Inner Circle (27 page)

Eve motioned to Amber, and they stood, turning to leave as Sa’Myra began opening the sealed envelope with a look of triumph on her face.

“Wait a minute!” she yelled. “This is not right!” Sa’Myra’s eyes were wide with surprise.

“This check is only for twenty-five hundred dollars! The deal was for two hundred and fifty thousand dollars! What are you trying to pull?” She handed the check to Carl.

“Is this some kind of joke?” he asked, looking from the check to Eve. “Because if it is, it’s not very funny.”

Amber turned to Eve with a look of total confusion on her face.

“The deal,” said Eve, glaring at Sa’Myra, “was two hundred and fifty thousand, and in your own words, that was ‘pennies’ to Amber and Sean. By my calculations, two hundred and fifty thousand
pennies
is twenty-five hundred dollars. Read the agreement. It clearly states what you asked for, and I quote, ‘two hundred and fifty thousand and that would be pennies to you.’”

Sa’Myra stared at Carl, who was now frantically scouring through the documents in his folder.

“The agreement says two hundred and fifty thousand dollars!” Sa’Myra was now standing, palms down on the table for support.

“No, the agreement says two hundred and fifty thousand,” Eve repeated. “There is no mention of dollars.”

“Can she do that?” Sa’Myra asked slamming her fist against the table and staring at Carl, her eyes wide with anger.

“I’m afraid so,” he said nervously. “The agreement is exactly as she said, and unfortunately, there isn’t one dollar sign or decimal in conjunction with any of the references to the two hundred and fifty thousand on any of the documents!”

“You have
got
to be kidding me! How did you let this happen?” Sa’Myra was yelling at Carla and stomping her feet. “What kind of fucking attorney are you?”

Without waiting for a response, Sa’Myra turned to Eve. “You bitch! You planned this all along. You knew what I meant! This is not fair!”

“Well, Sa’Myra,” Eve smiled, “life is not fair, and as you said yourself, this is a reality of life. Unfortunately, sometimes reality is a bitch!” she snapped, unable to resist being a smart-ass.

Eve quickly gathered her things and grabbed Amber’s arm to leave. She turned to Carl with a huge grin. “I assume you won’t be validating our parking, so we’ll see ourselves out.”

As Eve and Amber exited the conference room they maneuvered their way past the small group that had gathered outside the conference room watching the scene. Eve frantically pressed the button to the elevator. From behind, they could hear Sa’Myra screaming expletives in their direction.

“Fuckin’ bitches. Both of you! You know this shit ain’t right! Amber, I’m going to tell the whole fuckin’ world about your scandalous-ass husband, you stank-ass bitch!”

Eve banged her fist against the elevator button repeatedly. “Whatever you do,” Eve said to Amber, “don’t look back!”

Finally the elevator bell rang and the doors opened. Thank God it was empty! As Eve and Amber stepped into the elevator they could still hear Sa’Myra screaming at the top of her lungs.

“You fuckin’ bitches! You won’t get away with this. I’m gonna kick both of your asses. Just wait! I’m gonna kick both your asses! You hear me, bitches?”

They turned in time to see Carl holding Sa’Myra around the waist, and with the aid of the notary clerk, struggling to pull her back into the conference room.

“You want to tell me what the fuck just happened?” Amber asked in amazement.

“Sure. You just paid Sa’Myra a settlement of twenty-five hundred dollars to shut the fuck up and go away,” she replied releasing a huge sigh of relief.

“Can we do that?” she asked.

“We just did!” Eve smiled.

“But . . . I mean, does this mean I don’t owe her any more money?”

“Not a dime.”

“No wonder you were so secretive,” Amber said scratching her head. “Wait! Have you been planning this all along?”

“Yep, and the shit fuckin’ worked!” Eve said as her heart continued to race.

From the moment Sa’Myra had made the comment about the settlement being pennies, she had been setting her plan in motion. She had been careful to cover every detail, checking with partners at the firm, and then double-checking. Finally, all that was needed was to pull it off.

“Why didn’t you tell me what you were planning?” Amber asked, still unable to believe what had just taken place.

“Because if the shit had blown up in my face, you would have been in the clear, and besides, in order for it to work, you had to be honest and sincere in your negotiations. I couldn’t take the chance that you would get nervous and slip up.”

“No shit! And I still nearly fucked up!”

“I know, but you didn’t,” Eve said, turning off the alarm to her car. “Hurry up and get in. We’ve need to get the hell out of here . . . quick!”

Once in the car, Eve gripped the steering wheel and let out a victorious yell. “Yes!!!”

Eve and Amber looked at each other in silence. Eve watched as tears began to slowly escape from the corners of Amber’s eyes.

“Is it really over?” Amber tried to wipe the tears away with the back of her hand, but they were falling too fast.

“I wouldn’t start celebrating just yet, but I think so. I say we give
it a few days to let Sa’Myra calm down. I’m sure she’s not gonna just tuck tail and run. She’ll have the agreement checked for any loopholes, and when that doesn’t work, she’ll check to make sure that what we did will stand up in court, but I’d say the hard part is over.”

Amber sighed heavily and leaned back against the seat. “Man, did you see how she lost it? I thought she was going to pass out! I guess that really was a reality check.”

“Yes, and like I said, reality is a bitch!”

Eve paid the parking attendant and made her way out of the parking structure. As she veered onto the 110 Freeway, she looked over at Amber realizing she hadn’t looked that peaceful in weeks. She was happy that she could deliver this victory for her friend.

“I can’t believe it’s really over,” Amber repeated again and again.

Eve smiled. Finally, there was some real peace among them. And with Sa’Myra now almost definitely out of the way, Eve felt confident that even more peace was sure to come.

25

Eve
sat next to an empty seat in the Baltimore stands and looked down on the playing field. The players were milling around chatting, waiting for the officials to finish reviewing the last touchdown. It had been a spectacular one-hand catch by Chase. He had run another twenty yards after the catch, and then hurled himself over the goal line just as he went out of bounds. The challenge flag had been thrown almost immediately as Baltimore questioned if Chase had successfully stretched the ball over the pylon before going out of bounds. Right now, the score was twenty-seven to seven in favor of the Leopards, and with the first half almost over, Baltimore was trying everything to make sure the game was not about to get out of reach.

Eve looked at her phone. There was a text from Amber. “
HOW’S IT GOING?
”

“COLD AS HELL
,” Eve texted.

She read Amber’s reply. “
THAT’S WHY I PICKED A BASKETBALL PLAYER. WE PLAY INSIDE! LOL
”

“WHATEVER! TTYL
,” Eve texted back. It was too cold to keep up the conversation.

Eve could see Chase in front of the team bench shifting his weight from one foot to the other and shaking his hands to keep
warm. He was having a great game. With three minutes left in the half, he already had one hundred and seventeen receiving yards.

It was cold in Baltimore, and Eve pulled the hood to her snow-white sable fur tighter around her face. It was a frigid twenty-seven degrees, a cold, blistering wind had been whipping her cheeks until they were numb, and now she had to pee. Eve couldn’t wait for the game to be over and had come close to not even attending it, and it was partly her fault. Tickets to the playoffs were hard to come by, and that was especially true for the visiting Leopards. Eve hadn’t helped the situation either. She waited until the last minute to confirm whether she was actually going to be able to attend.

Eve had been placed on assignment for a major campaign at work and informed Chase that due to the short notice from her boss, she might not be able to attend. It wasn’t until two days before the game that she discovered she could still go, and Chase had scrambled, not being able to get her a ticket until the last minute. As a result, here she was, stuck in some random section with a bunch of people she didn’t know.

Eve held her head down in an effort to avoid the next blast of arctic wind. Looking down the row, she noticed two other Leopards wives. In Los Angeles, the running joke among the wives was that they should always make an effort to “Leopard Spot,” and whenever they saw another wife, they should greet her with the official Leopard’s wave.

“Damn that!” she said, shaking her head. “It’s too fucking cold to wave.” Eve tucked her hands deep into her pockets and snuggled up. She only knew the two ladies by sight, but recognizing her, they waved excitedly. Eve gave them a polite grin, and then turned away. She wasn’t about to try to socialize; if anything, she was trying hard to decide whether she could hold her pee.

Eve groaned as she thought about the VIP Press pass she had in her purse. When Andrew Rothberg had found out that she didn’t have a ticket, he had gladly relinquished the pass. But after all the effort Chase
put into getting her a ticket, she didn’t have the heart to tell him she no longer needed the ticket. She could still remember how excited he was.

“Babe!” Chase had come into the house and sprinted up the stairs wearing a huge grin on his face and his hands securely tucked behind his back. “Bam!” he said, revealing the ticket.

“Who’s the man, huh?” he asked as he danced around her.

Eve looked at the location of the ticket and frowned. “You got me a ticket in the red zone!”

“Yep! Right where your man will be spending the day all day on Sunday!” Chase gloated.

“Hopefully, you’ll be spending it in the end zone,” she laughed.

“Oh, you already know what time it is.”

“Win or go home,” she replied.

“What time is it, baby?” Chase asked louder.

“Win or go home!” Eve yelled.

“That’s right! Now I need to go out and buy one of those little skimpy cheerleader outfits and some pom-poms, and I want you on the twenty-yard line shaking that beautiful body of yours and cheering, ‘Win or go home! Win or go home!’” Chase was bumping, grinding, gyrating, and waving his arms as if he held pom-poms.

Eve laughed hysterically. “You are so crazy!”

“That’s right. Crazy about you, baby.” Chase tackled her to the bed and held her tightly.

Eve nestled her head against his chest, knowing full well she couldn’t dare mention the VIP pass. She wasn’t about to steal his thunder, especially since he had worked so hard to secure the ticket.

A series of boos and groans went up from the crowd as the official on the field announced that the touchdown was good. Chase was
right. From her seat on the twenty-yard line Eve had a clear view of the red zone and the Leopards’ bench. She watched Chase celebrate with a silly dance as his teammates gathered around congratulating him. It was his second touchdown of the half.

The extra point was good, and Eve watched as the teams made their way to the sidelines. Since there was no immediate activity on the field and the Leopards held a lead of twenty-eight to seven, she decided it was a good time to go to the restroom.

As she made her way through the crowd, Eve admired the array of stylish outfits on a few women that joined her in the line. She laughed to herself as she watched them struggle to walk in their six-and seven-inch heels—a mistake she made once herself and vowed to never make again. Instead, Eve kept it simple and elected to wear an all-black ensemble complete with her favorite wedge Louboutin riding boots, a pair of skintight jeggings, along with a form-fitting turtleneck sweater, and, of course, her winter white fur.

Eve felt her feet continue to numb as she searched desperately for a bathroom. Clearly the directions she had gotten from the popcorn vendor were wrong, and she didn’t know how much longer she could hold her bladder. In the distance, she could see the VIP section and knew that if she could just make it over to that area before her bladder burst, she was certain a bathroom would be nearby.

Eve squeezed her pelvic tightly and hustled over to the VIP.

“Good afternoon, ma’am,” the attendant greeted her while examining her pass.

“Bathroom, quickly!” she squirmed, unsure of how much longer she could hold on.

“Down the hallway and to your left,” he announced proudly, quickly lifting the rope to allow her in.

“Thank you,” she said, picking up the pace.

Tears streamed down Eve’s eyes as she made her way to the neon-lit W that was less than fifty feet away. She couldn’t remember
the last time she was this happy to see a restroom and prayed that her bladder wouldn’t fail her before she could make it into a stall.