by J. P. Comeau
“The only reason I’m even letting you into my home is that I don’t want to be seen with you in public. And I mean it. I want you out of this partnership, once and for all. Whatever is on that paperwork is probably complete garbage, anyway.”
“It’s not like I haven’t been to your penthouse before, Jorge. I remember it like the back of my hand. In fact, I can still feel your large bed underneath me as you—”
“Stop it, Ria! Now.”
If I hadn’t been so concerned about her ruining my reputation within the diamond community, I would have gotten a court order against her and handed everything over to my lawyers. I couldn’t believe that I’d ever gotten mixed up with her in the first place. Sure, she had been pretty good in bed and knew how to do her part in the business aspect. But her beauty was only skin deep.
And after being with Ginger, I realized that Ria wasn’t all that pretty in the first place. She’d gotten far too much plastic surgery on her face, slowly morphing into a creepy doll that looked like a cat, and her fake breasts were too damn hard. The first time I had pressed my body up against them, I had winced in disgust.
She was the complete opposite of Ginger; whose soft and feminine body was perfect in every way.
As we pulled into the parking lot of my penthouse, I was thankful that Ginger was at work that afternoon. She had made it clear that while Guadalupe had given her the option to work from home, she didn’t use it because she loved working at the spa. She and Eva got to gossip on their breaks, and I was sure she was looking forward to when Margo returned from maternity leave.
I threw the car into park and rushed inside, vaguely hearing Ria ask why I wasn’t helping her with her luggage. “Because you’re not staying here, Ria. Now get inside so we can get this over with.”
The two of us sat down at my dining room table, which was large enough to seat a dozen people. Ria tried sitting down next to me, but I pointed to the opposite end to keep her far away. She practically threw a bunch of paperwork in front of me, which I quickly scanned as she tapped her fingers on the table.
“You don’t have to read every damn line, Jorge.”
“Bullshit.”
It took me about fifteen minutes to review everything, and my blood was boiling by the time I was done. I sat back in the chair and glared at Ria.
“Why are you so angry, Jorge? I told you it was no big deal. I would never steal from you!”
“You’re really something else, aren’t you, Ria? Did you think I’d buy any of this crap? Everything you have listed here is a bogus expense!”
Ria let out a huff while looking away, pretending to admire my million-dollar artwork on the walls. “If you’re short on cash, Jorge, just tell me, and I’ll spot you some. There’s no reason for you to go through this just to get some money.”
I threw the papers in her direction, causing them to scatter all over my marble table. “You know damn well that I can spot a fake diamond from a mile away, Ria! What makes you think it’s not the same with these so-called legal documents?”
Ria stood up and made her way over to me, very slowly while sashaying her hips. “You know what you need, Jorge? You need to relax. And if memory serves me correctly, I know just what to do.”
I stood up as she was about to get onto her knees. “Stop it, Ria, right now! I mean it. It’s over between us! And I’m sorry if I’ve misled you, really I am.”
Ria’s hands turned into fists at her sides. “You son of a bitch, Jorge! You have been leading me on all of this time! If you didn’t like me so much, then why have we been sleeping together? Why did we have sex nearly every damn night while you were in Antwerp?”
“We haven’t been intimate in months, Ria.”
She started walking toward me. “That’s because of Ginger. You say she’s just a friend, but I know she’s the reason for all of this Jorge. I bet you wasted no time getting your dick wet with her too!”
I put up my hand to stop her from getting any closer. As much as I enjoyed venting my frustrations at her, we needed to keep it about business. “You need to calm down, Ria, because regardless of how we feel toward each other, the truth is that we’re still legally connected. Now sit back down at the table so we can get through everything, all right?”
Ria yanked out a chair and sat down, once again drumming her nails. “So, what now?”
“Once again, I’m offering you a large sum of money to buy out your partnership. Five-hundred million dollars. Considering that you embezzled nearly a million dollars, I’d say that’s a pretty good deal, Ria.”
She rolled her eyes at me. “Oh, please. Do you really think I’d accept a measly half-billion dollars out of you, Jorge? You’re worth so much more than that, honey, and you know that I can ruin your career in an instant. I have more leverage in the diamond industry than you think, possibly even more than you.”
“Bullshit, Ria! What more do you want out of me? I can’t think of anyone else who would turn down all of this money, given that you could be jailed for theft! Which would you rather do? Spend your life behind bars, or walk away with a shitload of money? Your choice.”
All I could think about was Ginger, and how much better my life would be once I was with her and not Ria. Ginger didn’t care about this sort of stuff. Sure, she liked diamonds and probably the fact that I made a lot of money. But she wasn’t anywhere near as superficial as Ria, and she was beginning to bring out the best in me.
“The longer I’m in business with you, Jorge, the more money I make. So, long story short: I’m not going anywhere. And you know what I want out of you.”
I leaned back in my chair, pretending to play dumb. “Do tell, Ria.”
“I want marriage, Jorge. Let’s face it. I’m getting older by the day. Sure, you say that you’re in love with another woman, but you know how perfect we are together. And it’s not just the sex, Jorge. We’re in the same industry, for God's sake! That should be enough of a reason for you to marry me!”
I stood up and started pacing, right in front of the large window that overlooked the Atlantic Ocean. “What will it take, Ria, for you to understand that I don’t want to marry you? Better yet, let me be abundantly clear. The only reason we ever slept together was that it was convenient for both of us, and we needed each other professionally.”
“Your mouth says you don’t want me, Jorge, but the one between your legs says otherwise.”
“It might have at one time, Ria, but that’s in the past.”
Tears formed in her eyes as she grabbed her purse and marched toward the front door, her heels clicking against the marble floor. But before she left, she whipped her head back around to look at me. “You haven’t seen the last of me, Jorge. And you can stop lying about being engaged because you know damn well that I’m the best you’ve ever had!”
11
Ginger
One Week Later
It was pretty crowded that night at the restaurant. Eva and I were sitting at the bar, each of us nursing a pina colada while discussing work gossip. She had overheard one of the new hairstylists confessing to an affair with her gardener, and her excuse was that her husband was sleeping with one of their neighbors. Usually, I’d be excited to hear all of the details, but the last thing I wanted to think about was sex.
All I could think about was Jorge getting back together with Ria.
Part of me regretted not going over to his penthouse that day when Ria was inside with him, but I didn’t know how I’d react. Legally he could do whatever he wanted, and if I showed up, I would have only made things worse. But that didn’t stop me from thinking about what could have happened, though. I pictured walking in on them having sex, screaming at them as they saw me, and then storming off. Really drive it home to Jorge that he’d screwed up and would never get me back.
He had been texting me every day for the past week, ever since I saw him come home with her in the passenger seat. Not a day went by where he didn’t beg for me to tell him what he had done wrong, nor did
I feel compelled to call him out on his lies. The two times we’d slept together only confirmed that he was a womanizer I never should have gotten involved with. And even though I was still wearing his diamond tennis bracelet, I finally saw it for what it was—a passport into my panties.
Which was precisely what I’d told Margo.
“Ginger? Are you listening to anything that I’m saying?” Eva made me realize that I was staring off into the distance.
“I’m so sorry, Eva. You were saying that her husband travels a lot or something?”
She shook her head at me while looking concerned. “You’re thinking about Jorge again, aren’t you?”
I glanced down at my phone, secretly hoping that he had texted or called me again. But there was nothing. In fact, it had been several hours since he last made any attempt to contact me. “I can’t worry about him anymore, Eva. Because the more I do, the more I find it impossible to focus on work. And I didn’t spend all of that time in college to throw away a career over some guy.”
“I know you’re worried about ruining your new career, Ginger, but I’ve never seen you this depressed before.”
Eva wasn’t wrong.
“If he and I hadn’t formed such a strong bond before it happened, then I’d probably be over him by now. But we were friends for a whole year, and then he goes and sleeps with Ria after he had told me it was over between them! After I spent my time looking over his books for him! Do you realize what a slap in the face that is, Eva?”
She nodded while sipping the rest of her drink.
Just thinking about it made me want to burst out crying, right there in the middle of the bar. I had never felt more screwed over than I had with Jorge, and it was so hard to think about anything other than him sleeping with her.
“But how do you know they slept together, Ginger?”
I dabbed at the few tears streaming down my cheeks with a tissue. “Oh, come on, Eva. She came home with him in the middle of the afternoon on a workday. Who does that sort of thing?”
“But wasn’t he trying to buy her out of her partnership in the business? Maybe that’s why she was back at his place.”
I shook my head defiantly while trying to suppress the tears streaming down my face, which might as well have been Niagara Falls. “No, Eva. Jorge would have done that somewhere public, not in his own damn penthouse. Oh, God! I can’t believe this is happening. I can’t even go a day without crying over some guy! Who am I anymore? This isn’t me, Eva! I don’t want to be so hung up over a damn guy!”
I accidentally knocked my purse onto the ground. As I picked it back up, Chase and Jorge walked into the restaurant. Jorge and I locked eyes for several seconds, and my heart started beating too fast. I could hear Guadalupe’s voice saying, “What an alto, oscuro y guapo man!”
And he was.
Even though I was filled with rage over what he’d done, I also couldn’t deny that over the year of us talking on the phone, I had learned he was everything I’d ever wanted in a man.
I threw two twenty-dollar bills onto the bar and ran out the door.
Jorge grabbed my hand as soon as I stepped outside, though. “Ginger, please don’t leave! Why aren’t you returning my calls or text messages?”
I turned to face him, and his mouth fell open when he saw how upset I was. “Oh, please, Jorge! I knew you’d go back to Ria! You just couldn’t wait to get her back into bed, could you?”
Jorge looked genuinely confused as he tilted his head at me. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I should have known better. What hurts the most is the fact that we built a friendship before it all happened. Every week we’d talk on the phone, and I’d always go to bed with the biggest smile on my face. Even though I told myself we were just friends, deep down, of course, I was falling for you!”
“Ginger, I haven’t slept with Ria in months!”
I yanked my hand away from him but stopped myself from leaving. If our relationship was going to end, then I at least deserved a chance to speak my mind. “I saw how beautiful she was, Jorge. Gorgeous! Let me guess, she’s a supermodel on the side, isn’t she? And to think that I started developing feelings for you! I never should have done that accounting work for you, either!”
“Ginger, I am begging you to tell me where all of this is coming from.”
Fed up with his lies, I threw my purse onto the sidewalk out of frustration. “I saw you pull into the parking lot with her in your car last week, Jorge. And the two of you went into your building!”
Of course, Jorge looked surprised, because he had thought that I was busy at work.
“That’s right, I bet you didn’t think I’d find out! Well, guess what? I took the afternoon off because I couldn’t stop thinking about you!”
“Ginger, I didn’t have sex with her that day. I haven’t had sex with her in months, and I’m begging you to believe me.”
“Then why the hell did she fly to Miami? Was I not good enough for you? Was the sex too lackluster or something?”
Jorge took my hand, grabbed my purse off the ground, and walked me over to a nearby bench. I reluctantly sat down and snatched my bag from his hand.
“She flew back to Miami to discuss the accounting errors that you found. The only reason I brought her to my place was that I didn’t want to be seen with her in public. She’s staying at her place, and I haven’t seen her since she left that day in a huff.”
My heart rate started to slow down as I took in what he was saying. “Why did she leave in a huff?”
“Because I told her that I never had feelings for her, Ginger, and I never have.”
A few people walking into the restaurant stopped to look at us, but I didn’t care.
“So, you really didn’t sleep with her? You were just trying to get her to leave the business?”
He nodded while rubbing his fingers over my hand. “Look, Ginger, yes, she does want me back, and she actually thought that one day I’d propose to her. Needless to say, that won’t be happening, and now she knows.”
It felt like a cloud had been lifted from over me. “I– I’m so sorry! I had no idea. I just assumed when I saw her get out… I should have trusted you.”
Jorge kissed me, causing my knees to go weak. “You have nothing to be sorry about, Ginger. I’m the one who should be apologizing.”
“So, how are you going to get her to go back to Belgium?”
“Well, I think she finally believes that I’m in love with another woman. After a few choice words, which I’ll spare you from hearing, she seems to understand our relationship was really only a matter of convenience… for both of us.”
I leaned back and looked into his eyes, confused. “Wait, you’re in love with another woman?”
Jorge chuckled while shaking his head at me. “Ginger, the other woman is you. I’m in love with you.”
“Oh, Jorge, I’m in love with you, too. I’m so sorry about not trusting you.” We embraced on the bench, wrapping our arms around each other as people looked on from inside the restaurant. I didn’t care, though.
I was finally back with Jorge. Chase and Eva walked outside as soon as we stopped kissing several minutes later, both of them visibly relieved the drama was over.
Chase shook his head while slow clapping. “Have you two finally worked things out yet?”
“Yeah,” Eva said while smiling, “are you guys all right now?”
Jorge nodded while kissing me again, then squeezing my hand. “We’re fine, but there’s just one more thing that I might need you to do for me.”
I gazed into his eyes while smiling. “Anything for you, Jorge.”
He tilted his head and grinned. “Can you be my fake fiancée for a day?”
12
Jorge
After everything I’d gone through with Ria and Ginger, I took full advantage of working from home. There was nothing better than sliding out of bed and shuffling into my office, where I could get work done without any interference fro
m my employees. But that morning, as I signed onto my laptop, with a coffee in hand, I saw yet another email from the De Veers Diamond Group.
Before I opened it, I knew it had to do with the wages of our workers in Africa and the union was calling for a strike.
I waited for the coffee to finish brewing before reading it. I needed to be fully caffeinated before dealing with this fiasco, which Ria should have taken care of back when it first came up. She was holding out on purpose. Ria was fully aware that I was far too busy to deal with this part of the business, which was pretty much all she was in charge of. She knew what the going rates were for diamond-mine workers and what their unions were like. I didn’t even know what the working conditions were like down in Africa.
I read it while downing my first coffee cup, and sure enough, they wanted more money. I hadn’t heard anything from Ria ever since she had stormed out of my penthouse, but she was signing in to work every day and still doing her job. I decided to give her some time to come to her senses because the last thing I wanted to do was get my lawyers involved. Watching her leave so upset had been the icing on the cake because I knew I’d finally gotten through to her.
But now that I had another situation on my hands, I needed Ria to do her job.
She had all of the files regarding our employees in Africa. I simply couldn’t authorize anything more without going over them in detail, and I knew she wouldn’t give them over to me. It’d be a huge red flag that I was, whether she liked it or not, axing her from the company.
I thought about what to do as my fingers hovered over the mouse. Realizing I had no other choice, I forwarded it to Ria.
Ria,
Please take care of this ASAP. We cannot afford to have these workers on strike for too long. A friendly reminder that I took care of it last time. Since you have all of the necessary documentation and are still on the payroll, make sure you give them a big enough raise so this doesn’t happen again. But not so much that we’re paying them more than the industry standard.
