She hung up the phone so hard, Nori was surprised it didn’t crack in two.
“I’ll die and go straight to hell before I give that bitch a motherfuckin’ dime!” she fumed, pacing back and forth in the living room.
“He’s not going to stop,” Nori said, collapsing onto the couch. His heart needed to settle down before he had an attack.
“I know that,” she snapped, then softened, coming over to whisper her apology into his neck as she curled up on his lap. “I’m sorry, baby. I’m just frustrated. I just can’t believe all this shit! What the fuck is going on? If it ain’t one thing it’s another. Why is everybody so negative and in my mix all of a sudden?”
Nori stroked her back and nuzzled the soft scented skin behind her ear. “You’re a star, baby. It happens, and I’m afraid some of it is because of your association with me.”
She’d appeared in most of the fashion bibles for the past few months, on numerous websites and a few radio and TV shows. Everyone, said Tommy, was clamoring for this new collection with Ineffable. And that was the way she – and Margot – liked it.
Margot laughed. “Okay? Sometimes I think she’s pissed I’ve already been in all the heavy hitters. There are no more coups for her win. I told her she’s too efficient.”
“You can never be too efficient.”
“Says the CEO,” Margot teased.
“The CEO whose car has probably been stolen,” he smiled, kissing her hard before he left to move it.
He told her what his detective had shared.
“So you rushed right over?” Margot shook her head. “Nori, George ain’t shit. He is no threat, and even if he was, I can handle him. He can’t hurt me.”
Nori admired her confidence, but he refused to underestimate a credible threat. “Why don’t you leave your wayward ex-husband to me, hmmm?”
She looked at him suspiciously. “Why? What are you gonna do?”
“Me? Nothing. What do you think, I’m going to travel to Indiana to beat him up?” he laughed.
Not at all. He would be getting a visit, however, from Nori’s lawyer, also known as Lado, who would arrive all official like, full of information on how statutes of limitation for domestic battery did not run out. And that the threat of jail time for battery thanks to the photographs and doctor’s reports Margot’s parents had insisted on, was a very real and serious thing. Then, of course, there was the harassment, the letters and slander in the media. All trumped up nonsense of course, but it likely would do the trick to get the creep to back off and stop feeding the bullshit press frenzy.
“Well, do your thing,” she said, shrugging. “I really don’t give a shit what happens to that loser.”
“I’m surprised you’re letting me interfere.”
“So am I,” she admitted. “I don’t usually lean on people like that. But –”
“But?”
She dropped her head back to his shoulder, breaking eye contact. For a moment he didn’t think she was going to answer. And he wanted her to. He wanted her to say that she trusted him, that she needed him to take care of her. That she would always need him to take care of her.
“You’re my baby,” she whispered.
His heart jumped a little, and he smiled as he squeezed her close. It wasn’t the declaration he craved, but it was close enough for now. “Yes, my girl. I am.”
She looked up at him again. He smiled and blinked lazily. It was one of the more subtle signals he used when he wanted to make love. It always worked.
Her work was often luxurious and fierce. Most pieces were a study in excess, but he’d quickly learned that Margot appreciated subtlety. She never failed to pick up on his body’s cues when he wanted her. It was yet another of her more fabulous qualities.
“Let’s go to bed,” she whispered.
He pulled her laughing down the hall.
She yanked free. “Strip,” she ordered. “I’m about to shut the house down for the night.”
He pretended to growl at her, but complied. He was nude in less than 60 seconds. Another 90 seconds had his face and hands cleaned and his teeth quickly brushed and flossed. It only took three seconds to turn back the sheets and throw himself down on top of them. What was keeping her?
He scowled, hand stroking his erection consolingly as he waited.
“Margot,” he called, impatience audible.
No answer.
“Margot! I’m going to start without you,” he warned.
No answer.
Thoroughly irritated, he rose and stomped from the room naked, intent on dragging her away from whatever piece of jewelry had captured her attention. Really, the woman gave new meaning to the word workaholic, which was something coming from him.
“Margot! What the hell are you –” He stopped dead.
The front door was open, and George stood there, rather unsteadily, in the living room. Nori looked around, scowling. Where the hell was – “Margot!” She was lying on the floor by the door. He hadn’t seen her right away because the couch blocked his view. He rushed forward, completely forgetting that he was naked until the man began to laugh.
“That bitch’ll be a’ight. She done took worse hits than that lil’ love tap I just gave her.” George gestured at Natty’s cock, weaving in a slow circle before stumbling forward. “But you might need to get dressed. ‘Cuz I don’t get down like that, partner.”
Nori didn’t even think, he just swung. Later he’d admit he hadn’t even looked to see where George landed, he’d been so intent on getting to her.
“Baby,” he whispered, kneeling to touch her carefully. Her lip was cut. That bastard had hit her hard.
She moaned softly as he gently examined her head and neck for visible injuries. He exhaled roughly in relief when her eye lids fluttered and opened.
“Nori,” she began confused, then her eyes cleared and narrowed. “That bitch George hit me! Where is that mother fucker?” she began to struggle to her feet.
“Take it easy, baby,” he said, laughing in relief. “That must have been some punch he gave you; you were unconscious.”
“Shit,” she touched her lip. “Yeah, well, a sucker punch’ll do that to you. That no good ass prick. Where is he?”
They both heard George groan at the same time.
Nori looked sheepish. “I got him back for you.”
“Baby, put some clothes on, ‘cuz I’m about to call the police and have that bitch arrested.”
“And the police were extra rough with George’s ho’ ass,” Margot told her girls the next day. “Thankfully, that drunk bitch was nice enough to argue and struggle, adding resisting arrest to the litany of charges I filed on that fool.”
Tommy and Lani were agog at the drama.
“That nigga must be bat shit crazy,” Tommy said, shaking her head as she applied Neosporin to Margot’s face.
“Crazy and fucked up,” Lani laughed. “I am too tickled ole’ Nori knocked that punk out with one blow!”
“My baby ain’t no joke,” Margot said, grinning proudly.
“Where is Sugar Ray?” Tommy asked. “I’d have thought he’d be right up under you.”
“He was, but he had to go into the office for a little bit. He’ll be back.”
“I still can’t believe George’s dumb ass had the nerve to come over here drunk, startin’ shit!” Tommy said.
“Okay? I had just got off the phone with his bitch ass. Turned out he was around the way talking shit on a cell phone. He told the police he didn’t hit me, I tripped and fell. But his low life ass started stuttering when they asked him why he was at my door drunk, uninvited, in the first place.”
“He was probably still drunk when he made up that lie,” Lani guessed.
“Okay? Dummy. I had to file a restraining order, all type a shit. Low life. Once you let a loser in your life, it’s like trying to get rid of roaches to get ‘em out.”
“Hard as hell,” Tommy finished. “’Cause they keep comin’ back.”
“I n
ever seen nothin’ like it! Let a bitch start doin’ half way decent, and he pops out the woodwork like some demented ass fairy. I couldn’t believe it when he tried to make out like Nori attacked him. Thank God the police weren’t buyin’ it.”
“How could they?” Tommy asked. “This ain’t his house, and there you stand with your face all fucked up.”
“Okay? They threw so many charges at his poop butt ass he’s literally gonna drown under the weight.”
“One can but hope,” Tommy muttered. “Feel like talking some business?”
“Always,” said Margot. “I need a distraction from all this mess. I barely slept a wink. Poor Nori was so shook he spent most of the night pacing, barking into his phone to every lawyer he know, then got up at the crack, ran, then went to work!”
“I’m gonna go clean the closet,” said Lani. It was her go to activity in times of stress.
“Don’t make no mess!” Margot called after her.
“Like that’s gonna help,” Tommy laughed.
Margot just rolled her eyes. They spent the next hour discussing the fine jewelry line Tommy was pushing. She wasn’t sure she wanted to get involved. It was a completely different price point, and part of her appeal to her fans was her affordability.
“They like that I been in the game this long, and I’m still affordable. I come out with this, I could alienate a whole slew of my regulars. Those repeat buyers who come back collection after collection and impulse buy.”
“Stop bein’ so scary,” Tommy scolded. “You ain’t gon’ alienate nobody. It’s not like you’re suddenly not making the more affordable stuff. You’re just branching out. Give people something to live up to! You gotta think bigger, girl. Don’t limit yourself. Besides, this is like Ineffable, a capsule collection. Only it’s Yarne,” she said naming the owner of the high end chain of jewelry stores she’d be partnering with. “It’s one little collection. 12-15 pieces. It doesn’t work out, you dissolve after one cycle, no harm, no foul.”
Margot thought about it for less than a minute, “You’re right. I’ll work up some designs. He say what range he was thinking about?”
“From $15,000 to $125,000.”
Margot whistled. “Damn, pimp!”
Tommy gave her a look like, now! How ‘bout that? “Nori ain’t the only one swinging first and asking questions later.”
“You sure do,” Margot laughed. “And I like that in you.”
She turned over the paper Tommy had written notes on and began doodling on the back. Several minutes passed and she was unaware Tommy watched her in satisfaction in between sending emails on her phone.
“I never thought I’d say this to another living soul,” Nori said later. “But you work too hard.” He was massaging her hands. He’d seen her shaking them, and coaxed her to sit down beside him on the couch so that he could take over.
He was excited when she told him about the Yarne deal. He’d noticed how she told him, carefully, hesitating when she revealed the price range for the collection.
“They’re not my competition, Margot,” he laughed, then laughed harder when she relaxed. “Think about yourself,” he scolded, sounding so much like Tommy that she laughed. “Besides, once the average person sees the beautiful, expensive pieces you create for Yarne, where do you think they’ll go to get what they can afford?”
“My web site?”
He swatted her thigh. “Yes, and they’ll come to Ineffable. There’s more than enough of you to go around.”
“You think?”
“I know.”
What the hell kind of men had she been with that she expected him to be jealous of her success, to not celebrate it? He wanted to ask, but hearing how someone had mistreated her – especially on the heels of the George incident – would almost certainly piss him off. Actually, hearing about another man period might make him pop a blood vessel.
He was still fucking pissed about her sad sack, ballsy as fuck ex-husband having the unmitigated gall to come right to the door and abuse her, under his fucking nose at that! If he could help it he’d never let her out of his sight again.
They both had to work, but Nori was already hatching plans to tie himself firmly to her coattails, including having a state of the art studio built for her in his office. As soon as the architect drew up the plans, he was planning to show them to Tommy.
He had no qualms about engaging that lady’s manipulative brain to coax Margot into accepting the space. He already knew she’d refuse. She could be unbelievably creative. Sometimes it literally boggled his mind how many new jewelry designs she came up with every week. She was also an unabashed free-spirit about a lot of things, her speech, her clothes, her beliefs. But it could be tough to get her to leave her comfort zone, and her main comfort zone was her home. He’d have to make the space so lovely, the equipment so tempting, she couldn’t resist.
“This new Yarne collection will undoubtedly boost sales for ours,” he said now. “By the time it’s ready to launch, the Ineffable line will have been out for a while, we’ll have products online to sell, and your accessories line will be ready. One thing will feed the other.”
“Candy was serious about that? I thought she was just, thinking out loud.”
“Candy never just thinks out loud when it comes to business,” he assured her. “She’s too interested in her bonus. She already showed me the business plan for the line: umbrellas, scarves, totes, clutches, sunglasses, when she started talking different products based on geographic region I had to reign her in, for now, but it should be fabulous. I’m surprised she hasn’t talked to you about it already. With the right promotion, she’s predicting it will make us all a fortune overseas.”
Margot laughed. “What was she hatching, Harajuku dolls in Japan or something?”
“Close,” Nori laughed. “Hello Kitty only with diamonds.”
“Hey, don’t knock Hello Kitty. It’s an icon over there.”
“I know it, and so does Candy. Did I tell you I promoted her?”
“No. But it was a good move. She has great ideas, and she does bring in a lot of business, new artists and such, right?”
“She sure does. She brought me you. Best hire I ever made,” he teased. “And now that she is officially part of the executive leadership team at Ineffable, she’ll bring in even more.”
She leaned over and gave him a slow, deep kiss. “Aren’t you clever,” she whispered, sighing happily when he switched to her other hand and began to rub.
“I am.”
“Actually she did send me an email a few days ago. I haven’t got around to reading it yet. That’s probably what it’s about. You’re also an amazing hand masseur,” she sighed happily.
“You need an assistant. You shouldn’t let your emails go. What if it’s about business? Which in this case, it probably is.”
“People know to call Tommy. Haven’t you seen my signature? It says, if you want an immediate response pick up the phone and text.”
He laughed softly, placing a last kiss on her palm and pulling her into his lap. He nuzzled her. “Are we old before our time? Staying home while our friends run the streets? Tommy called to invite you somewhere earlier didn’t she?”
Margot shrugged, which meant, yes.
“Would you have gone if I wasn’t here?”
“Maybe. Depends on if my work was going good.”
“You don’t have to stay home because of me, you know. You could bring me with you. I am house broken, and I have enough money to buy several rounds of drinks.”
Margot grinned. “Yeah, smart guy, I know. But knowing Tommy, there’s someone there she’s trying to do business with, and she thinks nothing of pimping me or any of her friends out when it’s convenient.”
The sad thing was he knew she was telling the truth. He’d seen Tommy use whoever was nearby to get what she wanted. Charm was one of her greatest tools of the trade, a fact she readily confessed to, and she wielded it like a scalpel. If he hadn’t known for a fact that D
om was having the time of his life trying to tame her, he’d wish the poor bastard luck.
“When I first met her, she told me she dealt partly in this world, and partly in the unconscious mind. Fantasies, she said, were where the magic happened. It was up to her to figure out who longed for what, and then give it to them.”
“Yup, that sounds like her,” Margot laughed. “Want a drink?”
“Yes, please.”
“Alcohol?”
Nori shrugged. He hadn’t been drinking much since he began dating Margot. “Whatever you’re having.”
He watched her walk away. She was wearing his favorite shorts. He’d convinced her to only wear them in the house. At least, he’d tried to. She changed if they left home, but who knew if she bothered if he wasn’t around. He should spy on her one day to see.
Christ, he was losing it. This wasn’t the first time he’d thought about spying on her. He’d never thought of himself as a jealous man before he met Margot. Now he realized he’d never been jealous before because he hadn’t cared. Now he glared at any man who looked at Margot, no matter what their age.
Even toddlers were suspect, demanding little imps, always cooing and carrying on, rubbing their little faces in her cleavage or latching on to her legs like leeches, small paws clutched around her slender limbs like they owned her. He’d seen it happen twice already with tiny boys. Cute, his ass. They were miniature horn dogs in the making.
He thought he hid most of it – mostly because Margot could be completely oblivious to everything when she was working, and she was always working – but he couldn’t take anything with her for granted. He was afraid to. There were horny mother fuckers everywhere just waiting for him to slip up. He saw them when they went out, watched them watch her. He saw them sidle up when he left her to go to the bar or to use the head. Bastards.
Jeremy laughed his head off watching him hustle to get across a room once. They were at Reiko’s family’s bar, and a tall, flashy looking Hispanic man had leaned in presumably to talk shit in Margot’s ear.
Ineffable Page 18
