Chapter
1
He wrapped his arms tightly around
her waist and brought her even closer than she’d imagined he would. Was he no
longer mad? She wondered. Had he finally accepted that she was the mother of
his child? His lips lightly caressed her neck. Falling into him even more, she
sighed softly then inhaled and closed her eyes.
“I wanted so badly to be there with you
when you had our son”, Kevin whispered in her ear, his voice like smooth silk. His
breath, hot and arousing, brushed her ear then his mouth and tongue moved down
her throat.
“Don’t worry about it, baby,” Naomi
whispered, now intoxicated by his heated touch.
“That was six years ago, you are here now. It’s all behind us. We can
move on from here.” She broke the grasp
he had on her waist and pulled him towards the bed. It seemed the more she
pulled him towards the bed the further away her appeared to be. Her head spun
and the room got smaller. His warm, chiseled body was now a blurry dark form in
the doorway, threatening to move away even further. “Wait, baby, where are you
going?” she asked. “Come back! What about me? What about our son? You can’t
leave us! You can’t leave me again!” she yelled, terrified that this time he
would not be coming back…
Naomi Saunders lazily turned over in her bed
to meet the morning sun that shown through her horizontal blinds. Shaking her head, remembering remnants of her
recurring dream, the abandoned wound resurfaced, as it always had before. But
now, not abandoned, she would always have a piece of him. She had a six year
old son to prove it. She glanced at her
clock and had yet again overslept.
If she was to get a legitimate job and quit
The Ladies Club, the late night on call hours would have to stop. The fact that she was paid an outrageous amount
of money to cater to men’s needs and was highly requested didn’t help matters
at all. Now partly taking on clients and responsibilities along with Lady Dane,
Naomi had accumulated a nest egg of money and was well off. Why quit
a job like this and get a normal hum drum job when you could have it all? Truth was she loved the game and using her
body to get what she wanted just as much as the men loved using it. Most of the
time, all that was required was her company, but on occasion, she was asked to
do more, but always had a workaround besides the actual sexual act. That is
where her negotiating skills and tact came into play. That is also why Lady
Dane had approached her, seeing she had the “gift” of persuasion, and offered a
partnership in her seedy business as a Co-Madame. Naomi had no intention of
quitting. Not while she was on top of her game.
Turning to look over her shoulder, Jace Lane, her now high profile,
attorney sometimes boyfriend, slept peacefully. Jace, at one point, had wanted more from the relationship, but settled for
just what he was initially there for in the first place…sex. After all that she’d done, all that they had
been through and all the harm she’d caused to others, intentional or not, he
still had a soft spot for her. Any sane man, lawyer or not, for that matter
would have left her high and dry. Jace saw through her pain, misfortune and her
tough exterior and found a scared and vulnerable woman the just really wanted
to be loved. Most of all he wanted to be with his son. Not one hundred percent
sure that the child was his, he clung to the hope that he was and asked Naomi
on many occasions to have him tested. Since she never went for child support
and didn’t need his money, she never opted to have him tested for anything.
He’d hoped that after she had the baby,
she’d change her mind about her shady career and want to settle down with him.
Apparently, that was not her decision. Not that his opinion weighed heavily on her or
her actions, she’d agreed to slow her nocturnal activities, promising that her
outings were purely entertainment and not sexual at all. Jace didn’t like the
fact that she was still “one of the girls” because he’d wanted her to stop a
long time ago. Plus now that she had his child, it was the suitable thing to
do.
“Jace, get up,” Naomi tapped his
shoulder. “You are going to be late.”
Rising from her side of the bed, she yelled this time. “Jace! Jesus, if
I speak any louder, I will probably raise the dead!”
Jace turned and smiled at her. “Hey
baby, come over here,” he motioned for her to move his way.
“Nope, I have to go and get some money
to pay Lucia to take little man to school.
I want to see him off today.
Lucia was the live in help that Naomi
insisted on having when Kevin J. Saunders was born. Naomi called him KJ for
short. Insisting in her mind that the child was actually Kevin Styles’ son, she
hesitantly, but finally decided to give him her last name instead at the
prodding of her best friend, Shaylynn “Dreams” Webster’s suggestion. “You
aren’t even sure that it is his baby…are you?” Shaylynn had asked.
Naomi remembered thinking hard about the
timing. Knowing that she was with both Jace and Kevin in the same time period
made it impossible for her to distinguish who the real father was. Willing
little KJ to be Kevin’s was her decisive outcome. He was Kevin’s and that was
that.
Smoke circled his head as he inhaled
one last draw from a half smoked cigarette. Kevin Styles sat in his small
office. It was a huge difference from the spacious office space that he’d had six
years ago. Of course, his situation had changed drastically from bad to worse;
as if there was no alternative.
He
was cramped in his tiny office space, but thankful he had finally landed a
halfway decent job after his fall from grace with WMMT, as the famed meteorologist. The drab, dark brown walls had a way of
draining his spirit, pulling him further and further away from any light that managed
to shine in from his tiny office window. Finding a decent job was a daunting
task, as Kevin moved from place to place, trying to make his ends meet. Wanting
to stay in his field of profession, he’d applied at practically every radio and
television station, only to find that he’d been black-listed from them all. A small, third rate cable station was his
last interview that he’d gone on as a last ditch effort to land a job before he
resorted to a career of unfavorable consequences. Although he considered
himself an upstanding citizen, he was from Chicago’s Southside and had
connections to things that he’d turned away from many years ago and preferred
to not look back.
His face, sunk in, as a result of his
long hours that he’d put in at the station. His eyes had developed dark
circles, which were signs of weariness, and his attitude was just as bleak to
match. Although he tried to remain upbeat and face the fact that he’d brought
on all his misery upon himself, he was still upset at how his life was
ruined…all by one woman. In turn, he’d lost the one woman and child he loved at
the same time. As if it was just yesterday, her replayedg the horrific wedding
day in his mind, Kevin’s stomach lurched at the thought of seeing his image on
the huge screen before everyone there. There was nothing he would have loved more
than to strangle the life from Naomi’s vindictive body. If he could have just
gotten a hold of her that was precisely what he would have done. She’d put the
last nail in his coffin and sealed it shut.
If only he’d not went to that stupid
bachelor party that Giovanni, his partner and best friend, set up for him…none
of this would have happened. He placed his hands over his face and wiped it as
if he was wiping away a film of residue that was resistant to his cleansing
efforts.
“Kevin, are you in here man?” Gio asked
as he stuck his head through the door. “Man open the window up in here…you are
smoking way too much in this cramped office.”
Kevin raised his head to meet his buddy.
“Why, what’s up?”
“You. That’s what’s up. I’m taking you
out tonight, man. You have been killing yourself with these long hours. You
need a good break.”
“I remember a time I took your advice
and followed your lead, it was a disaster. That’s how I got here in the first
place.” Kevin waved his hands in the air.
“Never mind all of that, man. I am sorry
that it happened. I have told you that before. It’s time to get on with your
life.” Gio had repeated that same mantra to him just a few days ago, and a few
days before. “You are doing nothing but wasting away.” Gio did want to remind
him that he was not the full blame and had no control over his friends’ sexual
activity. He kept his thoughts to himself, knowing that if he voiced his true
opinion, it would send Kevin into a further slump. Although he did make it very
easy and set the atmosphere and mood, he was not there to hold his hand.
“I know. I know I should be appreciative
that I have one last shot to kind of clear my dark blemished past...and don’t
get me wrong, I am finally happy to land a semi decent job. But-“
“Ok, then it’s settled. Let’s go.” Gio
headed for the door, looked back to make sure that Kevin was following and
walked to his waiting car. “Leave your car here, we can take mine.”
“Where are we going?”
“Just sit back and relax, man. I got
this and I know you will enjoy it,” was all the Gio said.
Driving alongside Lake Michigan on Lake
Shore Drive proved to be a bit beneficial to Kevin. Actually forgetting how
beautiful the sunset was, he gazed out of the passenger side window and took in
the moment. The surreal feeling seemed foreign to his senses. Not remembering
the last time he took just a moment to actually feel anything other than
despair, hatred, and loneliness, he decided to soak it in; if only for that
moment. Feeling his body relaxing a bit, he’d begun to enjoy and reminisce a
little. A very pregnant Savannah was the first thing that crossed his mind.
Pain quickly squeezed his heart at the thought of her. Quickly pushing her
aside, his eyes snapped open as he bolted further upright in the seat. “Why
does it look like we are heading to the Drake?” he asked.
“Because that is where we’re going.
Luther and I are celebrating the success of The Blue Horizon’s anniversary.
Actually, man, it’s our seventh year in business! Can you believe that?” Gio
slid into a reserved parking place, removed the keys and turned to his friend
of at least fifteen years. “We have a nice change of clothes upstairs for you.
You know you are still a part of this family. It wouldn’t be the same without
you. Besides we have been celebrating without you for the longest. It’s time
you rejoin the living and get your groove back.” Gio flashed his always bright
smile and got out of the car.
Kevin sat for a moment to clear his head
of Savannah’s image. Okay, so now, not only is he being haunted by her image, and
the whole wedding fiasco, but Gio brought him back to the very place where he
met her! “Gio, it’s a nice gesture, but I really don’t want to go in there. I
am not feeling the whole mingling, getting to know you scene anymore.”
“I know. And that is exactly why you are
going in.” He walked around to the passenger side and opened his door. “Let’s
go…and I’m not taking no for an answer.” He adamantly stood there, daring Kevin
to refuse again.
Kevin didn’t move.
“C’mon, man.” He had to break it down.
“I know how you feel. You really need to get back out here. I can’t have my
partner wither away on me this way. Kev, you look bad, man. A broken heart can
mend…in time and I think that you have mourned long enough. Jesus! It’s been
six years! Snap out of it, man!”
Knowing he was right, Kevin slowly
slumbered from the seat.
