Simply Beautiful

by Unknown

  “Yeah, it’s my cell.”

  “Bye,” Domino said, disconnecting the call.

  Tristan had to shake his head at Domino’s abrupt good-bye. “And they say I’m intense.” Tristan leaned back in his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Man…what a day.” When Brandon had called for him to come to New York yesterday, he’d had no idea that his life would change in the blink of an eye. But yet, here he was waiting on information from Dom, so he could get back to his woman. Yes, she was his. He had claimed her on sight. The fact that she was there in his apartment should make anyone who knew him realize that she was special. He never brought women back to his apartment. Hell, he was only there to sleep when he was in New York. He wanted Alisha to get used to him because he had no intentions of going anywhere and intended to make sure she wouldn’t want to go anywhere either. They were both in this for the long haul. Whatever it took, he would see to her happiness. The fact that she had been hurt before really pissed him off.

  Tristan never understood why men, or women for that matter, entered into relationships with no thought of ever remaining faithful to the relationship. True, he and his brothers loved women but they made sure that the women they dated knew the score—that they didn’t do commitment and weren’t looking for anything permanent.

  Tristan dated one woman at a time. Hell, it was hard enough trying to handle one woman, never mind two. How Brandon and Sinjin did it was beyond him. What Brandon and Sinjin did couldn’t be called dating by any stretch of the word. What they had were sex buddies.

  Tristan’s days of meaningless sex were over. Tristan had to smile when he thought about Ms. Alisha Carrington, soon to be Mrs. Alisha Cameron. She didn’t know it, but she had sealed her fate to him the moment she was in his arms. Really from the first meeting he knew she would be the one and only one for him. He was just that sure. He hoped she felt the same way about him. Dom had said her brothers were crazy; well, they would have to get used to him because he wasn’t going anywhere. If he had to fight for her, he would. He hoped that race wouldn’t be an issue. He didn’t give a rat’s ass if he was Caucasian and she African-American—to hell with all that. She was his woman, and he didn’t care what color she was. He wasn’t giving her up and that was that. His family could go to hell too if they had a problem with it. As long as he had Alisha, everybody else, as far he was concerned, could fuck off. Hell, he didn’t know if she had ever dated outside of her race, but he hoped she didn’t have a problem with that. This southern boy is here to stay.

  He had to settle this thing with James quickly. There was something very sinister about that dude. Having dealt with all types of people in his line of work, he had a feeling that being a lawyer wasn’t all that James was into. He wanted James away from Alisha, the firm, and off the streets. For now getting him out of the firm and away from Alisha would have to do. From the looks of the lust in James’ eyes when he looked at Alisha, the man would stop at nothing to have her. The fact that James had gone in search of Alisha, knowing full well that he and Brandon had advised otherwise, let Tristan know that James thought that he was untouchable, which was definitely a mistake on his part. James also made the mistake of seeking his woman out. He would make damn sure that the little man realized that Alisha was off limits to him—and anyone else who had their sights set on her. Tristan was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn’t realize that the buzzing sound he was hearing was his cell phone ringing. He immediately answered, knowing that it was Dom from the distinctive ring. “Tristan.”

  “Yeah, man, I got some info. Is there a fax machine near you?”

  “Yes, there’s one in my office. Why? What’s up?”

  “Give me the number and I’ll fax you what I have so far. Take a look at the report. Afterwards, give me a call to discuss. I should have something else shortly,” Domino said.

  Tristan called off the fax number to Domino.

  “Okay, it’s coming over now. I’ll be waiting for your call.”

  * * *

  Tristan got up and walked over to the fax machine. By Domino’s tone, he had a bad feeling that he wasn’t going to like what Dom had found on James. At the sound of the fax machine ringing Tristan’s entire body went on full alert while he awaited the full transmission of the fax. Page after page was being transmitted. After about the tenth page, Tristan let loose, “The hell!” Finally, Tristan retrieved about twenty pages of documents from the fax machine and took them over to his desk to review.

  As he was reading, the contents of the pages had the hairs on Tristan’s arms standing up. “Dammit! Why didn’t anyone pick up on any of this shit before? The fucking man is certifiably insane. My God!” Sexual harassment was the least of their concerns. “There’s no way there isn’t going to be fallout for the firm when this shit comes out.” Slamming his hand on the desk after reading the last page of the documents, Tristan yelled out, “Fuck! This is some sick shit.” Running his hand across his face Tristan could have up-chucked everything that was in his belly after reading that report. Picking up his cell, he called Domino.

  Domino didn’t say hello, just spoke: “Man, is that some sick shit or what?”

  “Damn, Dom! How did he keep all this crap hidden?” Tristan asked.

  “I surmise that your boy James has greased a lot of palms and has called in a lot of favors in order to keep this stuff covered up. It says here that he took a sabbatical during his last year at Harvard Law and returned to finish his degree two years later. Makes you wonder why a person would need a two-year sabbatical? Nothing in the report says where he took that sabbatical. I’m still working on getting that information,” Domino said.

  “You think you can have something for me by Monday? I need this settled with minimal damage to the firm and Brandon’s and David’s reputations. Geeze, David’s got enough on his mind with Nadia going into labor early. Brandon went to the hospital to be with him and then he’s off to New Mexico for some crap Sinjin’s caught up in. I was going to have you check and see what was up with Sinjin, but I need this situation handled quickly and expeditiously. James is very smart, so I don’t want him catching on to what we’re doing before we have enough evidence to charge him with something. I had a confrontation with him earlier. He’s already suspicious about me and Alisha. I don’t care about that, though. This is one sick bastard, and my threat earlier might not faze him.” Tristan ran his hand through his hair.

  “And it looks like the statutes have expired on some of this stuff. But I’m pretty sure that if we can locate them, the District Attorney can use some of these women as witnesses. We would need their cooperation, of course. Says here the mother divorced Langston Sr. immediately after the incident with the sister. Any idea of where the mother is? If we find her, we can probably find the sister.”

  “Yes. The mother is married to a lawyer by the name of Bradley Marks and is currently living in Chicago. Doesn’t say where the sister is. As a matter of fact, there’s been nothing on the sister since the incident, no current address, school records, nothing. There has to be something? How can a thirteen-year-old vanish after an incident like that with no mention of where she is now? Something’s up with that,” Domino said.

  “Can you blame her, man? How the hell did he get away with that crap? Not even a mention in the papers, nothing. We need to speak with the officers who handled the incident, the doctors, nurses, anybody on duty that night,” Tristan said.

  “That’s the thing, man. The incident was never reported to the police. If it was, there isn’t a police report. Probably why junior is still free today. My guess is that his father covered his ass in high school and in college. I’ll get a man on the college angle too. I bet you ten to one that sabbatical he took was at some fancy hospital to keep from him being locked up,” Domino said.

  “I’m thinking the same thing,” was Tristan’s response. “We have a lot of questions and no answers yet. I can assure you more than one head is going to roll because of this. The man’s been accused
of stalking, several rapes, drugs, and God only knows what else he has hidden, and has gotten away with it so far. One…two…three…hell, five out of the ten women worked here at the firm! Shit! Sinjin picked a hell of a time to get into whatever he’s up to. I need him and Brandon here. If I go looking into these women’s files, it’s going to raise suspicion. As it is, I’m going to be late getting home and Alisha’s at my place alone. I need to make sure she’s safe, but I have to take care of some of this stuff before I leave today,” Tristan said, stressed.

  “Listen man, I have to go. Call my cell anytime with an update. I’m going to try and reach Brandon before he heads out, to give him a heads-up on what’s going on. He only has knowledge of two women. He and David are going to go ape shit over this. God knows what damage it could do to our firm. They didn’t build up this company from scratch, through hard work and perseverance, for this asshole to tear it down with his insanity.”

  “No problem, Tris. Listen, if you need PR help, just let me know, Domino said.

  “Thanks, man. I’ll let you know after I speak with my dad. Talk to you soon,” Tristan said.

  “Okay. I’ll get back at you with an update,” Domino said.

  Tristan disconnected his call with Domino and dialed Brandon’s cell.

  “What’s up Tristan?” Brandon said.

  “Everything, man, but first, how’s Nadia doing?” Tristan asked.

  “She delivered a nine-pound, ten-ounce, 22-inch long baby boy!” Brandon said, laughing. “Doc figured she went into labor early because the baby was so big. They had to take him out fast because he was cutting off her oxygen, which was making the baby’s heartbeat erratic. Mom and baby are doing well now—dad, too!”

  “Damn! Nine pounds and some odd ounces? Tristan laughed, “Tell David that’s not a newborn, that’s a toddler.” Brandon joined in on Tristan’s laughter.

  “Congratulate them for me. Listen man, sorry to cut in on the celebration,” Tristan said not trying to disguise the seriousness of his call. “I need for you to stop by my apartment before you leave out tonight. I won’t go into it now, but I got the report on James, and it’s not good. Think you’ll have time before you fly out for me to catch you up?”

  “I’ll make time. Besides, if it gets too late I’ll just jump on one of dad’s jets that he’s always trying to get us to use.”

  “Yeah…about that—I’ll have to give him a call too,” Tristan informed him.

  “That bad, huh?”

  “Worse.”

  “Listen, I can leave the hospital and come back to the office,” Brandon said.

  “No, I don’t want to get into anything here. Besides, Alisha’s at the apartment and I have some things to do before I get there. Meet me at my apartment. It’s secure enough—but still, with what I know, I don’t like the idea of her being alone.”

  “No problem. David and Nadia’s family are here so I’ll head on over now. Just call her and let her know that I’ll be stopping by.”

  “Will do and take care,” Tristan told his brother.

  “Will do,” Brandon replied.

  Chapter Eight

  Alisha awoke to the sound of voices in Tristan’s apartment. She’d fallen asleep on Tristan’s bed, watching CSPAN. She looked at her watch—7 p.m. “Oh my goodness! I’ve been asleep for three hours!” She jumped up from the bed and practically ran to the living area, calling out, “Trist—.” She stopped short at seeing Brandon and Tristan sitting at the kitchen island, each with papers in hand. They both turned to look at her when she entered the room. Alisha squirmed under their intense scrutiny. Embarrassed, she began to run her fingers through her tussled hair.

  “DAYUUUM!!” both Tristan and Brandon said at the same time.

  Tristan looked at his lady standing there looking more beautiful than ever. Her hair was disheveled, she had pulled her blouse out of her skirt and removed her stockings, and she was standing in her bare feet looking like a goddess. Her legs looked good in her pumps and stockings, but bare they were a sight to behold, long and shapely. Not muscular but just right. He could see the lace of her bra through her sheer blouse and his mouth started watering as he remembered holding those perky breasts in his hands. Tristan realized that both he and Brandon were still staring when Alisha started fidgeting, shifting from one leg to the other. Shaking himself, he stood up and smacked Brandon upside the back of his head.

  “The hell!” Brandon screeched.

  “Keep your eyes to yourself,” Tristan said.

  Brandon looked at him, frowning, and rubbed the back of his head. “Hell, you were looking too.”

  “I’m allowed. You’re not,” Tristan told him.

  The look on Brandon’s face sent Alisha into squeals of laughter.

  Tristan held out his hand for her to come to him. As she walked towards him, he met her halfway across the room, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her thoroughly. The kiss went on and on.

  “Harrumph! Hello! ...Hello! I’m still here, you know,” Brandon said. Caught up in their embrace, they ignored him. He cleared his throat again louder. “HARRUMPH! Can you two save that for when this horny and hungry dude is not around?”

  Alisha giggled. “Go home, Brandon,” Tristan said.

  “I can’t. I was invited, I’m hungry, and we have work to do,” Brandon replied.

  “Unfortunately, Brandon’s right. We need to get some things settled here first,” Tristan whispered against her lips. “We’ll finish this later.”

  “I can hear you, Tristan,” Brandon said, laughing.

  Tristan flipped Brandon the bird and they all laughed. Tristan was the first to recover. “Come, Beauty, let’s eat and then Brandon and I can catch you up on what we know so far.” Tristan sat Alisha at the island and began taking dishes out. He handed one to Brandon, but when Alisha got up and reached for her plate, Tristan waved her off. “I’ll fix your plate, Beauty. Just tell me what you want. Sit,” he said.

  Both Alisha and Brandon looked at him with their mouths open in surprise.

  “Wa-What do you have?” she asked.

  “I have a little of everything. Shrimp scampi, rice, garlic bread and three different pastas; lasagna, tortellini alfredo, and penne ala vodka. For dessert we have strawberry cheesecake from Junior’s,” he responded.

  “Wine, please,” she replied.

  “Brandon, you know where everything is, help yourself,” Tristan said.

  “Gee, thanks,” Brandon said sarcastically.

  Tristan placed a glass of wine in front of Alisha, then got himself bottled water and sat down to eat.

  “Hold on you two, we have to say grace,” Alisha said.

  Brandon and Tristan looked at one another, shrugged their shoulders, and bowed their heads as Alisha blessed the food.

  When they had finished eating and cleared away the food, Tristan and Brandon retrieved the papers they were reading when she had walked into the room.

  Alisha noticed their strained looks. “Okaaay…you two are looking real strange over there. Am I to assume these documents have something to do with James?” she asked.

  “You assume correctly, Beauty. This dude is bad news. I won’t go into all of the details; just know that James Langston is one very sick and very dangerous man. He’s also been associated with some low-lives, so be on alert and be careful. I have at least twenty pages of information on him, including rape, drug use, and stalking, to name a few. There are ten women in this file who have had the misfortune to be in James’ presence—”

  “Yeah, five of them worked for our firm,” Brandon said with disgust. “How this got by David and me is unbelievable.”

  “It got by you, brother, because you trusted the manager in your Human Resources department. You had no way of knowing that he was in cahoots with James,” Tristan said.

  “I should’ve known what was going on at my firm, man. I feel responsible for those women. David and I had a feeling about this dude—that’s why we weren’t in a hurry to make him
a partner. I just got so caught up in my own mess that this slipped by me, and I have to tell you, brother, it’s not sitting well with me,” Brandon said.

  “Let it go, man. You know now and you’re taking action against it,” Tristan said.

  “I agree with Tristan,” Alisha said. “This firm has prospered under you and David. And that’s what HR is for, to take care of things like sexual harassment and the like. At the very least, they’re supposed to report any claims. You did your background check on James and Teddy, the manager in HR, and both came back fine. There’s nothing more you could have done.”

  Brandon nodded. “Man, we need to put this dude away soon. This entire incident is leaving a bad taste in my mouth. I have a feeling that things are going to go from bad to worse with James.” He got up. “Listen, Tris, I’m going to go give dad a call and fill him in on what’s going on. I left a message on Sinjin’s cell that I’m taking the jet out in the morning. There’s nothing I can do tonight that I can’t do in the morning. I have to fill David in on what’s going on as well. You go—”

  “Everything will work out, trust me, Brandon,” Tristan said.

  “You know I trust you with my life, Tristan. But I have to fix this with these young ladies, man. This has nothing to do with the firm now. It’s about honor and rightness. I have to make it right for them,” Brandon replied.

  At these words, total silence filled the room.

  “Understandable. It’s how we were raised. I hear you, brother, and I agree. We will make it right, no doubt about it,” Tristan said. “Instead of taking Dad’s jet out to meet Sinjin, how about I get Dom to send someone down to New Mexico, you stay here, and we’ll see this thing through together? Sinjin will understand. Hell, he might be mad that he can’t be here to help out. This is just the kind of crap Sinjin loves.”

  Brandon laughed. “You’re right about that. Sinjin would get a kick out of this shit. This is just the type of craziness that he lives for.”