by Candice Dow
“You told me this was easy.”
I wrapped my arms around her, because I had told her this job was easy. Technically it is if you can subtract emotion from it. I thought I’d explained that to her, but obviously it didn’t get through. I thought it would be best if she stayed with me and that way Ramon could be there to watch over the both of us. We went into her bedroom to pack her things. She started showing me all the gifts he’d purchased for her over the past six months. The cards he’d given her. It’s no wonder she assumed they had something special. I felt sorry for her, while at the same time I understood him.
When we arrived at my house I figured I could convince her to have an abortion. After I showed her where she’d be sleeping, I told her to come down to the kitchen and I would make her something to eat. I had some leftover turkey burgers and string beans. It was just enough to feed Taina, Ramon, and myself. We sat down at the dining room table and it felt good to actually have some people in my home. While I dealt with people all day, every day, I was still somewhat abstracted from personal interaction. We ate and just had superficial conversation, but I was actually enjoying myself. I hoped that after a good meal Taina would be ready to talk.
I asked her to come into my study with me. When we sat down I grabbed both of her hands. “So, Taina. Tell me this. Why do you want this baby so bad?”
“London, I’m twenty-six weeks’ pregnant.”
She was still as thin as ever. My mouth hung open. Abortion was practically out of the question so late in the game. I nodded. A part of me was frustrated. I felt like she had intentionally waited until it was too late to do anything about it.
“So why did you wait until now?”
“I don’t know. I just couldn’t believe it for a long time and I thought it was best to wait until I absolutely had to tell somebody.”
That was just dumb. I didn’t know how they expected me to get rid of her now. I wanted to smack some sense into her, but what good would it do at that moment? I just wanted to run away. I had no clue where I was going but this was a burden and I didn’t think it was my fault. My only mistake was believing this girl was emotionally stable, but as she sat there telling me that Ervin would come around, I knew I was dealing with a complete basket case. I told her to just go to bed.
I didn’t think my brain could deal with any more. Ramon sat in the living room concentrating on the television. I went in to check on him and he told me he was fine and that I should go to bed. He had everything taken care of. It was a good thing that Thorne had known what was coming down the pipe and had already booked Ramon prior to Ervin’s coming to my house. He had known what we were in for and I had been completely oblivious.
I went up to my room, and although Ramon was right downstairs I was scared. I didn’t want to shower. I didn’t even know if I wanted to lie in bed alone. My cell phone rang and startled me. I tossed it on the bed. I wasn’t sure I even wanted to be fielding calls anymore. I just let it ring. When it stopped, I picked it up to check and the call was from an unknown number.
It rang again. Then, after maybe the tenth ring, I tiptoed downstairs. When I passed the room Taina was sleeping in, I peeped in on her. She was resting like she didn’t have a damn care in the world. A part of me wanted to choke her. Here I was being harassed for her stupidity. When I got down into the living room, I told Ramon about the phone calls.
He told me to stay down there with him if that made me more comfortable. When the phone rang again he told me to answer. The caller had a raspy voice. “Get rid of that bitch.”
Then the caller hung up. I wanted to cry but I didn’t have the energy. I told Ramon and he admitted, “They’re not playing. We’re going to have to do something with her.”
“Like what?” I asked, with my eyebrow raised.
“Maybe send her to another state.”
“I can’t make her move if she doesn’t want to.”
The darkness surrounding his deeply set eyes stunned me. He said, “What’s not done by choice is done by force.”
I didn’t know what he was insinuating, but it was definitely not something I wanted to be a part of. But on the other hand I wanted the harassing calls to stop. I wanted my life back.
Ramon could see how petrified I was. He affirmed, “We’re not going to hurt her. We’re just going to convince her that leaving is in her best interest.”
It seemed like a pretty good plan, but I wasn’t sure it would work. Ervin had this dumb girl twisted, and I felt like she would hold on as long as she could. It didn’t seem like I could reason with her. I planned to follow Ramon’s lead, hoping it would get us somewhere.
30
Two more days of harassing calls and my employees called from Unleashed to let me know that they’d received a bunch too. This had consumed my life. Ramon told me that he could get someone in Immigration to pull Taina’s visa, which would force her out of the country. That seemed like a wise plan.
Since she was technically an employee of Unleashed, I would act as if Immigration had contacted me. Ramon’s contact drafted a letter claiming that there was an error in the initial application and since she wasn’t in school and hadn’t made a certain amount of money in the past year, Immigration was after her. It was a long document and I knew she wasn’t emotionally stable enough to interpret it all. So Ramon and I went home to talk to her. I started first. I said, “Have you tried to contact Ervin?”
She claimed she hadn’t but I knew she had. He was her lover in her mind, but in mine he was a dangerous man and I wasn’t trying to play any games with him. This girl was a damn airhead and I had to get rid of her like he said. And I wasn’t willing to lose my life for her.
I said, “The reason that I’m asking is because I received this package at work today. Basically, it’s from Immigration and it seems crazy that it just came. I have a feeling this is Ervin’s doing because he has a lot of connections.”
“What?” she asked anxiously.
“Well, it’s threatening to deport you. They contacted me because I’m your employer. Obviously they have already been to your house. We don’t want to play with them. If you violate, it’s harder to get back in again.”
“No, I want my baby born here.”
“Listen, Taina. The last thing you want to do is have your baby here and then be deported. How are you going to afford to have a baby? I can no longer employ you. You don’t have a work visa anymore. I’ll be in violation if I allow you to work.”
“No. No. I don’t believe you.”
Her accent was strong and resentful. She stood up and proceeded to stomp up my stairs. I rushed behind her and Ramon followed me.
“Taina, you don’t get it. You have to go. I can no longer protect you or I’ll be in trouble. I don’t plan on being investigated by Immigration.”
“You are just trying to keep me and Ervin apart.”
I looked at Ramon like Is this girl crazy or what? He smiled patiently at me like everything would be okay. I couldn’t imagine. Taina was a huge obstacle and Ervin knew that she would be hard to reach so he had to threaten me to get her out of his hair. Damn, did he expect me to kill this girl? Because that was probably the only way she would stop. She paced the floor in her bedroom and I sat on the bed. Ramon stood in the doorway.
“Taina, I’m not trying to keep you guys apart. Ervin is crazy. I’m sure he had your file pulled in Immigration and he’s trying to keep you guys apart.”
After I made that statement, and I recognized the instability heightening, I reverted back to appealing to her love for him, like Thorne had initially suggested. I guess he’d seen enough in his time to know how to deal with every situation.
“Look, I’m sure Ervin loves you but he’s up for a major promotion and he’ll be scrutinized and he will be ruined if people find out about you. But I do believe he loves you. He probably wants to be with you, but right now it’s just bad.”
Her puppy-dog eyes batted and she looked at me like I had all the answers. “Y
ou think?”
“I know. He just doesn’t want to ruin his reputation right now.”
“But why didn’t he just tell me that?”
“Aren’t you scared?” She nodded. “And I’m sure he’s scared too. He doesn’t know how to handle this. He just wants it to settle down and I’m sure he’ll come back to find you. True love always does.”
She smiled. “So you think he’ll come back.”
Ramon cosigned. “Yeah, he’ll come find you, but right now you don’t want to deal with Immigration.”
“I will have to do everything over.” She looked at me. “But can’t you sponsor me?”
“Taina, let this die down. Go home and have your baby in a healthy environment. You don’t need all this stress. Then I will sponsor you to come back to the country.”
“Really?”
“Yes, I will.”
“When do I go? You think Ervin will see me before I leave?”
“I doubt it very seriously. The stakes are too high for him.”
She dropped her head. This crazy chick was really in love with Ervin. I felt sorry for her, but not sorry enough to die. I wanted this girl out of the country by any means necessary.
“We’ll go to your place and get you packed up tomorrow. We can book the flight tonight. Have you told your parents that you’re pregnant?”
“My mum knows.”
“Is she happy?”
“She wants me to come home.”
“See, you need to be with someone that can help you. Once the baby is born and you’re comfortable with motherhood we’ll work on getting you back here.”
I actually hoped she’d lose my number, but I tried to appease her as much as possible just to get her out of there. Walking toward the bedroom door I said, “Relax and I’ll give you more information about when you have to leave.”
She nodded, but she definitely didn’t want to go. It was all over her face. I walked past Ramon and rolled my eyes. He smiled and followed me. I went downstairs into the study and quickly started looking for flights. Ramon said, “You need to go with her to make sure she gets out of the country. She could do anything after she gets past those gates. You want to be on the plane with her. Once she’s out of the country she won’t be able to get back in.”
“I don’t want to go to Germany just to make sure she’s gone.”
“Sometimes you have to do what you have to do in order to have your peace.”
Ugh. I hated this job. The money was definitely not worth this headache. Even while dealing with Taina, I had still been arranging hookups. I really wanted to plan my exit strategy, but I’d become dependent on the income. The life I lived was no cheap ride. I dropped my face into my hands. I wanted this whole issue to just disappear. Now I had to fit into my schedule some time to fly to Germany.
I searched flights and several had a layover at Heathrow. Ramon said, “If you get her to England, she’s out of the country. Why don’t you take the first leg with her and let her continue on without you?”
“Will you go with me?”
“Sure, why not?”
“Well, if you go we can stay a few days and come back. I really don’t want to fly over and fly back. That much flying close together zaps your energy. I’d be out of it for a week anyway. So I may as well enjoy the city and then come back.”
“Hey, I work for you.”
We scheduled our flights for two days later and I found a nice boutique hotel for me and Ramon to stay in. I booked two rooms. I didn’t assume that he was interested in staying with me. Not to mention that he worked for me and so he couldn’t afford to pay what I charged for a night of my time.
I took Taina home the next day and told her to get all her necessities, and I hired a storage company to come and get her furniture. I told her that I’d pay for storage while she was away. Of course, I was still trying to convince her that she would be coming back.
A car came to pick up the three of us the next morning. Taina’s suitcase looked like it could carry the Rock of Gibraltar inside. Both Ramon and I had medium-sized bags. When we got to the airport I felt like I was one step closer to peace. I just hoped she didn’t pull anything tricky. Every step of the way she was surprisingly calm. After we got on the plane, I was so anxious for the cabin door to close. We backed away and she still appeared calm.
It was about six in the morning when we arrived in England. I finally exhaled. Her connecting flight departed about two hours after we arrived. We sat at the gate with her and, when she boarded, I unthinkingly hugged Ramon. “Thank you.”
“Why are you thanking me?”
I breathed heavily. “I wouldn’t have been able to deal with this if you hadn’t been there. Thorne didn’t have time to deal with it and I probably would have cracked. The Immigration idea was so ingenious.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Let’s go.”
We left the airport for our hotel. In the taxi I sat close to Ramon. He was tall and strong. His skin was the color of honey. His pecs were puffed up like he could bench-press a ton. His hair was dark and even. And his face was clean-shaven. Damn, as if I had been too stressed to recognize, it hit me. Ramon was super-fine. I got a tingle in my panties just thinking about him, but I knew it was better that we just maintain our business relationship.
So I tried to push the daydream I was having about him out of my mind. Instead I went back to discussing Taina. “You can’t imagine how happy I am that this is over.”
“She was definitely complicated.”
“To say the least.”
We laughed and the taxi pulled up to our hotel. It was grand and architecturally pleasing: large columns and flags protruding from them. It was like we were royalty as the staff hurried over to the taxi to help us out and take our bags.
31
I’d traveled many places, but never had I been to my namesake and I loved it. Ramon and I had neighboring rooms. When we arrived at my hotel room, Ramon continued past and headed to his. He watched as I put my key in the door. I said, “If you have trouble opening your door, you can always come in my room.”
He laughed. “Do you want me to come in your room?”
“Only if you want to.” I shrugged. “I would feel safer.”
He walked toward me and I began to smile. I don’t even know why I was entertaining this notion. It wasn’t like he would be interested in pursuing a relationship with me. And from the moment Thorne had told me that if a woman is not in a committed relationship, she should never have sex for free, it was a belief I lived by. I had been a call girl for so long I wasn’t even sure how to pursue a nonbusiness relationship. What I did know was that I was very attracted to Ramon. He wasn’t rich like my other clients and he probably couldn’t afford my lifestyle, but there was something calming and peaceful about him. And since I’d been the boss I hadn’t even had sex that often, so I was definitely ready to be touched.
I opened my door and he came inside. “There’s only one bed in here. What are we going to do about that?” he said.
“Haven’t you ever slept in bed with a platonic friend?”
He smiled. “Actually, I don’t think so.”
“You’re kidding me.”
“Actually, I’m not. I can sleep on this sofa if you want.”
In an effort not to be too forward, I said, “That’s fine.”
I went into the bathroom to wash my face and to put on my short teal spaghetti-strap nightie. I pulled my hair into a ponytail and brushed my teeth. When I walked out, Ramon had on nothing but a pair of navy Polo boxer briefs. There is no way one man should be blessed with a body so tight. His skin looked like satin and every bulging muscle was just the perfect size. Now he could definitely have me for free. I stood there stunned. He lay on the sofa and I kept staring. He asked, “What’s up?”
“Nothing.”
“You look beautiful.”
“Thank you.”
I wanted to tell him how fine he looked too but I couldn’t
bring myself to, and I figured that if I responded at that moment we’d be in bed together. If it was going to happen I wanted it to be his idea, and I didn’t want it to happen on the first morning there. Men have funny rules about whom they will or won’t take seriously. If I was going to be giving it away, I wanted to be taken seriously. I already had one strike: He knew about my call girl activities. My plan had been never to disclose that to men I could potentially date.
I climbed into the bed and scooted to the middle, hoping he’d ask if he could get in, but he didn’t. When my head hit the pillow, I thought I’d be knocked out. Instead I lay there thinking about Ramon’s body and his personality. I attributed my tripping to my lack of exposure to men who weren’t clients. After nearly an hour of tossing and turning, I finally went to sleep.
When I woke up several hours later I looked over at Ramon resting peacefully on the couch. I turned the television on and the volume blasted out. I quickly tried to turn it down, but Ramon’s eyes popped open. I said, “I’m sorry.”
He sat up. “What time is it?”
“It’s three o’clock.”
“Wow. I had a pretty good sleep, considering you made me sleep on the sofa.”
“You could have slept in the bed.”
“One thing you’ll learn about me is that I only go where I’m wanted.”
“So are you saying that you were waiting for me to ask you to get in the bed?”
“Absolutely.”
I shrugged. “So do you want to do something today? Maybe go to dinner or schedule some sightseeing?”
“Yeah, I’m down with whatever. We’re here. We may as well have a good time.”
I got out of bed and walked past Ramon. He looked me up and down. I knew he wanted to know what I was working with, but I decided to be a tease for a little while longer.
He told me he was going to go into the other room to get ready. I began to dress. It was quite brisk in early April and I wasn’t sure I would be able to stay out long. I’m a warm-weather girl.
