The Ties that Bind (Kingdom) (5 page)

Steve didn’t wait for a reply to his comment as he left the office. Never realizing that while Jason had spoken about them in terms of a team, he had referred to himself in the singular. His subconscious mind was already pulling away from Jason.

Chapter 5

On the drive over to his office, Steve’s mind refused to stay on matters of business. The feelings around Hope’s betrayal were always in the forefront of his mind.

Of all the men in the world, why did she chose Jason? She knew how he felt about his friend, what they had been through together and that Jason was the only semblance of childhood he had left. Steve wanted to understand, needed to understand. Throughout the night, he had reached for his phone countless times bent on calling her, demanding she tell him
why
.

He had given her everything that he was, his all, and in return she had betrayed him, in a way he had never thought possible. The woman he was to marry had solicited his brother for sex. The thought still made him sick to his stomach, but Steve’s mind, an entity unto itself refused to move on.

Pulling his car into the underground parking garage, Steve made a conscious effort to bring a sense of calm to his disjointed mind. The business of the day required his complete attention. Jason was right, it was time to deal with Percy Cox. Just then the thought occurred to him that he was being taken advantage of, that the people in his life must view him as some kind of punk.

Making no attempt to get out of the car, Steve gathered his thoughts, replaying scene after scene of his interactions with Cox. After long minutes of retrospection, he realized what Cox wanted, what he had been moving towards for the past year. He wanted their company. He wanted to discredit them to such an extent that their business was no longer viable. Their demise would see him well placed in the wings as their main supplier to take over what they left behind.

With realization came vexation, followed immediately by a searing anger. He was sick and tired of being jerked around. First, Cox, then Hope, and then Jason speaking to him as though he couldn’t take care of his business.

This was where all the shit stopped in his professional and personal life. If the people around him needed a bastard, then he was up for the job. Steve was unsure of when the people around him had lost respect for him, but what he did know was that he was unprepared to put up with it.

Walking into his office, his thoughts still occupied by how he was going to deal with Cox, Steve was completely unaware of the looks he was receiving from the staff scattered around the open plan office.

Even if he had been aware he probably wouldn’t have given a damn. He was a good employer but it had always been his philosophy that the demarcation between an employer and his workforce should leave no one in any doubt as to who worked for whom. Neither looking left nor right, Steve passed through the outer office space and entered the reception area that led to his office.

As usual, Ms. Ellis sat at her desk looking as though she had everything under complete control. Steve knew that the impression she gave was in fact a reality. Sheba Ellis had been with him for the past five years, and whenever he thought of her first name, which wasn’t often, it made him smile. Yet somehow he had never been able to reconcile the name with the woman. She just didn’t look like a
Sheba
. Not that he knew what a woman with that type of name should look like.

Shaking his head to dispel his random thoughts, about his assistant, Steve muttered a hurried
good morning
before continuing into his office.

He had registered the shock on her face at seeing him in the office, as she knew he should have been on his honeymoon. Steve was sure that although surprised at seeing him, she wouldn’t comment or ask any questions.

When she had contacted him, Steve had given her no indication that he was still in LA. Steve only had enough time to drop his briefcase and take his seat before his office door was thrown open. Standing in his doorway was a very disgruntled looking Ms. Ellis.

“Why are you here?”

Taken aback by the bluntness of her question, Steve was momentarily thrown. His assistant had never spoken to him in such a way, and for a moment he didn’t know how to answer her simple, if somewhat forward question.

“The last time I looked this was my office.”

“You know what I mean. I spoke with you this morning, thinking I was interrupting your honeymoon, and you were here all the time! What happened, didn’t you go?”

“Ms. Ellis, my personal life is none of your business.”

“You didn’t marry her did you?”

Steve could see a look on her face that he likened to relief if he wasn’t mistaken. Stepping outside of the norm, Steve decided that he wanted to hear what she hadn’t been able to hide from her expression. “No, I didn’t get married. Does that fact please you?”

“It’s not about being pleased. I suppose you feel devastated right now, but maybe one day you’ll see that you lucked out.”

Steve knew he should have some form of adverse feeling at her words, yet somehow the only emotion he could conjure up was curiosity as to why she felt this way. In their five years of knowing each other, they had never had such a personal conversation. In fact Steve suddenly realized that he knew next to nothing about the woman who stood before him.

With slow deliberation Steve allowed his eyes to run over his assistant, and it was almost as though he were seeing her for the first time.

He knew from her resume she was a couple of years older than him; that she was a widow with one child. That was about as much as he knew about her. Steve suspected that if asked, Ms. Ellis could probably relay more facts about his life than he had ever thought about.

The woman standing before him had always reminded him of a schoolteacher. She was always neat and tidy with never even a single hair out of place. She was around five feet six, and... Steve’s thoughts came to a halt as he tried to find the word that would best describe her physique. The only word that sprang to his mind was that she was
plump
. Why he was taking such a sudden interest in her was something he would have to think about at a later stage.

“Take a seat, Ms. Ellis,” once she had complied with his request, Steve continued with the question he really wanted answered. “So you don’t like, Hope?”

“I don’t dislike her I just don’t think that you both belong together.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Do you want my honest answer, Mr. Blackman?”

As her question hung in the air, Steve realized that in all the time he had known this woman he had never had cause to question her integrity. Before he could think better of it, his mind made a parallel between the two women who knew him best. First there was Hope the woman he had nearly married, who had betrayed him. Then there was Ms. Ellis, his assistant who was sitting before him, and he knew she was about to tell him exactly what he didn’t really want to hear. The irony of his thoughts caused a slight smile to lift the corners of his lips.

“Right now I would accept nothing less, Ms. Ellis.” Bracing himself, Steve got ready for a few home truths.

“Forgive me for stating the obvious, we all know that Ms. Richards is a beautiful woman, just as you are a beautiful man... what I mean is... well,”

“I’m beautiful am I?” Steve asked unable to stop himself. He knew she was embarrassed and not even her brown skin could hide that fact. She was blushing and Steve didn’t know if it was due to the fact that she had called him beautiful, or because he had called her on it. “I’m sorry, I was only teasing you, please go on with what you were about to say.”

Without meeting his eyes, she continued, “What I’m trying to say is that sometimes we can get caught up in things... and people because of their aesthetic appeal...”

Steve cut her off before she could go any further, somewhat shocked that she thought him so superficial that he was only with Hope because of the way she looked. “Is that what you think of me, that I only chose Hope because of the way she looks?”

“Didn’t you?”

Steve could tell that she was waiting for his denial so she could pounce. “I guess in a way you’re right. At first it was the way she looked that attracted me, but that wasn’t why I stayed with her.” Steve could see she didn’t fully buy his answer so her follow-up question didn’t surprise him.

“Why did you stay with her?”

“Because I love her of course.”

“You say that as though love is always enough.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I mean that maybe it’s time for you to let go of the illusion you live under where that woman is concerned. I’ve seen you both together, so I’m going to ask you another question; does she love you the way you love her?”

Steve knew she had her answer when he could no longer hold her gaze. With a nod of her head, Ms. Ellis stood and left him to his thoughts.

Chapter 6

Six weeks later

The club was packed. Gyrating bodies pressed against each other as the throb of the baseline fused the clubbers together.

Destiny stood off to one side watching Hope grind her backside against a man that had to be at least a foot shorter than her. She also kept a keen eye on the blonde who appeared ready to hurt Hope.

This was the third night she had allowed Hope to persuade her to go clubbing. She really didn’t want to because in their line of work, late nights and excessive alcohol didn’t complement each other. She was just thankful they were in London for fashion week and not a photo shoot. So far eye drops and the magic of the makeup artists had seen them through. Tomorrow was their last show, and tonight was Hope’s biggest binge yet.

When they had first met, she and Hope hated each other on sight. Destiny had started modeling at the age of twenty-three, much later than was the norm. She had unashamedly lied about her age, knocking off four years. When she had been asked to produce her birth certificate, she had persuaded her younger sister to let her use hers. It had worked because here she was living the dream. Jetting from continent to continent and walking for the most famous fashion houses in the world.

Who would have thought that the kid from south east London who everybody teased in school, would end up with more money than all of the people who live on her social housing estate put together. But you know what they say, you can take the girl out of the gutter, but you can’t take the gutter out of the girl. She may look like an ethereal waif, but nothing was further from the truth. She knew how to take care of herself, and it would seem she now had to take care of a drunk Hope.

Destiny moved forward at the same time the blonde started forward. Intercepting her as her hand shot out about to grab Hope by the scruff of the neck, a feeling of déjà vu was settling over her. The scene playing out was almost a direct re-enactment of one that had taken place in Italy while they had been on a shoot together. In fairness, that occasion hadn’t really been Hope’s fault. The Italian man had just liked what he’d seen and thought his girlfriend couldn’t see his maneuvers, wrong! That had also been the night Hope had met Steve.

Shaking off her thoughts, Destiny addressed the matter at hand. “Sorry, darling. I can’t let you do that.”

“Piss off ya stick insect. That way I won’t have to break ya!” The woman said, her cockney accent filled with derision.

Destiny laughed in her face. “Bloody hell, is that what you lot are calling an insult these days? My dog could come up with a better insult than that. You know what, you sort of remind me of my bitch!”

Destiny could see that the blonde was spitting mad at her comment and her inability to extricate herself from the grip she had on her wrist.

“Look,” Destiny said, attempting to dampen the other woman’s growing frustration. “Just calm down, I’ll collect my friend, and we’ll leave.”

“You calm down. You lot think you can come to London every year and take our men. Well I’m fed up with it!”

“Are you telling me this happens every year, and you’re still with him? You must be simple. That’s it isn’t it… you’re simple!” Destiny’s tone left the other woman in no doubt that she wasn’t asking a question.

Destiny didn’t actually think the situation funny. She had experienced the same scenario too many times, and it forever left a sour taste in her mouth.

“Look, to be fair they’re both acting like idiots. She wouldn’t be grinding on him if he didn’t allow it.”

“Let me go!” The blonde shouted over the music disregarding any attempt Destiny made for her to see reason.

Pulling her wrist up even further, Destiny didn’t bother to speak to her again. Instead she marched the woman towards the bathroom. Pushing her inside, Destiny bent her tall frame, pushed her nose against the blonde’s and bared her teeth. “I tried to be reasonable with you, tell you I would get my friend out of here, but you just won’t listen. Now, get your backside over there and sit your arse down!” Destiny finished by pointing to the chair in the furthest corner of the spacious bathroom. Very aware they had the full attention of the cloakroom attendant as well as women in various stages of touching up their makeup.

She knew her tone had surprised the blonde, it usually did, and she only used it sparingly. Her best friend growing up had been a hard-core, Yardie. A term used to describe people of Jamaican descent. The term was first used to differentiate between the established Jamaican populous and the newly arrived, sometimes criminal element of the eighties. However, as time went on the term became generically associated with all Caribbean people who chose to dress in a particular way.

To this day, Destiny always smiled when she thought of Precious Miller. When Destiny found out that Precious had received a scholarship for Oxford, she had voiced her disbelief. The conversation that followed was a lesson once learned had never been forgotten.

Precious had told her without rancor, “Don’t presume to judge me. You see only what I allow you to see. The rest is your perceptions of me. We have choices, Destiny. We can stay in the place, and circumstance in which we were born, or we can do something to rise to the place where we want to be. Where do you
want
to be, Destiny? I’m already on my way, and nothing or no one is going to stop me!”