Independent Women - the Complete BWWM Romance Series Boxset (23 page)

#Chapter3

“I feel like nothing is going to be okay, ever again.”

Tamika

It was Friday and Crystal was feeling better then great.

She woke up with work on the brain, just like any other day. Everything was in place and she couldn’t ask for much more. Her new dresses from the Jasmine Couture collection had just arrived the day before and she felt absolutely divine. They were designed by a black woman who lived in Atlanta but her designs graced the runways of Paris, Milan, New York, and much more. She saw her designs at an indie show earlier that year and was determined to get her hands on some pieces. Now that she had, she felt wonderful. Ne-Yo’s Miss Independent was running through her head. It was one of her favorite songs by one of her favorite artists.

“Hi Ms. Black,” everyone said when she entered through the school’s front door. Everyone was much more formal at this school, she chalked it up to most of the demographic being Caucasian.

“Hey everyone,” she said to the staff that were standing near the entrance, “Is Mr. Shultz in his office?”

“Yes, you can go right in, he’s expecting you.”

“Great,” Crystal said.

She had to meet with the principal to discuss the state of the program, the new services that were going to be implemented, and how that that was going to impact the students in the program. She always liked talking to Jason, he was pleasant to talk to and helped out in any way that he possibly could. So many of the other principals didn’t treat the afterschool program as a priority but he did. He knew what a huge benefit it was to his students, and he wanted to make sure that it stayed active at his school.

Crystal walked through the front office area and approached his door. She knocked on the door and he opened it.

“Come on in, Ms. Black,” he said with his slightly crooked smile.

Jason was a good looking white man and in his mid-forties. He stood a little under six feet, a square jawline, dimpled chin, crooked smile, and dark brown hair. Needless to say, he was easy on the eyes.

“Hello, Mr. Shultz, It’s always great to see your smiling face.”

“Likewise, I’m looking forward to diving in.”

Over the next half hour they caught up with one another and touched based about the program, talked about a few of the problem kids, and came up with a real action plan.

“I think that this has been a productive meeting, are you sure that you don’t want to come and work for me?” Crystal asked him.

He laughed, “I don’t think that you could afford me.”

“You’re probably right, budget cuts have been a bitch this year.”

“Besides, I’m a problem employee. I show up late, take hour lunches, and check Facebook all day.”

“Somehow, I truly doubt that.”

“You would be surprised; I only got this job because I know the boss.”

“Oh hush,” she laughed.

“When are you going to let me take you out on a date?”

Crystal looked at his ring finger to double check what she already thought was true, “Would your wife like that?”

His cheeks flushed, “I’ve been widowed for about ten years, I wear the ring out of habit. I’m no longer married and I’m not involved with anyone.”

Crystal smiled, it was sweet that he was still attached to his widowed wife. That could be a really good thing or a very bad thing, only time would tell. Since there was an attraction there, it was worth a shot.

“Alright, we can go out, but if it doesn’t work out, I don’t need you stalking me,” she grinned.

“I’m so over that part of my life, I stopped stalking people years ago,” he winked.

“I hope so because I carry mace in my purse.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“So where do you want to go?” Crystal asked.

“What kind of scene do you like?”

“I’m pretty laid back and, of course, I love good food.”

“I’m just going to surprise you, would you mind if I came to pick you up?”

“Since it’s a first date, I would prefer to drive myself. I hope you don’t mind. You can just call me and let me know where you want me to meet you by that morning. Is it going to be a dinner date? When do you want to go out?”

“How about next weekend?” he asked.

“That sounds good; it gives me a chance to start sending you dirty texts.”

“Do you promise?”

“No,” she laughed.

“Dammit.”

She rose to her feet and he walked her towards the door of his office.

“Well, I would hug you but I don’t want all of the women on your staff to be jealous,” Crystal said.

“Not just the women, the fellas too. I don’t swing that way but I can feel them staring at my butt.”

“I’ll have to check you out from behind next time.”

“Now I have to make sure that I do an extra little wiggle for you.”

“Bye Mr. Shultz.”

“Bye Ms. Black.”

Crystal smiled as she exited his office. She was looking forward to her date with Jason. She prayed that he wasn’t the kind of man that couldn’t move on from his deceased spouse and the ring wasn’t an indication of where his mind was. It had been about ten years for him so he should be ready to have a good time. For Crystal, marrying him wasn’t a part of her plans anyway; she just wanted a phenomenal date and great sex.

Crystal peeked into one of the classrooms and was about to get ready to go inside, but her phone buzzed. It was Tamika.

“Hello?”

“Hey girl,” Tamika said breathlessly over the phone.

“Are you okay? You playing hooky today?”

“Yeah, I’m playing hooky,” she sniffled.

“Are you crying?”

“Yes.”

“What’s wrong baby?”

“I lost the baby.”

“Oh my god, when did this happen?”

“A couple of days ago.”

“Are you at home?’

“Yes,” Tamika sobbed into the phone.

“Have you told Kalena?”

“No.”

“Would you like me to call her?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, sit tight honey, we’re on our way.”

“Okay.”

Crystal stepped away from the classroom, forwarded all of her emails, and called her assistant to let her know that she would be unavailable for the rest of the day except for emergencies. She then called Kalena.

“Hello? This better be important, I stepped out of a meeting.”

“I know, I’m sorry to bother you while you’re working but I figured that you would want to know this.”

“What is it?”

“Tamika lost the baby.”

“What? When? Is she at the hospital?”

“No, she’s at home,” Crystal said.

“Okay, I’m going to let the team know that I have a family emergency and get the hell out of here.”

“Alright, see you there.”

“Bye babe.”

***

Tamika sat on her couch, surrounded by her favorite down grey comforter. The color suited her mood. Her hair looked as if she’d just rolled out of bed; it was all over her head. Her tight curled coils were in complete disarray, and she wore comfortable pajamas. It was so unlike her, but she couldn’t bring herself to do anything else. Calling her friend took all of the energy that she had. Lost Girl was on her television, it was a pretty cool Canadian show that she stumbled across on Netflix. It had been sitting on her list for months and she finally decided to play it. By the first episode she was sucked in, the strong female characters gave her something to aspire to.

Some of that strength needed to rub off on her, which was why she called her friends. Seeing the friendship between Bo and Kenzi on the screen, watching them kick ass together, and help each other through trying times made her miss her friends. So she picked up the phone and called Crystal. Now she was wondering if she did the right thing.

Her friends were great, but admitting that she’d lost her baby was just too much to bear. She spent the last couple of days trying to forget. Although her child wasn’t large enough to feel it inside of her, she felt connected. Her baby was no longer there, she was now an empty shell; an empty and lonely shell.

Fresh tears streamed down her face whenever she thought about her husband. His disappointment broke her heart, and he would hardly look at her. It was difficult being around each other, they were both just reminders of what the other had lost. Instead of gravitating towards one another in a time of crisis, they drifted apart.

Confronting Reggie about his lack of a job was something that Tamika couldn’t bring herself to do. He left both days as if he was going to work, she wanted to follow him but didn’t have the strength and the pain was almost unbearable. The nurse told her that she would cramp for about 2 weeks, but she didn’t tell her just how bad the cramps would be. What kept her in semi okay condition were the Tylenol threes and the heating pad that stayed on her pelvis. When the cramps were too excruciating, she moaned and rocked back and forth until the pain subsided. As if the emotional pain wasn’t enough, she had to endure physical pain too.

Tamika was interested to see just how long Reggie was going to drag out his lie. Was he out interviewing for jobs when he was gone? Did he have a job at a new place that he wasn’t telling her about? It was confusing to her because she hadn’t noticed any change in his spending. Things were going along seamlessly, so it was all a mystery to her. It would have been easy to ask him what was going on, but their relationship was way too fragile. His eyes were red and puffy whenever she saw him. The last time she saw him cry was at the hospital, but apparently he’d been doing a lot more of it than she’d witnessed.

The only person who was keeping her sane was Jin. He texted her regularly to check up on her and kept asking her if she needed anything. It was really sweet, but she never took him up on his offer. The time that they spent together in the hospital, brought a lot of feelings back for him. She was trying to rid her mind of all of the great experiences that they had together. It was tough trying to keep her distance from the man who was responsible for her doing so well in her career.

She leaned her head back against the couch and remembered when she first joined the company and he called her to his office. She smiled because it always made her feel warm inside. She was so nervous when he called her at her small cubicle and told her to come see him. Was she in trouble? Had she done something wrong?

When she entered his office he sat at his desk, looking extremely self-confident. His short stature didn’t matter because he made up for it with his presence.

“Close the door behind you please,” Jin said.

She closed the door and wondered if she was about to get fired. He was her boss’s boss, so there was no need for him to have to speak to her unless it was for something bad.

“Take a seat,” he said in an assured tone.

Tamika did as he asked and waited. Jin stared at her as if he was assessing her. The silence that was extremely uncomfortable to her seemed like home to him.

“Can I ask you a question?” Jin asked.

“Of course,” she replied quickly.

“Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Don’t give me a bullshit answer either, I really want to know.”

Tamika shrugged, “I want to be a top tier corporate recruiter.”

“How do you plan to do that?”

“By what I’m doing now and continuing to do the best that I can.”

He stared at her again, his slanted eyes boring in hers. Did she give him the wrong answer? He was searching for something and she wasn’t sure what it was.

“We had a meeting and they asked for someone to lead the new project with the Candor Corporation. You didn’t volunteer for the position, do you mind if I ask why?”

“Well, I just started here six months ago, and I figured that someone with more experience should probably do it. It was also clear that there were three other people that wanted it really badly, and I didn’t want to step on any toes.”

He shook his head, “Bob Morrel got the lead. Do you know how long he’s worked here?”

Tamika shook her head.

“Eight months.”

“Oh.”

“Did you also know that he headed up a project within two months of him working here?

Furthermore, do you know that he’s next in line for a promotion?”

“I didn’t know that,” Tamika said. She was surprised that he was giving her so much information about another employee. He almost seemed disappointed with her.

“Do you think that he’s better than you?”

“I don’t know, is he?”

“Your productivity level is twenty percent higher than his, and he’s next in line for a promotion. How does that make you feel?”

“Well, he’s been here for two months longer than me,” Tamika responded in an attempt to make herself feel better.

“So time is more important than productivity in your opinion? You think that he’s getting promoted because he’s been working here for sixty days longer than you? Do you truly believe that’s how this game works?”