Riding the Corporate Ladder (Indigo) (5 page)

That brought a goofy grin to his face, and Deena was glad for that. The only thing worse than having a crackhead in your living room is having a depressed crackhead.

* * *

Spencer stayed and had another glass of wine while they waited for Deena’s five minutes of fame. When her story finally came on, Deena was on pins and needles, but she liked the way she looked and sounded on camera. She thought about what Karen said about her being a television personality, and that didn’t seem so far-fetched. Twelve years ago she walked into Reagor, Crawford, and Epstein as a temp. Now look at her.

Spencer wanted to stay a little while longer after his sister’s big moment, but the phone started to ring off the hook, and Deena couldn’t give him very much attention. She gave him fifty dollars instead and walked him to the door at ten-thirty.

* * *

An hour later Deena got the last well-wisher off the phone, and she was exhausted from thanking them all. She took the DVD her secretary made for her to the bedroom and watched her interview a few more times, looking for faults. None were immediately discernable, but she forced herself to find at least three. She finally dozed off with Boogie curled at the foot of her bed.

In her dreams, Deena was a very important woman in her law firm. She couldn’t remember later, but she knew she was something big, like the president or the mayor.

Boogie was always the first to know when someone was at the door. He let out a loud bark at two in the morning, just a few seconds before the doorbell sounded. Deena sat up with a start and looked around her bedroom curiously, not sure what was going on. Boogie ran to her side of the bed and stood with his front paws on the mattress. His eyes were like black pearls in the darkness.

“What?” she growled at him. “What are you fussing about?”

The terrier yipped again, and then turned and disappeared through the doorway. Deena rolled her eyes at him and fell back into her soft pillows and warm sheets. Boogie could let himself out through the doggie door anytime he wanted. She couldn’t understand why he’d wake her with such foolishness, but then she heard the doorbell again.

Ding-dong.

Deena sat up again and groaned with displeasure. She squinted at the alarm clock on her nightstand to make sure she hadn’t gone crazy, but the bright red digits were as clear as day; it really was 2:02 a.m., and there really was someone at her front door.

She shook her head wearily and cursed Spencer under her breath as she scooted off the bed. Usually Deena wouldn’t hear from her brother for a few days after she gave him money, but every now and then he would return the same night, bug-eyed and drenched with sweat, desperate for just one more rock to put on his pipe. Enabling a junkie always had the propensity to blow up in your face.

Deena snatched her robe from the headboard and fastened the belt angrily. She staggered down the hallway in the direction Boogie had gone but stopped short before she got to the living room. It suddenly occurred to her that Spencer wasn’t the only person who might be visiting at this late hour. She thought about Keshaun and made a quick detour into the bathroom to make sure she was presentable.

She flipped on the light above the vanity and squinted at the reflection in the mirror. Her hair was a bit disheveled, but it was short enough for her to mold it back in shape with just her hands. She didn’t think she had morning breath already, but she gargled a capful of Listerine just in case.

Deena couldn’t do anything about the tired look in her eyes, but she was still attractive. Plus she only had on underwear under her robe. Her exhaustion would be the last thing on Keshaun’s mind if she flashed him a little skin. Just thinking about it did more to wake her up than any energy drink could have.

The doorbell rang again.

Deena checked her reflection one last time and then headed for the living room with a little more pep in her step. Once there, she turned on the light and found Boogie waiting for her at the front door. She pushed him out of the way gingerly with her bare foot, then leaned forward and squinted through the peep hole.

Her visitor had his back to the door. He stood, gazing out at the front yard with one hand in his pocket and the other balled loosely at his side. He wore a long-sleeved, striped shirt with baggy blue jeans.

Deena undid the chain, and he turned to face her. Through the peephole, she could only make out two white eyes amidst skin that was black like a dark abyss. She opened the door so she could take in the full measure of his beauty. This man was so fine Boogie didn’t even bark at him.

“Hey, sexy.”

He stared into Deena’s eyes like she meant the world to him. “Hey, beautiful.”

Keshaun wore his hair short, the same length all around. He had an ocean of small waves that originated from a point at the back of his head and flowed towards his hairline. He was a big man, teetering over six feet, five inches, with 230 pounds of mostly muscle stacked on his sturdy frame. He had dark eyes, smooth skin, and a quick smile that always made Deena giddy despite her mood.

His eyebrows were thick, and he had a bushy goatee with no other facial hair. His shirt was unbuttoned midway down his torso, revealing a broad chest that was smooth and hard. Deena liked to grab on to those pecs when she was on top.

Keshaun wore a thick herringbone necklace and sported an iced-out bracelet twinkling with pink and yellow diamonds, but it was never his jewelry that attracted Deena. It wasn’t his conversation, and it definitely wasn’t his brains either. Deena’s fascination with this man was animalistic, purely physical—and she didn’t feel one bit guilty about it.

“Were you asleep?” he asked as he stepped inside.

“I was,” she admitted. “I tried to wait up, but you were taking so long…I got frustrated.” That lie came so naturally, Deena wasn’t really aware that she was fibbing. Telling men what they wanted to hear was second nature to her, as effortless as walking or breathing.

Keshaun grinned mischievously, obviously pleased by her comment. “I’m sorry, baby. I would’ve been here sooner but I had to…you know how it is.”

He stepped close to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Deena felt his hands on the small of her back, and it was nice to have them there.

Keshaun had very large hands; big feet, too. When she first met him, Deena couldn’t wait to get in his pants to see if he was big like that all over. He was, and he never failed to satisfy his woman—even though Deena wasn’t really his woman.

He used to nag about the lack of commitment in their relationship, but Deena would always give him the same response: “Baby, you are my only one…tonight.” After six months Keshaun knew he was lucky to have whatever time she gave him.

He bent and kissed her behind the left ear. Deena closed her eyes and felt tingles down her arms. Keshaun nuzzled her neck and inhaled loudly.

“Damn, you smell good,” he breathed. “You just got out the bath?”

“I took a shower after I talked to you earlier,” Deena said. “Those are my natural scents.”

He chuckled and backed away, holding her at arm’s length. “You playing, but I really believe that shit. You so fine, you probably do sweat perfume or something.”

Deena giggled. She thought she had heard them all, but that was a new one. It was corny as hell, but Keshaun’s wit was the last thing on her mind. She reached out to fondle the bulge between his legs, and his eyes narrowed. Even while limp, Keshaun’s lovely manly lump was thick and enticing. If he tried to do one of those Calvin Klein underwear ads, they’d ban it and call it pornography.

“You in a hurry, baby,” he asked.

“It is kinda late,” Deena said. She stroked slowly, and Keshaun responded almost immediately. “Is there something you wanted to do?” she asked.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I thought maybe we could talk about shit. You know, like what’s in the newspapers, the current affairs and stuff.”

Deena cocked her head at him. Boogie did, too.

“Okay, I wanna roll me a blunt,” he said.

Deena backed away and rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “I’m about to fall asleep on you again.”

Keshaun smiled brightly. His teeth were nice and bright. “Naw you ain’t.”

“Why not?”

“Cause you got dick on your mind. You probably already wet.”

Damn, he knows me so well.

“Smoke outside,” she said. “And close the door all the way.”

“I be scared I’ma get locked out,” he admitted.

The lock on her back door didn’t even work like that, but Deena wasn’t one to argue with fools. “If you get locked out, all you have to do is knock on the door,” she suggested. “If I don’t hear it, Boogie surely will.”

He nodded, still grinning like the devil himself. “Yes, ma’am.”

The first time he called her ma’am, Deena was offended, seeing as how she was only two years older than him. But she later realized Keshaun was showing respect to her status rather than her age.

She turned and headed for the bedroom.

“And don’t be out there trying to get my dog high,” she called over her shoulder.

Keshaun burst into laughter behind her. “He…he the one keep coming out there.”

“That’s where he goes to use the bathroom, you freak…”

* * *

By the time Keshaun got back, Deena found two more areas of improvement in her press conference speech: Firstly, she started off her talk with the word um. That wasn’t really a big deal, but she planned to refrain from that little faux pas the next time she got in front of the camera.

And, oh yes, there would be a next time.

The only other thing Deena thought she could have done better was smile a little more. She came across pleasant and cheery in her interview, but she never gave the reporters her heartiest grin. Considering all the money she spent at the dentist, her pearly whites definitely should have gotten a bigger cameo—or maybe that would have looked cheesy. Deena made a mental note to ask Karen about it when she got back to work on Monday.

She turned off the television and found the stereo remote when Keshaun appeared in the doorway. But her man for the evening was as intuitive as he was nosey.

“What was you watching?” Keshaun’s eyes were low and crimson now, indicative of his inebriation. Deena didn’t know why, but that turned her on even more.

“Nothing,” she said. She pushed a few buttons on the smaller remote, and the sultry tunes of her favorite singer filled the room. Even without his afro, Maxwell was one of the sexiest men alive. Deena had a surround-sound set-up in her bedroom as well as the living room. She could make it sound like a club in there if she wanted to.

She still had her robe on, but it was untied and parted down the middle. She narrowed her eyes and watched her man closely. A sweet R&B bassline dripped from her speakers like honey from a bee hive.

Much to Deena’s chagrin, Keshaun went over to the entertainment center and turned the stereo off manually. He gave her a big, dopey grin. “What was you watching, Dee? I like porn. Can’t I look at it with you?”

“It wasn’t porn.”

“You got the biggest porn collection I’ve ever seen.”

Deena giggled. “Really?”

He came and sat next to her on the bed. “For sure.”

She sighed and fished the television remote from her sheets. She pushed a few buttons, and her press conference splashed on her plasma screen. She rewound it so Keshaun could see it from the beginning. He watched with his mouth open and his bottom lip hanging. He didn’t say anything until her segment was completely over.

“Dang.” He leaned back on the headboard and knitted his eyebrows. He looked sideways at her and nodded weakly. “You did your damned thang, didn’t you?”

Deena put a hand on his chest and traced a finger down to the first clasped button on his shirt. She undid it expertly, with one hand, and moved quickly to the next.

“Was that on the news?” he asked.

She nodded. “You sure have a lot of clothes on…”

He sat up and turned away from her. “How come you didn’t want me to see your little interview?”

“It’s not a big deal.”

“How come it ain’t?”

Damn. Twice in one night? Deena couldn’t believe her bad luck.

“I just didn’t want you going on and on about it,” she said, “making me think I’m some big shot when I’m not.”

He turned and sneered at her. “You is a big shot.”

“See. That’s what I’m talking about.”

Keshaun wasn’t amused. “You just don’t want to talk about shit with me,” he said and actually redid one of his shirt buttons. Deena stared in confusion.

“What are you doing?”

“I know you ain’t my woman, but you ain’t gotta treat me like I don’t matter at all.”

She chuckled softly. “I never said that.”

He gave her a hard look. “I ain’t playing.”

Deena frowned at him. “So, what? You gonna leave?”

“I might as well,” he mumbled. “You wouldn’t notice either way.”