She was right…I looked down at my flip-flops. My bare chest. Apart from taking off my T-shirt, I still hadn’t changed out of last night’s clothes. I had a five o’clock shadow, dog hair all over me, and apart from brushing my teeth that morning, I felt pretty grungy. I probably looked like a backpacker about to set off for a round-the-world trip. I imagined Pearl at her office; elegant, suited-up, heels. Legs smooth and golden. Cool and relaxed, talking on the phone to clients or in the editing room. A mover. A shaker. And me? I had lost the plot. So much so, I was calling her best friend for clues. This whole situation was ridiculous.
“I’m so sorry Daisy. I haven’t slept all night. I don’t know what got into me to call you. I just wanted some news of Pearl and didn’t want to bombard her with my presence, you know. I’ve kind of been there, done that—don’t want overkill, you know. I just wanted news of her, I guess. I couldn’t bear the silence. Please don’t tell her I called you, though.”
“Alright, I won’t. But think about it, Alexandre. Think about it carefully. Either fuck off and leave her alone, or do something big. You know what I’m saying? If you want Pearl you’d better step up to the big league and do something to really impress her. I mean, really impress her. We’ll keep this conversation between ourselves. At least for the moment. I’m sure if you get your shit together I’ll hear about it from her.”
Tough cookie! “Thanks, Daisy,” I said, making a mental note of never crossing this fiery redhead. “Good to get your take on it. See you around.” I hung up.
I stuffed another handful of blueberries into my mouth, mulling everything over thoughtfully in my mind. Rex stared up at me, his head cocked to one side, as if to say, Well, what are you waiting for?
“You’re right, Rex,” I said, patting him on the head. “I’ll impress Pearl, alright. This is it. Make or break.”
She had teased me, calling me Michael Corleone. I wouldn’t let her down:
I’d make her an offer she couldn’t refuse.
14
On my way over to Pearl’s apartment to deliver the necklace, I decided to call Sophie. I knew she had an important meeting that she didn’t want interrupted. Too bad. Even if busy, I knew she’d pick up her cell. Sophie was one of those people who was bitten by curiosity—couldn’t bear to leave a question unanswered. So even a ringing phone was too much to pass up. And she never left her cell on voicemail in case she missed out on some elusive deal. She had a team working around the clock for her: investors, hedge fund managers, people on her payroll with their noses to the ground, sniffing like pigs for truffles. Not only that, but any country could be calling her at any hour, any second. A president. A mogul. A Russian oligarch. A billionaire Indian. Even The Queen of bloody England. Yes, believe it or not, there were people out there with even more money than us, and Sophie wanted a piece of each and every juicy pie.
Just as I had announced in my letter to Pearl, I decided that I was getting out of HookedUp. That I couldn’t take the antics of my sister anymore. I’ll call her. Put her to the test. I knew what the result would be, but I just wanted to hear the words come out of her mouth. I stopped by a deli and bought some fruit. I dialed my sister’s number.
“Sophie, I need that big diamond,” I demanded, when she picked up on the second ring.
“Oh it’s you again,” she groaned. Are you eating something?”
“An apple.”
“I hate the way you can only get three or four kinds of apples these days. You know, there used to be over ten thousand varieties of apples in England, alone. Now all we have are—”
“I need the diamond now. Today,” I told her with my mouth full.
She hissed into the receiver in a whisper, “Are you fucking nuts? a) the diamond’s the most expensive stone out of the lot of them—we already have a buyer at seven million and b.) it’s in Amsterdam with the jewelers—excuse me gentlemen, I just need two minutes to end this call—” I heard my sister’s clipped footsteps and a door banging closed. She continued, “What the fuck are you doing interrupting this meeting? You know how long I’ve waited for this.”
“I knew I shouldn’t have let you do all the organizing of the gems yourself. Get that fucking diamond on a plane now! I need it for Pearl’s engagement ring.” I wanted to hear my sister’s reaction just to test her, and I couldn’t have been more spot-on.
She cackled with laughter like one of Shakespeare’s Macbeth witches. “N-O,” she spelled out. “No. You’re marrying her? Oh my God, she’s really got you by the balls this one, hasn’t she?”
“That’s all I wanted to hear. Confirmation of how impossible you are. How little you care when it comes to my wellbeing. I’m finished with HookedUp, Sophie. I’m going to start up a new venture. You can buy me out little by little—I won’t squeeze you for all the money at once. Have fun in your meeting with that scheming son-of-a-bitch, Mikhail Prokovich.”
“How the hell do you know he’s part of this meeting?”
“Because I’m aware of how your mind works, Sophie, like billions of dollar bills wrapped about each brain cell. I’ve also heard from a source of mine that he’s suddenly become interested in doing deals with HookedUp. Maybe he fancies you, who knows? But he seems to be all over everyone like a rash, right now.” I bit an angry chunk out of my apple. “Doing business with that shifty bastard? No thanks. Another reason I’m out.” I hung up.
I didn’t want that diamond for Pearl. No. I had a better idea—something even more special. A one-off. A piece of history. Something that belonged to a princess. My museum contact who’d secured me the ancient silver stater (my 550BC coin from Greece that brought me luck), had told me about the most stunning diamond of all: something that was worth far more than seven million dollars.
That would be my engagement gift.
But first, I needed to make sure that I gained entry into Pearl’s apartment. I couldn’t do a re-run of last time when I dashed up the back stairs; the doorman would be onto that trick. Pearl still hadn’t returned my calls or messages. The chances of her even letting me up when she was obviously still pissed at me, were slim. It seemed a lifetime ago that we’d been swimming in the sea in Cap d’Antibes, but less than twenty-four hours had passed. She was playing it cool. Maybe she’d stay that way. She might even feel inclined to send the necklace back, the box unopened. All my plans of asking for her hand, like some knight in shining armor on a quest, could be smashed if I didn’t get to see her face to face.
I had to come up with something good.
Something really good.
Several hours later, I clanked my way up the fire escape of Pearl’s building on the Upper East Side, carabiners jangling off my belt. Before climbing up, I had told the young doorman that someone had called 911 about smoke in the building, and he believed me.
I was clad in all the right firefighter gear but had abandoned the jacket somewhere further down below because it was still very hot from the late summer sun—I was sweating—beads of moisture trickling down my chest and abs. I felt bad for firefighters; they had to wear this stuff to work, yet not so bad that I didn’t know the magic it spun. Women have always gone wild for them. I was hoping that Pearl would be no different. Perhaps, I thought, she’d just laugh at me—I looked like a cliché, Playgirl centerfold. At least I’d get her attention.
“Excuse me, ma’am, I said, peering through the kitchen window after I’d made my way up to the eleventh floor, “I heard there was a fire in this apartment.” True. The fire of Pearl’s wrath.
Pearl stared at me, her mouth dropped to the floor, but then her expression changed. She wasn’t angry, nor did she laugh at me. A naughty smirk, yes, and a suppressed giggle at my outrageous outfit, but the second I laid eyes on her through the glass that separated us, I knew I was forgiven.
I pulled up the sash window and gatecrashed my way inside, surprised that the burglar alarm hadn’t gone off by now; my big black boots stomping on the tile floor as she appraised my sweaty body, her melting
blue eyes taking me in with approval.
“You nearly had me fooled but your accent gave you away,” she said with a grin, no doubt brought on by the incongruity of the scenario: a faux French firefighter.
I wanted to ravage her she looked so beautiful: her golden arms hung cool by her side, her blonde hair loose about her shoulders, her scent of flowers and magic which always had me intoxicated. But I felt so much more than just pounding physical attraction for her. My heart was bursting through my sun-warmed chest: I was going to ask this woman to marry me. I yearned to start a family with her. All this, I was going to spell out to her.
When the moment was right.
I longed for her whole; her heart, her soul, her body, and every tiny emotion that came along with that trinity.
The good, the bad, the happy. And even the miserable. Because I knew there’d always be tough days up ahead. I’d be there for her. I wanted to wake up next to her every morning, smell her scent, hear her smooth voice. I’d even settle for a grumpy voice, as long as she was there beside me.
I was brimming over with love for Pearl Robinson. And I knew that if I carried on without her, I would only be half the man I was capable of being. Rich, powerful, successful; all those things men strive for in this world are nothing without the right mate—just sand in an egg timer that will come to an abrupt stop if you can’t turn your life around.
We kissed, our mouths as one. I licked her all over, devouring her taste, her nectar, her essence, then carried her over my shoulder where I deposited her on her four-poster bed. I had to lie with her, make love to her—feel her every muscle, soak up her every cell. The firefighter garb seemed absurd by this point. It had helped me achieve my goal—to catch her attention. Get me into her apartment.
I jested with her, teased her with ‘spanking’ (an excuse to slap my cock against her glorious behind). I nipped her, pretending, with a sulky, downcast face, that she needed to be punished for running away from me, abandoning me. An old trick to re-balance the equilibrium of the relationship. I could feel myself falling and I needed to pick myself up.
“Get this garb off me,” I said in a solemn voice. “I feel claustrophobic. I need to lie with you, Pearl. We’ve played enough silly games, it’s time to get serious.”
She was the student and I was the teacher—at least that is what I was striving for. Hoping to have some kind of command over her so she wouldn’t run from me again. But in my soul, I knew that Pearl was her own person. She would never truly be mine. How can you own a free spirit like Pearl?
She put on some music which answered my question. Je T’aime, Moi Non Plus—I love you….Me Neither. The ‘me, neither’ said it all. Yes, she loved me, but I knew she wouldn’t take any crap from me. I had a vision of her by the sea in France, looking over her smooth tanned shoulder, which she shrugged as if to say, Catch me if you can, and with a toss of her blonde mane, she dove into the water like a mermaid from the rock where she was perched.
Here I was, coming to catch her, but a presentiment, deep down inside told me, that in the end, Pearl would never be completely mine.
But I soldiered on, determined. I stroked her soft, golden hair and laid all my cards on the table, face up, “You’re unique, Pearl, I’ve fallen in love with you.” There—she had my vulnerability, my weakness laid out before her like a crudely woven carpet for her to walk all over if she wished, each thread visible, each weave part of my soul.
She smiled serenely and took in a long breath, but didn’t answer me. She still hadn’t told me she loved me yet. I did what came naturally when I felt insecure: my cock flexed at the softness of her velvet skin, her erotic scent, and I entered her, stretching into her wet, welcoming warmth. My power, my security: my big cock that had never let me down. It was the only tool I had that I knew how to use with precision. Everything else was new to me. I was ill equipped in the art of love. I hadn’t known true, burgeoning love before—how it can burst your chest open and bring tears to your eyes. How it can sneak up on you and take hold of your gut and twist it into a pit of fear and loneliness when you think it has escaped you. Those twenty-four hours without Pearl had me as vacuous as a shooting star on impact—reduced to a particle of pale dust.
I controlled her sexually but in every other respect she held all the cards in her realm. She was the Queen of Hearts, the Queen of Cups. All I could do was fill her in the way I knew how. I pushed myself into her until I felt her tightness cling to me, my security returning like a welcome friend.
I punctuated each word with a thrust, “Will. You. Marry. Me. Pearl. Robinson?”
As usual, she deflected the love question. I hadn’t meant to ask for her hand in marriage this way. It was cheating. Using my sexual prowess to reach my goal. My insecurity had me thrusting harder inside her, grinding my hips slowly; making small figures of eight. The number eighty-eight. Infinity. A number that would keep going infinitum and would last forever, unbroken. I could feel myself expand as her walls gripped about my throbbing cock—she was on the brink. I sucked her hard nipples which I knew would push her over the edge, and then slammed my mouth on hers, my tongue ravishing her as I fucked her slowly, pulling out so my crown massaged her sweet clit, and then pushing back inside again, rolling back into the figure of eight, my hands like a vice about her smooth shoulders. She started screaming, writhing about beneath me. I had her, yet I didn’t have her, and it was killing me.
So I asked her again, “Will you marry me, Pearl?”
She was coming hard, her orgasm so intense that I felt her unraveling beneath me, her fingers knotted in my hair, her tongue lashing on mine with so much carnal desire that she couldn’t even speak—she just moaned. She bucked her hips at me, her skin misted with sweat, and hooked her legs about my calves as she dug her nails into my ass. Christ, she was like a tigress with her prey. Her climax was consuming her so intensely that her mind was blank.
I silently begged for an answer. I needed to know that she wanted me in other ways, too; spiritually, mentally. My cock was a fucking double-edged sword. But her folds, so snug around every stiff inch of me, clenching me like a fist, pushed me over the precipice. I let myself go, the rush of climax spurting hard inside her as her extended orgasm kept rippling through her beautiful body, uniting us in one detonating, fire-cracking explosion. She quivered and trembled under me as I groaned with deep, carnal satisfaction.
Only to be replaced with a flutter of insecurity, seconds later. Say yes, God damn it, say the word, I willed her silently.
“Oh yeah, oh yeah, baby,” she whimpered, “this is….oh my God…oh…YES!”
That wasn’t a ‘yes’ in my book! Then again, asking a woman to marry you while you’re fucking her was hardly playing it by the rules. “What are you saying yes to, Pearl?” I breathed into her mouth as her orgasm wavered through her quiet moans, her body still writhing, her kisses still wet on my tongue.
But she still wouldn’t reply coherently, only languid, brain-numbed moans escaped her lips.
I decided I’d ask her properly the following night. I’d just have time to buy the piece of jewelry that had been put aside for me: a vintage pendant that belonged to a white Russian princess. I’d have it adapted into a ring, especially for Pearl. Big bucks shout. If I paid the jeweler silly money, maybe he could have it done in time. I’d set up a dinner à deux at the top of the Empire State: king of all skyscrapers worldwide, at least in my opinion. I knew the owners and I was sure they’d do me that favor.
And if that didn’t bloody well give me a bona fide ‘Yes,’ then I’d be lost like a wayward ship on a stormy ocean about to go down.
I had to have Pearl.
For my own sanity.
15
Pearl was so busy at work that it took me three days to pin her down for our rendezvous. She was free for dinners but I needed to know that she could take a day off, too—I wanted her to be reeling, delirious, drunk on love for me.
I was nervous about popping the question—as my old
friend Shakespeare so rightly put it: There’s many a slip twixt cup and lip. Those three days crawled by, my heart jumpy, my solar plexus churning with anticipation.
Edgy as I was, it gave the jeweler time to do a beautiful job on the ring. It shimmered brightly, its myriad hues and unusual oval cut made it glitter, even in the dark, and it was so huge that it almost looked vulgar. Eat your heart out Elizabeth Taylor—this was a rock to be reckoned with.
Although they will tell you that it is ‘impossible to accommodate requests to close down the Observatory at the Empire State for proposals,’ when you pay the right person the right price, anything is possible. Pearl and I had the rooftop to ourselves.
It was perfect. The sirens and sounds of the city were muted by distance, the buildings, in a panoramic sweep below were almost like glittering pieces of Lego. The cars were just toys, smaller than my thumbnail, and the lights of Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, and New Jersey twinkled as far as the eye could see. The breeze was cool because we were so high up, but not chilly; the summer evening caressed our skin amidst a cloudless night, the stars blinking with swathes of the Milky Way dusted above the skyline like a pastel painting. The Empire State’s saxophone player was there, playing haunting jazz tunes that set the mood.
Pearl was wearing a long, flowing gown in silk chiffon. Pale pink. I was wearing a Nehru jacket and suit that I’d had tailored in India. I kept dinner simple; I didn’t want it to distract from the evening; champagne throughout—Dom Pérignon1953 with fresh strawberries and a selection of endless hors d’oeuvres (prepared by a French chef I’d hired), that kept arriving at our table—treats to nibble on while we gazed at each other, or walked about admiring the glorious view. Pearl looked exquisite. I hadn’t seen her in a long gown before. I was glad that I was giving her a diamond that belonged to a princess because she looked every bit the part. We wandered about the observatory, peering down to the nuggets of light below, glittering, shimmering—the way Pearl glittered and shimmered.
Pearl (The Pearl Series) Page 13
