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Deja rose from the couch in Thompson’s office and pulled up her skirt. Every fiber of her being wanted to leave, but she hadn’t gotten what she’d come for. Thompson didn’t know that, though.
“Do you have to go already? We barely got to third base.” Thompson’s thin lips pouted.
“I have a really important meeting with a client in thirty minutes. There’s literally a five-thousand-dollar contract on the line.” She clasped her bra.
Thompson had an irritated expression. “Who is the meeting with?”
Deja buttoned her business shirt. “Some man from a venture capitalist firm interested in us planning an event for his company.”
Thompson’s face darkened. “I thought you worked with women planning weddings. You’re meeting a man dressed like that?”
“I dressed like this for you, but you know I have other clients.” Deja pecked him on the lips. “Plus, I don’t want Raquel to become suspicious. I usually help get a contract, then she takes over. I don’t think I should see you again for a while. Can’t put pleasure before business, you know.” His pleasure at least.
“What if you worked for me here,” Thompson suggested. “Then we could both have plenty of business and pleasure.”
“With your wife stopping in? No way.” Deja turned her back to Thompson. “Plus, I can’t leave Raquel. She’s done so much for me. I gotta go.”
Thompson grabbed her by the waist. “Cancel the appointment. I’ll write you a check for the five thousand dollars. Forget about that venture capitalist.”
Deja faced him. “You’d do that for more time with me?”
Thompson laced his fingers behind his head, no trace of humor on his face. “It depends on what you’ll do for me during that extra hour.”
“Write the check to me, and I’ll show you.” Deja forced a smile to hide her disgust, not sure if she was more repulsed by Thompson or herself.
Thompson walked to his expansive desk. He scribbled in his checkbook before tearing out a check and extending it to Deja.
Deja reached for it, and Thompson retracted it with a sly smile. Right. Deja swished her hips, taking two large steps, then pushed Thompson backward. He stumbled and fell into his chair with a huge grin on his face. “So you’re going to be mean Gary, huh?”
“I’m real mean.” His blue eyes danced with mischief.
“You know mean Gary will get punished if he’s bad, right?” Deja swallowed the bile rising in her throat.
Thompson unzipped his pants. “I’ve been bad.”
Deja snatched the check and tucked it into her bra. It was going to be a long hour.
***
AFTER DEJA HAD CASHED Thompson’s check, she dialed Nina. “I wanted to let you know I was able to get five thousand dollars from a friend. We only need ten more, and we’ll have the body taken care of. How was St. Timothy’s? Did it help you feel better?”
“I didn’t stay. I think someone followed me there. They almost crashed into my car. I was scared for my life.”
Deja’s stomach dropped. Nina sounded completely paranoid. “Maybe you should call your doctor. You might need to up your medication or something.”
“You don’t believe me?” Nina sounded hurt.
“No, it’s just that you told me when you got sick before, you thought that things were going on, but it was all in your head. Remember?”
“It’s not like that and—”
“It’s the stress. We’re both way beyond stressed. It’s not your fault, but I’m worried about you.”
“I keep thinking the police are going to show up at my house. Or I’m going to hear on the news that Kevin’s body was found in the park. I just want this all to end.”
“It will end once we get the money. Nina, I saw you with your dad, and I know he would do anything for you. What do you think about asking to borrow ten thousand dollars from him?”
Nina sighed. “I don’t think I can—”
“We will both feel so much better once Kevin’s body is moved. I promise we will.”
“Let me think about it, okay?” Nina didn’t sound convinced.
Deja huffed. After what Deja had just done for five thousand dollars, the least Nina could do was ask her damn dad for money. She couldn’t say that, though. “Please think about asking him. You could pay him right back after you get the money from the bank.”
Instead of returning to work, Deja drove straight home. After the afternoon with Thompson, she needed a few hours to compose herself before picking up Miles. Once in her bathroom, she abandoned her clothes on the floor then scrubbed her body with soap and scalding-hot water. After, she soaked in her bathtub and tried her hardest to relax a little.
It was her favorite place in her tiny apartment and the only time she could enjoy her body all to herself. Deja loved the hot water on her flesh, loved the darkness of the room, and loved being left the hell alone. She’d gotten into the habit of taking a long bath after Kevin had forced her to work on the streets.
After every date, Kevin would pick her up and take her home. He’d run a bath, fill it with Mr. Bubble, and let her soak for however long she needed. Her mind wandered back to a Saturday night, three years after she’d met Kevin, when everything between the two of them had changed.
The night had been no different, and he’d sat on the closed toilet in the bathroom while she was in the tub. “Thank you,” he’d said. “You’re doing this for us, and I love you.”
“I love you too,” Deja said. Kevin took care of her and Miles, would buy her small things, and tell her she was beautiful. She assumed that was love.
“I promise it won’t always be like this. Once my clothing line takes off, I’ll have enough money to put you through college. You’re one of the smartest people I know. You’ll get your degree, and we’ll open up our own business.”
Deja laughed. Now he was being silly. “What kind of business?”
“Whatever you want. But I wanted to talk to you about something.” He lowered his voice and stared at his hands.
Based on his tone, she wasn’t going to like what he said next. “What’s up, Kevin?”
“I’m going to help out another girl. The way I helped you out. She’s going to stay with us for a little while.”
“Oh. Here? Where? On the couch?” They’d only had a two bedroom: Kevin and Deja’s room, and Miles had his own.
“No, she’s going to stay with me, and you can share with Miles. Just ’til she gets her feet off the ground.”
Deja stood in the tub. “What? Kevin, you aren’t about to move some hoe in here.”
“Actually, I am. It’s my place. And I’ll do whatever I want.” Kevin threw a towel at her. “Get dressed so you can say hi.”
“You brought that bitch here already? You say you love me, and you’re going to try to pull this shit!”
Kevin grabbed Deja by the throat. “Like I said, it’s my place, and I’ll do what I want when I want. If you want to leave, the door locks from the inside.” He released Deja and left the bathroom.
Anger radiated off Deja like the steam from the bath. She wrapped the towel around her burning body and left the bathroom.
On the couch, a young girl no older than sixteen, wearing a neon-pink skin-tight halter dress, smacked on bubble gum.
“Deja, this is Porsche. Porsche, Deja,” Kevin said.
Ignoring Kevin, she went to the kitchen, grabbed a knife, and charged back toward Kevin.
“Look out,” Porsche yelled.
Kevin grabbed Deja’s hand and wrestled the knife from her. He pinned Deja to the ground and pointed the knife at her throat. “I’m going to let you decide right now whether you’re going to get your head right or not. We’re all doing what we have to do to survive, but if you want to let your hurt feelings get in the way, you and your son can leave and never come back.”
Miles’s cry rang out from his room. It wasn’t just about her anymore because her actions affected her son too. She should have left and would have, but she had nowhere to go. She wasn’t about to wake her sleeping child and take him out in the cold because her heart was broken. “All right, Kevin. Get off me.”
“Go to bed,” Kevin instructed.
Deja glared at Porsche and went into Miles’s room. He was crying in his sleep, so she rubbed his back until he stopped. Kevin had moved all of her belongings out of their room and into this one while she had been out making him money.
That night, she’d cried into her pillow as Kevin and Porsche’s moans emanated through the walls. Her heart felt like it could explode. There was no way Kevin could love her and do that to her. Like a frying pan to the head, his actions were a wakeup call: he didn’t love her. Never had and never would. Her heart had hardened that night listening to the man she loved having sex with another girl, next door, in what had been their bed.
Deja stretched her legs in the tub, wishing she could go back in time to that night. She would pack a bag, take Miles, and leave Kevin. She had no idea where she’d be now if she’d done that, but the threat of Kevin resurfacing and ruining everything constantly hung over her head.
It was hard for her to understand Nina. If Nina had even a small clue about the hell Kevin had put Deja through, she wouldn’t feel guilty. As long as Deja’d lived, she’d never known a person who wanted to turn themselves in to the police. It wasn’t natural. If Deja acted like Nina, she’d either be dead or locked up right now. Deja enjoyed her freedom too much for Nina or anyone else to take it away. She would have to convince Nina to ask her dad for the ten thousand dollars and remind her of everything she risked losing if she was not able to pull herself together.