Page 1 of I Accidentally Hired a Shadow Walker
1
Bathwater
“You said you’d drink my dirty bathwater.” I slid the glass cup full of foggy liquid over to him. “So do it.”
Deonta’s lip quivered, and the bead of sweat that had been clinging to his hairline rolled down his forehead as he looked at me like a lost child. “What?”
“Did you lie to me when you said you would? You said you would do anything for me.” A disinterested sigh left my lips as I found myself in the mirror's reflection behind him. It was time to get my hair touched up. Those pesky grays wouldn’t stop popping up—as if I needed another reminder that my forties were just around the corner.
“I would never lie to you, Jericha.” Deonta looked at the cup and swallowed hard, like he was trying to work up the nerve to do what I asked. His hesitation annoyed me even more.
“Good. Because there is nothing I hate more than a liar.” I nudged the cup again. “Drink it.”
The clock on the wall counted down the minutes until I would start a call that could change the trajectory of my business, and there he was, wasting my timewith his incessant begging. I liked my men submissive, but sometimes I pushed too hard and broke them. They lost everything that made them attractive to begin with.
Deonta was a broken man, which meant I was done with him. He served no purpose other than filling up my inbox with unwanted requests for dates.
Five more seconds ticked by as I fluffed my afro and waited. He knew I meant what I said, and I wouldn’t repeat myself. With slumped shoulders, he picked up the cup and gulped down the murky water. When he lowered the glass, his top lip glistened, water dripping down his chin.
“How does it taste?” I leaned back in my seat, satisfied he’d done it but instantly disgusted by the sight of him.
He choked back a gag before responding. “Delicious.” Deonta lowered the glass to the table before looking at me with the most ridiculous puppy dog expression I’d ever seen. “Now, can we please keep seeing each other? I miss the taste of you, your skin, your lips.”
I chuckled at the thought. “You think I would ever kiss someone who drinks bathwater?”
“I—” He glanced at the cup. “But you told me, I mean—you wanted me to do it.”
“There has to be a limit, Deonta. You have a safe word. You could have used it.” I stood and pointed at the door. “Leave and don’t come back.”
“Jericha, please.” He continued his groveling as he stood.
He dropped his head, still speaking, but I couldn’t hear a word he said. Thoughts of the balding spot on top of his head muffled every other sound. It had gotten bigger since I met him. In that short amount of time, what started off as the size of a pea had become the size of a quarter. It was as if the more he begged, the larger it got.
“I’m done here. You’re boring me, and I need to get back to work.” I walked around him, opening the door. “Leave out the back. I don’t want anyone to see you looking so pathetic.”
“Jericha—”
I lifted my finger to my lips to shush him. “You’re no longer allowed to use my name.”
Deonta said nothing else. He nodded, grabbed his jacket, and left as requested. It wouldn’t be the last time I heard from him. It never was. Typically, I had to ignore at least fifty messages and missed calls before the rejected party finally got the picture. Deonta would be no different.
Just as I made it back to my desk to sit, my phone buzzed against the glass top.
I picked it up to see a message flash across the screen.
Deonta: I’m here if you ever need me.
I opened the contact card, changed his name to Bathwater, and turned to my computer. There were twenty minutes before the start of the call that would catapult my business. With the development of the new film studio just outside of town, businesses were clamoring for a way in. Yes my chances were slim, but I’d put my best business owner hat on and landed the opportunity to provide security for their upcoming productions. Being one of the few women-owned firms in my field made this a landmark event, a true testament to my perseverance.
The initial contract would be a deal guaranteeing me the right to provide security for all productions for the next six months. That contract would get me in the door, and my work would keep me there. This would mean years of business to help fund my company’s expansion. My dreams were big already, but they grew each day.
“He actually drank it?” A soft gag accompanied the question.
I looked up from the monitor to see Natalie’s head poking through the door. She pointed at the empty cup on the table, her braided bob swinging around her frowning face.
“Of course he did.” I waved at her to come in.
Natalie was my assistant. Without her, I wouldn’t have been able to run my business as well as I had. It was a hard lesson to learn for a person who likes to do everything herself, but I realized I needed someone I could trust to hold the spare keys.
