All of Me

Diana inhaled and released, smiled, and said, “I would like to be a part time employee only.”

Janice’s perfectly manicured hand lifted to her chest as if Diana had imparted terrible news. “Part time? Why?”

She gestured with a hand. “I really plan events sporadically anyway, and I could assist Rena, Michael, or Shay rather than plan alone. You can assign me the smaller accounts, which no one wants anyway.”

Janice snickered prettily. “They do bicker about taking small accounts, don’t they?”

“And I don’t mind them at all,” Diana assured her. “In fact, I prefer them.”

“What will you do with your time?” Janice asked curiously.

“Plan my wedding first,” she smiled. “Marty and I want children soon, and we are incredibly skeptical about daycares. Financially, I don’t have to work, though I love it and don’t want to quit completely.”

“We would miss you if you did, actually. You’re a brilliant, creative planner,” Janice complimented.

“Thank you, Janice. That means a lot,” Diana replied, moved by the compliment. Janice didn’t give them freely.

“You can apply those talents as assistant to whoever might need you when they have a particularly large account,” Janice told her. “Rena for now, since she’ll have your wedding and she’s in the middle of the engagement party for the Goldmans.”

“Of course,” Diana answered. “We work well together.”

“You actually work well with anyone. I’m glad you haven’t chosen to leave us completely,” Janice said, rising and ending the meeting. “If you’ll excuse me, new clients will be here momentarily.”

“Of course, of course.” Diana rose, taking her cup with her. “I’ll clean this and leave it with Barbara.”

“Thank you,” Janice asked graciously.

Diana left her office, again closing the door behind her. She smiled at Barbara. “I’m going to wash this. Bring it back in a few.”

“No, no, leave it here,” Barbara told her, taking the cup and saucer from her. “I’ll clean it when I clean the rest of them. Your meeting went well?”

“Exactly as I hoped,” Diana said with a smile. “I’m off to find Rena. Have a good day, Barbara.”

“You too, honey,” Barbara replied.

Diana hurried down the hall and to the right, knocking on Rena’s door and walking in without waiting for a reply. Rena looked up and smiled. “So? What did she say?”

“I am now part time and will be working as your assistant for the next month or however long. And, you’re planning my wedding!”

The two of them squealed and jumped around a little in their excitement. Rena clapped her hands together. “Yes! Let’s begin today. I’ll come out this evening and the three of us can walk through the area and begin a list of what will need to be done.”

“This is so exciting! Finally feels like we’re getting somewhere with this wedding,” Diana sighed.

“It’ll be here before you know it,” Rena promised her.

“Yes, and so I better get to wedding dress shopping,” Diana frowned. “I’m not having fun with this like I thought I would.”

“When you find the right dress, you won’t regret a moment of searching,” Rena told her.

“You’re probably right.”

“Going by yourself today?”

“Yes. Just searching, maybe trying on a few. If I find something, I’ll text you so you can come down and see it at lunch.”

“Sounds good. Otherwise, I’ll see you tonight,” Rena announced.

“We’ll have dinner first,” Diana told her.

“Marty cooking?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’m in,” Rena teased, sticking her tongue out and winking.

“Jerk.” Diana waved as she walked out.

*****

As Diana left the office, her face was lit up with a smile. A quick stop at the Starbucks for a white chocolate mocha and she’d be on her way to a new boutique she’d heard about. She played on her new phone while she waited in the long line. A familiar voice interrupted her scanning of Facebook.

“Well, hello there.”

Diana spun around, shock on her face before she even saw the speaker. Ronaldo was behind her in line, smiling down at her from his six foot six frame. He looked just as good as he always had, his bald head gleaming, his goatee perfectly trimmed, and his pearly teeth smiling. In the past, Diana had thought him the handsomest, most mesmerizing man she’d ever seen. He had, though, eventually revealed the ugliness inside, Diana had run from him.

He chuckled in her silence. “You look beautiful, as always. How are you?”

“I’m fine.” Diana’s tone clearly stated she wanted nothing to do with this conversation. She seriously considered leaving the line and the famous coffee shop to avoid any further contact with him.

“Good to hear. You never answered my texts,” he stated, a hangdog expression on his face. She knew better than to trust his faux hurt feelings.

“New phone. And I really have nothing to say to you anyway.” She turned around, putting her back to him. Leaving would give him the satisfaction of knowing he was bothering her.

“Diana, that hurts. We were so close. I know things ended badly, but I was hoping we could put that behind us and be friends again,” Ronaldo said, his voice low and sexy.

Without turning around, she replied, “I’m not interested in being your friend, Ronaldo. You killed the opportunity with your actions.”

He touched her shoulder, and she jerked away from his touch, turning to glare at him. “Hey, I just wanted to talk to your face, not the back of your head.”

“I would prefer you didn’t touch me,” Diana told him.

“I would prefer you didn’t act like we never had a special relationship,” Ronaldo returned, frowning. “We were in love.”

“At one time, yes, we were in love. Then you began manipulating and accusing and behaving like an overgrown child,” she hissed. “The minute you realized I had a backbone, you fu*ked someone else to prove to me you could hurt me.”

“Keep your voice down,” he ordered.

“Fu*k you,” Diana murmured. She stepped out of line, noticing several people who were watching the exchange between the two of them. With a quick step, she left Starbucks, refusing to look at him.

“Hey!” Ronaldo called as he exited the shop a few feet behind her. When she didn’t respond or stop walking, he reached out and grabbed her arm, jerking her around. “What the hell is your problem?”

“Do not touch me again or I’ll scream,” she warned, jerking her arm from his grasp. For a second, he held on, but he released her before she could actually scream. “My problem is you won’t leave me alone.”

“You know,” he started, his eyes narrowing, revealing the demon he could lock inside when he wanted to. “You forced me to cheat.”

“Excuse me?” she asked, shock reverberating through her body.

“You were cold, you didn’t want to have s*x when I did, you spent more time studying than you did with me,” Ronaldo listed what he saw as her faults.

“Cold? You treated me like a fu*king dog. S*x? All you ever wanted was s*x. You didn’t want to spend time with me unless we were naked.” She threw her hands in the air, her sarcasm almost palpable. “And oh my God, I studied all the time? Gosh, I guess I wanted to graduate from college and be successful.”

“I would have been successful enough for the both of us, Diana.”

“I am not the type of woman who can settle for that. Just being someone’s wife,” Diana growled furiously.

“Isn’t that what you’re doing with the white man?” Ronaldo tossed at her.

Diana’s head snapped back as if she’d been slapped. Her nostrils flared, she pointed a finger at him, and said, “Do not contact me again. I want nothing to do with you, you narcissistic piece of sh*t.”

He grabbed her arm again, bruising her tender skin, as she turned to leave. “You’ve turned into a fu*king bi*ch. Hanging with white folks has changed you.”

“Racist di*k,” she hissed, jerked her arm away again. “Contact me again, and I’ll call the cops.”