IN TWO DEEP
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“I hope you know what kind of chance we’re taking on you, Tamara. Jacob was a friend of ours and we’ve known you for as long as we’ve been in business with him. We sympathize with your loss, but this is a matter of utmost importance. These jewels are to be shown to the public for a limited exhibition of two days only. We have borrowed them from an anonymous source. They would like to be left out of it and we have graciously permitted them their anonymity.” Grady was one of those secretive types with a black suit and dark glasses to match
He was shadowed by two burly and strapping young men. I could tell that they were conditioned to follow orders to the letter. Their stance was the same and there was something strangely uniform about their posture. The obvious bulge in their jacket was not because they were happy to see me. These two were deadly and they had that expression of one of no emotion. I was worried for my safety and saying the wrong thing would end up getting on their bad side.
“I appreciate the kind words and his death has been a lot to adjust to. It’s been three months and I’m still trying to make sense out of many facets of the business. He had a method to his madness, but I’ve yet to determine the rhythm or what kind of code is used. I have everything that I need from you and I believe that I can be of some service.” I could see that Grady was looking at me the same way that he always did when he came to visit Jacob.
I did everything I could to accent the positives, which included low cut dresses that showed off a very prominent asset in my possession. I did not shy away from exhibiting my sexuality. I had in depth negotiations with Jacob and those clients that were fortunate enough to grace our shop with their presence. The eyes were the windows to the soul. They didn’t lie and you only needed to know what to look for to see if there they were truthful.
“In this metal case is $50,000,000 worth of jewels. It is quite instrumental that they never leave your sight for a second. If it was up to me, I would’ve denied the request to have them exhibited at the museum. Unfortunately those higher up felt it was good for their image to give into peer pressure. Don’t worry; there will be security on hand. These two men will never be too far away. You may not know they’re there, but trust me they will be overseeing the entire operation. Jacob was a good friend and I mourn his loss. I send a silent prayer to his family.” Grady was impeccably dressed and the only difference between him and the other two standing by his side was a blood red tie.
"I want you to know that I take this responsibility seriously. You can’t be in better hands.” I was seeing this exhibition as a way to display some of my wares. I had jewels that I found quite by accident in back. It was those in Jacob’s personal collection. They had a hefty price tag that would net me a small fortune if sold to the right party. I didn’t trust Grady and I never did and there was always something slightly off about the way that he smiled with no real meaning behind it.
“You are a sophisticated woman and you have the air of someone that was born with a silver spoon in their mouth. I know your background like the back of my hand. It’s amazing that you were able to climb out of your current position in life. You and I both know that you owed Jacob a debt that you could never pay back.” Being a woman, I felt like I was always struggling to make it, but being a black woman did not exactly afford me the opportunities like others.
I was an impressive female creature standing at 5’9, 160 pounds with all of that weight accumulating in just the right areas. My breasts were marvels of the natural variety. There was nothing fake or plastic about me, except for my eyelashes. I had an ass that just wouldn’t quit and I wore clothing skintight to make people stand up and take notice.
I escorted Grady back to the door and I watched him climb into a very distinctive black Tahoe with tinted windows. It was all very clandestine and made me feel like I was part of some secret that I didn’t know anything about. I locked the door behind them as they left. The camera overhead and the Security System in place were to keep these jewels safe, until the actual exhibition in two days. I’d tried to get my foot into the door, but being relatively unknown was making an obstacle that I couldn’t hurtle on my own. It was fortuitous that Grady came to me and gave me this window of opportunity.
I wore a purple dress with strategic cuts up each side to give a good look at my ebony curves. Each time that I moved a certain way, you could practically see heaven and beyond. I did have one guilty pleasure and that was lingerie that could have any man crawling on their knees for a chance to be with me. I never considered myself to be alluring, but the perception of what was acceptable these days had been changing significantly.
The ringlets of my hair flowed freely down over my shoulders and my captivating green eyes were that of a cat. I made men feel like they were trapped in my web of sexual desire. I carried myself with superiority, but underneath it all I was still that scared little girl growing up in the boroughs. Getting out from underneath that was a Herculean effort and made easier by Jacob giving a young girl a chance to make something of herself.
My parents were still alive and every Sunday, I would show up for dinner to be grilled about the same damn nonsense over and over again. My two brothers were already married and had kids of their own and now they were looking to me to provide them with a grandchild. I had no interest in getting pregnant and every guy that I had been with was a dismal disappointment. They made me think that all guys were after one thing. I was hoping for a lot more substance than something physical.
I did enjoy sex, but I wasn’t about to throw my affections away so easily on a fleeting moment that would be mostly a memory after all was said and done. The slight chill of the air conditioning above was causing my nipples to become so hard that they could probably cut through glass. I could see the chunky tips pushing up against the fabric and I grazed them with the palm of my hand to tremble at my own touch.
I’d been responsible for my own pleasure for as long as I could remember. It was nice to have the expertise at hand when it was needed the most. Usually it was in the dead of night and where the bed was cold beside me. It wasn’t about to take a lover just to have the companionship. I wanted more from my life than that and I wasn’t going to let anybody browbeat me into doing something that I wasn’t comfortable with.
My brothers teased me mercilessly and I had shrugged it off like it really didn’t bother me. Deep down, I wanted everything that they had and that jealous streak would always raise its ugly head at the most inopportune time.
I looked at myself in reflection of the glass leading out into the parking lot and I saw this desirable woman ready to live for the first time. I had allowed my father’s philandering ways to dictate my life choices. I could never look at my mother the same way knowing that she was accepting of his faults. He wasn’t exactly good at covering his tracks. Lipstick on his collar and late night phone calls not to mention long business dinners that went into the wee hours of the morning had always been a glaring sign of the inevitable. I thought for sure that my mother would kick him to the curb, but she apparently loved him with all of her heart. That was not the kind of relationship that I was looking for. I wanted something that was going to stand up to the test of time and not leave me with a bad taste in my mouth.