Since that day, a year and a half ago she had not spoken to Marcus Thomas.

Devyn knew it was time to put the past behind her. Marcus was long out of her life, and she knew she would never allow anyone to control her the way she’d allowed her ex to.

“Good morning, Mr. Collins.” Nikola entered his outer office. He paused, his stomach muscles clenching at the sight of Devyn sitting at Sheryl’s desk, smiling up at him. He looked her over; admiring how the dark blue silk shirt she wore complemented her skin. Her smile dropped as he continued to stare. 

“I thought since I was working for you for the next few weeks it made sense for me to report to your office, instead of remaining in my regular spot downstairs. I didn’t know how you prefer your coffee, so I purchased a simple dark roast and got cream, sugar, and honey packets for you to choose what you want. Also, I didn’t know if you wanted any breakfast, so I thought I’d wait till you came in so I could run down to Starbucks to get you something if you would like.” Continuing to stare, Nikola fought the urge to show a hint of the emotion he was feeling.

“You bought coffee for me?” Nikola asked.

“Uh, yes. I usually do it every morning for Andre; so I wasn’t sure if protocol was the same for your office. If you don’t drink coffee, I can get a different beverage. Tea, orange juice, apple juice…” Devyn bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from rambling. Nikola stared at her for another minute.

“Coffee is fine, Ms. Williams,” was all he said before strolling to the door of his office. Entering the huge corner office, he saw the cup of coffee sitting on top of his large mahogany desk. Sheryl didn’t bring him coffee, nor did he require it, but for some reason he liked the idea of Devyn doing little things like bringing him coffee. Just as he was making a mental note to make it into the office early tomorrow morning, to be there when she brought his coffee, he heard a knock on the door. Looking up he saw the woman who had been occupying his thoughts. The blue shirt he noticed earlier was matched with a pair of wide leg cream pants and black pumps. A simple outfit that was sophisticated paired with her hair that fell in loose curls around her face to her shoulders.

“Sorry for interrupting, but I usually go over Andre’s schedule with him every morning and I didn’t know if you and Sheryl do the same or something different.”

Nikola and Sheryl did not go over his schedule each morning. All Nikola had to do was pull up his calendar on his computer or tablet to know of any meetings for the day, but again, he liked this little bit of extra attention from Devyn so he went with it.

“Come in and sit, Ms. Williams,” He said waving her in. Devyn entered his office and sat in one of the chairs directly across from his. As she sat down, Nikola caught a whiff of her perfume. It smelled like some sort of tropical fruit and coconut. Opening up her iPad, Devyn pulled up Nikola’s schedule for the day.

“You have a 9:00 a.m. with Mr. McCallister over the deal with his company. Sheryl left an extra folder with documents you may want to review for that meeting, although she left a note saying they were copies, and you already had the originals.” Nikola nodded. He didn’t want to give away that he already knew his schedule by heart and thoroughly studied the necessary documents. He knew these types of reminders were necessary when working with his brother. Andre was practically a genius when it came to numbers, but he could be extremely forgetful when it came to meetings, signing papers, or anything else having to do with keeping a schedule. Nikola was the opposite; he was meticulous when it came to keeping a schedule. He’d learned the importance of being organized and double checking things at West Point and leading his own unit in the Army. He could keep many important and minut details in his head, easily.

Nikola sat back as he listened to Devyn talking, enjoying the melodic tone of her voice. He found it soothing to him for some reason. He fought himself to resist the urge to close his eyes, as if he was listening to one of his favorite symphonies. The appeal of Devyn’s voice was nearly as pleasurable.

“Mr. Collins…” Nikola heard his name and snapped out of his thinking to see a questioning look on Devyn’s beautiful face. Clearing his throat he asked, “I’m sorry. What was that Ms. Williams?”

“I was saying, we need to work on the details for the Memorial Day Gala. I have a list of contacts that was left by Sheryl.  She and I worked on last year’s gala, so I feel pretty comfortable handling most of the details. I wanted to know if you think it best that you and I meet sometime this week to go over the bookings we have so far?”

The Memorial Day Gala was an event Excel held every Friday on Memorial Day weekend as a fundraiser for local and national charities. Most of the who’s who in Atlanta, Miami, New York and even Washington showed up at the event.

“Sure, how about we put aside time to meet each Wednesday and Friday for the next few weeks to plan and go over the arrangements.”

“Okay. I will update our schedules as soon as I return to my desk. Does 3:00 p.m. work?”

“That’s fine,” Nikola replied.

Devyn began folding her iPad, preparing to leave.

“Oh, I almost forgot. There was only one phone message. It was left Friday afternoon. It’s from a Cindy.” Devyn stated looking down at the form she wrote the phone message on. “She wanted you to confirm for a lunch you were supposed to have this week.”

Nikola tried hard not to roll his eyes. He had been putting Cindy off since he had lunch with her the previous week. Cindy was an art curator, and was very good at her job. Her eye for classic art helped him pick out a number of pieces for his home and even for those that would be auctioned off at this years’ Memorial Day Gala, but Nikola was never one for long-term relationships. He told her from the beginning any relationship they had would not last long. It’d been about two months since they first slept together, and he was ready to move on. He would have to let her know they were over, but he’d put it off for a little while, not wanting to deal with any ensuing drama.  

“I’ll take that,” he said reaching for the phone message.

“Is there anything else?” he asked.

“No. I’ll be at my desk.”

“Thank you, Ms. Williams,” Nikola watched her walk out his office, and in spite of his better judgement his gazed traveled down her back to her plump behind. He pictured himself squeezing that behind as she rode him or as he pumped into her from the back. He grunted trying to rid himself of that vision. It had been a few weeks since the last time he had sex. Maybe he would avoid breaking it off with Cindy for a little while longer to exorcise the mounting desire he felt for Devyn Williams.

“Hi Nik, I’ve been waiting for your call,” Cindy purred into the phone. The sound grated on Nikola’s nerves. Nikola was irritated with himself for calling a woman who he was finding more and more annoying, but he felt like he needed some sort of outlet for his sexual desires.

It’d been a week and a half since Devyn began working in his office. Each morning she brought him in a cup of coffee and met with him to go over his schedule for the day. Nikola began showing up to work earlier than usual, just so he would be in the office when she delivered his coffee. He found himself taking more and more trips to his outer office to ask questions he could have easily picked up the phone and have answered. During their bi-weekly meetings on the gala he had to refrain from sitting too close to her to get a whiff of the scent that he came to identify with her. He had another week and a half before Andre returned, and Devyn would go back to working with him. He was tempted, on more than one occasion, to call his brother and tell him to stay away longer. Andre was scheduled to return a week before the gala. Nikola knew Andre needed to be home in order to be present at some important meetings the week before the gala, as well to get his tuxedo fitted.

“I’ve been busy with work,” he responded curtly.

“Oh, well, I have a friend who gave me tickets to a show next Friday night and wanted to know if you wanted to come with me,” she announced happily.

“What kind of show?” He asked.

“That’s a surprise, but I hear it’s worth it,” she stated avoiding the type of show, knowing he would turn her down if she told.

“I don’t like secrets,” he said flatly.

“I know and trust me it’s nothing bad or illegal or anything. It’s just a performance.” Sighing, Nikola thought of what she could be up to. Figuring that whatever it was, it couldn’t possibly be that bad, he agreed.

“When is this performance and where?” He asked.

“It’s next Friday. I wanted to give you some time, hoping you hadn’t made plans yet.” Nikola hadn’t made plans for the following weekend, but he didn’t want to give away too much.

“What time does it start? I may have a meeting that evening.”

“Oh. Well, the show starts at 8:00 p.m., but I was thinking we could go out to dinner beforehand.”

“8:00 p.m. sounds fine. I will have to check my schedule about dinner.”

“Great. Call me when you check. Maybe we could go out this weekend, if you’re not busy?” Cindy said attempting to sound coy.

“I have a packed schedule this weekend. Let me check my calendar for next Friday and get back to you about dinner. I will call you.”

“Okay. Don’t forget,” she said just before he hung up. Nikola agreed to go out with Cindy the following weekend, but he knew that would be their last date. Usually he had Sheryl send a parting gift of some sort, and flowers to console a woman after their break up, but he didn’t feel right asking Devyn to do this with Cindy. He tried not to think too hard into why that was.

About an hour later, Nikola was working when he heard the familiar laughter of the only woman to ever hold his heart. Rising he strolled out of his office to where he heard voices laughing and talking.

“He was always my stubborn child. Just like his father, he refused to take no for an answer.” Iris Collins was telling Devyn as Nikola rounded the corner out of his office.

“Mama, what are you doing here?” He asked, greeting his mother with a kiss on the cheek.

“Hi, Nicky. How come you didn’t tell me Devyn was working for you while Andre was away? I went to say hello to her while I was here, and found an empty chair, much to my chagrin.” Iris ignored, Nikola’s question. Nikola knew his mother held great affection for Devyn. Whenever she came to visit their office, she made sure to stop by and say hello to Devyn. Iris commented one time that she could tell Devyn had a good heart and would make a great mother. Iris Collins’ only two regrets in this world were that she did not stop her husband from taking the car out the day he had his fatal accident, and that neither one of her sons had made her a grandmother yet.

“I’m sorry, Mama. I didn’t know you would be stopping by or else I would have told you.” Nikola managed to look contrite about neglecting this piece of information. He suspected his mother would have pressed him about Devyn working for him if she knew.

“It’s fine. I was just telling Devyn how you were always my hardheaded child, but always protective. Let me tell you about the time he went to beat up the Senator’s son for picking on his younger brother…” Iris started, looking at Devyn.

“Mama, Ms. Williams doesn’t want to hear about my childhood stories. I’m sure she has some work to do,” Nikola said, avoiding eye contact with Devyn.

“Oh well. I’ll save those stories for later. Now, he’s not being too hard on you, is he Devyn?” Mrs. Collins asked.

“No, ma’am. He’s not at all,” Devyn answered honestly.

“Mama, what are you doing here? Is everything okay?” Nikola asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

“Of course, son. I just wanted to pop by for a visit. You never visit.” Nikola tried not to roll his eyes.

“Mama, I was just over this weekend.”

“Oh, that’s right. Well, I just wanted to see you again to discuss this year’s gala. You’re coming this year, aren’t you Devyn.” Devyn smiled brightly, and Nikola’s heart flip flopped. “Yes, ma’am. I am, of course.”

“Great. We will have to discuss our gala attire later.”

“I’ll be here,” Devyn retorted.

“Come, Mama.” Nikola took his mother’s arm, guiding her to his office.

“She such a nice girl,” Iris sighed as she entered Nikola’s office.

“And doesn’t she look fabulous in that red, today?” Iris asked innocently. Nikola nodded, not wanting to give away that his heart rate tripled when Devyn walked into his office this morning wearing a red chiffon blouse with a white skirt with red pumps. Red was definitely her color. In fact, Nikola figured that e
very
color worked well on Devyn, but red was definitely his favorite on her.

“I don’t know what happened, but when she first started working for Andre, she never wore color. It was all blacks, dark browns and blues, but about a year and a half ago she began wearing more and more color. She looks happier too. I wonder what changed.” Iris looked quizzically at Nikola. His mother was very observant. He knew she could hone in on subtle changes and draw serious conclusions. He began to wonder if something made Devyn change her wardrobe, but refused to give his thoughts away to his mother. He shrugged. “I don’t know, Mama. I hadn’t noticed,” he lied.

“I’m sure,” she said in that way that let him know the wheels were turning in her head. Wanting to get her mind off of Devyn, he decided to change the subject.

“Speaking of clothing, have you chosen a dress for the gala yet?” Iris loved the gala and looked forward to it to ring in the summer season. They spent another few minutes discussing the gala, and what they were wearing, who was attending and all the items that had been donated for the silent auction. Of course, afterwards, Iris asked Nikola if he was dating anyone, which turned into another ten minute speech on how she was not getting any younger. Iris Collins wanted grandchildren. Nikola held his tongue as his dramatic mother lamented about not being able to enjoy grandchildren because she would be old and shriveled by the time either one of her sons settled down and had children. Nikola knew that was a lie. His mother was in her sixties, but was still had a very active social life and looked nearly twenty years younger than her actual age. After about thirty minutes, Nikola walked his mom to the elevators, with promises to visit her this weekend, which he often did when he was in town. As he returned to his office, he couldn’t help taking another peek at Devyn as she worked on some report on the computer. She wore her hair up in a high curly puff, once again showing off the column of her neck. When she smiled at him upon his return, Nikola had to put his hands in his pockets to keep from reaching out and touching her.

He sighed. One more week and Andre would be back, Devyn would return back downstairs and everything would be back to normal.