B00BNB54RE EBOK (4 page)

“Use your imagination. C
ome up with a plan, jus’ say fuck it and go for it.” Tyce gave me an even look along with Sway.

“Are you serious?” I asked and sucked my
teeth.

“Yep,” Tyce
simply stated.

             
Bouncing the fake stone in the palm of my hand, I sighed. The task at hand was not what I had in mind, but nevertheless, I hopped out of the back seat and walked gingerly toward the jewelry store. With each step I got closer to the door. When I reached for the shiny chrome handle, I knew what I was going to do. Before I entered the establishment, I looked at my reflection in the polished glass of the door. Confidence shined in my eyes, masking the nerves stirring around in my stomach. I gave myself a wink for good luck and put the glinting fake diamond in my mouth, parking it between my gum line and inner cheek. Seconds later I strolled into the business with my chest out and decided to go for it.

“Welcome to Gem Stone Connection. May I help
you sir?” A salesman in a tapered black suit walked toward me with a smile on his face.

I
turned to address him before he came any closer. I knew that he wasn’t the person I needed to help me. I wanted a woman to assist me in the weaponless robbery.

“I’m sure you’re more than capable of assisting me, however I am terribly nervous about purchasing an engagement ring for my older girlfriend and I would be comforted by the opinion a
nd expertise of a seasoned lady with equal knowledge of diamonds as well as the taste of a mature woman.”

             
I extended my hand toward the slightly disappointed man. He quickly accepted the friendly gesture and shook my hand emphatically. The white haired man then pivoted on the heels of his shiny black dress shoes and motioned toward a female associate standing behind a glass display case.

“I completely understand. No one en
joys diamonds more than a woman and women know what women like.” The man adjusted his bifocals. The two of us walked across the show room floor toward the display case. I took the time to locate the security cameras stationed in all four corners of the vast room.

“This is our senior associate Claudette. She would be delighted to help you and answer any and every questi
on you may have.” He patted me on the back and left.

“Hello Claudette.
How are you this morning?” I asked and bowed my head ever so slightly.

             
Claudette appreciated the respect she was shown and her warm smile confirmed it. The sun was setting on her forties; however she’d maintained her beauty and vibrancy. Her salt and pepper hair was neatly pulled back and contained in a rhinestone decorated clip. Her makeup was conservative, except when it came to her high cheek bones. There she let her wild side show, applying a little too much maroon dust. Looking her up and down, I noticed the short length of her business skirt along with the open top button of the red silk blouse that was tucked inside her fitted jacket. The woman’s oven was still warm and from the way she returning my stare, she was hot to trot.

“I’m doing quite well Mr…” She paused
, but kept her smile going.

“Last names are for teache
rs. My mother named me Theodore, but since you’re not my mother, I’d like for you to call me Teddy.” I spit charm in her painted face.

She smoothed the front of her suit jacket, “Alright…Teddy, what brings you in today?”

              Staring into her soft green eyes I said, “Love.”

“How wonderful, a
re you getting engaged?”

Claudette shi
fted her eyes toward my naked ring finger.

“No
, I’m not getting engaged. I just like to show my love for women in various ways. Diamonds are just one avenue I choose to take.”

“
I see. Uh, is there anything in particular you would like to see?”

I
leaned into the counter. “Do you have anything big and single?”

For a moment she a
lmost forgot to breathe, “Uh, do you mean a solitaire?”

“Yes, exactly.” I
grinned.

Claudette slid a few feet down the clear counter while
she whipped out a key ring from around her slender wrist. She unlocked the case and pulled out two black cards covered with plastic with a sparkling diamond dead center.

“This is a two carat round ideal cut diamond. T
he clarity is VVS one with an E color range. It is not enhanced in any way and has minimal fluorescents. The one next to it is a princess cut stone weighing slightly over two and a half carats. The clarity is also VVS and it is also a natural mined diamond. All of our stones are conflict free, so you don’t have to worry about any of that. Am I getting warm Teddy, or is this not what you are looking for?” Claudette raised her eyebrows slightly.

I
touched her hand with my warm fingers. “May I have a closer look at the princess cut?”

“Of course you can.” Claudette quickly obliged and
removed a gem loop from a gold chain around her neck. She then removed the stunning diamond from its plastic prison, locked it in a pair of tweezers and handed it carefully to me.

“Do you know how to look at diamonds?” She cocked her head to the side.

“I know beauty when I see it and you are. Excuse me, but this diamond is exceptional.”

Claudette blushed, causing
her cheeks to become even redder.

I
continued, “Would you happen to have a piece of clean white paper so that I can properly gage the color. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t doubt you. I would just like to see the stone alone against a white background.”

She smiled devilishly.
“You do know a thing or two about diamonds Teddy. A white background and sunlight are the best ways to determine color and sparkle. That’s why I would suggest mounting this particular stone in white gold or platinum instead of traditional yellow gold. That way you won’t have the yellow refracting into the clearness of the stone. Would you agree?”

A man that knew diamonds intrigued Claudette and she found that
very sexy. Within moments she passed me a small white envelope.

             
“Yes, I would agree Claudette.”

I
folded the envelope in the center and placed the shimmering stone between the crease. I then looked into the mini valley and examined the diamond carefully, allowing Claudette to see the stone in the crease.

“I love how it dances and winks at me. It’s like it’s saying take me home Teddy. Would you agree?”

Claudette cleared her throat before she responded.

“You should take it home.
All you need is twenty four thousand dollars and a woman who will thank you over and over and over again for buying it for her.” She tapped the glass top with her scarlet finger nails.

Taking the
time to peer at it through the loop she’d provided, I put the gem scope close to my eye while leaving the stone safely in the paper fold. My forehead was just centimeters from the edge of the paper and my lips were hovering over the V shaped opening as I studied the quality of the stone. I could see the diamond up close and after looking at it closely sat the paper down on the counter allowing Claudette to once again see the diamond.

“I do love it when a wom
an shows her appreciation.” I paused and heard Tyce’s voice in my head telling me to just say fuck it and go for it. I steadied my beating heart and did just that.

“Claudette, I have two questions. One, do you have this same quality diamond in
a three carat? The second question is, are you into younger men?”

The older woman let out a f
lattered chuckle as she narrowed her eyes a bit. Her tongue tickled her teeth before her thin lips parted into an immense smile.

“The answer to both questions is yes Teddy, I do.
”

             
She politely excused herself and disappeared into the back room of the store to retrieve the stone. However, before she left she made sure to place the two carat diamond back in its see through thin container and returned them both to the locked case. I looked over my shoulder at the salesman, who was busy helping a young couple pick out a pair of earrings. The gem scope was still on the counter along with the folded envelope. Claudette returned moments later with the biggest diamond I had ever seen in real life. It looked exactly like the one I had in my mouth; except that one was worth more than two dollars.

“Here we are. We keep these in a safe in the back room. This stone is
of exceptional quality, like the other two, however this one is much larger.”

“Claudette, you are amazing! This is exactly what I’m looking for. Now if the
color is right, I don’t need to see any more. I’ll buy this one.” Peck pointed at the stone.

It was in the same black and clear case as the first two
, but Claudette quickly took it out and placed it in the crease of the envelope.

“Take a look. I think you’ll agree with the GIA certificate that it is indeed an E to
F color VVS 2 stone.” She passed me the gem scope again.

             
Smiling at her, I lifted the envelope to my chin. I positioned the scope in front of my left eye and completely covered the front of my face with the paper. The paper and the stone were in my left hand, the gem scope was in my right hand and my mouth was completely blocked from Claudette’s view. Ever so calmly, I ran my tongue along the gum line of my right cheek and brought the cubic zirconia to the front of my mouth.

“This stone is stunning Claudette. Did you say it was an E or an F color? I also think this girl is slightly overweig
ht, but that’s a good thing.” I leaned in closer.

“Yes she is, the carat weight is 3.05 so she’s
five points over three carats and the color is ahhhh F, Teddy I’m sorry. It’s not an E color stone.”

             
That instant distraction was all the time I needed to conceal the real diamond under my thumb and spit the fake diamond into the deep fold of the envelope right in front of her face. Once the switch was done I gave the envelope back to Claudette. Now that was a crucial moment. It was the moment of truth. As she looked down at the substitute diamond, she took the creased piece of paper from my hand. I let the thumb covered stone slide to the edge bringing my waiting forefinger underneath to secure it in place between my two fingers. I had to have a delicate yet firm touch to pull it off. Too much tension in the slide and she would’ve noticed. Too little friction and I would lose the grip on the big rock and then I would be fucked. However, the exchange went smoothly and the diamond was safely trapped between my thumb and fore finger. I quickly put my hand in my pocket to deposit the stone and pulled out a credit card.

“Put it all on the Visa.” I
held it up with a confident grin.

“Great!” Claudette returned the imposter to the transparent cage.

Looking down at the stone, I had to admit that it did look just like the one in my left pocket.

“On second thought, would you mind wrapping that in a cute little box
while I run to the bank and pull out the cash? I mean, why pay interest when you can pay cash right?”I put the card back in my pocket.

“I couldn’t agree more Teddy. I’ll have this cleaned and ready for you in less than ten minutes.”

“Thank you so much Claudette. But before you bother with that, I have a third question for you.”

She smiled again. “And what might that be?”

“I want to know if I could put something in your mouth later. Would you do me the honor of having dinner with me tonight?”

             
Claudette forgot all about the sale and her mind flashed to what she hoped would be a nasty and exhilarating evening. She seemed to be envisioning riding in “
Teddy’s
” sports car with the top down in the underground parking garage of her building. She could imagine “
him
” squeezing and sucking her lonely breasts while she arrested “
his
” cock for breaking and entering her pulsating pussy. She hoped “
he
” was into public sex because she had an unfulfilled fantasy of fucking on the floor of the movie theatre.

             
Reality smacked her in the face as I cleared my throat snapping her from her sexual trance.

“Ahh,
is that a yes?” I asked looking confused.

“I’m sorry Teddy. Yes I will have dinner with you. I don’t get off until six
, so is eight okay?”

I
smiled. “Eight is fine. You can give me your address when I get back. I’ll see you in about ten minutes.” I finally backed away from the counter.

“Okay
, I’ll see you then. I’ll have it all wrapped up for you with all of the certificates.” She gushed.

“Thank you for your help Claudette, I couldn
’t have done it without you.” I walked backwards toward the center of the room.