Just Another Damn Love Story (14 page)

“That is gorgeous!” 

Kim turned to see what he was talking about.  It was a diamond tennis bracelet that sparkled like the North Star. 

“C’mon,”  Sterling told her, heading into the shop.

Kim paused, and examined the sign above the door.  It was Bulgari.  “Sterling!”

Before she could stop him, his black American Express Card was in the hands of an extremely happy salesman.

Chapter Seventeen

“House of Dereon?”  Laquisha called out, as she went through the various orders her sales executives were able to secure.  “Joseph Abboud?  Givenchy?  Savile Row?  Jimmy Choo?  Kenneth Cole?  I have three full time ad executives, and during three of the biggest fashion events of the year, they were able to secure six sales between the three of them?”

“I worked my ass off for that Givenchy sale!”  Pamela told her.

“This is bullshit!”  Laquisha shouted, tossing the orders across the room. 

“Laquisha!”  Kimberly shouted.

“Bulllshit!  Bullshit!  Bullshit!”  Laquisha told them.  “I am tired of the excuses, and of carrying dead weight around here!  All I get is fucking excuses.  Excuses from my writers, excuses from my photographers, excuses from production, excuses from marketing, excuses from copy, excuses until my
ass
hurts!”

“I’ve worked my ass off for you, Laquisha!”  Dawn shouted.  “I’m down to four hours of sleep per night during deadline week!  My blood pressure is sky high, my cholesterol is out of whack, I’m finding gray hair in my brush, and it’s all because of this stressful ass job!”

“Well you don’t have to worry about those things anymore, Dawn!”  Laquisha shouted.  “Have your desk cleared out by the end of business today!”

“You can’t fire me, because I quit!”  Dawn shouted back.  “You can take your little production manager position and stick it up your fat black ass!”

“Bitch, you can eat my cunt!”  Laquisha shouted.

“Oh my goodness!”  Tina gasped.

“You’re fired too!”  Laquisha told Tina.  

Tina gasped again.  “Laquisha!”

“Laquisha my ass!  You’re the marketing manager, and marketing has been in the dumps for months!”

“But, Laquisha!”  Tina begged.

“Don’t beg this bitch!”  Dawn shouted.  “Let’s go, Tina!”

Tina rose from her seat.

“And when you hoes see my so-called
business manager
, you can tell her that her ass is fired too!”  Laquisha shouted.

Tina and Dawn stormed out of Laquisha’s office, slamming the door behind them.

“Anybody else want to follow those two?”  Laquisha said, peering around the room. 

Silence.

“Good!  But now hear this!”  Laquisha told them.  “This is the captain speaking.  We are getting this ship together.  Any of you mother fuckers want overboard, then now is the time to jump ship.  Also hear this.  You will be thrown overboard if your shit ain’t tight.  Ad execs, that
especially
means you!  We need to generate more ad revenue.  You have exactly one week to bring in two new clients.  And then I want at least one new client a week from each of you, plus your renewals.  So, let’s make sure we all understand one another.   You are all on probation as of now.  You have exactly one week, to keep your job.  Now, you can all get the fuck out of my office.”

*****

“Hello?”

“Sterling?”

“Yeah, it’s me.  Hey, sweety, how are you doing?”

“Not good,”  Kimberly exhaled.

“What’s the matter?”

“I’m going to have to cancel our lunch date today.”

“Why?”

“Work,”  Kimberly said, breathing out forcibly.  “My boss is on our ass today.”

“What else is new?”

“No, this time it’s really bad.  I have to make a sell between now and Friday, in order to keep my job.”

“Yikes.”

“I know.  Sucks right?”

“Big time,”  Sterling told her.  “Hey, you ever think about changing jobs?”

“Yeah, like right after today’s meeting,”  Kim laughed.  “I may
have
to find another job.”

“Ever think about coming over to Vespasian?”

“Come on, Sterling?  As what?”

“As a designer.”

“Yeah, right!”

“I’m serious.  Come on over, show us what you can do, and work your way into creating your own line under Vespasian.  It’s what you wanted to do, right?  You wanted your own line.”

“Well, yeah.   But I wanted my own, not a line under someone else’s line.  Besides, it’s really sweet of you, Sterling, but it wouldn’t be right.”

“What do you mean, be
right
?”

“
Hello?
  You’re my boyfriend.”

“So?”

“So, I don’t want my boyfriend to have to give me a job.  You’re an executive, I would be a newbie designer, hired on your recommendation.  Everyone at the company would automatically hate me, and everyone in the fashion community would assume that I only got the job because of you.”

“Forget what everyone else would think.”

“Easy for you to say, because you wouldn’t have to deal with it.  When I start designing clothes, I want to get where I am, because of my own merit, not because of who I’m screwing.”

“That’s bullshit!”  Sterling told her.  “Your designs are great, Kim.  You’re very talented.”

“Talented enough to get looked at by Vespasian had you not been there?  Would Gucci look at my designs?  What about Donna Karen?  What about Chanel?”

“I don’t know what they would do, but I do know that the consensus here at Vespasian, is that you have a lot of talent and a lot of potential.”

“Sterling, I appreciate it.   This is just something that I have to do on my own.  I have to know that it was my talent that opened the door for me, and not my tail.”

“The offer remains on the table,”  Sterling told her.

“Thank you.”

“Now, as your boyfriend, I’ll just shut up and listen.”

“Tonight,”  Kimberly told him.  “I’ll need those big strong shoulders to cry on tonight.  Right now, I have to get busy and beat the bushes for a sale.”

“Gotcha,”  Sterling told her.  “Talk to you later.”

“Bye.”

“Bye,”  Sterling said, hanging up his telephone.  He pressed the button on his speaker phone, summoning his secretary.  She appeared almost instantaneously.

“Yes, sir?”  she asked, opening his office door.

“Marlena, I want you to get with marketing, and have Gil call over to Mocha Magazine and ask to speak to Kimberly Neal.  Have him take out a full year’s worth of advertising.  Nothing special, maybe a page per issue, no more than three.  We can start with the new reversible bags for now, and then we’ll do something with our upcoming fall line later.  Have him do the reversible bags, some of our new women’s line, things like that.  But it’s really important that he deal with Kimberly Neal
only
.  Got that?”

Marlena nodded as she scribbled the last few lines on her notepad.  “Kimberly Neal only.  Got it.”

“That’s it.”

Marlena nodded and breezed out of the office.  Sterling’s telephone rang again.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Dad.”

“Third!  My main man!  What’s happening?”

“Are you going to come to my football game this weekend?

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world!”

“I need some new football cleats,”  Third told him.  “And a mouthpiece.”

“I will pick it up today.”

“Can I go with you, Dad?”

“You certainly can.  I’ll pick you up on my way home from work if your mother says that it’s okay.  Where is your mom at?”

“She’s right here.”

“Let me speak to her.”

“Hello?”

“Hey, Carmela.”

“Hi, Sterling.”

“How’ve you been?”

“I’m fine, and you?”

“Moving forward.”

“That’s always a good thing.  Your son in playing for the Junior Falcons this year.”

“He was just telling me that he needs new cleats,”  Sterling said.  “I told him that I'll get them today, and he asked if he could come along.  I guess he wants to pick them out or something.  I just wanted to check with you and see if it was okay if I picked him up and took him with me.”

Carmela exhaled into the telephone.  “I guess.  What time are you going to have him back?  It is a school night.”

“We’re going to grab the cleats and whatever else he needs from the sporting goods store, maybe pick up something to eat, and I promise I’ll bring him right home.”

“Third, do you have homework?”

“No, Mom.”

“Sterling, you have him home no later than eight thirty.”

“Thanks, Carmela.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

Chapter Eighteen

The Millennium Club was one of Manhattan’s trendiest restaurants.  Paris Hilton could be seen dining there at least once a week.  Diddy dined there regularly, as did Jay Z.  New York Giants, Jets, Yankees, Dodgers, and Knicks could be seen there throughout the week.  It was a place where the hottest entertainers, fashion designers, actors, and athletes gravitated.  It was a place to be seen in.  A place where the line stretched outside of the building and down the sidewalk for the ordinary patrons, and where reservations were required well in advance for a Friday or Saturday night dining experience.  It was the place where Vespasian maintained its very own table within the restaurant’s VIP section.

“I can’t believe you were able to get us in here!”  Mia shouted over the restaurants loud stereo system.

“This is Vespasian’s table!”  Kim shouted.  “Sterling hooked it up for us!”

Brittany raised her glass of Krug.  “Kudos to Sterling!”

“Who’s Sterling?”  David asked.

“He’s Kim’s new boyfriend,”  Shaun told him. 

“Kim has a new flame, huh?”  David asked, smiling at her.

“Be nice,”  Kim told him.

“Yeah, or I’ll deck you!”  Brittany told her boyfriend.

David feigned innocence.  “Me?  I’m always nice!”

Mia leaned over and kissed Shaun.  “You be nice too!”

“You mean we can’t give him the third degree?”  Shaun asked.

“Yeah, we have to find out his intentions,”  David added.

“Make sure they’re honorable,”  Shaun smiled.

“Speaking of honorable, did you guys catch the debates last night?”  Mia asked.

“I saw a piece of it,”  Kim told her.

Shaun exhaled and shifted his gaze toward the ceiling.  “Please, don’t get her started.”

“That was the most dishonorable, disingenuous pack of lies that I’ve ever heard!”  Mia told them.

“I’m not sure what to make of her,”  Brittany said.

“Your parents know the Congresswoman, don’t they?”  David asked.

Brittany nodded.  “And they know Romney as well.  Mom absolutely adores Sarah Palin.”

“I’m setting your mom’s tires on flat!”  Mia huffed.

“She’ll just take one of the other Rolls,”  David smiled.

“Funny,”  Brittany said sarcastically.

“The nerve of them!”  Mia shouted.  “Three years ago they thought that they’d have my vote, just because their VP nominee was a woman!  Massive fail!  Hillary Clinton she is
not
!  She’s Pat Buchanan in heels.  Strictly anti-abortion, even in cases of rape or incest.  She’s pro guns, a hunter, a Bambi killer for Christ sakes!  She’s a right wing religious nut.  She’s a lifetime member of the NRA!  She’s for drilling in the Artic National Wildlife Preserve!  And now, they have this Paul Ryan character, and his inhumane budget!”

“Calm down,”  Shaun told her. "She's not running, remember?"

“Calm down?”  Mia asked, turning her palms up.  “When is it time to get nervous?  When the Wildlife Preserve has been turned into one big gas station?  When the polar ice cap has completely melted?  When carbon dioxide from fossil fuels has poisoned all of our air and water? Lipstick and high heels doesn’t make the Republican agenda any easier to swallow.  Snooping on me and eroding my civil liberties is still a violation of my Constitutional Rights, whether it’s done by Dick Cheney, or by the former Ms. Alaska runner up.  And then, this Ryan budget is going to destroy every single social and educational program in existence!  And then, the vaginal probes!  The union busting!  Ending Obamacare!”

“Tell us how you really feel,”  Brittany laughed.

“I just hope that women don’t ever fall for that crap!”  Mia said.  “Sure, she’s a woman, but she doesn’t stand for anything that we stand for.  She wants to take away our right to chose, but no one took away her right to chose.  She’s pro life, but pro death penalty, which is bullshit.  She claims that she took on the good old boys, but she goes hunting with them!” 

"She's not running this time," Brittany reminded her.  "It's Romney Ryan now, remember?"

“We all know you work for the Obama campaign,”  Shaun told her.

“You’re damn right I do,”  Mia said.  “And we all should be.  This election is the biggest election of our time.  The mortgage crises is still destroying American families, our economy is still in ruins, gas prices are still through the roof, the planet is in peril, terrorist are regrouping in Afghanistan, worker's unions are under assault, and our civil liberties are being eroded here at home, women's rights are under assault, and so is health care.  We have to make the right decision in this election!”

“Mia, please don’t run Sterling off with your political tirade,”  Kim begged.

“Don’t tell me that Sterling is a Republican!”  Brittany asked with a smile.

“
You are!
”  Kim told her.

“My
parents
are,”  Brittany corrected. 

“And you’re not?”  Shaun asked.

“I’m a new generation of the party,”  Brittany told them.

“Yeah, we’re Republicans,”  David said, coming to his girlfriend’s defense.  “But we believe in a woman’s right to choose.  We don’t believe in the death penalty, and we don’t believe that government should spy on its citizens.”

“And we do believe in global warming, and believe in saving the environment,”  Brittany added.