Just as Herschel reached the threshold to his office, he noticed a figure seated opposite his desk. As he inched closer his nerves started to get the best of him. The very person he didn’t want to see any time soon was sitting comfortably as if she owned the place. He wondered how Vera had gotten into the building let alone his office without him noticing.
Sensing that she was not there for candid chit chat, he proceeded to walk into the office to find out what this visit was all about.
“What are you doing here? This is my place of business. I don’t want any problems.” Closing the door behind him in hopes that his voice wouldn’t travel, Herschel hoped that this meeting would be quick. He had never feared a soul in his life, but the twisted mind of this woman put the fear of God in him.
“Herschel, I hope we don’t have any hard feeling between us. Have a seat.”
The nerve of this woman. She had drugged and violated him in the middle of the night and now she was in his office a week later as if nothing had happened, expecting him to forgive and forget? He wanted to throw her the hell out and wondered if he needed to file for an order of protection. Assuming she knew he wouldn’t do that as that would mean he would have to possibly implicate himself as well, he feared that she held the power over him. He felt helpless.
“What do you want?”
His lack of patience was like venom on his tongue. He needed this to be swift. There was no time for her antics.
“No time for pleasantries, eh? Okay, I’ll cut to the chase. I may need your help in the coming weeks and need to know what your price would be.”
He was convinced that this woman was crazy as hell now. First, she tortured him and now she wanted to pay him to help her? Not even needing to hear her entire proposal, he began to shift uncomfortably in his seat.
“I, uh… I’m confused.”
“Like I said, I hope there aren’t any hard feeling between us. I mean put yourself in my shoes. Someone rapes you and sparks the catalyst for your marriage to fall apart in one night, you would be angry too. I was due for you to feel an ounce of the pain I’ve had to live with.”
Only there had been no pain. He didn’t need to know that. She hadn’t felt as much of a victim as she felt that her plans had been deterred. But he didn’t need to know that. However, what happened was now a part of history that she had to hang onto. She needed the man in her pocket as she carried out her plans.
“That aside, I’m not sure how I can help you.” Everything about this interchange was confusing to Herschel. However, he couldn’t deny there was a bit of serendipity in the midst. If she was asking him how much she could buy his allegiance when Nigel was so adamant that he wasn’t owed anything else, she was worth hearing out. Perhaps he could get what he needed from her.
“When I divorced my husband, I didn’t have all the information that I have now. He really had me thinking I did something wrong. I knew that I didn’t give you permission to creep into my bed that night, but the way he had that security footage chopped up I didn’t have much of an argument. So, I just walked away. Well now, knowing what I know today, it’s time to shake some shit up. Nigel has to pay and I’m talking in a major way. And let’s be honest, he put you in the position you are in right now. Don’t you think you are owed some retribution as well?”
Vera shook the leg that was extended over the other. The skin of her smooth skin glistened under the light of the office. Along with the slick talk from her tongue, the woman exuded a tone of elegance to go along with her confidence. She was intoxicating and he felt guilty by the thoughts that continued to enter his mind as he took a look at her.
She knew what he was doing. He wondered what was wrong with him. Surely this wasn’t right. Everything about this interaction, them being together, her proposition, everything was wrong. The only problem was she presented him with a solution that he didn’t even know he needed until this moment. And all he could think about was how badly he wanted to finish the job he started five years ago. Even after what she had done to him, he still found her attractive.
“I guess I’m just confused. The last time I saw you…”
“We were on different terms, at odds. I get it. You couldn’t even remember who I was. Our interaction was a bit one sided. I get your apprehension. So, let me just tell you this. You are apart of my plans whether you like it or not. Now it can either be voluntary or involuntary. The choice is yours.”
Vera rose up from where she was seated. She did so slowly as to allow his wandering eyes to continue to linger on her fit frame. She could read him like a book and knew where his mind was going. Of course, this was a part of her plans as well. Seduction was one of her oldest tricks and had almost always worked.
Knowing how to dress for any occasion was important. This visit called for a skirt that fit like a glove and stopped mid thigh. Her heels were four inches high with a deep arch causing her calf muscles to arch just so. When she stood, those same heels allowed her firm bottom to sit up and at attention. Her blouse dipped low at her cleavage allowing an onlooker’s imagination to run wild. The kill switch was her perfume. It could fill up a room without being too overpowering. The aroma merged with that of her natural pheromones causing instant attraction.
Success was shown by the glint in a man’s eye. The reactions were slow at first and then obvious. However, they never failed. And it didn’t matter the status of the man, married, single or involved. She always saw the response behind their eyes.
Like now. Herschel was puddy in her hands. He didn’t have to say a word and she still knew what he ultimately wanted. Despite their interaction the week prior, he still wanted her. And now with her proposition on the table, things were about to get even more interested.
“I’m in.”
23
“Vera, darling. I see you are keeping up with your weekly spa appointments. What’s it been, five years?”
Hearing the voice of her former mother in law, Vera sat up in the spa chair she had been resting in and removed the cucumbers from her eyes. Before her stood the single woman she had loathed from the core of her spirit and the feeling had always been mutual.
Dalia Washington had never cared for Vera. She had known this from the very first day that she was introduced to the older woman. Her ex-husband had warned her that his mother could be a piece of work. What Dalia hadn’t known was Vera had already done her research and was prepared from the very beginning.
Things between the two hadn’t started out sour. It began when the late Nigel Washington Sr. had taken a liking to his daughter in law in an innocent way. As far as Dalia was concerned, there was nothing innocent about it. She didn’t care for Vera’s background story and took every opportunity to remind her of this fact.
“Dalia, are you confused? I changed my personal pampering day in hopes that I didn’t have to put on airs when seeing you. Surely you haven’t come out of your way just to see me.”
Vera reclined as she had before her meditation was interrupted. Placing the cucumbers back over her eyelids, she wished the older woman would eventually leave her personal space. That however was too much to hope for as she knew eventually a meeting of the two would occur.
“I think it is you who are confused. What is this mess I hear about you keeping a child away from my son? What kind of scam are you trying to pull over him? Was it not enough that you had to have an affair, on your wedding anniversary no less, but now you blindside him with a child? I won’t have it!”
Vera allowed a smile to unfurrow across her face. Not only did she have Nigel unsettled but it was obvious that now Dalia was starting to become unhinged as well.
“Oh, how mistaken you are on so many fronts, Dalia. In fact, you don’t know your own son as well as you think you do.”
Knowing that she held a few cards over Dalia’s head was satisfying. “What are you talking about?”
“Well for one I’m sure he told you DNA testing confirms my son is your grandson.”
“Tests
can be altered. We will be requesting our own lab results,” Dalia responded quicker than she could get the words out of her mouth.
“You and Nigel can request as many tests as you like. The results will remain conclusive.” Vera was confident in that. So much so she had already informed her son that he may have to take a few more mouth swabs after the initial testing. She did not put anything past the Washingtons.
“Honestly Vera, what kind of woman keeps a child away from their father?”
“The type of woman who was set up to be raped by her ex-husband so he wouldn’t have to pay alimony upon their divorce.”
It was at that moment that Vera once more peeled the cucumbers off of her eyelids. This time she wanted to see Dalia’s face as she dropped that bomb. The look on the elder woman’s face only added to her elation. Vera was due every ounce of vengeance for what she had been through.
“What are you talking about?” Dalia was caught all the way off guard. Self consciously her right hand went towards her collarbone as she grabbed at the string of pearls that hung around her neck.
“You heard me correctly. And I have proof. Your son is not innocent and he knows what he has done. He just didn’t expect me to find out. Well I have proof, so Dalia dear, I think you are worried about the wrong things here. And while I guess you called yourself coming here to check me, you have some sweeping around your own home front door that needs to be done.”
Vera stood to meet Dalia eye to eye. She needed the woman to know that she was not intimidated by her at all. If only Dalia knew all that Vera had been through in her lifetime, surely she would not have underestimated her.
“That can’t be.”
“Why don’t you ask your son himself? Everything that is about to happen next is his fault.”
Vera gathered the few belongings she had in the room before she made way for the door. She was ready to get dressed and leave the spa. Her time with the massage therapist had been up. She had only been resting afterward as she often did. But now her space had been invaded. And while it was an anticipated visit, she had become bored with her company.
Dalia could not believe what she had heard. Knowing she needed to speak to her son and quick to determine the next course of action, she tried to gather her thoughts. Just as Vera reached the doorknob she called out.
“Vera, what is the child’s name? My son didn’t seem interested, but I want to know.”
With a smile Vera turned on her heels. “Now Dalia, I know how much a stickler for tradition you have always been. Of course he is Nigel Washington III.”
Leaving the room satisfied, Vera knew things were only just warming up. She knew that audit paperwork would be showing up soon for her ex-husband. There were many more meetings that would come in the near future. This was far from over. While she may have won that one chess match, the war was still brewing.
24
“I’ve raised a damn fool.” Dalia was enraged as she rode home from the impromptu visit to the spa. The confrontation did not go at all as planned. Then to make matters worse, the child her son seemed so uninterested in was a namesake. There was absolutely no way that she could sweep this under the table. If this saga became public, it most certainly would destroy the family legacy. The embarrassment alone would cause her to have to change her entire social circles.
“Answer the phone dammit!” she screamed as she drove top speed in the direction of her son’s home. He had truly made a mess out of his life, but he would not make a mockery of their family name. This needed to be fixed and fixed right away.
Throwing her phone down in the passenger seat of her car, Dalia drove the rest of the way in silence fuming from the information she had just been fed. How many lies had her son told her over the years? Had she not provided the very best that she could for him? Why was he this way, she wondered.
Pulling up behind his vehicle, she barely put the car in park and shut it off before hopping out. With a sense of superiority, she used her key to walk right into his home without knocking. She didn’t owe him any courtesies. He certainly hadn’t done that for her.
“Mom?” Nigel looked up from the dining room table where he had been seated with a snifter of dark liquor and ice swirling around in his hand. In front of him lay documents that would prove to make a bad situation worse.
“Why the fuck did you not answer your phone?”
There was only one person on the face of the planet that could make Nigel feel as though he were two inches tall. She was always able to do that to him. Looking at the anger in her eyes told him that this day would be no different. The only problem was he had absolutely no energy to deal with her antics. Something told him that she wasn’t there to comfort him.
“It’s on silent. I needed a moment to myself.” He wanted her to pick up on the clue that he just put down. Knowing that wasn’t going to happen, he took a sip of his drink.
“What have your father and I ever done to you to make you such an insufferable asshole? Can you please tell me? Was it the cars, cash clothes while you were away at boarding school? Perhaps it was the money spent on the best Ivy League college to continue your education. I swear for God, I never thought I’d be raising someone with a pea for a brain and over a million dollars in schooling hanging on their office wall.”
Nigel cringed. He had known from the phone call he placed to her she would take no time digging deeper into the issue at hand. It wasn’t enough that he could barely focus on anything other than his personal drama. Here was his mother coming in to make matters worse. He wanted to tell her that he would handle it. Wanted to assure her that everything was under control. However, upon receiving news that there was going to be an audit attached to the impending paternity suit his ex-wife filed, things were far from a controllable status.
“Mother, I really don’t have time for this. I have a lot of things I need to figure out.”
“Well you need to make time. You paid someone to rape Vera, Nigel! Really! What in the entire fuck? You mean to tell me that tape you showed in court was all a lie. I’ve been hating this woman for what she did to you only to find out that you just wanted to divorce her and didn’t have the balls to pay her? Well look how your plans back fired! I hope you are ready to fix this! Do you know she named her son Nigel Washington III! That means you can never truly carry out the family legacy now. You’ve broken it I hope you know. You’ve fucked up everything.”
This had been the most he ever heard his mother use such colorful language in his life. He knew that everything she said was true. He had been selfish from the very beginning. However, he took after his mother in that regard.
Still, as his own mother stood there inches away from him, he did not feel compelled to tell her the truth. “You know what? I am so sick and tired of you throwing in my face how much money you’ve spent on me over the years. I am your son! You were supposed to provide for me.”
His voice rose above an acceptable decibel. She would address that later. For the moment she saw that she would have to steer the conversation back on track. “Nigel, that is a topic for another day. And just so your entitled ass is clear, no one on the face of this earth owes you a damn thing. Now I want you to look me in my face and tell me that Vera is lying. That what she told me today has no truth to it. I need to hear it straight from your lips. I need you to be honest for once in your damn life about the type of man you are! Right now, all I can see is a snake and your father is flipping in his grave I promise you that.”
Her last words finally pushed him over the edge. As if the stress of everything he was dealing with was not enough, he finally was through with his mother and her ways. She made him the way that he was. Every deceitful unkind thing that he had ever been was because of her. She had to know that and if she didn’t, it was time that she found out.
Pushing himself up from the table he stood to meet her eye to eye. “You want to know the truth? Yeah, I did it. I paid someone to sleep with Vera the night of our seventh anniversary knowing i
t would be captured on video. I then had that video edited to tell the story I needed to look good in court. I did all of this so that we would be able to divorce before the terms of her prenuptial agreement were over. And it had to be that night. All of this shit here is an unexpected consequence and I’m still puzzled on how it could have happened given her medical condition. My goal is to get to the bottom of it so I can save myself.”
“Save yourself from what? The hell that you will surely burn in for what you have done? What is wrong with you? Our family has more than enough wealth to not miss whatever pennies you would have had to pay her in alimony.”
That part was true; however, his mother would never understand the level of suffocation he felt daily from being married. He was always covering his tracks as to not have his infidelity be found out by his wife. That would have given her everything she needed to ruin him when the prenup was dissolved. He had to get to her before she got to him.
And sure, there were things that he missed about her presence. Nothing that he was willing to admit to Vera directly of course. Even with the vague memories of everything that his ex-wife had done for him over the years, the fact still remained, he had no intentions of sharing his net worth with her.
However, here he was. In a situation he had not anticipated. He was about to have his finances audited to get a true picture of his wealth so that she could get the full amount allowed by the state for the child each month and he hadn’t even met the child yet. He didn’t even have a desire to, even with the child carrying is namesake.
“You won’t ever understand why I had to do what I had to do. It doesn’t change the past even if I wished I did something different. I have to deal with the present.”
The Confident Woman Page 10
