Wife and Girlfriend

Chapter 5

Hunter

I was already well into the wall of people when I turned around and noticed that Tani was nowhere to be seen.

She'd been right behind me when I stood up, and I was sure she'd been moving as I approached the door.

I saw her turn and look at the stage, but then she definitely turned again back towards me and was moving forward. Where is she?

I was just about to go back into the madness to look for her when I felt my arm being pulled in the opposite direction.

"About earlier, I'm really sorry, Hunter. I didn't mean to make you or your new assistant feel any way," I heard the words coming out of Everett's face, but there was a double meaning that didn't escape me. He was apologizing and yet somehow managed to leave the original insult intact. Especially with his emphasis on the word 'assistant.' It was as if he didn't believe that it was her actual position.

"Sure, whatever, Everett," I stated, already running through the different scenarios of where I'd lost Tani along the way.

I wanted to put some distance between Everett's bullshit and me, but I also wanted to give her enough time to make it through the crowd and out of those doors as well.

Not wanting to stray too far, something in me needed to be at the door when she finally cleared the crowd.

But as the seconds turned to minutes, I questioned my reasoning.

There were multiple ways she could've gotten out of that hall. And, if she'd made it out of a different exit, I could be waiting here in vain and unnecessarily subjecting myself to the serpent tongue that was still hissing.

Everett seemed to be curious about something because he'd begun peppering me with questions while looking at his cell phone screen.

"Hey, you were holding out on me, Hunt," I looked at him with an equal measure of puzzlement and annoyance.

I hated how he shortened my name like we were anything other than rivals. I needed to be elsewhere, but for the time being, I'd play along.

"What are you talking about?"

But instead of answering me with words, he just turned his cell phone in his hand and held it up so I could see.

I wasn't even sure what I was seeing at first. But when I recognized the inside of the hall, I'd just been inside, and that the camera was focused on Tiger Davis, I began to put two and two together.

"So what?" I said as I failed to understand what could be so fascinating about the place we'd just left.

"Look closely. Isn't that your um...assistant?"

At that pronouncement, I grabbed the phone from his hand and tried enlarging the screen with my fingers.

Oh fuck.

Tiger

"Are you ready to do this Ti Ti [Tie Tie]?" I heard my grandmother over the other voices in the green room. She was my one constant and the reason for my being and success.

"Yes, Ona. Everybody is ready," I stated loud and clearly so she could hear me out with the frenzy of the hair and makeup team and my staff, who were all chatting away, ensuring that the last-minute logistics would be executed without a glitch.

"I don't care about any other these other people. I'm asking about you," she emphasized with a hand to the center of my chest.

I grabbed her hand and leaned down to place a light kiss on her fingers. Her hands had been ravaged by arthritis over the years. It was just one of the many ailments she'd dealt with.