The Company We Keep. Mary Monroe

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      It had been an hour since Teri had spoken with Nicole. While Nicole was still in her apartment stewing over her latest face-off with her ex-husband and trying to decide what to wear, Teri was still at the office, stomping out fires with both feet.

      “Look, Paul, I have to get back to the other line. I am trying to finalize some arrangements for one of our artists. One of our A-list stars,” she said proudly. “I’ve been playing phone tag with his tour promoter for days, so I really need to take his call. I promise we’ll talk later in the New Year.” She didn’t wait for a response from Paul Bailey, the high-strung realtor she’d met at a party a month ago. Since he couldn’t get her to go out with him, he was determined to sell her a new condo. She clicked back to the other line. However, before she could announce that she was back, she heard the loudmouth tour promoter, Ronnie Thigpen, complaining about the fact that she was involved in the tour arrangements for one of his most important clients. The tour that she was so committed to. That punk!

      Teri held her breath as she listened. “That uppity bitch is with the fucking record company, not the artist. Young Rahim is the artist. Compared to him, she ain’t nobody! I don’t know why, but he trusts that woman to make sure all the details are correct. Why? There is no reason in the world we need her help! Hold the line a minute, man. Let me get my beer.”

      Ronnie had recently recovered from throat cancer, and it had taken three surgeries to save his voice. However, he would sound severely hoarse until the day he died. Under normal circumstances, Teri would have felt sorry for a person who had to live with such a condition. But in Ron’s case, his voice was particularly irritating because of the harsh words coming out of his mouth about her. She bristled but managed to remain composed as he continued.

      “We’ve got our own people that can get the job done.” He paused again to take a long, loud drink from his beer can. Then he belched, coughed, and sneezed for almost a full minute. “Excuse me! That shit went down my windpipe. Anyway, how hard is it to hook up a goddamn tour, anyway? That bubble-butt heifer likes to meddle as much as she can just so she can get more money. If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear she was kissing Rahim where the sun don’t shine. Either that or he’s heard how she can suck a mean dick and wants to get him a few blow jobs before he goes on his tour this summer. Ha! If it was up to me, I’d tell her to kiss my black ass and bark at my asshole!”

      Teri exhaled quietly. She had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing; she wondered what Ronnie would say if he knew that she hadn’t even seen a dick in six months, let alone sucked one.

      If there was one thing she couldn’t stand it was having somebody disrespect her, even when it wasn’t to her face. But since it was the holiday season and she was planning to get loose before the night was over, she let Ronnie slide this time.

      She cleared her throat to make sure she could be heard. Without hesitation, she directed the tour promoter’s attention to a list of eccentric items that his artist had demanded to have on his tour.

      “Ron, I’m back,” she announced. “I apologize for leaving you on hold for so long…”

      “Oh! Well, let’s talk business, honey. I was just telling Jake about how much I enjoy working with you.” Ron’s voice was so sweet and gentle now; it was hard for Teri to believe that it belonged to the same man who had just trashed her. “Now, where were we, T?”

      “As I was saying, Rahim wants several cases of Cristal, several cases of Jack Daniels, and several cases of Jose Cuervo tequila.”

      “Now, when you say several cases, are you talking about three or four or what? Several is a vague word,” Ron told her.

      “Last count was five cases each. Before that it was three. I don’t know what it’ll be the next time I talk to him,” Teri said.

      “All right, consider it done. Is that all?”

      “He wants several dozen lambskin condoms, several cases of Evian water, his own manicurist and barber, somebody to take care of his dogs, and the phone numbers to the most exclusive brothels in each of the twenty-two cities on the schedule,” Teri revealed with a grimace.

      “Is that all?” Ron asked again, holding his breath.

      “That’s all that I’m aware of,” she replied in a stiff voice.

      “Well, if any of this is going to be a problem, you need to let me know and you need to let me know now so I can deal with it. We can always get our people to do what you can’t do.”

      “I can do whatever he wants, as long as it doesn’t involve standing on my head,” Teri said, trying to make the conversation less painful.

      “But I bet you could do that, too, if you had to, Miss Teri,” Ron muttered.

      “There won’t be any problems. At least not on my end,” she promised.

      “Uh, I hope you’re right. I need to know that a job can get done the way it’s supposed to get done.”

      “That’s why I’m here,” Teri said dryly. She had been flattered and annoyed at the same time when the artist in question had insisted that she help organize his tour. She could have turned him down but she liked adding feathers to the many caps she wore.

      “All right now. I’m counting on you. I’ve heard a few good things about you. If anybody can take care of business, it’s you.”

      “That’s good to know,” Teri said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She was surprised that they were able to reach an agreement without a fight. “Well, uh, how can I get the contract to Rahim ASAP?”

      “How ASAP?” Ron asked gruffly. His voice was beginning to sound like a frog croaking for his dinner. “After all, it is New Year’s Eve.”

      “Like tonight? I know this is short notice and all. I’m sure you must have plans for later tonight, so I apologize in advance for the inconvenience.”

      “Uh, Teri, I do appreciate all your hard work. You make your company look good,” he offered. “In more ways than one, if you don’t mind me saying so.”

      “Thank you.” That was all she said before a long pause.

      Ron gasped and blinked. His eyes were burning almost as much as his throat. What the hell was with this woman? Couldn’t she tell when a man was trying to show a little interest in her?

      “Messenger a copy of the contract to me,” she said, pausing to look at her watch. “Within the next hour. I’ll see Rahim later tonight.”

      “Oh? I wasn’t aware of that. Will you be visiting him at his office on Melrose?”

      “No. I received an invitation to attend his New Year’s Eve party at his place. I will give it to him there.”

      There was an excruciating moment of silence before Ron responded. “Oh. I…I see,” he stammered.

      “Will you be there?” She knew he wouldn’t because he would have mentioned it by now.

      “Uh-uh. My brother’s home on leave from the air force so there’s a family thing I have to attend…” Poor Ron. He didn’t want to admit that he didn’t even know about a damn party until she brought it up. That was bad enough, СКАЧАТЬ