Second Time Around (17 page)

Authors: Darrin Lowery

BOOK: Second Time Around

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Now she was flagging him down in the parking lot. She approached with a warm smile, an inviting smile. Then her eyes went to the car. He saw the way she looked at his last sports car. Now he had something new for her to see.

Her eyes were practically glued to the new luxury automobile. It was what the white boys called a pussy magnet. Black men called them groupie cars, or a flossin'-ass whip. To Darren, it was a look-at-me car. It was the car's job to attract a woman's attention. It was Darren's job to keep the attention there. He leaned back on the car as Karen walked up to him.

“You got another car?”

“Yeah, I got another car. It was time. I work pretty hard. I had to do something nice for myself.”

“This is nice.”

“Thank you. How have you been?”

“You know, I've been great. I just came over here because I wanted to thank you for everything that you've done for me and my son. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to get a child seen by a therapist.”

“Actually, I would. I always wondered what took you so long to call.”

“Ego. Embarrassment. I told the other women at the club that I was thinking about bringing Jacob to a therapist and they all said the same thing.”

“Let me guess, black people don't go to counselors. They either go to church or women call their girlfriends. That's what they said, right?”

“You know it.”

“Well, I'm glad you stopped listening to them. I'm glad that you got your son the services that he needed. How is he, by the way?”

“He's great.”

“And you?”

“I'm great.”

“Yeah, well. You seem like it. I'm happy for you.”

The chemistry was in the air. Her vibe, however, was admiration whereas his was lust. He looked at her. His eyes traveled her body, caressed her curves. His mind's eye was already playing an adult film in his psyche. She smiled at him, he smiled at her, his slacks began to stiffen, and he controlled his breathing so she would be unaware, but they both were giving off pheromones. They both were undeniably interested. The question was who would address the obvious.

She was thinking to herself that he had a world of potential. He was thinking that she had an incredible rack. Her breasts, which looked like they were ready to pop when he first saw her, were now subdued in the jeans and T-shirt that she was wearing. She wore a cardigan over the T-shirt and her breasts didn't look fake the way she had them dressed up. She looked as if she had nice, natural breasts and a really nice shape for a woman her age. She spoke first.

“Listen, can I get you a cup of coffee or something? I really owe you.”

“I tell you what, let me buy you a cup of coffee sometime.”

“Okay, when?”

“Where is your son?”

“Today he's with my mother.”

“Then today.”

She smiled. It was a wonderful smile and a smile a man could get used to.

“Today, when?”

“Right now.”

He chirped the car to unlock it and held the door open for her. She smiled again as she stepped in the luxury automobile. Soft music began to play when Darren started his car.

“So where is the best place to get coffee?” she asked.

“Oh, I have a few ideas,” Darren said smiling at her. He needed to get Stephanie and Korie off his mind and Karen would prove to be the perfect distraction.

Chapter Sixteen

Korie was blown away as the limo took her and Vaughn to the airport. She had never been out of the country before. She never dreamed she would ever leave the country and here she was heading to Tokyo. The limo headed to O'Hare International Airport, and the whole time she was nervous. Vaughn held her hand and smiled at her reassuringly as they pulled up to the airline gate.

“This is pretty big. I mean, us taking a trip out of the country.” She could hardly contain her smile.

“It's just the first of many things to come, sweetheart. I wish I could say that this trip was completely about us, but I have to remind you. I'll be here on business, at least the first day. After that, however, it's you and me and I can't wait to show you everything.” He leaned in and kissed her.

“Everything? You mean all of Tokyo?”

“No, sweetheart. I mean the world. I want to show you the world. Given the chance, I think I'd like to give you the world as well.”

Vaughn held her hand like he had been her boyfriend for a lifetime. Korie held his hand back and smiled at him. She was still an independent woman, but the way Vaughn treated her, she thought I could really get used to this. Korie blushed. Vaughn smiled. He kissed her again before they exited the limo.

“Okay, so let's do this.”

They got out of the car and headed into the airport. No luggage, no checking in. They went straight to the gate and straight to boarding.

It must be nice to be wealthy, Korie thought. Had this been her on a simple trip to Vegas, she would have been lugging around multiple bags. There would have also been an extremely long line for checking in and the hassle of all the checkpoints.

As VIPs, she and Vaughn had two checkpoints: The first gate with the metal detectors and a final one at boarding. It was an incredibly long flight, but flying first class had its privileges, such as full meals rather than the peanuts Korie was used to when she traveled, and movies that were still at the theater. She experienced a level of comfort she didn't think was possible on an airplane. This was especially important since it was a twelve-hour flight.

Upon their arrival to Narita Airport in Tokyo, the first thing that Vaughn did was phone the Japanese to let them know that he had landed. In doing business with the Japanese, it was customary to confirm meetings two hours prior to a meeting.

Upon landing, Vaughn had an estimated two hours before their scheduled meeting. After confirmation, Vaughn and Korie were met by a driver who took them back to the hotel in a Rolls-Royce. Korie had never seen a Rolls-Royce in person, let alone ride in one. She was impressed with the vehicle, although she tried hard not to show it.

It was hard to contain her awe. For Vaughn this was business as usual and he smiled as he looked at Korie. He had to keep reminding himself this was all new to her. He liked watching her look at things in wonderment. It was like watching a child's first Christmas or a child's first major trip. There were many sights and sounds to see and although Korie didn't want to ignore Vaughn, she was practically glued to the window while looking at the sights and sounds of Tokyo.

For Vaughn, he simply seemed to be in a rush to get to the meeting. He periodically checked his watch. He didn't want to offend his clients any further, especially considering he had no explanation as to why they backed out of the deal to begin with. If anything, their backing out pissed him off, but he had to contain his emotions just as Korie tried to contain her excitement.

The Rolls-Royce pulled up to the Tokyo Peninsula, one of the most elegant and impressive hotels in the country. The hotel had an international design, but was in every way Japanese in its conception. The hotel was across the street from the Imperial Palace and just a few short blocks from the shopping capital, the Ginza. Korie was in awe as she stepped out of the Rolls-Royce like an American princess. She stopped and placed her hand to her mouth in awe as she looked up and around 180 degrees. Vaughn looked at her and simply smiled. Again, it was like a kid at Christmas.

“My God, it's beautiful here.”

“Yes, it is. It is impressive. But not half as beautiful as you. Come on, let's go.”

Korie walked over to Vaughn and took his arm. She was still looking everywhere as they walked toward the hotel entrance. It was like being on a new planetâa beautiful new planet.

“Hold on, Vaughn, can't I just take all this in for a minute?” She stepped back to look at the hotel again from the outside. It was magnificent.

Vaughn laughed and smiled at her before kissing her on the cheek.

“Sweetheart, we can take it all in. As soon as I'm done with my meeting, I plan to show you everything. I promise.”

The front lawn of the hotel on the outside looked like aged, flat bedrock with cracks in the cement. From those cracks rose fountains of water. Lighting accented the water that spewed from the ground the same way the light reflected the water at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

Two Japanese lions guarded the front of the hotel along with two doormen. The doormen were dressed in all white and had warm, welcoming smiles. They both welcomed their guests and they both bowed as Korie and Vaughn entered.

“Welcome back, Mr. Harris,” one doorman said. His English was impeccable.

“Thank you.”

“Will you need anything while you are here?”

“Uh, no . . . I won't be in need of anything this trip.”

“Are you here on business or pleasure?”

Vaughn looked at Korie and smiled.

“Both.”

“Very well, if you need me, please do not hesitate to call.”

“Thank you, but I'll be fine.”

They walked into the foyer and the hotel was adorned with hues of brown and tan as well as Japanese artistry. The chandelier was adorned with what looked like real diamonds, and the lighting from the chandelier was brilliant and breathtaking.

Again Korie was amazed and again Vaughn looked unfazed by the place. He adjusted his tie and nodded to the concierge as they were escorted to their room. Vaughn and Korie were escorted to their elevator where they seemed to ride forever to the top.

The room that they had was absolutely magnificent: glass all the way around, and the king-sized bed in the bedroom area overlooked Tokyo. At first glance, Korie's equilibrium was off, because of the breathtaking view. The bedroom was bigger than Korie's apartment.

While Korie looked in wonderment around the hotel room, Vaughn ordered a tie from room service. When the attendant arrived, Vaughn told the attendant to treat Korie as he would treat him. A few more words were exchanged in whispers and then Vaughn bowed to the man before heading to the door.

“Sweetheart, I have to go. I know this is short notice, but I have a surprise for you in a few minutes. By the time you're done, I should be back.”

“Done? Done with what?”

Vaughn stopped short of the door and turned back to Korie and smiled.

“Done with your spa treatments.”

“Really?”

“Really.” He winked at her. “See you later.”

With that, Vaughn was out the door and on his way to meet with the Japanese delegation. He had his game face on and although he was here for both business and pleasure, Korie could tell by the look on his face that business was about to be his primary focus. As he walked out of the door, it seemed that Vaughn was psyching himself up as athletes must do before big games.

Korie walked around the vast room and smiled. This was all so surreal. She thought briefly about what Darren would think if he could see her now. She pulled her camera out of her bag and began to take pictures of everything. She took pictures of the room, the view, and even the Jacuzzi in the bathroom. She had come a long way since being an AA. She had even come a long way in creating her own business. She was just starting to come into her own as a businesswoman and now, not even a year later she was halfway across the globe.

She thought to herself that chances were she would never leave the country again and she wanted pictures of everything. So she continued to snap photos with her camera. A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door.

“Uh, who is it?”

“Room service.”

“I didn't order anything.”

“Mr. Vaughn did,” an Asian voice said.

Korie thought, Wouldn't the spa treatments be downstairs?

She opened the door and there was a team of Asian women and men there to take care of her. Some had towels, others had lotions and oils, and some had manicure and pedicure kits.

“Wow!” Korie said. “So I guess you guys want to come in?”

“No, ma'am. We are here to escort you to your treatment suite.”

“My treatment suite?”

“Yes, ma'am.”

“What does a treatment suite look like?”

“It has all the same amenities as your room and a few more,” one Asian woman said, smiling.

“Well, uh, let's not waste any time. Let's go.”

Korie's only regret was that Jayna couldn't see her right now.

This shit is like a fairytale come true. Vaughn keeps this up, I might have to marry him.

She was joking, of course.

Wasn't she?