in an hour.”
Tony
had been her lifesaver. While Baron traveled to meet with their growing list of
nationwide clients, Tony took care of things locally. He was Baron’s partner
and had recently broken up with his fiancé. Baron’s other friends were all
married, they were very nice, but in a totally different world. She didn’t want
to feel like a third wheel going out with them without Baron. She’d tried
having girls’ night out with some of the women, but two were pregnant and one
had a kid, so the conversation eventually treaded into diapers and daycare, the
not-ready-for-that-yet category for her. But she and Tony had been going to
dinner or just a movie a lot lately since Baron wasn’t around as much. In
truth, she was lonely and she missed Baron.
The
Nat’s lost and Tony was depressed, so when he asked her to dinner she went to
try to cheer him up. But he had a little too much to drink. All he could do was
talk about his ex-fiancé. Baron never said why they’d broken up and she didn’t
want to pry, but she felt they’d known each other long enough she could ask.
And it might do him some good to talk about it.
“It’s
clear you still have feelings for her,” Jasmine began, “so what happened?”
He
took a breath and said, “I went to her office one day at lunch time to surprise
her. She told me earlier she had a hellish day. I brought her takeout from her
favorite place. No one was at the desk out front, her door was closed, but I
knocked once and then pushed it open.” He looked away for a minute then at her
again. “The joke was on me. I’d surprised her, she was sitting up on her desk
when I opened the door without a stitch of clothes on from the waist down. Her
shoes were off and her fucker of a secretary was kneeling at her feet. When he
turned around to see who’d interrupted them, I saw his face wet with her cum.”
He pounded the table. “Sonofabitch.”
“Whoa!”
He
smirked. “Yeah, whore indeed.” He stood up and took her hand. “Come on let’s
get out of here.”
He
didn’t give her a chance to protest, she was still reeling from what he’d told
her. She felt sorry for him. He was a good guy and she could tell he really
loved his ex. There were a lot of screwed-up people out there, male and female.
Tony had driven and he had the valet bring his car round. But when the valet
pulled up, she moved around to the driver’s side. He’d been drinking quite a
bit.
“Let
me drive.” He got out of her way and went around to the passenger side.
After
he got in, he gave her directions on how to get back to the condo. She was
still unfamiliar with the area and they were in Old Town Alexandria. They had
to get back to the city but they weren’t far.
When
they reached a light, Jasmine turned to him. “I’m sorry that happened to you.
You’re a nice guy and I’m sure you’ll find someone else. Someone who
appreciates what you have to offer.” He was just as good-looking as Baron and
he didn’t seem to be anywhere near the player Baron had been before they’d met.
So she was at a loss as to why someone would throw him away.
He
stared at her. “You know Baron is a lucky sonofabitch. When he told me about
you and that he was hopping on a plane to go meet you, I thought he was nuts. A
fool. Now I know I was the fool, ‘cause I sure as hell should have jumped on
the plane with him and given him a run for his money.”
Jasmine
grinned. “Yeah, it might have worked if I hadn’t already fallen in love with
him.”
Tony
took her hand and kissed it. “Thank you. And I damn well would have tried.”
The
light changed and she entered the intersection. She saw a blur out of the
corner of her eye just before something big slammed into her. Her head smacked
against metal, hard, then it felt too heavy to hold up. Every part of her body
screamed in pain, and she couldn’t seem to move. She inhaled, but the bitter
smell of smoke and rubber burnt her lungs, tearing her eyes. All she
Learning to Kill: Stories