Sugah & Spice (4 page)

             
“Everyone, this is Sugah
Payne
. She is going to be a part of our team. We met
months
ago and she has finally decided to join us. Sugah, please allow me to introduce you to everyone.” The young woman was first to extend her hand. “We should have done this a long time ago but better late than never
,
right. My name is Camille, but you can call me Latte.” Sugah accepted her hand and shook it firmly. She learned that a handshake said a thousand words about a person. From the look on the woman’s face, Sugah knew that now to be true. “Nice shake,” she said. The two women slowly walked up to Sugah with extended hands. “This is Setra
…
I mean Mocha,” and while they said their greetings, the other woman waited her turn.
Mocha held unto Sugah’s hand a bit longer than necessary staring directly into her eyes. The woman had something against her but what? Sugah never understood women having something against another woman without even knowing
t
he
m
. If she wanted war, she would get just that.
Sugah didn’t take shit from anyone, and especially people she didn’t know.
Finally, letting her hand go, the woman smiled a genuine smile. Maybe
she was only being cautious, Sugah
told herself. Either way, she would be watching her back for any knives ready to stab her in it.

The next woman she was introduced to
was the better looking one of the three, with piercing eyes and models looks. She observed everything, Sugah gathered from the moment she entered the room.
And by the way she was watching Setra; she knew that the woman had caught the exchange between them.
Before Latte spoke, the woman grabbed Sugah’s hand and shook with it poise, yet firmness. “Hello, so nice to see you again Sugah. My name is Jade but please call me Java.” Sugah liked her name. It was authoritative, bold and packed a punch.

             
The three men waited until the women made their formalities. They were still amazed to see such delicate and beautiful creatures interact with fearlessness and character, sizing each other up. It was amusing and sexy as hell to them. The first one, a dark complexion young brother, who could make Taye Diggs and Morris Chestnut look like shit, introduced himself first. He took her
hand
and kissed the back of it. “Oh, there he goes,” Mocha said laughing with the others. Sugah wasn’t impressed. Sure, he was charming, handsome and smelled good, but her mind was still on the one from the elevator.
He also appeared to be trying too hard. Why didn’t men just be themselves? She wondered. That would save them all time and headaches once the true self decided to show up, at some point after starting a serious relationship. Sugah was a living witness to this. Turns out in her last relationship, she hadn’t known the man she fell in love wit
h at all. When she looked into his eyes, she saw sadness behind them. Someone had hurt him, which explained his flirtatious nature. Sugah immediately felt sad for him. There was something deeper there, and she couldn’t help but smile back at him. He seemed surprised, but returned her smile with one of his own.

“My name is Dex, but you can all me Espresso. Nice to meet you Sugah,” he said, his eyes trying to read h
er own. She nodded up and down. “Nice to meet you too,” she said. W
aiting for the next man to walk up
, she held eye-contact with Espresso
.
There was an energy radiating between them. But like
between her the man on the elevator but one of close relatives, although they had just met for the first time.

The next guy
was what men would call a fair skinned woman “redbone” with freckles and a nice smile. He had warm eyes and was tall and muscular. His suit did nothing to hide the fact that he enjoyed the gym.
‘
I bet he could pick me up and do it walking around all day long
’
, Sugah thought. She shook the thought from her mind. He smiled as if he knew her thoughts too. My name is Tory, but my people call me Cap, short for Cappuccino. So nice to have you aboard Sugah, by the way, is that your real name?”

“Nice to meet you too Cap and yes that is the name my father gave to me at birth. So to answer your question, yes, it is my real name.

“Oh snap, Shawty got heart. Cap she way out of your league, Dude. I like her though. She cooler than a fan,” Espresso sai
d laughing at his friend. Well Sugah
assumed they were all friends by the way they interacted with one another. The three women seemed to get a kick o
ut of her comment to Cap a
s
well
. They laughed in the background along with Espresso.
Cap
wasn’t use to women ignoring him. In fact, he hadn’t ever been turned down or spoke
n
to by a woman like that ever. He wasn’t amused by it at all but kept those thoughts to himself. This bitch had better watch it if she knew what was good for her, he mused.
Sugah sensed that she had stepped on his toes. She could give a damn. Served him right, thinking he was the shit, God’s gift to a damn woman. ‘Bitch probably suck in bed, or act like a bitch in the bed’, Sugah thought silently looking Cap up and down.

             
When the last of the three men walked up to greet her, she realized that he had been quiet with his back turned towards them all along. It was
“
him
”
, the one f
rom
the elevator
and from
her
school
.
Why hadn’t she realized that in the elevator?
He smiled and Sugah felt her pussy jump. He was gorgeous.
‘
Sexy Muthafucka
’
Sugah thought, crossing one foot over the other to keep her juices from running down her legs. He was smooth but not corky, confident but not arrogant, which Sugah found divine. She was always attracted to arrogant assholes. She welcomed the change of pace. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it a bit without the others noticing. “Nice to finally meet you Sugah, but we have got to do something about your name. No one is allowed to use his or her birth
n
ame in our line of work. Although it is very fitting
”
,
he said giving her body a scan from head to toe, “
we must come up with something else. My name to Khalil, but please call me Coffee. I know the name doesn’t fit my complexion like the others, but it works. I am the founder of our group, so everyone else just picked names according to mine.
They just picked names that actually fit them according to their skin color.
You don’t have to do that. Just pick something that describes your personality. So when we are networking, people want to gravitate to you, want to spend their money,” he said still holding her hand. Their eyes were communicating, and Sugah couldn’t wait to get away from him. He was dangerous. Her body was slowly betraying her around him and his touch was like fire, she was burning in places she thought would never burn again.

             
“Coffee is it. You can let go of my hand now. My palms are starting to sweat.” He was caught off guard by her bluntness, while secretly turned on by
t
he unspoken desire through her eyes. The room went completely silent and then suddenly Espresso’s laughter became infectious. They all laughed. “Damn, this chic is bad ass
,
Man. Coff, what you gone do with her? I like you Sugah but there is definitely not anything sweet about you right now
!
We gotta come up with another name that’s bold, bad and bodacious like you girl. Yeah, I like you indeed. We gonna be good friends.” He winked at her and she winked back.

“Girl, you gotta calm down. This feisty attitude will not be good for the clients. If they think you being testy with them, they may not like you and that means everything in this business,” Latte said. Java just continued to observe. She also liked Sugah. She was straightforward and to the point. Yes, they would get along great. She also knew that her brother wanted to add some Sugah to his Coffee
from the way he held u
nto her hand and the look in her
eyes
. They would discuss that later in private.

             
By the end of the meeting Sugah was more relaxed and reserved around her new family, as they called themselves. She learned that they promoted parties, sold real estate, rented cars, boats, private jets and whatever else was needed of them. All of her new associates were either in school or had already graduated and was in the working class. Espresso was an Architect by day. Lat
te was an Attorney. Mocha was an Intern, well on her way to becoming a
Doctor. Cap was a Real Estate Broker. Java was an Investment Banker and Coffee didn’t offer what he did. His ego must have been bruised because after her response toward him, he composed himself and got straight down to business.
How could that be, Sugah wondered. They didn’t appear any older than she but they all had secured lasting professions. She was more convinced that she had made the right decision to call the number on the card
, than ever
. If they could be successful, then so could she, Sugah acknowledged with a smile, impressed to be in such good company.

The upcoming weekend
would be a test run for Sugah, Coffee
said. “If you can handle yourself, then you can become a part of our operation. If not, no hard feelings and we never hear from you again. If you mention everything about this, no one will believe you. We have never been nor do we ever plan on being found out ab
out. Do I make myself clear,” Coffee
said with a piercing stare. Sugah felt afraid and even more
aroused
by his sternness
. Inside Coffee was beaming. He had her right where he wanted her. And soon he would have her in his bed.

             
Sugah listened. She wanted to say something but didn’t when she saw Java’s eyes tell her not to. They understood each other with their looks, through their eyes. Java found that trait refreshing. She hadn’t had anyone to do that since….she blocked those painful memories out of her mind. It wasn’t the time or the place to think of him.
Mr. X, as she referred to him,
had made his choice and she was clearly not it. To hell with him, Java told herself. They would soon meet again and she would be ready for him. No one got over on her and bragged about it. The war was on. But first things first, she needed to let her new friend and protégé know the rules. They would meet soon. Right now, she listened and agreed with her brother. If
Sugah
didn’t pass the initial test just like they had, there wouldn’t be any need for a teacher-student tutoring session. Java waited on Coffee to finish. When he adjourned the meeting, everyone went their separates ways.

“Oh, Sugah,” he called out. “I have the perfect name for you.” Everyone stopped to hear what their new partner
’
s name would be. “Yes,” was all Sugah managed to say. She felt ashamed of her forwardness towards him when he was their leader. She wanted to apologize but didn’t. She also didn’t want to appear weak and fragile in front of her new colleagues. Coffee smirked in her direction before giving her new identity. “Sugah, from now on, you will be known as Spice. Any questions,” he asked before leaving the room.

             
“Spice, I love it,” Latte said. Everyone else nodded in agreement.

“Yeah that definitely fits you girl,” Espresso said. “You are a spicy thang.”

Sugah had to admit she liked the name. She did have spice and flare. Yes, then Spice she would be. Her sudden need to apologize went out the window, into the beautiful night’s sky. Sugah stared out into the night with a new sense of purpose. She needed to have this job. They were older than she
, although they didn’t look it
and she didn’t care one bit.
They couldn’t be that much older than she, she assured. Mocha looked younger than she did. Sugah
needed to prove herself to them and that was exactly what she planned to do.

When
Sugah
left the building, she was hopeful. When she got to her apartment, there was a note waiting for her on her door. Since no one knew where she lived, she wondered who it was from.
Looking around to see if she noticed anyone leaving her apartment, she became uneasy. Snatching the letter from her door, s
he read it carefully:

Sugah
,

It was a pleasure meeting you this evening. I look forward to seeing more of you. Your first assignment will be renting an expensive yacht to a big time Executive. All the information you need is enclosed in the box in your living room. We must do something about your place of residence. I hope we didn’t scare you away and you were/are a delight. I am intrigued by you. If or should I say, when all goes well, we must celebrate o
ver dinner. I don’t usually find
myself drawn to anyone, ever, but there is something about your eyes. When I saw you in the elevator, I wanted to rip off all your clothes and make hot, passionate love to you. I hope my bluntness is not offensive to you. But wait, you have quite a tongue yourself
,
so I seriously doubt that!
That is why I gave you the name Spice. Sugah and Spice, I wonder if you are naughty or nice. If you need anything, my personal number is on the business card in the box. Feel free to call anytime. Day or night, I will look forward to your call.