Red Butterfly Mondays

Chapter XXII "Enter the Black Knight"

"Mr. Black, good morning. Mr. Pope will be with you in a few moments. Please have a seat" beams a smartly dressed woman. She cannot take her eyes of the perfect specimen of man. Canaan Demetrius Black III commands your attention at the height of 6' 7". He's the twenty-nine year old multi-millionaire CEO of Black Industries.

She takes him all in; every detail is etches in her memory. 

He has an array of mahogany curls, which is thick and lustrous. His eyes are a soft subtle blue, like glaciers. His face is beautiful yet manly. It is perfect, like sculpted marble. His eyebrows are thick but well kept, a perfect arch; which compliments the bigness of his eyes; but not taking away from his serious expression. His nose is slender and rounded. A prominent jaw molded from granite. His full pink kissable lips were now pressed in a hard line across his face. His arms are strong with large hands with well-manicured nails. A Rolex Daytona watch on his right wrist is shown as he reaches for a drink of water from the bar, oh how elegant. His chest and abdomen, broad and firm, it tapers at the waist just a bit, defining his ever so firm grabbable ass with thighs and calves, bulky and bold.

The chair is uncomfortable and for the past five minutes I am impatiently waiting for Christopher while completely ignoring his personal assistant, who is still beaming like a light in the dark.

Her mouth's moving, hell, is she saying something?

I glance at her, "Excuse me?"

"Mr. Black," she is gushing. "I have admired you for a very long time. You're such a genius. Could I email you some ideas I have?"
"Sure no problem...what's your name?" Like I care. "It's Sandra" Still didn't care. "Sandra Greaves".  Why the hell is she coming closer? I stand up and step quickly to her left to widen the distance between us.

"Ms. Greaves, you can email me through my personal assistant, Ms. Pamela Martin.  Here's her card." The rehearsed line is repeated with such precision.

The proffered card is snatched from my fingers. "Thank you so much Mr. Black" Sandra cannot contain her delight. He's not a bad guy, she thinks, all the rumors and innuendoes about his hateful personality; all lies. She will have to set the record straight. And if she plays her cards right, perhaps she will get his phone number. Mrs. Canaan Demetrius Black III has such a superior ring to it.

"Demetrius, you're early," I turn my head toward the voice of Christopher Pope, owner and CEO of Pope Software and Web Development and my sole friend, as he walks out of his office and greets me with a slap on the back.

"You're late as usual" I retort, shaking my finger at him. "Let's head out, we'll discuss on the way" I need to extricate myself from that woman's presence. My skin's crawling with disgust.

The ride down in the elevator is silent but not uncomfortable. "My car is out front; would your parents be joining us?"

"Of course, not, Chris"

"Jesus D it's your birthday!" He's blown away by my answer. I chuckle at his outburst quietly, Chris has been my friend for over twenty years, and he's still astonished by my parents' behavior. They spare no time on the trivial frivolities of certain social events such as birthdays, anniversaries, and of course Christmas.

Today, May 7, I celebrate my 30th birthday; another birthday without my parents' company. But I am not bothered by this. We spend so little time together, everyone is always so busy but our love for each other never falters.

As soon as we enter the car, I call my personal assistant, "Pam, during the course of the day, you will be contacted by a Sandra Greaves. Just delete and block."

"No problem sir, will do." I hang up immediately after. Always so efficient and effective, Pam has been a blessing for the past six years.

Christopher watches me from the corner of his eye. He smirks. What does he think? I will entertain his little secretary? The same 'personal assistant' he's been fucking the past six months. Thinks he is so slick, so smart but I have my ways. I found them out, three days into the affair. He better count his lucky stars, that his wife; my cousin Justine, has not been informed yet. I am patiently buying my time. Finally, Pope Software and Web Development will be mine.

"Where are we meeting Justine for my birthday lunch?" my question is directed to Christopher. He is taken aback. "How did you know? I didn't even tell Pamela, she keeps nothing from you. She's such as tattletale." Of course I knew; a minute after he made the reservation at Claude's, the head chef and owner Kern, contacted me with the information.

I hate surprises and worship control.

Looking out the car's window, I watch London with her people, scurrying around in their small normalish lives. Making decisions; good or bad, trying to evolve into better version of themselves. Foolish.

Without power and money, nothing else matters.

"How was your day, my darling son?" My mother, Noémie Leblanc-Black, the art aficionado, social events diva, charity organizations warrior; pulls me in for a short embrace.

"It was uneventful, maman. How was yours?"

She is rearranging the bouquet of roses on the tables at the center of the foyer. "Busy as usual, mon beau garçon (my beautiful boy), so wonderful to see you. Your father and grandfather are in the office awaiting your arrival"

Noémie Leblanc was a prima ballerina for the Paris Opéra Ballet who married Canaan D. Black II the summer of 1986 and two years later she gave birth to her pride and joy, Canaan Demetrius Black III.

The Infamous Black family, is the most prominent and wealthy family in England. My grandfather, Canaan Demetrius Black; fifty years ago, started his real estate development company with stakes in media and banking. He diversified into manufacturing computers and my father; his only child, expanded into software, becoming an investor and also a corporate raider.

"D3...how's the acquisition of Christopher's company coming along?" Dad questions me as soon as I enter his office.

"Perfectly on schedule, pops. By this time next week, it will be part of our corporation."

"Great son, my protégé.  I can't wait for you to take up your position as the CEO of Black International when I retire. But, there is one more task"

There is always on more task, one more goal to achieve according to father.

"I require you to attend a meeting in New York in a few weeks" quickly, he scans his calendar, "on the 25th at the Unicorn Restaurant with Henrietta Salvatore. Finally, we are on the verge of obtaining Microcom Solutions."

"Excellent pops. I will be there"