by Tina Martin
“It’s only an hour and a half.”
“Yeah, but—”
“No buts on this one. They specifically asked for you.”
“They did?”
“Yeah...must’ve been a referral from one of your satisfied clients.” Johnny slapped his hands together and said, “So go ahead and take the rest of the day off. Tomorrow, you’re heading to Norfolk.”
He left her cubicle, leaving Kamila alone with her thoughts. Was Donovan really behind this? She surely didn’t know anyone else who worked for Zenadel. And if he was behind this, why? What would she do if she ran into him tomorrow? What would she say? Would he even acknowledge her, or pretend he didn’t know her in front of his coworkers? And what about the annulment?
She packed her briefcase with pamphlets and new enrollment forms along with everything else she thought she would need for the trip. She also made sure she put in the envelope containing the annulment papers as well. This would be her opportunity to get Donovan to sign them if she ran into him. Then she headed home, calling Lori as soon as she pulled out of the parking lot of her apartment complex.
“Hey, girl. What’s up?” Lori answered.
“Lori, you’re not going to believe this. I have knots in my stomach right now.”
“What’s going on?”
“So my boss is sending me to Zenadel Electronics tomorrow.”
“And?”
“That’s the place where Donovan works.”
“Oh. Oh!”
“Yeah...”
“So Donovan asked you to come?”
“I don’t know. Somebody from there called my boss and requested me.”
“You know anyone else there?”
“No.”
“Then Donovan must not be done with you just yet.”
Kamila sighed. “I hope I can get in and out of there without running into him.”
“Don’t count on it. When are you leaving?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
“Look girl, just remember what I told you. You deserve better.”
Kamila unbuckled her seat belt and shut off the engine. “What exactly does that mean?”
“It means you deserve a man who’s going to treat you like a queen...someone who will love and respect you. Not a drive-by man.”
“What if the man you’re describing does not exist?”
“He does.”
“But how can you be so sure? I’m twenty-six and I haven’t ran across anyone remotely close to the man you’re describing. Men don’t want commitment anymore.”
“Some men do.”
“Well, where are they hiding, because I’m getting tired of looking.”
“Then stop looking. Most treasures are found accidentally.”
“So I’m supposed to accidentally stumble upon some man and live happily ever after?”
Lori sighed. “Kamila, girl I see I’m going to have to school you.”
“Yeah, I guess you are, but some other time...I just got home so I’m going to relax my nerves for a while...maybe even take a hot bubble bath and enjoy a bottle of Moscato.”
“You mean glass.”
Kamila grinned. “No, I had it right.”
“All right...but the last thing you need is a hangover. You need to be on top of your game when you get to that office tomorrow.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Okay, glass it is.”
“Okay, girl. Call me and let me know how it goes.”
“Will do. Bye.”
“Bye.”
Kamila opened the door to get out of the car. She left her briefcase in the back seat because tomorrow, she’d be driving to Norfolk.
~ Chapter Eleven~
Kamila was a ball of nervousness as she pulled up in visitor parking at Zenadel. She sucked in a long, steady breath, exhaled deeply and said, “You can do this, Kamila. You can do this.” She opened the door, got out of the car then took her briefcase from the back seat.
After signing in with the receptionist and receiving a temporary visitor’s badge, she nervously paced the floor while waiting for the C.E.O. to meet her in the lobby.
“Well hello there,” a Caucasian, blue-eyed man wearing a black suit said, extending his hand to shake hers. He resembled George Clooney and had silver hair like Bill Clinton. He looked to be in his late forties. Early fifties even. “I’m Dan Zenadel.”
Kamila gave him a firm shake. “I’m Kamila Jenkins. Nice to meet you Mr. Zenadel.”
“You as well.” He looked at his watch, a shiny, gold one that looked as expensive as his suit. “Let’s see...ah...we’re going to head up to the third floor. I got a conference room reserved for the day.”
“Okay. Sounds good.”
“How was your drive in?”
“It was okay...didn’t run into too much traffic.”
“What’s that...about an hour drive from Richmond?”
“Actually, it took me about an hour and a half.”
“That’s not too bad.”
“No, not at all.”
Mr. Zenadel pressed the up button for the elevator, then allowed her to pass by him. He stepped in behind her and pressed the number three.
Once off the elevator, he showed her to a conference room, where he told her to get comfortable and set up while he went to get coffee for the both of them. After about ten minutes, he came back handed her a cup of coffee and sat across from her, crossing his legs.
“So, lay it on me,” he said, interlocking his fingers.
Kamila didn’t hesitate getting down to business. The quicker she could move, the faster she could get out of the building without running into Donovan. She showed Mr. Zenadel a PowerPoint presentation of rate comparisons with the top insurance companies in the area. She extended him a few perks offered by LightSite that other companies didn’t offer.
He took her to lunch around one, talking mostly about the history of his company and the progress of the city in the last ten years – boring stuff to which Kamila only smiled and nodded to. It came as no surprise, but she also found out that Donovan did give her name to Mr. Zenadel, stating to him how she was very dedicated to her job, and how good it would be to partner with LightSite because he’d only heard good things about them. Kamila figured as much.
Impressed with the company and Kamila’s professionalism, Mr. Zenadel agreed to sign a contract with LightSite on the spot but told Kamila that since it was late in the day, he would need her to come back tomorrow to finish up some paperwork and sign up employees who were interested.
Kamila agreed, having informed her boss of the good news and that she would need to get a hotel for the night since she didn’t want to drive back home, only to get up early again and drive back out there in the morning. Johnny was elated and told her to do whatever she thought was necessary to satisfy this new client, even if that meant she had to stay longer.
* * *
At the end of the day, Kamila packed up her briefcase, proud of herself for the presentation and that she was able to effectively represent LightSite with this large corporation. She shook Mr. Zenadel’s hand and as she headed out, she caught a glimpse of Donovan, looking extremely breathtaking in a charcoal suit. He was sitting in an office, the door open, looking out into the hallway. She walked quickly for the elevator when she heard her name roll smoothly off of his tongue as if he’d just spoken to her yesterday. It had been nearly two months since she’d seen or spoken to him.
“Kamila.”
She didn’t want to, but she stopped and turned around to speak. However, words didn’t come forth. She was temporarily mute, in complete astonishment by his striking good looks. Was it the suit that made him look so handsome, or was it the fact that he was clean shaven? Had his hair edged up to perfection? It could have been the look in his eyes as he stared her down like he wanted to take her into his office and finish up were they left off in her room on the ship that night. Kamila swallowed hard, awakening from her trance then said, “Hi. How are you?” keeping with the p
rofessionalism she displayed throughout the day.
“Hi,” he said, stopping a few feet in front. “Good to see you again.”
She flashed a lackluster smile and said, “Yeah...um, I gotta go.”
“Wait...how long are you in town?”
“I’ll be back here tomorrow, but somehow, I think you knew that already.”
Trying to conceal a smirk, he said, “Well if you’re free tonight, I would like to buy you dinner.”
“I’m not free.” Kamila glanced at her watch. “I really gotta go.” She took a few steps towards the elevator door.
“Why are you running, Kamila?”
“I’m not running. I’m walking to the elevator. I have to go.”
“Go where?” he challenged.
“That’s none of your concern.” She pressed the down button near the elevator.
“Wait,” Donovan said again, joining her by the elevator doors. “While you’re here, I would like for you to meet my son.”
“Why?”
“I spoke so much about him on the cruise...just thought you would like to meet him.”
“Maybe some other time,” she said stepping onto the elevator, glad for a moment that she was finally able to get away from him, but when he stepped on after her, she knew it was going to be a long ride down to the ground floor.
When the elevator doors closed, Donovan stood on the opposite wall of her with his hands in his pockets, watching her for a moment. Admiring her. Remembering her. Then he said, “I miss you.”
Kamila gave him a hard, cold-eyed stare then looked down at her shoes to avoid looking at him any longer. Gosh, why does he have to be so fine? And why in this moment was she recalling every detail of the last night they spent together on the cruise?
Donovan would’ve liked to hear her say that she missed him too, but since she said nothing he just stared at her, admiring her professional look – her curly strands pulled up in a ponytail and rolled in a bun, while she rocked a black knee-length dress suit with a ruffled white blouse underneath and red shoes that matched her shade of lipstick. He remembered kissing those lips and dreaming about kissing them again every day for the last two months, along with other things he’d liked to do to her.
Breaking the awkward silence, he said, “I want you to meet D.J.” He took a card out of his pocket and scribbled something. “Here’s my address.” He handed her the card, but when she didn’t reach to take it, he stuck it in a side pocket of her purse. “Hope to see you later.”
The elevator doors opened and Kamila couldn’t get out of there fast enough. A part of her wanted to go to his house, but then she remembered Lori’s advice – that she deserved better. After all, Donovan didn’t even have the decency to say goodbye to her after they’d spent a vacation together. Now he wanted her to meet his son? Weird.
~ Chapter Twelve ~
Donovan walked back into his office and shut the door. He wanted Kamila to come by his house more than anything. He liked her and realized that since meeting her, he hadn’t thought about Shayla. Actually, since coming home after the cruise, he hadn’t thought about Shayla at all. Instead, he came to the realization that his fixation on her was an intense longing for something he wanted desperately, something he yearned for – love – and the way he watched Shayla love Carter made him want a love like that.
So deciding to be a man about it and fess up to his error, he found Carter’s number in his cell and called it. He didn’t know what to expect from Carter, being that the last time they spoke, Carter threatened his life.
“What do you want, Donovan?” Carter answered.
“What’s up, man? How’s it going?”
“Skip the small talk. What do you want?”
“I realized that I owe you and Shayla an apology. So for what it’s worth, I’m sorry about what went down. I know you love Shayla and she loves you and I remember now how good it feels to be in love with a woman who completes you. You have that with Shayla, and I wish you all the best.”
“Appreciate that.”
“Ah’ight. Take care.” Donovan hung up the phone and packed up his briefcase. He wanted to be home and settled in case Kamila decided to come over.
* * *
Having an unexpected meeting late in the afternoon had Donovan in a sour mood. He rushed home, dropped his briefcase next to a coat rack and scanned the house for his mother. She watched D.J. after school until he got off work, something she enjoyed because it gave her ample bonding time with her grandson.
He saw her sitting in the living room, her feet propped up on the table.
“Hey, has anyone been by this evening?” he asked her.
“Well hello to you too, son.”
“Hello, Mother.”
“And no one has been by. Are you expecting someone?”
“Ah...yeah. I was.” Donovan took off his suit jacket and loosened his necktie. Then he sat on the couch with his mother and said, “I never told you this, but I met someone on the cruise.”
“You did?” she said, perking up, her eyes bright.
“Yes. She’s a little younger than me, but I really like her and...um...we got married.”
“You did what!”
“We got married on the cruise. It wasn’t supposed to mean anything. We were actually supposed to get the marriage annulled, but she’s been growing on me so I’ve been intentionally putting it off.”
“Son, please tell me you’re pulling some sort of prank on me.”
“No, I’m not. Isn’t that what you wanted? For me to meet someone, get married and find a mother for D.J.?”
“Yes, son, I wanted you to remarry, but not just any ol’ body.”
“She’s not just anybody. She’s special, Mother. I saw her today for the first time after the cruise and I invited her here.”
“So let me get this straight...you get married on the boat, part ways and you haven’t seen her in two months.”
“I saw her today and—”
“Now I know I raised you better than that...”
“Yes, ma’am you did.” Donovan rubbed his hands across his head. “And yes, I do want to be with her, but I’m not sure what she wants. She’s coming out of a bad situation and I told her I wasn’t looking for anything serious either.”
“Marriage is as serious as it gets, Donovan.”
“You’re right. I know that.”
“And why are you expecting her if she’s not interested in you?”
“I told her I wanted her to meet D.J.”
Just then, the doorbell rang. Donovan smiled and turned to quickly sprint to the door. He opened it and saw Kamila standing there.
“Hi. Didn’t think you would make it.”
“I’m not staying long...just wanted to meet D.J.”
Donovan gave her an annoyed squint. “Come in, Kamila.”
Kamila stepped into the foyer of his castle, looking around at the spacious, well-decorated house. His home looked to be professionally done with lavish plants and expensive, top-of-the-line furniture. She followed him to another room where she saw a woman sitting on the couch.
“Kamila this is my Mother, Phyllis. Mother, this is my...” He looked at Kamila. What exactly was she to him? Then he chose the safe route and said, “My friend, Kamila.”
Kamila bit her tongue. She felt like screaming. Why are you introducing me to your Mother?
“Nice to meet you, Kamila.”
“Nice to meet you too, Phyllis,” Kamila responded.
“Donovan, I’m going to get out of your hair,” his mother said.
Donovan hugged her and walked her to the door.
“Oh, D.J. is in his room playing with toys...told him I’d let him stay up until you got here. He wanted you to tuck him in.”
“Okay. Thanks Mother.”
“You’re welcome.” With her bag hanging from her shoulder, she said, “All right. Have a good night. You too, Kamila.”
Kamila smiled and Donovan closed the door. Then he took Kamila
by the hand and said, “Come with me.”
Kamila threw her purse to the couch and followed Donovan upstairs. He went straight to D.J.’s room. D.J. was sitting on the floor, pushing toy Tonka trucks next to his bed. He looked up, saw his father and his face lit up. “Dad!” He jumped off the floor and ran to hug him, wrapping his little arms around his father as much as he could. “Dad, where were you?”
“I was stuck at work, lil’ buddy. But I’m here now, and I brought a friend with me.”
D.J. peeped around his father’s leg.
“This is Kamila,” Donovan said.
“Hi Ms. Kamila.”
“Hi D.J. You’re such a cutie pie.”
The little boy blushed. “My Granny says I get it from my daddy.”
Kamila smiled. Granny is right about that...
“All right...time for bed,” Donovan told his son.
Kamila stepped out into the hallway while Donovan tucked his son in, turned off his lamp and pulled the door closed.
“Sweet boy,” Kamila told him.
“Thanks.”
She quietly followed Donovan downstairs and once they reached the bottom step, she walked over to the couch, took her purse and said, “Okay, well, thanks for letting me meet your son. I got a long day ahead of me tomorrow, as you very well know, so I’m going to get going.”
Donovan smirked. “So I don’t even get a thank you?”
“For what?”
“For landing this account for you. I’m sure your commission check is going to look real nice.”
“I didn’t ask you to do this for me.”
“I never said you did,” he said, inching closer to her.
Annoyed, Kamila rolled her eyes and said, “Well, thanks. There...happy?” She turned to walk away when she heard his seductive voice say, “Don’t go, Kamila.”
“I have to go.”
“No you don’t,” he said, his footsteps getting closer. “I miss you,” he whispered behind her neck. “And I want you. And you want me, too. That’s why you came here.” He leaned forward to softly kiss her around her neck.
Kamila closed her eyes, and pulled in a breath. Then she remembered Lori’s words – you deserve better. She jerked away from him and said, “I have to go.”
