by Glenn, Roy
“That mutha fuckin’ Ivan is starting to get on my nerves, CJ.” I had just gotten though another nerve-racking day at TMG. It wasn’t the job, other than the usual little issues, things were running smooth. The problem was Ivan DeVito. Anal-retentive doesn’t begin to describe him. If it wasn’t for the money and fact that I didn’t have much else going on, I’d tell Ivan to have a coke and a smile and shove those reports up his ass. But I had to consider that my actions affected more than just me. I’d hired two people and telling them that they were fired wasn’t going to happen.
It’s the same thing everyday. “Chris, can I see you in my office. I’ve got a question about yesterday’s reports. It will only take a minute.” It never does. He would sit behind his desk, smugly and proceeds to dissect every line of every report. And it’s the same questions about the same thing everyday. I can see why my predecessor spent practically no time at all in the office. He knew, like I know now. I was fed up and I had to talk to somebody, so I called CJ to vent and to make sure that she was still planning meeting me at a networking event that I’d heard about.
CJ always was a good listener. She always had a positive spin to put on things. “Maybe it’s just me, but you’d think that after all this time he’d stop askin’ the same stupid questions.”
“Maybe he just wants to make sure he understands exactly what’s going on. He has people he has to report to. You don’t know what kind of changes they’re taking him through or how much grief he caught after the last disaster. So maybe you should cut him some slack.”
“Maybe I should get a couple of crack heads to fuck him up.”
“You don’t mean that and you know it.”
“Yeah, but the visual of Ivan, lying on the ground begging them to stop, does have a haunting pull on me. ‘Cause that’s how I feel when he’s beating me down. I sit there screaming to myself, Please, just let it end.” I laughed. It felt good to laugh about it. I had to laugh. The idea of homicide was becoming appealing.
“You need to stop.”
“You don’t know how bad it’s getting.”
“You just gotta find a better way of dealing with him, that’s all.”
“I know what I have to do.”
“No, Chris, hiring somebody to hurt him is not the answer.”
“I know that, CJ. I was only kidding about that.”
“That’s good to know. So what’s your plan?”
“I have the go on the offensive. Start taking the game to him. If he wanted to go over the reports daily, cool, but it would be on my terms. If I had to be there at seven, when Ivan got there, then that’s just the way it would have to be.”
“There you go. Now that sound like the Chris I know.”
“No.”
“No?”
“I needed to train someone to take over that responsibility. But which one, Tina or Kim?”
“I haven’t had that much dealing with either of them to really give you and intelligent answer,” CJ said.
“Actually, CJ, you would be perfect.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you.”
“Why me?”
“Because whether you know it or not, you have Ivan wrapped around your little finger.”
“As much as I like to, Chris, right now I’m involved in the server conversion. I barely had time to do the work you got me doing. I’ll have more time once it’s over, but who knows when that would be.”
“Tina was getting good at the technical aspects of the job, but Ivan intimidated her too easily. She practically jumps out of her skin every time Ivan says anything to her.”
“I think that eliminates her, don’t you.”
“Yeah. So it was going be Kim, that or I’ll have to hire somebody and that wasn’t about to happen.”
“We can’t really afford to bring somebody in just go over reports with Ivan. And then there’s the time and expense it’s gonna take to get who ever you hire trained. I agree. There’s no way we’re going to hire somebody just to talk to Ivan.”
“I’m glad you agree, partner. Only problem is Kim is a real sistah, with a real sistah attitude. Don’t get me wrong, Kim’s cool, as long as you didn’t get on her nerves and I know Ivan will.”
“But maybe that’s what is needed here,” CJ said. “A real sistah, with a real sistah attitude. Somebody to put old Ivan in his place.”
“So it was settled, I’ll start bringing Kim up to speed on the reporting functions and involving her in the meetings.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“I know you’re tired of hearing me vent, so what’s up with you? How are you and your boy doing? I hope you two are playing nice together.” I lied. CJ didn’t deserve what he was putting her through.
She paused a moment before she answered me. As if she was considering how honest she was going to be. “We’re alright.” The way she said it told me that there was more to it and she didn’t feel like going into it. I felt that it would be best if I didn’t push it. She would tell me when she was ready.
“So, are you still gonna met me tonight?”
“Sorry, Chris, I can’t make it. I’m gonna be here working on this project for a few more hours at least. I’ll call you when I’m done to see if you still there.”
“I’ll be glad when you can come on board full time.”
“Believe me, so will I. That’s the kind of event that I need to be at so we can bring in new business so I can effort to quit.”
“I’m just glad that I didn’t have to be the one to say it.”
“I know, I know, and as soon as this is over, I promise to get more engaged in the business.”
“I know you will. Call me when you’re done. If nothing else, maybe we get together and I’ll tell you how it went.”
“Sounds good,” CJ said and ended the call.
I hung up the phone and left the building, thinking about blowing off the networking event and calling Ebony. Last nights sex was off the chain as usual. But if I was going get business moving in a positive direction, I had to handle business before pleasure. And Ebony was definitely pleasure.
The event was being held at Marriott downtown and was better attended than I thought it would be. For the next hour, I wandered around, handing out my business card a getting a stack of other peoples. Engaging in several interesting conversations as people told me about their business and me telling people what I could do for them. I even had a few strong possibilities that I could follow up on.
I thought about CJ, she should have been there. Not only because of the questions only she would think to ask, and the answers that only she could give, but because I enjoyed her company. This was the type of thing that she and I could share that Manny had no knowledge of therefore he would have no part in. That would only bring her closer to me and drive the wedge deeper between them. I knew I was wrong for thinking that way about a married woman, but I couldn’t help myself.
At that point my feet hurt and I was ready to call it a night. I took out my phone and was about to call Ebony and tell her to ready when I got there, when I saw a very pretty woman coming my way with her business card in hand and a smile on her face. I put away my phone and took out one of my cards.
“I didn’t mean to rush you off the phone,” she said with her hand extended.
I accepted her hand. “That’s okay, it wasn’t that important a call,” I said to her and in the larger scheme of things fucking Ebony wasn’t.
“Tyhedra Crawford.”
“Chris Rosier.”
“It’s good to meet you, Chris. If you’ve got a minute, I’d love to hear what it is that you do and spend a few minutes talking about what I do and how I can help to improve your business,” Tyhedra said. I liked that fact that she seemed aggressive. You have to be if you’re gonna make it in business these days. We found a place to sit and talk and I told her what my company did.
“So you’re business is more consulting than anything else, is that correct to say?”
“That sums it
up.”
“Well, I’m a consultant as well, but I’m more of an efficiency expert. What I do is I go to my clients business and spend a week or so evaluating their staff and their procedures, looking for way to better accomplish their objectives.”
“I see.”
“So for example, if the client is looking for ways to cut costs, I look for ways to streamline procedures to make them more efficient and suggest ways to cut costs by implementing the changes.”
“You know, I may just be in need of your services.”
“I like the sound of that. Please, tell me more?”
“I got a client that I’m trying to stabilize. Once I’m able to do that it will free up to do other things. Do more marketing and bring in new business. But as long as I’m on site with this client fighting fires I can’t do that.”
“What is the clients business?”
“Are you familiar with the Cisco Unified Computing System?”
“Very.”
“Really?”
“Yes, very.” Tyhedra smiled a very confident smile.
“What about the reporting functions?”
“To be completely honest with you, a far as the Cisco Unified Computing System goes, that is where my strength lies. I am much stronger on the reporting functions than I am with the technical aspects of it.”
“Good, because that where I need the help.”
“Great.”
I immediately started thinking about her resolving my Ivan problem. “How are you at training?”
Tyhedra laughed. “I can teach the proverbial old dog new tricks.”
“Tell you what I’m like to do. I’m going to discuss this with my partner and then I’d like for the three of us to get together and have a conversation about your rates and see if where we can go from there. How does that sound to you?”
“That sound good. In fact, there may be something’s that I can do for you. I may be able to help you with bringing in new clients. I run across clients all the time that could use some, if not all of the services you offer. I’m sure we could come to some type of understanding that would make it beneficial to both of us.”
“I’m sure we can.” I stood up and extended my hand. “It was a pleasure talking with you Tyhedra. I’m sure we’ll speak again soon.”
Tyhedra got up and accepted my hand. “I’ll look forward to hearing from you.”
I stood there for a minute and watched as Tyhedra walked away and approached somebody else. If I could get her to do nothing else but train Kim of the reporting functions that with be great. If Ivan liked CJ, he would love Tyhedra. CJ was a pretty woman and smart as hell, but Tyhedra was sexy and if she was as good with reports as she claimed to be, she would be worth her weight in gold. And if she could turn me on to new business, all the better.
I took out my cell and called CJ as I walked. I told her about Tyhedra, and how I wanted to use her. At first CJ seemed a little cool to the idea and then she spent a few minutes wining about her need to be with me at these occasions, but she agreed that it was a good idea for us to meet her. “So, how much longer are you gonna be there tonight?”
“I wish I knew.”
“Well I still want you to call me when you’re done so we can talk about the other contacts I made tonight.”
“I’ll call you if it’s not too late.”
“It’s never too late to hear from you CJ,” I said and said good-bye.
I got in my car and called Ebony. “I was hopin’ you’d call.”
“Yeah. What you doin’?”
“Wanting to suck your dick. What you doin’?”
“On my way to get my dick sucked.”
“I’m here waitin’.”
“Be ready when I get there.”
I drove to Ebony spot and no sooner had I put the car in park, Ebony came bolting out the door. As soon as I pulled away from her building, Ebony reached over and unzipped my pants. She took out my dick and stroked it until it was hard and took it into her mouth.
“You weren’t kidding, were you?”
“I been thinking ‘bout this dick in my mouth all day,” she stopped long enough to say.
I drove away thinking that this was turning out to be a good night. First I meet Tyhedra, and she appears to be the answer to all my problems. All that I need is to make this the perfect night was for CJ to call and I spend the rest of the night staring into her beautiful eyes.
Chapter Thirteen
Tavarus
On Thursday evening I arrived early for dinner with Tyhedra at Sylvia’s. I distinctly remembered her last words: Please, be on time; and I had no desire to disappoint her. Over the last few days, I haven’t thought about much else other than having dinner with her. I’d be the first one to tell you, I’ve been tripping. Agonizing over what to wear and what to say. Over how aggressive to be and what subject’s would be taboo.
I sat at the bar, ordered a drink, and waited impatiently for her arrival. Seven o’clock came and went without incident. By a quarter to eight, I had finished my third drink and called for the check. I dropped a twenty on the check and turned to leave. “Have you been waiting long, Tavarus?” Tyhedra said, as if she were only a minute or two late.
“About an hour.” I wasn’t sure which emotion was stronger. The anger I felt about waiting an hour for her to show up, or joy that she was standing in front of me. So I settled on the combination. “I hate waiting, but you are worth the wait. You look incredible tonight.”
“Thank you very much, Tavarus. You’re looking very handsome yourself. What time did you get here?” Tyhedra asked.
“Quarter to seven.”
“It wasn’t that bad,” she said, looking at her watch. “It’s only ten after.”
“Who taught you to tell time? Tyhedra, it’s ten minutes to eight.” I held out my arm so she could see my watch. She glanced at it and took a very deep breath. Hearing her breathe like that aroused me, but I maintained my composure.
“I’m sorry, Tavarus, my watch must be slow.”
“It’s cool. You’re here now. Don’t sweat it.”
“You forgive me?” Tyhedra asked.
“Only if you promise to be a fascinating dinner conversationalist.” Tyhedra smiled and tilted her head to one side and then the other. I looked at her curiously. She took another deep breath. Each time she did it a chill ran through my body. Her sexuality was overwhelming.
“I tell you what, Tavarus. I promise to be as fascinating a dinner conversationalist as you are. You see it takes two to tango. Just like it takes two to have an intelligent conversation. But I think it’s only fair to warn you that I’m a sucker for an intelligent conversation.”
“So am I,” I replied, trying to sound intelligent and sure of myself. We were escorted to a table and shortly thereafter the waiter arrived to take our drink order. “Remy Martin straight up.” I looked at Tyhedra. Her eyes were driving me insane.
“And the lady will have . . .”
“Kamikaze.”
The waiter brought our drinks and took our order for dinner. Tyhedra took a sip of her drink and said, “So who are you, Tavarus?”
With that, I proceeded to give her the short version of my life story. I talked about growing up in Detroit and how much I hated being in Uncle Sam’s Army. “That is no place for a Black man to be. But I saw it as an opportunity to better myself.”
“How so?”
“I wouldn’t have been able to go to college if it weren’t for ROTC. I was stationed state side, so I passed the CPA and got some experience while I was in, so it looked good on my résumé. So the benefits in the long run outweighed the short. So what’s your story, Tyhedra? I know you’re from LA and that you are the prettiest thing in life I’ve ever seen, but not much else; and I want to know everything about you.”
“To be honest with you, Tavarus, I really don’t like talking about myself. If you stay around me long enough”—she shook her head—“Yoy’ll find out everything you ever wanted to know
.” Then she started laughing.
I looked around and wondered what she was laughing about. “What’s so funny?”
“You see that couple at the table across from us,” Tyhedra said, cutting her eyes slowly toward the right. “She’s watching you. But every time I look in that direction, she turns away quickly.”
“Really, well the guy with her has been glancing at you since we sat down.”
“So what does that tell us?” Tyhedra asked, leaning forward, folding her hands on the table in front of her.
“That he wants you. And she wants me,” I replied quickly and placed my hand on hers.
“Do you want me, Tavarus?”
“Yes.”
“Why, because I’m attractive?”
“I think attractive is an understatement, but we’ll pass that for now. I’m not just physically attracted to you, Tyhedra, but also to your conversation. Keep your body, I want your mind.”
She smiled and pointed in my face. “One day I’ll remind you that you said that.” And then she quickly returned her hands to mine.
“Don’t get me wrong. I want you. But I wanna know you, Tyhedra. I wanna know everything about you. I knew that the first time I saw you, and your conversation has only made me want you more.”
“Keep talking, Tavarus. I like the way you work.” She flirted, caressing my hands. “I like the sound of your voice when you say, ‘I want you’.”
“And I do want you, Tyhedra. If we ever do have sex, I will be making love to you. Not just jumping up and down on your body. Although—” I paused long enough to give the next line the impact I wanted. “The idea of having raw sex with you right here, right now, does appeal to me,” I said playfully, but I was serious and I knew it. So did Tyhedra.
“Animal.”
“It’s my nature. Half man. Half beast.”
We talked our way through dinner, actually doing more talking than eating, continuing our conversation until the restaurant closed. When the waitstaff broke out the vacuum cleaner, we took the hint that it was time for us to leave. “You think?” Tyhedra smiled.
I walked Tyhedra to her car. She unlocked the door and got in. We talked at the car for the next hour or so until Tyhedra attempted to drag herself away. “What’s wrong?” I asked. Tyhedra took a deep breath and stepped out of the car. “I’m not ready to go yet,” Tyhedra replied.
