Bianca
Head held high, I walk through the bank, reflecting on the past thirty-five days. My Grans’ death, the loan I wasn’t aware of taken out because of my school loans, renovations, finding Ford and now selling my collection to pay off the loan — I guess you can say it all came full circle.
Who says Mondays have to suck? Well…normally this girl, but after selling all my pieces and a weekend-long marathon sex session, I’m thinking today isn’t so bad.
I’m one hop, skip and a jump from being a real-life Mary Freakin’ Poppins. Watch out world. I’m locked and loaded on caffeine and have almost three hundred thousand in my account.
Reaching the loan officer’s desk, I set the coffee down, an offering of peace. “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting, Miss Black.” He smiles, shaking my hand.
“Nope, I just got here.” I point to the coffee. “Picked you up a treat.”
“Well, thank you, but I’m not a coffee drinker,” he says.
“Ex-Excuse me? I thought you said you don’t drink coffee?” I cough out, shocked at his words.
“That’s right. I’m more of a hot tea guy, but today I got an iced one.” He scoots the coffee back in my direction. “But I do appreciate your thoughtfulness.”
Picking up the extra cup, I remove the lid to let the steam escape. “Bottoms up.” I down half before I come up for air. “Coffee saves lives you know.” I set the cup down.
“Good to know.” He purses his lips, looking through files. “So, what brings you here today, Miss Black?”
This is why Mondays have a bad name, and this is why coffee saves lives. I pick the coffee back up and down the rest. “I’m here to pay off my Grans’ loan.” I hold back the urge to follow it up with an eye-roll.
“That’s what I thought.” He continues to flip through files.
“I thought you guys digitalized those.” I let a chuckle escape. Nothing cute, just pure irritation rearing its ugly head.
“We did, but this payment is so recent, I wasn’t sure if it had been scanned in.” He brings his computer to life. “Let me just check a few things.” He pounds out a few commands on his keyboard. “Yep! The loan has been paid in full.” He swivels around in his chair.
“Well, that is wonderful. It was nice having that money in my account even if it was only for a little bit.” I stand, swinging the bag over my shoulder. “It was a pleasure doing business with you.” I turn and begin to walk out.
“Miss…” I hear his footsteps chase after me, but I keep going. “Miss Black…”
Don’t stop. Keep going.
The doors are almost within my reach.
“Bianca, please stop. The money didn’t come from your account.”
There it is.
Swinging around, I wait for him to say it, to tell me what I already know. To tell me that the one man I trusted betrayed me.
Used me.
“The money…” He’s out of breath.
“If it didn’t come from me, then who? Who paid off my loan?” I demand.
“Ford Phillips paid it Friday, before end of day.” He hands me the transaction showing me the loan has been paid in full.
“What does that even mean? Do I still own the building?”
“Miss Black, it just means you own the building free and clear.” He shuffles some papers together. “If you have any more questions, feel free to give me a call.” He hands me the file and slides his business card on top.
“Thank you.” I stuff the papers in my bag and head home to confront the one person I trusted not only with my building but with my heart.
**********
Pacing back and forth on the sidewalk, I debate going inside. Once I do, there is no going back. I’ll have to face all of my fears in a head-on collision.
Biting the bullet, I open the doors and close my eyes when the familiar chime announces my arrival.
“Hey! I’ve been waiting for you.” I can hear Ford before I see him. “B?” I hear his footsteps get closer. “Bianca? You okay?” I feel his hands on my shoulders, my eyes still closed.
Taking a deep breath, I exhale and open my eyes….my emerald to his ocean blue. “You…”
“Babe? You okay?” He bends, looking me in the eyes. “What’s wrong?”
“The loan…”
“Oh! About that...I hope you aren’t mad.” He smiles and holds out his arms, motioning at the room. “What do you think?”
I take everything in around me. “My paintings are everywhere.” The collection I sold is back here.
“I bought them.”
“Why?”
“I felt like they needed to be here. I loved them so much; I’m going to put them in the dining area of my clubs.”
The club.
“Holy shit, Ford! You bought this place. Not only did you pay the loan off early, you bought the paintings.” I go over to the walls and start taking them down. I’ll be damned if he gets to keep them.
“Six hundred thousand dollars is what you paid for me, for the building.” I walk into the kitchen.
Everything’s changed.
“Babe, it’s not what you think.” He’s on my heels.
“Funny…you keep saying that, but this time, I don’t believe you.” I turn around and poke him in the chest. “Was this always your plan? Taking the building right out from under me by keeping me under you? Fuck me out of my dream?”
“Bianca—”
“I can’t take this Ford. I trusted you. I believed in you, in us.” I head for the stairs. “You can have this place. I didn’t pay the loan, and I didn’t earn the money from the paintings. Technically, it’s yours.” I keep marching to the top floor. “I just need to grab my brushes and I’ll be out of your hair.” I turn the knob and throw open the door.
“B…let me—”
“Holy shit!” I turn toward him. “What’s this? What did you do?”
I stare at the room. Gone are the old furniture and kitchenette that didn’t work, and in their place are a fully functioning art studio with a lounging area.
“What’s this?” I repeat.
“Your new art studio.”
**********
Ford
This isn’t going the way I’d planned. She was supposed to be relieved the loan was paid off and surprised to see that this is no longer a club but her art gallery with her working art studio.
“What do you mean my new art studio?” She walks over, touching her old brushes. Smiling. “You remembered.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure you said, ‘Don’t fuck with my brushes, or I’ll cut off your balls.’ I listened.”
“Pretty much,” she agrees.
“B. There is so much to say, so many things to explain that I don’t even know where to begin,” I confess.
“Start from the beginning.” She walks over and takes a seat on a couch, patting the cushion next to her.
Plopping down, I do exactly that, starting from the moment I approached her Grans.
“Your Grans…I’m pretty convinced she had super powers.” I chuckle, holding my hand out, hoping she takes the offering.
“Too soon.”
“Okay… So, anyway, I knew after the first few meetings she would never sell me your building, but I kept coming back because of you.”
“Me?”
“Yup. Every meeting we would just talk business and normal everyday stuff, but the last half, she would fill me in on your life, how you were doing and sometimes even what you were painting.”
“She did?”
“Yeah, she loved you and was so proud.” I reach over and pull her into my lap. “All this? I’m pretty sure your Grans orchestrated it all.”
“How?” She turns, looking over her shoulder at me.
“She’s a pretty savvy business lady. That loan was for your schooling, but when she sold her brownstone she used the money to buy up another piece of property I was scouting out for the club.”
“That doesn’t sound like her.”
“See, in the will she left me that other building in exchange for helping you get the gallery together, but it had a clause that I couldn’t tell you about it. She was afraid you would run.”
Which is exactly what she tried to do.
“I don’t know what to say…” She stands and walks over to the windows. “Everything I thought I knew for the past thirty-five days was a lie. The both of you secretly planned a takeover of my life.”
“Babe, that’s all true.” I walk over and stand behind her. “Bianca Black, halfway through this Hostile Fakeover, I realized the only thing being taken over was my heart.”
“Ford Phillips.” She turns in my arms. “I love you and all your secret shenanigans.”