Sunday, March 5
4:20 p.m.
Savannah, Georgia
As she stood on the patio of Rocks on the Roof, Destiny read the latest edition of the Savannah Morning News over someone’s shoulder. Pit Bull’s attempted robbery of the Bank of America branch on Johnson Square was still front page news. The police didn’t have any leads but were pursuing the case from all possible angles, cop talk for they didn’t have a fucking clue who they were looking for. Pit and his partner in crime, seventy-five hundred dollars richer and lucky not to be behind bars, had wisely picked up stakes and skipped town.
Destiny scanned the article for news about Frank Redmond. The security guard had put up more of a fight than she had expected. In fact, he had almost ruined her carefully laid plan. If he had held on to Pit’s leg for thirty more seconds, Pit would be cooling his heels in jail instead of beating feet for parts unknown, and she’d be trying to explain to Harry what had gone wrong.
She sipped her beer. She’d been nursing the same one for almost three hours. If Rashida didn’t show up soon, she might have to call it a day. A few minutes later, her patience was finally rewarded. Jackie claimed a table about twenty feet away. Drinks in hand, Rashida soon joined her. Destiny ducked behind a potted palm and watched them interact.
Jackie was Rashida’s opposite in almost every way. Where Rashida was tall and thin, Jackie was short and plump. Rashida spoke with a quiet self-assurance that invited the listener to lean in close. Jackie’s booming voice kept her audience at a distance. Rashida attracted attention by appearing to deflect it. Jackie’s flashy clothes and oversized personality screamed, “Hey, look at me!”
If she didn’t know Rashida and Jackie were nothing more than friends, Destiny would have sworn they were lovers. They finished each other’s sentences and used the same conversational shortcuts favored by longtime partners. If they were as close professionally as they seemed to be personally, they made a formidable team. Destiny would have to take on not one but both. If she managed to convince Rashida to break the rules, could she in turn persuade Jackie to look the other way? She wasn’t so sure. Her considerable charms would most likely be lost on Jackie.
She ordered another beer and bided her time. She had only twelve days left before the dangerous game she had been roped in to play reached its final stages, but she couldn’t afford to rush.
Jackie left shortly after she and Rashida arrived, clearing the way for Destiny and Rashida to spend some time alone. Destiny licked her lips at the prospect but didn’t head toward Rashida’s table right away. She stayed put to gauge Rashida’s interest. Had she laid enough groundwork during their first meeting to prompt Rashida to pursue her or did she need to be the aggressor?
She watched a large cargo ship slowly chug past and feigned disinterest in the conversations taking place all around her. Rashida briefly conferred with the waitress before joining her by the railing.
“Come here often?”
Destiny turned quickly as if she’d been taken by surprise when she’d been surreptitiously ogling Rashida in her jeans and gay pride sweatshirt for several minutes. It took guts to be openly gay in some parts of the Deep South. Rashida didn’t seem to have a problem being who she was wherever she might be.
“Are you meeting your friend here?” Destiny wanted to make her first serious play to win Rashida’s affections while simultaneously pleading her case to take Frank Redmond’s job, but she had to be sure Jackie wouldn’t be around to run interference.
Rashida confirmed Jackie was out of the picture and invited Destiny to join her at her table. Destiny hemmed and hawed for a few minutes before “allowing” Rashida to twist her arm.
After they divvied up a selection of finger food, Destiny listened attentively while Rashida opened up to her about her close relationship with her grandmother and her distant one with the rest of her family.
“What about you?” Rashida asked. “Are you and your family close?”
Instead of resorting to a canned answer about an idyllic family life she had never experienced firsthand, Destiny countered with the truth.
“I’ve been on my own since I was seventeen. My father saw me on a date with my girlfriend at the time. When I got home, he had changed the locks on the doors and my clothes were scattered all over the lawn. Both he and my mother made it clear I was no longer welcome in their home or their lives. I haven’t seen them since.”
“What did you do?”
“I stayed at a friend’s house for a while. When I stopped feeling sorry for myself, I picked myself up, got a job, and never looked back.”
Destiny didn’t have to pretend to be vulnerable. When Rashida covered her hand with her own, the emotions she felt were real. Too real. She hadn’t delved into her past in years. Reliving it often proved as painful the second time around as it had the first. She welcomed the change in subject when Rashida asked her about her job experience.
She listed a fabricated work history that made her seem like the perfect candidate to replace Frank Redmond then waited for Rashida to make the pieces fit. After Rashida questioned her about where she was staying and her nonexistent roommates, she finally put two and two together. She didn’t offer Destiny the job but asked if she was interested and directed her to follow up with the bank’s human resources department.
Destiny felt a newfound sense of admiration. Rashida was professional and level-headed, aware of the power she possessed but unwilling to use it for her own gain. Getting her to crack was proving to be more of a challenge than she had expected. A challenge she was willing to take on. Not for Harry’s benefit but her own.
“If you’re up for an adventure, I’d like to show you something.”
She took Rashida to Echo Square, the little-known destination on River Street that harbored a spooky natural phenomenon more confusing than frightening. She offered Rashida her arm after she, too, failed to unravel the mystery behind the unmarked echo chamber. They walked the length of River Street, stopping to play tourist in several souvenir shops and an open-air flea market.
“What’s next?” Rashida asked, excitement glittering in her eyes. Savannah was her hometown, but she looked like she was seeing the city for the first time.
Destiny was experiencing something for the first time, too. The feeling she was exactly where she was supposed to be with exactly the person she was supposed to be with. She felt a sense of completion she’d heretofore only read about in novels or seen in sappy romantic comedies. She wanted to see Rashida smile. Make her laugh. Share untold adventures with her. She wanted every day to be like today.
“Can we sit and talk? Or have I interrogated you enough for one day?”
“Far from it.”
Rashida sat on a bench facing the water. Destiny sat next to her and draped her arm across the back of the seat. “This has been fun,” she said. “I’m glad I ran into you today.”
“So am I.”
“Do you think we could do it again sometime?”
For the first time since Destiny had met her, Rashida looked hesitant. “I should tell you something. I went to Atlanta yesterday to close the book on a relationship and I’m not ready to start another one yet.”
This must be the ex-girlfriend Harry had told her about. The real estate agent who had moved on to greener pastures. Despite her prior knowledge, Destiny made sure to ask the appropriate questions. “What was her name?”
“Diana. Diana Vasquez.”
“I think I’ve heard of her.” She hadn’t, but she wanted to know if Rashida had any hard feelings for her former lover.
“I’m not surprised. She’s one of the most successful real estate agents in the Southeast.”
Destiny took note of the measure of pride she heard in Rashida’s voice. Though she and Diana were no longer together, Rashida seemed to have nothing but the utmost respect for her.
Rashida looked out at the water but quickly turned back. Destiny loved how she always looked her in the eye no matter how difficult the subject at hand. With her, there was no wondering where you stood. Her expressive face let you know. Despite her assertion she wasn’t ready to embark on another relationship, her eyes said otherwise. All Destiny had to do was close the deal.
“How long were you and Diana together?”
“Six years.”
“What happened?”
“We loved each other, but we weren’t in love with each other, if that makes sense.”
“It makes perfect sense. Six years is a long time. It takes guts to admit a relationship that has lasted that long isn’t working out.”
“It doesn’t take bravery. It takes honesty.”
“You act as if those things are mutually exclusive. Take it from me. They aren’t.”
Because if I had an ounce of bravery, I’d be honest with you right now.
“Considering what you’ve been through, you’ve exhibited a great deal more bravery than I have. I agreed to end a relationship that was failing. You’ve had to make your way in the world with no support system. That takes guts.”
“Thank you, but I hope you don’t think I was fishing for a compliment.”
“I don’t. And you’re welcome.” Rashida sat up straight as if she were putting the problems of the past behind her. “You’ve heard my sob story. Tell me about your last relationship.”
Yet again, Destiny found it impossible to lie. “I don’t think I’ve ever really had one.”
“No?”
“I find it hard to open up to people, which tends to keep things on a surface level.”
“By choice?”
“By necessity. In my line of work, I don’t get too close to anyone. All the relationships I have are professional, not personal.”
“You sound like me.” Rashida nodded knowingly. “You’ve been hurt before and you don’t want to be hurt again. I can’t blame you for being unwilling to trust your heart to someone.” She placed her hand on Destiny’s thigh. “But I hope you meet someone who’ll make you want to change your mind.”
Destiny looked into Rashida’s eyes, which had captivated her from the very first day. “I think I already have.”