Ruthless

by Shelia M. Goss

  The doctor examined Delilah some more. “Ms. Baker, you had us concerned about you for a minute. I think you’re in for a full recovery.”

  “Thank you,” Delilah whispered.

  The doctor looked in Sheba’s direction. “That lady over there has been here every day.”

  “Doctor, I’m grateful for all you’ve done,” Sheba said, with tears of joy in her eyes.

  “You’re the voice I heard in my head, aren’t you?” Delilah’s eyes looked in Sheba’s direction.

  Sheba responded, “Yes. I’m your sister.”

  Chapter 8

  David stood nearby and watched the exchange between Sheba and the patient. Even with all the tubes and Delilah’s swollen face, he could see the resemblance. From appearances alone, the woman who went by the name Delilah was Sheba’s older sister. Still, he hoped Sheba would get the DNA test just to remove any doubts.

  He felt like an outsider, but his feet were planted. He was not going anywhere anytime soon. He moved so the nurse who had entered the room could get by.

  “Can you two step outside?” the nurse asked, speaking to him and Sheba.

  David led Sheba into the hallway.

  “She’s going to be fine. Praise the Lord,” Sheba repeated over and over.

  “Yes, praise the Lord,” David said.

  Sheba stopped and for the first time seemed to remember he was there. “Do you go to church?”

  David wished people wouldn’t automatically assume the worst about him. David was a God-fearing man who knew from whence his help came. He knew without God’s blessings, he would not have obtained the riches he had over the years. David communicated with God daily. David had an anointing on his life. He knew it, and his dad, who was no longer with him, knew it.

  “Without God, I am nothing. I don’t go as often as I should, but the Lord knows my heart,” David responded.

  “I’m surprised. You seem a little too arrogant to think highly of anyone but yourself,” Sheba said.

  David pouted. “My feelings are hurt. I’m confident, that I admit, but arrogant I’m not. God could take all I have with a snap of my fingers.”

  “You’re right about that. I’m glad to know my husband is working for a God-fearing man.”

  “Yes, that he is. You asked me earlier why I was still here. Well, since we’re on the subject, I went to the chapel. I prayed for your sister. I prayed for you.”

  David could see her eyes watering. Tears streamed down her face. David didn’t know what to do, so he did what was natural. He placed his arm around her. “It’s going to be okay.”

  “Thank you. I’ve been snapping at you. Here you are, praying for my sister. Forgive me, please.”

  David reached up and brushed her hair. He had been wanting to touch her hair from the moment he laid eyes on her. He inhaled the apple scent. “You’re forgiven. Pull yourself together. Your sister needs you.”

  David handed Sheba a tissue, and she wiped her face. “I’m usually not this emotional.”

  “Most women are emotional, so your reaction doesn’t surprise me.”

  “Well, I’m not most women,” Sheba said as she headed back to Delilah’s room.

  “No, Ms. Bathsheba, no, you’re not. You’re an exceptional woman,” David responded, out of her earshot.

  It looked like his duty there had been served. He thanked God for answering his prayers and left the hospital. Two hours later he was fastening his seat belt on his private jet. Less than an hour after that, his plane was landing in Dallas.

  Before going to bed, David said a quick prayer. Exhausted, he slept eight hours straight, something he rarely did. On average, he got five hours of sleep a night. The eight hours weren’t dreamless.

  In his dreams, he was holding Sheba in his arms and running his hands through her ebony tresses. He could still smell the apple scent, and when he woke up the next morning, he had a craving for a ripe red apple for breakfast.

  A few hours later he was in his corporate building, overseeing a meeting in one of the huge conference rooms.

  “Is there anything else anyone has to say before we disperse?” David asked as he sat at the head of the long, oblong table in the conference room.

  He looked around the room at the staff of ten who sat around the table. No one said a thing. He continued, “Well, that’s all I have for today. I will see you all later. Wade, could you please stay behind? There’s something I want to discuss with you.”

  Wade, looking nervous, remained seated. Once everyone was out of the room, Wade said, “Yes, Mr. King?”

  “I’ve decided who I want to go to Afghanistan.”

  “Do you want me to make the call, or do you want to?”

  “Tell me what you think. I think Simon is the best for the job. However, he shouldn’t go alone. Inform Simon that I want him to head the satellite office, but I want Uriah to go with him to assist. Those two together will have the office up and running in no time.”

  “But what about the Shreveport office? Who should we get to run it in Uriah’s absence?”

  “Uriah can do both. The bulk of the responsibility in the Afghanistan office will be Simon’s, so I don’t see why Uriah can’t run the show remotely. Do you?” David leaned back in his chair while waiting on Wade’s response.

  Wade appeared to be in deep thought. “I guess it can work.”

  “Guess? I didn’t get this far by guessing. I want you to be sure.”

  “Yes, Mr. King. It’ll work. We’ll make it work.” Wade sounded much more certain this time.

  “Good. Now, make those phone calls. When you get Uriah on the phone, transfer the call to my office phone. I’ll be in there.”

  David got up and left Wade alone to make the phone calls.

  “Mr. King, you have a visitor,” Trisha, his secretary, said as he walked past her desk.

  “In my office? You know I don’t like people in my office when I’m not there.”

  Trisha opened her mouth to speak, but David had left her desk and was inside his office before she could say anything. David’s blood pressure lowered when he saw his good friend Nathan McDaniel turn around.

  “What’s up, my man?” Nathan asked.

  David gave Nathan one of their fraternity handshakes. Nathan and David had met in college and had been best friends ever since. Nathan was one of the few people David knew who would keep it real with him. Most people were too busy trying to kiss up to him to tell him the truth.

  Trisha’s voice came over the intercom. “Uriah Richards is on the phone for you.”

  “Put him through,” David responded, then said to Nathan, “Man, give me a minute.”

  David took a seat and swiveled his chair around. “Uriah, how are things with your lovely wife?” He paused and listened to Uriah. “Yes, I heard the good news.” Apparently, Sheba hadn’t told Uriah that he was there when Delilah opened her eyes. He shifted the conversation to the job. “I wanted to tell you congratulations on your new position.”

  After a few minutes, David ended the call. He turned his chair around, and Nathan was looking at him suspiciously.

  “Man, what are you up to?” Nathan knew David better than anyone, and David knew it was hard to hide something from him. He wasn’t surprised that Nathan had picked up on David’s ulterior motives.

  “Nothing. I’m innocent,” David said.

  Nathan shook his head. “Thou protests too much.”

  Chapter 9

  “You’re going where?” Sheba shouted.

  Uriah reached for her, but Sheba jerked her body away from his embrace. “It’s only for a few months. I’ll be going back and forth between here and Afghanistan.”

  “What am I supposed to do in the meantime? You have a wife. You have responsibilities here.” She folded her arms. How could Uriah abandon her when she needed him the most?

  “Baby, with the Internet, we can Skype. I’ll be gone for maybe six months at first.”

  “Six months? That’s like a lifetime. The
longest we’ve ever been apart is three days. Count them.” Sheba used her fingers to illustrate her point. “One.” One finger popped up. “Two.” She held up a second finger. “Three.” She now held up three fingers in total.

  “It’s not as bad as it seems. Those six months will fly by.” Uriah tried his best to convince her, but Sheba wasn’t having it.

  “So when are you supposed to be leaving?” Sheba asked.

  “Monday morning.”

  “That’s in two days. What’s David’s number? I can’t believe he’s taking my husband away from me.”

  “Baby, calm down. I’m not giving you his number. You’ll make me lose my job.”

  “Forget your job. Any job that takes a husband away from his wife for long periods of time is no job worth having.”

  Uriah pulled Sheba into his arms. “Look at me,” he said. She refused to. He placed his hand on her chin and tilted her head up so she was looking into his eyes. “Look at me,” he repeated.

  Sheba rolled her eyes. “What, Uriah? Looks like you’ve already made up your mind.”

  “Baby, I’m doing this for us. You want the new house. You want to do all of the shopping. Well, me going to Afghanistan will only get us in the new house sooner. The bonus I’ll be making for taking this transitional position will put me in the high six figures.”

  “I’m trying to be understanding. I do want the house, but it doesn’t mean I’m happy about this. I love you, baby, and I don’t want to stay in this house without you in it.”

  “It’s only temporary. When we get the office set up there, I’ll be coming back here. You know it’s temporary because I’ll still be overseeing the Shreveport office.”

  Sheba thought about it. He had a point. If he wasn’t being removed from his Shreveport post, then the Afghanistan job was only temporary. Her gut told her that it wasn’t a good move, but knowing that she would be in her big two-story house sooner and would not have to hear Uriah complain about her spending money pushed her reservations to the side.

  Uriah went into the bathroom. Sheba picked up her phone and called her manager. “Uriah’s leaving for Afghanistan. I need to take the next few days off,” she explained. “I’ll work doubles if I have to. It’ll be six months before I see him again.”

  “I didn’t know your husband was in the military,” her manager said.

  “He’s not. His job is taking him there. I’m not happy about it, but it’s something he has to do, or he might lose his job.”

  “Consider your time granted.”

  Sheba thanked her manager and then ended the call. She watched her husband reenter the room. He sat down next to her on the edge of the bed.

  “I don’t want our last few days together to be memories of us arguing,” he said.

  Sheba said, “They won’t be. I just took the next few days off. Ironically, the day you leave is the day I go back to my regular shift.”

  “Let big daddy make you feel better,” Uriah said.

  “No, baby. Let me make you feel better,” Sheba said. Sheba wanted her husband to be fully satisfied so he would not be tempted by any women that he came across. Six months was a long time.

  About an hour after their lovemaking, Uriah lay next to her, snoring. Sheba remained wide awake. She rubbed his arm. She loved the feel of his arms around her as she slept. She would miss it. She knew she could be a handful at times, but she loved her husband.

  They had met while in college and had been practically inseparable ever since. They had been surprised to learn they both were from Shreveport and knew some of the same people. Getting married young wasn’t in Sheba’s original plans, but how could she say no when Uriah proposed to her? He was everything she felt she needed in a man at the time. She loved him with all her heart. Her mother adored him, too.

  The only regret she had was that she and Uriah had never had any kids. It wasn’t that they hadn’t tried. She’d stopped taking birth control pills over five years ago. A part of her hoped that maybe he would plant a seed in her before leaving for Afghanistan. She rubbed her stomach as she thought about Uriah fathering a child.

  “I love you, Uriah,” Sheba said before drifting off to sleep.

  The next morning, Sheba was awaken by the gentle nudge from Uriah. “Breakfast in bed, sleepyhead.” He smiled.

  Sheba did a morning stretch. “It smells good.” She sat up as Uriah presented her with a tray holding some of her favorites. Grits, scrambled eggs, and turkey bacon. “All of this for me?”

  “You’ve always loved my breakfast.”

  “That’s because that’s the only meal you can cook, my dear,” Sheba teased.

  He laughed. “While you’re eating, I’m going to take my shower.”

  Sheba got up and washed up and then returned to eat her breakfast. Uriah’s cell phone rang while he was still in the shower. Thinking it could be an important call, Sheba answered it.

  “Maybe I have the wrong number,” said the female voice on the other end.

  “Who were you trying to reach?” Sheba asked. She was quickly losing her appetite.

  “Is this Uriah Richards’s number?”

  “Yes, it is.”

  “Good. This is David King’s secretary. He wanted me to connect a call with Mr. Richards.”

  Sheba was relieved. For a second, she thought something else was going on. “You can put him through.”

  “Thanks. Hold on a second.”

  “Uriah,” David said.

  “No, this is Sheba, and I have a bone to pick with you.”

  Chapter 10

  David was surprised to hear Sheba’s voice on the other end. She got on David’s case about sending her husband out of the country. “Sheba, I thought you would be glad that I was giving your husband an opportunity to make more money.”

  “But did you have to send him to Afghanistan? Don’t you have another office you want to open up in New York or somewhere? Anywhere but Afghanistan.”

  David doodled on the notepad in front of him. Did he want this woman so bad that he was sending her husband into enemy territory? If he were truthful, the answer would be yes. Simon was more than capable of handling business there without any assistance. All he had to do was make a phone call and Uriah would not be going anywhere.

  “Sheba, this is nothing personal. It’s business,” he lied. David heard Uriah’s voice in the background.

  Sheba said, “Here’s Uriah. You owe me.”

  “I plan to pay up, too,” David said mischievously right before Uriah got on the phone. He spent the next few minutes following up with Uriah about some plans of his that he wanted to see implemented when he got there. “If you have any questions, I’m only a phone call away,” David said.

  “Mr. King, thank you again for this opportunity.”

  “No problem. When you come back, I may end up losing you to another company, because you’ll be able to demand your price.” David laughed.

  “Mr. King, I’m loyal to you. You don’t have to worry about me leaving to go anywhere else,” Uriah assured him.

  “That’s good to hear. I’ll talk to you once you get settled in Afghanistan.”

  David ended his call with Uriah. He closed his eyes for a brief moment. Psalm 69:5 crept into David’s mind. O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.

  David could pretend with Nathan, but he knew God knew everything. Even though he knew it was wrong to send Uriah away, David pushed the thoughts of canceling Uriah’s trip to the back of his mind. What’s done is done.

  Trisha chimed in on the phone. “You have a call from NBN News. There’s been a leak about your deal in Hong Kong.”

  “Tell them I’m in a meeting, and then get Wade in here pronto.” David hit a button under his desk, unlocking his door.

  A few minutes later Wade walked in, looking flustered. “Trisha told me.”

  “Who let this leak? Some heads are about to roll.”

  “Mr. King, the leak didn’t come from my office.
I promise you that. I’ve been handling this directly myself.”

  “Now that it’s being leaked, I have no choice but to make an official announcement.” David hit the intercom button on his phone. “Trisha, I need you to work with Wade and get a press release typed up.”

  “This trade agreement between us and the news affiliate in Hong Kong isn’t such a bad thing,” Wade said, trying to assure him.

  “No, it isn’t, but I decide when news is told. We have a leak in-house, and I need to find out who. When I do, he or she better hope I show mercy.”

  Two hours later David had to exit his own building by the back door because reporters were camped out in front. David enjoyed the riches of his success but hated some of the things that came along with his rise to power. Not having privacy and being hounded by nosy reporters were among them.

  He also hated to be called the black Trump. He was his own man. If anything, he wanted them to call him a man of God. That was who he was imaged after. Not some man who happened to catch a lucky break and make millions.

  David’s driver eased through the alleyway and out into the Dallas traffic. He had eluded the reporters, and David was happy to have avoided them once again. He had a dinner function to attend later on that night. It would give Wade time to prepare a statement and send it out to the press.

  He dialed Wade’s cell phone number. “Wade, how’s that press release coming?” he asked as he flipped through a business proposal he wanted to go over before Monday.

  “I just e-mailed it to you. I’m waiting on your approval, and then I’ll get it out to everyone,” Wade said.

  “Great. Hold on.” David downloaded the press release while Wade was on the phone. He read it. “Sounds good. Send it.”

  David was home only long enough to shower and dress. His three-piece, custom-made suit fit his body perfectly. He called his date for the night, Heather, to let her know he was on his way to pick her up.

  David made a few phone calls while his driver drove to pick up Heather. He was still on the phone when they pulled up to her address. He sent the driver to her door. He could tell by the frown on her face that she wasn’t too happy about it. His eyes scanned her body and hoped that he could replace her frown with a smile later that night.