Page 34 of Devanté
“I’ll buy you a bottle,” I told her.
“Okay. I’m holding you to it though.”
“Deal.” I’d buy her an entire fucking wine cellar if she’d stop calling attention to our table.
I found the older I got, the less attention I wanted. Now, I was content to carry on a quiet life that didn’t involve gathering crowds or giggling women. It was nice when I was in my early twenties but now it was a fucking headache.
Janet and I ate lunch in peace after that even though I felt eyes on me off and on through the meal. Our server brought over the free wine anyway and Janet was all too happy to take it to go. It had to have been a two-hundred-dollar bottle, easily. Before we left, I made sure to tip the server three hundred because she didn’t have to be so generous.
“You need to do something about Renee, D. She’s going to keep popping up wherever you are and causing a scene. That shit is ridiculous,” Janet said as we stood at her car.
“I know. I wish I’d never fucked her.”
Renee was one of those women I regretted instantly. I met her at a party one night and she was so bad, I couldn’t stop looking. Bright blonde curls against caramel skin and a smile that lit up a room. Maybe it was all the champagne but she was a vision.
She was in my bed at the end of the night. I fucked her until the sun came up and the liquor wore off. Every time I was inside of her, I had on a condom. I wasn’t irresponsible. That’s not to say it was impossible to father her kid but the likelihood was extremely low.
Six months after she faded into oblivion like a lot of women I had one night stands with, she popped into my DM’s with a picture of a newborn. So, I congratulated her and kept it moving. My day was ruined when she told me the kid was mine.
I figured she didn’t know how gestation periods worked so I explained to her that we fucked six months ago and she’d sent me a picture of a full-grown baby. That’s when the claims of the baby being premature came and I knew it was a bunch of bullshit.
I had my lawyer contact her and offer to set up a paternity test which she refused and continued to refuse for three months. Renee was a pain in my ass.
“Me too.” She looked up at me and said, “You never did tell me how things were between you and Blake.”
“They were tense. How do you think they were?”
“I was hoping she got over what happened in college.”
“Me too but no. She still thinks it was me who put Gabi up to doing that bullshit intervention. I’m going to fix this though. I can’t go another eight years without her.”
Janet’s eyes softened and she reached up to touch my shoulder.
“Oh my god, D. That’s so sweet. You’re like a walking, talking love story.”
“Yeah, I don’t know about that. I couldn’t even get her number. I left there with her assistant’s contact information.” I rubbed the back of my neck remembering the sting of being forwarded Noa’s information after I met with Blake.
“It’s a start. Call her assistant and do what you do best.”
“Oh? What do I do best, sis?”
“You change people’s minds. Go get your girl.” She patted my arm then got in her car. I stood there until I saw her drive off safely then I went home before I had to get ready for several interviews.
When I got in the house, I did exactly what Janet suggested. Since I couldn’t call Blake, I called Noa.
“Noa Delgado, how may I help you?”
“Hey, Noa. This is Devanté Morgan. I have a quick question.”
“Hi, Mr. Morgan. What can I help you with?”
“Please, call me Devanté. I was wondering if I could get Blake’s cell number. But I know you’re not just going to hand it over so I’m here to offer a gift.”
“Uh-huh…You know she’s my boss and if I give out her personal information without her permission, I get fired. So, unless you’re offering me financial stability for the rest of my life it’s not gonna happen, pretty boy.”
“You have a point,” I chuckled. “Can you set it up so we’re in the same place at the same time or…”
“Are you like her ex-boyfriend or something, Devanté?”
