Mr. Mysterious In Black (31 page)

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Tommy asked in his serious lawyer tone.

No, I wasn’t about to tell these two anything. Especially Brenda, I didn’t trust her. Besides, the nature of what happened was nothing to tell. Tight-lipped I remained.

“Being at a bar. Having one too many drinks,” I shrugged.

Brenda eyed me distrustfully. “You’re in the same clothes you left for work in on Thursday morning. You didn’t come home since then. Which means you skipped work yesterday. Spill it.”

I schooled my face into impassivity. “Maybe we were kidnapped and screwed into oblivion. Then they decided not to kill us and left our senseless bodies outside to be found. What else could it be? I told you, I don’t remember squat shit. Thanks for helping us in. Now lay off.”

Brenda rolled her eyes. “You’re incorrigible, Sadie!”

Tommy walked over to me, wrapped a solicitous arm around my shoulders and led me to the sofa. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine. Just peeved at the slow subsidence of this brutal headache.”

He gazed at me with passionate dark eyes for a while, then brushed his thumb over my cheek. “I’ll make you some coffee.”

I allowed myself the indulgence of a smile as he strode off with servility to the kitchen. Oh, Tommy Boy. His feelings for me were perpetual. “Thanks.”

Brenda scoffed in contempt as she got up and followed Tommy over to the kitchen.”Give it up, Tommy. Sadie’s sleeping with billionaires now.”

The clamor of falling utensils in the kitchen told me that Tommy was not pleased with that news. “Is she now?”

“Yes,” Brenda smirked. Settling her butt on a stool at the breakfast bar, she began flipping through the day’s newspaper while sipping her coffee. “CEO of ENEN.”

I fixed glowering eyes at her. “That’s why you got a bloody cheese for a gift. You have a gargantuan beak!”

Brenda snapped her mouth shut, mortified. And it was my turn to smirk.

“That true, Sadie?” Tommy asked, and I could tell his indifference was being labored for.

“Spurious.”

He turned his narrowed gaze to Brenda, “Why would you say that, then?”

“Because it’s true,” Brenda defended. “Or was. The bad-boy billionaire was here in my house, sticking his tongue down her throat. They were dating, Thomas. I’m not lying.”

“Finally. You’ve used the right word,” I droned from where I lounged on the sofa. “
Were.
”

Tommy strode over, handing me a mug of coffee. “You were dating a Nelson?”

I took the mug. “Briefly.”

He reseated himself next to me. “So what happened?”

“Oh, you know,” I shrugged. “The rich and the poor don’t blend well. They always end up with their own their kind.”

Please, can we stop talking about him?

Heaven knows, I missed him. Loved him. Wanted him right here with me to comfort me and warrant that everything would be alright. That he was here to stay and wouldn’t ever leave again. Oh God, why did I push him away? Why didn’t I listen to what he had to say? I bit my lip, quelling the sudden urge to call him and beg him to come back to me. It was my turn to burn in hell. Pride was one of the seven deadly sins, and it’s the sin I was most guilty of.

Tommy leaned closer. “You know I fancy you. Think you to be one of the sexiest women I’ve ever seen. But you’re so damn hard to get through to. And so irritatingly cute with that ‘whatever’ personality of yours. I find it a heady blend.” Tommy’s gaze darkened. “I want you, Sadie. Badly.”

I sipped my coffee. “Yeah. I know. You’ve been telling me that for a few years now.”

“So won’t you give us a try?”

“It doesn’t matter to you that I might have been kidnapped and raped by over a dozen men? My vajayjay must be as wide as a martini glass now. Leather skinned with no grip whatsoever. No tightness. Oh, Tommy, you wouldn’t want that.” I bit the inside of my cheeks, failing to repress my laughter at the horrified expression on Tommy’s face.

“That didn’t happen,” he said in a soft tone, trying to convince himself.

My shoulders jerked in a shrug. “Maybe. Maybe not. I told you, I can’t remember. Anything could have happened, even worse than that.” I tried my damnedest to sound serious, reveling in the myriad of expressions racing across Tommy’s face. That ought to keep his libidinous pursuits at bay.

The sound of Kelsy’s voice jerked both our heads around. “Sas’ Christ, why do I feel like a newborn baby who’d been locked up in a bloody womb for nine months? I feel damned miserable and mushed. Someone
please
slap me on my ass.”

I giggled. It was good to see my friend awake and back to her old self. Last time I saw a conscious Kelsy, she was wide-eyed, speech-impeded and blanched. Abandoning my mug on the coffee table, I opened my arms to her. “Come here biatch, give me a kiss.”

“Am I allowed French?”

With an ears-wide grin, I nodded. “Oh, hell yeah!”

Kelsy leaped into my arms and we landed on the floor rolling and giggling like two teenagers while Tommy looked on in amusement. Brenda appeared in the periphery of my vision with her hands planted on her hips, jabbering about being sure not to break anything with our childish gamboling. But Kelsy and I were in our own world, laughing like there was no tomorrow, as if we had no problems in the world. Not because we were senseless idiots but because of all that happened in the last forty eighty hours. It was too much to remain serious and worried about. Too much to even talk about. So we just laughed. Hard, cathartic, bubbling laughs until our bodies were once again back to normal, relieved of stress. Relaxed.

“I love you, biatch,” she giggled.

“I love you, too, sis.”

Deep in contemplation, I flipped my Blackberry over and over in my palm. The salty sea breeze caressed my skin as I pleasured my eyes with the beautiful marina view from the balcony of Kelsy’s apartment at Esprit. Queues of yachts and boats sat unsteadily on the perpetually moving blue water. It’s amazing here. I hadn’t told Kelsy that I was gifted an apartment a few feet away from hers. She would only try coaxing me into taking it since I’d refused to move in with her.

I’d packed my materials, sketches and needed implements and decided on spending the rest of my weekend here with Kelsy so I could focus on completing a few pieces for the bidding on Monday. Getting such tasks done back at my residence had proved to be impossible with Brenda’s constant prying and Tommy’s relentless pursuit. They’re an annoying pair.

But focus still didn’t come in full force as I’d expected, because my independent mind kept wandering off with thoughts of Natalio. And with each thought of him a part of me sank. No longer could I resist the love that I have for him. No longer could I fool myself that I could move on from him. No longer could I bear this sequestration. I wanted him back. I wanted him to come after me again so I could say yes. I wanted him to call, to text, to email me and I wouldn’t ignore them this time. I promise I wouldn’t.

But I knew he wouldn’t do any of the above. Because he’d promised me he wouldn’t. And I had felt the finality in his letter. I knew it was the end.

I didn’t want it to be, though.

Incorrigible, fractious, obstinate, prideful, pig-headed and unrepentant are a few of the words that teeth and tongues have used to describe me. And I have never believed in chasing or begging. Have
never
done so. ‘I’d rather die before that happens’ was what I’d always say. But now I had an urge that I couldn’t repel, to go against my own rules and call Natalio.
Beg
him to come back to me. Because I loved him. The feelings for him that my mind had forgotten for seven years, were right there, living and dwelling inside my heart. It had never left.
He
had left. The
memories
had left. But my love hadn’t.

All my fears over the years of not wanting to put myself out there to fall in love with anyone were now understood. It wasn’t fear of not wanting to fall in love. It was because I
couldn’t
fall in love with another. Because I already belonged to someone. And my heart was waiting on my mind to remember that.

But did he still love me?

Will it be too late?

“Called him yet?” Kelsy walked out on the balcony in a fluffy pink robe, her dark hair damp from her shower and her green eyes traced with sadness. I knew she was worrying over Tevin.

“Don’t have the balls,” I muttered.

She smiled. “Yeah. I know how sniffy you can be. But if you love him, you should let him know. Nothing’s wrong with being vulnerable with the one you love. Love calls for vulnerability, openness and truths. Not pride and shutters and pretenses of indifference. Real love has no lies, no masks, no secrets. It’s just you and that person, bare, from flesh to soul. With real love, it’s no longer bodies that you two share, but souls. Because the eyes have seen past all the fleshly flaws, and directly to the spirit, it’s no longer about tangibility. But that intangible feeling…that feeling that tells you:
This
is love.” Kelsy paused to wipe a drop of a tear that fell from her eye. “Makes no sense you keep punishing yourself like this.
Call him
.”

I nodded, not really wanting talk about this. Not only was it making me emotional, it was reminding her of what she had with Tevin. A thing, called love, that might possibly come to an end. “You okay?”

“I’m anything but. Just tryna decide if leaving Tev would be better for me or not,” her voice broke. “I love him so much. But what happened last night…” Tears strolled down her face.

“I know how you feel, Kels. I’ve been there. We know what’s right but the wrong feels better. Don’t worry about it. Just give it few days and when your mind is all clear and relaxed you’ll know what decision to make. Besides, Tev won’t be getting out anytime soon. I’m gonna visit him on Tuesday and find out how things are looking.”

She slashed her tears away. “I need a run. Going to the gym downstairs. Coming?”

I shook my head, “Nah. I still have a shit load of pieces to put together for the bidding.”

Kelsy nodded and walked back into the apartment.

Taking a deep breath, I steeled myself and dialed Natalio. A woman answered on the second ring with a smooth, clear voice. “Natalio Nelson’s line, Tiffany Forbes speaking.”

Who’s Tiffany? I wasn’t expecting anyone to answer his
cell phone
.

“Hello?” the woman prompted.

“Um, pleasant good afternoon, Miss Forbes. I’d like to speak with Natalio, please.”

“Mr. Nelson is in a meeting at the moment. Would you like to leave a message?”

“Uh, yes. Tell him Sadie phoned. Sadie Francé.”

“Okay, will do Miss Sadi—” her eloquent speech stopped short. “Sadie Francé, you say?” And I think I sensed contempt in her tone.

“Yes.”

“Fine. I’ll be sure he gets your message,” she bit out. And the line went dead.

I stared at my Blackberry in bewilderment. That was not what I expected at all. Shrugging it off, I noted the immediate lightness of my spirit. I’d made the call. Progress. Would Natalio be happy that I called? I could only hope.

With the expectation of a returned call from Natalio later, I went inside and resumed my work. Much better focused.

Three hours later, there were no calls from Natalio. Sighing and picking up my Blackberry, I dialed him again. The same woman answered.

“Sadie Francé, again. Is Natalio still in a meeting?”

“Yes,” she replied curtly. “
Mr. Nelson
is a very busy man, Miss Francé. Is it important?”

Why did she stress the ‘Mr. Nelson’ like that as if I was being too personal calling him Natalio? “Somewhat.”

“Well, as I’ve assured you before, I will let him know you called.” Again, the line just went dead, without even waiting for my reply. If she was an assistant, receptionist, or whatever of his, she was a rather insolent one who deserved to be sacked. Maybe he was sleeping with her. At that thought, I cringed.

The sun set and the earth darkened and still there was no call from Natalio. Was this a sign that I should give up and
try
to forget him again? Was he really done? Wants nothing more to do with me?

With my hope candle still flickering, I continued with the preparation of my pieces for Monday. All night toiling was the plan, for there was an immense amount of work to be done. And I wanted Geo Lee to be proud of me. My mother to be proud of me.
Mom.
She’d sounded so lively and lifted when I called her today. She’d wanted to help me with putting these pieces together, but I wanted her to spend time paying more attention to herself since she hadn’t done so in ages. It warmed my heart and brought smiles to my face that she’d decided to fight for life and not give in to death. She was the only family I had, and I loved her to pieces.

The strong scent of coffee wafted beneath my nostrils and my lips curled up at the heavenly smell. I opened my eyes to find Kelsy standing over me passing a mug of coffee under my nose. A sudden pain lanced through my back when I lifted my head. I realized then that I’d fallen asleep around the working table. It was morning. Bright sunlight shone through the glassed-faced apartment.

“Good morning. Your body must be aching,” Kelsy said. “Here. Drink some coffee.”