Beloved by You

by Sloan, Molly

  Oh, god. Now she was that girl kissing her ex-boyfriend in a bar, but she was too electrified to care. Every place on her body that he had ever kissed or touched remembered the feel of his mouth and hands. It was all she could do to stay on her side of the table and not crawl into his lap.

  “Damn, Red,” he whispered. “We’ve been drinking. We should not be doing this, but god...I really don’t want to stop kissing you.” Andrew captured her mouth again. Tongue plunging into her mouth, hot and searching, making her forget that she ever had inhibitions.

  “Mmm…” he moaned as he pulled away again. “We’re both a little drunk. I should get you home. But I strongly suggest that we resume this again when we’re both sober. Let me settle up this bill.”

  Janet watched him walk toward the bar. She respected the fact that he wanted to revisit this when they were sober and clear-headed. But part of her wished that he wasn’t such a gentleman and would take her back to her cottage and make love to her.

  Chapter Nine: Seal the Deal

  He was done for.

  Andrew had been reliving that kiss in the bar all night after he dropped her off at the orphanage. He knew that he had done the good and noble thing by taking her home but his body didn’t agree. He’d spent a considerable amount of time in the shower trying to alleviate the need that those kisses had inspired. After a hard run and a slow rub and tug, he came to one conclusion:

  He was still in love with Janet.

  And while that kiss in the bar, the one on the street corner while they waited for the light, and the ones on her doorstep were amazing, he didn’t want to take this a step further until he knew they were on the same page.

  Ding. It was a text message from Janet. “Good morning, handsome. You up?”

  Laughing, he typed back. “Always.”

  “Last night was amazing. I can’t stop smiling.”

  Andrew was delighted to see that she was happy about the kisses. He was afraid it would be a block of text detailing why it had been a mistake. Instead, here they were flirting.

  Ding. “I have what you need. You know, what I promised you last night?”

  Oh, this was fun. “Is that so? When can I have it?”

  He laughed when she texted back the names and contact information of the community leaders he could talk to. He forwarded that one part to Fiona. Carefully.

  “Will I see you later, Red?”

  “I hope so. Can you come by after your morning meeting?”

  “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

  Andrew, Winston, and Fiona had a meeting at the Department of Mines at 9:00 am. Fiona had the paperwork squared away and they were going over the documents before a 9:30 with Mykel Batou. He was still unsure about Cole and the financing, but he had to keep things moving forward.

  In the car on the way there, Andrew’s phone rang. It was Claudia’s ringtone.

  “Sis’? Is everything okay? It’s late over there.”

  “Yes! Everything is okay. Better than okay.” Claudia’s normally composed demeanor was replaced with an almost giddy flush to her voice. “We have the financing. Cole signed the investment papers tonight!”

  Andrew did a fist pump. “Yes! Way to go Claudia. He won’t be sorry. This investment is going to pay off. Not only in terms of money, but in helping a community that really needs it. Thank you so much.”

  “Now, you go seal the deal at the Department of Mines.”

  Cole and Claudia had worked out the investment end of things in New York. All systems were a go. The meeting was just a formality.

  Fiona was waiting in the lobby of The Department of Mines with the paperwork in-hand and a cup of coffee for Andrew.

  “I heard you had quite the night. I figured that you may need this.”

  “Good news travels fast. Are these the documents?”

  “Yup. You know the drill. Sign and initial next to the tabs.”

  “Gotcha.” he took the pen from her and proceeded to apply his John Hancock where it was required. “Did you contact the list of community leaders I sent you?” he asked as he scribbled away.

  “Yes. I’ll call Janet and see if we can set up a meeting this evening.”

  “Good. That’s great.”

  Fiona sipped at her coffee, then leaned in close to him. “Can I say something?”

  Andrew cut his eyes at her. “You’re asking to speak your mind? Since when is that a thing?”

  “I have no problem talking to you about business related stuff, but…”

  “This is about Janet,” he finished for her.

  “Yeah, you two have history.”

  “We do.”

  “I’m gonna say this and you can take it or leave it, but I think you need to be careful about involving an ex in your business dealings. Most exes are exes for a reason.”

  “Fiona, I really appreciate your concern, but…”

  “Am I late?” Winston asked as he jogged up.

  Fiona looked irritatedly at her phone as Andrew stood to greet his friend.

  Winston looked at the cups in hers and Andrew’s hands and said jokingly, “You didn’t bring me a cup of coffee?”

  “I’m his assistant. Not yours,” she said with a shrug. “Besides. You’re late.”

  “Mr. Atherton? Mr. Konteh?” the receptionist called out. “Mr. Batou is ready to see you now.”

  “Well,” Andrew said. “Let’s get this over with.” Fiona stepped aside to make the call to Janet while Winston and Andrew went through the glass doors to the offices.

  Mykel Batou was more pleasant and forthcoming than he had been at previous meetings. He was more than happy to facilitate the purchase of both mining sites and didn’t even question what would happen to the cemetery or where Andrew got the information that they could buy both parcels from. He simply took their signed contracts, initiated the transfer of funds and shook their hands.

  “It was a pleasure doing business with you,” Mr. Batou said.

  It was disturbingly easy, but Andrew didn’t dwell on it because it meant that he could go to the orphanage for lunch.

  “I guess he really only wanted the money,” Winston commented as they walked out the front door of the building. “No concern for the people at all.”

  “I’ve always found that in business, compassion is more rare than diamonds, my friend.”

  Chapter Ten: Deja Vu

  “Good morning, A Place for Grace. This is Janet.”

  “Janet, hi, it’s Fiona. Andrew’s assistant?” Her voice was artificially sweet.

  “Oh hi. Nice to hear from you. What can I do for you?”

  “This morning over coffee, Andrew showed me the text you sent with the names of the community leaders you wanted him to contact. We called them, and we were wondering if you could join us at our hotel for a meeting.”

  Our hotel? He showed her the text? The one she sent when he was in bed? What was Fiona doing in his bed? Visions of them in bed, drinking coffee and making those calls made her nauseous. Her head started to spin. He was a little drunk. Maybe all that kissing got him too turned on, and he knocked on Fiona’s door at the hotel, and…

  “Well?” Fiona sounded impatient.

  “Why don’t we all meet here. For dinner. At my cottage. 6:30.” At least if she were going to see them together, she could do it on her own turf. Hitting the “end” button a little too hard, Janet struggled to focus on her work while her stomach churned.

  Composing a text to Andrew, Janet wrote, “Too busy for lunch today. Don’t come by. See you and Fiona at dinner.” Tears in her eyes, the words blurred, as she hit “Send.”

  “Can I come to dinner and see Mr. Andrew too?” Oba looked up at Janet with those big, pleading eyes. “I won’t spill anything.”

  “No, little king. This is a business meeting. Mr. Andrew will be leaving soon after he finishes his business here. But I’ll come back and give you a kiss goodnight. Okay, Oba?”

  Janet’s heart was heavy. All of her fantasies about Andrew
and getting back together were just that. Fantasy. He was the same playboy she knew from college.

  “And so here is a list of things we intend to do for the community, now that we have the parcels that surround the cemetery.” Fiona passed out a list to each of the leaders that sat around Janet’s small table.

  “I wanted to meet with you all at once so that we could decide together what is best for the community.”

  Andrew kept trying to catch Janet’s eye with furtive glances and smiles, but she avoided his glance. Just get through the dinner and he will leave and you’ll never have to see him again. You can do this.

  Fiona was really putting on a show for Janet, too. Leaning over Andrew’s shoulder as she pointed to something on the list. Refilling his iced tea whenever he took more than three sips. It was clear there was something going on between them, even though Andrew was pretending there wasn’t.

  “There are a lot of things that Atherton Diamonds can provide for the community on the land surrounding the mine — schools, hospitals with special accommodations for patients with HIV/AIDS where they can receive the best and latest treatment. We also want to build a place where families can be together during long hospital treatments.”Andrew looked at Janet, as if for approval, but she just looked away.

  He’s just using his money to try and get me into bed. I’m not falling for it. I’m not that girl.

  As the meeting drew to an end, and everyone was trickling out the door, Andrew caught Janet’s arm. “Hey. I haven’t talked to you all night. I missed you today.”

  “Did you?” Janet couldn’t stop the tone from seeping into her voice. “I was busy today. Sorry.”

  “Are you upset with me, Red? Did I do something?” His face looked crestfallen.

  He was so clueless.

  “You could say that. Listen, I promised Oba I’d tuck him into bed. I need to go. Good luck at your final meeting with Mykel tomorrow.”

  Leaving him with a confused look on his face, Janet turned and walked out her own front door, swinging her red ponytail behind her.

  Chapter Eleven: Betrayed

  “ I do not understand women, Winston. At all.” It was 11:00 pm and Andrew was running his frustration off at the hotel gym. Winston was seated near him, texting someone on the phone.

  “They are mysterious creatures, mate. That’s for sure.”

  “I mean, one minute Janet and I are flirting and making plans to see each other, and then the next minute she’s ice cold to me.” He turned the speed up on the treadmill. “I don’t even know what I did!”

  Just then, Andrew’s phone began to ring. It was Claudia’s tone. Andrew hit “stop” on the treadmill and answered the phone. “Claudia? It’s the middle of the day there. Is something wrong?”

  Her voice sounded stressed. “You could say that. It’s this mining deal. It’s falling apart.”

  “What do you mean? We signed the papers yesterday. Fiona wired the deposit this morning. I’m just going in in the morning to pick up the confirmed copies.”

  “That’s what I thought too. I got a call this afternoon from a business friend of mine. That Mykel Batou? He’s crooked. Those papers you signed were fake. He took our money and still owns the land.”

  Andrew was blinded with rage. “What the hell?” He ended the call abruptly. “I’ll get to the bottom of this and call you back.”

  Winston, who had only overheard Andrew’s side of the conversation, looked up, shocked. “What is going on?”

  At that moment, Winston’s phone buzzed. “Yes? Wait, what? They’re where? Oh my god. Thank you for calling. We’ll be right there.

  “Andrew. That was…a friend of mine. She called to tell me that there are bulldozers right now down at the cemetery. They are going to raze the grounds in the middle of the night! We need to get over there.”

  The lights could be seen from a mile away. The Department of Mines had set up huge focus lights that illuminated the entire cemetery. As Andrew sped down the winding roads that led there, his heart pounded with fury. “I can’t believe he did this. He stole our money and is now going to desecrate graves that have been here for hundreds of years. Under the cover of darkness, no less. How can someone be that disgusting?”

  Winston answered as he texted. “They’ll get their karma. Don’t you worry.”

  Andrew’s hands gripped on the steering wheel as he replied, “It will be sooner rather than later if I have my way.”

  Dust flying in the dark, Andrew and Winston screeched up to the dirt lot next to the grave site. To his surprise, Janet’s friend Radhika stepped out from the shadows and into the beam of light from the headlights, and headed toward them.

  “This is your friend?” Andrew looked at Winston. “This is who you’ve been seeing in town?”

  Winston grinned and looked down as he unbuckled his seat belt. “We can talk about that later. We have some destruction to stop.”

  Radhika and Winston embraced briefly and then headed toward the cluster of lights and bulldozers. Andrew sat in shock for a moment before he heard his friend say, “Come on mate. We need to hurry.”

  Andrew was still wearing his athletic clothes, and so he took off in a sprint toward the site. As he got near, he saw what could best be described as a standoff. On one side of the graves were a group of a dozen or so construction workers, wearing hard hats and standing in front of looming bulldozers. Facing them in a human chain that made a perimeter around the entire cemetery was a huge group of, probably 10,000 locals. Nearly a tenth of Francistown’s entire population had come out to protect the graves.

  As he approached the group, he saw Mykel standing near one of the construction workers. He was still wearing a suit. Who wears a suit at midnight? Andrew couldn’t help but wonder.

  “What the hell is going on here?” Andrew stormed up to Mykel, whose eyes widened in fear.

  “We are performing within our legal rights, Mr. Atherton. I’m afraid there was an error on the paperwork you signed, and we are still in ownership of this land. Please step aside, or I will have you arrested.”

  Eyes blazing in fury, Andrew grabbed Mykel by his collar. “You are right that there has been a mistake. But the mistake was you thinking that you could get away with this. You have NO idea who you are dealing with. Zero. My family has been in the mining business for more than two hundred years. Do you know what that means, MYKEL?” Andrew was so close to him that his name had come out like a bark.

  Mykel, whose throat was still in Andrew’s grip, tried to swallow as he shook his head.

  “It means that we have a lot of friends. Friends in high places. And we also have friends in low places. Very low places. Do you know what I mean by that?” The last part of the sentence came out as a menacing whisper.

  Mykel’s forehead was beading with sweat.

  “This is what is going to happen. Listen very closely to what I say, because I will not repeat myself. You are going to call off those bulldozers. They are NOT going to be tearing up the graves of these people. Not tonight. Not ever. You will not dishonor their ancestors like this. Do you understand so far?”

  Mykel nodded yes.

  “Then, I am going to arrive at your office at 9:00 sharp, and you will have legal versions of the paperwork I signed yesterday. If I find out that you pulled any more bullshit, you will be very, very sorry. Your career will be over, to say the least. Your government will face decades of legal battles. And, more importantly, you will never get a good night’s sleep again because you will never know when one of my friends will come to your door in the middle of the night.” He released Mykel’s throat. “Got it?”

  “Yes.” Mykel was rubbing his neck where his shirt had been choking him from Andrew’s grasp.

  “Oh, and one other thing. The Department of Mines will pay for the headstones for every family who needs one for the next five years.”

  Before he could hear Mykel’s response, Andrew turned and walked away. Passing Winston and Radhika, he simply said, “We’re
good here. See you in the morning.”

  Chapter Twelve: Coming Together

  Janet popped open the top of another beer and handed it to her friend David while he was regaling the group with the story of what had happened last night at the cemetery.

  “There must have been fifty thousand people there!” David said, gesturing his hands wide.

  Janet laughed as she sat down at her dining room table. “Really, David? We all know you have a tendency to exaggerate.”

  It had been a while since Janet had hosted a dinner with the women who had befriended her when she first moved to Botswana. Although David was not a woman, his flamboyant personality made him a welcome addition to the group.

  They still met for the occasional beer and ranting session, but whenever they came together like this, around her kitchen table, Janet couldn’t help but feel warm, fuzzy feelings of family that made her wonder why she didn’t do it more often. These are my real friends, she thought as she looked around the table at Elyse, Radhika, David and Coral, a local teacher.

  “Speaking of last night,” David lowered his voice to a gossipy whisper, as he turned to Radhika, “are you going to tell them who I saw you kissing in the shadows last night, or shall I?” He had a mischievous smile on his face.

  Radhika's ebony skin flushed a little as she grinned. “I think we have more important things to talk about. Like how Andrew saved the cemetery.”

  The deflection didn’t work. David blurted out, “It was Winston! That is who Radhika has been sneaking off to see!”

  The women’s faces lit up with happy surprise. ”Winston! Radhika, why didn’t you say anything?” “Sister, he is seriously handsome.” “And that accent!” They all chimed in.

  Radhika commented softly. “I didn’t say anything because I’m not sure if it’s going anywhere. He doesn’t live in Botswana, as you know. But, I do really like him…”

  The other women and David just nodded and started talking about how Winston and Radhika could be together. But, Janet’s mind started to wander as she thought of Andrew.