Words couldn’t describe how Nakida felt the next morning, other than sick. The nausea was almost unbearable. It had started with her ride to work, and had continued into the day. She was nervous and excited all at the same time of the thought that Jakobe was in love with her. There was no denying that the little arrangement had morphed into something more. However, she had still thought that whatever it was, was just sexual. She would never have allowed herself to entertain that it was more than that, for her own sanity. Too many times in the past, she had thought that what she had with her boyfriends was love, only for it to turn out that it was only one sided.
She tossed her pen on the table. She was going to stop pretending to give a damn about work, and give thought to her life, instead. She smiled. Now that he had said it, she was free to admit to herself that she had been hoping for more. Shit, after the first week, she had been dreading having to go back to her lonely life. She had grown to expect his texts and calls during the day, and his physical attention at night and in the morning, too. A giggle erupted from her lips as a silly giddiness overtook her. She picked up her phone to text him, then put it down. A text wouldn’t be good enough.
No… lunch and maybe some ‘afternoon delight’ would be much better, she considered with a wicked grin.
“Then this stuff needs to be handled,” she spoke to herself, getting serious. This time, when she grabbed her phone, it was to open the calendar app. She swiped over the screen, in search of confirmation that the dates on the forms in front of her matched the date of the actual meeting, until something caught her eye. Her entire body went ridged. A deep frown creased her pretty brown face as she tried to process what she was reading. Suddenly, she began to shake when the voice in her mind echoed what she had realized.
I’m late!
She leaned back in her leather chair with her phone still in the palm of her hand. She shook her head in denial, while she told herself that there was no fucking way. Even if there had been a slip up that Jakobe never made her aware of, her chances of getting pregnant was 1 in a 1,000,000.
Tell that to the thousands of people that won the lotto this year, pointed out the voice in her mind.
She closed her eyes in fear of being with child, and repeating the horrific past. The fear of not being with child after experiencing the excitement of… what if. Her hand trembled as it gravitated to the bottom drawer of her desk. She knew that what she would find there would be able to put all her wondering to rest. Sure, it was an old pregnancy test that was left over from a pack of 2, but it would still work. She paced herself to ensure she didn’t cause a scene as she walked to the restroom. She couldn’t even hear the voices of her other coworkers in the building, due to the throbbing in her ears.
She smiled and nodded at the old woman that opened the bathroom door before she walked in. She sped walked to the last stall, pushed open the door, and slid the lock into place.
“Don’t get your hopes up high,” she mumbled under her breath. Quickly, she opened the white, thick plastic, removed the test, pulled down her panties, and squatted over the toilet. She didn’t know if her legs were shaking due to her anxiety, or just from balancing her weight. She positioned the exposed stick, closed her eyes, and let her warm urine flow. She braced herself up on the stall wall to keep from passing out. Her panting was making her light headed. Nakida didn’t know how long she stayed like that. She was too scared to look at the stick that now rested at her side.
Taking a deep breath, she turned her head slowly, while she brought the test up into her line of sight. Suddenly, she stumbled back and onto the tile floor. She was sure that her sobs could be heard in the hallway, but she didn’t care. Her tears flowed to mix with the snot that ran from her nose. She had just won the lottery. Her number had come up. The test had an unmistakable dark pink line.
Major marched off the elevator of the 15th floor. He was a man on the mission. He had been at his wits end of what to do. Now, he was going to the source to find out what the hell was going on. He glared at the paid muscle that sat behind the deck, next to the elevator. One man just looked, while the other guard did what he was supposed to by standing to his feet in an attempt of stopping him. His boss had made it very clear that he wasn’t in the mood. The entire building had been put on high alert to be on their Ps and Qs.
“Ummm, Major…I don’t think today is a good day.”
It only took one cold look from Major before the man threw up his hands in surrender. He sat back down in his chair. He wasn’t going to get involved in whatever shit was brewing. He had a life outside of these four walls that he wanted to be able to get back to after the whistle blew. He followed Major’s purposeful strides down the hallway, toward the boss’ shut office door. When another brave soul tried to get in the sharply dressed man’s way, Major shoved the worker back, as he growled for him to get the fuck out of his way.
“I’m gonna shoot you in your goddamn face,” spat Major, kicking the door closed behind him. He marched through the large office to stand before Jakobe’s desk. If he was in his right mind, he would have noted the emotionless blue eyes that looked up from the glass of brandy that Jakobe held in his hand before he turned his attention back to the TV mounted on the wall. Major glanced at the muted actors on the screen. Pissed, Major knocked the papers that littered Jakobe’s desk on the floor.
“What the hell happened? Nakida has packed up and disappeared. Someone said she was crying in the bathroom.”
A shrug was all the response he received. With a growl, he snatched the glass out of Jakobe’s hand, and splashed the contents in Jakobe’s face.
“Don’t you give me that angry look. I’ll take your ass right here. Where is Nakida? I need her. She was in the middle of some big money deals,” he explained.
“I knew I should have kept you from fucking with her. All the shit I had to do to fix her after…” Major’s words trailed off at the wide-eyed look that his words stirred in Jakobe. He realized that he had let his anger get the best of him. He had said too much. Jakobe picked up on the slight nervousness that had entered his friend. He knew something and Jakobe wasn’t going to let him leave until he had squeezed him dry. He wiped the brandy from his handsome face with his open palm.
“I thought you were just her boss,” he whispered.
“I am just her boss,” stressed Major.
“Yet, you know so much.”
“Don’t try to flip the switch by accusing me of sleeping with Nakida. I don’t have the time for this.”
“I’ll snap your fuckin spine if you walk out that door.”
The deep, calm tone of Jakobe’s voice caused Major to freeze in his step. He knew that Jakobe had a special way of getting people to talk if they were stubborn enough not to tell him what he wanted. He couldn’t help but wonder what his friend since middle school would be willing to do to loosen his tongue. It was obvious from the music that was playing softly in the room that Jakobe was reeling, due to whatever had gone down between him and Nakida. He turned back around to face his friend, that was now tapping the top of his deck with his finger.
“You know she smoked weed?”
“I was the one that gave her the buds.”
“Hmm… from the private group to the buds, you’re a very caring employer.”
“Do you know how much money she brought in for me last year? Over half a million just in the hedge fund investments… that’s not counting the deals I called her in to close. She could be a crack head, for all I care.”
“Yeah, but why was she in that big house drinking herself into a hole. I mean… I get she was heartbroken when her old man left her because she couldn’t have kids, but—”
Major tossed back in head in a fit of laughter, cutting Jakobe off.
“That mothafucka was the reason why she can’t have kids.”
Jakobe stood to his feet, slowly.
“Get comfortable,” he offered with a gesture of his hand to the leather seat before his desk. “You have my attention.”
“It was some dude she met,” Major began, taking a seat. “I never thought he was that really into her, but she felt like he was. Come to find out, he was using her to scout out a better, richer piece of ass. He was fucking around on her, but then she came up pregnant. He tried to make her abort, and she wouldn’t. He was calm at first, until she started to show. Then, he really got worried. One night, he snapped and jumped on her. I mean, he really kicked her ass. My boy that lives across the street called me when the EMS was taking her away.”
“Your boy?” inquired Jakobe.
“Yeah, I’m the one that sold her that house. Shit, I own about half the neighborhood. Anyway, when I got there, she had lost that baby, and half of her plumbing was messed up in the process,” Major finished.
Jakobe remained motionless for a few seconds in deep thought.
“And the ex?”
Major put his hand up.
“Was taken care of. He’s still alive, but he’ll be shitting in a bag for the rest of his life. Now, are you gonna tell me what happened?”
“If you thought I knew, do you think I would be here drinking, and listening to fuckin’ Guy?” snarled Jakobe. He ran his hands through his hair in frustration.
“Well, what did she say? Did you two have a fight?” pressed Major. The desperation in his voice couldn’t be denied.
“A text… that’s all I got… saying she needed space,” mumbled Jakobe.
“Well, you probably frightened her after what went down last night,” hissed Major.
“You heard about that, huh?” questioned Jakobe, sheepishly.
“Oh, yeah. We all know about how you showed your ass.”
Jakobe nodded his head in silence. He sat back down in his chair, reaching for his cell phone.
“Have you gotten a call from her yet?” he asked.
Major knew the “her” he was referring to.
“No, but to be honest, even if she did call, I don’t have the time for it… but I’m sure she’s on it though. What is it?” he demanded, in an excited voice.
He didn’t like the deep frown that was on his friend’s face. He leaped to his feet and walked over to glare over Jakobe’s shoulder at his phone. He knew immediately what he was staring at, as the red blimp on the cell pulsated. He also knew why Jakobe’s mood had turned dark upon seeing it. He closed his eyes when Jakobe started to whistle while he got to his feet. When his friend started that shit, things always ended the same way.
“I’ll take it from here. I’ll—”
“Stay the fuck out of my way,” grunted Jakobe as he walked over to the large painting that hung on the wall.
“No, no… not the painting, Jakobe. You need to calm the fuck down. She might be at that hotel for another reason, other than…”
The words he was going to say got stuck in his throat, due to the challenging glare Jakobe gave him, daring him to finish the sentence. He watched on as Jakobe touched the pressure points hidden within the painting that released a secret panel in the floor. Jakobe walked over, lifted the panel, punched in a code, and opened a metal box. He could hear Major’s sigh of relief when all Jakobe took out was a small laptop and a bag the size of a woman’s wallet.
“No need for a cleaning crew, then.”
“At least not for blood splatter. It is a hotel,” smirked Jakobe, before he closed everything up.